Apprehension [Aerious/Richter]

[Richter Abend]

On the outskirts of the charred, splintered rubble of Salvation Point, a small campfire burned. Its incandescent flames cast a dance of light and shadow upon the stone, wood, and gravel around it, causing the quaint corner of the old Etrurian fort to scintillate on the night plains like a shining star midst the inky blackness night sky.

Near the fire, sat a lone man, hunched over and sitting on a fallen support beam, staring contemplatively into the enkindled, makeshift fire logs. His figure was dark, a black shadow against the light, but the campfire shone just bright enough that one could not miss the signature pink hair that identified the man as Richter Abend.

His eyes not flickering from the flames, the Ilian sighed, disrupting the staidness of his form with the rise and fall of the long breath taken and exuded. Richter's brow furrowed with thought, for as single-minded, harsh, and driven as he could be, the pink haired warrior was prone to walks of the mind. Indeed, the darkness of the night led itself to pondering.

Avowed to topple a nation's oppressive ruler, marching once again to Bern to settle a conflict he had no hand in, fighting men and demons with a sword that wrenched the very essence of life from its victims chest; none of this life could he have foreseen for himself as a boy. Sure, he had always expected to pick up the sword, kill a few goons, get a nice sack of gold at the end of a long march like his brothers, father, and great-grandfather before, but this? It was practically madness what he had allowed...no, driven himself to get wrapped up in.

Richter allowed his eyes to tear themselves away from the dancing of the fire, turning them to the ground as a sharp sting racked his spine, but for little more than a second. He shook his head, as if to shake away the experience. He wasn't sure what it was, but the Ilian had been getting pains like it ever since he'd set his runesword upon that damnable gargoyle creature earlier that morning.

His eyes swung over to the black bladed sword that lay propped up, sheathed, against the same piece of lumber he had taken perch upon. While his pain could be the fault of the blade, Richter doubted it. Be it more than a bit perverse, when using the sword on men, the Ilian felt awash with vigor and energy. Each drop of blood its steel tasted was like water upon his lips, the lives it ended like sunlight on his face. It had even pulled him back from death's murky doors.

Perhaps in using the weapon, Richter had made a deal with the devil, but he figured otherwise. The darkness he felt within the sword whenever he grasped its hilt, was empty, formless, and cold. When he drew upon its power, he felt as though he could get lost in its nothingness. It was, he imagined, the very dark magic Mavick had warned him about.

The darkness Richter currently felt inside him, the darkness he had torn from the cursed husk of that monster, however, was nothing of the sort. It boiled inside him, hot and angry, like the burning black tar used to defend castles. It was not alive, but it felt ancient, rather than timeless, as if it had been festering long before its untimely encounter with him.

The warrior gritted his teeth in anger. No doubt whatever darkness that drove these beasts, the darkness that currently seethed inside of him now, was the same evil Ardus had warned him about, the evil that his brother had encountered in the tomb in the Western Isles. It was the same unearthly force that had brought the dead to life in Ostia, and the same magic that had been present on the docks of Delfia. Richter slammed a fist on his seat, his anger building. How could he have not seen it? How could he have been so stupid! He wanted it out!

The Ilian's hand shot to his chest, a claw grasping at the dirty, worn jacket currently sitting over his heart. His shoulder's heaved up and down as his breathing became more violent, and more harried. He'd tear it out! He'd wrench it right out of his chest! He'd kill every last one of those monsters, starting with those two, damned travelers!

Richter froze. No. Not Aerious and Nayru. There was something off about them, but this hate, this rage that he currently felt tearing about inside of him...it had come back. A hate not his own. Richter took a long, deep breath, clenching his hands into fists and closing his eyes shut. He could feel his mind being taken over, but with all his might, he once again pushed the darkness away. His arms shivered with pain as the force pushed back, but damn it, he'd not let himself be overcome.

[Aerious]

And one was missing, go figure. They'd decided on who would stand the watches earlier in the evening, and Richter had gone off and vanished before his. Aerious looked over the quiet camp and stood up. Richter had left earlier, said he'd wanted to take a walk, and not come back. Aerious hadn't smelled anything foul in the air, so he didn't even give the mercenary a second thought. Now, as he looked, he could see a spark by the fortress. A fire?

Well, good as place to check as any. The dragon stood up, stretching out this human form, as he began to walk over the fields. He wasn't quite sure what to think about this Richter fellow. He was competent enough, but something about him just seemed off. Like he didn't even think about what he was doing, he just fought for some end long since forgotten. Aerious smirked to himself, he recalled that feeling. Odd to see a human with it though. Normally they didn't live long enough to forget their reasoning.

As he approached the human at his own camp, he became aware of an oppressive aura around them. Something was not right, and he wasn't sure what it was. Something just smelled...like death.

[red]"Richter, you all right over there?"[/red] He asked. He didn't really care much about the human, but it seemed the appropriate question. He'd been dark and conflicted since they met, perhaps the darkness of what they fought had gotten to him.

After all, 'He who fights monsters...'

[Richter Abend]

Richter jumped as he heard a voice behind him, his hand shooting to the runesword propped up next to him, but upon seeing the person, or thing, approach into the sphere of light cast by the campfire, the Ilian realized it was only Aerious. Hopefully that was a good thing, and hopefully it was stay that way.

And strange, uncontrollable emotional spikes aside, Richter had no reason to distrust the man. He hadn't shown either him or Clair any malcontent, and Richter wasn't about to let himself become the instigator. Taking a deep breath, the Ilian forced himself to relax, loosening the tension throughout his body but as hard as he tried, he couldn't quite let go of the sheathed runesword in his hand. He could feel the tingle of the elder magic in his arm, but right now, it wasn't a nice feeling.

"Yes," replied Richter, a certain tiredness in his voice. "What, you get night watch? Because you're a bit far from the main camp."

[Aerious]

Aerious tensed when he saw Richter go for that sword, but then the pink haired human relaxed. Aerious didn't though, not instantly anyway. [red]"A bit jumpy, hm? That sword isn't a good thing to be holding right now. Too many 'Kindred Spirits' around."[/red] He offered.

When Richter asked him on his reason for being here, the dragon chuckled slightly. [red]"Just keeping an eye on the camp, besides it will be your shift soon enough. If you don't get any rest you aren't going to feel any better about that blade."[/red]

It might have seemed a bit odd at how he phrased it, but he knew a little bit about these magical items. It was dangerous, and it seemed like it was reaching into the Ilian like a dark tendril into his mind. [red]"I would advise you to sleep away from that thing for tonight at least. Though I cannot prove that is not some clever attempt to steal it from you."[/red] He shrugged at that mention.

[red]"Still...I would not think it wise to stay so close to the corruption alone. What if you were set upon, would you try to use that weapon against them?"[/red]

It might have seemed like he was being rather accusatory, and perhaps indeed he was. Richter was acting in a self destructive manner, and he was currently in his way. He wasn't going to destroy the fort with this human sitting right here, that would be the opposite of subtle.

[Richter Abend]

Richter raised an eyebrow, taking a quick glance at the runesword before slowly turning his head towards Aerious. The man seemed awfully concerned about the elder magic weapon, and Richter couldn't imagine the concern actually extended to his own well being at all. It wasn't like he had shown much interest in him before. No, something about the way Aerious spoke about the sword sounded like he feared it in his own aloof way.

"Who says I'm worried about the blade?" said Richter, staring at Aerious with an immovable gaze. He'd call the man on his bluff. "I think you're more worried about it than I am." The Ilian shook his head. "See, I have a bit more on my mind at the moment." He chuckled darkly, appreciating the double entendre that no doubt went over the brown haired traveler's head. "So to answer your question, no I wouldn't use it on those monsters."

By this point, Richter obviously had suspicions of the true nature of his two hopefully temporary companions, but after thinking about it, some things just didn't match up. The unnatural feeling of evil he had experienced from the undead at Ostia and the warriors at the docks of Delfia permeated the area, but as far as Richter could tell, none of it was coming from either Aerious or Nayru. Thus, they were either something Richter had never encountered before, which at this point seemed a bit gratuitous, or they were...

No, that didn't make any sense. Marcus was helpless in human form, even more so when he didn't have his stone, Aeros and Fran as well. So how had they been able to wield such strength in their human forms? He didn't have that piece of knowledge yet.

"But please, Aerious, I'm not an idiot, so stop thinking you can treat me like one. I know more than you probably think I do." The Ilian turned his gaze back to the flames, allowing time for his words to echo in the other man's mind. He imagined Aerious was at least trying to be polite, but whoever the brown haired man really was, for him, arrogance had become as natural as breathing.

[Aerious]

Aerious chuckled darkly. [red]"Sometimes we present a healthy respect for dangerous items, instead of running in to play with them without thinking."[/red] He shot back at the Ilian, his eyes glinting with a hint of arrogance shining through.

He could see the Ilian thinking, trying to work things over in his mind. Aerious had a decent idea of what he was thinking about, since he did claim to work with a dragon before. Never-the-less, information from him would not be easily forthcoming.

At the comment that he knew more then Aerious thought he did, Aerious turned from him so the human wouldn't see him nearly lose composure. That was highly likely, since he was surprised that any human knew more then how to kill other humans. Oh wait, there was that side of him talking again.

Aerious did not like Richter. He honestly reminded him of Alan. Aggressive, self important, and a smart mouth on him. Pretty standard for a human, walk the world for twenty years and you think you know everything.

[red]"Ah, before I get distracted by this entirely pleasant conversation, thank you for watching out for Elly while I moved Nayru out. Had I realized how out of control things would have gotten, I would not have left the three of you in there."[/red]

A thanks combined with an insult or two, just to keep things interesting. This human had done nothing to earn his respect. So he had force of arms, so what? Many humans had skill, but he'd shown none of the other true jewels of humanity.

[Richter Abend]

A small smirk etched itself into the side of Richter's face as Aerious spoke. Condescension. Insults. Neither surprised Richter. Seems he managed to strike a nerve in the brown haired man. That was good. Easiest way to a man's secrets was through his pride.

"Really? And what would you have done? Wave that hunk of metal on your waist around?" The Ilian scoffed, placing a hand on his leg with his elbow at a right angle. It was as if Aerious was trying to give himself away. "That thing's hardly been used. Handle's barely worn, and the hilt has hardly a scratch on it." Richter shook his head. He knew the answer, but he wanted Aerious to say it, though he figured the brown haired man was about as likely to give in as Richter was to hail the Prophet one more time.

Frankly, Richter hardly knew this man from Adam. But he knew what he needed to: that Aerious was aloof, assuming, supposedly knowledgeable, and had the potential to be highly dangerous. Knowing that, Richter wasn't about to let anything slide. There was too much at stake.

"I mean, I guess you could have always punched them."

[Aerious]

Aerious' eyes narrowed at the Ilian's observations. Well, it would make sense that those who practiced the blade tended to be a bit more observant in matters regarding them.

[red]"You're eyes serve you well, surprisingly."[/red] He said, rounding back on the Ilian. [red]"I did not use the sword in there, it wouldn't have helped. Beasts of the natural world are strong, but there is generally a rule that holds true. Their own weapons can hurt them, no matter how tough they seem to be."[/red] He pulled from his tunic a large fang, stained with the remains of the ichor and blood of the massive beast. [red]"While trying to bite myself and Nayru, it lost that from crashing into one of the stones. It's eyes are rather soft, making such a weapon perfectly suited for felling them. Aside from that, it was simply a matter of being more agile."[/red]

While the explanation was technically true, he knew there was more to it then he'd explained. [red]"Sometimes, it's not about swinging around the fanciest hunk of metal. A sword was not a good weapon for a creature that fast. No, something smaller and quicker was a better decision."[/red]

He smirked to himself, throwing the remains of the fang to the ground in case Richter wished to examine it. He forgot why he'd picked it up, but it seemed a bad idea to carry it with them anyway.

[Richter Abend]

"Creature that large, rather..." replied Richter, making no motions towards the fang sitting at his feet. An axe had worked fine on the little ones. No, speed was only half of the issue. "Large enough that any normal person would have been crushed by a single, direct, hit. But not you..." Richter turned his gaze back to the fire. "...you're much too agile." The comment was snide and knowing. He hated self-importance. Aerious might try to puff himself up all he wanted, but Richter knew his secret.

"But what about Nayru?" continued Richter, giving Aerious a little sideways glance. "She wasn't dodging anything, judging by her condition. No, she was battered and broken, and covered in blood that could eat right though the leather of her clothing, or even more the hides of those spiders, but not the skin on her bones." He paused, taking a breath. "That's not to mention the leg she forced through its head." The gruesome scene flashed in his mind, how Nayru had managed to finish that battle standing.

"You though? You're just really heavy." The Ilian recalled the cracked stone under Aerious's feet after the brown haired man had jumped off of the balcony. "I have to say, until you showed up, I wasn't sure if dragons became lighter when in human form. Now I know."

[Aerious]

Aerious let Richter talk, and he was quite willing to crush the pink haired fool's skull. Humans were such tiresome creatures sometimes. So he made his critical accusations, and Aerious had to wonder if the human had really thought this plan through.

[red]"So?"[/red] He said, crossing his arms over his chest and eying Richter. [red]"You act like you've made some startling revelation, that is supposed to give me pause and frighten me? Child, if I choose not to reveal my nature, it is for your benefit. So you unmask me, so you taunt me with your perceived victory, and for what? Nayru is weaker then I, and you saw what she did in there. Do you truly believe you are any threat to me? I have fought the Scouring Legends. A human with a toy he can't even control isn't going to scare me."[/red] It was rather odd, with Aerious' human form being shorted then Richter, but he knew that he held the cards here. If he willed it he could kill this man right here, and then vaporize the others while they slept.

However.

Nayru and he had taken a shine to young Elly. And the other rider, Clair, was agreeable enough. She and Nayru seemed to hit it off well, anyway. So, out of respect for his real companion, he would hold his breath.

[red]"You humans are always quite troublesome little creatures. Why attack one who means you no harm, why try to force your way in every situation?"[/red] He glared up at Richter, a small snarl forming.

[red]"I'd say it surprises me, but in honestly I've seen a lot of it in the last thousand years."[/red]

[Richter Abend]

Richter couldn't hide that he was taken aback by the dragon's lack of pause, his eyes widening at Aerious's calm acceptance of the Ilian's knowledge of his true identity. Richter hadn't expected any shock on the elder dragon's part, but he had thought Aerious would at least get angry. But he didn't. He just kept talking, rather matter of fact. Apparently he wasn't so aloof that he didn't realize that mere human could figure out his secret, but he was arrogant enough to think that it didn't matter. And that was stupid, because it did. It absolutely did.

His speech, his stance, his demeanor; everything about Aerious infuriated Richter. His head was so far up in the clouds he couldn't see that the rattlesnake at his feet hadn't even bared its fangs yet. Like a child, he'd be the one to step on it, provoking a bite.

"Is my sword drawn?" Richter moved his hand to the blade, grabbing it and bringing it closer to him in an attempt to show Aerious that he had shown no violent intentions. But again, a foreign anger was quickly welling up in the Ilian, urging him, ever more fiercely, to draw the blade. The darkness; it hated the dragon, even more so now that Aerious admitted his own identity. But Richter refused to draw the blade, fighting the evil inside of him. If this man was as old as he said he was, he had to have answers.

"Seeing that it's not, I get the impression that makes me exceptionally restrained for a human. You, on the other hand, are an exceptional ass as far as dragons go." Richter shook his head. He had no desire to give into the darkness, to lop off the dragon's head, but he wasn't about to let Aerious intimidate him with a petty show of bravado. "I've been running into more dragons and more evil in the last seven years than the entirety of my ancestor's generations combined. So if it seems like I'm forcing myself into the situation, I apologize, I'm just hardly about to let a dark secret that potentially threatens the stability Elibe, and the lives of millions of humans, to be placed clandestinely in the hands of a dragon who could hardly care less."

The Ilian's glaring eyes peered back at Aerious, a defiant refusal to back down. What had started as a snide curiosity and a potential lead into all of this madness had turned into a full up confrontation. What ever this darkness was that currently followed at the heels of the Prophet, between the tomb painting that Ardus had spoken of and the intense feeling of hatred he felt from the darkness, he figured Aerious could have some answers. If he was to stop the Prophet, and perhaps something worse, he'd need to know what it was.

[Aerious]

Aerious turned and walked a few steps from Richter. He didn't imagine the human would attack him when his back was turned, but he was alert just the same.

[red]"Tell me human, where do you think this dark power came from? Do you honestly think a single human could have had the power to throw the world into such chaos? This 'Prophet' you humans whisper of? These creatures existed before your kind had even mastered metallurgy, and who do you think kept them back then?"[/red] He let the statement stand, moving beyond it after but a moment.

[red]"I do not fight these things out of necessity, they will not seek my kind out. If I truly desired it, I could wait for them to rise up and wipe your pitiful existence from Elibe, then claim our home from them as it was long ago."[/red] He turned to look at Richter again, an oddly dark smile on his lips. [red]"You humans are not worth saving as a race...but there are the rare gems among you who show...promise of becoming something more then you are. What sort of tyrant would I be to deny someone the chance to reach their true potential?"[/red]

A rhetorical question, of course. [red]"Oh yes, I'd be human."[/red] Maybe it wasn't helping the talk to keep taunting Richter, but old habits were hard to break. [red]"The truth behind this history is obfuscated to us all, but you see these things as just another group of foes to defeat. Tell me, have you ever considered that perhaps they have their own goal other then senseless destruction?"[/red]

[Richter Abend]

"Please, insult me more, dragon," spat Richter, not bothering to hide his quickly growing distaste for Aerious. His muscles tensed and his arms shook with dark fury, demanding that they be allowed to draw the ebony blade from its sheath and cut down this arrogant dragon where he stood, but Richter would not budge, despite the spikes of pain darting down his spine in response to his defiance. No, he would not bow so easily to Aerious's vapid condescension and childish insults, and he would not allow the darkness control over him. "I hope it makes you feel better, because no amount of your scorn will change the fact that your kind were driven from this land like a bunch of slobbering dogs by a pitiful race wielding toys."

The Ilian was fuming with anger at this point, both his own and not, but he was beyond being insulted. No, there was little point to that. His anger was directed at Aerious, who, for all of his assumed power and wisdom, couldn't find anything better to do than to taunt a twenty seven year old human because he had some god complex that needed massaging.

"Pathetic," muttered Richter, bristling as he pushed himself to his feet. "I'm no scholar. I don't need to know how this evil works to know it must be stopped, whether it flow from Hargus, from the Prophet, or from another source I still can't see." The Ilian paused, drawing a deeper breath. As inflammatory as they were meant to be, he had gleaned insight from Aerious's words. Another piece of the puzzle. If what Aerious meant was true, and Richter had no doubt that it was, then prior to the Scouring it was the might of the dragons that had held back this darkness. That explained Ardus's mural.

"Whatever its goal is, humanity is in its way. An enemy that summons up demons and raises the dead of its victims to prey on the innocent has not earned my discretion."

[Aerious]

Aerious seemed as if he were in a trance as Richter spoke. The words went unheard, though their inflection did pierce the veil. However, the dragon sensed something far more important then venomous words...he felt a creeping darkness...a very familiar scent of evil. Subtle, but there.

He maintained his gaze at Richter, staring directly into his eyes, which were burning with a dark hatred. There was something in there...something familiar...and something that was trying to twist this human.

[red]"I can see you."[/red] He stated flat out to Richter, though the comments were going to seem quite odd. [red]"You think I cannot smell you, your deathly stench? You think you can hide from me in human skin, but we both know differently."[/red]

He took two steps towards Richter, so he was withing striking distance as a golden glow began to permeate from beneath his shirt. [red]"Begone foul spirit. Take your leave while you can before I annihilate you."[/red] He hoped the spirit would believe that he was willing to kill Richter, and in truth he was. If he was a host to these dark powers, then best he die here before being lost to them completely. His eyes turned reptilian as the light from his stone shone, an odd illumination from his chest.

[red]"I said get OUT!"[/red] He roared, the raw power coursing out from him as his skin seemed to take on a scaled appearance. Bolts of lightning seemed to crackle and arc about his body, his teeth began to grow to large fangs. But before the transformation could truly take hold, Aerious reigned it in. All he needed was a show of power, of willingness, and hopefully the spirit would depart.

[Richter Abend]

Richter's brow furrowed as Aerious's demeanor grew distant, as if he was looking right through him, as if he thought himself above the conversation. Dark tendrils began to encroach on the Ilian's thoughts. His hands quivered with uncontrollable anger; his breath heavy with rage. That was it. He'd show this damn dragon the consequences of such unadulterated contemptuous conceit. He'd show Aerious a thing or two about humans.

But as Richter began to draw his runesword, Aerious began to speak, but not to him. To someone behind...no, someone in him. To the darkness. The pink haired Ilian's body stiffened as the manakete began to glow, his eyes changing, shifting into something inhuman. A fear enveloped Richter, a fear that fought to sheath his blade, to step back and run away. But he did not want to run away. He wanted to put Aerious in his place. What was going on?

"I said get OUT!"

Aerious began to crackle with energy, his form becoming more and more dragon-like as the intensity of his power increased. The human unwillingly froze in his tracks. It was as if his bones had turned to stone and his muscles to mush. Richter could feel a swathe of negative emotions storming within, but the evil's hold on him began to disappear. Relief. The darkness wasn't just receding. It was leaving.

And suddenly, as if the air was sucked out of him, Richter fell to his knees, gasping and panting.
"What," the Ilian growled, "what the hell was that?"