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Post by Argoth/Maximus on Sept 27, 2013 23:52:59 GMT -6
Argoth watched as Rii held his arm just before he smashed it into Striska's face. When she explained the magic usage it made more sense to him. He sighed and lowered his arm when Striska passed out. It was over. He could finally rest. And then Max crossed his mind. Argoth went into the room little Max was in and saw him passed out on the bed. The assassin smiled and murmured, "You did good, kid."
Argoth made his way to the wall where Rii had healed Max and slid down it himself. He was tired, beaten, and bloody. After a few minutes he saw Rii coming in to patch him up. "Couldn't be happier to see you right now," Argoth said, laughing slightly. Of course he was referring to her healing abilities but something else inside him placed a different meaning to those words as well. He just hadn't recognized them yet. The laughing brought about a sharp pain in his chest and he immediately stopped. Argoth leaned his head back against the wall and looked up at Rii, "Thanks for taking care of Max."
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Post by Rii/Thell on Sept 28, 2013 0:22:12 GMT -6
Rii entered the room and almost giggled at the idea of Argoth finding himself in Maximus' same spot. "People always thank me for things I like doing," she observed with a smile, settling in front of him with her bag. "And I hope there's never a moment we're anything but happy to see each other." Her smile widened as she glanced up at him, and then she exhaled, and the expression fell away as she began analyzing all his injuries. Happy to see him she was. Happy to see him torn up she was not. You've outdone yourself protecting me, she thought to herself with a sad sigh as she recognized the most major of injuries were on his chest. Her mental analysis wasn't needed to see the gouges in his upper right chest area and his lower left abdomen, plus the blood coming from around his sternum. You only needed eyes to see them, not the voices Rii was blessed to have. "Assassins must go through dozens of tunics," Rii observed as she referenced Maximus' own damaged shirt before ripping Argoth's away and off of his body. It was far too bloody to wash out, and too ripped up for any amount of her sewing to save. Lacking eyebrows, Rii still arched her brows. It seemed Striska had favored hitting a certain section of Argoth. Well, this was going to be more fun than she'd originally thought. And cleaning wounds was never fun. Not when it was so painful for her patients. Eyes still glued to his chest, she found a few leaves to offer him so he could numb the pain slightly by chewing. As bitter as they were, she could not deny they were effective.
Taking out a cloth and pulling out a cask of water that she dumped into a bowl, Rii set to work cleaning away the blood on his chest with slow and gentle strokes of the cloth. Eventually she was left with the deep gouges and the puncture wound from the small knife. The blood on his skin was one thing, but the red area around his wounds were a painful other. "Well, give or take a couple wounds... you have wonderful muscle structure," Rii commented honestly, hoping to distract him while she lightly trailed a cool hand up his defined abs. Upon reaching his sternum, she splayed her hand to hold him steady as she applied a salve to staunch the bleeding and then began to stitch the wounds just as she had Maximus'. A salve for infection followed quickly, thanks to her wound-stitching familiarity and her higher quality needles. She proceeded to the gauges, following the same steps after dancing her fingers across his otherwise healthy skin to a tune she didn't remember starting to hum, wondering for a split second if - on an occasion when he wasn't injured - Argoth was ticklish. Rii rarely had such opportunities to appreciate the way people could build their muscles as beautifully as Argoth had, and regretfully her brief touches before proceeding to the next thin yet deep cut were not enough to fully express her appreciation for his muscles. They spoke a story that she hoped to have an opportunity to interpret more thoroughly some other time. That and they were ever so different from zora male chests, and therefore far more interesting and, as a personal preference in Argoth's case, more attractive. "The shirt should stay off so I can change the bandages easily in the morning. And great abdominal muscles never hurt anybody," she remarked, silently noting it was a rather great combination with his unshaven face as she moved on to his legs and forearms, quickly covering the minor injuries with salves. They were too small and in too minor of areas to require too much wrapping on top.
Mission mostly complete, Rii relaxed and leaned back, offering Argoth yet another small, energetic smile."And your shirt is fairly destroyed anyway. I can probably come up with something for you with some spare cloth I have, but until then you'll have to settle for bandages." In that moment she fetched out a thicker roll of her more heavy-duty bandages from her bag to wrap his chest. He'd have to get away from his crutch of a wall for her to efficiently wrap up her work.
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Post by Argoth/Maximus on Sept 29, 2013 19:42:21 GMT -6
Argoth watched Rii work with great appreciation for her skill. He chewed the leaves while resting his head back against the wall. The numbing effects of the plant immediately started taking effect, relieving him of some of the pain in his chest and arm. Although slightly numb he was, Argoth could still feel Rii's hand trail up his abdomen. He let a small smile appear on his lips and he looked over at Rii, who was flashing a smile of her own while patching him up. Maybe she just really enjoyed her job? He thought. And then Rii commented on his muscle structure. Either she just really appreciated his toned body because she was a healer or she appreciated it because of a different reason. Argoth shrugged it off as just a compliment until she told him to keep his shirt off. At this he arched an eyebrow. He knew his shirt was ruined but why bring up keeping his shirt off? It wasn't like she needed him to keep it off. Even if he had another shirt (which he didn't) he could just take it off when she needed to change the bandages. Specifically telling him to keep his shirt off made him think that perhaps there was more to this healer than he originally thought.
Maybe she likes you. He thought.
For some reason he really enjoyed that thought. And for a brief moment he knew why. All the years that he had grown up in the Assassins of Hyrule, well, all that he could remember anyway, he has always been alone. Not once had he really taken the time to even think about finding someone. He has always been so busy with doing his job and (just recently) taking care of Max that it never really crossed his mind. And now that there was a possibility that perhaps someone sees him as something more than a friend...made him happy. Maybe it was time start looking. And maybe what he was looking for was sitting right in front of him
Argoth scooted toward Rii and leaned forward when she went to wrap his chest.
Yes. Right in front of him. Argoth thought about that for a moment. Did he like Rii?
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Post by Rii/Thell on Sept 29, 2013 20:18:51 GMT -6
"Thank you," she said brightly as she went to work wrapping, rocking up to her knees so she could get her arms around his body. As she worked her green eyes watched the reddened marks vanish beneath the white of his new bindings. "I should have recognized Kalastriska was going by her nickname. That if she was here there would be more. I should have realized how big this could be... but I hid behind you two. I didn't know until tonight that this... this was how the whole kingdom saw me. I had thought the guards had wanted me to runaway because I was finally free from their lord but... it turns out it was very different and I finally see just what that means for me," Rii began, coming to the end of her bandage after wrapping it over his upper torso one last time and bringing it around to the front to pin. "I'm sorry it meant this for you. Thank you for that, too." The pin was in, his chest was mostly covered in wraps, much to her dismay, and she'd said her piece.
And then it occurred to her how she'd greeted him when they first met, and gently she leaned forward to wrap her arms around his neck. It reminded her of how warm he had been the first time. She'd thought maybe it was because he was a human and she was fish-like as far as temperature went.
But maybe not.
Somewhere in the distance Ozzy had finished her show at long last. Her street of the festival was emptying out, lamps were being extinguished, and soon she and her uncle were the last ones there.
"I still am unsure about that zora girl from before. Was she really acting?"
Ozzy's shoulders slumped. "I don't know uncle. I didn't think it would offend her. We sing songs about damned Hylians all the time and don't falter... I knew I should have stuck to my plants."
The goron shook his head at that. "I haven't quite liked them since we started traveling with them a few months back. They were the ones that wanted to come here. I know you say it was so I could see my home again, but Ozzy-"
"I know, uncle." She was brisk with her retort, obviously frustrated as she packed her violin.
"There's no shame in that. You didn't know. And we could be wrong."
"Really? You've never admitted your 'goron senses' to be wrong."
"How else to convince my stubborn niece to listen to what I'm saying? Look, Ozzy, if she was really shaken up about it, she likely went to an inn. We can check the closest one and then head over to meet Striska and Niall to pay them for their acting. They can't have been after the girl if they're there, right? With us?"
Ozzy nodded slowly as she finished packing her violin. "Alright. I just can't believe you didn't tell me you thought they were suspicious before I hired them."
"Fine. Next time I see people I find strange, I'll tell you."
Suddenly, despite their lanterns, a shadow fell over them, and they both turned to face a giant metal figure and a shorter - yet still very tall - female figure with pale skin. "You haven't seen a zora woman around here, have you? With emerald eyes?"
Ozzy's own eyes widened as she craned her neck to look up at the orange-haired woman and the metal... whatever it was. "Uncle..."
"Yes, Ozzy, I find these people very strange."
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Post by Argoth/Maximus on Sept 29, 2013 20:39:11 GMT -6
"I made a promise didn't I?," Argoth replied, smiling and hugging her back. Still wrapped in their hug Argoth kept speaking. "Besides, I've had worse." He laughed slightly and withdrew from their embrace. It didn't matter to him if she was a cold blooded zora, their hug was just as warm as the first one. As he withdrew he looked her in the eyes and smiled, noticing just how pretty their color was.
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Post by Rii/Thell on Sept 29, 2013 20:56:04 GMT -6
"Well I'm glad someone was there to make the worse better when I wasn't," Rii replied. "But since I'm here now, I'll make you a promise like you did me. To make your worse better." She didn't want to look away from his face, as warm and sincere as it was, just as she didn't want him to pull away when he did, though it seemed he was very intent on looking at her eyes. "Speaking of which, I may have given you the worst kiss I've ever bestowed on anyone. I'm sure you're wonderful at such things and were not planning on doing that on stage. I regret it being so awful, from what little I remember of it. My apologies. Next time we're called on stage I'll remember my promise and ensure it's done better." As she spoke with a smile slowly creeping onto her face again, she reluctantly turned away to begin putting her supplies back in her pack. She needed to find some spare cloth to start crafting a tunic for Argoth. She had a spare tunic of her own, along with more bandages and a roll of purple fabric bestowed upon her for a commission.
Down the street, guards were just about to arrive. But so was something large and metallic, accompanied by three humanoids.
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Post by Argoth/Maximus on Sept 29, 2013 21:24:45 GMT -6
"I'll let you be the judge of that," Argoth said as he leaned in, placed hand on the side of Rii's face, and directed it back in front of his. Without much thinking Argoth placed his lips directly onto hers. He kissed her just as he would have if they had gotten the proper time on stage. Out of all the kisses he had given or received in his lifetime this was by far the best. Her lips were incredibly soft and Argoth couldn't help wanting to stay just like that for several more seconds. The kiss was cold but that didn't bother him, something warm was beginning inside his stomach anyway. And at that moment he knew exactly why it was his most favored kiss of all. Argoth, an assassin with no memory of being anything else, had indeed had feelings for Rii.
Argoth pulled away a little later than he should have and apologized. "You probably weren't expecting that either," he laughed nervously and continued, "I just thought that perhaps now was just as good of a time as any for a do over. Now that everything has settled down." He flashed her a half genuine half awkward smile and awaited her response.
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Post by Rii/Thell on Sept 29, 2013 21:51:05 GMT -6
To say Rii was surprised to be whirled around and kissed on the mouth would be a lie. Pleasantly proved wrong about Argoth not wanting to kiss her, yes. But she was more disappointed if only for a second, and only because she'd been about to turn around and kiss him without his permission.
Any other time she would have thought it was a plan happily foiled, but she was busy, busy kissing him back and lightly running her hands down his sides, frustrated that she couldn't do what she might have if he hadn't been bandaged. Bring him closer, push him against the wall. She wasn't quite sure which way she wanted him. But that was fine for now. His lips were soft and he was warm, comfortably warm, not cold in the familiar zora way or burning in that scary trapped way. Actually, at the moment she couldn't recall the lord and the kingdom because, despite the fact this was replacing the kiss all for the damned performance of that horrifying story, she was too consumed by how great the kiss was and how excited she was to do it again. Because she would be kissing him again. Rii had already decided, had already known the moment she'd hugged him the first time and it had been warm in that wonderfully unfamiliar way, that kissing him once for whatever reason would be a fun thing to try.
All the others after that, she knew now, were simply unavoidable.
The awkward yet sincere smile he gave her afterwards was confirmation. He had feelings for her, and for the first time in years she could return them.
"You're right, I wasn't expecting you being shirtless to be such a problem," she confessed, laughing. "The true do-over comes when you have no bandages." And, just because she'd already decided it was unavoidable, she kissed him for herself this time, settling for threading her webbed fingers through his short hair since his chest was off limits. She pulled back first this time, laughing again as something fluttered inside of her. She loved all of it, this whole unfamiliar, warm, buzzing feeling she was getting, and the unfamiliar feeling of wanting to finally find something as familiar as she did healing.
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Post by Argoth/Maximus on Sept 29, 2013 22:11:10 GMT -6
Argoth was about to respond when Rii kissed him again, this time putting a hand through his hair. He would have responded accordingly had he been prepared, but instead he just focused on kissing her. It felt incredible knowing that Rii had felt the same way about him as he did her. Otherwise she would not have returned his kiss with another. Argoth knew that at that moment something was beginning that would change his life for the better, and he wouldn't have it any other way. When Rii pulled away he flashed her a smile that told the story of exactly how he was feeling.
"Looking forward to it," He replied.
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Post by Rii/Thell on Sept 29, 2013 22:25:19 GMT -6
She laughed again, much softer this time when it occurred to her that Maximus was sleeping, before grabbing her pack and standing reaching out to offer to help him stand up. "I was hoping I wasn't the only one," she agreed. "Now come on. We attracted our fair share of attention downstairs, I don't doubt. We need to tell them all the misguided people have been redirected. And you have a room you should be using. No patient of mine is staying up all night."
"Well that would make this much better for me. Talking to one stranger who somewhat knows what's going on, I'm told, is better than talking to two where one has no idea what's happening." A shadow had appeared in the door, one nearly six feet, muscular, and yet definitely female. One arm was wrapped around something helmet-shaped, and said object was resting against her hip.
Lahnea had arrived, and Rii stiffened as she stared at the Twili in confusion.
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Post by Argoth/Maximus on Sept 29, 2013 22:36:01 GMT -6
Argoth followed Rii downstairs, leaving little Max to sleep in his room. Upon reaching the end of the stairs Argoth witnessed something he hadn't seen since the days of Kalathor and Morizon. A twili was standing in the doorway of the inn. It was a girl and she was no stranger to battle it seemed. Argoth saw Rii stiffen and took a step forward. He really hoped it wasn't another person after her and by her reaction he had every reason to assume so. Even though he was in bad shape to begin another fight he would regardless of the consequences. He promised Rii he would protect her from these people. His life was no exception.
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Post by Rii/Thell on Sept 29, 2013 23:28:21 GMT -6
Upon seeing the man move in front of the zora, Lahnea held up her free hand. "Whoa there, Mr. Wounded Man. From what I've gathered I missed the ambush, but I was told that this would prove I'm on your side," she said, grabbing the helmet object and holding it out to Rii. It was rather large, far too big for any normal humanoid head, and it was pitch black. At least until she grasped it with both hands. Then partial circle shapes and lines and other patterns began to glow teal all over its helmet.
"My lady, Rii. You're safe," came a scratchy voice from within.
At the sound of that voice Rii relaxed and, grabbing Argoth's arm, came to stand slightly in front of him. "Butterfly?" she greeted, surprise evident in her voice as she took another step forward, eying the helmet with a smile.
"Oh good. So I wasn't walking around with a talking metal tower for nothing," Lahnea remarked.
"I'm so glad to see you, Miss Rii. When my master's barrier fell six months ago I was worried someone would come after you and they did, but I didn't know where to find you until master look-alike came along."
The Twili rolled her eyes. "Sorry, I know your master, remember? My master, too, yeah Thick Skull? Only reason I'm here? And I'm going to have to tell you that is a lie. Same race, we are, same occupation, sure, but that's about it, No-brain."
Rii's cocked her head to one side. "You... know him?" she whispered.
"Oh yeah. I'm the royal engineering pain's apprentice. Hi there. The lovely Lahnea at your service, free to create big and small machines of awesome power alike. Of course, the communication between the Twilight Realm and here wasn't so awesome. That was actually pretty awful. But anyway, now that I've found you I'm supposed to tell Master and get him down here because I'm not a messenger and apparently I'm not worthy of his message anyway, whatever in Midna's name it is, the stiff."
Rii watched as Lahnea talked rather fast and animatedly and Butterfly began to glow brightly in her hands. "Master should not return. That would make things worse for Lady Rii. I told you that," the helmet insisted in it's low, scratchy voice.
Lahnea sighed. "I know, Rust Bucket," she began, voice slower. "He thinks otherwise, but you and I will have to be the judge of that."
Rii shook her head in confusion as she took another step forward to earn their attention. "What... why did you master send you here."
"Because he has something he wishes to talk to you about. Six months ago the barrier he put up to help you runaway fell down and he doesn't know how. He says he knows why they're after you, however, and so since he hasn't figured out how to get himself here he sent me to reactivate his metal men while he works it all out. Unfortunately I'm not as good at the automatons as he is and I've only got a little more than the natural Twili energy in me so... I only got this one working."
"How much did your... master, tell you?" Rii asked softly, eying the teenage girl with unsureness.
"Everything, I think, though he refused to tell me any of it until I was here so I might have missed some things since communication between realms is dodgy. Still, I'm sure I know more than your personal guard does," Lahnea challenged.
Before anything Rii had to set one thing straight. "Argoth. Not a personal guard."
Rii then looked around the room at the innkeeper who was eying her and Argoth with worry. Everyone else was either gone or was a recent newcomer, unaware of what had transpired as the table Striska had broken was gone. She wondered if that was Lahnea's doing, as guards had never arrived to investigate the attack. Another thing she'd also probably done. "Well, the innkeeper knows we're fine. Your room, Argoth? Just in case Maximus wakes up?" Rii asked, lightly squeezing his arm as Lahnea got the message she was sending with her eyes. This conversation wouldn't continue there.
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Post by Argoth/Maximus on Sept 30, 2013 21:33:15 GMT -6
Argoth was all very confused at what Lahnea, Rii, and a talking metal suit were all talking about. He understood the basics from what Rii had originally told him back in the alley. But once the two of them started talking about a master he was completely lost. For a while he pretended to be following the conversation, but after a few minutes he dropped the facade. When Lahnea challenged him by calling him Rii's personal guard he almost retorted but held his urge in check. He didn't even need to because right after Lahnea had said it Rii took to straightening it out. Argoth had been trying to follow the story so much that he didn't even realize that Rii had grabbed onto his arm. He couldn't help but smile when he looked over at her with her arm wrapped around his. It was going to take some getting used to--all these feelings he was having and all of the affection. But he decided that getting used to it was something he was going to like anyway.
When Rii had asked him about his room he was completely zoned out. After a few seconds he shook his head and turned to face her. "Of course," he said with a smile. "Follow me." He led the group up the stairs and into the room next to where Max was sleeping. He waited for everyone to come inside before he shut the door.
"So," he began, "I'm a bit lost..what exactly is going on?"
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Post by Rii/Thell on Sept 30, 2013 22:39:42 GMT -6
"Here, sit with me. If you're not getting sleep, dear patient, you're at least resting," Rii suggested as lightly as she could considering what she was about to have to explain, sitting at the end of the bed in the room.
"You are always willing to heal anybody who needs it, Rii. That's why Master Karis chose you."
"Right. Argoth, Butterfly's master... and Lahnea's, is the lord from before," Rii explained. "Karis is a Twili. Karis' body was failing because he was in this realm, and he sent for a healer. That's why I was captured. Karis resorted to his Twili magic to ensure his own safety and a castle along with it."
"He had a lot of magic already, but before he came here he was the royal engineer of the Twilight Realm. It wasn't hard for him to make numerous automatons. That's how he dominated that small kingdom," Lahnea interjected.
Rii nodded slowly, unsure how exactly to continue but knowing she couldn't stop now. "And since only I knew how to keep his body alive, he refused to let me go... He raped me saying it was love, and I somehow became pregnant with a Twili child and now..." Rii didn't know what to do with herself as she talked, so she rested against Argoth, even though it might have made him uncomfortable considering she was spilling something she'd kept in her for nearly three years. Her body had already connected him with sanctuary, though, and the contact put her at ease. "Since he found out I was pregnant he changed. By the time I had the baby the people were beginning to trust him. But when they asked about the baby he refused to say anything. They all knew I was the castle's healer, probably the midwife as well. That would make me the baby killer. Karis vanished a few weeks later, all his Twili magic gone. I ran away and a red wall rose up behind me. For whatever reason, though, the wall is gone and sorcerers are claiming I have a piece of Karis' magic in me, and they want it."
"One of the sorcerer's must have broken the wall, because now they are here, and word of Twili magic being in Hyrule could soon bring other hunters. I've already been hunted in my short time here and I don't really have any magic, but Butterfly tells me you have loads in there. Not sure why, but hopefully Master can answer when he arrives." Rii said nothing, so instead Lahnea turned to Argoth. "Now is Argoth caught up?" she asked, being sure to use his name this time.
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Post by Argoth/Maximus on Oct 3, 2013 15:00:14 GMT -6
Argoth listened carefully, trying to take in the whole story this time. He could feel a rage begin to boil back inside him but he stifled it. Rii had leaned on him while telling the story and he wrapped an arm around her. Argoth didn't like this Karis. Not only had he done the unspeakable to Rii, but he acted like a coward afterward. He better have a damn good explanation for everything. Karis did apparently protect Rii after she had left, but why disappear? Why leave Rii to the mercy of the kingdom, whom all had twisted ideas of what actually happened. Why not stay and put things right like an honorable man?
"Does Karis still have magic abilities? Why did the wall go down?" Argoth heard himself say without realizing he had spoken at all.
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