Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Quirky Beauty (1x1)

Fial shouted back at her for the first time in his life. "But you want to live, don't you?!" He looked at her for a moment and then sighed, rubbing his face with his hand. "I...I don't want you to go. If it was up to me, if I was a terribly selfish person, I would keep you with me no matter what happens. I... I can't be selfish though. My selfishness could result in your death and I'm not going to let that happen. I'm a terrible person, Riiko. I'm not anything like you say. I'm the worst."

Riiko stood there, seeming on the verge of shouting back, and just breaking down into tears. But she did neither. Instead, she turned from him, and began walking away. Not back toward the elven village, and not toward Fial's home. Just away.

"Fine," she said calmly, not even looking back at him. "If you think you are such a terrible person... and I should stay away from you, then I will." Jinx looked at Fial, and then turned to follow his master. "Good-bye, Fial..."

Fial didn't get up. He just sat there. "...goodbye, Riiko.." He hid his face against his knees, arms covering his head. He just wanted the earth to swallow him up so that he didn't have to deal with it. With losing Riiko. It would have been so much easier if she'd just stayed with Katri and Tato. But it hurt so much more knowing she hated him now. Fial just sat there. It would be a wonder if he ever did get up on his own.

Riiko quickened her pace, the moment she was out of his sight. She was nearly running down the road, as if trying to run away from the problem. But finally, she broke down, leaning against a wall and sobbing to herself. She didn't care about the people that stopped and looked at her, whispering to themselves. It didn't matter to her what they thought. It didn't matter what anyone thought.

Jinx looked up at Riiko, his ears lowered against his head; almost as if he felt bad for her. He let out a soft meow, placing his paw on her leg. But she wouldn't look down at him.

Jinx suddenly turned his head, looking behind him. Ears erect and turning to catch any hint of sound, he stood completely still. Riiko felt the tension he seemed to be giving off, and looked down at him. He jumped back, looking up to Riiko and meowing wildly, before running straight down the road, farther away from Fial.

"H-Hey! Don't run off! You are such a jerk!" she called out after him, chasing him.

Back near Fial, there was movement in the trees. Shadows moved quickly over the ground, from whatever was making its way across the branches above. Then, all went quiet again. At least for a moment. Suddenly, a figure landed on the ground, several feet in front of Fial, its back turned to him. Black hair swayed in the wind, and black cat ears and a tail twitched silently, as the person listened for a moment. The female looked back at Fial, her golden eyes narrowing for a moment, before she dashed at him.

"Where did she go, elf?" she said, urgency apparent in her voice. With the woman this close to him now, he could pick up a strong similarity between this woman and Riiko.

---

Riiko rounded a corner, attempting to keep up with her cat, but managed to bump into someone else. She fell back, landing on her rear. "Ah, a second time today..." she said, standing up slowly, rubbing her backside. "Sorry about tha--"

"Riiko?" came a familiar voice. She looked up, recognizing Eros right away. "What are you doing here? I thought you were working today." Riiko opened her mouth, about to say something, but closed it again... not quite sure what she had wanted to say. After an awkward silence, she finally said, "Well, I asked for the day off. I kind of wish I hadn't, now..."

"Oh? Where is your boyfriend?" he asked, glancing behind her.

"He's not my boyfriend," she said, almost monotoned. Eros' eyebrow perked.

"You don't sound happy at all? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing at all," she replied, not at all ready to talk about it, especially to a stranger. But Eros wasn't buying it. He bent down and picked up the book he had dropped when Riiko had run into him, and then smiled down at her. "I was just about to return this book to the library, do you want to come with me? I could use the company..."

Riiko looked at him for a long moment, then looked around. Her cat was missing, but he seemed intent on running away. She didn't have anywhere to go at the moment, and she could very well use the distraction. "Alright..." she said slowly.

Eros smiled and motioned for her to follow. "Do you work tomorrow?" he asked, as she kept pace with him.

Riiko shook her head. "I don't think I will be working there anymore."

"That's too bad. I won't get to see you as much, now." He grinned at her.

"Are you meeting up with Teresa after you leave the library?"

Eros then took his turn shaking his head. "No, we decided to wait on our relationship. We both thought we jumped into things too quickly. Besides, she seemed far more interested in Fial."

Riiko didn't say anything to that comment. She entered the library when he held the door open for her, and made her way toward the front desk. It was a huge library, with books upon books, staircases upon staircases. Riiko was quite impressed. Once Eros returned his books, he made his way up the stairs toward the fiction section. Riiko followed behind him.

"I love reading, because it can inspire me to write. I especially love books with interesting concepts," he said, stopping at a row and pulling a book of the shelf. He flipped through some of the pages, and then looked down to Riiko. "You will notice, my dear Riiko, that I love eccentric things." As he said this, he reached out, taking a strand of her hair and pulling it gently over her shoulder.

Riiko blushed as he continued to speak. "I don't know why Fial let you go, but he was a fool. I would never want to part from such an exotic beauty like you."

---

Jinx had stopped, and retraced his steps when he noticed Riiko wasn't following him. He had hoped she would have kept up, but now he had to find her. He walked along the street, searched alleys, but found no sign of her. He let out a couple of meows, but found no reply.

This was bad. He needed to find her before they did.

Fial was girly, but no fool. He stared at the woman and then was on his feet in moments. "You can't have her." he said firmly, the ground sinking fast underneath the woman, swallowing her up to her neck. "Be a good kitty and stay." His ears twitched, hearing a voice. Oh, he knew that voice. "Eros." he hissed under his breath. This was bad. If Eros ran into Riiko, he would completely take advantage of her broken-down state. Fial ran.

He followed the noises, the sounds that he recognized, right to the library. It was easier in the library, things were more quiet. Up the stairs, through the many aisles of shelves, and..."Riiko!" He had to catch his breath a little. He moved right over, tugging her away from Eros. Gently, though. "I have to talk to you Riiko. It's really important."

He glanced towards the stairs. As if that woman would follow. "REALLY important."

And she would. She yelled after Fial, but he was not listening. She yelled, and struggled against the earth. After a moment, the ground broke in a circular pattern around her and began to rise into the air. With another great thrust, the earth shattered from around her, flying into different directions as she landed safely on solid ground. She turned, running after Fial.

Jinx, however, had seen Fial enter the library and followed him in, doing his best to go unnoticed.

Riiko was surprised when Fial yanked her away, and it took her a moment to compose herself. "No, Fial. You can't just come in here and expect me to..." Riiko was now looking over Fial's shoulder, something having caught her eye. For a long moment, her lips quivered, as she was left speechless.

"Riiko?" came a female voice. The neko woman had trailed Fial well and was now looking toward them.

"M-Mom?" Riiko said, almost unable to believe what she was seeing. Suddenly, a smile erupted across her face and she ran to the woman, embracing her tightly. The woman was smiling, hugging her daughter back.

Fial was completely ready to protect Riiko from her mother, until the two embraced. He stared for a moment. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about." he told Riiko. "I saw her. I knew it was someone from your home. I was worried..." He looked between the two, then turned to just start walking away. It was best to make his escape unnoticed. Riiko hated him after all. He needed to get away. A warning glare was given to Eros before he made his way down the stairs, however.

Riiko was confused by Fial's words, and watched him as he walked down the stairs. She wanted, with all her heart, to stop him... but she didn't. Riiko's mother, however, looked to Fial and called to him.

"How did you know to stop people of her tribe from getting to her?" she asked, making her way to the elf. Riiko just continued to look on in confusion.

"What do you mean 'stop people from my tribe'?" She didn't quite understand what was going on. Riiko's mother's ears drooped a bit. "Riiko... It's time you knew the truth. But I can't tell you right now. We have to go."

Fial looked at the woman for a moment. "She never spoke highly of her home. I wanted to protect her. I didn't want anyone to force her to go back when she didn't want to." He looked at the two of them. "Come on. I'll take you two to my village, you'll be safe there. We can seal it of any unwanted visitors."

He waited for them, and if they agreed, he'd take them back to his forest.

Riiko was somewhat reluctant to agree, but her mother took her hand gently and went after Fial.

"Wait, what is going on?" Eros would ask as they were leaving. Riiko turned back toward him, and shrugged, not quite sure herself.

As they followed Fial, Riiko's mother began to speak. "I've been searching you for a while Riiko. I've been trying to find you before they did. I was relieved when I heard you had found shelter with an elven woman. I knew, at least, you would live in a better situation for a while."

Riiko looked to her mother, wanting to ask more questions, but decided to correct her instead. "Fial isn't a woman..." she said.

Fial blushed when Riiko's mother spoke of him, but before Riiko could correct her mother, he spoke. "Why are they looking for her? Is she in trouble?" He brought them to Katri and Tato's house, the two were more than willing to let them have a private talk in the livingroom. Fial tried to stay away from Riiko. He knew she didn't want to be with him, so he tried to just stay focused on her mother.

"My name is Fial, by the way."

Riiko's mother sat, and looked around the living room for a long moment, before she began explaining. "Riiko, I didn't exactly tell you the truth when I sent you out on your own to learn magic."

Riiko's ears perked up as she listened. "You were never adept to magic, and it was unfortunate that it was chosen for you. But those that cannot fulfill their role... are suppressed... to say the least. Our tribe weeds out the weak, so they take those who are no use to them, and suppress their human-istic traits. To put it plainly, you would have become just a mere cat. But I couldn't let that happen... not again."

"Wait, what? So, they want to hunt me down, and turn me into an animal? That -- that isn't--" Riiko couldn't form her words anymore. It was hard to grasp the idea of how cruel her tribe truly might be. And the fact, that she can't return home.

Fial listened carefully, frowning. "What tribe is this? How long have these practices been going on?" That wasn't right. It wasn't right at all. Riiko might notice the look in Fial's eyes. He wanted to stop this. "You did the right thing in sending her away." He steepled his fingers, thinking. "This tribe of yours...how many others are like it?"

"We are a clan of ancient traditions. We have hardly steered from what our ancestors have practice, and they hate anyone that doesn't agree with them. I, disagree, but I know better than to voice that opinion. There are other neko-hume tribes, but, as far as I have seen, they have common sense."

Riiko spoke up again, seeming to have regained her voice. "You said... that you didn't want what they were planning to do to me, to happen again... What do you mean?"

Riiko's mother's ears lowered and she sighed. "I never told you the truth about your brother, either... He had his human side suppressed."

Fial listened carefully, frowning as he heard about Riiko's brother. "Miss, I need you to tell me where this place is." He looked towards the door. "Tato, Katri! I need you in here. There's something we have to fix." He looked at her. "I need names. Names of people worth saving, and names of those who need to be stopped."

Fial couldn't let this go on any longer. He just couldn't.

Riiko's mother stood quickly, making Riiko herself jump back a bit in surprise. "You are more of a fool than you look, boy, if you are even thinking of taking those of our tribe on. Trained warriors, and magicians, who care nothing of the value of life. Elves, I'm sorry to say, might be ripped apart by my people. And starting a war against them, would be very much ill-advised. And don't even think about negotiations. My people don't like the idea of others putting their their thoughts against theirs."

((Don't forget to post on Alezander ))

Fial stood up as well and fixed her with a firm stare. "What do you expect I do then? Stand by and let them turn innocent people into feral animals? Let them try and come to take Riiko away?! I'm not going to let that happen. I'm not going to just stand by. You underestimate the strength of elves if you think we wouldn't stand a chance."

His hands gripped into fists. "I'm not letting them ruin lives. If you stand by and let them do what they want, you're just as bad as they are."

(Multiposted)

"Hardly," Riiko's mother said, quite smoothly. "I have obviously done something. I saved my daughter, and I am here to protect her. If I am stopping them from doing something against one person, that is far better than doing nothing. It would be foolish to try what you are suggesting. People would die. Many people."

Riiko looked from her mother, to Fial, and said, finally, "I can keep running... I don't mind. I'm just glad I know the truth now."

((I'm waiting for you to post on Zalia))

((eyah! That must've gotten lost somewhere. I was looking for it. I'm sorry!))

Fial looked at Riiko, then shook his head and sat down. "No. No running. Nobody is running. If they come here, I will take care of them. If you're here, you're safe." He glanced at Riiko, but then looked away. "If you stay with Tato and Katri, you can be safe." He felt like she probably didn't want to live with him anymore. He just stared at the floor and went quiet.