Crystal waters sluiced over Anerin's shoulders and body, sending glittering shards out into the morning's half-light. He breathed deeply of the clear air, feeling the rime of dirt and sleep run off his body with the water, the pulsing water kneading knots out of the muscles in his back. He ran his hand through his coarse brown hair, picking twigs and burrs from its thick mass.

Taking a breath, Aneirin dove off the rock that he was standing on, feeling his stomach sink for an instant as he fell, before slicing deeply through the clear water of the plunge pool at the bottom of the waterfall. The churning water buffeted his thick form this way and that, knocking the breath out of him, but he revelled in the brilliant chaos, before being ejected into the silent waters downstream. He floated for a few moments, weightless in the icy grip of the water, before springing up again, breaking the still, glassy surface of the water.

Pulling himself to the edge of the pool, he lifted himself out onto the dark moss-covered rocks. Water dripped off him, snaking a trail of small puddles over to where his clothes lay. Still dripping, Aneirin pulled his tunic and trousers on, followed by Throstle's Thistle Cloak, draping it around his shoulders. He picked up a small club, cut from the deadwood that Aneirin had found at the foot of a giant oak, and hooked it over a belt that Aneirin cinched up around his rather large waist.

A distant rumble rolled through the rocks, and Aneirin looked up, seeing dark clouds speeding across the sky, quickly covering the pale blue of early morning. A cool wind picked up, pricking goosebumps onto Aneirin's skin, and spraying water droplets from the waterfall over the rocks around him. "Here comes the rain..." he thought to himself, slipping over the rocky bank to find better footing, and better shelter.

(OOC: sorry for the slightly dodgy quality of the writing, I havent rped in a while... It's just an introduction to Aneirin, and twould be nice if someone else turned up at some point!)

It was one of those things that still made her stomach crawl. One of those contracts that firmly established the fact- in her mind at least- that sometimes, in those rare occasions where things just went wrong with certain mortal brains, the existence of an afterlife of pain and misery was completely justified. It was not a judgment she made lightly- no one who had experienced it could or would. 'Go to Hell' was a common enough curse, but did these insipid little idjits actually know what they were saying? Probably not- not if they had truly known. Dumbarses.

Then again she was the one standing around while the sky threatened to cast its contents upon her frail form, contemplating a contract that she was probably going to fulfill. The contract that she had just mentally lambasted as being utterly and completely evil despite her propensity for random acts of violence, beer-crazed insult-fiestas and her occupation as a killer-for-hire. That said a lot about herself, now that the she-devil bothered to think about it.

She expected Ennui, her little demon fly, to start cursing and growling about the weather and annoy her and take her mind off this bleak trail but so far he hadn't complained. She hadn't heard much from him lately, to be completely honest. Ever since the Warlord aspect of her persona had resurfaced it was like he was... growing smaller somehow. His presence was diminished by something. She could tell- it was an instinct born from her demon body's home. Was he dying? Changing? Anything was possible. Especially when it came to demons.

"I need a bloody conscience." She decided. She had half-hoped the fly would respond. Somehow. Probably sarcastically. And stupidly. And with as much brains as could be expected from someone the size of a fly and with the head the size of a really big needle's. But he didn't. Couldn't? Wouldn't? Vex shrugged, it wasn't her problem. What was her problem was this contract.

She wasn't sure if he spotted her first or she spotted him. A mortal- slightly chubby but she didn't let that cloud her judgement. Or tried not to. It was a rather odd sight after all, a chubby outdoorsman. No doubt 'demon' or 'devil' or some utterly inane thought about her and her kinds tendency to kill things was flitting through his head. Well, perhaps not so inane. He was alive after all. And the fat ones that lived for long in inhospitable places tended to have a wide variety of tricks up their sleeves. She hadn't yet learned the hard way but had long ago decided (after losing a fight to a hobbit) not to underestimate random creatures.

Not that there was going to be any need of such silliness. Hopefully. He looked like a reasonable chap.

"Hello!" She said cheerfully. Or tried to sound cheerful. The acoustic box in her throat wasn't being particularly helpful. Maybe she had a cold. There was a distant rumble of thunder and she felt the first drops of rain start to pelt the ground. This was going to build up fas-

"Will you be my conscience?"

Wait, had she -really- just said that?

Aneirin scrambled across slick rocks, muscles tautening and relaxing over and over until he moved over onto solid, flat ground. Soon bare stone gave way to moss, and then a thin layer of scraggly grass. The wind was picking up, and the air was getting thick. It wouldn’t be long before the rain started to come, and when it did... A shiver ran through his thick frame. It was going to be bad... But then he realised, it wasn't the rain that had caused that shiver. There was a prickling at the nape of his neck, and he paused, his body suddenly still.

Turning around, he saw something that made his blood stand still. The creature before him was slightly shorter than him, but there was a tense power in its form. Demon... The thought ran through his mind, as he assessed its form. Deep scarlet hair ran from its head, and there seemed to be an odd gait to its body that suggested it was used to an extra weight on its back. Possibly wings. More importantly, it looked dangerous.

It fixed its eyes on him, and gave an odd twist of its mouth, that could have been a smile. "Hello," it said, and though the sound was slightly distorted, it sounded almost... happy? cheerful?

Large rain droplets begin to hit the floor and the back of Aneirin's neck, but most were stopped by a large ash that he was standing under. "Probably not such a good idea in a thunderstorm," he suddenly thought to himself, forgetting this creature for an instant. Then his thoughts snapped back to the here and now. Aneirin had never had much experience with demons, but had heard enough of them to know that they were mostly violent and evil. Representatives of the darker side of the world. His hand strayed down to the mace that hung at his belt, but just rested there for the moment.

But its next words threw him slightly. "Will you be my conscience?" Aneirin looked it up and down once more and said, "Why? What do you need a conscience for?”

Vex tried to laugh off her oddball phrase- it had been a mere flight of fancy after all- but somehow the laugh got stuck in her throat and then traitorously transformed itself into a retching, coughing sound instead. She probably had a cold- yes, that made sense. More sense than her still having a conscience and it manifesting through various bodily hints after all. She was a demon. She was of the Damned. She was physically and mentally incapable of having a conscience.

It's wot she told herself, anyways. Made life simple when the contracts involved very specific murders. Killings lots of people was easy. The methods were usually impartial- poison, fire, plague- all sorts of neat things that did very little to trouble the soul. This one however-

But back to the task at hand. She finished her little coughing spell and shrugged carelessly. "Gullible idiot." She said clearly and distinctly. She actually hadn't been quite sure what would come out of her mouth- but now that she did think about it, insults were a logical choice. Not that she knew how to follow up on it. Troublesome. She would have loved to simply flee and leave but it wasn't like she was in disguise. Rumors of her acting even semi-cowardly would put a serious dent into her reputation as an assassin. Not that it was an occupation by choice. "You should know better than to be surprised, traveler."

She felt the fat water droplets start to strike unerringly, getting faster and faster in that stupid, storm weather fashion. Within moments she would be soaked to the bone- soaked more, perhaps for she wore armor and it would leech away her body heat faster than vampires could steal blood from a newborn. It was about time for her to seek shelter- away from this odd human who had provoked equally odd thoughts. Maybe she should kill him- he could be an emissary from Raku in disguise after all. The Dark God had done odder things.

"Surprises can kill. Good day." She turned to leave. Slowly, of course. She mustn't appear as if she had lost this battle. She had, though she didn't know against who, or even why. But she was a warlord, and the warlord knew. This battle had had been a stunning defeat.

The demon-creature made started an odd sound in the back of its throat that may have been a laugh, but it quickly transformed into a spluttering, choking cough. It still seemed odd though, like there was something behind it, some deeper meaning. Aneirin mentally shrugged, and passed it off as a flight of fancy.

"Gullible idiot," Aneirin sighed. Insults... fantastic. This demon was wearing thin, and he'd only known it for a few moments. Still, maybe it was time to play its game, as after all, it hadnt tried to kill him straight away. "You should know better than to be surprised, traveller. Surprises can kill. Good day."

The wind was blowing ever faster, speeding the rain drops down onto them. The cloak that Aneirin had was protecting him for the moment, but he knew he had to find shelter soon. It wouldn't do to be caught out in a storm like this. There was a flash on the horizon, as lightning streaked across the sky, followed shortly by a percussion of thunder. Still, Aneirin stood his ground, widening his stance slightly, casually, to give him a better platform. "This world is a surprise, demon." he replied calmly, "who can predict what nature will throw at us? Not I, for certain."

The demon turned its back on him, preparing to walk away, and Aneirin almost snorted with laughter. "Running, now, is it?" He couldn't let it leave. Something forced the words out of him, forced him to try to keep the creature with him. Some deep seated need to learn. That was part of what called him to priesthood, after all - a desire to understand. He couldn’t let it go now...

He looked at the creature, willing his heart to be calm, despite the continued pulse of the rain, the hammering rumble of thunder, and the crashing of the waterfalls that surrounded them. He just watched the demon, waiting, wondering what effect his rash words would have.

Why had she done that? The question haunted each step as she walked forth. Everything she had said, everything she had done had gone against the grain of her nature. Whimsy, demon blood, fate, chance- none of them seemed right. She had done it for a reason, she had done it with just cause. Not because she wanted to do it but because she had to. Or rather... something in her had to. She had not lost the battle of wills to a mere mortal but rather...

To herself. The realization was frightening and her thoughts spiraled into new venues.

Lightning struck somewhere far off- the impotent rage of a dead god. She watched the sky flash and then saw again the ancient temple. Of an indeterminate age, it had been festooned with the usual signs of cheerful decay. Ruined parapets. Crumbling walls. Fire-scorched wood. It had gladdened Vex, raised her soul- and quieted the anger that always burned within. The anger of pain. The anger of betrayal. Who had she followed in life? Whose promises had she sworn to keep? Who had betrayed her? She knew who it was she hated now- but who was it-

Their heirs?

The voice resonated, with such familiar irony that she almost turned and ran towards it. But it was a mirage of the ears, something that tempted and tormented. Vex ignored it. She was... changing somehow. Ever since she had received the accolades of the warlord, her old vestments of torture... she had begun to understand things again. The way the world worked. The checks and balances. It was why she was walking away from a human she would have normally mugged and maybe killed. The ground was turning to mud around her hooves. She could feel it, trying to slink inwards.

"Not I for certain."

Vex turned. Confused. Had the mortal been speaking. The inner revelations were becoming just a bit too much for her. She shook them off, a cur shaking off water. Paid attention to the mortal who- apparently- was still paying attention to her.

"Running, now, is it?"

The words hurt her. For a moment she saw the contract again.

Vex gaped. How had he know...? Then she sighed. No. He hadn't. He couldn't. She had kept those thoughts secret to even herself. His words had only revealed them to her. He had been saying something else. Perhaps commenting on the fact she hadn't eaten him or defiled his dead corpse in any number of interesting ways with various kitchen implements. For a moment she wished she had her set of lovely spoons again. There was nothing quite like being kneaded to death by spoons.

"In the end, you will run too, mortal." She waved sardonically before turning again. "Ours isn't a world that allows for a stroll." The feeling came back. The ones that had possessed her to say the oddities. She felt the bubble to the surface but controlled them this time. She was the Warlord. And the Warlord was ready for the coming battle.

"Will you walk with me?"

As he spoke, Aneirin could see the demon listening to something, although he wasn't sure if it was him or some internal monologue, but when it turned to face some non-existent sound, it seemed as though it listened to another voice, not audible to him. But then the next moment; "In the end, you will run too, mortal." It seemed as though it had been paying attention to him. This was an odd creature. It seemed to defy the very being of demons... But then again, maybe this was all just another ploy. Who knew?
"Ours isn't a world that allows for a stroll." Aneirin laughed softly, despite himself. "It seems that words of truth still flow from the mouths of demons," he said to himself, almost loud enough that the demon could hear. Aneirin nodded to the demon for a moment, "I concede that point, demon."

It paused, seemingly to reconcile its thoughts, or to check its path, and Aneirin took this opportunity to look it up and down once more. It was utterly alien to him. He still wasn't sure it was a demon, but it had not denied this name, and so that was as good a guess as any. The thick muscle and scarlet eyes did give it a fearsome appearance, one which was rarely mirrored in the wild. However.... he had to shake himself mentally whenever he looked in those eyes. They seemed virtually devoid of emotion, and fearless. They were definitely the eyes of the killer. It seemed, though, now and then, they flecked with some sort of passion, but what it was about, Aneirin could not fathom.

"Will you walk with me?" The words shocked Aneirin out of his revery, and he realised he had been almost staring, locked within his own thoughts. The oddities kept piling up with this creature, and it seemed to go against everything that Aneirin had thought. He paused for an instant, trying to think. The rain was falling harder. He needed to move, and why not with this creature. A droplet fell onto his face, and coursed down from his brow, around his nose and down across his lips, finally falling from his chin. "Just like the water," he thought, "flow with the contours,"

Despite his misgivings, Aneirin nodded, and slowly approached the demon. Still, he stopped a short distance away, and rested with his hand on his mace still. "Do you have somewhere to go?"
"And what is it that you are running from? It can't be a mortal..."

It was unpleasant, being a rauko sometimes. No, truth be told, it was always unpleasant- but the unpleasantness was usually just a dull roar, not unlike a faraway river: in the background and at stretches of time, completely unnoticed. In the depths of the city, in the cruelty and indifference that was bred by the complacency of the rich and the toil and suffering of those that were not- such pain was easy to forget. A thousand and one cures were offered, each more delicious and more damning than the last. Alcohol was one. Drugs another. Pleasures of the mind at the detriment of the body.

And of reality.

Nature was different. Nature liked to remind her of what why she was in pain. Every step the mortal took towards her that life was really only meant to be lived once. Vex felt old, all of a sudden. Old and worn-out. The mud sloshed into her hooves, taking with it all sorts of interesting animal life. Pebbles too, perhaps. She watched him closely- not with malice, for while malice and paranoia were her usual modus operandi, the small automatic reactions that ensured her continued survival she was feeling... contemplative today. Yes, that was probably the best way to describe it.

He stopped, finally. Eyes suspicious, searching for some foul intent. It was there, lurking at the surface. Vex squashed it. She had not yet eaten the flesh of any mortal that could talk. It had been one of the very few rules she had imposed on herself. One of the few rules that she had imposed on herself that she had stuck to anyways. Discipline was ever so difficult for her very being, molded and crafted, after all, out of the most barbarous and chaotic of Raku's dread furnaces.

"And what is it that you are running from?" He had his hand on his weapon. Smart boy. Smarter than she had implied, anyways. She lifted her hands up- not in a gesture of peace, he was too canny for that and Vex didn't feel like playing the role of the sly and sneaky assassin today. She wasn't one for being sly and sneaky anyways- not in the social circles at least. Her demonic heritage was too difficult to hide. And, frankly, she just didn't feel like it. The impulse was urging her, forcing her to lay bare her soul. No, not bare. It was shifting the burden. If he knew- what would he do? "It can't be a mortal..."

Vex let out a snort.

"I run from myself." She didn't realize until after she had spoken the words, just how true they were. Bah, what did it matter? She took a tube out of her cloak. It was not rainproof but it hardly mattered. She was supposed to burn its contents anyways. In it lay a scroll. It was an innocuous looking thing. Most missives and contracts were.

"Do you know what this is, mortal?" She let it dangle and soak in the rain. The wood would warp when it dried out. So be it. She didn't bother for to wait for an answer. Perhaps he replied, perhaps he didn't. "Orders. To kill." She flashed her sharp teeth. Each word came out more quietly and sinister than the last. The quiet was not entirely due to her need to create an atmosphere. Was this... regret?

"Small. Little. Children."

After ever brief foray into communication, the demon would slide back into silence, eyes turned inwards, it seemed, thinking. Aneirin wondered for an instant what it was thinking about, whether, like him, it had memories, or whether, indeed, it had a soul. Despite himself, Aneirin was coming worryingly close to the conclusion that there was more behind this steel facade than the demon was letting on.

He mentally shook himself. He was becoming too beguiled by this mysterious creature. True, it had not tried to eat him yet, but still, there was no place for easy trust here. No, it was a demon, and a killer, at that. He could tell from the way it held itself; the easy, yet tense posture, the way muscle rippled underneath its skin. It looked as much a predator as any of the others in this place.

"I run from myself," the demon said, finally. It reached inside its cloak, and Aneirin tensed up slightly, imperceptibly to the human eye, but now he was ready. It took out a small wooden phial, holding it up before him. "Do you know what this is, mortal?" It seemed plain enough, and Aneirin guessed it was hollow. It was just the right size for a small letter. He didn't say anything, however, just waited for the demon to continue.

"Orders. To kill." it grinned, and Aneirin could have counted the teeth in its mouth, it was open so wide. They were like razors. He nodded mentally. Predator's teeth. It had just told him what he thought he needed to know, but then it continued, "Small. Little. Children." Its voice trailed off to a whisper on the last word, barely heard above the heavy splashing of the rain.

Aneirin bristled, his mind, not usually prone to huge bursts of imagination, started sending him images of this creature killing the younglings of any community, defenceless as they were. It was not a predator, killing what it needed and then moving on, it was simply a monster. Then he smiled slightly, realising that it was not even this. It was no more than a tool. Still, something in what it was saying struck odd.

"Why are you telling me this, demon?" Aneirin asked, as a peal of thunder split across the sky, "surely it is not for me to know what you are planning on doing?”
The rain was running harder, slicking the dark rocks that they stood on. He would be hard pressed to run if this turned sour, after all...

Vex felt the familiar wave of irritation rise up and crest from her spine to her neck. A warm, undulating feeling of complete contempt for everything living so carelessly and vicariously through their own experiences. It was one of the most beautiful things she had felt today and she clung on to it desperately, a misplaced rauko whose heart had been consumed by some foul, monstrous power or another trying to control her every whimsy. And worse, making her think. She did not like thinking. It made her want to lie down and sleep. Sleep forever and ever and ever... Vex didn't have a heart of gold by any stretch of the definition but this change, this change was too much and too soon. She had no need for the confessional- no need for a priest to confess to! Besides, the gods they served...

The gods they served were wretched, wretched beings.

Couldn't he tell? He probably could. He just didn't care. Or maybe he was being obtuse, mortal men were like that sometimes. You had to go out there and whack them over the head with what you meant and wanted to say before they could get anywhere. Here was a demon asking for absolution and here he was, busy asking for what- details? Suspicions? Confirmation about her innate evil? Geez. She felt that little understanding that she had possessed before decide to flee and take wing elsewhere. It would return, no doubt, when she was least expecting it. And when it would be most annoying. Still, she was in a nice and dirty pickle as it was. Whether or not she had just done so, the man had learned about a contract. Rules implied he should be dead in the next ten minutes or so.

Bah, enough with the rules.

"You were the one taking a stroll. Decide on your course. And then stick to it." She made the scrollcase disappear and turned. Was it an open provocation? Would he attack? Would he want to -dare to- attack? She had always been fond of the children. No other contract had made her quite so reproachful. Demons that had no conscience were lies- a lie as bold as that of paladins possessing no evil. The line separating the good and the bad ran through each soul, juxtaposed itself through each heart. Even the heart of children. Not that these would see their hopes and dreams realized. She hoped that they would manage in their next incarnation. Hopefully, when they were incarnated it would be in a land without gods. A land where they would be truly free. "The little ones require my aid."

And then she walked forwards again, not sure of her course but not bleeding because of it either.

"Decide on your course. And then stick to it." The demon, oddly enough, was right. Aneirin drew himself up in his mind, lashing himself mentally for pursuing this gentle tip-toe around words and deeds. It turned away, and Aneirin's hands slid down the haft of the club, temptation to attack rising in his soul. Slowly, he forced his hands to relax, and took another step forwards. Even in nature, there was nothing truly evil, nothing truly black. Everything that existed was simply thrown into a relief of grey.

His words rang clear through the storm, "The Gods are forgiving, demon. Curin knows that everything in this world has its place." What was he doing? Trying to help a demon? It went against what he had thought of himself, but at the end of the day, he was a cleric, a priest, a healer, even for those who did not deserve it. Was that not a worthy trial to bear? "Look around. Nothing we see is truly black." It was hard, grating, to admit that there was something in this demon that could be seen as light, but it was possible. It hadn't killed him yet.

"Regret is a powerful thing. It can tear you apart. You should know..." The demon was beginning to walk away. Dark, cold droplets pierced the canopy and fell to the air, crackling through leaves and whipping into the pair's bodies, as Aneirin began to walk too, still searching for shelter. "You know what will come of this, what hurt this will cause you." It would also hurt him. Could he face living with the fact that he knew about this and didn't stop it happening? The waste of children's lives was an awful thing to contemplate, and bearing that burden would be akin to carrying a mountain. What would he do if it didn't stop? What could he do? Attack it? He sighed and returned his hand to his mace again, ready, just in case. He didn't know what he was doing, but he had chosen his path, and he was walking it.

She should be furious, Vex knew. Not so long ago, the anger would have risen and crested alongside her recent irritation, wiping out all traces of restraint that lay in its path. How dare he? How dare he? This false camaraderie, this- this willingness to pretend that he could understand her- it would have made her grind her teeth, her hair curl. She hated the deities, -all- the deities! Curin, just because he was more in tune with that which was mortal- was no exception. Maybe she might have lashed out, her anger given physical dimensions as well mental ones. But if she did so, this time, she would have to acknowledge that she was not the only actor. The truth was a vicious, finicky thing. And it was staring at her in the eye, she had seen dead children before. Back when she was one of many amongst the living. Now she was just one of many amongst the hateful, spiteful, reborn dead. But the eyes still hurt. Betrayed- yes, she had betrayed them. Not intentionally but...

Yes, the truth hurt. She did not want to complete this contract. Even if it brought her a step closer to her goal. It was all that had mattered, she had told herself. She had escaped Hel for this goal. She had survived Hel for this goal. For revenge. Not justice or any of the silly little moral reasonings she had fought for in life. Just revenge. And now- now when she was getting closer, when the raiment of the Warlord was returning to her she was suddenly starting to regret the numerous sacrifices that had to be made in order to achieve it. She had sold her services as a contracted killer. Had bent her morals and then drowned them in ever increasing amounts of hard liquor. She had even contemplated aligning herself with those that called Raku master. And now- mere children, nothing more than what should have been nails in the house of despair she was building, were stopping her.

The strange mortal continued to pour out his usual words. Words of one who was trying to convert someone, she had seen it before in all its various forms and pretenses. She had once taken advantage of it, posed as a demon-seeking-redemption at the Sanctuary of Angels. It had been... interesting. She hadn't actually broken their trust yet (in all the ways that truly mattered), so for all intents and purposes they probably thought that they had managed to bring one of the demons back into the fold of the Light. Naive, gullible, fools. It was why Raku and people like her could still survive. Not that this was an incarnation worth surviving in. She would have her vengeance and then she would, hopefully, be able to rest again.

She continued walking.

"It will hurt me," she admitted. She was completely soaked, by now. She was glad her teeth hadn't started chattering yet. That would have been awkward. "And yet there is still a dream... a hope..." her voice grew wistful. "A promise... that I must keep. And ages to go before I sleep."

"I have already been damned once."

It didn't stop walking. Didn't even turn to look back at Aneirin. He wouldn't have been sure that the words had been heard, had it not replied to them in it's odd tone that suggested hard memories behind the creature's mind.

"It will hurt me," it had said, followed by "And yet there is still a dream... a hope..." it's voice changed, an odd undertone seeping through it like rain through the mire. Something that, in a human, might have been a quiet hope. Fire still burned in this creature, it seemed. "A promise... that I must keep. And ages to go before I sleep."

Aneirin paused, wondering what it meant, and whether these were more tricks that is spread behind it to confuse him. More than this, however, he wondered what this promise was, for despite his misgivings, something reeked of truth, its sweet, undetectable trace lingering in the air.

"I have already been damned once."

Apparently it listened, and despite itself, Aneirin's words were breaking through. Or maybe it was itself that was breaking through. Still, there was a crack, and therefore more room to wriggle and more space to make himself heard before it was too late. Hopefully...

"You think this will save you?" Aneirin asked, incredulity threaded artfully into his voice, for it was hard to believe that anyone could think of murder as a saving grace. "You lie to yourself, demon. Who could think that murdering children would lead anywhere but damnation."

His steps increased in pace, and he gained slowly on the demon, but continued talking for now. The ground began to change beneath his feet, blackened rocks turning to a silty gravel, to a deep red mud, and finally a scrubby grassland. The rain battered the grass to the ground, even through the trees, but the fact that there was earth beneath them worried Aneirin. Where there was earth, there was usually enough room for foundations, and therefore, enough room for a building. Why else would this creature have come to this part of the world, if not to complete its contract....

"Demon, there is another chance at redemption." His voice didn't even tremble as he said it, and for that, he was glad.

The irritation was back. The anger had flowed on by, a shadowy remnant of what had come before but still lurking, still present waiting to be set free from the bonds known as reason. A demon of her sort was not, by nature, a reasonable creature and the bindings on her mind would not so easily come undone. She was change- and change would tolerate deviance, encouraged it even. But in the end, it would all come down to a battle of natures and between order and progress, progress would subvert and control. And progress was not, by nature, linear. It could go up, it could go down, and it could go side-to-side-to-side. But it would go.

"You think this will save you?" He had said. She watched the words tumble by, their artful disobedience and ignorance re-summoning the irritation but demanding too, the presence of honest frivolity and amusement. Could he see it? Could he conceive of it? Of an existence where nothing else mattered but revenge. The sweet scent of the kill... the devotion to that singular goal and purpose. Could he imagine it? She understood it, finally. His perspective. Or what she thought to be his perspective. Everyone needed to love. Everyone needed to seek the light, the noise, the music of Life. How different they were! She who sought death, he who sought life. And yet, he had believed to understand her... could she reliably do the same in this case?

She followed the thread of his thoughts. 'You lie to yourself...' No, not in this case. In this case she knew. It was why she had doubted the path she had taken in the first place. It would have been so much easier had the road been paved with the blood of those worthy, the blood of those who had chosen their paths. But the undecided would have to populate it too. This wasn't a world- as she had said- that one could merely take a stroll in. She continued walking but slowed her pace as his increased. Something was holding her back. Did she really want to hear of what he had to say? Did she really need to know what it was he had judged, determined, thought of- with his frail human failings, his prejudices and his upbringing? Was it necessary for her to understand that which he did?

No, but it certainly could not hurt. And it would not hurt for a mortal to understand her either. And she was feeling particularly whimsical today. It was not like she could act out of character either- she did what she wanted. And that was it.

"Redemption?" The mortal had caught up with her. "Do you know what that means?" She felt her voice rise though she did not consciously will it. "Do you know what that means?! It would mean forgiving HIM." She had to remind herself that she only needed to breathe about once a moment.

"I do not seek redemption, mortal. I seek an end." She turned. Again. She had been doing this a lot lately. Something about this mortal... "Do you understand it? Can you understand it?"

(OOC: sorry it's been a while, chemistry coursework is evil...)

Aneirin was now next to the demon, so close he could smell the dampness that reeled off it, could have reached out to touch it, had he chosen. What madness had persuaded him to do this? He sighed slightly, some madness, certainly, but now it was done and he was here. He glanced sideways, and fancied he could see thought in those dark eyes. It seemed that in this case and probably for the first time this evening, the demon had listened to what he said and now was even considering his words.

"Redemption?" The demon spat out, voice crackling with vitriol, almost as if the word was a hateful enemy. "Do you know what that means?" the demon's voice screeched at the edges of his mind, as it rose in fury, "Do you know what that means? It would mean forgiving HIM." It was breathing heavily, chest rising and falling in a sharp, irregular pattern. Teeth bared, it almost snarled, or would have done if it were purely an animal. This thought shocked Aneirin. Not for the first time, the thought that there was more behind this creature flitted through his mind, the thought that maybe, just maybe, it was closer to human than he had first expected.

"I do not seek redemption, mortal. I seek an end." It hissed, turning to him, voice suddenly terribly calm. Aneirin almost continued walking, trying to goad it into action, but stopped himself, thinking that if there was reason to this creature, he would be better served by waiting. He looked at it, firmly in the eyes, trying not to give off any hint of fear. It was no more than an animal, he reminded himself, and he had survived among animals for many years. Then his unwelcome thoughts came back; at the end of the day, after all, we’re all animals... “Do you understand it? Can you understand it?”

Aneirin paused. In his mind’s eye, he could see a myriad of paths spreading from this conversation. His mind raced, trying to perceive how to speak, how to act, trying to find any clue of how to react to this creature, but then found nothing. A new path, then... “There are many tracks to an end, demon.” he said quietly, his voice just rising above the storm, “why do you not take the shortest? Why waste time playing games with mortal lives? Innocent deaths are no help along this path, they are just a distraction. You seek an end, yet you run around as a puppet for mere mortals.”

(OOC: you write wonderfully. How do you do it? XD)

OOC: In all honesty, your posts somehow bring out the best of Vex. I must say that this has been a very, very fun Role-Play. My thanks! ;D

Oh, and I hope I'm not being too vague and metaphorical and whatnot. :wacko: And remember, RL always come first! ;)

IC:

The cauldron had been prepared and now it simmered, ever-ready to flush its effusive contents upon the caustic psyche and soul that was Vex and Vex's alone. The mortal did not understand and this attempt to breach the fragile bonds that separated their respective perspectives was a task and adventure that was proving to be onerous. And still she tried. She did not know why it was important for her, why it was important that this mere mortal be given the power to conceive of her silent pain and her scar-healed trauma and yet here she was. Perhaps she had been lying to herself. Her hair, now soaked instead of damp betrayed a bedraggled look that was at least partially representative of her soul. And like her soul it was a vibrant, fiery red- death had not changed that and life would not either. Or so she hoped. For if she had been lying to herself, this contract would hurt more than any suffering that Hel had inflicted on her. More even, than the shadowy betrayal that tortured her dreams, tormented her memories.

Even now she wondered- was it the proximity to the 'goodly' mortal that triggered these thoughts?- had it really happened? Had she really lived that life? Could she have possibly... for a moment, the rauko hovered on the precipice of epiphany but frightened and solitary a creature as she was, she backed away from it. It represented a moment of contradiction, perhaps, a creature of change frightened away by it and would later come to represent a shift in how she would perceive the world but that, like so many other stories, is a creature still in its egg and infancy and happy to be there. A truth, ready and waiting to be relieved of its burdens but still happy to carry them. A child and slave.

"There are many tracks..."

For a moment the demon vacillated, torn between two polar wants and needs. She had walked this road so recently! She had thought it to be over and done with! What had she told the mortal- to take a path and stick to it? What an unperceptive, ludicrous hypocrite she was! Where had her conviction gone? Her single-minded pursuit of the cause- it was her only defense, her only possible means of achieving her dream. It was a dream at any price. A dream that could only come at any price. There was no room for doubt or hesitation, no room for the small creatures that now gnawed at her soul. Guilt, the rauko recognized. Guilt, the rauko abhorred. She had become so weak, so indecisive! So lacking in the qualities that had won her attention and prestige in her life. If it could be called a life. Damnit, she would not be able to change the world like this. She wouldn't even be able to change herself like this, let alone a world that did not wish for true change to occur. Not on the scale she envisioned.

The cauldron started to boil over, a defense against the encroaching doubts. Puppet the man called her. And like any truth it stung. And the cauldron filled and then spilled its gory contents. She was one with the anger now, and the surge of emotion gave her a chance to escape from the doubts that confused her and tortured her yet. It was a temporary reprieve but she could not avoid it. She was not strong enough to ride into this battle head on. Her hand was on her mace now, without her having willed it to go there.

"If I am a puppet it is because of you!" The rauko screamed, almost incoherently. Her voice rose above the rain. Above the thunder. "Whose nature created this world? The gods? The gods do not have the imagination- they do not have the wit! Mortals made the world! Mortals filled it with despair!" The anger ebbed. The rauko regained control of herself- and with that said she also regained the clarity of purpose that had eluded her. She breathed in and out slowly.

"I will see to it that Raku dies. No matter the cost."

(OOC: this is the best side of Vex? God, I'd hate to meet her on a bad day... XD Im glad you're enjoying it! Tis the point, no? *sighs* I know, but it's not very fun, sometimes, is it? =P
Oh, and I notice that you are joining the side of nature for this upcoming hidden war. That could be amusing...)

Aneirin looked the demon up and down for what seemed like the thousandth time this day, taking in this time how tired it looked, how bedraggled and tired it seemed. This time, it saw a wounded animal, sick in mind, if not in body. Its scarlet hair was slicked around its head, and the armour it wore seemed to hang heavy off its shoulders. It seemed a creature not at its full strength, as some demons gnawed at its soul. He would have laughed at himself on some other occasion, both for the irony of demons bothering a demon, and for the thought that this creature had a soul... Although, sometimes it seemed....

He brought himself back to the present as something seemed to take hold of the demon, bubbling over in its mind, and screaming through its body, infusing it with some terrible madness. "If I am a puppet it is because of you!" It roared with all the fury of the storm above them, anger now seeming to pound visibly through its veins as it shook with what seemed to be rage, "Whose nature created this world? The gods? The gods do not have the imagination- they do not have the wit! Mortals made the world! Mortals filled it with despair!"

Aneirin almost laughed, again, but this time, he decided it may be a bad idea. With the state that the demon existed in at this moment, vitriolic madness boiling at the corners of its mind, it could do anything, and probably would do anything. Aneirin was not one to kid himself that he could stand up in a fight against this thing.

“I will see to it that Raku dies, no matter the cost.” It muttered, its words only heard through a lull in the clashes of the heavens above. The demon fought a lost battle; Aneirin thought, after all, what chance did one creature stand against a God? Still, he did not voice his thoughts, instead added, “and so you fight darkness by killing those who are innocent of all? A noble method, I am sure...”

It now seemed to Aneirin that what he attempted to do was bring this demon back into his own tracks, not merely try to dissuade it from action, and it was an odd feeling, that of his mind running away before him, and not quite telling his conscious self to keep up. This had definitely been an odd night, full of odd thoughts. Aneirin wiped water out of his eyes, and was conscious of how wet he was getting, and knew that they needed to find shelter soon. Still, was it safe, to take this creature with him? His mind shook, running down many paths, returning again to this very spot. What could he do?

“Decide on your course. And then stick to it." the demon’s words flashed again through his mind.

“Demon,” he called, “The matter of who created this world is moot. You are a puppet by your own actions, and by your unwillingness to stick to the track you started. Simply killing these innocents is helping Raku grow stronger every day. You claim to wish to kill him, yet still you insist on aiding him. What now? You seek your end, but this is a spiral into madness. How can this end?” Where was he going with this? Aneirin continued to question himself, but still had no answers. Soon, however, he suspected he would find out...

OOC: My bad, I saw the topic but then got distracted by the Easter stuff. And yes, very interesting indeed. :hifty:

IC:

Had she just done that? Her crowning ambition, her raison d'être- had she really just tossed them to the winds to be judged, admired and perhaps slandered? Or worse, laughed at? For a moment, dizzying vertigo threatened to swamp the fury that had boiled hot and heavy, liquid metal from the bowels of the world, in Vex's veins but the moment passed and the fury remained. Not the boiling stuff of which dreams and nightmares are made, but the pleasant sizzle of the smith's forge and the intensity of the crucible in which all blades are tempered. Purpose was its name. Vex would adhere to it as she would nothing else. She had surrendered long ago to its siren song- it would be a lie, and though she might call herself a liar, the rauko would not lie to herself: though it might not be in her fate to slay the God of what crept and scratched beneath the Ground it had claimed her anyways. And Fate would not let go. She would be a blade broken and then reforged to fight against the world entire.

But she would listen. Purpose had a great many paths- and though she was taking that of least resistance it might very well be that there were other ways she could achieve her desire. The road would be long regardless. Gods were on a different level- she had understood this the moment she had embarked on this perilous journey but for some reason it was only now that the understanding was truly materializing and revealing itself to be something useful. She saw the road now- saw it snake by unto infinity. She was like a chair, and the gods the carpenter. As she was and as she would be she would most likely be used and abused just as severely as in the past. She would have to learn patience- a skill that looked as daunting as any other but perhaps just as useful if not more. And she could begin here. Begin here where the wound still ached and her grievances bled out like monstrous dragons.

And he, the simple woodsman, stoked the anger, truly he did. He knew- she could tell. Knew how futile her quest was, how long the odds were. If she acted as she did and as she had it was because she had no choice. If what aided Raku aided her more- well then, she would not be particularly adverse to it, would she? He must know- he had to know what it was that had moved her: the anger, its purity burning away the doubts and concerns of lesser beings. Surely he was not so conceited as to believe in the lies of those with lesser hearts- surely he, who talked with a demon instead of attacking it- understood the futility of an all-encompassing morality? Why this dance then? For what reason, for what pur- but even the thought of the word burned in her mind, illuminating. It's majesty was unquestioned. She had learned much on this day. Perhaps it would be best if she did not presume to know what she had not learned. Answers would come as they would. She would not coax them out of their shelter.

He finished his spiel. Vex would not start her own. It was here she would make a stand of some at least. She owed it to who she was and who she would be.

"What would you have me do? Beg those that will not change the ways of the world to change it? Become an arse-licking paladin? A knight?" The rauko spat. "Do not humor me, mortal. You know, you understand that to embark on this road is to enter madness. Raku lives still because he is part of what is sane. One enters madness prepared to sacrifice everything."

"What would you have me do?"

What was he doing? The thought burbled through Aneirin's mind like the constant rumble of thunder overhead, or the hissing of the rain as it spat through the trees - ever present, and ever trying to erode the foundations of his thoughts. He was parleying with a demon, bantering as though it were just another sane human, almost playing a game with it. His thoughts were a torrent, a raging through his mind as he continued to try to play out how the scenario could end, and where he could take it. But now, he realised, it was time to change. What is the point of trying to map out where a flood-river will take you once you are caught within its grasp? When you are committed, you just wait, and hope, and struggle to survive, struggle not to be caught up and swept away by its foaming waters.

He returned to the raging surging of his mind; the multitude of possible routes and tracks, and instantly silenced it. It was of no use to him now. He was committed; he would ride these floodwaters to their end, and pray that he came out unscathed. Perhaps it would even turn out to be a blessing in disguise. After all, what doesn’t kill you...

He could see his little speech aggravating the demon, could see the smouldering anger struggling to burst into flame inside its body, and he almost smiled. The demon began to talk again, its harsh voice as clear-cut as a whip crack. Vitriol burned in its tone, sizzling through the rain, “"What would you have me do? Beg those that will not change the ways of the world to change it? Become an arse-licking paladin? A knight?" No, Aneirin thought to himself, this demon would never be a paladin, no matter where life led it. There was too much madness inside it, too much change.

Then, "What would you have me do?" This gave Aneirin pause for a minute. He wondered for an instant whether the demon would actually consider anything that Aneirin had to say, but then dismissed the idea as folly. Still...

“I do not know, demon. That is not my path to figure out, not my burden to bear.” The time for speeches was done. The demon had changed its tack, had actually stood up on its own legs, and it was right for Aneirin to respond in kind. He stood firm in the face of the demon’s anger, calm to its rage, and sanity to its madness. Or he hoped he was sane, standing and bantering with a demon... “I would suggest...” a small, silent pause, filled with the wind and the rain, “you change...” Aneirin thought back to the demon’s earlier comment, how you should choose one path and stick to it, and sighed slightly with the folly of that idea. That led little room for change, and in this world, this inflexibility could very well prove fatal. The demon seemed to fight against the world, instead of flowing with it, tried so hard to resist the pull of the inevitable. It was admirable, he supposed, if foolish. But then, again, before the demon responded, something took over him, something reckless and foolhardy. “If, that is, you don’t fear change...” So, almost in kind, at least.

What was he doing? The question that merely murmured in his subconscious once again rose to the fore, and a disquieting idea rose up with it. Was it possible... He paused. Could it be that he was trying to save this creature? Was he trying to pull it back from the edge of its madness, trying to save it from the path to its certain destruction? He felt this river tugging ever faster at his soul, and clung for dear life to what he hoped was a way out...