Flashback Deception and Affection, Love and Suffocation

[Skeitha]

- Winter, 45, 512 -

Skeitha was out and about. Outside the city, outside her head, outside of reality for the moment. Walking the trails and just flowing with a dark cluster of thoughts, a pungent stink of sadism in her head. Was today the day? Was it the day where something... Interesting happens? Will she meet someone today? The ideas were drowning her in a pool that was her consciousness, and she loved it. Something about getting focused, something about her gaze becoming dead, something about the the gasps of air that flirted with her lungs. It was loving like a hug but tighter and stronger like suffocation.

The cold wasn't something she was used to, but it didn't bother her. Especially when she was like this. The ground was warm for a winters day. The sun was out and it made her think of things to do... With fire. It may have been the breeze, the wintry smog of breath that gleamed in the sunlight. All the plants standing as though ready to perform. All while she walked, steeping further and further from the city.

[Ruby Majalenka]

A wild one. Almost an animal.

That was Ruby's first description on the woman she met upon exiting the thicker part of the forest after an exercise session with her horse. The woman's long curly hair was swept back from her forehead into a pile that seemed to make her look taller. Her features were sharp, especially the hawk nose. Ruby particularly disliked this form of beauty for its boldness.

But it was more than that.

The pair of emotionless eyes were impossible to penetrate, but the woman's half-turned body showed genuine interest. Naturally Ruby was reminded of predators stalking their preys in like manner, and she grew unwary.

Feeling a bit secure on horseback, she nodded in greeting and casually reared her Gildling away, hoping she would neither follow nor callback.

[Skeitha]

The reaction, it was subtle. This girl could have remained quiet and gone unnoticed. She took a ferociously deep breath and strong exhale, the sound someone makes when they are aroused... Or striking the killing blow. She looked at the horse and let herself make a focus. It was the day.

She had to change direction. She started walking toward the girl. "Hey can I get a minute? I have a question." She started. Her mind was ablaze with a myriad of thoughts about this girl. Somewhere inside she wanted to give her a hug, something to hold onto and show affection to. Somewhere else though, the thought of peeling her alive and eating her came to mind. Yet somewhere else she couldn't help but contemplate what a Konti would taste like. She was convinced it was like fish with a bit more of a solid texture like goat.

"I could really use your help." A simple lie, one that just slipped out easily. She knew that inside she could make this girl stop. Scare the horse with a thought, or maybe just pull the earth from underneath them, or one of many other methods to invoke stillness.

[Ruby Majalenka]

The Myrian's strong breathing seemed to pierce the wood's serene silence, which sent a shiver down Ruby's spine. Instinctively she glanced at her left belt to confirm her suvai's location should situation demanded she use it, but made sure to make no apparent efforts to reach it. Years of travelling had taught her any preemptive defense could and would provoke.

"Hey can I get a minute? I have a question." the woman started. "I could really use your help."

Ruby continued for a few steps before turning her horse sideways, just enough for politeness but still leaving room for escape. The woman's word clearly indicated that answering a question from a distance would be enough help, except if both were desperate incoherent attempts at luring Ruby, in which case leave should be taken immediately.

Ruby looked directly at the woman, but with an empty stare that betrayed her friendly smile. One of her attempts at emulating her mother's cool daunting aura.

"Yes ?"

[Skeitha]

Skeitha's smile wasn't faked as she spoke "Oh thank you, thank you." She stepped up to the horse excited. "Well my sword is dull-," provocatively rubbing the handle of her sword, "I'm sorta lost to these things. Mind helping me out?" she followed.

She noticed the girls glance over. She didn't know to what but she figured by the situation that this girl felt uneasy. It wasn't hard to figure out. "I'm sort of... Lost to these things." Which given a Myrians natural ability towards weapons was a sort of hard thing to swallow. That is if you know about Myrians. However so far from Falyndar she was willing to take a chance. She hadn't even revealed her heritage, so it seemed like a safe bet to her.

"Mind helping me out?"

[Ruby Majalenka]

Ruby was almost certain that the woman had ill intentions from what she said; Ruby roughly remembered Myrians as warlike jungle survivalists, at least they'd be good with weapon maintenance. But her senses showed something interesting: the woman had both good and ill intentions, not merely mixed. Wary yet interested, she decided to play around a bit more. Besides, best not to make any sudden moves.

"A Myrian that's not a master of weapons ? You're the first I've ever met." she replied with good humor. "Why don't we go back to the city together ?"

Without waiting for a reply, Ruby righted her horse's direction and started walking, eyes scanning the surroundings for any ambushes, before returning her full attention to the woman.

"What's a Myrian doing up north, lady ?" she casually asked over her shoulder, one hand resting on her suvai's hilt.

[Skeitha]

"Oh my, is it really that obvious that I'm Myrian? And I thought I was fitting in..." She started up, letting out a slight giggle. It was funny to her, like a thrill of the chase kind of moment. "Amongst Myrians I'm a bit special... A mage. However I don't think I need to explain what that is to you." Feeling some kind of odd disturbance in the natural surroundings Djed. "Can I ask what do you practice? I travel a bit, so I want to say healer, but I'm not exactly sure." She had been to Mura, she knew what a healer looked like and this girl seemed to just fit, light colored hair, soft features, young looking, she would even go as far as to say she was Konti.

"As a kid I traveled a lot. My mom and dad were scary people, so traveling never worried me, I don't know. Maybe I'm just looking for something?" She said actually pusszled by the girls question. Something however didn't feel right. It was like being lied to but not exactly. "Let me call my dog... TANKA!" She hollered, a little puppy quickly making its way out from the brush and whatnot. She then turned her attention to the girl, walking alongside her horse.

"I go by Skeitha, and I'm pretty straight forward... What exactly are you thinking about? I get the feeling you're hiding something. A fear maybe?" She said quickly. She wanted to catch the girl off guard. "Earlier you were looking at what I assume is your weapon. Little girl like you... Does a Myrian scare you? Even now your hand is rested on a weapon no?" She let out with her eyes dancing around the girls movements. She then put a tone and facial expression that partially expressed her intent "I'm also a nice person, if not lacking in mercy a bit. If you act... Kill me in the first strike. You'll never get another chance and will never be given another one." She said, however she followed with a very playful giggle. One that even then seemed to lighten up her mood again, even smile a bit.

[Ruby Majalenka]

"Your tawny skin is a perfect giveaway, much like mine." Ruby replied, subtly acknowledging that the woman was not a shallow one by mentioning her being a healer; but her 'Kill me in the first strike' showed that she wasn't that bright either. She has no knowledge of the effects dealt by a Konti's suvai. Or at least her words simply travel faster than her mind. Was her 'what I assume is your weapon' simply a concealed taunt, or actually meant her not knowing ?

Heck, brain. Don't mess with me this time. I die, you die.

The dog, despite its cute appearance, did not lower Ruby's guard. Having someone you love or protect doesn't make one a nice person. However the woman's straight-forwardness did put Ruby at ease, at least slightly. The purer someone seemed, the worse the secrets they have.

"Well, if one isn't nervous in a situation like this, it would be arrogant. Luckily those kinds seem to lost the easiest, lest the world be led by the incompetents." Ruby shrugged. "You mentioned your parents being scary people ?"

She's playing with me. Prowling around, poking for weaknesses with fixated eyes...

With that thought in mind, Ruby braced herself to fight for her life, and maybe even think of a last speech that would stick in the woman's mind forever.

Yes, that would be cool.

[Skeitha]

"The philosopher are we? I'm really enjoying this walk." She said, pretending not to experience flashes of fantasies. As though nothing violent or sexual was playing I her head she smiled. Maybe because it was this exact reason she was smiling.

"Nervousness is normal, it's more of why someone is feeling nervous. If you're feeling nervous because somehow... I'm scary-" unable to suppress her smile "then maybe you're just inventing it. If you're scared because somehow... you're aware of something I'm not." She figured something was off. The girl would react even out of place. Almost it seemed to her thoughts, and she'd seen aurists give the same tell. Then also she knew the Konti reputation for being seers.

"But yeah my parents are scary so maybe I'm desensitized. Oh if my mom heard me using such big words-" she giggled "she wouldn't know what to do with herself. Yeah, my mom was what Sylirians might call a Gladiator. She fought against others for sport. However my dad didn't like it, he topped over 7 feet tall but never gave my mother lips or spoke back." She giggled about once again.

[Ruby Majalenka]

"Isn't everything is our mind's invention ?" Ruby commented. "What I see as blue, is it blue to you ? We could be seeing different colors for all we know, only we were taught the same name for it. I'm not saying I don't trust the djed that defines the identity of a thing's existence, only that one's mind could not be trusted to perceive the same thing as others would, and that is enough definition for my statement, in my opinion."

Ruby noticed herself entering philosophical state of mind only after she was done ranting. She was starting to feel comfortable in the woman's presence. The woman who was trying to kill her. This is bad, she thought.

The second mention of her being aware of something the woman's not, ticked her attention. It wasn't a question the woman has the answer to, since Ruby didn't detect a massive amount of interest at herself, aside from a mildly mischievous one. Aware of what, then ? It couldn't be the woman herself nor the dog, of which the woman was knowledgeable. Maybe something in the surroundings ? Ruby herself is a Konti who's not a seer and does not aim to be one, a rarity.

"Something I'm aware of ?" Ruby repeated to no one in particular. "Say, if you're a mage... what kind of magic do you practice ?"

Dramatic pause.

"Auristics, perhaps ?"