OoC - 19 Tria, 81379. Using http://shadowlack.com/persona.php?id=660Halicarnassus</a>; private for Shriker. IC - The city of Aurius hustled and glowed with as much vigorous expertise as it introduced at the beginning of each day. Even through the shimmers on the surrounding water, however, it was obvious that it was far from the beginning of the day. On the contrary, it was evening that held reign, vibrant in its cloak of deep pink and navy, and smudged vastly across the sky that twinkled so many miles above. It was here – far above Aurius – that chavvors and gulls screeched their way through the pink clouds, nearing a small and lanky island. The island was alive with dripping verdant foliage that contrasted with the white of the sand (turned golden in the light) and the perilous rocks that dotted their way about the place. More fascinating than this jutting scenery, however, were the ruins, built of smooth sandstone. They looked like centuries had abandoned them – arches, statues, pillars and props. Some stood near the tideline where the delicately gentle water lapped at them, and some stood clustered in the middle of the island where grass reared its emerald heads. In this cluster there was a door. Or, more appropriately, a hole – entirely black. Unexplained. The trodden plants there knew that there was something (someone) within, and the rugged, ragged beige haversack that had been placed carefully upon a fallen pillar agreed wholeheartedly. The haversack and remnants of a campfire sat untouched as if they – like their unseen owner – agreed that there was nothing else here to disturb them.
To put it simply, Kakosenas was frolicking. Desperately trying to distract her mind from her fears. She was shaken and feeling rattled even now as she leapt about knee-deep in the island surf, chasing the colourful reflections cast down by the slowly departing sun. The sound of the water was loud, almost deafening as it rolled up into waves and fell against the island's pearl white sands in soft cascading succession. It was relatively calm here. In the middle of nowhere. The only thing that seemed to break the scene were some ancient traces of civilization. They stood just a little off in the distance, and it was towards these that the Shriker was slowly making her way toward. There had been one pillar in particular that had caught her attention. It stood in the water, stretching high above it as the gentle waves lapped at it's sides. Although she was nearing exhaustion, she had a really strong urge to climb it. Climb it and then leap off of it into the water below. Eventually her haphazard progress brought her alongside the destined pillar. The water here was deep and almost came up past her shoulders as she seemed to sway in the lulling waves, losing her footing every so often. She latched onto it, easily gaining purchase with her taloned hands as she scrambled up its carved surface. Upon reaching the top, instead of jumping off of it in haste, she sat for a moment. The ocean seemed to stretch out forever. She knew that wasn't really so. From here though, she could pretend that it did. The salty sea air tickled her nose and for a fleeting second, Kakosenas smiled. Shriker got to her feet, turning a little to her right and glancing over her shoulder as she did so. She stopped immediately. Something in the fading light had caught her eye. Something that glittered. Kakos' eyes seemed to snap upon the object. On a toppled pillar a little further off the beach and more inland, there lay some sort of supply bag. It was from one of the metal clasps on this that the glittering had issued forth from. It wasn't hers. That much she knew. She had barely brought anything on this little trip herself. She had been pretty sure that this island had been deserted. Perhaps it had been forgotten. Finders keepers, right? Kakosenas' leaped off of the pillar and into the water, not even making a splash as she did so. She swum expertly back toward shore until her feet touched upon solid ground once more. She exited the water and then began to make her way up the beach, walking in and around (and also climbing over) the various ruins. At last she came upon the lone pack sack. She carefully touched one of its metal clasps with one of her talons. Where was its owner? Looking around, Kakosenas spied the deceased form of a campfire. She'd been unable to see it from her pillar vantage point earlier. She crept toward it, placing her left hand into the ashes. Not because touching them would tell her anything, she already knew this fire pit was somewhat recent, but simply because she wanted to. She then wiped the ash off on her pants. It stuck there, clinging to her still soaked and dripping clothing. Maybe she ought to hide. Take off to the other side of the island maybe. She was curious though as she remained crouched, sharing her wary glance with both the pack sack and the campfire.
Halicarnassus was observing. It was his fashion; his way and, eventually, if he observed for long enough, something would come of it. Once, after three days of silent and still examination, he had spotted something protruding from the crystalline smoothness of a cave that had become nothing less than a breakthrough. It was said that if you glanced one way then that way again, you can spot something you didn’t spot the last time. Halicarnassus did not believe this. He believed that, yes, pick up rocks and dig if you will, but most treasures lie right under your nose – obvious and precious. His reasons lay in alchemy. It was either age or travel that gave the pendragon his rugged, unkempt look, but despite this he looked far from weary – Hal looked alert and thoughtful. He kept up a majesty that was born from good-looks in his youth and the roots of his once-golden hair, and no matter how lank and untidy he became, Halicarnassus would never lower his chin for long. Exceptionally lean, wiry and elegant, the alchemist moved sinuously from the inner cavern, clasping his find in his fist, both of which led the way as he slunk towards the red sunlight. He instinctively knew the crouched figure was there before he emerged from the cave. And when he did, he grew to his normal height without looking at her. Slowly, Halicarnassus opened his long, slender figures to reveal what was within. A key – gold. He blinked, and pocketed it without a word. Then he sat down cross-legged by the long-dead campfire and observed the stranger. It was female; cagey; ageless. She looked perhaps as lean as him, but with more youth to her muscles, and there was a distinct smell that was made weak by the water from which she had to obviously emerged. Hal balanced his wrists on his knees and nodded towards the backpack that she had been eyeing, not failing to note her rather underfed physique. <font color = #AE882C>"You can have that if you want – it’s just food, drink and money. I have everything I need on me."</font> His voice had that same shrewd, soft tone that didn’t seem to suit him much.
So perhaps it was a little too late to hide. A figure had emerged from a hole that Kakosenas had not yet investigated. She hadn't bolted at the sight of him however. Instead she had watched as his sinewy figure had appeared out into the open. Perhaps it was the curiousness that kept her rooted. She knew it definately wasn't a longing for any type of social contact. She'd certainly had enough of that to last her a lifetime. The stranger, at least to her, looked as if he had emerged directly out of a storybook. With his well shaped features and faded gold fur. She wondered idly to herself if this was what happened to those princes who got unhappily ever afters instead of happy ones. Or maybe he was just the result of a prolonged happy one. Not that it mattered. He hadn't screamed at her, or chased her away. His face also gave no indication of recognition either (or at least none that she could discern). Which was good. Kakos was already tired of being pointed out in the streets. Hence her reasoning for seeking out one of the most remote areas that she knew of. She remained in her crouch, relatively motionless save for the idle back and forth flicking of her tail as he seated himself by the campfire. He was interesting. Very interesting. She followed his gaze as he indicated the strewn pack (which she now knew to be his). She had been expecting him to snap at her, maybe utter a threat, but instead he had offered her its contents. Kakosenas shook her head dully. As far as she was concerned, she wasn't in need of any of those things anymore. "Thanks," she said softly, her voice strangely musical as it bore resemblance to a now ancient dialect, "but I'm quite alright." Of course, one certainly would not have come to that conclusion by looking at her. She supposed that she did look like a bit of a mess. SheÂ’d been on the move for well over a day now, and the water she had been playing in probably made her look bedraggled. All the same, she had appreciated his offer, but at the same time still felt wary. Not bothering with the pleasantries and introductions, Kakos piped up with the first question that slipped across her mind. "What are you doing here?"
He had simply let a casual silence (casual, at least, on his half) float between them at her ‘thanks’, taking a moment to consider the softly alien voice that emerged elegantly from her dark throat. It would not have surprised Halicarnassus to find that she was mute, but he did note with approval that the stranger had a voice that seemed to suit her body. This was much unlike Hal who had a smoothly young voice, slightly hoarse from lack of use, but soft – as far as possible from his thin, jagged physique and bladed hair as the mainland was from this island. As for refusing the supplies, he could have guessed as much. After all, if you offer something to the seasoned, they’re much less likely to take it. A rogue doesn’t even need telling twice. Whether or not the lithe form before him is a ‘rogue’, however, is firstly indeterminable, and secondly neither here nor there. Halicarnassus had, whilst the stranger observed him, taken the key gently from one of his many pockets, dusted the dirt from it and twirled it thoughtfully between his slender fingers. And without further ado, he prized some thick, black string from aforementioned pocket, looped it through the key and placed it decidedly around his neck. He then looked back up at the stranger and smiled. <font color = #AE882C>"Observing."</font>
Kakosenas' tail continued to flick idly. It's purple tuft had picked up a lot of dirt now and the result was a mud-slickened mess. Not that it bothered her any. The area beneath her had grown dark with the water that was still steadily dripping off of her pelt and clothing. It made her lack of a shadow less apparent in the still disappearing light. She had watched in silence as the pack owner had retrieved a key from one of his pockets and twirled it in his hand. Kakos rather liked it. It seemed as interesting, or perhaps even more interesting than the stranger himself. She tilted her head slightly, watching as he threaded the key and then hung it about his neck. It was a special key. That had been easy enough to tell. When he finally did answer her question, Kakos' yellow eyes snapped up from the key to meet his face. It hadn't seemed like much of an answer. Then again, she hadn't really been expecting much of an answer. Some creatures she had run into in her lifetime would have only acknowledged the question with a grunt, ignored it altogether, or simply tried to eat her. The desperate didn't really care how sinewy and tough their meat was. Just as long as it was just that: meat. Kakos pushed some sodden hair out of her face. "I was playing in the water," she said, smiling faintly as she did so. Not that he had needed her to tell him that. All the evidence to support that assumption was right before him in wet, obscenely curious, pendragon form. "Where did you get that?" She pointed a taloned claw discreetly at the key that now hung around his neck.
Halicarnassus nodded, and then smiled absentmindedly as he turned the key that was around his neck, over and over again in his slender fingers, looking at it only for a moment. It was accompanied by a multitude of other objects on strings - today, there was a silver ring on a chain with something that could-not-quite-be-seen protruding from it and something that could-not-quite-be-read inscribed upon it in the Ramathian script. This ring was, by far, one of the most expensive items that hung charm-like around his neck. The others included anything from delicate, tiny, smooth pebbles to beads, mystifying little objects and even something that looked like a piece of cloth with a hole in it for the thread. As he played with the key in his fingers, exploring it – perhaps reading it – without the perhaps burdening aid of sight, Hal was quick and casual to notice piercing yellow eyes on it. Eyes that gleamed from colored sockets on the face that could perhaps be grinning with familiarity or greed. Hal did not expect any familiarity in relation to this key, and greed? Well, that was back to the rogue issue. Any rogue would want something that seemed so… interesting. And it would be a massive drawback to them, of course, that they had no idea of the key’s name, properties or doings. <font color = #AE882C>"Yonder."</font> He said softly, jerking his head back towards the hole in the dusty yellow ruins. Observing her vocal pattern and assuming that the next question would be along the lines of what is it? he answered with informality; <font color = #AE882C>"And I don’t know what it is. If I did, you could perhaps have it. But I don’t; so I keep it."</font>
Kakosenas continued to watch quietly as the stranger fiddled around with the key. He was decked out in a multitude of other pretty objects she had noticed, yet it was the key that held her attention. There was something about it. It was special but also... She supposed it was just because it was a key. Keys of course, unlocked things. They allowed access to countless things. Access to live one's own life... if one's previous life was behind bars. Kakos shuddered and grasped her knees in a quick manic motion. Meanwhile he had again answered her question. So far he was two for two. Was he getting annoyed with her yet? If he was, he didn't seem to be showing it. "It's yours, yes," Kakos agreed, as if there had been some question about it. She tore her attention away from the key to look up at him again. "Is that what you do? Find things? I've got a collection myself. Not here though. I used to do spell weaving on objects sometimes. Just not so much lately."
Hal seemed to ignore her frantic motion at her own could-be dark thoughts. Indeed, the ageing alchemist seemed to ignore a lot of things, though ‘ignore’ was perhaps too rude a word. Instead, he did not react the way others did to pieces of information. Perhaps because he didn’t care. Perhaps because he already knew it. Perhaps the reasons were too many and the explanations too few. Out of politeness, he looked up when she talked; he watched the reflection of the key dance in the stranger’s bright, intelligent eye, but then she looked at him once more, as if it were a strain. <font color = #AE882C>"I don’t always find things, no."</font> He said in that same soft voice, busying himself with the key between his fingers once more. <font color = #AE882C>"But I look for them."</font> Oh, those could be ridiculously ‘wise’ words to the point of pretension. They could be, yes; if it weren’t for the way he said them. Halicarnassus spoke as if someone had laid a handsome script out for him at birth. <font color = #AE882C>"I think that putting spells on normal objects is harmful and ruins it’s innocent properties. But that is impressive."</font> Hal could be brutally honest; there wasn’t a single violent note to his tone, however. Indeed, the latter sentence had been said flatteringly, and he looked once more at her as he said it. She could be a youth with experience; she could be old but escaping the seasoning etched so deeply into his body. <font color = #AE882C>"And what, prey, did you collect?"</font>
Shriker shook her head faintly. She was amused by his words about finding things. She could have argued of course. Sure you may not always find things per se, but didn't one always look until one found something? She tittered quietly. "I'm sure you've come across many enchanted items in your line of work. I suppose that yes, once an object is spell bound it loses some innocence. However, not all objects are born out of innocence. Some, like the spells woven around them, are made to hurt, made to kill even. Of course, there are the ones on the opposite end of the spectrum as well. The ones that heal, navigate... the ones that simply say, I was here." If Kakosenas had been timid before, she was now rapidly gaining confidence. She had actually been waiting on the stranger. Wondering when he'd begin to ask his questions. After all, she had already attacked him with several. It was only fair to exchange. Even if it was only limited information. "I think I like those last types the best," she murmured to herself. She liked the idea of leaving objects to be remembered by - foul or fair. "What do I collect? A lot of odds and ends really. Mostly things that tend to glisten though. Sometimes new, sometimes relics. I rather like the ones that have been infused with magic though... even if they may not be innocent."
Hal’s brow furrowed momentarily as he looked back up at the strange female. She was smirking and tittering away at his words, as if she held herself superior to any such thing. She was being rudely amused whilst he was talking and attempting to make sense. Charming. The master alchemist was, however, unmoved, and simply kept his eyes lowered to the key which he continued to slither between his long fingers. As for asking questions, Halicarnassus was simply not one to do that. He’d leave others to wonder why. He smiled and prized one of the strings from around his neck. Looped through this was a ring – not the exquisite, expensive silver one, but flimsy and copper. It didn’t glitter. <font color = #AE882C>"See this?"</font> He tossed it over to her gently so she could look at it. <font color = #AE882C>"This relic leaves plenty to remember."</font> He paused, and looked from the ring to her balancing face in a wondering – ‘what do you think of this?’. <font color = #AE882C>"Put it on, and you die. Just like that. Primitive, but powerful, and made with a skill that is, shall we say… thought to be slightly more honorable than that."</font>
See this? Kakosenas caught the ring rather expertly. Not quite what one would expect from one who had slender talons on the tips of her fingers. Apparently she'd had at least some experience in dealing with minute objects. She rolled it slowly in between her fingers as he spoke, studying it. It really wasn't something that she herself would have kept, despite its alleged properties. "How?" Shriker queried plainly, wondering just how this ring would kill someone. She was intrigued. She of course didn't have the methods, nor the means right there and then to test it for herself (unless of course she felt up to tempt fate, which she wasn't), so really only could rely on the supposed validity of this stranger's words. There were so many different ways. So many possibilities. Perhaps it caused a poisoning of the blood, or simply increased a being's bad luck to astronomical proportions, or well... there were dozens of possibilities that rattled off inside of Kakosenas' head. Kakos looked up at him a little expectantly, wondering whether he'd part with that information, or if maybe it was a secret...?
He gazed along at her, eyes frowning but with a slight spark to them. How was he to explain? And yet it was an honest question, and Halicarnassus was a producer of honest answers. <font color = #AE882C>"It was once a healer’s toy – it gave life. It couldn’t give life to the dead, of course, but it could pospone death."</font> That was the short version of the beginning story. He paused before continuing. <font color = #AE882C>"Alchemy involves the art of metamorphosis, and sometimes a very… potent alchemist, shall we say, can turn the properties of an item to its complete opposite."</font> He gestured towards the ring, <font color = #AE882C>"So it was in my youth I liked to play around with – or ‘put spells on’, as you say – certain objects, and alchemy stood the powers of this item on its head. It so happens that sometimes opposites can be more powerful than the original, as it is with the case of this ring. It works by blessing one with posponed death - as was its original purpose - then abruptly churning its powers and reaching a vague and tampered opposite. Which is death. It's not straight-forward, no, but alchemy never is."</font>
Kakosenas looked back down at the ring as he spoke. It was but a dull object. It was the perfect camouflage in her opinion. It was deadly, yet here it was in her hand, this mundane piece of jewellery, masquerading itself. Pretending to be something it so obviously wasn't. She listened raptly to his explanation before speaking. She thought she understood. "So in a way, it backfires, doesn't it? It starts off good, then you get whip lashed with the bad." She lightly tossed the ring back to him before speaking again. "Does that mean you're an alchemist? I've had plenty of accidents with things. Most of which just recoiled onto me and were rather harmless, but there have been other, more um, catastrophic experiences as well. I bet you've had your fair share of incidents as well."
Halicarnassus nodded graciously at her understanding. It could be said that she was “more intelligent than she looked", and yet Hal was certainly not one to judge on appearances. What with his own dusty coat, rugged hair and looming age, he was in no situation to do such a thing. <font color = #AE882C>"That’s right. But the ‘bad’ is, in this case, stronger than the ‘good’."</font> Granted, it was a crude way to put it, but honest all the same. And did it mean he was an alchemist? <font color = #AE882C>"Yes."</font> And as for talk of experiences, Hal was not willing to go into all that, though perhaps she had something to share. <font color = #AE882C>"May I ask about these catastrophic experiences? I’m curious."</font>
The jovial light that had been apparent in Kakosenas' face earlier disappeared momentarily as she was asked about those catastrophic events. "No..." she began slowly, "No, I don't think I could. I sort of promised not to. I'm sure that telling you wouldn't hurt though. You don't seem the type that would... hn. But er, no. Probably best if you didn't know. Pendragons have been hurt." Kakos fidgeted and rolled up her sleeves, which were still wet, to expose her scaled forearms. She was obviously uncomfortable. "I could tell you about other smaller things though?" Her voice raising questioningly at the end. She eased herself out of her crouch and stood up so that she was at her full height. She was a rather diminutive pendragon, and this mixed in with her general lankiness tended to help her take advantage of others. She actually liked this alchemist though. She felt herself wondering about his happily ever after or lack thereof again. Maybe she'd ask him about that later. She lightly rolled the muscles in her shoulders, stretching a little before she pointed down to the ground at her feet. Or rather to a spot beside her feet. "I know it got dark rather rapidly," and indeed it had, "so I'm not sure how hard it is to tell... I lost my shadow though." Of course, listening to someone claim that they had lost their shadow was sort of ridiculous. The proof was right there though. Kakos lifted a bare clawed foot off of the ground as if to prove her point. No indication of shadow there. Light passed right through her it seemed. "That was one of my accidents. One of the first of many," she said with a small titter. "Then there were my wings as well." Kakosenas of course, had no wings. At least not a visible pair. "I'd show you, but I'm actually too tired to do those magics right now." She hated to admit that, but it was true. She'd been playing in the surf all day and was nearing exhaustion despite her attempts to mask it. "They sort of got mangled by some backfire," she said as she faintly touched her left shoulder and then gracefully dropped back into her crouch before the dead fire.
Hal gently returned the perilous ring to its string and dropped it back, where it lay upon his rugged sandy chest with the array of other things-on-strings, including the glinting golden key. He looked back along at her, politely interested as she spoke. The more youthful Hal would have most certainly turned on some persuasion powers and got this intriguing information from her. But that was a younger Hal. This one was simply content to let the grey pendragon tell him when she was ready, or not at all, which he would have to accept. One thing was for sure, though. As much as she warned him about ‘pendragons that have got hurt’, Halicarnassus didn’t have a single scar on him. Hal nodded knowingly as she stood up tall and stretched. He was too used to sitting still to feel any strain in his muscles, so did not follow her example. <font color = #AE882C>"Yes…"</font> He said, looking at her shadow (or lack thereof). <font color = #AE882C>"I could never let go of mine, I’m rather fond of it."</font> He finished simply and seriously. He noted that she did not seem altogether comfortable speaking of both her wings and the catastrophic events, so he would perhaps flutter around this conversation piece for a bit. <font color = #AE882C>"How did you lose it?"</font>
"I rather liked mine as well..." she said as her damp tail curled about herself. "It isn't really much of a tale, but I guess I can tell it. When I was younger, well, younger than I am now..." Kakosenas stopped, as if a little confused by her own words. Younger? Was she really? Had to be... time marched only forward. "I was less experienced. Anyway, I fell under the apprenticeship of a few fellows back in Bhim. I practiced what they taught me, but that hadn't felt like enough. They weren't teaching what I wanted to learn fast enough it seemed. So I started to do some learning of my own. On the side. I got into a few things that I probably shouldn't have, and it was those things that gave me this idea. I could already control shadows. Mostly just my own, but I could stretch it, weave it about myself to hide if I wanted to, even send it off ahead of myself as a scout. Despite all of this, I was disappointed. My shadow, that lonely dark silhouette that walked beside me, was just a slave to do my bidding. This may sound silly, but I think I started to feel sorry for it. I know now that I probably should have just thought it an extension of myself, but back then... well, it felt as if I was abusing it. So I got this notion in my mind that I was going to free it. Then, if it wanted to, we could work together as two separate entities. I guess this is where that backfiring comes in. See, I had come across this one spell that was similar to what I wanted to do. Involving shadowforms and their ilk. I sort of used it as my base, but then deviated away, trying to follow my instincts. It worked I guess. When I was done, my shadow was no longer a part of me, but it was also nowhere to be seen." The purple tufted thill chuckled, not at the words she had just spoken at length, but at what else she had just recalled. "I... haha. Oh, you should have seen the looks on my Master's faces when I showed up the next day. "They thought at first I was just pulling a prank, then the one, silly kiom, he freaked when he noticed that he couldn't 'call' my shadow. Claimed that I was dead or possessed and that's why the light didn't touch me. They actually put me through a series of tests while I tried to explain. At first they were baffled, and then angry... very, very angry. They tried to reverse what I had done... even took me to see this other guy who was just as baffled as they were. Eventually they came to the conclusion that I had either somehow destroyed my shadow, or banished it somewhere out of reach. I like to think that it's only lost though. That maybe it'll come back someday."
