A Small Glade

[Asila]

((I'm pretty sure that Rojo's 'body' actually did jerk. The new Gatekeeper loves drama as much as the rest of us so it seems like something he would do. *grins at Gatekeeper* Either way, I'm going to write under that assumption and if I'm wrong, then Evening is just seeing things.))

Evening, who had been staring intently at Rojo as she waited for some sign of life, gave a small, surprised yelp when his entire body writhed. For a second she held her breath, waiting for her new friend to stand. When he didn't she frowned and paced closer. What was going on? She didn't understand what was happening, but now that she had gotten over her initial shock she was becoming more and more convinced that Rojo just couldn't be dead. Forsan had failed to injure any of them, so Rojo's unexpected death hadn't made sense from the start, and now...now he had just moved. She didn't understand it, but she was very sure now that he must be alive. Somehow.

She kneeled at his side once again, this time across from Devon. She was so tired, and she knew that if she felt this exhausted now she would no longer be able to cling to consciousness when the sun rose and leeched away whatever remained of her strength. Yet that thought was as distant as it was fleeting, and she hardly acknowledged it as she gazed at the still face of Rojo. Glancing at Devon she noticed that his countenance seemed just as deathly still and wondered what wall he had retreated behind. It must be difficult to be a noble, she thought vaguely. She would never be able to function in a society where she had to cage every passion behind iron bars. In the end they would surely tear her apart.

She sighed, and looking to Rojo she waited once again, this time for him to revive.

[Rojo]

The original Rojo turned to the mirror image with the goatee and glasses.
"How do I go back?" asked Rojo impatiently.
"We told you, just face the memory head on,"
"But it's hard!"
"So is life. Deal with it,"
Rojo glared at Intelligence, pointing a finger at the green-robed chest. Then he turned away and closed his eyes...

The room was large...no, the chamber was large. It was huge and made of stone. The tiles went around and around until they ended in the middle in a stone circle. On one side was a wooden table. There were a few items Rojo could not see properly from this distance on it. He blinked a few times. His eyes hurt. Everything hurt. He could hear a ringing in his ears, and his mouth felt manky and dirty. He tried breathing, but he couldn't. He panicked. He couldn't breathe. After a while, he calmed down and made for the table. Rojo couldn't walk probably, as if his legs were suddenly incredibly heavy. As he drew near, he could see the items on the table- a book with a pentagram on it. It was green and looked very old and worn. There was a bloody knife next to the book. There was dried blood where it had dripped onto the table. THe third item was...was...a...heart...Rojo looked downwards. There was a cavity in his chest where his armour had been stripped away and there were his pale lungs inside the ribcage, and a few tubes dripping with disgusting noises, and where the heart should be...a space...Rojo screamed. He fell and hit his head on the table, and all went black...

Rojo fell backwards. His body was stiff, and his chest ached awfully. He clutched at his tunic as Intelligence caught him. Rojo heard tutting behind him, and he was hoisted to his feet.
"Can I go back now?" Rojo asked, still clutching at his tunic as he turned to Intelligence.
Intelligence shook his head.
"It's not that you need to face...you know what I mean..."
Rojo let go of his chest and let his hand fall limply to his side.
"No...please...not that..."
"You have to..."
"Can't I do it somewhen else?" Rojo sounded exasperated.
"I could put a magical barrier around your mind...but it'd attract Her minions more..."
"Just...do it...we beat them last time, we could do it again..."
Intelligence frowned, then raised his hands to the air. A green light blew out from them. The glowing stopped.

Rojo stared at the other man, almost disappointedly.
"Is that it?"
"Yes."
"Can I go?"
"Yes."
"Well, er, bye then..."
"Goodbye..."
Rojo smiled weakly. The image of the heart was still fresh in his mind.

He sat up suddenly.
"BOO!"

[Seven]

Rojo's "Boo" really did give the poor noble (who had been quietly spacing out) quite the startle. For a brief moment, it seemed as though his flaxen hair jumped upright with him. Seeing Rojo alive brought about an intense joy.

"Ro...Rojo, you're--you're alive"!"

As soon as those words flew out, a sudden thought came to mind that left Devon with only a small crook of a gaunt smile and his face as white as a bedsheet. Perhaps even a smile twitch or an uncharacteristic wringing of his hands.

"...but....but...you...you have...."

In a half pleeing tone (as if not sure what to make of this anymore), Devon falls silent, almost frustratedly, with his fingers running through his hair. He looks back up to Rojo once more with a nervous smile and a forced laugh.

"What are you going to tell me next, that people on Yorl don't have hearts in their bodies?" And quite suddenly, Devon passes out from sheer shock. Like he blew a fuse in his pretty little head.

[Asila]

Evening twitched, badly, her eyes widening and her hand flying to her mouth to muffle the scream that she bit off almost immediately. Behind her, in the shadows, Forsan rumbled "What kind of prank is this?" but the Tallamous girl did not immediately acknowledge him, choosing instead to drop to her knees and hug Rojo fiercely. Right now, she was glad that he was alive. Later...well, they would see.

She manages to exclaim "Thank the stars you're all right! I thought you were dead, you stupid jerk!" She falls silent long enough to breath a sigh of relief. She couldn't believe things had turned out so favorably! It was not everyday that people rose from the dead, and Rojo had definately seemed dead.

As suddenly as she'd embraced him she pulls away, arcing her eyebrows. "What was that about?" Her tone had shifted from gleeful to demanding. If he thought he could pull a stunt like that and not explain...

She may have pushed the subject, but poor Devon chose that moment to faint. Groaning "Oh, not this again," she springs over to his side. "Devon?" She calls to him, trying not to roll her eyes. Did humans always faint like this? What was going on? She reaches out and tentatively shakes his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

[Rojo]

Rojo scratched his head throuroughly before looking a Devon, but suddenly his view was obscured by a large amount of Evening.
The Zombie made a face and waited to be let go of before looking at Devon again, just before he fainted.
"Oh...erm..."
He stood up quickly, feeling very dizzy...
"I think it is- is-isisisiisisis...time for bedsh!"
He laughed loudly and highly.
Then he shook his head very vigourously before making another sour face.
"Yes, well..."

[Seven]

Devon murmurs softly as Evening calls him, but remains knocked out from all the strange events of the day. Poor boy has had quite a bit of stress betwen trying to play proper host, fight monsters, and deal with to extremely unusual "guests." Jenri finally picks over, still obviously frightened. he gulps, looks over, and notices his mater has fainted. Knowing his duty, he relectuantly goes over, bottle of scotch in hand, eyeing Forsan warily.

' 'Aye, master Devon, wake up,' he says in a low tone, nudging him with his foot. He pops the bottle's cork with his teeth, and drizzles some of the alcohol on Devon's face. Devon clearly flinches in his sleep, wrinkling his face from the smell. He starts to cough and quickly sits up to avoid further drenching and rubs the liquid off of his face, his eyes stinging him as he does so.

"Mornin' sunshine," jenri drolls sarcastically.

''i would rather you not do that again..." Devon lulls, not seeming to pleased with how the he, the young nobleman, was awaken.

"Gotcha up, didn' it?"

Devon frowns, then looks around him, sheepishly ashamed of passing out--an entirely unmanly thing to do. But his eyes soon take him back to Rojo, and he falls silent and contemplative, questions almost audioably lingering on his lips.

[Asila]

Foresan fixes a harsh gaze on Rojo, seething. The man seemed shifty to him, a manipulator. What else could that stupid little show have been about? He was clearly trying to gain the sympathy of Evening and the blond human, Devon. An offense that was made worse by the fact that he was the one being cast as villain to Rojo's martyred hero. He clenched his jaw, growing angrier as he thought about it.

When Rojo exclaimed it was time for bed (obviously a weak attempt to try and deflect their questions) the angry Tallamous stepped forward. "You won't sleep until I get some answers," he rumbled menacingly.

Evening grinned at Devon, but missed her chance for a witty comment when she caught Ant's words. "Uncle Ant!" She exclaimed, using the full name that she had given him as a little girl. She was absolutely mortified by his behavior. "Leave him alone! Hasn't he suffered enough?"

[Rojo]

Rojo swayed on the spot, almost drunkenly, then finally righted himself. He felt a sudden rush of pride for Evening as she defended him.
"Well..." he started, fixing Foresan with what he thought to be a piercing gaze "you shall have them...what are your queries, O antlered one?" He grinned in his almost trademarked fashion, assuming a sort of impatient stance, putting his hands on his hips and tapping his foot, glad that there was something to draw away from his recent episode.

"C'mon, Devon! Chop chop, on your feet!" Rojo tells the nobleman, making upwards hand gestures in a impromptu way in an attempt to get Devon up on his feet much quicker.

[Seven]

Devon just stares at Rojo, completely zoned out yet entirely fixated upon him, as if he were still silently trying to figure something out.....

Or as if something inside his pretty little head exploded and left him mentally incapable of comprehension.

But you needn't worry about the latter, as we've already seen that dear old Devs is fine. At the sound of the clapping and hand gestures, Devon shakes off the dazed look. He doesn't seem embarrassed for having remained seated for so long, or for zoning out, but rather he gets up slowly and elegantly, as if he were excusing himself from a dinner table of other aristocratic companions. Perhaps this sudden shift from the causalness he had been easied into earlier today back to the rigid properness is a subtle sign that something has made him uncomfortable.

In either case, he puts back on the Nō Mask of society, a gentle look that seems generally pleasant, but devoid of most any emotion. And then, he whats patiently to hear whatever discourse the Alien and the Tallamous have.

[Asila]

Forsan's expression didn't change in the least, not even to show a greater degree of outrage with Rojo's insolent behavior. The ground, however, began to tremble at his feet the way it did whenever he got really angry. Evening could count on one hand the number of times she'd seen him like this and still have room left over.

The antlered Tallamous spoke very carefully, in that tone that people used when they felt as if they wouldn't be able to hold their fury in check if they allowed it to seep into their voice. "I have never met a creature without a heart beat, human." He rumbled, ignoring for moment the conundrum that his wording had presented. He was hoping his question would gain that answer for him. "And I am certain that your friend was not mistaken. So answer me this. What, exactly, are you?" He sounded as though he was just waiting for an answer that would give him the right to kill the offensive man.

Evening shifted closer, making sure that if Foresan tried anything she could be between him and Rojo in a flash. But she let him speak because she wanted to know the answer as well. Unlike Foresan, she only wanted to know so that she could understand Rojo better.

[Rojo]

Rojo looked at the ground quizically, as if he was rather suprised to discover that the earth could do such a rather interesting trick, then realised it was Foresan doing it and a look of coy comprehension moved over his face.

After the Tallamous had finished with his questions, Rojo regarded him for quite some time, as if he was taking a considerable amount of time with his awnser, before deciding it was a fair awnser.
"To awnser your question: I am a good ol' homegrow human, 100% meat, bone, organ, blood and the rest."
He tugged at his cheek as if to emphasise.

[Seven]

Jenri furrows his brow. "Whats about ye being sume sort'a alien or something? Ye were rattlin' on and on about it earlier." Please forgive Jenri. He might be the best driver in Maderal, but he tends to be drunk half the time, and uncomprehending when in dire and tense situation. As Jenri made that little revelation, Devon's placid expression turns just a tad, almost unnoticeably, sour, and his shoulders slump.

[Asila]

Foresan doubted Rojo's claim severely. He knew the sound of an evasive answer and was not so easily deterred. If the man really was a mere human with some sort of peculiar heart condition, he would have simply said so. Instead, he had pointed out all of his other human-like qualities. The Tallamous' eyes narrowed even further, but before he could respond the old man who he had pretty much ignored up until this point voiced an interesting comment.

Foresan was skeptical of 'aliens', but this man was clearly something more than he would acknowledge and this was just another nail in his coffin. Foresan moved closer, one ear flicking back in annoyance as Evening moved with him but he didn't reprimand her. Her close observation wasn't doing anything worse than offending his pride, so he just let her be.

When he was only a step away he came to a halt, a smile of triumph flickering across his expression. "If you are a human, human," he began, mocking Rojo's assurance, "Then why is it that I can't hear your heartbeat, even from this close distance?"

[Rojo]

Rojo had to use all of his will to stop himself from turning around and flaying the poor old driver within a inch of his life, he just forced a smile and chuckled falsely.
"Oh, Mister Jenri, you are such an eavesdropper! I said I was alien to this forst, I have never seen such a place before!" He turned only his head to Jenri, giving him a "don't push your luck" smile and turning back to Foresan, who's sudden closeness almost made him jump.

He noted the short smile of triumph on the Tallamous's face, his head filling up with retorts and insults and the most awful words known to man (and other races). But he didn't let his murderous expression show through, as he simply laughed jovially and spoke.
"You should really get your ears check, kind sir! My heart is beating loudly and clearly? Can you not hear it? Thump-THUMP thump-THUMP thump-THUMP..." he added pathetic sound effects for emphasis. Rojo stepped back slightly, not wishing Foresan to notice other things: he wasn't breathing, he didn't ever seem to swallow excess saliva or his skin pimple with goosebumps, despite the freezing night air.

[Seven]

Jenri, having noticed Devon's subtle change in posture and Rojo's almost murderous smile, merely gulped, stepped back silently and fell silent, hoping to fade into the background again.

While it was obvious to Devon that Rojo was clearly hiding something besides being an alien, he realizes that having an untrusting and biased Tallamous (who attempted to kill them a few minutes prior) cross-examine Rojo was no way the correct manner to get Rojo to "spill," so to speak. He also realized that Rojo had no pulse from the moment he attempted to check it, and so, he does the best thing he can do: step in front of the other-wordly traveler. Perhaps that way, if he stood close enough to Rojo, Foresan might confuse where he was hearing the heart beat come from, and it was not unusual of people traveling together to have sychronized heartbeats.

"You sir," Devon begins without a sound of hesitation or a quaver of intimidation, "are crossing a line that didn't even exist. For the first part, you attacked us for no good reason, and now you are trying to cross-examine my friend! As for this Alien rubbish, you are quite correct," Devon pauses almost dramatically. "Rojo is indeed an alien. Of Humale; he comes from Welis in a small colony Great-Grandfather set up there. And before you become suspicious of why he traveled so far, it's because he'll be attending school in Maderal. And since you are assured to doubt even something as small and frivolous as that, here is his acceptance letter as proof."

At this, Devon reaches into his inside coat pocket and pulls forth the precious message he was supposed to be delivering to Kinrei. But such a minor violation of ethics is called for when a person is in trouble, and fortunately for the two, the acceptance letter lists no name in its salutation.

"Honestly, I am quite surprised you'd jump to such tactless conclusions based upon the use of the word "alien." Did you for even a second consider its alternative and more realistic definition? Where else did you suppose this man developed such an accent?" Devon said, practically rolling his eyes, as if this were the most idiotic mix up he's ever heard of.

Jenri on the other hand, looks slightly confused (as he thinks Devon IS telling the truth). He dumbly scratches his balding head, looking to the floor. "I've really got to stop drinking...." And with that, he unceremoniously produces at least 5 bottles of hard whiskey from inside his jacket to dispose of them. A little something to lower Jenri's credibility....