A Small Glade

[Asila]

Foresan's ears tilted back in annoyance as he listened to Rojo speak. What a pitiful attempt at disguising the truth! He had lived far too long to fall for such ploys and even if he were two centuries younger he would still know that no heart beat within the man's chest. All Tallamous had excellent senses, but with physical features based off of those of a deer his sense of hearing was even more acute. His eyesight was fairly poor in comparison, however, meaning that he didn't notice the difference that Rojo's skin remained oddly smooth even on a cold night like this one. He did notice that Rojo didn't seem to breathe consistently, only drawing breath when he needed it to speak.

However, before he could point this out, the young human that Evening had called Devon moved forward. He was getting very tired of this one's lengthy speeches. He tended to respect a more direct approach to communicating. In fact, if Rojo had been Tallamous, and if Foresan hadn't been a bit over-protective of his young niece, he may have felt a grudging respect for the dark-haired young man. But he was not Tallamous and he had made the mistake of not only taking advantage of Evening's kindness, but of turning her against him with his foolish little fainting act. This pair (meaning Rojo and Devon) weren't going to weasel their way out of this one so easily.

Maybe he just didn't like the noble for implying that he had foolishly jumped to conclusions when he could hear the evidence for himself. Of course, it wasn't so easy to hear with a true human standing directly before him, but he was still very sure that it was one heartbeat that he was hearing now and not two. Either way, he simply crossed his arms over his massive chest and stared the young man down, completely ignoring the letter that had been offered for his perusal. If the noble's words didn't contain any truth, why would his letter?

Staring pointedly at the noble, he said as much. "If you're words ring of deceit, why would I trust your letter to contain truth?"

Evening tensed a bit, sensing that the situation was beginning to degenerate again. The only way to get on Foresan's good side was to appeal to his pride, not to tell him he was being silly! She bit her lip, thinking fast. How did she calm the situation? She only came up with one answer. She would have to let him finish what he came here to do and just leave with him. That was the only way she could end this.

She put a hand on his arm, watching as he tilted a single ear in her direction. He was listening, even if he didn't want to look away from Rojo and Devon to glance at her. "Foresan, why don't we leave? It doesn't really matter whether or not Rojo is human."

Her uncle looked at her then. She could read the stubborness in his expression and knew he had trouble letting go of an argument once he'd become engaged in one, but he nodded in agreement. "Then we'll return to the wagon. You must be tired." He replied, with less steel in his voice than there had been earlier. He spared her friends a single, meaningful glare before turning back to the forest and walking with Evening into the darker shadows cast by the trees.

Evening looked back over her shoulder as she left and mouthed the word 'wait' before she vanished into the trees.

((She'll be back to give them an owl. I just thought this post was getting long and that this way Rojo and Devon could share a comment before she returned.))

[Rojo]

Rojo was completely suprised at his companions's sudden and swift attempts to defend him. He suddenly felt a warm rush of pride and loyalty to the both of them, his face possitively beaming at them. Then his face fell again as the taller Tallamous persisted. Gods almighty, did he never give up?

Then, once again, Evening came quickly to the rescue, appealing to her Uncle and succeeding in making him leave. Rojo watched them go, watching as Foresan turned back, returning his stare with a cheery and sarcastic wave and dropping it when Evening turned, reading her lips.

He turned to Devon when he was sure they were gone, but not before rounding on poor old Jenri.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're playing at?! I thought you people here had a fear of those Tallamoose people or whatever they're called! Weren't you afraid he was going to slice and dice us? Now, this sudden outburst I've had at you never happened, now go and get some rest, all of this is probably a drunken dream, as you said, you need to lay of the liqour,"
He gave the old driver a friendly pat on the back and gently prodded him in the direction of the carriage, as if he really were drunk and needed help finding something that was only three or four feet away.

Rojo turned to Devon.
"What do you think she meant? Wait here, or wait until we get a message, sign or casual slit throat?" He was of course joking. He was actually, much to his suprise, quite fond of the older Tallamous; he quite liked someone who was hard to trick. He was fond of Evening and Devon too, for they had both stuck their necks out for him, and they barely knew him! Nothing of his origins, nothing of his condition, nothing of his work or even how old he was! THey might as well have befriended a brick wall!

[Seven]

Jenri looks up at Rojo, now completely confused. He just shakes his head, murmuring something beneath his breath as he saunters off for the carriage, the white tigers following him as he crosses some invisible threashold.

Devon watches sadly as Evening implies she'll be leaving them. Well, he knew it would last, but he didn't expect it'd be this short. So when she mouths to them to wait, he's a little surprised as well. He smiles at Rojo. "Well, she did begin by trying to trick us, so maybe she'll say good bye the way she came," he jokes, knowing this wouldn't happen after the strange number of events they went through together in the day.

[Rojo]

Rojo shrugged and turned around to face the forest, then raised his arms high to the air, his palms facing upward in a sarcastic uber-shrug.
"Women...they're so..." he looked for a word "Mortgen!"
He didn't wait for Devon to ask what it meant, but simply lowered his arms defeatly and turned his head over his shoulder.
"D'you fancy a walk?" He asked, "only, I remember what happened last time, and...well..."((And so the yaoi begins XD))

He gave a one-shouldered shrug before stuffing his hands in his belt so his thumbs poked out and "turned on" his nose for a moment, inhaling the cool night air greatfully. It smelt nice, and that strange nightime smell of cool air and cold was refreshing and he enjoyed it, before allowing his nasal passages to return to their dead state, his strange energy source moving elsewhere to find some other more productive use. He shook his head and picked up one of the bottles Jenri had casually dropped. He stared at it:
Boyner's and Folter's
Famous Whiskey
1531
Brewed in Maderal City
He roughly pulled out the cork, swished the liquid inside around before looking back over his shoulder at Devon, waiting for an awnser.

[Seven]

"We might be chastised for walking away when she told us to wait, so perhaps not. Besides, I suppose...well...I'm not sure how to say it..." Devon put his left hand behind his head, his gaze shifting to the ground.

((Of course, Devon had to shift his gaze away from Rojo, since he couldn't bare to look at him. It would have been too much, he felt like he was going to burst...[insert yaoi thoughts here]. And then Devon confess his undying love to Rojo. XD))

"I suppose all I want is to know the truth." (("Do you feel the same way, Rojo?" he asked giving him an intense gaze with his piercing green eyes and shoujo bubbles popped up behind him. It was obvious how serious this moment was, since Devon held his gaze on Rojo rather than going to stab all the shoujo bubbles to death, as he would have done normally, since he hates them with a fiery passion. But his fiery passion was stronger yet for his playful adventurer companion.))

"What else are you hiding?"

((Look what you started me on! You've corrupted me!!!! Now, when ever there's a Devon Rojo scene, I'm going to be tempted to write the yaoi alternate!!!)

[Rojo]

Rojo paused to turn fully to face Devon. He took an experimental draught of the whiskey, the juices flooding to his tastebuds instantly. He choked through it.
"This is good stuff!" He said, indicating the bottle "remind me to pick some up from the store when we get to wossname city..."
((Even without the effects of the drink, Devon's eyes were as radiant and dazzling as every, his body screaming attractiveness, Rojo could not draw his gaze away from those eyes..."Yes...Yes I do...Ever since I first climbed into your carriage...these feelings, they're all so new and strange...Oh, Devs!" He rushed into Devon's arms, crying into the noble's shoulder...he was so confused...))
He paused, looking at the ground, he could trust Devon, couldn't he? He had knew the man barely a day, yet he somehow knew he could trust him...
"Do you really want to know the truth? The whole truth?"
He took a heavy swig of the strong whiskey again. The Gods knew he needed it...

[Seven]

Devon paused, as if his mind were racing back and forth in debate. Was knowing necessary? Could he just trust everything to be fine and let it go? Was ignorance bliss? After all, he couldn't unknow something once it was said. (((God, all of these lines really do sound like dirty-romance...))

He looked back up to Rojo, ((his gaze as intense and serious as always)) and made a motion to pass the bottle over. Uncharacteristically of him, he threw back his head and took a long swig from the bottle (for once, not being germ-a-phobic) before handing the bottle back to Rojo.

He said firmly, "Yes."

(("It's alright, my dear Rojo. Time and space may attempt to seperate us, our classes may try as well, but I will protect you, forgive you, cherish you, my sweet, till all the stars fall from their heavenly positions in the sky. Shh, do not cry, love, nothing you can say will change anything between us. Do not be afraid to speak. Instead, imagine happier times, when we shall be married and you expecting children... (ever noticed that in yaoi, guys can get pregnant somehow? XD XD XD) ))

[Rojo]

Rojo was suprised by Devon's sudden snatch of the drink and confirmation. He stared at the bottle of the neck as if he could see Devon's germs all over it. He rubbed it with his sleeve. ((something uncharacteristic of him))

"Lessay...that, there's a thing back home called 'Necromancy' and lessay that it allows people to be 'revived', lessay, after death, but not in a good way, and, lessay this 'necromancy' was performed on me and lessay that it's not very 'popular' where I come from to be 'revived', lessay...how would you react to that?"

((Rojo suddenly stopped crying
"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH! CHILDREN?! WHAT THE F*CK IS WRONG WITH YOU!? THAT'S DISGUSTING!!"
He backed away from Devon, suddenly all the noble's charm and wit was gone, and here stood a raging bender...he stared at Devon for a while before turning away and shaking his head
"I think I'm gonna go try and get Evening drunk, and try some moves, just to make sure..."
He shuffled off in the direction Evening had gone, making experimental crotch thrusts every few steps...
AND SO IT ENDS.))

[Seven]

Devon grins at the strange reversal. "You do realize that when you drank out of it the first time, you were sharing germs with Jenri, right?" he says as he wipes it off with his sleeve.
((Sorry, just had to mention it.))

He falls silent, watching Rojo intently, as if trying to make sense of what must have happened to him. "I know what necromancy is, Rojo." He goes silent again, but after a moment or two he starts up again. "So...had you been dead for a while when someone revived you, or did someone kill you intentionally to try to resurrect you again as their slave?" he says, ignoring Rojo's last question.

((Devon looked shocked. How dare you! Who does this little strumpet think he is! Just some undead commoner! Devon was practically doing him a favor by loving him, and he tries to storm off on him!? He wouldn't be dumped like this! "Well--I'll have you know that you're just one of many, hundreds really! I didn't even like you that much, I just wanted you use you, you damn jerk! That's right, leave, why don't you! I have others. I have Nevod and he's much better looking than you! After all, he looks like me, and it doesn't get much better than that! And good luck with Evening considering her evil Uncle is going to be stalking her now. Not that she'll go for you anyways--she obviously had a crush on ME! And you, you'll NEVER survive without me! I made you! You'll see--you'll come back, sad and lonely, and looking for a shoulder to cry on, except I won't be there! So HA!" he shouts after him, then turns away grumbling.

The end. Again.))

[Rojo]

Rojo shrugged.
"Wouldn't want toff gob on my lips, would I? What would people say?" He took another drink. The world was beginning to feel a little warm now.
"The second awnsher is the right one...sh!" He looked at Devon, trying to look serious.

((Rojo simply awnsered with a middle finger over his shoulder, staggering through the night.
"Well, I'll send him over, you'd go together, you and him; you've both got bugs stuck up your arses!"
He moved out of sight into the shadows of the forest.))
THE END. Again.

[Seven]

"Oh..." he sounded almost apologetic. But a new question cam to mind, preventing him from just quieting down. "...but it that case, how is it that you're not your necromancer's slave? From what I had always heard of necromancy, your mind doesn't really come back with you." Devon couldn't help the small voice in the back of his ear that thought, 'Maybe his mind hasn't come back, maybe your friend is just a talented puppeteer's puppet." But even that, at the same time, didn't make sense. After all, he doubted that anyone's magic could be so strong that their control over a puppet would extend into another world.

[Rojo]

A shadow seemed to be cast over Rojo's face all of a sudden, as he stared down the neck of the whiskey bottle into the sullen liquid inside.
"That is a story I do not wish to share..." He said bluntly, then he suddenly made a choking noise, dropping the bottle and clutched at his head before suddenly freezing. Then he looked at Devon, his eyes empty, his mouth open.
He groaned and took a shuffled step towards the noble, then another, then stood right infront of Devon, breathing his whiskey breath into his face, his mouth open wide, ready to bite...then he burst out laughing. He stepped back and grinned.
"My personal favourite..." he said "the look on your face!" ((Assuming Devon had made a look))

[Seven]

((Sure, why not?)) Devon's fearful look changed to one of mild annoyance. For a second, it looked like Devon was tempted to push Rojo, like a child might have, but instead, he just brushes off his own suit. "Ha ha. Very funny. You've already scared me half to death twice today--I take it you don't want to be the only undead one around here anymore?"


other words, you're not going to scare me into abandoning you." He then continues, "But seriously Rojo, there is one thing I need to know, and I realize this sounds bad, but how can you actually die? ...Maybe that was a poor choice of words...What I mean to say is that earlier, when you were knocked out, I thought you had died...permanently, in your sense...And from what little I know of necromancy, I know that even a revived creature can have a final death. I just want to know in case something happens, and we end up in a situation again. I need to know when I can trust you'll be alright, what to expect, and knowing when you're in serious danger of actually...going."

[Rojo]

Rojo was confused at Devon's wording.
"If you mean, will I suddenly drop on the floor or something due to high distance between my master and myself...I won't. I'm...'unique,'" he grinned "special breed, don't need to be near my Master, I have a sort of replacement for blood...it's like..." he couldn't think of a way to explain it, so he causually picked up the dagger from the ground and shoved it rather simply through his leg. He pulled it out again quickly, before the stuff began its process of instantly flocking to a wound to heal it, the only problem with this was that it also turned on all the nerves in the surrounding area of the wound, making pain explode, and he was distinctively telling the little things not to flock to the wound. Except for a few, but he told these few to dive out the wound. They were extremely reluctant to do so, but after a while a sort of moss-green sticky liquid collected on his ripped trouser. He let the things do there work, but made sure they healed it at normal human rate, which caused no pain. He put a finger in the goop and then showed it to Devon.
"This stuff," he said "is a very clever piece of magic...they were supposedly sentient, but are controlled by a sort of strange routine, which can be altered," he popped his fingers into his mouth, the goop happily jumping down his throat to return to their routine.

He pocketed the dagger casually, ignoring his bleeding leg.
"So, uh, don't worry...those little guys will easily clear up any problems I have, excluding mental problems...but anyway, unless I get stabbed in the head, I'll be fine, problem is, I can die normally. They sort of flock to wounds to heal them at double rate, so if I take too many wounds and they all flock away from my brain, shutting me off, and if they all leave my brain...I kind of, die...or if I lose blood, they turn themselves into blood to substitute, meaning I have to inject blood into myself ocassionaly after fights, which I need to do right now, so if you'll excuse me..."
He rustled off into the trees to leave Devon with the information to cope with all he had just said.
((BEGIN DEVON INNER MONOLOGUE....NOW!))

[Seven]

((Do I have to monologue? Can I monologue with Devon from the AU yaoi-verse instead? No? You people all suck....))

Devon blinked as Rojo walked away. That was sort of a lot to take in all at once. Especially that goopy stuff....You could say it offended Devon's aristocratic sense of...something. (Aka, it looked gross.) Even though Devon hadn't made his question perfectly clear (asking straight forward how to kill someone seemed a little off to him), he basically found out what he needed to know: Rojo could only really die if his brain was damaged. On the bright side, that meant he didn't have to worry about Rojo becoming majorly injured anytime soon, though he really hoped they wouldn't end up in anymore battles. It was really strange for Devon to have fought so many people in one day, he had hardly been in any real fight before in his life (except for the occasional spar with his instructor or classmate.) After all, he was a noble, he really wasn't expected to do such things. But it was good to know that what he had learned hadn't failed him throughout the day. And furthermore, it had been an exciting day. He felt like a REAL adventurer, like the kind you read about in novels, the kind his great-grandfather had been before he bought his family into nobility.

Funny, he hadn't realized just how STRANGE today had been. Yes, reflecting on it, he had met an alien for another universe, a Tallamous girl tried to trick them, fought a battle with strange Darklings, fought another battle with another Tallamous, then discovered said alien is also a zombie. Weird. Devon shook his head, wondering if the world went mad in the past 24 hours, or if it was just him.