Setting
"You should get your horse checked," one of the men grumbled. But just as he said that, her horse reared up on two legs, pawing at the air, letting out a loud neigh. The sky darkened and everyone looked up. Monster raptors, huge swarms of them covered the sky, almost like a dark cloud descending upon them. "Lady Fire, your hair!" The female guard said, and all guards turned to her looking with scrutiny in their eyes. Scrambling to see what the problem was, she discovered her grey scarf had fallen out of her hair, leaving her bright red hair to blow in the wind, almost as if her head was on fire. Trying to cover it as best as she could, she guided Twilight to the path back to the house. "It's a raptor swarm!" Fire yelled, her voice as sweet as honey even in a time of panic.
"Unless you can divert the attention of all of their minds away from you, you had best get back to the house, Lady Fire," The guard next to her said. Nodding in agreement, she urged her horse to run back to the house. Looking back up to the skies, she could see some of the raptors swooping low, curious as to who they were.
Her father, as evil as he was, had taught her at a young age how to use her mental powers. Maybe it was because of his teachings, and who he was, that she feared to use her mental powers. But the one useful thing he had taught her was how to hide her mind from all other monsters. Using that to her advantage now, none of the raptors seemed interested in her.
Fire had just made it back into the clearing where the houses stood, when suddenly something sharp tore into her back, making her cloak fly from her back, and her grey scarf... where was her grey scarf? Fire realized it must have flown off on the run back to the houses. Pulling her bow up, she quickly fire off three shots blindly, only two hitting their marks. Ten or twelve raptors had descended down toward her, and more seemed to be interested in the commotion. Screaming as another raptor dug into her shoulder, she fell from her horse.
However, someone had caught her. Ferris, her best friend and closest guard, she suspected. Looking up, she saw that yes, it was Ferris, and almost everyone else in the clearing was viciously shooting arrows at the raptor monsters. "Ferris, take Twilight back to the stables. I need to get inside!" She said, squirming out of Ferris's arms and giving the reins to him. Stumbling and then getting up and running, she made it to her house and frantically shut the door, wincing as pain shot up her shoulder.
"Lady Fire, let me help you. Your shoulder is in terrible shape. Go sit down while I get a medical kit," One of her maids said. She wasn't really a made, more like her closest advisor. She helped her with anything and everything. Wether it was picking out her clothes, tying her hair in her scarf, cleaning her room, or things such as this, She was always there. "Thank you Elsie, I've had a long day."
"Well you'll have an even busier day tomorrow, Lady Fire. The Captain of the guard is coming to visit."
As a Gifted, he was scorned and insulted by the other soldiers. It was not something he could hide, whether that be his eyes or his natural combat skills. It was no secret that he wasn't well liked, but he was respected. He had to be at his rank. Though it wasn't just because of his position that he was respected, he had earned it by saving the lives of his soliders time and time again.
Finally he turned his attention back to the rode in front of him, just in time to see woods turn to clearing. There was a house there, it must have been the place that Ashisu was searching. It was the only house in the the area. Ashisu dismounted Magic and led her to the door. He hesitated hand inches from the door, ready to knock.
As much as he hated to admit it, he needed help in the battles he was facing. And hearing about the so called monster named Fire, he had thought that she had been his best chance at getting help. After all, either Gifted or Monster, they were both in the same boat. Taking a deep breath, finally knocked on the door. Anouncing his presence to the inhabitants of the house.
In front of her was a man she did not recognize. His hair was blonde and tied back. He was tall, but not a giant. But to Fire, almost anyone was tall, seeing as she was fairly short. He looked very reserved, and judging by his mind, he was. It was almost as if he had built a brick wall in front of his mind. She couldn't read a single thought from him. This intrigued Fire and she gave the man a confused look. Then realization hit her. She knew who this man was by description.
"Captain Ashisu!" flustered, she gave an awkward half bow, not sure if you were supposed to bow to the Captain of the Guad or not, or even if girls were supposed to bow or curtsey. "I thought you weren't supposed to arrive until tomorrow?" She asked, frantic, her eyes searching for Elsie. the maid came in, saw the two of them and stumbled over. Fire just then realized that her hair was down. She normally didn't let other people see her hair as it was a very big distraction and dubbed her as a monster. "My scarf, Elsie would you mind?" she asked. Elsie snatched her scarf and started to wrap her hair up.
"Sorry. I was not prepared for your arrival. If you want we can put your horse in the stables. There are more buildings down that path," she said, pointing to path to their left. His horse was lovely. It's mind was sweet and calm, yet loyal to the Captain of the Guard almost like a dog to its master. Turning her attention back to him, she motioned to the path. "Why don't we talk in the main building with Ferris and Simon. Simon oversees this area and gives me daily lessons and training. I was told you were coming but I didn't know why," Fire said
Ashisu gave a small nod, confirming that it was true. "I apologize, but the journey wasn't quite as long as I thought it would be." He couldn't help but stare at her hair a little, but due to his discipline mostly kept his eyes on her face. It wasn't that it was ugly, or different, or any of the other things most people would be thinking. Ashisu found it pretty and thought it suited her well. He almost said something when the maid that had joined them wrapped her hair up in a gray scarf. "Sorry. I was not prepared for your arrival. If you want we can put your horse in the stables. There are more buildings down that path,"
The Gifted bowed, low and respectfully. "As I said, I misjudged the time of the journey. I take full blame for your unpreparedness." Though the journey was shorter than he thought, he was still worn out from it, but skillfully hide the fact. Magic on the other hand nudged Ashisu and tugged on her reins, trying to get the soldier to take her to the stables. "Why don't we talk in the main building with Ferris and Simon. Simon oversees this area and gives me daily lessons and training. I was told you were coming but I didn't know why,"
The soldier once again nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Magic needs to rest and I must give you the story on why I am here." He motioned for the girl to go first. "I must admit that my sense of direction is terrible, if you would be so kind as to lead the way..."
They continues along the path, winding through the woods a little until the woods opened up to reveal the buildings hidden in the trees. To their left was the stables, to their right was a large house where most people and guests slept, and in front of them was the main building. Fire was instantly greeted by Ferris. "Fire! Is your shoulder all right? Twilight is ok with the exception of a couple cuts on her back. She's in the stables now and... Who's this?" Ferris turned his head to look behind Fire, where Magic and Ashisu stood.
"Oh, uh, Ferris, this is The Captain of the guard, Ashisu. And this is Ferris," she said, introducing each other. "Ferris would you mind taking his horse to the stables and meeting us in the main building?" Ferris nodded in agreement and took the horse's reins. Magic didn't seem to happy to be with Ferris, but did seem happy to go to the stable. The fact that Ashisu cared so much about his horse made Fire almost trust him. Almost. Captain of the Guard or not, she didn't trust people that much. And because Fire didn't know why he was here, she was very apprehensive of him. However, because of his stature, she had to respect him.
When they reached the main building, Simon greeted them and led them to a table where he offered Ashisu food and drink. "It must have been a tiring ride from the King's City to here. Please, sit, and explain why you have come," Simon said. As Fire sat down, her pet monster kitten hopped up onto her lap, its silly mind reaching out to hers. The kitten nipped at her fingers while she pet it. Fire watched the soldier out of the corner of her eye, her gaze transfixed on his eyes.
Once again woods made way to clearing and they were instantly greeted by another young woman. "Fire! Is your shoulder all right? Twilight is ok with the exception of a couple cuts on her back. She's in the stables now and... Who's this?" Ashisu learned a couple of things from that short conversation, things that he stored in the back of his mind for later. Fire was injured and so was her horse, they must have been in battle recently, but with what he did not know. "Oh, uh, Ferris, this is The Captain of the guard, Ashisu. And this is Ferris," Ashisu gave Ferris a small bow. "Ferris would you mind taking his horse to the stables and meeting us in the main building?" Reluctantly Ashisu handed the reins to Ferris. He didn't giving his companion to a stranger, but to raise a fuss about it would be undiplomatic of him, so he stayed silent.
He followed Fire into the main building where they were once again greeted, by a man this time. Ashisu wondered how many people lived here with the girl. The man led them to a table and offered Ashisu something to eat or drink. "It must have been a tiring ride from the King's City to here. Please, sit, and explain why you have come," Gratefully the soldier sank into a chair and accepted a drink from the man. He took a sip before beginning his explanation. "Well, you have heard the rumors about the uprising of two areas of the dells. Gentian and Murgda are recruiting the Pikkian people. Ashisu hesitated, he didn't like revealing much to strangers. They're true, all of them. And as captain of the guard, it is my job to go to those places and squash the uprisings before they can get any worse. But my force is small and I need help. Which is why I sought you, the human monster who can read minds. If I am to figure out who is causing the uprisings, I will literally need to get inside the enemies head, something I am incapable of." Ashisu noticed that Fire was once again staring at his eyes. "I am Gifted in the art of the sword, not mind reading. So I must know, are you willing to help?"
The knight let his eyes meet Fire's once again, keeping his face a well practiced mask. Hiding any emotions he had at the moment. Curiosity, worry, weariness, and many others. But the biggest out of those would be worry, for if the girl didn't help he would be marching to his death most likely.
(OOC: Just to let you know, I will be gone from Thursday night to Sunday night on vacation and will not have internet access during that time.)
"human monster"
At those words, Fire snapped to attention, her eyes narrowing in apprehension. Although it was true that she was a monster, she hated the term, and hated when people called her that. "My name is Fire," she blurted out with a twinge of annoyance. She didn't mean disrespect to the man, but despised the word 'monster' As he continued, Fire became increasingly more angry at him. To top it all of, she still couldn't understand his thoughts at all. When he had finished speaking, Fire stood abruptly, so suddenly the the kitten spilled from her lap onto the ground with a meow, her chair toppled over, and the scarf slipped from her hair. Exasperated, she pulled it out and flung it onto her chair.
"You want me to use mound control against people?! Read their thoughts unwillingly? Force actions upon them?" Fire sent him a vicious glare. "I only use my abilities in self defense! I only read thoughts to make sure someone isn't going to kill me. If you think I'm going to do that to people, you must be out of your mind!" Fire said with increasing intensity, her last word a shout.
"I'm sorry, she isn't normally like this..." Simon started. Fire sent him a glare and then exited the room, running to the stables to see her horse.
A spark of anger went through Ashisu. He had been using his gift to fight, to murder, since he was a child. He had faced any hate, any insults that came from anybody without hiding what made his different. He had stayed loyal to the king, almost dying dozens of times, doing whatever was asked of him. And this girl couldn't even do one single thing. "I'm sorry, she isn't normally like this..." The man Simon said, obviously trying to make up for the serious lack of respect that Fire had shown.
The girl went running out of the room and Ashisu shook his head. "It is quite all right, as any respect I had for her is now gone. Ashisu stood up. "It is obvious that I am no longer welcome here. I shall take my leave." Without another word Ashisu left headed in the direction he had seen Ferris take off in with his horse. As he walked he undid the tie in his hair, letting it fall loose like it usually did. The time for diplomacy was over, so there was no longer any need to keep it up.
As he entered the stables he saw that Fire was also in there. The intelligent half of his mind was telling him to just ignore her, get Magic, and leave. But the stubborn, angered side told him otherwise, and for one of the first times in his life, he followed that one. He took several long angry strides to where Magic was being kept, it was only then that he spoke. "You are a childish, selfish, bitch did you know that? You hear something you don't like so instead of telling me you don't want to help, you throw a temper tantrum. All my life I have faced the hate that people have direct toward me without hiding it. I have used my gift to protect, to fight, to murder. I follow each and every order given to me and have never asked for anything in return. And now I march to my death because you refuse to help a single person save the land you live in. Let me tell you something, the people in the uprisings do want to kill you, they want to kill each and every person in the land. When I leave here it will be the last time you see me, I will die out there and then they will march here to murder you and everyone else. I wish you luck, you are going to need it." Ashisu never raised his voice past that of a normal conversation. He kept his tone calm and serious, just he had when explaining why he was here. Yelling had never gotten him anything before, so why try now?
"You are a childish, selfish, bitch did you know that? You hear something you don't like so instead of telling me you don't want to help, you throw a temper tantrum. All my life I have faced the hate that people have direct toward me without hiding it. I have used my gift to protect, to fight, to murder. I follow each and every order given to me and have never asked for anything in return. And now I march to my death because you refuse to help a single person save the land you live in. Let me tell you something, the people in the uprisings do want to kill you, they want to kill each and every person in the land. When I leave here it will be the last time you see me, I will die out there and then they will march here to murder you and everyone else. I wish you luck, you are going to need it."
With each word he spoke, Fire became more and more agitated so that by the time he had finished yelling at her, Fire was clutching twilight's mane so roughly that Twilight neighed. Gathering her thoughts and throwing her common sense out the door (really, fighting with someone graced in fighting? not the best idea...) she opened her mouth to speak, hatred evident in her eyes.
"You thing I don't know what it's like to have the entire world hate you? You think I don't know what its like to have a gift you can't hide? Monster, Bitch, Monster. That's all I ever hear. And why? Because my father made too many enemies. Don't you wonder why I have gone into hiding? You think I don't know what it's like to wake up every day and be faced with the fact that I'm not normal. Every day, thoughts hammer my brain and my hair makes everything worse. I've tried cutting it, but the next day it has all grown back to the same length. You think I don't know what its like to have power that you sometimes can't control? I could kill people. That bird," she said, pointing to one flying above "I could force it to forget how to fly. I could ruin it. I could drive your horse crazy. I could drive my horse crazy. Heck, I could make your horse kill my horse. I could make someone commit suicide. Anyone! I could make someone walk into their own fire and burn to death!" Fire screamed, but then regretted it. Her father had died on accident, tripping into his fireplace. But it wasn't an accident. Fire had forced him too. Everyone knew the story of how her father died. But nobody had known Fire had forced him to kill himself. Fire turned away from Ashisu so he wouldn't see the tear that rolled down her eye.
Fire lowered her tone to a calmer level. "You are asking to invade someone's privacy. To do something without their permission and take away their right to their own privacy. You are asking me to force people to do things they don't want to do. I know how it feels. And I don't want other people to feel that. Nobody should ever feel that." Fire turned back around to face him, locking eyes with him. "I'm scared of what I could do to someone. What I can do to someone," She said. Fire swung her arm over the stall door, wincing as her skin pulled at the wound on her shoulder. She opened the latch and walked back into the main area near Ashisu. "I want to help, but not in that way."
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