This is my tangle... (Rei)

[silverdust]

Away, that is what she had wanted. Away, just...gone. Another thread ended, another lead dead. And this one had been so close, so very very close, she could have felt the serpentine's aura in the empty cells underneath the graveyard's cathedral. And then that golden-eyed Cardinal said that he was gone, had been gone, and that he did not know if he would ever come back again.

More importantly, the words unsaid, the words she could read in the feral amber of the fox's eyes. 'And should he ever return, we will not...I will not let you harm him. He is protected here.'

Of course he would have lied himself into a church, as the true Betrayer had been one of Christ's own. No different. They were all blinded, pathetic fools. Claws shot out, tearing into the slender tree before her. Damn it all. Damn it all to hell.

The cardinal's words mattered none. She could match him in strength, him and his whole blinded church. She wanted the Betrayer dead, and it would be so.

A near demonic wish, were it not so?

[Rei]

][ xD Muwaha. Damn them, damn them all to hell! XDXD *luffs on you for making her evening* Oh, and just so you don't sit there wondering how to pronounce Re's name, it's "uh-rye-yiss." Rye as in rye bread. ^^; ][



Araejius padded silently through the trees, his black- and yellow-striped wings drawn in close to his muscular back. A pointed cone of cloth sat atop his head, marking him as a Bishop. The hat was usually white -- so white, in fact, that it fairly shone in full sunlight. But now, that whiteness was nothing but a dream of the past, obscured by several layers of dust and grime. And, though Re was quite well-groomed, considering his current condition, stubborn burrs showed through the silken strands of his mane, and several of the feathers on his proud golden wings were broken of out of place. One might wonder what Re had been through, for his appearance to deteriorate so. But his posture -- tail relaxed, head held high -- spoke volumes. The Bishop might have been through a lot, but he was unconquered. It took a lot to phase Araejius.

He had been walking for three full days, now. Sleeping whenever he could, or when conditions were so horrible he could press on no longer. He hadn't eaten in any of those three days, his last meal being nearly four days ago. But his proud stance showed none of his hunger-borne weakness. Re was a fighter, and a proud one, at that. He wasn't going to let one little trip defeat him...

][ And no, even /I/ have no idea why Re is traveling. I just needed something to post about. xD Any ideas? ][

[silverdust]

((No ideas on the traveling, heh. Sive's traveling to kill someone, Re is traveling to...um...bless someone? XD))

One would have to be blind not to see the Bishop, as silently as he moved. Sive took in the ragged form, but also the pride he carried in his step. Her claws momentarily paused in their fury, though several of the nearby trees held mark of her rage. She tipped her head, wondering if the other was so in his thoughts that he would miss her. But she was curious, even though she would normally strive to stay away. The Betrayer had been seen around here, so any passerby might be a lead.

"You look like hell," she stated, her voice a rough hiss and all bereft of courtesy in her greeting.

[Rei]

][ Hah! I think I figured it out -- what if some evil dude lied about him to the village, or something? What's this Betrayer Sive is obsessed with? ][

Araejius' proud head swung across to view the sleek feline-serpent that stood before him. He would have felt embarrassed about his appearance, if he was the type; as such, he only appreciated the beauty of the other. "I may." He acceeded. "The road has not been kind to me. What are you doing, so far out in the wild?"

][ Short post sorry. ][

[silverdust]

((The Betrayer is actually Judasethile, one of my other Amuni, the one involved in the Mini-plot. Don't know if we can find some way to work it in, but the idea of someone lying to the village is great ;D ))

Sive gave a low chuckle. She motioned to the chaotic wreckage about her; the trees and ground were scored deeply and savagely. She gave a smooth shrug. "It is not the safest for me to be around others when I am angry, you see."

Vindictive she was, but she did not actively seek the blood of the innocent. She did her best to distance, but if some got in her way...well, she did not lose so much sleep over it. Cruel yes, but he had done it to her. At one point, she might've liked to be different, but she had grown used to her own immorality.

The other's regality was well-hidden behind the grime, but it was obvious that he was not one who would be in such a state. She wondered what had been done to exile him from the pedestal he would seem to occupy. She smiled lightly, the serpentine tail drawing elegant spirals over the ravaged dirt.

"And if I may ask the same question...?"

[Rei]

][ Oh. My gosh. He is fecking /gorgeous/. <3 ][

Re looked away for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. When he spoke, his words were strong, but unusually well thought out.

"I was...betrayed, you might say. By one who had no qualms about my betrayal." The scorn in his voice as he said the last sentence was quite audible. He had indeed been betrayed; but what really irked him, even more than his eventual exhile from the village, was the emotionless actions of the other. The cold, impassionate eyes as Re had stared into them with disbelief.

[silverdust]

"Ah betrayal, I know that story well," her voice might nearly have been amused, if it wasn't for the darkness behind it.

She stretched out, claws dragging deep into the dust. She was in company now, she had to reign back that dreadful vengefulness. But she did not try to hard, she never had. Nothing really mattered that, much, except for finding him, and making his life a living hell before she sent him to judgement. Speaking of that...

"Then perhaps, stranger, you could tell me," her eyes flashed like brimstone, though directed away from the other. "Have you seen or heard of a serpentine, three chains about his tail and collared with blue jade?"

[Rei]

Araejius laughed, an unexpected, mirthless chuckle that pierced the silence like an icy spear. "Heard of him? Yes, I suppose." His gaze met that of the feline beauty, the gold-flecked orbs holding a disarming degree of fierceness. "Heard of him only too well." He wasn't surprised that someone other than himself harbored hatred for the fiend, if they were, indeed, speaking of the same filthy serpent. Re thought back to the human myth of Adam and Eve -- he would not doubt that, even back in that pre-historic fiction, Judasethile would have been the serpent that tempted them to eat the forbidden fruits.

][ Hmm...I just thought of something odd. Araejius' nickname should technically be Rae or Rai, shouldn't it? Oh, well. Re suits him better. ^^; ][

[silverdust]

Jet eyes widened and the slender formed tensed in a violent anticipation. "Where?!"

There was a furous eagerness in the voice, a sharp break from the cold, controlled glide of the previous words. It seemed for the first time as if the patchwork lived, compared to the sudden emotion her previous actions were the motions of a clockwork doll, given to cool politeness. Now the anger burned fresh and sharp. Vengeance was a sin upon the Lord, for that she was damned, she understood. But if she could drag he other down with her...if that single soul was forced into torture, she would bathe in the flames that purged her. Such was the depraved meaning of her life.

All this the other could probably see so clearly. When in her rage, Sive was not one who could hide. Le him think what he would, let him curse her or pray for her or anything, as long as he would tell her that which she craved.

How far she had fallen, but she would not think of that now. Her eyes fixed upon his, burning and begging reply.

[Rei]

Re blinked at the sudden emotion of the other. But he held that gaze, matched it with his own; the hurt and anger in his golden eyes more controlled, but just as fierce.

After a minute, he turned away. Not out of subservience -- their gaze had been one of mutual dislike; of connection, rather than of challenge. His well-musculed shoulders shifted under his feathered wings as he paced. "It does not matter. He is not there now. He came, he took, he destroyed, and he left. I was a fool to believe him."

He turned back to the eager female. "My village is many miles back, over the mountains. But it would do you no good to go there -- they will not welcome me, and certainly will not welcome you, either, if you show such blatant dislike for that serpent."

[silverdust]

"Wait...village?" her gaze flickered, and then died. The ebon eyes seemed to drag in the other's tired state, as if he'd been wandering for many weeks, days, she couldn't tell. But it was no matter anyhow, she knew.

"Are you...there was a tale they gave me, one of a Bishop cast from grace, at the hands of my Betrayer. They also said that he left that village, a day after. I thought he would come seeking solace here, but...that church is bare as well, I was too late. Those bastard brethren, they would give me nothing[/i]."

The serpentine tail lashed out again in a tense anger. Or it could've been hopelesness. For it seemed everywhere she went he was never there, a poltergeist or demon sent to haunt her, drive her to madness. And even made her begin to doubt their God, for what was a God that would let her suffer like this, what was the God that would let that Betrayer with his blood-soaked hands, let him live? And she hated him ever so much more, for sowing in her that singular seed of doubt.

She was not worthy of being here, of even talking to another of her kind. She looked at him no longer, her gaze wandering to the shadows of the roughened trees, seeing the graveyard far beyond them and the outline of that church where she had been so close...but had it ripped form her hands. Damn those amber eyes.

"I suppose I will take leave of you then, as we have nothing more to share, you and I," she motioned with her head. "There is a church yonder. It may serve you well for your injuries and fatigue. They might tell you what they kept from me, perhaps."

She gave him a sideways glance. "You seem much purer than I, at that. They'll trust you, perhaps."

[Rei]

Araejius' proud head lifted, and he caught and held the other's gaze. "You seem pure enough to me. We all have secrets, all have sins...but, black as our souls are, we can take solace in those who are blacker yet." His features then hardened, his golden eyes seeming clearer and purer yet for his ragged appearance. "I cannot hold you, and do not wish to, if it is in your interests to depart. But I would like to know who this 'they' is, who told you of a bishop cast from his village. The supporters of the Betrayer are omnipresent." His features calmed, became gentler. This fiery bishop, so full of pride and passion, could also prove to be a healing ray of light to those in need...the villagers who had cast him out had known this, and once viewed him in a sort of reverent awe. Until -- Re stopped in mid-thought. It was still too fresh a wound to probe at. "You...it seems that this is something you know well. Forgive me if I am misguided."

[silverdust]

Bitter smile like torn glass. Sive pulled herself upwards, holding herself with a sort of wounded pride that was both beautiful and terrible to see. "You are beholden to the daughter of Wrath unfettered. This, this is my life. A terrible existence you see, but..."

She shrugged offhandedly. "I suppose it is comfort that there are still those who believe enough to find light in the blackest pitch."

She gave him a brief grin, shreds of true emotion sparking like flicks of a dying flame. Her voice, nonetheless, smoldered like brimstone. "The Church in the graveyard, over past this copse. Judas has taken them, I don't know how, but they..."

She shook her head, cofused, angry. "I cannot understand how, but he is there no longer. Nevertheless, they are pious in all other aspects. They are not completely astray. They offered me sanction even though my intentions were clear. I could lead you to them, if you should so wish to question the Cardinal yourself. As you see, my search is fruitless, and I can spare time."

[Rei]

Re's golden eyes shone as he gazed upon her, the twin orbs gleaming with an unyielding strength and determination. He was safe, steady, a bastion of hope in such a dark time.

"I would like very much to see them. Though I do not even know what I would ask...if I met him again, what might I do? I do not pride myself to be a killer, but he..." He shook his head. "I am not seeking revenge. But I would seek explanation."

[silverdust]

"He will not be there, but you may ask of him, from them. Come, follow me."

She turned and slipped easily into the thorned underbrush, back the worn and beaten path she had tread. And one could see her passage in the torn bark and crushed leaves, such pain she had wrought upon the living Eden. In anger done, and she couldn't muster in her the pity to wish it undone. She had fallen far. Would he see it now? Or continue to deny in the name of his faith. She only wished for that strength.

The the forest of brambles soon gave way to the forest of crosses and gravestones. The ground here was wet from rain, and her scales made a silken sound against the dew. The church, only a few yards ahead, was a small, almost private looking chapel, crooked storm-black stone and Gothic steeples. It looked in derelict abandon, a decrepit testament to the death that surrounded it. High on the bell tower, a figure moved in the shadows, darting down hidden stairs.

Sive's eyes narrowed. The Fallen. Despised and cursed be this church, but the Bishop had so asked, and he may receive what he would. They approached the door and she hung back, allowing him to make the first move.