RP:A Man With An Edge and Another On It
Cliff Edge
The area opens wide here, with the side of the road running alongside sheer cliff, a straight drop which would surely kill anyone without the skill or wings to navigate it. Jagged rocks protrude from the cliff side, almost like daggers waiting to stab into a victim's soft flesh as they plunge to their death. As you look closer you can slightly make out old bones and bodies that have fallen in the past, due to slipping, or killed during duels, and just past that border of corpses is what appears to be a massive spire of ice, its point disappearing into the clouds. Strange as the structure seems, it becomes even more so the closer you look, for it appears to be systematically dotted with perfect half-circles, out of which frequently fly dragons, gryphons, and other winged beasts. Is there some sort of multi-species hive lurking within the icy confines? Brave the deadly cliffs if you wish to know more, or take the thin road here that leads east and west, towards the area of the tavern and the main area of town. Another path leads north to a steep hill, and a distant fort.
Ezekiel sat at the edge of the cliff with the world around tuned out- for the most part. He had to be minutely aware, lest someone or something happen along and 'accidentally' send him tumbling over the edge. You know, it was a good thing he wasn't thinking about it, otherwise he'd have to say that didn't sound like a bad idea. He was exhausted, he hadn't slept since his last night spent with the bard, and given the exhaustion and fatigue he'd endured back there in the cave, he was due for a good nights rest; too bad those weren't coming back, either. Ezekiel had a far off look in his eyes, fogged over with deep thought and speculation. He was still dirty and bloody, his coat torn more than usual. He just wasn't having a good day today.
Kovl fluttered along the pathway near the cliff's edge, and unlike Ezekiel, he was cleaned up and had a restful expression on his face. The infiltration has been a success, and it will certainly prove his worth to Frostmaw and to the Mage's Guild. He was sure of it. His wings were still hurting, but he can not stand that big form any longer. Kovl had enough of Kove, so while he was in pain, he was at least joyful to the fact he was in his true form. As he passed the cliff, a familiar one-armed form was sitting on the ledge, and rather than frighten the mage, the pixie elected to float to him in full-view and rest his wings beside him after finding a nice spot absent of snow. "You look like crap," Kovl stated matter-of-factly.
Ezekiel was losing himself in a rabbit hole of dark thoughts, all of which left him with one thing in mind. He'd thank Kovl from the depths of his mind for providing the distraction he needed. A little on edge- pun -the man's heart froze a beat and hastily sunk as he turned to address the voice. "Kovl.." Ezekiel let his shoulders sink right along side his heart as he turned to face the deathly drop below. "Di-Did they make it out safely?" There was stress in the question, the fact he'd answered so immediately after having been startled said a lot about just what had been on his mind. "You look fine, is sh- are they fine?" He'd avoid any and all eye contact; hell he'd avoid full frontal I'm-talking-to-you-this-is-what-polite-normal-people-do, contact.
Kovl answered, "Oh, the others? Hildegarde took quite a hard blow on her own halbard. She will probably be okay, but yikes. Josleen and Eliason got out unscathed. Well, you know, except if Eliason got hurt before we got to him." The pixie studied Ezekiel's expressions, a stark contrast to the mage's eye aversion. "What had you hurrying off so fast?" Kovl's eyes stayed trained on Ezekiel's body language.
Ezekiel sank a little more, selfish guilt was getting the better of him. Hildegarde had taken a savage blow, and would 'probably' be ok. Eliason, he knew why Eliason was injured before the two had gotten to him, it only served as a reminder as to why that all had to happen. His mind slipped into darkness for a brief moment, if only to remind him (and in picture perfect quality) of just what exactly had him running off so quickly. "I.. I'm sorry, I, I was just afraid. That's all." His tome was resting in his lap at first, but his one arm was hugging it tightly against his chest like an item of comfort. His body language spoke for that of a nervous, pitiful man afraid of his own shadow, built with insecurity and fear. His answer to Kovl was the obvious truth, but vague in a way.
Kovl kept his eyes on the mage. "What were you running from?" The pixie prodded a little more. "I did not see any immediate threat minus that ex-prisoner who had a mark out for Hildegarde." Kovl only needed a little bit from Ezekiel before he would realize what he would think was a big portion of what was missing. The pixie elected to sit beside Ezekiel while still facing him. He held his cloak tight as a harsh breeze swept over the two. Kovl kept a warming crystal in his clothing to sustain in this awful cold.
Ezekiel wore the coat on his back, and nothing more in terms of sustaining heat. He was cold, he was frozen, he was numb; his version of numb was different from what Kovl was avoiding. "N-Nothing. It's nothing. It was stupid, I'm sorry." That was about as close to a clue as Kovl would get, if that was even considered helpful. When the pixie took a seat beside him, he'd nervously inch away, and before long stand back up. He wasn't trying to be rude, it just wasn't all that comfortable with people being that close. He had been, at some point, but that was long over with. "Hey, Kovl.. I- I need a favor?" He glanced down at the man, eyes looking everywhere but Kovl's own. "I promise it'll be the last.. I mean- er, I'm sorry. I just won't ask for anything." He cringed and reached for the back of his neck, nervously scratching at the back of his neck while his tome swung to his side, hanging by the leather purse-like straps he'd crafted.
You watched as the nervous mage began to inch away from him. "What is the favor?" The illusionist was highly curious at the mage's stifled thoughts. "I don't mind you asking." Kovl stood, following suit with the mage and flexing his wings to ease the pain. "Go on. You can ask."
Ezekiel felt his stomach drop with every second as he moved. He used his one arm to reach for the strap of the tome and lifted it up and over his shoulder. Soon, he was extending the balled up strap- book held by the spine -out for Kovl to accept. His eyes were on fire, could it be from the winter's bite, or at just how difficult this was. "T-Take this." No, he wouldn't do it here, either. He'd not break down in front of the former guild mate. "Take this and give it to Satoshi." His words fumbled, his tone cracked, it was hard enough to talk to someone- anyone, then to do it with the weight of this conversation? "If you could, give this book to Satoshi, and with it my words." He turned to faced the edge of the cliff but kept the tome swinging idly in his grasp, right hand extended. "I- I don't want to be apart of the guild, anymore. I, " He coughed, good cover up, "I'm sorry." He didn't say anything else after that. All he could do was hope Kovl would accept.
Kovl narrowed his eyes again and suddenly his flexing wings took flight. The pixie bypassed the tome in the one-armed mage's hand and was now in Ezekiel's face. The pixie sounded almost angered. "Why are you quitting? Because you and that bard had a falling out?" The pixie, though he snapped at the mage, wasn't as angry as he sounded. For someone who scared so easily, Kovl tried a new tactic: frightening the truth out of Ezekiel. And his question was mostly a guess based on an observance of the mage's and the bard's interaction while Satoshi and Kovl weaved Josleen's illusion. The bard's tears as Ezekiel ran suddenly wasn't too difficult to distinguish either. Sure, maybe Ezekiel had a mental breakdown apart from Josleen's emotions. Maybe the stress of the cave-in broke the mage's spirit. However, Kovl has dabbled in the world of gossip most of his life, and intuition coincidentally guessed the situation at hand. How Ezekiel will react will tell the pixie how wrong or right he was. Unless the mage was a great liar.
Ezekiel was a horrible liar. He stumbled away from the pixie that was suddenly in his face, the end result was him landing flat on his ass. The tome left his grip and landed a foot away in the snow. The mage scrambled backwards from the tiny pixie, actually afraid of his dominate tone, rather the chance of any physical touch happening with him that close. "N-No, it's not.." he wasn't a liar, but he could vaguely stretch the truth, "It's more than that. Please, take it.. Just, I- I need you to do this." He slowly climbed back to his feet and bent over to scoop up the tome before handing it back. "Please, Kovl? Tell her?" He held his hand flat under the book, wishing- hoping he'd take it. "I just can't.. Please." He was practically begging now.
Kovl hid a smile at Ezekiel's admission. So it -did- have to do with Josleen. "Ezekiel, I will do it for you if you tell me why you are leaving. And if you decide to still leave after talking with me. This is a big decision, and it shouldn't be made so rashly. You haven't even bathed since the tunnels. There's no way this decision is made rationally." The pixie's tone took a turn from dominate to concern. "We can talk this over where it is warm. There's no need to rush this. If you leave, you might be told not to return." The pixie did not know if this was true, but he presented it as a possibility.
Ezekiel let his arm drop to his side while wrapping the leather straps of his tome around his hand. Kovl wasn't showing any signs of taking it, so he had no choice; his arm was tired. "I can't. I'm sorry." He'd mentioned her name, and like a dagger it tore through his chest. His body language showed just how much it had hurt, too. His shoulders sank, more than they already had. His words went silent, and he looked like he were ready to just tip over the cliff, anyways. "I.. I need to go." No goodbye, no farewell, no glance up to meet the pixies gaze, nothing. Ezekiel let the straps slip from his grasp so that he could lower it gently. He'd let it drop the last few inches off the ground, it laid there in the snow. With that, he'd turn away and start off down the hill. If he was told not to return, that would be fine, too. He didn't want to be here, anyways. There were too many memories; many good, several bad.
Kovl's emerald gaze fell to the grounded tome, and the quick pixie gave chase to Ezekiel, darting after him with as much speed as his pained wings could muster. He sent a pulse of magic to the handful of pixie dust that was already in his hand. A quick toss spread the dust toward the mage, and if it connected, it would send the mage presumably helplessly floating above the snow-laden path. "Oh no you don't. You're taking the tome until you actually think about what you're doing. Ezekiel."
Ezekiel hadn't expected the pixie to be so bold as to give chase, let alone hit him with that much dust. He'd float helplessly indeed, his one arm flailing and grasping at the air, kicking for control. "Leave me alone!" He sounded a little testy, which was rare; there was only one person in the world that drove him to such a tone. "You, Satoshi, Svilfon, all of you.. Just leave me alone." His high strung voice gradually morphed into a sorrowful cry for help, "Leave me alone." He hung there in the air, defeated and helpless as he'd always been. He was not leaving the mountain with the book, that much was final in his mind. Kovl was turning more into an enemy, instead of the former ally he'd been hours ago. The mage didn't care for social interactions, or the direct confrontation the pixie deemed fit. He didn't know what else to do from here; he'd not use a single once of magic, no matter how dire the threat. "Please."
Kovl's tone softened again as he hovered above Ezekiel. "Look, Ezekiel, this is a major life choice that you should not make now. Did you even eat since we left the tunnels? Slept? I -know- you haven't bathed." The pixie jokingly held his nose, trying to inject humor in this confrontation. "I'm trying to help you, and I hope you can see that. This is all I ask: two days. For two days, I ask you to eat, sleep, bathe, and be restful. Meditate on what you are choosing to do. If after those two days you still want to leave, I will personally deliver your book to Satoshi, and I will never force you to face her. Please. I ask you as a guildsmate." Kovl kept Ezekiel hanging in the air until his reply.
Ezekiel hadn't done anything since he left, other than stew in self pity and heartbreak. He'd found a cliff, much like this one and sat for hours, afraid to visit her apartment. He'd overcame that odd fear, the tome as proof, but here he sat- no, floated helplessly against his own will. He hadn't ate, slept, or done anything remotely helpful to his situation, and he didn't care to. He was falling into old habits at an alarming pace, everything Josleen had worked on, this break up would undo. "I'm not your guildmate. You're not my friend. Leave me alone." This was as bold as anyone (besides that pesky pirate down in Rynvale) had seen him. He was alone and afraid, insecure and nervous about every little move made. He was Ezekiel. "...please." His decision was made, he didn't need food and rest to help him figure that out. He'd break even more, later when reminded of this moment.. how rude and disrespectful he'd been to the man, but right now, his mind was set elsewhere.
Kovl flew to Ezekiel's side and after touching him on the shoulder, dispelled his magic. The mage was no longer floating, but he fell to the ground if nothing was done by the mage to catch himself. The pixie would feel a pang of satisfaction if the mage did hit the ground a little harder than gravity would pull him. "Go then. I'm not giving your book to Satoshi or telling her you are leaving until the two days are up. I hope you change your mind." Kovl flew to the tome and stuffed it into his bag after his satchel shrank it to an appropriate size. The pixie's eyes landed on Ezekiel once again.
Ezekiel :: Was there anyone in Hollow that wasn't going to make the mage feel like complete s*** today? It was bad enough he'd had his heart destroyed, now the few he'd came to trust were going to taunt and torment him? What was there to actually stop him from throwing himself over the cliff right now? Ezekiel hit the ground to Kovl's satisfaction and slowly picked himself up. His one arm wrapped around his stomach and gripped at his hip while he started off once more down the hill. He had no plans on ever coming back, now. Satoshi would scorn him for this, like Kovl said, she'd probably ban his name throughout the land, too. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if his name ended up on posters just as they had in Cenril. Cenril.. a lightbulb went off in his head, now there was an idea. Cenril. Ezekiel never looked back to the illusionist, never cared to take heed of his threat, or even what he did with the book. Whether it was on paper, official or not, Ezekiel Malovich was no longer a member of the mages guild, that's the story he'd stick to.