exsilium | second rune; death; video

Entry tags:

second rune; death; video

[When the feed starts, the netbook's camera shows you a view of the forest floor. A deer carcass lies among the grass and twigs, and it's obvious that the poor thing did not have a clean death. It's in the advanced stages of decomposition, even though the blood around its body is red and fresh. The camera does not linger on this image for more than a few seconds; it pans upward, to show Koltira's face.

He's standing over the deer, holding the device in one hand, holding Byfrost with the other. Agony creases his expression: his jaw is clenched, his eyes narrowed, every muscle in his pale, sallow face is taut with pain. The guttural growl of his voice occasionally rises in octave as he talks, as though something is beating the shit out of him from the inside.]

Were we brought here to fight for something, or to waste time reliving the past? Send. Us. On. A mission.

[He stabs the tree next to him with Byfrost, and the sword glows sickly green; the tree bark begins to decay rapidly, as though it's practically melting. Diseased fumes pour out of the bark, forming a nasty miasma around Koltira's body.]

I need a battle. [he hisses, and blood trickles from the corner of his mouth as he bites down on the inside of his cheek.] Now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was no pleasure of mine, I assure you!

[ He realizes he's shouting and takes a breath to calm himself. The appearance of the lake goes utterly unnoticed, though, with Koltira hogging all of his attention.

More quietly, but just as assured: ] I will not leave the safety of the people to something as easily overcome as seclusion. There is an entire city of people behind us, and people are inclined to wander.

Tch. [he makes a gesture of dismissal.] You really think I am no more than a simple monster, don't you?

You have not a single notion of how much I was holding back, even in my deepest moment of delirium. Perhaps you will understand someday.

[he approaches the edge of the lake and then starts to walk on its surface. The water freezes under his boots; the effect looks like so many large ice-roses forming and then connecting to make a bridge that extends behind and in front of him.]

[ Ashraf just barely manages to stop at the edge of the lake, and is a little surprised for a moment. Kind of not what he'd expected this walk to turn into. But he has no plans to follow Koltira out onto the open water, and watches with a frustrated frown. ]

That only makes you all the more dangerous, as far as I'm concerned.

[ He raises his voice to be heard, but it's still a few notches down from his earlier shout. ]

[the bridge remains, its sturdy ice sparkling in the darkness. Koltira sits down, and the ice spreads around him, creating a nice little platform.]

There's just no reasoning with you, is there? [he sighs, and shrugs, wincing slightly. All right. To business. He talks a while longer as he shuts his eyes and arranges his legs into a lotus position.]

I am a sin'dorei, and before that a quel'dorei, a high elf. My people loved magic to the point of addiction. For many, it became their downfall ... but for others, there were ways to manage.

[ It's no more than any wizard of Rune-Midgard can do, Ashraf tells himself— but then privately has to admit that a wizard certainly wouldn't be handling a weapon as well in the way that Koltira does. Still, he makes a decent attempt not to be impressed. ]

And what of it?

[he loves that you physically work to be a dick to him, Ashraf. Koltira closes his eyes, and the fire in them dims slightly, as does Byfrost's glow.]

We were taught to find something to anchor us to this world, to our sense of self, and to focus on it to the exclusion of all else. In this way, we could meditate to control our impulses.

[ He frowns, not at all sold by this. It's only words, after all. And as for actions, he still remembers the pain quite well. Ashraf glances around quickly, memorizing the lay of the lake to allow for a warp portal to this precise location at a later point. ]

I pray to God your meditations go successfully. [ It doesn't sound like the kindly sort of prayers people usually talk about, though. ] I will be back to see if they do.

[ And then he turns, robes swirling, and disappears into a bright white light. He'll be back. ]

[hey ashraf; he just met you, and this is crazy, but lose his number and fuck off maybe?? AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN LET HIM TRY THIS METHOD.

He says nothing more as Ashraf turns away. After he's gone, Koltira bites down on his lower lip, drawing blood.]

[ yeah NOT A CHANCE. He got your number for good, boy. And in fact, about three days later, he will be back for a visit. His arrival is silent, with a spinning blue glow and nothing else to warn of his appearance.

He's wary as he steps onto the forest floor, glancing around quickly before his eyes land on the lake— and hopefully, onto Koltira. ]

[AND HE SITS AMONG A PILE OF CORPSES no actually it's just him, still there, in the exact same spot in the middle of the lake, not moved an inch.]

[ Well, that's... incredibly relieving. He probably wouldn't see the difference if Koltira had gotten up to go flay a bunch of innocent people, but something about the stillness (peacefulness?) of the scene leads him to believe the man truly hasn't moved.

He watches for a few seconds before glancing away, somewhat awkwardly. It's been... a strange few days, and he's given himself far too much time to think. Seeing Koltira again only compounds it, really. After a moment he shifts, moving to take a seat on the trunk of a nearby fallen tree. ]

[hey, his douchebag sense is tingling. After about fifteen minutes of quiet, Koltira opens one bright blue eye. He hears a heart beating, and his ears twitch. What are you gonna do, Ashraf?]

[ He is, in fact, going to... not notice! The fifteen minutes have led him to assume Koltira is too deeply lost in his meditations to notice anything at all, and he's felt free to rest his elbows on his knees and his forehead in his hand. Probably not the best idea, lowering his guard around an enemy, but this lake, so far outside the grime of the city, is... strangely calming. ]

[Koltira rolls the open eye and then shuts it. He knows someone is there, and he has a few solid guesses as to who it is, but he's not close enough yet to be disturbing. Koltira licks a bit of the fresh blood--dark green, his own--from his lips. Hardly any; he's been doing well today.]

[ Unfortunately, naptime here can't last forever. In time Ashraf sighs and shifts, pushing himself back to his feet. He'd best make one circuit around the lake and Koltira, just to be sure he hasn't missed anything, before he heads back to the city. So he starts forward, approaching the lake as near as he dares, and then picking his way along the shore. ]

[you are messing with his zen thing, now. He chose this lake because it was way in the middle of goddamn n o w h e r e and because it was fucking quiet. He opens his eyes and glares, his voice extra-rough from not speaking for several days.]

Do you need something?

[ wow uh. hi there. Ashraf freezes, looking a little startled and a little guilty, before easing back into the usual calm. ]

No. [ He stares a few seconds longer, then seems to discover a patch of ground that warrants study. ] Do you?

[frowning.] You could leave, for a start.

[it may be worth nothing that, in Ashraf's absence, Koltira has idly created a kind of sunburst design of ice-roads all around the lake. Narrow ice bridges are sparkling everywhere, all leading to the platform in the center.]

[ All perfectly beautiful, and Ashraf trusts none of them. Of course, he wouldn't trust them even if they'd been created by someone else—a guy from a desert just never gets too familiar with large bodies of water.

He nods, holds a while longer, and resumes his slow hike. ]

I will, shortly.

[becoming irritated.]

What are you doing, exactly?

No more than I'd promised. [ scopin the area, bro. There's like a billion places to hide bodies that he could have missed from his original warp in! ]

[HE WILL FIND NOTHING, because there isn't anything to find. Meanwhile, Ashraf's shuffling--and his heartbeat--are aggravating the fuck out of Koltira. He struggles to keep hold on his chosen anchor, exhaling slowly to ease the tension in his muscles.]

If you come 'round again, bring me some scotch.

[ The continued nothing-out-of-order is making a pretty good case for the rest of his stroll finding more of the same, and Ashraf is beginning to feel a little ridiculous for conducting it under scrutiny. So he pauses, looking over the water to Koltira again. ]

...Do you drink? [ Maybe a stupid question, but not really one he'd considered before. He'd just assumed the dead would be past things like alcohol. (A theory Bariyan would soundly disprove, if Ashraf devoted any real thought to it.) ]

As often as I possibly can. Vendel'o eranu. It has some effect.

[he hopes you aren't a teetotaler as well, Ashraf, though he would hardly be surprised.]

[ He's not sure about that mystery language—the name of a drink, maybe?—but he's... actually considering it. That's stranger than anything else about this conversation. He's still for a little while longer, then turns wordlessly to disappear into that same circle of bright white light.

Scotch isn't all that expensive. He can spare the money for a bottle. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject