Post by Shi-Oda on Nov 21, 2015 8:43:33 GMT
'My Silver Heart'
Why had she chosen those words, exactly? After the debacle in Varsi, Kira had eased back into her normal self, but whatever had happened to her - whatever had washed over her, leaving an entirely different woman in her skin - left a bad taste in his mouth regardless of how benign it might appear be. The loss of oneself was never a small matter, never something to be taken seriously, especially not when one's self was someone as important as Kirasath Dravere. If, as his instincts suspected, he'd been given a glimpse of the Golden Queen of Old, herself, Shi-Oda found he did not care for what he saw in her eyes. There wasn't the haughty distance of a tyrant, but a measure of resolve and confidence that twisted his stomach into knots. A tyrant would be preferable; a woman with eyes like that would sacrifice anything in the pursuit of what she deemed just.
A woman like that would not hesitate before pushing Kirasath to the back of her own mind like an idle thought. He'd met people like that before, and without exception, Shi-Oda had discovered that they just as frequently implied they knew better than you as they outright told you as much.
"Jubilant-Lance, I don't think I can impress upon you how much you're underestimating your role in things." She'd chuckled, putting a hand on his shoulder. The tomb had been a hard plunder, to be sure, but he had been equal to the task. The blood on his hands and face burned softly with the quiet corruption of the Wyld, and the leather armor he'd purchased with such pride was ripped to shreds, but his skin appeared untouched for all the day's trials. And better - the prize was his. A light, golden sword that felt to vibrate in his hand softly - filling the room with the soft sound of distant music. "This is no mere delivery. She is, after all, your fated companion, in all things - and with the training that my associate and myself have given her, she will be a boon-companion, indeed!" She declared proudly.
And of course, the second he'd taken his prize, the woman with the green hair and the resolute eyes had drifted in the room behind him, her cheery smile an almost disgusting contrast with the somber weight of an ancient and forgotten mausoleum. The withering glare he shot over his shoulder made no visible impact - she gave more concern to delicately running her fingers over the countours of a skull yellowed and rendered dust-like with age. "So I've been told." It was an attempt to be polite, but after everything he'd been through since Halta, the words carried the bitter of a leatherman's slurry. Shi-Oda carefully finished sheathing the small daiklave and tucked it into his belt, turning his attention away for the moment. This was an ancient place; filled with dangers and death. It had taken him the length of the sun and moon to get to this point, for a prize he was told was not even his to keep.
"You shall see, when you meet beautiful-her!" The woman replied in a jovial sing-song, clasping her hands before herself as she backed away from him. Shi-Oda made a dry note that she was no fool; she kept outside of his weapon's reach by a hair's breadth. "Truly, the two of you shall do great heroic-things together! It is writ in the stars, as grand a hopeful-story as could ever been told..."
"And no doubt, you'd love to be the editor of that damning-tale." A half-turn brought her into range of his blade. His stance remained neutral.
She smiled pleasantly, removing a kerchief from her pocket to wipe the dust-and-skull from her fingertips. "It is my duty-privilege to act as the almighty-cosmos ordain... as your cherished-friend and wise-mentor." She reminded him once for. Her smile never seemed to fade, but not for the first time, the green of her eyes struck him as reptillian and not at all the wholesome-leafy green they'd no doubt be described as in polite company. She continued to wander through the tomb, which brought her outside the reach of his blade once again. "Although we have just met, passionate-Tusks has assured me of your... capacity, for doing great things, Jubilant-Lance." A compliment, a reference to an associate that spoke very highly of her. Not liking the serpent-woman was one thing, but even Shi-Oda couldn't mistake the feeling in his stomach that he'd just been threatened. "Take the sword to her wandering-owner, young-man - I trust that your admirable-heart and Lunar-nature shall do as they always will, and lay this childish-recalcitrance to rest at long last."
He'd heard long and wide of this Bond between Lunars and their mates. It had been an exciting and interesting time, when rumors of the Sun-children's return had passed through the Silver Pact not long after Shi-Oda's initiation into the same. To be fated to love - or at least befriend - a person he'd never met, regardless of what sort of person they were? His pride rankled, howled in protest at the chains that hadn't even begun to jangle and clank around it yet. "I'll find her." Shi-Oda growled, narrowing his eyes. Even if under the guise of exploring the room, the green woman was clearly circling him. Who said that only Luna's Children were predatory? His grip on his broadsword tightened. She was so close. Her poison could be ended now, before her words and promises tied his actions even more than they had. But even if his arm would not strike her down, perhaps he need not take her head to take her down a few pegs.
Shi-Oda took a sudden step forward, striding over the glorious ivory-and-gold case from which he'd retrieved the shining orichalcum blade. The green woman, revealing herself, took two very quick steps back. Good - her belief that he wouldn't hurt her, her confidence that he wasn't capable of taking her down? They were not so ironclad as that smile would imply, but that smile was gone. In it was a flat and guarded expression, her green eyes narrowed in venomous, spiteful resentment. He'd scared her, and she didn't care for it. Furthermore, in the tight confines of the Mausoleum, she no longer had room to idly circle and remain out of his reach. Shi-Oda grinned down at the woman, then leaned down over her, planting his hand on the stone wall beside her head. That grin rapidly revealed itself as simply bearing his teeth - a lion's warning, a dog's snarl. "I'll find her." He repeated once more. "And if she's unworthy of this great-destiny you keep hinting at... if she's unworthy of my cherished-life, I'll cut her down before the bond gets its hooks in me." He promised, threat written in every growled syllable. "And then, I'll come for you, for wasting my time and her life - and I need not remind you of how many things that walk heaven and earth can escape the wrath of a Lunar's promise."
The green woman's eyes searched him briefly, reflexively looking for subtext. There wasn't any. He idly wondered when was the last time she'd encountered someone who'd cut the proverbial knot of her tongue to get to the heart of the matter. Having a bad feeling about someone was rarely a good reason to threaten them, among civilized company. Shi-Oda wasn't civilized company, however. "Well, ambitious-Shiyo, that is absolutely your prerogati-"
"And don't think for a minute that I'll hesitate to put her down if she goes mad." Shi-Oda interrupted loudly, pointedly speaking over the woman. He'd heard enough horror stories about the Solar Exalted to know what happened when they weren't kept an eye on. Madness could be around any corner. Madness, and immense power. Shi-Oda stabbed an accusatory finger into the woman's sternum, driving her back against the wall. Aside from a brief 'oof', she gave no reply but a hateful glare. "Save your words and venom, poison-heart. Save your lies for one with the patience for them. You have already revealed that I am important to your plans, I have no more patience for your honeyed-promises."
"Do not think yourself so critical that you are indispensable." She growled, showing the first sign of emotion he could understand. Anger was genuine - nobody could be that happy for that long, after all.
Even so. Shi-Oda stood and shouldered his blade, glaring down at the green woman. "You are dismissed, cherished-friend." He spat disdainfully, leaving her sprawled against the wall of the mausoleum. "I suggest you direct your efforts towards my unwanted-mate's education, if only for your own sake."
The blade of his grand daiklave shimmered in the sun's light - moonsilver was a reflective metal, not quite as gaudy as orichalcum, but none the less grand. It was loveliest in the moon's light, of course, but what he needed to do today would not be under Luna's eyes. Acts of war were best saved for the grace of the Unconquered's light. Although he'd been worried that Kirasath would pick up on how inherently odd it was for him to not want to set foot in Jades, she hadn't. After all, since when had he overly concerned himself with what others thought of his Exalted status? The lion cares not which beasts hear it roar to mark it's territory, after all - hiding one's tell was an act of shame, or perhaps more generously, the action of a cautious soul.
Shi-Oda, the Jubilant Lance, was not a cautious soul. And what he did today, needed to be done without the distraction of his wife. More realistically, it had to be done without the risk of sending her slipping backwards into whatever venom threatened to overtake her soul. If a solution did not present itself soon, he would he duty-bound to take Kirasath down before she was lost entirely to the depths of her madness. It was a dark thought, but one he could not shy away from. I just thought we'd have more time...
The rustling of brush and the sound of saplings snapping under the passage of a great beast indicated to Shi-Oda that the time had come to fulfill an old promise. The armored warrior rose from the roots of the tree he'd been pensively sitting in, lifting his massive blade from it's position across his legs. The moonsilver daiklave found a familiar home, the blade nested in a small notch in the pauldron of his armor, as he cast his gaze south. From a thicket emerged two massive tusks - each long enough to skewer a man from stem to stern, with a foot or two of extra atop that. Attached to those tusks, still half-concealed by the endless greenery of the forest, lurked a boar of immense size - easily ten feet tall, covered in ancient scars and shimmering silver tattoos. Eyes red with age and hungry blood sized up the comparatively small human, judging him for what he was - an intruder, an unwelcome reminder of a past that she'd just as easily leave behind.
"Territory-Trespasser. Join Or Die." Clawspeak was an exceedingly efficient language, more body position and gesture than spoken. It was a very easy way to communicate, if you were among a people who tended to not have human voices. Shi-Oda offered a dry smile to the Boar's threat, tilting his head slowly to the side.
"Lost-Mother, not so much as a hello?" He replied in jovial Forestongue, plastering on a put-upon smile. It felt false on his face, like bitter medicine to the tongue, but he had to at least try.
The boar's sharp hoof stamped twice in warning, the beast's formidably muscles visible tensing in preparation to charge. "Land Belongs Under Ma-Ha-Suchi." It communicated angrily. "Foster Welcome. Luna-Sword Is Not."
Why had she chosen those words, exactly? After the debacle in Varsi, Kira had eased back into her normal self, but whatever had happened to her - whatever had washed over her, leaving an entirely different woman in her skin - left a bad taste in his mouth regardless of how benign it might appear be. The loss of oneself was never a small matter, never something to be taken seriously, especially not when one's self was someone as important as Kirasath Dravere. If, as his instincts suspected, he'd been given a glimpse of the Golden Queen of Old, herself, Shi-Oda found he did not care for what he saw in her eyes. There wasn't the haughty distance of a tyrant, but a measure of resolve and confidence that twisted his stomach into knots. A tyrant would be preferable; a woman with eyes like that would sacrifice anything in the pursuit of what she deemed just.
A woman like that would not hesitate before pushing Kirasath to the back of her own mind like an idle thought. He'd met people like that before, and without exception, Shi-Oda had discovered that they just as frequently implied they knew better than you as they outright told you as much.
"Jubilant-Lance, I don't think I can impress upon you how much you're underestimating your role in things." She'd chuckled, putting a hand on his shoulder. The tomb had been a hard plunder, to be sure, but he had been equal to the task. The blood on his hands and face burned softly with the quiet corruption of the Wyld, and the leather armor he'd purchased with such pride was ripped to shreds, but his skin appeared untouched for all the day's trials. And better - the prize was his. A light, golden sword that felt to vibrate in his hand softly - filling the room with the soft sound of distant music. "This is no mere delivery. She is, after all, your fated companion, in all things - and with the training that my associate and myself have given her, she will be a boon-companion, indeed!" She declared proudly.
And of course, the second he'd taken his prize, the woman with the green hair and the resolute eyes had drifted in the room behind him, her cheery smile an almost disgusting contrast with the somber weight of an ancient and forgotten mausoleum. The withering glare he shot over his shoulder made no visible impact - she gave more concern to delicately running her fingers over the countours of a skull yellowed and rendered dust-like with age. "So I've been told." It was an attempt to be polite, but after everything he'd been through since Halta, the words carried the bitter of a leatherman's slurry. Shi-Oda carefully finished sheathing the small daiklave and tucked it into his belt, turning his attention away for the moment. This was an ancient place; filled with dangers and death. It had taken him the length of the sun and moon to get to this point, for a prize he was told was not even his to keep.
"You shall see, when you meet beautiful-her!" The woman replied in a jovial sing-song, clasping her hands before herself as she backed away from him. Shi-Oda made a dry note that she was no fool; she kept outside of his weapon's reach by a hair's breadth. "Truly, the two of you shall do great heroic-things together! It is writ in the stars, as grand a hopeful-story as could ever been told..."
"And no doubt, you'd love to be the editor of that damning-tale." A half-turn brought her into range of his blade. His stance remained neutral.
She smiled pleasantly, removing a kerchief from her pocket to wipe the dust-and-skull from her fingertips. "It is my duty-privilege to act as the almighty-cosmos ordain... as your cherished-friend and wise-mentor." She reminded him once for. Her smile never seemed to fade, but not for the first time, the green of her eyes struck him as reptillian and not at all the wholesome-leafy green they'd no doubt be described as in polite company. She continued to wander through the tomb, which brought her outside the reach of his blade once again. "Although we have just met, passionate-Tusks has assured me of your... capacity, for doing great things, Jubilant-Lance." A compliment, a reference to an associate that spoke very highly of her. Not liking the serpent-woman was one thing, but even Shi-Oda couldn't mistake the feeling in his stomach that he'd just been threatened. "Take the sword to her wandering-owner, young-man - I trust that your admirable-heart and Lunar-nature shall do as they always will, and lay this childish-recalcitrance to rest at long last."
He'd heard long and wide of this Bond between Lunars and their mates. It had been an exciting and interesting time, when rumors of the Sun-children's return had passed through the Silver Pact not long after Shi-Oda's initiation into the same. To be fated to love - or at least befriend - a person he'd never met, regardless of what sort of person they were? His pride rankled, howled in protest at the chains that hadn't even begun to jangle and clank around it yet. "I'll find her." Shi-Oda growled, narrowing his eyes. Even if under the guise of exploring the room, the green woman was clearly circling him. Who said that only Luna's Children were predatory? His grip on his broadsword tightened. She was so close. Her poison could be ended now, before her words and promises tied his actions even more than they had. But even if his arm would not strike her down, perhaps he need not take her head to take her down a few pegs.
Shi-Oda took a sudden step forward, striding over the glorious ivory-and-gold case from which he'd retrieved the shining orichalcum blade. The green woman, revealing herself, took two very quick steps back. Good - her belief that he wouldn't hurt her, her confidence that he wasn't capable of taking her down? They were not so ironclad as that smile would imply, but that smile was gone. In it was a flat and guarded expression, her green eyes narrowed in venomous, spiteful resentment. He'd scared her, and she didn't care for it. Furthermore, in the tight confines of the Mausoleum, she no longer had room to idly circle and remain out of his reach. Shi-Oda grinned down at the woman, then leaned down over her, planting his hand on the stone wall beside her head. That grin rapidly revealed itself as simply bearing his teeth - a lion's warning, a dog's snarl. "I'll find her." He repeated once more. "And if she's unworthy of this great-destiny you keep hinting at... if she's unworthy of my cherished-life, I'll cut her down before the bond gets its hooks in me." He promised, threat written in every growled syllable. "And then, I'll come for you, for wasting my time and her life - and I need not remind you of how many things that walk heaven and earth can escape the wrath of a Lunar's promise."
The green woman's eyes searched him briefly, reflexively looking for subtext. There wasn't any. He idly wondered when was the last time she'd encountered someone who'd cut the proverbial knot of her tongue to get to the heart of the matter. Having a bad feeling about someone was rarely a good reason to threaten them, among civilized company. Shi-Oda wasn't civilized company, however. "Well, ambitious-Shiyo, that is absolutely your prerogati-"
"And don't think for a minute that I'll hesitate to put her down if she goes mad." Shi-Oda interrupted loudly, pointedly speaking over the woman. He'd heard enough horror stories about the Solar Exalted to know what happened when they weren't kept an eye on. Madness could be around any corner. Madness, and immense power. Shi-Oda stabbed an accusatory finger into the woman's sternum, driving her back against the wall. Aside from a brief 'oof', she gave no reply but a hateful glare. "Save your words and venom, poison-heart. Save your lies for one with the patience for them. You have already revealed that I am important to your plans, I have no more patience for your honeyed-promises."
"Do not think yourself so critical that you are indispensable." She growled, showing the first sign of emotion he could understand. Anger was genuine - nobody could be that happy for that long, after all.
Even so. Shi-Oda stood and shouldered his blade, glaring down at the green woman. "You are dismissed, cherished-friend." He spat disdainfully, leaving her sprawled against the wall of the mausoleum. "I suggest you direct your efforts towards my unwanted-mate's education, if only for your own sake."
The blade of his grand daiklave shimmered in the sun's light - moonsilver was a reflective metal, not quite as gaudy as orichalcum, but none the less grand. It was loveliest in the moon's light, of course, but what he needed to do today would not be under Luna's eyes. Acts of war were best saved for the grace of the Unconquered's light. Although he'd been worried that Kirasath would pick up on how inherently odd it was for him to not want to set foot in Jades, she hadn't. After all, since when had he overly concerned himself with what others thought of his Exalted status? The lion cares not which beasts hear it roar to mark it's territory, after all - hiding one's tell was an act of shame, or perhaps more generously, the action of a cautious soul.
Shi-Oda, the Jubilant Lance, was not a cautious soul. And what he did today, needed to be done without the distraction of his wife. More realistically, it had to be done without the risk of sending her slipping backwards into whatever venom threatened to overtake her soul. If a solution did not present itself soon, he would he duty-bound to take Kirasath down before she was lost entirely to the depths of her madness. It was a dark thought, but one he could not shy away from. I just thought we'd have more time...
The rustling of brush and the sound of saplings snapping under the passage of a great beast indicated to Shi-Oda that the time had come to fulfill an old promise. The armored warrior rose from the roots of the tree he'd been pensively sitting in, lifting his massive blade from it's position across his legs. The moonsilver daiklave found a familiar home, the blade nested in a small notch in the pauldron of his armor, as he cast his gaze south. From a thicket emerged two massive tusks - each long enough to skewer a man from stem to stern, with a foot or two of extra atop that. Attached to those tusks, still half-concealed by the endless greenery of the forest, lurked a boar of immense size - easily ten feet tall, covered in ancient scars and shimmering silver tattoos. Eyes red with age and hungry blood sized up the comparatively small human, judging him for what he was - an intruder, an unwelcome reminder of a past that she'd just as easily leave behind.
"Territory-Trespasser. Join Or Die." Clawspeak was an exceedingly efficient language, more body position and gesture than spoken. It was a very easy way to communicate, if you were among a people who tended to not have human voices. Shi-Oda offered a dry smile to the Boar's threat, tilting his head slowly to the side.
"Lost-Mother, not so much as a hello?" He replied in jovial Forestongue, plastering on a put-upon smile. It felt false on his face, like bitter medicine to the tongue, but he had to at least try.
The boar's sharp hoof stamped twice in warning, the beast's formidably muscles visible tensing in preparation to charge. "Land Belongs Under Ma-Ha-Suchi." It communicated angrily. "Foster Welcome. Luna-Sword Is Not."