<font color='#FFFFFF'>Tria, 15th. 81377 Far in front of her stood a huge chasm, filled with terrifying and evil beasts. Ryke stood at Nineveh's side, a grave expression on his face, his sword in his hand. "Nineveh, you are so courageous." He told her with a soft smile. "You have saved me so many times. . you have journeyed to our world from your. . . strange and mysterious world. You have saved my people and now you and I stand side by side, ready to face the chasm of Trials in the hope that we might acquire the Light of Faldoom." "Do not worry, Ryke!" Nineveh said with a grand smile. "I shall protect you, and we shall triumph! For, in my world, I am wise and respected. I am a famed warrior!" They began to cross the chasm, stepping on a long thin rope that looked as if someone had tried to fray it. . . "I sense danger. . . " Ryke said, trying to hide his fear. "Do not worry." Nineveh replied. "We shall prevail whilst I am here." Suddenly, a Human stepped out from behind a rock. Humans are known for their devious ways. They are vicious warmongers. "Ha! Nineveh! You shall not triumph this time!" He cried. With one mighty slash, he cut the rope. Ryke and his fellow warrior went sailing through the air, toward the beasts waiting below. "I'll get you, Arthur, if it's the last thing I do!" Nineveh shouted just before she. . . . "Ooof!" Nineveh cried as she fell off the small wooden beam she was balancing on and onto the dry grass below it. Sighing, she picked herself up off the floor and gave her wings a shake. Sitting down, once again on the vast field that expanded either side of her, she pulled out a sketch book from the small pack that held all of her worldly posessions. She dug further and pulled out a pencil before beginning to sketch the scene she had just acted out. After a few strokes of the pencil, a picture was beginning to form. Nineveh looked up at her surroundings and sighed. She wasn't sure exactly how she came to be sitting here in this field of dry grass, next to a broken fence - of which all that was left was a single beam of wood, running to a dead end, only 5 foot long. A group of flowers in bright colours bloomed in front of her, catching the hot summer sun as Nineveh tried to remember exactly which way she had come. The dreamy artist had remembered flying over an ocean before her imagination had took over, but could not remember exactly where home was in relation to where she was now. Wasn't that the idea? she asked herself in thought. "I wish I knew where I was and where I was going." She said out loud. She turned her pencil around and rubbed out an outline, ajusting the size of the Human, making him slimmer. "So much for adventure. . . " she muttered as a Kylymiraa hovered past her.</font>
<font color='#FFFFFF'>OOC: Hey Mogzy Mogzeh, I really want to reply to this post. *sticks a flag in the dirt* I CLAIM THIS HERE THREAD! But before I can reply, I was wondering... where is it, exactly? I've gathered that it's in some sort of building with beam supports, so it's probably an old establishment, quite possibly built of wood. Or possibly there's a gymnast's balance beam in the room, and all my guesswork is incredibly wrong. Or maybe it's outside... but you most difinately said there was a floor. It could be outside in a pavillion! You see my problem... So if you could help me out with a clue or two I'd love to write my reply. (:</font>
<font color='#FFFFFF'>((OOC: Uh.. yeah.. I do apologise for my lack of description in that respect.. *blush* I live in the UK so it was about 2AM when I wrote it and I'd just accidentally wiped it before I had to re-do it.. so.. uh.. yeah.. I'll um.. edit it now and add some detail.. it was meant to be outside, actually.. but never mind..changes very soon!! ~Mogzy))</font>
<font color='#FFFFFF'><table width="" style="border:1 px #FFFFFF groove;"><tr><td width="54" style="background:url('http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/228259/kaeusirora.jpg')repeat;"></td><td width="309" style="font-size:11px;font-family:verdana;"> Kaeus Irora 1900 Male Creating Music (A) Creating Lyrics (A) <font color="#31C4BA">"Speech."</font> Thought. You're from the UK? I didn't know that! That's cool. I have a friend who lives in... um... somewhere around London. I myself am not familiar with the area... I've never been there. Is it really rainy, like they say? Oh, and by the way, beautiful post! Alone. Why did Kaeus always find himself alone? Strolling through the tall grass idly, he wondered. It was a gorgeous day; the sun was shining, over the swaying field of green, the birds were chirping as they circled gracefully overhead, and he even saw the occasional young child, leaping and playing with their parents or their buddies. It was the kind of day you might spend with a lover under an apple tree, or just anyone at all who would be willing to stroll in the sun and chat. But Kaeus had no friends like that. For the most part, Kaeus prefered his guitar over other people. People were unreliable; a guitar was always yours. As Kae's periwinkle paws stepped through the grass, he was comforted by the weight on his back. It was his guitar in it's raven black case.  He considered pulling it out and playing a few chords, perhaps to practice the morning's lesson or just allay the sinking loneliness in the pit of his stomach. "Oof!" A sound nearby immediately attracted his attention. Tossing his midnight blue hair out of his eyes, he looked over and saw a female pendragon as black as pitch, with small wings that resembled those of a bat's. The femme looked to be older than he was, but not that adept at balancing. To Kaeus's amused surprise, she had fallen off a low wooden beam she had tried to walk! Silly, he thought to himself. He was about to turn away and continue on his lonely stroll when she pulled out a drawing tablet and muttered "I wish I knew where I was going... so much for adventure." Kaeus was instantly put in mind of a song. One about... getting lost in life. And before he even knew it, he was broke into melody, perhaps loudly enough to be percieved by the femora's audials, although this was not entirely Kae's intention. <font color="#31C4BA">"A gaping wound tells the story of it all A man lost only to find What was left of his mind With no hope of a scar at all You say go slow But somethingÂ’s right behind me Can run away for only so long It will not stop I will come down Oh no... Let me find my way IÂ’ll take you to the edge IÂ’ll go across that window And IÂ’ll carry you there When nothing goes right When days donÂ’t come tonight When all I see is the error of my own enemy A man alone and cut and torn for it His whole life friend after friend TheyÂ’re all flash in the pan With no hope of rejoice at all You say go slow But somethingÂ’s right behind me Can run away for only so long It will not stop I will come down Oh no... Let me find my way IÂ’ll take you to the edge IÂ’ll go across that window And IÂ’ll carry you there When nothing goes right When days donÂ’t come tonight IÂ’ll go across that window And IÂ’ll carry you."</font></td></tr></table></font>
<font color='#8D38C9'>((OOC: London's about 45 minutes away from me via train. . . and we get quite a lot of rain depending on the season but this summer has been the hottest summer ever recorded in British history, reaching higher temperatures than the US!!  - Or, so I believe from the reports of my RP friends from the US and Canada at my regular site.. The UK's expensive but it's cheaper in the north where I go to uni and I wouldn't live anywhere else. *grin*)) Nineveh jumped as a near-by voice suddenly began to sing. She had thought herself alone in the field and was surprised to find another so close. The picture she had slowly been drawing recorded her surprise by a deep and angry black mark across the front of the page, almost from the top right to bottom left corner. She sighed angrily at her lack of concentration that had been responsible for the slash across her beautiful scene. Turning her head sharply, she regarded the stranger behind her. Hmph! she thought, not much to him. He'd never make a very good hero. . . The young artist had the strange feeling that she recognised this singer, even though he looked younger than she. He was plain and nondescript, average size. Nothing about him seemed to stick into Nineveh's mind and she had to study him for some time before all of his features had sunk in and she felt like she would be able to draw him. Nineveh liked to study people she didn't know, to the point that she was so familiar with their face, she could draw them. Every face I cast to memory. So much so, that if I recall it, I can draw it. She used to tell her younger brothers. She stood up from her sitting position, leaving her sketch book pencil and bag on the floor where they lay and walked over to the musical stranger. "That was a nice song." She complimented him. She pointed to her picture and even from where they were standing, the horrid black mark across it was visible. "Except. . . you made me mess up my art!" She flapped her wings, giving a little stretch. The gust created making the dust settled on the dry ground rise up around them. The dust made Nineveh sneeze. "I'm Nineveh Ashforth." She said with a broad smile. When she saw his guitar, her eyes widened. "Cool!" She cried, running round him and studying his instrument box intently. "You can play well?" She asked him. "I can draw your picture if you like! I'm an artist. . . of sorts." She leapt around him once more and stood facing him, still studying his face so that she felt confident she could draw him. A lonely minstrel meets the beautiful warrior princess! she thought with excitement. But there was no time to wander off into her own little world now!!</font>
<font color='#FFFFFF'><table width="" style="border:1 px #FFFFFF groove;"><tr><td width="54" style="background:url('http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/228259/kaeusirora.jpg')repeat;"></td><td width="309" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:verdana;"> I live in the south of the US, and it's mad, mad hot here! It hits one hundred degrees (fahrenheit, don't freak out) every day at noon. It's like that Lyle Lovette song: "It's hotter than Hell when the sun hits the land." (me and Kaeus both have quite an arsenal of songs on our hands...) Kaeus almost leaped in surprise as the obsidian female turned to look at him. He hadn't expected her attention, he had just sung the first thing that came to mind. Ironically enough, the first thing that came to mind was a song about an invisible wound forged by the knife of loneliness. But Kaeus was about to be lonely no longer, whether he liked it or not, as the femora had stood and was now approaching. Her eyes were intense, and they studied him as she padded swiftly over. Kae wondered if she could see every hair on his face; it certainly seemed like she was trying to. Kae almost got lost in her inscrutable gaze, and virtually jumped when she spoke. "That was a nice song." <font color="#31C4BA">"Why, thank you,"</font> he replied softly. He wasn't sure that she had heard him, as she continued on. "Except... you made me mess up my art!" She had extended a long black finger, and he followed where it was pointing. The drawing tablet lay on the grass, where a sketch of some creature he had never seen before was staring up at the blue sky. There was a long, charcoal-colored gash across his page, where he suspected a pencil had flown out of surprise. <font color="#31C4BA">"I'm sorry, my lady..."</font> he began, but once again she seemed not to wait for an answer, as she had caught a bit of dust and sneezed suddenly. Without a pause, she grinned and said "I'm Ninevah Ashforth." But this time without so much pause as to let Kaeus half-answer, her eyes widened in awe, and a breathy "Cool!" escaped her maw. She padded around to the side of him to get a look at the black shape on his back. "You can play well? I can draw your picture if you like! I'm an artist. . . of sorts." Kaeus smiled. This was a truly amusing character before him. Ninevah had the body of an older 'dragon but the mentality of a curious schoolgirl. Which was fine with Kaeus. After all, without imagination and wonder, the world would have no music! <font color="#31C4BA">"Then that makes two artists here. My name is Kaeus Irora, and yes, I can play guitar very well, if I do say so myself. Music is my calling in life. I can play it for you, if you want... and you can draw me also, if it suits your mood."</font></td></tr></table></font>
<font color='#8D38C9'>As soon as the stranger spoke, Nineveh's demeanor changed. As soon as he offered to let her draw him, she smiled as if finally acting her age and plopped down on the trampled grass beside her bag, notepad and pen. She gestured to the space in front of her. "Sit down," she ordered, "play me some music and I'll draw your picture for you." She smiled at him and sat ready, her pencil poised in her hand. "Let's enjoy both of the arts we're good at, together!" She declared, waiting for him to sit down. She studied his nondescript face for a minute before adding shyly: "Well. . . that is. . . only if you want to. . "</font>
<font color='#FFFFFF'>Everyone knew Kaeus was not the socialite, but he could be amiable enough, and when Ninevah's quiet "Well... that is... only if you want to,,," reached his long, narrow audials, a charming smile crossed his lips, and his face became descript for a moment. His red and gold eyes both flashed with a certain handsome brilliance, and his midnight blue hair fell across his visage in such a way that made him seem a whole new person. A spunky charmer, perhaps, the life of a party. But he pulled his guitar out of its case, laying that black bag on the grass and sitting down next to it, slinging the instrument's strap over his head and one forearm, and the smile faded, and once again he became the unplaceable musician's apprentice. Without looking up to see if Ninevah was drawing, he checked the six strings of the guitar to see if they were still in tune, and upon finding that they were, launched into a melody that was upbeat and oddly satisfying to the soul. This was what he lived for. Playing the guitar. And he'd be damned if he'd pass up an opportunity to do it while someone was listening. <font color="#31C4BA">"A whirlwind came into my life And it tried to rescue me. Will you come? Will you go? Will you tell me seriously? Twistin', burnin', my thoughts turnin' Back to you again. Sweet thing take me to the end! You better dig And take a look inside yourself. So the story goes or so I've heard it said That you left your land to trade for a place So far away, so out of date, That only you could understand. And at the ceiling of my feeling Backed up against the wall - Sweet thing, you know I'd fall In line! You better dig And take a look inside yourself. She wants to be free And I want to know That she wants to be free And I want to know A whirlwind came into my life And it tried to rescue me. Will you come? Will you go? Will you tell me seriously? Twistin', burnin', my thoughts turnin' Back to you again. Sweet thing take me to the end!"</font></font>
<font color='#8D38C9'>((OOC: Sorry it's taken me a helluva long time to reply to your post!! I was away for a while (I left you a PM about it) then when I came back, I had major computer probs!! We still do, as right now, I'm logged in on this computer as a different user!! ARRGH! Anyway.. better late than never!!) As soon as the music began to spiral out from Kaeus' guitar, Nineveh felt herself almost fall into a trance. She picked up her pencil and began to draw, her eyes unfocused, as if she were looking beyond reality and painting what she saw. Her strokes on the page were hypnotic, almost in time with the music as she listened, captivated by what she was hearing. When the music suddenly stopped, it was as if she was shaken out of her reverie. Looking down at the page, she saw that she had drawn Kaeus. He was clothed in the outfit of a bard from a fantasy tale, strumming his guitar whilst sat on a rock beneath a tall tower, where a princess with intelligent eyes and soft features stared down lovingly at him. Nineveh had never seen the princess before, but she wondered if perhaps Kaeus knew her, and she had empathically picked up on his feelings for the person whom the princess represented. After studying the picture for a while, she pulled out a coloured pencil and finished off a few extra details. She gave the princess a golden mane of hair that swirled around her head like a crown in the wind. The princess was also given amber eyes that almost seemed to glisten off the page. The character who was Kaeus was also given features to match his own, exactly. The scenery around them was breath-taking and foreign, compared to anything of the lands that Nineveh had seen since leaving home. It gave off a wild feel, treacherous and beautiful at the same time. Rolling hills protected by thorn bushes lay in the distance, whilst strange creatures that looked like ancient dragons soared through the sky, miles away from the scene in which Kaeus the bard played a tune to the princess in a traditional image of courtly love - a custom indigenous to far-off lands and times. In the farthest background, rising up over the hills but still not reaching the height of the tower that lay in the foreground, mountains with deadly ice-caps loomed, portraying the home of the scaley beasts that soared through the sky. Nineveh was proud of her work. It had only been a quick sketch, inspired by Kaeus and his guitar-playing, but it had turned out better than she had hoped. Nineveh smiled and showed him the picture. "That was a beautiful song." She commented, quietly. "I hope you like my picture as much as I like your music." She knew that many found fantasy art to be invalid as a form of art and many had looked upon her work with distate and disdain - including her own tutor. She waited for him to judge it, not realising that she was holding her breath. She hoped he liked it. . . .</font>
<font color='#FFFFFF'>OOC: It's fine, Mogzy. I'm glad you're back now though 'cause Storm (I'm in a thread with her) is gonna be inactive for a week and Tobias (I'm in a thread with him) is retarded, so I need stuff to keep me entertained. Heehee, I'm so self centered... IC: Kaeus had finished playing a few moments ago, and was now watching the pitch 'dragon putting a few hasty touches on her drawing, pulling out colored pencils to accompany the black one she'd been using. He tried to crain his neck around to see the work evolving on the tablet, but to no prevail. He needn't have strained, though, as quickly she turned the drawing pad around so that he could see the picture printed upon its surface, a marvel of a few minute's time. It was so exquisitely detailed that he wondered what she could do if an entire day was afforded her. There he was, staring back at himself from the two-dimensional plane he had been trapped in, wearing a costume of days of yore. Kae's eyes widened as he saw the untamed locks falling over his face, the shadow that marked eyelids closed in lovely trance, the twelve delicate strings of his beloved instrument. But he was even more awed to see the figure in a high, white castle behind him, looking down in a loving gaze, the only color in the drawing, her hair as thick and golden as honey, framing her visage like an oversized and off-balance halo. Her golden eyes glowed, even though they were only as golden as pencil on paper would allow. Kaeus was staring deep into them when his mind was pulled away by the quiet words of Ninevah, the God who had created them. "That was a beautiful song. I hope you like my picture as much as I like your music." <font color="#31C4BA">"My lady Ninevah, my gift to you does not hold a candle to your gift to me. Thank you for the demonstratioin of your lovely artwork. But I was wondering,"</font> he paused, thinking of how he should phrase the question. He decided that blunt was best. <font color="#31C4BA">"Who is the woman in the picture? I won't lie to you; she enchants me."</font></font>
<font color='#8D38C9'>She blushed when Kaeus complimented her work. Not knowing how to respond to such a comment, she was glad when he asked her who the princess was. It took the focus from the praise he had given her and onto something more easier for her to respond to. Nineveh was not good at responding to compliments. She never had been. She turned the drawing round and looked at the princess she had drawn on the page. "I. . . to be honest, Kaeus, I don't know who she is." She replied. "It may be someone you know. . . someone you will know in the future. . . or, it could be someone I have made up from my imagination." she giggled. "I do the latter a lot." Her expression changed to one of seriousness again as she attempted to explain her other responses: "I mentioned that it could be someone you will know in the future or someone you already know because. . I'm. . . an empath. Not by choice. I always wanted to draw, but my parents wanted me to excell in empathy, because they saw I had a natural talent for it. . . anyway, sometimes when I'm with someone and I'm drawing them. . . I pick up. . . images. . it could represent a person in your life. . it could be someone you used to know but have forgotten or. . it could be someone you have yet to meet but will in the future. "My parents used to tell me that I had been bestowed a gift by Tanastlasei . . . I . . pick up on things others do not. . . I sometimes see things that others cannot see. . . I've been taught how to control my abilities, but sometimes. . . like when I'm drawing. . . they get out of hand." She looked down at the picture, studying the princess. "I once drew a picture of my eldest brother saving the life of someone he had never met. He kept wondering who it was and. . . a few months later, he told me that he'd met the pendragon I'd drawn in the picture. . . they ended up getting married a few years later!" "But. . . I was hoping that. . . actually. . . you would be able to tell me who she is." she gushed shyly. She looked back up at him and smiled apologetically. It was a sad expression, as if she had watched another steal his money and could not tell him who because it had been someone she was loyal to. She held out the picture for him in her paw. To her, it only seemed right that Kaeus should have the picture - after all, it was his music that had inspired her, as well as the fact that he was the main focus of the art. "Whoever it is, whether she be fiction or reality, she dotes on you." She told him. "I give the drawing to you in the hope that one day, if the princess exists, you will find her." A smiled broke out across her face. "Besides, I can always draw it again!"</font>
<font color='#FFFFFF'>OOC: Empathy is identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives, and a hyper empathizer is one who can identify with the physical feelings of another. Empathizers can't experience anything that the other isn't experiencing, and can't see into the future or the past. Just so you know. You seem to be confused on the subject. (: IC: A diviner?! She can see my future?! Kaeus took the thin sheet of paper rom Ninevah quickly, staring at it intensely. His eyes were wide and concentrating as he stared at the princess with the amber tresses. Have I met her? Have I passed her on the road? Is she a friend from my early childhood? Is she a fellow student of mine? But no matter where in the recesses of his memory he thought to look, he couldn't match the beautiful face to anyone he knew. Then if Ninevah were right and this was to be his future... but where was the drawing? Was she up in the tower at this very moment waiting for him, her golden tendrils of hair dripping out the window like the aura of an angel? And... <font color="#31C4BA">"Why am I dressed like that, anyway?"</font> He looked up from the drawing, to study the ebon' pendragon's expression. If the drawing was a child of a rampant imagination, he would be glad. but a bit disappointed. If her divining ability had really moved her pencil, he would have to keep his eyes open for the rest of his life, in case he missed that flowing sunshine hair.</font>
<font color='#8D38C9'>((OOC: Well.. Nineveh's meant to be an empathizer but.. I also wanted her to have this gift that sometimes means she goes into a trance and sometimes draws things, like she did for Kaeus.. I wasn't quite sure that such an ability had a name, so I just kinda stuck it as something to do with her empathy.. guess it's more divination than anything.. but.. I thought I'd just play it off as her thinking it's part of her empathy, cuz I wasn't sure how to class such a gift, really.. but thanks for the heads-up)) Nineveh blushed when Kaeus asked her about the choice of clothing. "Well. . um. . it's. . . fantasy art. The setting is otherworldly. You're dressed like that because you're on another world with Humans and elves and. . . all sorts of other mythical races. . . it's. . . just my style. It's not liked in the art industry very much, either. My own tutor told me I wouldn't get very far drawing art like that.." She sighed and fixed her coal-black eyes on a far away point in the scenery, recalling the day when he had broken her heart and her dreams. "Guess he was right." She summised. "Look at me now. . ." She looked back at him expectantly, nervous of what he might say when she asked him the question that flowed through her mind: "Do you like it?"</font>
<font color='#F9DAE9'><font color="F9DAE9">Fantasy art... makes sense... then she's not even in this world... Kae thought to himself as Ninevah explained about her style of drawing. It was a disappointment but a relief to learn that his princess was probably a fantasy character, an epic story about a wandering guitarist and the princess in the tower. Kae heard himself sighing audibly, but he perked up immediately when she said her drawing tutor didn't believe she would go far as an artist. The periwinkle pendragon couldn't believe that, and was even more shocked to hear a murmur of agreement escape Ninevah's parted maw. The raven-hued 'dragon looked into Kaeus's mismatched eyes with a look of expectancy and somewhat anxiousness. More words escaped her maw, but this time they were held back and careful. "Do you like it?" <font color="#3366FF">"Do I like it? I love it! It's positively lovely! I mean... those clothes look very nice...,"</font> he added unsuredly, not knowing how far too far would be. He really did like it, but he didn't want to seem overly ecstatic and just faking.</font></font>
