Tainted [Staria x DoctorRed]

[Staria]

"There is nothing I need from you...." She said quietly, but there was something sad and a touch of fear in her tones. Her hands even paused in their work as she stared dimly into some memory. That pain.... the first time a child threw a rock at her when she was six, the death of her father,  the doctor, both flashed before her eyes. She would never need anyone like that again, never. All that got you was pain and hardship. No... she would not let herself need anything from him...

"Now sleep... it should hurt less by morning" She mumbled as she roused herself and bandaged the last cut. She then turned to her bag and put away her supplies, her face expressionless but her eyes holding that hint of sadness still. Like most she really did want to be loved, maybe needed it, but she feared it more. To rely on someone, to allow herself a friend was simply nothing she could fathom. He could keep his stupid code and obligation she told herself inwardly.

Absently she began to use a few bits of her clothing and an extra cloak to make a pile to lay in. It was not travel friendly usually but he needed the bed role more then she did. She did not sleep, watching him instead. It was clear from those eyes... she still did not trust him yet. She half expected if she fell asleep first he would kill her and take her head back as an apology to the villagers....

[DoctorRed]

The man wasted no time in drifting off, his body limp against the bedroll, his chest leveling and the rapid breathing of pain and weariness leaving his body. He slept peacefully as he waited, wanting to rest and heal up. He found himself among the mob as they tore at his armor and clothes and weapons until he was naked and fighting with bare fists until they were taken from him, and then his skin came after. With nothing left he fell to the ground and leered up at the sun, who never wept for him. He wondered as his eyes opened whether it was to exemplify that it was not only the night that was so deep and full of terrors.

Perhaps.

He sat up in the cave, wincing at the act before he leaned against the cool stone and sighed, his palm moving to his wounds and grimacing a bit.  He looked around for her, watching her patiently and grinning a bit before he leered down to the entrance of the cave, sighing and closing his eyes as he sat. He reached for his book and tugged it into his lap, folding it open and reading patiently as he did so, grimacing at the position only a little. He would learn about her, here and now.

[Staria]

There would be little to know, in such a book as his not made by demons itself. Demons of fire and demons of shadow existed in great numbers... but few held both. The demonic form of the cat, however, had been spotted many a time... a demon of great strength but often seen fighting its own kind. Shadow seemed to be their main power, disappearing and reappearing in them as well as using them. She was the only one that seemed to need blood to access this power... but she too seemed the only one able to use the blue hell fire. There was a piece missing...

Still she slept through this investigation of her mysterious higher demon roots, sleeping for at least two hours in a death like state as she gathered what energy she could and tried to heal. Her saving him had been far more taxing then she'd ever admit to him but also there was her own wounds from before... though the marks on her body had long healed and scared over the demon she had fought had cost her more then usual. He had been powerful... and a cheater. He had attacked her with a holy weapon via a human servant. It would take some time for her to be at full power...

Slowly she would start to stir, whimpering at some inner vision. She would open her eyes slowly, the cat like slit appearing at first before it would take it's more human form. She looked towards the man she had tended, her hand drawing nervously to her side where most likely some weapon was hidden. She watched the man to see where he was, not realizing she'd slept at least an hour longer then he had. What had he gotten to she wondered....

[DoctorRed]

He searched his book from cover to cover, skimming patiently as he leaned against the cave wall. With his body broken in such a way he was having trouble moving too much without discomfort so he'd stayed still, drawing his tunic back onto his body before he finished his skimming and looking for knowledge of her. With that done, he folded the book up and returned it to the leather case, buttoning it shut and setting it aside. He closed his eyes for a long moment before he turned his eyes back upon her with a curious gleam in his eyes.

When she stirred and rose, he found himself turning his eyes away in an embarrassed manner, hoping she hadn't noticed him staring at her, as he took in the details of her body and form. He looked back to her face and gave a weak smile, his bearded face contorting and twisting scars as he did so. "You're awake," he said, tilting his head.

"I was just...reading and I was wondering... are you half-demon, or whole?" he asked, an eyebrow raised before he sat back against the cool stone, folding his arms and shifting his legs a bit from under him. "I've watched you sleeping, but you seem... stranger than the usual demons I've encountered." he told her.

[Staria]

She flushed as he confessed to watching her sleep, puzzled until she refocused on the earlier sentence. So he wanted to know what she was... perhaps better to kill her? Half-demons were only weakened by holy spells and weapons, full demons killed so it was vital question. She frowned at this thought, looking at him in silence a moment as she clutched her clothing closer. In her human form what could he have seen?

"....half... why?" She finally answered, getting up and beginning to gather her things she'd slept on absently. She was watching him more then what she was doing, trusting him even less now. What did he want with information on her? He believed in her innocence supposedly so what did it matter?. It made her nervous..

[DoctorRed]

He held the package before her and winced at her sudden suspicion and wariness as he tried to explain, her movements distracted. He sighed a bit and tugged the book free. "I'm sorry, I should really explain. I am a ranger, but I was born noble. I know how to read and write, so I do so often. I have this book that is an encyclopedia of sorts. It lists many creatures and things in it, like a sort of dictionary for what I might encounter. I make notes in it and sometime I trade information with other like-minded rangers. I really meant you no harm by it, I was merely assessing you." He explained, showing her the book, though he held it close so as not to allow it to be taken from him. If he had any treasure in the world, it was that.

"I really meant you nothing more than observation, and If you had something you wanted to learn about or stories you wanted to know, I'd gladly tell you. Nothing that goes in this book is about how to slay, it is only a collective of habits and societies that other creatures fall in." he said, leaning back and laying the book on his lap. "It's also a journal, of sorts," he admitted, turning a few pages. "Do you... want me to tear out the page about you?" he asked, his eyes meeting hers.

[Staria]

"I have no knowledge of my fathers kind....only my mothers, the elves and the humans...So there's nothing I can give your collection but that which makes me, myself vulnerable...so I don't see why I need to be in your journal..." She answered cautiously. She kept her eyes on his, biting her lip gently in uncertainty. It was clear her instinct was to tell him to tear it out but him asking her made her feel almost like she could trust him so she couldn't make up her mind.

She turned her back to him a moment, putting her bags away in the place they had been hidden before. It was still raining she noted absently and thought his horse would have been wise to come inside during the night. She watched the trees a moment, the sun was starting to rise...She would have to stay in the cave likely, now that the daylight was on its way the villagers would feel embolden and search the forest. Normally she didn't mind... to be alone with her own thoughts but today she was not alone....

[DoctorRed]

"I could tell you more of other demons, if you were to be curious, really," he said, looking to the mouth of the cave briefly. "I have spent a long time gathering knowledge like this and wouldn't be adverse to sharing with anyone who didn't want it for genocide," he said to her, brushing his hair back away from his face as he looked upon her.  The disappointment she showed him in the idea of the book was a bit displeasing, but it wasn't the first time someone had discovered the book, much less been annoyed at it's existence. Richard turned it over in his fingers while he watched her, curious to see what she'd say further on the matter. She'd probably pretend it simply didn't matter to her, most likely.


"Like I said, though, only I will hold this book, and no one will see what I have written about you. But if you'd like, I will burn the pages and be done with them." He told her, holding her gaze as he fingered the pages gently in his fingertips, laying the package in his lap as he watched her. He noticed that she looked to see the rising sun and wondered at that. With her shadow-powers, would she be trapped in the cave? A more ignorant man would be excited at the prospect and cut her down, but she'd proven her innocence a bit too well for him. There would be no battle between them because of it. He wanted to learn more, but how could he promise that he meant her no harm?

[Staria]

"I have no need to know of my father's kind. I know enough to control my powers, that's all I need."/ was her response to the first, a scowl touching her shoulders. She gazed out at the rising light, watching her shadows shrink. She could indeed walk outside but she was less powerful with less shadows ready to come to her call. It was not the time to search a forest that the villagers now searched for them both. She would have to wait.

" perhaps... that is what you intend the  book for but some day you will die...and I will not age but be vulnerable for your words if the book is still around..." She finally mused aloud. She didn't' turn to look at him, simply looking at the rain and the early morning dawn. She was frowning still in her uncertainty, fearing the man behind her and not sure what to do with him.

[DoctorRed]

"You're right. When I pass away and am no more than a stain of bloody resistance in the even more bloodied stream of time. When my voice ceases to carry on the wind, only an echo of the short time my battles survived in the night," he said, leaning to get comfortable as he watched her. " I can't promise that no wrong ever shall come of the dangers this book guides the men I would sooner see alive than dead, no more than a blacksmith can be held responsible for the danger a sword presents. " with that said,  pages tore and crumpled, a hand sending their stiff wrinkles sailing into her unnatural blue fires.

"I know you have learned for your fathers kind how to survive. But, I... I am a man who has seen the humans at their best. I think that the trouble I see in your eyes is less the might of demons and more the heart of a human." He told her, turning his back to her and settling against the Bertillon gingerly. "Surviving is not living. I have a chapter on humans that I think you would find quite... illuminating."

[Staria]

She glanced back as she heard the tearing of paper, clearly surprised. Part of her had not expected him to really get rid of the pages on her, she had already presumed him to be more like the ones she had already encountered. She bit her lip, those vivid eyes growing briefly more cat like yet still somehow more...vulnerable as she gazed at him. Still as he continued she shook her head and turned her back to him, a broken laugh escaping her lips.

"The heart of a human....that sounds like something I've heard before...and living? just what do you call living?" She asked quietly, briefly falling into her own memories and deliberately avoiding the comment about humans. Her father had said something similar about her heart with scorn, her mother with love. Her mother had called her heart beautiful, delicate, pure.... what would she call it now? She closed her eyes, her shoulders falling as for a moment she looked...defeated.

[DoctorRed]

Living? Living is waking up every morning and knowing that before you open your eyes the sky will he blue. It's waking up with a heart free from hate. It's walking alone, knowing that if ever your burden grows too great, you can do two things with your hands," he told her.

From his side, he continues. " With all hands, there are a palm, fingers and thumb. With the same function available, you can make a fist... or claws, in some cases and lash out. You can rip and tear. Hate and devour."

He turned his eyes on hers. "But with nothing and no one to protect, your heart will weep. It will grow tired of the boiling rage. The other option... you can reach out and grasp. Not gold or power,  but for friends. For love.  Peace. That venue is the path to living, while the fist and claw is survival, and lonesomeness. "

[Staria]

"Quite the optimist... but everyone I'd seek to protect is dead. So my only use is the claw, especially until I get out of here.... Are you honestly trying to lecture me? I did reach out, I did love them, and all it has ever earned me is hate. Love? Love who? the villagers currently out for my blood? The man who was sent by them? the doctor who tortured me? tell me who i should love?" She turned towards him, speaking at first calmly but slowly growing more angry sounding...more bitter.

The scars of years shown in her eyes, her hands at her sides were curled into fists. She was trapped in this place like a prison and he spoke of ideals.... All she'd ever wanted was peace, all she'd ever fought for was peace, but never did she manage to find it. She was tired of being alone but she was even more tired of being hurt.

[DoctorRed]

Every day I rise on the power of freedom, knowing that no one is trying to harm me. It's very gratifying.  I never said that you should use but one, but if you choose your battles, and even more so choose friends,  you need only use one at a time.  Today, I will rise as all men rise when there are fools out to slay him." He told her, a laugh on his lips.

" Later today,  I  will see this doctor. With what you say as truth, he is the source and the cause. I will cut him down when I see the truth.  It will then be a time for palms and kisses, but not before. Sometimes, the floor must be red before the sky be blue, but without the.promise of a blue.sky, do you truly wish to fight?"

[Staria]

"You may have that freedom but I will never have it. As my fathers daughter demons and humans alike will always seek my blood. I do not know why my father's kind fight, perhaps it is the power we gain when we slay another of our kind, but it will never end until I die. I will never have a choice on whether to fight or not... nor do I believe I'll see any kisses even at the doctors death. Even if he is the source of the plague he may not be the end of it.... and I dont know how he could be the source directly unless..." She started to point out his flaws in logic again, uncertain what he wanted from her when she thought of something.

He'd always stayed behind her as she tortured her but a time or two she'd felt something cold, like glass touch her. She had always assumed it was simply to cause her to shudder in fear of what it could be ... and yet. Could he be using her blood? Her father had power over shadow and decay so though she may not have inherited it all could she still be a carrier? She frowned, a glass vile would feel cold like that.

"My blood... he must be using my blood. He must have taken it when..." She trailed off, beginning to pace. What then could be the cure? or for that matter how it was spreading? He hadn't gone near all the people that were made sick.... but maybe he didn't have to. Maybe he was using something or someone else to spread it. But what? and how?

[DoctorRed]

"True enough that this place must seem hard and cold, but I have seen the village.  They eyes there do not crave a monster,  but a hero. If you had the will to wait, and the courage to stand... I can show you how to live among them as the champion of the people. You could be the blade in darkness that no one else there ever could be, and their walls a better home than any cave or hole."

"I am not a man who will be fooled twice. If you think this man has used the blood he took from you, I will find out and expose his monstrous ways. I cannot act alone, bit neither will I ally with anything less than justice." He rose to his feet,  eyes on hers. "For a price I will teach you to live, but otherwise, our hearts can never be friends." He told her


"Side with me, and live again. "

[Staria]

"They did not crave a champion before but a monster to blame for all their ills, why would that change now? True, I have not been in the village some time but I doubt that it has been so long... I will help you and fight to destroy whatever the cause of these deaths are as I have long before the villagers even began to blame me. But Price? What price do you ask of me and why would I pay it to be taught some idle dreams." She responded guardedly, uncertain of his demand.

He made so many promises in that one speech.. she could not help but doubt it. And price? was it merely her help? If so she had already been drawn into giving it whether she liked it or not but she could not help but be afraid. Her eyes searched his, searching for some hidden agenda and for a moment she looked like simply a scared girl and not a demoness.

[DoctorRed]

He shook his head, a grin on his lips while his eyes met hers. "Your tale isn't one that may be found in a child's storybook, But so often have I seen it in action that I feel it should be made more common than the Knight and the Maiden, " he told her, waving a hand lightly as he watched her. He moved to stand before her, still bare from the waist up.

"My price is that you must never stray far without reason. You will again be armored by the village, but you will be their hero. Many make  the mistake of monster and hero in their ignorance. When the evil is gone, you will be a beacon to them. The light in dark times. I know you are wary of this. I know your fears well. I will stand beside you, if you would stand beside me. That is my price. Live, and consider your debt paid. Resign yourself to survival, and I would sooner fight alone than beside the already-dead." He said, standing over her, eyes boring into hers.

[Staria]

The demoness blushed faintly, not use to such a sight being within a breaths distance of her. She started to step back but then remembered how close she was to the entrance and stopped herself. She ran a hand through her hair, a little shaky that he stood so close. Why couldn't he put a damn shirt on? Or at least.... not be so well formed, muscle definition being a side effect of the life he lived. She satisfied herself with looking away to try and not blush.

"Stray far? from the village... or from you?" She muttered, uncertain how to react to this. She did not believe she could ever be the village light...not with the demons that sought her head if nothing else. Still, she couldn't stop herself from answering him even if  most of what he said seemed a fools dream and optimism that should have long been crushed.

[DoctorRed]

Richard reached out and turned her face to look upon him. "I would stay with you and guide you were it only my place, sweet girl. But I will stay until you feel safe, and leave you in a village like never you have seen before." He pushes a thumb against her lips to silence her gently, as he tilted her face to loom into his.

"The realm of men would hide you from the demons of before, and the power of aa demon could stave off great monsters when they set upon you, if you chose to live." He promised. "Will you live again,  or are you so dead that these words mean nothing? What can I do to show you the world I can open for you?"