Behind their Masks

Dawn was just beginning to crack open when Talon liften his eyelids to see the two sleeping forms in front of him. What had happened? Why had he fallen asleep by them?
He stood swiftly and felt a faint throbbing near the left side of his ribcage. When he glanced down, his eyes met heavy scarring around and between them, already appearing to be almost a week or so old at least. He saw the cause and, clenching his jaw, slowly yanked the remainder of the half charred splinter from between them. Right. That stupid rune-thievery. That goddamn Feolan. He almost gagged once or twice before regaining his breath. Alright. He was alright. He'd have to fix his shirt again.

A slight movement from the bed brought his attention back to Raz. He noticed her arm positioned carefully over her, in a position natural for most sleeping humans when favoring a limb. He had almost forgotten about her arm. It had been popped out pretty nastily, hadn't it?

Stepping silently over Nyk, he reached Raz's side and touched her good arm, trying not to frighten her as he woke her up.

((Now would be a good time... when he tries to help her arm on my next post, maybe, for her to get pissy and do the mask thing, like, why should she trust him and let him try to help her if he so obviously doesnt trust her or something? i dunno, your choice if you think that maybe theres a better time XDD))

((Censored words...? What??? Which words are censored? Should I be worried?

ALSO, site looks FUCKING AMAZING. Yup, yup. I love it. Very, very much. Like, a lot.))


Razzle-dazzle-muffin-face ((WHAT. THE. FUCK.)) blinked awake to Nyk at her side, Talon over-head, and pain, pain, pain. Her joints felt stiff, her wounds ached, and if she had any more energy, she would have socked her cloaked companion for startling her awake. For a moment, she reveled in the fact that she could awake, having survived last night's heist. Then, of course, her shoulder reminded her of the cost of said survival.

Azra take me, I'd rather be dead.

Shifting into a seated position, Razzle-dazzle-muffin-face moaned softly, gripping her arm."Oi, Foreigner, why the hell'd you get me up?"

((Lol alright, I've had my fun. Raz is no longer censored XDDD lol. There's only one censored word now... but it shouldn't affect out posting ;D I'm glad you like the new theme!!!!))

Talon was seated on the side of her bed, his feet safely out of range from any possible chance of hitting Nyk's snoring form. He tilted his head, concentrating. Slowly and unthreateningly, he moved her hand slightly, putting his palm firmly on her shoulder, and nodded almost imperceptibly, waiting until her grogginess faded.

I'm going to help, he seemed to say. His eyes were not gentle or caring, per say, but honest. Genuine.

He cautiously attempted to pry her hand off of her aching shoulder.

((I must admit, I had quite a bit of fun as well... ))

"Oh, fuck no." Raz growled, wrenching her arm from his grip - and wrenching her injury in the process. She nearly doubled over as cold-fire raced under her skin.

She shot Talon a vicious glare. "No. No, no no. As if I'd let the masked man mess with me. Azra's tits. I have no idea what you might do, you mute menace!" Hysteria seemed to creep up on the Ruik a little late in the game. Her last close-call with death - one in a long line of recent and near-fatal incidents - came a bit too close to killing her for comfort. "I mean, seriously, why should I trust you with treating me? I don't know you! I don't even know what you look like! You could secretly be a woman under all those clothes and I'm just supposed to take Quil's word that you've got dangly bits? I mean - ugh. Is Quil's word even to be trusted? How would even he know if you've got a- a- a mini-Talon? Should I worry if he's seen your... dagger? Ew.

"And what if you're my enemy? What if you're the killer I've been searching for? What if you were about to rip my arm off - I wouldn't have known how to stop you! I'm sitting here, defenseless and weak in a room with a dead-weight lump of trouble-finding scum that never seems to quit sticking to the bottom of my shoe and rambling to a masked - man? Woman? Who the hells even knows? - Who can't even understand a fucking word I'm saying because he's a fucking deaf-mute.

"Fuck. Fuck. I'm going insane. I can't shut up and I'm going insane! My only friend is probably dying of internal bleeding and my only current acquaintance will never reach friend status because he can't bloody-fucking talk. That's right, acquaintance, you can't bloody-fucking talk! And thank Azra for it, you drive me mad enough as is!"

Raz finished her crazed tirade only when she ran out of breath. Her chest heaved with the effort, eyes wild and face flushed with fury. She felt foolish at having lost it so fully, but she wasn't quite surprised - she'd been burning and building like a bonfire since Quil's death. She was only really surpised that it had taken her this long to blow.

Having lost enough steam, she seemed to suddenly deflate, sighing tiredly and burrying her face in her hands. "Oh, Azra. Oh, gods." She mumbled to herself, "I really am insane. I'm screaming at a stone - an unhearing, unfeeling stone... If Ma could see me now..."

((Shit, I struggled with this post. For an hour. I can't seem to make Raz any less... rambly. She just started ranting and wouldn't shut up.

But, eh. I guess it's in-character, at least.))

((Oh, so we're taking shots at his manhood already?? I see how it is... XD))

At first, Talon's patience held, and he sat dutifully attending her rant. Said dutiful attendance quickly turned to a one-eyebrow-raised amusement.
He had heard this rant coming from miles away--In all honesty, he was surprised she didn't topple over sooner. To him, Raz just didn't seem like the type of girl who was built to keep it cool. Leave the cool stuff to the Cizeans--she was made to burn.

His arms dropped to his side as he waited for her to finish her rambling, while he was now slightly irked at her accusations regarding Quill.

Yes, he saw me without a shirt, dumb girl. That man saved my life... for several minutes, he stopped listening to Raz, his eyes focused glumly on the floor. ... And I couldn't save him.

By the time he glanced up, Raz was practically whimpering.

"If Ma could see me now..."

He sat silently beside her for several seconds, letting the course of her emotions take its run. Before too long, still looking slightly melancholy, he cleared his throat--one of the loudest noises he'd made since their first meeting.

Then he lowered his hood.

As expected, his hair was a flat jet black, no lighter shades or highlights anywhere. In many places, especially toward the back, it was long enough to jutt choppily down over the sides of his mask, even almost to his shoulders.
His right ear had three peircings--a black and dark silver stud with two small dark rings above it. His left ear was identical, but with another ring above the second, making four piercings total on that side.

He leaned forward over Raz, almost uncomfortably close, looking her straight in the eye, his own eyes burning with... something. Was that anger? ... trepidation? It was as if this was a challenge--though if it was one to her or to himself was unsure. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be long dead, little princess. The words echoed inside his mind, never escaping through his lips. You want to take my mask off? Do it.

((FUCK. I JUST FUCKING DELETED MY REPLY BECAUSE I HAD DELETED MY COOKIES AND MY COMPUTER LOGGED ME OUT AND FUCKING WOULDN'T LET ME POST AND - FUCK.

Let's try this again.

Also, check your messages, I explained why my reply was so late.

And don't blame me for the manhood jokes. I tried to stop Raz, I really did, but she just had to go there...))

"No fucking way." Raz breathed, eyes wide as she watched Talon remove his hood. It took her a moment to shake of her shock, and even longer to take Talon's silent hint.

Raz met his eyes and bit her lip, hesitantly reaching toward his mask.

Unconsciously and more than a little abruptly, she switched both her gaze and her grasp towards his bangs, tugging on them lightly. She smirked a bit, rubbing his dark hair between her fingers. She always had been a bit curious about his hair. "Soft..." She muttered to herself, before realizing what she was doing and stopping just as suddenly as she started.

She flushed, dropping her hand back down and yanking off his mask, determined to distract herself from her foolishness - and distract herself she did.

((JGFYUKJGUTFIGUKTOIJIKGFTRSGFHGSGFCXGFDXHGF))

His eyes widened. For a second, his hand shot up, but he immediately lowered it again. He was so distracted by her gesture that he was taken completely by surprise when she yanked his masked off.

Instinctively, he jerked away and covered his face with his hands. Then, slowly, and slightly pink from shame of his reaction, he turned back toward her and, casting his eyes downward, dropped his hand.

His skin was porcelain, smooth... perfect. His lips thin--but full enough--and pale. Still keeping his eyes on the floor or on the sheet below his face, he grasped the trim of his cloak and yanked, tearing a wide strip off the bottom.

Before she could protest, he brushed her hand off her arm and put his palms on each shoulder, then shoved inward. Her shoulder popped in loudly, and he half-stepped over her to tie a makeshift sling with the silky black material. He was practically straddling her, but he seemed not to notice. He was trying to keep himself busy.

No eye contact. No eye contact. Alright, this will do for now. But we need to get to some Illyrians before it heals out of place.

He slid off the mattress and stepped back, still carefully avoiding Nyk. Immediately, he turned away from her and covered his face again, then seated himself across the room where he had been previously, leaning foward with his head in his hands.

((HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK *FANGIRL SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*))


Raz couldn't help but stare. Azra's damned tits. So not what I expected. She took in his - his - his pleasant face - much more pleasant than any pleasant face she'd ever seen - and just stared. Because, Woah. He's not ugly. And then: Woah, he's kind of really not ugly.

And, finally: Woah. He's so far beyond not ugly that it does not compute.

Suddenly, nothing was computing except Ow, ow, ow, Fuck because Talon - pleasant-faced, not-ugly Talon - had popped her shoulder back into placed and fucking leaned into her and Holy gods, he's way too close and he kind of smells nice and soft hair and-

- Then it was over. Her arm was patched up as well as it could be, his mask was firmly back in place, and his stupid, soft hair was still in plain sight because he'd kept the hood down and tits. Azra's tits.

For a minute, Raz had the wild urge to go grab at his mask again - or maybe his fringe? - but then Nyk groaned softly and reminded her of his existence. She cursed under her breath and looked away from the definitely-male Talon, inspecting the unconscious, Nyk shaped lump.

Clearing her throat awkwardly and trying to dispel whatever weird tension that had invaded the room, Raz waved her good arm to get Talon's attention. "Oi, Lovely Locks! We need a healer. For Nyk. I think he's dying." She tried to express her wishes through her usual strange mix of gestures and interpretative dance, but refused to look him directly in the eye, for fear of lunging for his hair again.

Talon sensed the awkwardness and kept his eyes on the floor. It was terrible, wasn't it. He knew it. She didn't even want to look at him. At the mention of his hair, he yanked his hood back up.

Standing, he shuffled over to Nyk and, hands casually in pockets, rolled him over with one foot looking down on him disinterestedly.

((Short post is short.))

"Hey! Don't fuck with him! He's, like, dying or something. Fucking around would be bad." Raz grabbed at Talon's arm and tried to tug him away from her prone friend, pausing to reevaluate her word choice. She smirked to herself and added, "Then again, I'm sure he wouldn't mind a little fucking around, as long as you keep the mask on." Because he was totally not something anyone would want to look at. Totally. Really. Not at all. He just had nice hair, and that's it. No other redeeming physical quialities whatsoever.

As a matter of fact, he was hideous. Sure. Yeah. Hideous.

Honest.


((AGH. FAIL. SHORT IS SHORT. DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE THE PLOT FROM HERE. MAKE TALON DO SOMETHING. GET THEM GOING. UGH.

Also, needless, mindless insults from Raz seems to be her MO...))

Talon yanked his arm out of Raz's grasp and turned on her, looming over her and glaring. He moved forward threateningly just enough to force her to take one step back. He was already slightly upset at the moment, and was not in the mood to put up with her immature behavior.

Once he had established his feelings toward her tone of voice, he reached down and effortlessly lifted Nyk over one shoulder, then exited the room.

((Let's go to the Illyrians!! XD))

"Asshole." Raz muttered to Talon's back. She strode out of the room after him.

Making her way down into the bar, she paused to say goodbye to Mara, who gave her a flask of ale for her trip, and charged out the door. She retraced the path that they had taken before to the Mirror, determined to make it to the Illyrian healers before nightfall.


((MEH. Rewrote this twice. The first one was super long, but unnecessary and boring. This one's literally just to push the plot. Sorry for the delay, too. I was finishing up an episode of Dr. Who [HOLY SHIT, SO MUCH LOVE FOR THAT SHOW!!!] I have to go to bed now, 'cuz I have to get up at 8 for work tomorrow, but I'll be on all day, probably, at work, if I can.))

Talon didn't comprehend Raz's rush. They would get there in due time, soon enough for her arm. As for Nyk, he would be just as fine as before with a few less brain cells. The would be little difference. Besides, she wasn't the one carrying the oaf.

How was it that Talon always got caught up with all this baggage? He just wanted to travel with Quill, to live happily for once. But no. Quill felt an obligation to the little Ruiken, and so through his obligation to Quill, Talon had to watch out for her. Now the little Ruiken felt an obligation to the useless fool, and so of course Talon ends up hauling him to the Illyrians.

Looking to see the best--not that he had any genuine concern for Raz, he just thought they might as well go see the most experienced Healers since they had the option--he stepped through the Mirror, his free hand grasping Raz's wrist for a moment to pull her to the same location.

They stepped out onto a lush forest floor, golden sunlight streaming through the trees, squinting through the blindingly glittering golden leaves. Silver trunks rose high into the air, and throughout them hung ivory-like tree dwellings, as far as the eyes could see. Many spilled down the trunks and onto the grass below, where they stood. It was Lior, the Illyrian center of culture. But this was not his destination--Talon despised large cities. Ignoring the warm greetings of several locals (they were terribly nice to strangers in all Illyrian dwellings), he set off to the northeast. They would make camp by the river tonight, and reach Ielone the following evening, most likely.

As they left the city behind, the silver and golden trees began to grow more sparse, giving way to the Hali Forest's token inhabitants. These trees were identical to those of Lior, only the Illyrian's element had not effected them. Instead, their trunks resonated a deep walnut shade, their leaves and blossoms a gentle pink. The pink clouds of leaves floated as far as the eye could see, creating a sort of ceiling that sheltered the forest's inhabitants of many from the harsher elements. To the southeast, Talon knew, the Aatmik/Bhasker Cross herds roamed and ruled the treescape.

He pressed forward until evening, around when they began to hear the singing of the river. When they reached the gently sloping banks, he finally plopped Nyk down on the ground and began to kindle a fire, carefully distanced from the ancient trees, without thinking to ask Raz. Though even without her magic, it did light up relatively hastily.

Sunset in the Hali forest was a sight to behold. The sun sank to a red and orange flare, sending shadows across the trees and lighting them up like fire. The pale fuschia leaves seemed to sparkle and glow, crimson, oranga, magenta. The entire forest was dancing.

Then, just as quickly as the magic had come, it faded away. Night spread over the landscape, and the leaves were shrouded into a deep, blended violet with the shadows.

((I WILL get us somewhere!!! See? :3 ^.^ Lulz.))

Well, Raz decided, I know where I'm vacationing from now on. Wherever the hell Talon had brought them was beautiful, quiet, and, best of all, relaxing. The sunset had flared in the distance, the color of friend fire, and as night began to settle around them, she felt... safe, she supposed. Sort of. As safe as she could feel, considering her circumstances. And considering the man beside her.

Raz paused for a minute to blank out the sudden rush of images thoughts of Talon seemed to bring. Azra take him, why had she wanted to see his face again? Curiosity, paranoia, self-preservation instinct, take your pick, she mentally chided. After all, she couldn't travel with someone she couldn't see, could she? She couldn't trust someone she didn't know. Especially when somebody out there wanted her dead.

In any case, seeing Talon's face... changed things. A bit. He was no longer the big black burden in the background, lurking and waiting to end her short life. He was suddenly Talon, that foreign bastard who's kinda pretty and maybe a little bit helpful and more than a little bit infuriating and willing to haul Nyk around (Thank the gods for that).

But, who cares. Right? He was only sticking around because he had nothing better to do. He wouldn't pester her forever, just until he found somewhere to settle down. Or something. So he didn't matter. Not at all. What mattered was getting Nyk healed, getting her shoulder fixed, and finding her family's killer.

And then what? She stumbled on that thought for a moment. What would she do when she found her revenge? Where would she go? She was alone now.

Thank you, brain, for reminding me of that. As if I'd forgotten that they're dead. She hadn't forgotten. She never would. She fell moodily beside their campfire and teased a bit of flame into her hand. Well, I can always start stealing again. I'm sure Nyk would be more than happy to house me. Maybe we'll even partner up again. Just like the good ol' days...


((Raz narrative fail. Thinking about Talon and thinking about her DEAD FAMILY, WAAAAH! seems to be all she can do at this point. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW. UGH. Talon can call the shots, Raz has no clue where they are. Is it bed time for them now...?))

((Talon + Sunset = FUCKINGHAWTGODDAMN.))

Raz startled awake to Talon sunbathing or something. Yesterday she would have laughed at him. Then she saw his face. Now, all she could do was wonder what expression he was making under all that clothe as he stared into the sky. She shifted reluctantly upright and looked to Nyk, whose open expression was more than a bit dopy in his coma-like state.

Tired and sore, Raz began to mutter mutinously to herself,"Ugh... gods, too damn early. Sunrise. Azra. Who the hell wakes up at sunrise?" Talon, apparently. And now her. She wondered what got her up in the first place.

Clambering to her feet, she growled out curses when she habitually rolled her shoulders and sent pain singing down her spine. Whatever peace that had lingered in the forest was broken by her grumping. More than a little irritable, no matter the morning or the scenery, Raz pulled the heat of the fire close and swaddled it up her arm to dull the ache in her wounded joint.

Then the Ruik curiously nudged Nyk with her toe. He remained as unresponsive as she expected him to be. "Well..." She sighed to no one in particular, "I guess it's just me and the mute, then. Silence is golden and shit, I suppose." She shot a side-long glance at Talon, "And silence is all I ever get out of you, fucker. Too bad you didn't learn the language before you migrated. Idiot. You give foreigners a bad name."


((Pffft. It appears that not even the beauty of the Hali forest can stop Raz from being grouchy in the mornings...))

"Fuck." Raz watched Talon wade through the fucking river. She cursed. Fluently. Water had never been her friend - the only time it bent to her will was when she washed, and even then she boiled her bathwater and never submerged herself completely.

If there was one thing on earth that she feared, it was drowning.

Very, very reluctantly, she followed after Talon, shivering at the river's icy touch. Her throat felt like it was closing up the further she went. The fire howled under her skin, panicked as it flickered and fought the element surrounding them. Steam rose all around her where her body met the surface of the water.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..." She continually snarled, a mantra.

((Sorry for the delay. I'm splitting my attention between Raz/Talon (YAY!) and Dr. Who...

Oh, yeah! And: Almighty One))

Raz scowled and slowly, slowly offered her unmarked hand. She continued to ramble at Talon, hoping he wouldn't notice it trembling, "Seriously? Water? You just had to take us through the fucking water? Azra. "

((Meh, short reply is short... Had a bit more, but it was too "Morgan fangirling" and not enough "Raz being moody".... SO I deleted it.))