You Want Another Scar? Okay... (Hayl)

[Aello]

Spring 88, 511 AV Aello was sitting in the center of one of the narrower Ravokian alleyways. One of the only, predominately abandoned ones that led away from the Merchant's Ring. Stacked next to her was her bag, her bow resting against its side. She stood in silence, with her eyes closed as a gentle breeze swept through the street, rustling her clothes, and sweeping her long brown hair off her shoulders. She took in a deep breath, before letting it out, and raising her arms over her head as she breathed in through her nose once more. As she exhaled, she lowered her arms to her side. As she continued breathing, she repeated this process ten times, before she allowed herself to fall gracefully to the floor. Within a few seconds, Aello had folded her body into the lotus position, and placed her hands on her knees, palms facing upwards, towards the darkening sky. Large, grey clouds rolling in from the west, seemingly promising the city a thunder storm, sometime later in the day. Slowly, Aello opened her mouth as wide as it would go, and breathed in. She held her breath for seven seconds, until it filled her lungs completely, before letting it out. As she did so, she closed her mouth, and continued the process much like this, relaxing her face after each cycle of taking in breath, and then letting it back out. Aello took several more, deep cleansing breaths before she began pointing her toes, in order to feel a stretch along the length of her legs. Gently, she released the muscles, allowing them to relax, before she gently pushed her hands into her knees, forcing them down, towards the ground, creating yet another stretch. She held this position for about a minute, before letting up on her knees, returning her body to its former state. Although now, her legs had grown somewhat limp, loose and relaxed. Aello wiggled her arms, gently, allowing them to loosen up too, before stopping, simply allowing herself to breath deeply as she enjoyed the lotus position. Her new-found sense of calm. She could feel her sense of calm, of relaxation coursing through her body. Starting in her toes, and making its way up through her ankles, into the lower half of her legs. Aello took another deep breath in through her nose, and out through her mouth, before she began to feel her growing sense of relaxation make its way into hr knees, then the upper half of her legs. They were beginning to feel heavy, as though something or someone were pushing or dragging them into the floor. As if she were tethered to this particular spot on the ground; so very serene was she. Aello's sense of calm was now reaching the higher portions of her body- her backside, pelvic area, abdomen, and then her back. She could sense the gentle rising and falling of her stomach as she continued to breath, as she allowed her sense of calm to trickle up her spine and towards her neck, where it fanned out and into her arms, and then her hands; to her pale fingertips. Everything was simply growing so heavy, like she was being dragged down. Like she would never be able to get herself up. Everything was limp. The feeling flowed upwards, into her head. Forcing itself past her chin, her cheeks, nose eyes and forehead, to the very top, where it poured itself out through each individual strand of hair. Everything was now loose, everything was feeling heavy. Aello's entire body, was now experiencing a deep sense of relaxation. Of pure bliss. Slowly, Aello brought her hands together, and used her left thumb, as well as her middle and pointer fingers to gently squeeze her right thumb. As she did so, she breathed deeply in through her nose, holding her breath for seven seconds until it filled her lungs, and caused them to sting, before letting it out. Whispering the single word,"relax," as she breathed in, and "I am calm," in her mind, as she breathed out. Aello's entire body felt strangely warm as she simply allowed herself to enjoy this feeling; something so hard to come by in a city such as Ravok. After several minutes, she decided it was time to reawaken. She began to count, "one, becoming more alert and energetic. Two, feeling calm, and a little more awake. Three, almost entirely awake, ready to go back to my day. Four," Aello opened her eyes, and unfolded her legs. "Five," Aello was on her feet and completely awake, rejuvenated, and ready to go. The wind swept her hair off her shoulders once more, and caressed her face with its ethereal touch, before fading away. Aello smiled weakly, as she pulled her hood over her head, masking her face in shadow. She was just reaching for her bag when she heard the shuffling of feet, a pebble rolling across the street and into the wall. Aello stopped moving as every muscle in her body stiffened, and her breath caught in her throat. Someone was coming.

[Hayl]

“Alley alley… I could use and alley!” Hayl muttered as he sprinted down the walkway with three larger men closing in. “You’re dead! No one steals from me!” one of them yelled. “It wasn’t that much of a challenge.” He said to any who could hear, while carrying a black silk shirt with gold coins in it. “When we report your ugly face to the guards you will regret this…” "Ugly!?…” Hayl distracted his rationalizing the situation by observing his fleeing face in the dark water close to the edge of the walkway. “Eh… I could use some sleep.” He soon grew tired of the chase and realized an escape that was so perfect he had no choice but to react instantly to it as he stopped at a sharp corner and noticed an alley on the upper-side of the walkway, which was not visible to the oncoming angry men still yelling obscenities towards him. He then glanced to his right and saw the water sloshing on the outside of the walkway; he traced it around the corner and then reacted. Hayl stepped out of site to the pursuers by continuing down the corner, disappearing behind a building. When the three men rounded the corner and could see Hayl in relevance to them, they were greeted with their things being hurled head level at them. The contraband parcel hit the center man square in the face, spraying coins in a reflective explosion. Some on-lookers screamed as they scrambled to fill their pockets, crowding the three, even knocking one into the water. Hayl used the opportunity to escape down the alley, watching it narrow more and more in front of him.

As soon as he realized he was in the clear, he cursed everyone and thing he could think of for losing all that money and the nice shirt. He began to recollect the event and tried to decipher methods that would make his escape possible with the items, but before he could review his mistakes, he interrupted himself by brushing against a narrowing wall. He had to turn sideways to fit through the rest of the alley before he chose the left leg of a fork. It widened, but the ally was filthy and seemingly rarely walked in. He haphazardly kicked a rock and stood silently listening to it skitter down the loud hallow planks. With no noise to respond to his own he continued walking around one last corner before he saw such thick darkness. ‘I hope there are no seemingly harmless girls in here…’ he thought to himself as he penetrated the darkness. His brain brought his attention to some recently healed wounds on his body, beckoning him to recollect his wisdom for being in such an unforgiving place.

He stopped and listened to his heart beat for awhile, allowing his senses to analyze his surroundings. Something ominous indeed was about this place, something that made Hayl’s first reaction to want to continue walking or running to get out of the darkness. However, the cunning in him drove his eyes to look at the very darkness his brain tried so desperately to have him ignore. Without thinking his right hand moved up his left wrist and he grasped the hilt to his dagger. He placed his tunnel-vision on the deepest of the darkness and stared long and hard, before he could decipher a figure standing in it. He felt his heart skipped and could sense dangerous eyes upon him so he then drew his dagger with a sharp click and slashed horizontally at the figure, attempting to maim the right shoulder.

[Aello]

Aello's magic picked up on the figure long before her vision did, allowing her to see Hayl coming before he so much as caught a glimpse of her shadow. Magic really does come handy in a city such as this, Aello thought to herself, if only you know where to look to find the things which you seek... She couldn't see much of him, just a pale yellow outline surrounding his form, telling her simply that he was being cowardly. Running from something. Real fighters, the brave, stood up and fought in her opinion. They didn't turn tail and run. But then again, this one is a street rat, her brain added, as though by ways of explanation, which did nothing to change Aello's opinion of him. As far as she was concerned, he could find another way to get by for one. And kill the ones after him as well, surely there couldn't be too many for him to handle? And if there were, did he truly have any right to try the darker arts? Activities reserved only for the strong? As far as the girl could tell, the man that approached her wasn't in the best shape either. Not when his flesh glowed a pale red color in four separate areas- his foot, a slender red line on his upper left abdomen, another, deeper and darker one on his upper right shoulder, and the deepest towards the center of the stomach. All marks of the blade, Aello knew, although these are largely healed over. They may hurt from time to time though, and prove to be his weaker spots. Something to keep in mind, just in case he tries to do anything... stupid. There was a slight pause as Aello simply watched him, coming closer and closer as though going this way was the only way out; as though he had to go through her. Those wounds were inflicted by your own hand, not too long ago, her mind whispered. You have fought this one before... you let him live... Aello could just make out his shadow shifting, pulling something out of the folds of his clothing. More than likely some sort of weapon, she figured, although, she was hardly able to process this, now that her heart was beginning to pound in her tiny rib cage. Now that her pupils had dilated. And now that he was throwing himself at her, weapon raised, only seconds later, she barely had time to react by quickly backing up and out of the way. Out of range. Aello gasped as she practically stumbled over her steps, how had he seemingly recognized her when she could hardly make out the sight of his face? Aello's eyes grew wide as her hand rushed to her side, seconds later, her right hand was curling around the hilt of her cursed dagger; bringing it out of hiding. The blood that stained it glistened as she brought the dagger to its resting position, its tip resting in a space deathly close to her elbow; causing her skin to chill; a shiver to shoot up her spine. When she was as certain as she could be, that she had backed up into a safe position, she asked, "so do you always greet people this way, or is it just me?" hoping to withhold the fact that she knew what she had already done to him. That she knew he finally healed more recently. After all, if he couldn't honestly recognize her, or if he thought that she failed to recognize him, was there truly any need to finish what they had already begun?

[Hayl]

He recoiled from his attack and processed the distinct sounds of the figure’s weapon being drawn. His mind flustered as he pieced the matter together in an already drained brain. The height of the figure, the disturbing quiet of the setting, he swore he could recognize the shrill sharp breaths. Then she spoke. Her voice raised his blood. His eyes swelled with focus, and his heart near stopped from the shock. He should have reacted with a negative means. He should have asked the gods, what are the odds of this? He should have at least readied a defense, but when heard her voice he couldn’t hide his smile. He stood straight and spoke warmly, “If it isn’t my favorite demon in the dark.” He tried to focus on the details of her face, he was sure she had the emotionless scowl from last time. Her curved blade shimmered in the dark and Hayl instantly felt a pang in his gut. He couldn’t resist his unarmed hand moving to hold the area, “You know you almost killed me that last time.” His eyes lowered to release focus and zone into the black nothing. His life had been hell since he came to Ravok. He began to find himself stuck in many dark alleys running from something. This whole time he spent away from the dung heap he called home has been the true test of his manhood, and he was beginning to feel like a failure.

“Maybe you could finish this time…” his tone not so much challenging, not even coy, but perhaps wanting. He never wanted to fight her, and this time he was weighing the risk of not even trying. He was still and advocate for words and no matter how much he forced himself into violence. Plus he was beginning to think he liked this crazy woman. Not because she was attractive or dark or anything, but she was consistent. In fact her craziness was the most normal thing he had seen in a long while, and he would kiss her for it if she wouldn’t cut his face off. Regardless, he wasn’t going to fight her, even if that meant he was going to die, at this point he felt his life was worthless anyway and his lack of friends or family would make it seem almost right anyway.

[Aello]

Aello stepped back, allowing her eyes to pass over every inch of Hayl's body. "Glad to know I'm a fan favorite," Aello chuckled, as she ran her thumb over the length of her dagger's hilt. Moving it slowly, back and forth, in a strangely calming motion as she took deep breaths, in through the nose, and out through the mouth. Everything within her was in a frenzy. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, her heart was pounding in her chest. Although she hadn't truly started fighting, sweat had appeared on her brow, and she felt unnaturally warm. Her head was spinning, screaming. Telling her she shouldn't simply be standing in place, studying the form of a complete stranger. Instead, she should be lunging for him, twisting towards him, doing anything and everything it would take to plunge her dagger into his flesh, and finish that which she had started during their last meeting. "And yes, I do remember. I must have left quite the number of marks upon your flesh... perhaps even more within the confines of your mind," Aello finally responded, as she pushed her murderous thoughts from her mind, at least for a little while. She paused for a moment, tilting her head slightly to the side as she tightened her hilt on the dagger. "It was a mistake though, to let you live," Aello went on. "Perhaps, then, I should try to finish what I started." With that, Aello let each of her muscles tense up. She could feel them rippling beneath her flesh, as she pushed the colors from her mind. The way her mind whispered whenever they were around. "Prepare yourself," was all the girl said as she sprang forward, darting towards Hayl at an alarming rate. When she neared him, and was within striking distance, the girl bent her knees all the more, and allowed herself to sink towards the ground. When her head had become level with the man's waist or so, Aello pushed her dagger wielding hand back even more than she had while she was running, and then thrust it towards his left leg, in an attempt to severely injure it. To end the fight swiftly, and be on her way. As soon as the attack had landed, or even missed, Aello would push up against her feet, and force herself onto the side of her body. She would then roll towards the left, out of her opponent's reach, and then right herself. Face him once more. Prepare herself for both an offensive move, and a defensive one. OOCI think Aello was at the higher end of the competent level at this time... so I am going to try to play to that...

[Hayl]

‘Prepare yourself…’ he scoffed at her words. They became bland and redundant. ‘No… I think not this time.’ He closed his eyes and kept his guard down, bracing for impact. He was expecting the worst. Quick images flashed through his mind of the flash of metal blurring with red spraying from his neck. The expectation of his lungs being torn of their breath from his chest. A flash of white as he would be impaled in the head. The real blow to his leg was so unexpected that it scared the hell out of him. He gasped when the blade made contact, dropping his own dagger with a distinct metal clang. A strange mixture of relief and frustration swarmed him, then his mind was forced to focus on nothing but the pain on his leg. It replayed the motion a thousand times in his head. The sharp penetration deep into his mid right thigh, the painful sense of the foreign object forcing its way through flesh, and the vibration of his bone raddled its way up to his skull. If it wasn’t broken, it was certainly nicked by the blade. He opened his eyes and looked at it. He smiled a gritted grin and began to attempt a breathless laugh. He fell to his butt with his untouched leg buckling from his weight. His injured leg shot out straight and from the dark cloth began to rush dark blood. Hayl moaned under a pressed smile as he squinted again from the pain, forcing all the urges of panic to go away.

“Hah… No bright red blood…. Bu….but I think you clipped a nerve…” He finished saying under a clenched jaw. Finally his brain began to think logically. ‘Why had she not made a killing blow? Either she is doing her sadist thing and playing around, or she could be expecting me to fight after all… It can’t be something else can it?’ His eyes instantly looked at his dagger. His shaky hand reached for it and grasped it firmly pointing the blade at her. His complexion grew paler and paler almost like he seemed to be a ghost in the darkness. He looked down the blade at her face, or at least what he could make of it in the darkness with his keen eyes distracted from pain. He didn’t notice the sweat that began to run from his hair line, as he threw the dagger over his shoulder away from the both of them. “I said I was done fighting… Your move.” He did decent to say this in a recovered tone.

Maybe she would kill him, he wouldn’t stop her. This moment where life was supposed to be flashing before his eyes was filled with nothing but corpses and money. He thought of a few girls he liked, but wasn’t skilled enough to get the same appreciation. He had no real friends, peers, but no friends as they were mainly competition. He thought of his own mother, who sold herself to try everything she could to give him a life of his own, and look how he had wasted it. The life of a petty thief…’I’m done.’

[Aello]

After Aello had gotten back onto her feet, she stared at Hayl. Her eyes were locked upon his, shooting daggers, ignoring the sight of his blood pouring from his leg. The wound she had just inflicted. "What do you mean you won't fight?" Aello growled, her muscles tensing, her grip tightening around the hilt of her dagger. Every hair on the back of her neck seemed to be standing on end with her rising level of agitation. Every last ounce of red pigmentation, pouring into her cheeks, causing them to grow both rosy, and warm. Aello heard his dagger clatter on the ground behind him. Her eyes darted to it, and then back to Hayl. The girl could feel her body growing rigid as she strode over to Hayl. Towered over him. Hunched a little, her shadow curling over the gentle slope of his cheek, his chin. She extended her left hand to him, and reached for a clump of hair. To jerk his head back a little, so she could stare icily into his eyes, as she held her dagger against his neck. Pressing against the area above his Adam's apple forcefully, but not enough so where it drew blood. "You have to fight, unless you intend to forfeit your life," Aello growled. The young spiritist would lean in a little more then, getting right in Hayl's face. "Is that what you want street rat? To put your life in the hands of another, without so much as entertaining her with your sad excuse for a fight?"

[Hayl]

He looked into her eyes and smiled, “You do have pretty eyes.” He had no intention of acknowledging her demand he had made his mind up when he first realized it was her. The cold knife on his neck made him nervous, but he was confident that he would never be happy unless he understood himself. He wasn’t forfeiting his life to her, he was trying to do what he thought was the right thing and if he died doing it at least he would die doing something he felt was worth it. He would die for a principle, for the chance to prove something if not to anyone, to himself. For the first time in years he could care less about money and greed, and this birth driven desire to be better than the next person no matter what, had finally subsided.

“I’d like to ask you a question before you kill me.” He raised his eyebrows, his head bobbing up and down as he spoke under her fist of his hair. He tried to keep his coyness, but the thought of being on the edge of death was definitely an impact, yet somehow he found a way to drive himself with his own fear. “I guess before I ask a question I should explain some things first.” He smiled for a second before he took a deep breath and started. “When I first met you, I thought you were some crazy lady who had managed to survive her life in the shadows a from all the things you have experienced, you became a deadly monster.” He paused again, “I was primarily right, but I came at you with the wrong offense. If I fight you, I would probably die or end up close to dying again. Then I could continue my miserable life of cowardice, I think is how you would put it, until I run into you or something like you again and end up dying for real. Because you see lady, I have nothing, and no one. I’m not happy and I cannot stand wondering this stupid city any longer without any purpose. So kill me or don’t, regardless I don’t think you are too far off from what I am, and lady, your time to run into your monster in the dark is coming.”

He thought about saying more, but he felt the shortness of the matter and the boldness of his actions would have a greater impact. He dreaded this moment most of all. The moment where he would wait for the killing blow. Not so much the action its self, but the seconds or hours it would feel like for the process to be carried through. But he searched his thoughts, and felt that what he was doing was almost like a calming drug on him. He had a large grin that could not contain his experience. ‘I must be happy.’ He decided for himself and locked his eyes on the attacker, the judgment.

OOCYour move

[Aello]

"Make it quick," Aello spat, as she dug the dagger more deeply into the man's throat. Flattening his flesh as she waited. As she listened. "You know street rat, that wasn't exactly a question," the girl sneered, as she jerked his face back, and tightened her fist around his hair. As she leaned in a little more closely. "It was more or less a statement regarding your pitiful existence. Your desires, and your feelings." Aello paused as she pressed the dagger against the man's throat all the more forcefully, moved it slowly, back and forth, hoping to spill a slender line of blood. "So street rat, what is your question?" Aello asked, her voice cold as ice. "For you may ask it if you wish, but only within the next ten seconds or so, for after that, I will slit your throat with my bloodied blade." Aello paused, taking time to wet her lips with her tongue. "Even if you refuse to fight back, it will be better than leaving you to roam the city streets... Rhysol only knows we don't need another quite like you." OOCWait, do you want me to kill him? Because that can be arranged. *Rubs hands together in a very sinister manner*

[Hayl]

Hayl squinted one eye as she pressed the blade into his throat. He felt the raspy pain of his collapsed esophagus, and the releasing pressure as his flesh began to split from the blade. He couldn’t focus on what she was saying, except the last part. His eyes began to water from the choked sensation he felt, and he didn’t notice the blood leaking from his neck. The wound sufficient enough to drop one large drop of blood that would drip from the lowest side of the dagger, however it didn’t puncture his windpipe, he could still very much speak and retort to her remark and demands.

“That’s… exactly what I’m saying.” He spoke through phlegm swelling in his throat. He swallowed uncomfortably as he tried to regain his composure for the extra allotted time to speak for his life. He took a moment to think tactically, because he didn’t want to plead for his life. He knew that she would probably react negatively to something so pathetic, and Hayl never really begged for anything he needed. It was sort of a stupid code he felt was necessary to go along with deception. ‘Do what you can to better yourself, but face the consequences like a man when you are left with nothing else.’ Despite his attempt to redo his priorities, he felt this was a quality worth keeping. “I stole for myself… lived for myself… fought for myself… never once for anyone else, and I’m tired of this life. A life that you perhaps live, in fact, I’m pretty sure if I keep living for myself I will become you. A monster that lives off of other people for their own pleasure.” He smiled as he seemed pretty confident of his retort, “So here is my question.” He stared into her eyes for a moment before he spoke, “Do you really feel happy?” He knew that her immediate response would be something like, ‘Yes, so long as I can continue to kill.’ But he hoped that she would think beyond now. At the moments when there is no one and nothing to do except think about the last kill and prepare for the next.

oocOf course not, Hayl is my first character, and my favorite. I just don’t want to lump him into the thief fad that is going on. I want him to be special with a more rich history. If he survives this then I will write a solo for him that sort of begins the whole new understanding, but I don’t want to push you to do something that Aello wouldn’t do, so I’m willing to risk it regardless.