Searching for comfort [Satu]

by **Sorian** on June 9th, 2010, 2:24 am

Sorian didn't budge an inch when Satu immersed herself in the fresh rain, staring at her with bewildered, confused eyes as to her true nature. While he was no seer himself, he could definitely sense that there was something terribly wrong with her, a great nothingness welling up inside, crushing whatever colors she had in her heart. Her wraith-like movements denoted everything inside her, and her empty words became the reflection.

She was like a machine.

She was indeed beautiful; the rain outlined her body perfectly against the skin of her robes, showing her in all her pallor and glory. His newly found ability to be seduced gave him a very delicately hidden urge to keep staring at her, to be taken in by her hypnotic beauty, but he shook his head firmly to deny this. Were all konti so beautiful? He definitely saw a bit of Kavala in her, though they differed very much in the way they dealt with others. Yes, he thought her cruel, if only because he didn't know what she really wanted from Navis, and why she wanted to die so badly. Perhaps she didn't know about the Akalaks, perhaps she was simply suicidal. What he knew was that she didn't fear either of them, and it made him very apprehensive.

"Why... Do you want to... See him?" he asked her, his voice straight and without pain. The rain had washed away some of it from his side, and he sat up to observe her with slight curiosity mixed with caution. The glittering suvai in her waist was indication enough of her apparent skill, and how vulnerable he was if she was provoked.

"Are you... Searching for something?"

by **Satu** on June 11th, 2010, 11:09 pm

Satu turned to leave, but when the Akalak spoke, she whirled back to face him, feet splashing in the puddle of watered down blood. In one long legged stride, the Suvai Fighter covered the small distance between them. Self preservation kept her out of his reach but she leaned in, eyes fixed on his. He stared at her. And she met his gaze, unflinching.

“There is another?” She asked breathlessly, and then looked over her shoulder to the forest. No one was there that she could see. “Or is this a trick, some Akalak deception?” Her face changed as she studied him. Did she trust him? Fingers hovered over the weapons on her hips, a reminder for him to tread carefully.

The HeartSeer could no more explain to him what she searched for then she could understand herself what drove her. So his other question was ignored, thoughts of goals and plans beyond her comprehension now. And in her mind, Satu believed if the Akalak could not bother to understand the obvious differences between Weak and Strong, she would not stoop to explain it to him.

Voice soft, she murmured “I know that Strength is there, I glimpsed it before. But to hide another within… How is that possible, to hold his feelings in your Heart?” Somehow he did though, Power had touched her and it did not belong to the man before her. “He is more powerful than you…” It was a statement, and Excitement built within her, shifting Satu’s mood. As if the Konti and the Akalak shared a secret, her face brightened in conspiracy, “You have hidden him! Where is he? Bid him show himself!”

by **Sorian** on June 12th, 2010, 3:48 pm

Sorian sighed exasperatingly at her demands despite the churning pain that was burning from the hole in his side. He didn't know what to do, because even if he let Navis have his way it wouldn't change the fact that this poor Konti was in more trouble than he was. He shook his head and looked away to the rain outside, pursing his lips after speaking in soft tones. "No... I will not... Let you have... Your way so... Easily, Konti."

He could already sense how badly she misunderstood him, and how clueless she was regarding her own actions. She appeared more like a machine to him than a woman in that instance, driven by a zeal that he couldn't think think more of than the petty whim of a sadistic manipulator. If she couldn't explain why she was doing what she was doing, then he didn't need to hear the reasons either. A stubbornness welled up inside him, refusing to let her have access to him. His heart beat with resounding words into her divinely-inspired gifts: not until you give me a reason.

"Killing me... Won't satisfy your... Curiosity, would it?" He asked, a hint of cunning in his voice. Two hundred years worth of life had not been for naught when it came down to know-how in dangerous instances. If she thought him vulnerable, she would probably be right. If she believed that he wouldn't go down without a fight, however, even if it was a battle of will rather than strength and skill, she was very wrong.

by **Satu** on June 15th, 2010, 5:59 am

Pain filled her Heart as it filled his body. Pain. It struck at her over and over. She wanted it to end, but it did not. The Konti couldn’t conceive how to make it stop, short of killing the Akalak… Kill him? His words played in her mind as she thought their meaning over. The connections most people made between actions and words, took on a far different meaning in Satu’s brain than they did in others. “No,” she replied, wet clothes clinging to her. “It wouldn’t satisfy me. But it would make you stop Hurting…” A blessed relief that would be to her poor Heart! It almost overrode her curiosity to see the Other man.

“What do you fear, Akalak? You argue and argue! But you say nothing… Why are you so stubborn?” The Stubbornness inside of him felt solid and immovable and it grew as she watched, intrigued. Satu did not understand why they were still at a standstill. She had been nothing if not patient. “Do you want me to kill you? Is this what you tempt me with? It is not the easy way, no.” She said thoughtfully, missing his point.

Again, she looked around for the Other. Never could she have imagined how near and how intertwined Sorian and Navis actually were. Finally in a conspirators tone, she said, “Maybe He would show himself for that? If He thought you were in need? He did not come for your Pain. Maybe it was not enough?”

by **Sorian** on June 16th, 2010, 12:10 am

Yes, he was scared. Yes he was in pain, but so was she. She was mad, not with his pain, but hers. It was obvious. There was something, a storm inside the konti that she's been weathering on half a sane mind. All he could do was grip on his wound and fight his own to deny her what she was thinking of. "I am... Not in pain, you lie," he declared softly, his features fighting not to wince nor to show any sort of weakness for her to exploit. He was going to try exploring hers for once.

His gained some strength as he pushed to his feet, body still bowed over with a stiff muscle from the regenerating wound. It was far slower than usual, perhaps because he indeed was in some form or level of fear of her. But he stilled his heart, calmly breathing, washing away the agony of a torn stomach. The rain would also clean it of its wounds for sure. He looked her straight in the eye and smiled, confidence finally regaining some form. "I am not... Afraid, either."

Then a pause. An idea lit up his eyes, and they contorted to a more sinister form. For the first time ever, he was going to try and impersonate Navis, just to give her something to scream about without actually giving it truthfully. Both of his hands fell on either side of him, then balled up into fists that clenched and unclenched. The huge, compact body began to squirm and contort, as if the tendons and blood vessels were going to burst from him. the artificial show was on.

His speech impediment was going to be a hindrance, but luckily she didn't know that Navis possessed none. The voice of softness hardened into a powerful, commanding one, and he glared at her straight and true. "Now... You have me. What... Do you want, konti? You... Sought me. Now you have me."

Inside him, Navis raged and screamed. He wanted to feel insulted that Sorian was attempting to be like him, even though he could not deny to them both that he had always wanted it. Yet Sorian bid him silent; it was his turn, yet.

by **Satu** on June 17th, 2010, 7:21 pm

He was Scared. He was in Pain. And he denied it with his words and his actions. The feelings still moved as a fog around him, unseen to others. Puzzled, Satu wondered why he did it. To deny the Heart, that was unthinkable! Feelings wiped from his face made no difference to her private observations; Satu would only glance at his features anyway. It was what was inside that was the true test. Could he not feel it?

A flicker of Confidence from the man tickled Satu’s awareness. Like a cat, her head turned to listen, to touch it with her Gift. His Confidence grew in small increments and she waited hoping for more, glad yet tentative. But the spell broke with his words and when he climbed to his feet, her suspicion flared. “I am not Afraid,” he said as the emotions shifted within him. Satu backed away rapidly, warily waiting for the strike to come. He was huge! The Konti drew her suvai. Never again would she be caught unprepared. She would protect herself! His large hands clinched, drawing into fists and she remembered other hands, and other fists outside of Mizahar. He would be sorry to touch her! But instead of attacking, his Fears began to calm and his Pain began to diminish. Something shifted and changed…

Satu’s stern expression softened as the Akalak’s tone took on a quality of Power and Command. A smile crept slowly up her angelic face at the new timbre in his voice. Her eyes lit with Excitement! How long had she waited for Strength to show! His manner and carriage were different as well. Anyone would have been deceived by the changes that came over him. Anyone, except for a HeartSeer…

Over the course of her life, the Konti had been witness to thousands of Hearts, and the numerous layers of feelings that resided in each one. Her talent lay in reading them, and seeing past the hidden lies that people often fooled themselves with. It was plain to see, when she actually did look closely, that the Akalak had not changed, he was the same man with the same Heart she had first met.

The Disappointment was palpable. Sadness and Anger both infused her. As if to a small child doing wrong, Satu explained to the large Akalak, “Do not believe for a moment, that a HeartSeer can not See into your Heart. Into your Being.” A distant, wistful looked crossed her face. “You can not hide who you are, in there,” she pointed to his Heart. “You talked of lies… Who now carries the lie within?” Satu sighed and shook her head over and over. “I was wrong to talk to you…” She said sadly, and her eyes filled with soft liquid, as if all choice in the matter had now been taken from her.

Her grip on the suvai tightened; there was no room to circle the man in the small opening of rock. But her bare feet found purchase where she stood on the rock flooring and both suvai began to lift into the beginnings of an Attack Stance. Her gaze stayed on him, judging his every breath, looking for an opening. But then… she felt HIM again. The Other. Rage! It froze her in place for the minute that the heavy emotion poured out of him and it was enough for her to catch the Other’s presence.

Visibly, confused, she waited at the edge of movement, on the verge of a deadly decision. Water droplets trickled down her arm and onto the suvai. “He is there! Yet you pretend He is not? What have you done to Him? Answer me quickly! I will not ask again...”

by **Sorian** on June 18th, 2010, 12:05 pm

His plan had backfired, and he was left in a dangerous rut. What was she planning to do now? What was he going to do himself? He didn't know, he was out of options. Perhaps she really was a witch; he didn't know what she wanted, she didn't know either. It was the one thing they understood each other perfectly in.

Sorian's hands grazed the walls as he sank lower against the cold stone surface, looking at her warily, trying desperately to keep his act up. Trying to act brave. Wasn't he brave enough? No, he probably wasn't. His injury prevented him from being brave enough, and he looked warily at her hands, unsure of each passing second. Every one of them could be his last, for it was clear to him that she was itching to test the mettle of his flesh against its razor sharpness. His muscles continued to coil and toss around within the eschews of his skin, but there was no courage behind them, only desperation.

He kept glaring, he kept gritting his teeth, each plate inside his head focused on imagining how the crazed konti was going to end his life. Would she pull the blade now? No? How about now? Nothing? What was she really planning? All the question marks was dizzying him, tearing him from the strength which his failing courage had failed to strip. He has never been so cornered, so unsure of what fate had in store for him, and it was blowing every wall inside his head apart.

Until the moment came when the beating of his heart changed from fast, to slow, to deadly slow, until it almost completely stopped. His eyes did not shut, nor did the muscles in his legs send him plopping down to the floor. Eyes that had blinked and gazed strongly at her had become hollow and filled with nothingness. It appeared to the konti as if the Akalak had simply... Died standing.

A strong surge of silence flooded the entire shelter for a few minutes. Satu had lost even the voice of pretension that Sorian had offered. Only the beating of the heavy rains outside tempered it with an air of reckoning, only the loud thunder broke it for her.

Suddenly, without warning, the eyes that had dropped to the ground raised up with fire and rage. The body began to leap from its confines, great power heaving the beautifully massive proportions of it across its boundaries. A heavy fist stretched long and roughly against the rocks, then bore down on one unfortunate stone with the strength of ten men. The dormant heart began to beat furiously like the storm in Satu's senses.

He didn't know what happened himself. It happened fast, without warning. Sorian the vulnerable was gone, replaced in an instance of desperation by Navis the tormentor.

He smiled almost sadistically at Satu, speaking in unbroken lines that denoted a large part of the difference between the two personalities. There was no lying this time, no hesitation, no fear. All that was there was an interrogating arrogance. "Now I am really here. I will ask YOU this once more, what do you want, konti witch?"

The last words were filled with a peculiar case of reverence mixed with spite, and his voice growled inside his throat, ready to throw all manners of barbs at Satu for even the smallest ounce of weakness.

by **Satu** on June 19th, 2010, 7:18 pm

It was deadly quiet in the stillness of the cave. All movement had stopped, and the raging storm only a step away drowned out the sound of Satu’s hushed breathing. Was this more scheming on the Akalak’s part? She would have believed it so, but for the sudden silence of his Heart. Only once before had she seen such a colorless vessel. The Golem! Her head and neck twitched once as she stood there, as silent as he. Holding the suvai in attack position, she waited without knowing what she waited for…

There! Changes danced across his physical body quickly. He appeared stronger and more massive. But it was the changes in his Heart that garnered Satu’s full attention. Rage! Furious Rage! The violent emotions leapt to life before her gentle senses. And Strength! It was there, truly there! But this time, it was no lie. And the Vulnerable one was gone. The Heart was a maelstrom; it spun, not with the Confusion of the other, but with dark and deadly feelings. Aggressiveness. Control. Satu felt it deep inside and her eyes narrowed as his Strength filled her core. Arrogance filled him and enveloped him. It was in his cruel smile and the stance of his body.

The Konti was not Afraid, though she should have been. The woman had not the sense. Still, Wariness filled her; in her mind no one could be trusted. It was too soon! The rain bounced off her shoulders as she backed away a step. What was a little wetness to a Konti or her whale blade weapon? It was not enough to even garner her attention.Thunder broke around them and Satu talked louder to be heard over the continuing rumble, “Do you not know?” She asked, “I wanted to see you Free…” She paused, weapons still held, though they seemed small and inconsequential compared to the mass of the Akalak in front of her. “I felt you within Him! And he denied you! But you are the Stronger! Why should you follow him? The Strong should not follow the Weak!

Her chest rose and fell with effort. She was excited and pleased and her eyes shone with his Strength, brilliantly and beautifully. She soaked up his Passion and his Rage as it made her feel Strong also. And unbeknownst to her, Satu needed very much to feel Strong.

by **Sorian** on June 20th, 2010, 10:27 pm

The Akalak was different, much, much different. But they were one and the same, two halves of one soul. Navis chuckled amusingly, rolling his eyes then clicked his tongue. He was going to give her the tongue lashing of a lifetime, but he digressed at the last minute. Although he didn't fear her at all, there was definitely something off about her. The woman was not stable, she didn't trust anything or anyone--not that he minded at all--and he could see the empty glint in her eyes that showed how she wouldn't hesitate to protect herself at all.

By protect herself, it was the I-will-kill-you-if-you-tried-anything sort of protect.

"Set me free? You've got to be kidding me," he laughed in between his teeth. It was clear that she didn't know much about his kind, and for once he'd be happy to give a lecture. "Listen lady, if I could be free of the weakling you were talking to, I would have done it. Decades ago. He is me, and I am him. We are... Ugh, nigh inseparable."

He began to approach her, some sort of cruelty behind his smile, even though he didn't really mean her any harm. If she was really psycho, he could always test how far she will go before she whips the blade out and cut him to pieces. He wouldn't let her easily, but he was always the sort who courted danger. He remembered Mao very well in the instance. The ultimate danger, he has already conquered it. Nothing now could make him fear.

"What is your name sweetie-pie? I won't hurt you if you're nice to me." He asked, egging a reaction from her. His words laced with a rather seductive kind of sweetness, just to prove his thoughts right.

by **Satu** on June 22nd, 2010, 12:37 am

“Set you free?” Satu repeated, wrinkling her pale nose at him. “No, no! How much you misunderstand! I would not set you free! No! That is something you must do, without help. I would not begin to know how! No! I said, ‘I wished to See you free.’ There is a great difference between the two!”

“You laugh,” she said cautiously, was the outburst directed at her? What did she know of his kind really? Nothing. Except what her Gift showed her and that he had said him and his Other were ‘inseparable.’ But that was not true. “You have a narrow view, Akalak. The world is not always what we see in front of us, or inside of us… I could feel the distinction from the first.” She held her head high. Was the HeartSeer the only one to have ever truly seen within him? Had no one ever told him? “You are separate! You have a distinct Heart, as does He. He is not you. And You are not Him. You share a body yes, but you are more independent than you realize…” She watched to see if he followed her line of thought.

“You only need to know how to use it properly to overcome… and be rid of Him.” She grew quiet, thinking, “But yet… It was You that was hidden, within Him...” She eyed the blue brute. Was he lacking in some way that she could not perceive? Was he not all that he seemed? It seemed odd, but maybe He was the Weaker one… She allowed him to approach, cocking her head to study him further.

“I won’t hurt you if you’re nice to me…” he said. Satu stiffened. Someone had said those words to her before. Recently. Someone in a little cell. Unable to see the face, the words became all the stronger. It was a fuzzy memory. The Konti had been hurt in ways she couldn’t even acknowledge and a shiver ran along her spine and into the base of her brain. The Akalak’s words were poorly chosen and if he looked for an emotional outburst from the disheveled Konti, he would be disappointed. She did not move her head or her gaze, but the blue of her eyes grew as cold as the deepest waters near Konti Isle.

Suddenly, the matching suvai began to twirl in her hands, whirling into spinning white bone blurs. Both arms lifted slightly, bent at the elbows. Her legs tensed, staying in the Engagement Stance position. It was a warning. It was also the only kindness she would give him. The massive man was already injured. They both knew that, but he was also stronger and larger. If he wanted to step within reach of the madly spinning blades, she would welcome him closer. With a wound like his, the suvai’s poison would take very little time to react. She almost wished him to do it. And her Heart dared him to. “I am Satu and I may hurt you anyway… Whether you are nice or not.” She retorted and waited as much for her own reaction as she did for his.