World Tree MUSH

    In the aftermath of the intense and sudden Twilight Messenger hunt and attack, things might have been a bit of a blur. The rush of wind, the thundering pace of something large and bipedal, and a small voice hissing curses... It all died down though by the time Rydia had managed to find the little settlement down the road from the encounter.
    After some heated negotiation with the keeper of the town's small inn, Rydia had managed to secure lodgings for herself and her impromptu ward.
    Raven had gotten the only bed available in the small room; cozy is a fair enough word for it, and Rydia had no issue in just letting herself drift off to sleep on the floor after tending to the Teen Titan's injuries. So the next day rolled along, and it gave the green-haired girl a chance to take stock of the situation. Zelda and others should be along shortly, so she's not worried there. And after setting out water and feed for her chocobo- a powerful looking, but docile great yellow bird- left tethered outside the inn, she set to the tasks as per her agreement with the innkeeper.
    Laundry, changing sheets, the like... The duties are no stranger to her after her time in Kaipo, and it's only after the sun actually rises does she return, not just with one, but two bowls of oatmeal and a knock-knock-knock on the door.
    "If you can move, we're having breakfast in the commons. If not then make some kind of sound to let me know you're not dying or something."

Temulin had been exploring, trying to find a clue of home when her eyes spotted a familiar sight. Then, she landed her bird outside the same inn and tethered it. It's a bit larger than the bird it's tethered next to, but it behaves. Then, of course she went into the commons and did the only reasonable thing concidering the circumstances. She opened her mouth and yelled, "Whose horsebird is it tethered out there?"

Raven opened the door in response. The dark girl... Actually looked completely fine. Aside from her cloak being damaged. But her wounds were healed, the skin not even pink as she stared down at the girl. For a few moments she stared at her. Then...

"Thank you for your hospitality... " she said, sounding just a hint nervous. "I will come down with you to the commons..." She said firmly. If offered the oatmeal, she would take it without objection. She then glanced around and... "Where is the lightbringer?" Shw asked. She couldn't... Feel that overwhelming burning light now. That complete antithesis to what she was.

"I am sorry if i got in your way, yesterday. I am not familiar with your world or... Those creatures. Normally i try to avoid conflict, but they were..." She trailed off. She occasionally glanced to the small child. She seemed... Very nervous. Finally...

"Are you actually a small child, or is that just how you appear?" Shw finally asked.

    Down to the commons then, once Raven shows that she can actually be up and about without an issue, so fast after her injuries. Even Rydia seems a little thrown off- a part of her had been expecting to have to head into the room and administer potions and White Magic, but then this means less energy she has to expend if the titan is up on her feet so soon.
    "You're pretty sure of your footing, fast. I half expected to have to drag you down over one shoulder, or just spoon feed you myself." She says rather frankly.
    The lightbringer though earns a side-ward glance from narrowed eyes. "Sheik." She says at length. "One of the handmaidens and priestesses of the royal family." It's a lie but one of necessity to hide Zelda's true identity, and one that the girl says with such ease, familiarity, and complete lack of guilt that it's probably difficult to pinpoint. "I'm seven, and this isn't my world." That's much more honest.
    It's the call from the commons as the two make their way in that gets her attention and fast.
    "Mine! Who wants to know?"

"Temulin, of the Dotharl tribe." Rydia gets that response immediately and the horned black knight approaches with some curiousity. "Haven't seen any horsebirds since I got lost. Was wondering if you knew the way back to Eorzea." She's frank and definitely not smiling, as her eyes peer down at Rydia and up at Raven. "Got to admit. I didn't expect some Hyur kid and her ... chaperone?"

Raven nodded. "Azarathian healing trance. A life time of training and meditation and... Well... Now my body puts me in a coma state when i am too heavily wounded. I do wish i could delay it easier, as it can sometimes trigger at the most inopportune times," she mumbled softly.

"Sheik? She... Was incredibly powerful. I could feel it..." She mumbled... Amd gave a shudder. It hadn't felt nice. "She seemed... Nice." Just not to her.

She glanced back down at her. "Seven? You shouldn't be..." And trailed off and shook her head. "I have no space or right to judge your abilities, my apologies..." She mumbled.

"I'm not her chaperone," Raven said quickly. "She merely helped me, that's all. We do not know each other, she doesn't know me," there was something odd to her tone when she said that... "Thank you for your assistance," she said to the girl.

Her eyes then locked onto the... Creature...? Was she some kind of demon? No. She doubted it. She didn't feel a demonic, evil presense. And she didn't feel dangerous... But she also didn't want the child being affiliated with her. Rydia likely had enough trouble without drawing whatever ire Raven's presence would bring.

Granted, she probably just sounded like an ungrateful, nervous lout. She moved to sit down, slowly eating her food, without objection.

    "Don't make any mistakes about it, I'm the chaperone here." Rydia replies, setting her bowl down to cast a sharp look back at Raven, "I shouldn't be what?"
    It's a done of voice that just demands 'challenge me, challenge me and my seven year old might, do it'. But then the girl purses her lips. "Don't worry about it. Sheik and I were out hunting those Twilight Messengers, it wouldn't have been right to just leave you out in the open where more could have found you, right?"
    But then Rydia focuses more properly on Temulin, "If you call Chocobo a horsebird he's probably going to get upset. He's proud, so please don't do it where he can hear, you because then I'll have to deal with his sulking all day." She says, before giving a shake of her head. "Hyur? I'm a human, and hate to say it but I've never heard of Eorzea."

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> I am the chaperone. >:|

The tone Rydia uses to challenge Temulin gets an immediate response. There's a change in Temulin's facial expressions, and while Raven might not be able to sense darkness before, now there's definitely darkness leaking as the dark knight reaches for her blade. Not drawing it, just reaching for it. "Didn't your parents teach you to respect your elders, kid?" She snarls, staring right at Rydia, "And your horsebird's opinion on the matter is as irrelevant as that of the ones in Eorzea. Chocobo is a stupid name for a species of horsebirds."

Raven blinked and was taken aback by the words. The chaperone? She opened her mouth to object. Except... Then the woman snapped and she yelped a little, nodding as her hands clenched around her bowl. Something about the way this child felt was--

And then she felt the darkness and she lowered her left hand from the bowl and... Dark magic swirled around the hand as her eyes locked on the woman. "Please don't resort to violence over such a petty thing as a name. There's no reason to fight over..." Then blinked. "Wait, horsebirds? The giant running chickens? They're called chocobos?" She asked. Wow. She looked a little shocked that they rode them at all.

    Such hostility. Rydia hadn't even intended that tone for Temulin, but it looks like the woman took it the wrong way, and now she's reaching for that blade.
    Where most children would cower and shrink back at the first sign of such deadly threat... Her eyes simply harden.
    Those are eyes that have seen too much pain and strife. Too much conflict, in spite of her age. And instead of retreating, Rydia of Mist sets herself protectively in front of Raven, regardless of the older girl calling upon dark magic.
    She said she was the chaperone here, and she will fulfill that duty.
    "Chocobo is a fine name, and if you want to make an issue of it, we can always take this outside. Dark Knight." She offers, one hand reaching for the coiled whip and dagger at her belt.
    "Otherwise you can sit down. Stop reaching for that blade, and join us for breakfast. Considering I have local rupees, it can be on my coin." She DOES offer, before turning her head to Raven, "Call him a chicken and that'll hurt his feelings too, you know. Besides, he's not local, those are cuckoos."
    Pause.
    "Even I don't mess with cuckoos."

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> Well, this IS Hyrule.

"I will accept your tribute." The darkness dies down and Temulin smiles again. Her hand moves away from her blade and answers Raven. "Yup. They're pretty common in Eorzea, not so common in the steppes I'm from." She extends a hand towards Rydia first and Raven after. "If we're going to share a meal, would you share your names?" She's already shared hers, so instead she tells a bit more about herself. "I'm an adventurer." She does not deny being a dark knight. "Been unable to get in touch with the guild ever since I ended up lost."

Raven blinked and looked down at the small child suddenly in front of her. She took a step back as more guilt flooded her. Why was she... Raven didn't deserve to be protected.

She let out a sigh of relief once the woman calmed and held out an hand, but didn't take it. "I am Raven. I am an... Azarathian. A pleasure to meet you." She left out the half demon part for obvious reasons.

"I'm a monk of azarath, a... Pacifist. Monk. I'm on a journey to learn more of the dimensions and continue my training and better harness my abilities." A pacifist... Huh. Funny. Considering what she did to that monster. She then glsnced to rydia and flushed.

"I... Still have a lot to learn."

    Tribute is a lofty way of putting it, and though Rydia's expression twitches, she'll take the peacable solution over throwing her gauntlet down with a Dark Knight. She has seen Cecil in battle, and if that's anything to go by, it would not be an easy fight on her in the least. So the girl motions the inkeeper for third bowl of oatmeal, waving a green gem at the man.
    There is a brief pause in the girl when the hand is held out, but once it seems that it's not a ruse to lower her guard and that hostilities are over, the child relaxes. So does the active mist that lingers around her, shifting to a much less agitated swirl as it lingers about her.
    She takes the offered shake with what might be a surprisingly firm grip.
    "Rydia. Of Mist." That's her introduction. "I have no idea who she is." She says referring to Raven, who then follows up with her own introduction. And gets a funny look.
    "... You've got a strange definition of pacifism, you know that?"

And the Dark Knight sits down, "I am an Au Ra of the Xaela clan." She further elaborates what she is, when Raven goes into so much detail. The girl takes out her money pouch when she sees the strange green gem, and takes a look at the gil inside. "Do you happen to know where I might find a moneychanger? It seems most places won't accept my gil." As far as Temulin's behavior is concerned, the entire hostile exchange may as well not have happened. "And I don't think there's a definition of pacifism that isn't strange, to be frank."

Raven flushed and nodded. "I... Have... Not always been the best at it. Taking the path of... Non-violence is not always easy and i faulter far more than I'd like. But it's safer for everyone else if i avoid confrontation."

She squirmed a little and took a small bit of her oatmeal. "The monks of Azarath... My teacher, Azar, had trained me heavily in how to better... Manage my anger..." She slowly spun her spoon in the bowl. "I... Still relapse... From time to time... I am sorry about what i did in the woods. I should have fled, not stayed and fought," she said, scolding herself.

    Rydia is still eyeing the Au Ra. She's just... So casual now. As though she hand't threatened them mere heartbeats before? It's strange as all hell and Ifrit take her, the girl doesn't quite like it. But it's better than what could have been.
    "It's one thing to avoid confrontation." The small Summoner says. Hell, she just did it herself. "But there's little room for it from what I've seen. This is a world where bad things happen to good people." The child mutters, glum and sullen before scooping a spoon of oatmeal right into her mouth.
    It gives her a second to think.
    "There are a few settlements and towns scattered about. But don't bother going towards Hyrule Castle or Castle Town. That WAS the biggest place around but it's been taken by the Twilight and you don't want to walk into that." She says. "So you're on your own for money changing, but right now I think with the state Hyrule is in, people will trade anything for the help of a good blade." She does note.
    Before she jabs her spoon at the air in Raven's direction, "No, you were right to fight back. Twilight Messengers hunt in packs and usually cower away from anything that fights back hard enough. Sheik and I were out hunting them when we found you."

"A better use of your anger is to channel it into strength." Temulin provides a recommendation of her own to the topic. "It's one thing to be unable to fight, it's another to be unwilling. That isn't what makes you a good person, it just makes you a coward." Strong opinions, with no attempt to even slightly insert tact. Rydia's explanation of the situation gets a nod, and though she doesn't ask too many questions, she does simply say. "Trading my strength for their coin? I can do that."

Raven twitched a bit and grumbled under her breath. "Sometimes bad things happen to bad people..." Shw mumbled, before taking another bite of her oatmeal.

"What is the twilight, what has happened here? I've managed to avoid touching it but... It definitely feels... Different."

She looked troubled at the notion of money, now. ".... How about healing, do you require that like blades?" She asked softly. "I imagine i will require money as well, soon." 

She glanced to the dark knight and for a moment, there was a hint of red in her eyes. "I suppose... Coward... Fits me well," she said through gritted teeth.

 And then her bowl cracked down the middle, spilling her oatmeal across her lap. She stared down at it... Then sighed, gathering it up in her magic. ".... I Believe i owe you a new bowl. My apologies."

  The door of the inn room pushes open.

  "The Twilight is a blight upon the face of Hyrule." The voice that answers Raven's question is a young woman's, clear and cold. "In its natural state, it is a realm parallel to Hyrule. As it is now, it is a curse of the highest order, made manifest."

  The hooded horseman from last night sweeps into the room. She's wearing the same cloak over her clothing, and the same bow over her shoulder and quiver at her hip. A kick of her boot closes the door behind her, and folding her arms, she leans against the nearest available stretch of wall with her arms folded. A faint nod is given to Rydia. Good morning, tiny engine of sass.

  "I do not recommend touching it under any circumstances. I am protected," she states, blue eyes fixing on Raven, "but I cannot say with certainty what happens to an offworlder who goes poking and prodding where they ought not."

  ...It seems somewhat deliberate that she stays across the room from Raven.

    "Healing will probably get you far if you can do it. If it's not the Twilight Messengers or something else, someone is always getting hurt or sick somewhere. I know a little White Magic, but I'm not that great at it to go charging people for patching up their scrapes. But the beasts around here can get pretty vicious too. They're not an everyday thing but-" She starts to explain to Temulin...
    But then Raven gets an answer to her question on the subject of the Twilight. From the best source around.
    "Sheik." The girl greets her fellow rider from the night before. "As you can see, I've managed to take good care of our guest." She says smugly, noting the condition Raven is in to be ostensibly much better than she had ended the night.
    The cracked bowl though earns a click of the tongue, the girl already rifling through her rupee pouch for one to replace it. Argh.

Temulin actually smiles when Raven breaks that bowl from her anger. "Channel that strength, don't run from it." She encourages, with a cheerful tone. She ignores that she likely just upset Raven, "It's not where your power comes from that matters; it's what you do with it." Of course, the Dark Knight would believe that.

"Eorzea isn't free of danger, and when the monsters aren't eager to kill; there's always the Garleans up to no good." She answers Rydia's comment that the beasts can be vicious, with a tone of 'I can handle some danger.' There's a new face coming in, and the outsider turns towards that newcomer and smiles. "Hello there. Pray come and join us." She suggests, "It seems you know my breakfast companions. I am Temulin, of the Dotharl tribe. Adventurer."

Raven yelped and dropped the remnants of her oatmeal when she felt zelda.

And then the girl entered the room... And raven froze. She eventually nodded as Zelda spoke. "Of course. I... Will avoid touching it. For good..." She mumbled, her hands digging into her knees. "You... Must be sheik. I am... Raven. Of azarath. A pleasure..." She lied. She looked like she'd rather be anywhere else, and she wouldn't look the other woman in the eyes. While zelda's senses may be telling her raven was an abomination that needed to be purged, raven's demon half said to run or fight... While her human side said how wonderful and kind the woman was. It was a mix of... Awful.

Her eyes quickly focused on rydia, trying to focus on something else. "If you would like, i could teach you the azarathian healing spells. It shouldn't be far different from what you normally use. But it should be better able to heal those who need it. It... Is the least i could do..." Shw mumbled. "To pay you back for your... Kindness... Not that your healing wasn't plenty!" She added quickly. 

It wasn't just that she was scared of zelda, the woman may note when Raven shifted about. It was that the girl was BETTER than her. Zelda was everything the mage wished she could be. Or at least, felt like it. Her fear wasn't of being attacked or destroyed. Well. It was a little. It was a fear of being scolded. Or hated. She was fidgettijg like a child who was being stared at by a parent holding a vase they accidentally broke.

She sighed at the dark knight's simple answer. "Sometimes... The source is just as important as the effects..." Because it was that source that wpuld one day cause an effect that... She dare not think about.

  "And here I expected you to finish her off when you inevitably lost your patience with her," 'Sheik' comments mildly; airily. "Well done," she says, more seriously. "I had been prepared to heal her wounds if need be."

  How that would've gone is anyone's guess. It would seem the place she chooses is driven by a purpose, and she only shakes her head at Temulin's invitation to join the group more directly. When she lifts her gaze back to the group, there is a hardness in those blue eyes that bespeaks strain. The muscles of her jaw work silently.

  She is restraining herself, and that sensation of divinity is almost overpowering. The blood of the Goddess does not discern friend from foe; Hylia senses only that Raven is possessed of the same general sort of corruption that the Twilight Messengers are in turn corrupted by. No doubt Temulin's own dark arts would have the same reaction if it were actively doing harm.

  'Sheik' tips her head to Temulin. "A pleasure, Temulin of the Dotharl. I wish I could offer you better welcome, but Hyrule finds itself in a time of crisis. The roads are not safe, as some of us have found... and yes," she adds, "I have been travelling with Rydia for a year, now, nearly. This one," 'Sheik' flicks a hand at Raven, "we happened across last night."

    "Is that how it is for Dark Knights?" Rydia asks Temulin point blank. She had never actually asked Cecil about this. It's mainly curiosity, considering how the Au Ra advocates using negativity for other purposes.
    But Rydia's lips purse.
    Zeld-- Sheik looks far from happy. She can see it in the clench of the woman's jaw, the darkened tint of her eyes, and for a moment the girl considers.
    Discretion, Rydia of Mist decides, is the better part of valor.
    Inhaling the last of her oatmeal, she hops off her seat. "Yeah well, she healed herself pretty handily enough. And you know me, I don't stab someone while they're down unless their name is C O P E N or V I V I A N." She notes with no explanation to the other two.
    "SO, I should be getting back to my duties- I promised the innkeeper I'd handle cleaning and laundry for a cheaper price and I beeeeeetter get to that. Bye!"
    Oh hey look at her dart into another room. So fast actually that she detaches from the mists lingering around her. The bubble of vapor hangs in the air for a beat before it realizes it has been left behind, and follows after her, sliding through the cracks in the nearby door after she shuts it behind her.
    Whelp. Temulin and Raven are on their own now.

"If you're keen to keep running. Be my guest." Temulin answers Raven's complaints, clearly not in the mood to further encourage Raven. Instead, she answers Rydia. "Power is power. If my anger and pain can do some good. Then it would be a waste not to use it." It's not quite the full answer, but then Temulin doesn't know a lot of dark knights.

Rydia leaves, and the dark knight is left with one fewer person, and the rapidity of departure does not go unnoticed. So her gaze settles on this 'Sheik.' "What have you done to cause such terror in that child?" Her jaw clenches, and her eyes narrow. But she doesn't reach for her weapon, nor does she call upon her dark powers.

Raven cringed at that prospect. The idea of being helpless and under zelda's touch was both terrifying, and calming. So she settled for terrifying. "If that happens again, please, d-don't put yourself out any. My body will enter a healing state, and put me in a coma. I can heal myself fine then, so long as i am not attacked." 

She eyed zelda a bit pointedly then. "I'm sorry..." She said softly. For what, who knew? Troubling them? Disturbing them? Existance? Oh, that one felt right... She moved around in her cloak, the darkness movinf around her body and slowly binding the cuts and tears of her cloak together, allowing her to better hide in it. And she was, her knees moving up to her chest instinctively. She didn't even realize she was doing it, but she was trying to make herself as small as possible without outright fleeing from the scene.

And then rydia did. And she gave a soft whimper, hugging her knees to her chest. Then the dark knight spoke up and she cringed. "I'm not... Scared..." She lied. She wasn't scared. She wasn't she wasn't she wasn't... She so was... And the darkness, having repaired her outfit, was beginning to leak out from her, around her form and enveloping her chair... The wall...

That stare wouldn't stop. And it made her eant to run. Made her want to fight. To lash out. To defend herself....

    When Rydia abruptly leaves, 'Sheik' lifts a hand in casual farewell to the girl. No, the Summoner doesn't seem to be the source of the woman's anger, and if anything they seem to get along well. In fact, 'Sheik' seems to treat the girl with considerably more autonomy than most children her age might otherwise warrant. Those impossibly blue eyes flick back over to both Raven and Temulin, lingering first on one, then the other, undeniably studying both.
    "Nothing," she assures the Dark Knight breezily, but there's a sharp undercurrent of steel to her words despite the deliberately languid pacing of her words. "I actually owe her a debt, if you must know; she's saved my life twice, and having no better place to go, has volunteered to lend her assistance to a problem of mine. She is really quite invaluable, although I would not wish her experiences on anyone."
    Those intense blue eyes actually /are/ darker, aren't they? They're the dark, intense colour of an autumn sky; not the gentle, clear blue of summer skies. Huh. Weren't they lighter last night?
    "In any case, I came to see that she was getting along well." 'Sheik' tosses her chin to indicate Raven. "Seeing that she is, I will be back about my business. Forgive me -- I am much too busy to talk to a stranger. Stay as long as you like; I promise you that you will be welcome at this inn until you have recovered."
    With that, the woman turns, stalking from the room with all the liquid grace of a lioness... and all the promise of deadly intent in such smoothness and singularity of purpose.

Temulin matches 'Sheik's' gaze, keeping her face calm. "You remind me of the Oronir." The way she says that, it's not a compliment. "Good bye." She turns towards Raven as the darkness begins to leak, and she smiles. "That's more like it." However, her breakfast is done and she got no closer to the clue she came in for to begin with, so she rises out of her chair. "Pray give Rydia my regards. I have to be on my way."

Raven let out a sigh of relief once zelda was gone. Letting out a breath she didn't realize she eas holding in.

"Good day, sheik..." She mumbled. She wasn't welcome here. Sheik could say it until the cows came home. But she wasn't welcome here. She leaned back, tossing the meager remains of her meal to the trash.

Then the dark knight's words drew her attention to her darkness. She yelpdd and they dissipated. "That's not... A lack of control is nothing to be proud of!" And is fear to control any better?

"Yes, you'll want to control your power; but you'll never control it if you're afraid to confront it." Temulin answers Raven without even bothering to look back, she's leaving regardless of Raven's response. "Your so-called pacificism isn't going to give you control. It's just going to result in you being terrified of your own power for the rest of your life. That's no way to live."

Raven huffed a little. She wasn't scared of her power. She wasn't scared of azerath's power...

She was scared of Trigon's power. Was it really so strange she would distance herself from it? Even that... Woman. Had sensed how wrong it was. How awdul it was. How awful SHE was. Was it really so wrong to fear it and try to resist using it unless she had to?

Even if it did result in her getting... Hurt sometime...