Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The Calling of the Stars

Oliver curled his lip in disgust as he cleaned his blade on his pant leg. He didn't like to kill, even though he acted as if he did. He sniffed the air, it had that metallic taste to it that only belongs to blood. He shook his head, why? Why was this the life he had been forced to lead? Why couldn't he be a happy little kid, able to spend years with his parents and then move out. He shook his head again, those thoughts only got in the way. He sighed heavily," Well, I guess I better go, huh?" He asked the body before turning away, disgusted at himself, and left.

Oliver walked right by Jupiter without looking to her. He cleared his throat," So, what do we do now?" He asked gruffly, trying to cover his inside turmoil with a stoic act.

As soon as the door opened once again, Jupiter smacked her own wrist and turned around, awkwardly grinning as if she hadn’t just carried on a conversation with herself. Though, her childish expression quickly creased into confusion. “You’re done? That quickly?” She blinked in surprise. “Well, I mean.. There are many things you could do, but it’s all your decision, of course. I don’t think I have a say in your actions, honestly.” Because, dare I choose something, it’s to sit down and talk things out. Her brows furrowed at the thought.

She had the urge to follow after him like she would any other Target; floating. It was simple enough, and it didn’t use as much energy as it seemed. Though, if she wanted to keep building on this lie she’s created, Jupiter would just have to stumble fiddly behind him for the time being.

Oliver opened and closed his mouth, about to retort angrily before realizing that she was correct, and he hasn't exactly elaborated." What do we do now that will get rid of you the quickest?" He asked, rather rudely. After he said it his eyes drifted to the ground as if his shoes had suddenly become much mote interesting than anything else around him. He shouldn't have been so rude to her, after all she was trying to help, in an odd and slightly invasive way.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her seemingly clumsiness at walking. He knew that most that acted clumsy were, in fact, quite nimble and well trained. If you acted clumsy then no one would suspect them of being able to handle themselves in a battle, and would let their guard down. But, then again there are clumsy people, and Jupiter didn't strike him as someone who was trained in the art of deception.

“Oh,” Jupiter nearly winced, but she nodded as if she understood. It wasn’t unusual if the Target didn’t find her company enjoyable, but they usually didn’t point that out in a straightforward manner. “Well, I thought I had explained this to you before; I cannot be ‘rid of’ until you realize what you’re doing wrong. Shooting stars! I don’t even know what you’re doing wrong, and that’s the main part of my presence. So, overall, we are definitely going at a pace that would not be considered quick.”

The Astraea inhaled and clasped her hands together. “But if you would cooperate and just.. listen, maybe we could- possibly- speed things up?” She weakly grinned. She didn’t want to come off as rude, but, of course, she thought she had. “Who knows? Maybe I was wrong about you, and you’re actually not as bad as you sound. If so, the less work that comes to play, and you’ll never have to see me again when we’re finished. Just like that.” Jupiter snapped her fingers. “Unless, that is, you decide to ignore the lessons that you might learn. Then I’ll be back.” She smiled, hoping her jokingly serious point had gotten across.

Oliver rolled his eyes," Okay, so what do you define as " wrong"? I mean, some say that telling others that they're wrong, is wrong. Which is kind of hypocritical." He shrugged once rather uncaringly. He realized that he was just trying to avoid having to hear her tell him what he was doing wrong, but he didn't want to have to deal with the facts, and so he wasn't going to." And some say that religion is wrong because it forces you to believe in a certain way, and some say that selling on certain days of the week is wrong. There's all kinds of people that say all kinds of things are wrong."

Oliver sighed and sent a glance in Jupiter's direction," Okay, fine. Talk, go ahead. I'll listen to you, and I'll try to give you any information you need. Go ahead." He told her as he crossed his arms and flared at the ground in front of him.

Jupiter held up her index finger, but she quickly realized that he had a point. She let go of a nervous bark of laughter. “Alright, so I’m terrible at explaining things,” She shook her head in an attempt to brush away the negative thoughts, “but I’m sure there’s something more than believing in something a certain way or.. keeping track of the days of the week. I mean, didn’t you say you killed people earlier? It’s just the stuff that.. That wouldn’t be classified as morally right.” She huffed. “I don’t know if that helped at all, but that’s what I could come up with, at the moment.” Jupiter then lifted her head to the sky and muttered in some sort of disappointment, “You could’ve given me a script, at least. Some better way to describe all of this chaos?”

Her attention turned forward once again. “Sounds like a plan,” The Astraea smiled, placing her hand beneath her chin as she thought. “Well, let’s act like I haven’t introduced myself fully. So, you know my name, and you now have the information of what my race is. But you don’t know why I'm here, and you want to know how to get rid of me as soon as possible.” She took a deep breath. The list was more for herself, of course, but it might’ve been useful to the male, as well.

“I’m here to lend a hand to you for one reason; to right your wrongs. My calling would be important to you because one would think you would like to become the best version of yourself as possible!” She lifted a hand to her chest to gesture to herself, then she raised a fist in the air in pure excitement. “Though, we have to keep in mind that it won’t be as easy as it sounds, changing an entire lifestyle. But positive thoughts only! I’m sure if we start out small, we could progress to the bigger things, like why you might want to harm anyone.”

“What did that information cover..?” She looked towards the ground to speak to herself. She snapped her fingers, snickering. “Oh! Right! Like I said before, I’m just trying to help you live your best life, and get rid of the wrongings. ‘Wrongings’? Is.. that word? I think it’s wrongdoings. Pfft— That’s not important! Jupiter, sheesh!” She smacked her own wrists once more. “Anyways, in order for me to leave rightfully—” She giggled. It was a terrible pun, and she wasn’t even sure if it would make sense, but she laughed anyways. “—you have to realize.. a few things. Unfortunately, I’m not really allowed to tell you those sorts of things, since you have to learn them on your own, I guess.”

Then, with a slight yawn, Jupiter clasped her hands together. “Questions, comments, concerns?”

Oliver nodded slowly in consensus," Yes. I do. And, what about it?" He crossed his arms moodily, unwilling to give more information than he had to. He disliked talk of his work with others, but he didn't see how he could keep from speaking of it. " What was that?" He asked her, unsure what she had said when she looked to the sky.

" Okay, so why are you here? And how do I get rid of you the fastest? I mean, you just asked some really serious questions, and didn't answer. Come on." Oliver said, and waved a hand to gesture for her to follow him. He jogged out of the city and found a small meadow. " We can speak here." He told her as he began to weave a spell, it would take him quite a while and he wasn't certain he remembered the exact way to do the spell, but he needed to make it so others couldn't hear them.

" Okay... Well that explains your earlier questions, thank you. How exactly do I go about being the best me I can be? And what " small steps" can we take? I mean, I'm only so bad of a person. And I have to learn these things on my own, Oh... Thank you. 'Cause that's just so simple. Concerns, well I'm concerned that this won't work."

“That’s—” Jupiter inhaled. “We could start there. Why do you believe that harming people can... What’s.. your reason, again? Why do you do what you do, is what I mean.” She raised a brow, glimpsing at him. She was honestly beginning to wonder how well she was doing with the overall job, but she was sure she could be doing… better. “Oh— What was I doing before? You don’t talk to the sky? I.. I thought that was normal, here..?” The woman glanced upwards again, laughing anxiously. “Anyways, I was saying that I needed some sort of script or something that would tell me what to explain and or say, because—clearly—I’m not too good at it to begin with.”

She looked around the meadow as the two arrived, briefly coming to a cease as she held her hands. Her mouth fell open in awe. “This is amazing!” Jupiter paused to take a deep breath. She had been warned that she should dial down her level of enthusiasm, especially if one or the other seemed more reserved or introverted. He definitely didn’t seem like the type to talk as much as she did, so she, slowly, lowered her hands to her sides before observing the area with a broad smile.

“Well, first things first, you have to be willing to try,” She nodded, confirming her words. “We could start out with talking things out, if that’s alright. And—hey!—I have an idea for our first step!” Jupiter stopped walking, grinning ear to ear. She leaned forward somewhat, drawing a line on the ground with her shoe. “So, you see this? This represents the starting line. And to get past that line, we need to step over it, right? You see, that’s why this works out so well, because it’s—” She laughed awkwardly, taking a breath. Calm down. “You.. get the point. Anyways, let’s say our first goal is to get rid of the negativity! So, it’s as simple as just..” The Astraea stepped over the line, looking back at it. “And bam! You just have to push yourself to do something you believe in!” She clapped her hands together. “And the first lesson too! This is going great, isn’t it?”

" I kill out of neccesity, not out of joy or want." He explained shortly. The luckling still disliked the idea of speaking about it but after several long moments Oliver sighed and continued," My parents were killed, and I'm hunting their murderer. I can't let someone like 'at get away with that." He crossed his arms, not wanting to explain himself further, or delve into other parts of his life." I'm sure you aren't. Thank you for acknowledging that fact."

Oliver heaved a sigh of relief as he finished the spell. He grinned as the world around them went silent. He had done it! The hunter quickly dropped the smile before he turned around and shrugged as if he didn't really care. He grunted in acknowledgment of her speaking. Then Oliver walked over to the middle of the meadow and turned his back to her.

Oliver looked to the sky and groaned as she apoke. He then slowly turned around and glared at her," Okay... Great, I step over a line and suddenly I'm positive and all my... negativity," He paused and scrunched his nose, as if tasting the word for the first time and disliking it," disapears?" He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow sarcastically before shaking his head and turning back around.

Jupiter wouldn’t admit it, but scenarios and backgrounds like this were rather tricky, in her opinion. They have a reason to be doing it, and it might seem lawfully good, to them. But, on the other hand, she wouldn’t be here if it was. On the other hand ( If one were to have three hands, to begin with ), she didn’t know what to say, exactly. The ‘Tell-me-why-you-think-that’s-a-good-idea’ conversation might poke at the Target too much, but if she went with ‘Why-do-you-think-it’s-morally-right’ route, she might get the same information that she had just received. A sigh escaped her lips. Perhaps a script wouldn’t be such a terrible idea after all.

“Aren’t there different ways to approach this situation?” Jupiter mumbled, cleared her throat, and decided she had to be confident with what she was saying. Or, trying to say, at least. “Do you know the reason that that person might’ve done what they’ve done? And, I’m pretty sure you can’t fight fire with fire. Well, violence with violence, in this case.”

She furrowed her brows, crossing her arms as she tilted her head to the side. “You didn’t step over the line like I had instructed, so, obviously, you’re still being a Negative Ninny.” She exhaled and lowered her voice into a softer tone, hoping that would do something rather than nothing. Forget the confidence. Be downright easy. This probably isn’t something he’s just.. willing to do.

Putting on a smile, she took a step back once again. Jupiter now stood behind the line. “I know it sounds.. silly, but why not try it? If you can’t get past one small, mentally healthy exercise, how will you ever get past the doubt and the hate and the self-consciousness? Don’t act like you don’t have it. Just try to overcome it instead. The point of this isn’t to just.. to just think of it as doing one ‘little’ thing at a time, but it’s like.. having a new start, really.” The Astraea grinned, her excitement washing over her once again. “Besides, you have to start somewhere. You can’t just keep wondering where you’re going, right?” Then, she inhaled in amusement, holding her hand over her mouth. “Hey! That.. That sounded inspirational! Kind of! Just a little bit!”

Oliver raised an eyebrow, " You think I haven't already asked myself those same questions? " He raised and dropped his arms exasperatedly," I don't know why he killed my parents! Heck, if they hadn't beaten me to it I would've! There's lots of reasons for someone to want to kill them!" the luckling's voice rose as he spoke, growing more and more frustrated." And if you add more fire to fire, then the fuel burns up quicker and then the fire starves out and died. So yes, you can fight fire with fire."

" Okay fine."Oliver stomped over to her pushed her slightly and stomped across the line. He held his hands out in front of him and bent over slightly as if bowing," See! Nothing happened! I'm still just as negative." He flopped his arms again. " So, what brilliant idea comes next?" He yelled sarcastically.

" Hate and self consciousness? Sure I do, but who doesn't? But there's no way to fix it, so why try? I mean, seriously what's the point in dreaming up a falsity, and fantasy, a dream, if it's never going to happen? Never going to help us? This is all so, so stupid!" He threw his hands and turned around, stomping away from her.

Jupiter nearly winced. The frustration in his tone and expression were unfortunately clear, and she immediately had the instinct to recoil. But she was too startled to move. She had nowhere to go, anyways. “I’m sorry I didn’t know that,” The Astraea nodded, folding her arms over her chest in a protective manner. “I really don’t want to argue with you, Mister, but you can’t just..” She sighed after deciding to restart her sentence. “I know my sudden appearance is not easy for you, and I apologize for the.. chaos and unwanted emotions I’ve caused. But, sure, adding more fire may be able to starve out the flame, but it still leaves damage to the things around it. That’s what I’m trying to prevent, honestly. I don’t need you—nor anyone else—getting harmed in this situation. Once again, I apologize if that is not something you want to hear, but it’s what I am going to be attempting to do. And I’d rather just tell you here and now then secretly be ripping apart your plan piece by piece.” Jupiter lowered her gaze to her feet, furrowing her brows as she bit back anymore words.

That was, until she watched the male stomp around the line as if throwing a tantrum. “Like I said, the exercises are worth nothing if you aren’t going to at least try. I understand that something like getting rid of negativity isn’t as simple as stepping over a line I created in the middle of a field. I’m not ignorant. So,” She huffed, managing to keep a smile spread across her lips. “Do you want to try again at this brilliant idea, or will you continue forth knowing you couldn’t step over a simple line and try to stop the negative thoughts because you were too hot-headed?”

“It isn’t a dream, nor a falsity fantasy!” Jupiter, honestly, didn’t mean to shout those words, but the irritation she’s been holding down seemed to be boiling. “Rather than us agreeing or arguing, why don’t you just be quiet and listen? So, just—” She waved her hands in a confused manner, as if she didn’t know where to go next. “—shut up!” As soon as those words were said, she immediately held a hand over her mouth and winced. It was almost as if she had cursed, and she wished she could take the insult and the yelling back. After a few moments of standing still and surprised, she lowered the hand and went back to mumbling. “I know it’s stupid. Honestly, this is all stupid, isn’t it? But why can’t you just put a little effort into it? We’re going nowhere with this if you don’t, so, either way, you’ll have to fold eventually.” She flashed a teasing smile, placing her hands on her hips as if she had just proved an important point.

Oliver stewed for several moments on how childish his actions were. It wasn't her fault he was angry. No, if anyone it was that darned informant. Oliver's hands balled into fists. Yes, the informant. This was all his fault. Oliver shook his head, informant or not his emotions were his own and therefore he should be able to control them. He turned back to the Atraea.

" Okay." He said simply without turning around. That's all he said for several long moments as he tried to calm himself. He wouldn't blow up. Not at this woman. That's what he told himself anyway. He wasn't sure how well this would turn out buy he had to try.

Oliver turned around and walked over to her," Okay, so what can I fix in order to do this right this time?" He whispered. Unsure what to do. He realized he was in the wrong, but that didn't mean he knew what to do now. He didn't want to be angry, or hurtful, it was simply who he was. Who he had become.

Suddenly, Jupiter’s eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands together after leaning forward on her heels. Her emotions were like a light switch, she heard someone once say; you could turn it off and watch the spark darken, but you could immediately turn it on and watch the room fill with light. It was confusing, to say the least, but she managed to pull herself together.

“Alright!” The Astraea beamed, holding her folded hands leveled with her chest. She took a deep breath. “Calm down, Jupiter. It’s fine!” She nodded firmly after reassuring herself, redrawing the line with her shoe once again. The corners of her mouth were drawn back into a smile, and she seemed to be struggling to contain the sudden wave of overwhelming happiness.

“Well, we could start out with this,” Jupiter pointed to the line once again. Then, with a grin, she took a step off to the side in order to avoid being pushed a second time ( Even if it was lightly. It still caught her off guard ). “Silly? Of course. Useful? Definitely! Getting rid of your negativity is like.. freeing your spirit, I guess. We’ll go with that! It’s just refreshing, if that’s the right word. Oh! Fortifying is better, right?” Gasping, she shook her head. “Sorry! I got distracted again, huh? Anyways, it’ll be beneficial in the long run, so it’s worth a try!”

Oliver backed up a step out of instinct when she clapped. His eyes widened as he winced at her sudden joy. He shook his head, maybe this was just... something Astraea did on a normal basis. Yes, perhaps it was. He thought as he took that same step forward and breathed in.

" So, I just... walk across it and say I'm less negative?" the luckling queried, rather confused. What had he done wrong last time, besides pushing Jupiter? Was that it? He just had to be nice and walk across a line?" He shrugged and walked across the line nonchalantly. He turned around and frowned, he didn't feel different.

“Well.. yes, but no,” Jupiter held out her hands, palms up, and moved them up and down, as if weighing something. “Just.. step over the line—like that—and pledge to yourself to attempt to not be negative. I’ll try not to be gloomy, too.” She smiled at him. “And don’t just say it, Mister. Being positive isn’t pretending everything is good. It’s seeing the good in everything!” The Astraea gave a half-suppressed, bubbly laugh.

She didn’t know where she was going with this. The levels of doubt that were beginning to surface in her mind were vexatious, and she wished she could just push them to the side and forget they existed. But, even then, that sounded drastic. Honestly, she could hold down the thought that she was doing her job incorrectly. But, either way the table turned, she would get it done one way or another.

Oliver's brows furrowed in thought before he shrugged and asked," So, do I have to walk back across the line and pledge or do I just stay over here and pledge?" He asked, completely confused by the whole idea before he placed a finger on his lips, his forehead, and then his lips again as his lips mouthed the pledge he was taking without making a single sound," I pledge to look deep into myself and try to eradicate all negativity. I pledge also to try my absolute hardest to stop myself from thinking,feeling, or saying negative things"

Oliver nodded to himself and lowered his hand to his chest and repeated the pledge. He looked up and brushed his hair out of his face," Okay... so... what's next?" He asked.

Oliver's brows furrowed in thought before he shrugged and asked," So, do I have to walk back across the line and pledge or do I just stay over here and pledge?" He asked, completely confused by the whole idea before he placed a finger on his lips, his forehead, and then his lips again as his lips mouthed the pledge he was taking without making a single sound," I pledge to look deep into myself and try to eradicate all negativity. I pledge also to try my absolute hardest to stop myself from thinking,feeling, or saying negative things"

Oliver nodded to himself and lowered his hand to his chest and repeated the pledge. He looked up and brushed his hair out of his face," Okay... so... what's next?" He asked.

“Whatever you feel like doing, I suppose,” The Astraea exclaimed with more of a lift and drop of her shoulders than anything. She blankly watched as he raised his fingers to his mouth, forehead, and his mouth once more, baffled. Slowly, she unconsciously followed his movements, as if trying to figure out what they meant by doing it herself. But it didn’t solve itself, so she gave up and returned her hands to her side.

“So, this is going to sound.. a little unprofessional,” Jupiter admitted with a sheepish smile, her excitement seemingly coming to a slow stop for a moment. Instead, a new feeling seemed to begin to swell; embarrassment. “But I feel like calling you ‘Mister’ any longer would dig me into a deeper hole, and I’m not sure if I was given a name earlier. I mean, if I was, it wouldn’t be surprising if I already forgot it.” She chuckled at the thought, then she attempted to recall if she had been told a name.

Oliver looked up from his hand and watched her repeat his actions. He grinned tiredly before explaining," First we eat." Placing a finger to his lips," Then we consider," He moved his fingers up to his forehead," Then we talk." He dropped his hand back to his lips again." I came from a land of merchants and salesman. It was how they addressed eachother before buying something." He told her, purposely ignoring the fact that he didn't come from there, but was forced into that land.

Oliver shook his head and ran a hand through his hair," Oh, yeah, sorry 'bout 'at.Oliver. Oliver South." He answered rather baffled at his own forgetfulness. He squinted," And you're... Jupiter, correct? Or were you Pluto? Or Neptune?" He asked, completely seriously.