RP:S1, E7 Dark Spots
Summary: Taly becomes a friend to Larz
New Forest
This area has been totally renovated in the recent weeks. Where once lay desolation and corrupted earth, now lies the lush greenery that belongs in such an enchanted place. The recent revival of the Pixie kingdom heralds this sudden change, the Master Druids? powerful magics spreading like roots of magic throughout the surrounding lands. The dark scars of the terrible fire that ravaged this area remain, deep scorches along the earth, a horrible reminder of the malicious destruction unleashed here. Of the vegetation itself, all is once again lush and fertile, some of the ash from the fires serving as fertiliser to feed the new trees as such is life's way. The new boughs seem to glisten and shimmer slightly in the warm sunlight, retaining a new aura of majesty, a symbol of natures power. From the corner of your eyes, you catch a faint glimmer and upon turning you are confronted with a sight of true wonder. Nymphs, Fairies and Pixies wok together in unison to repair the lands they call their home, weaving powerful magics to help heal the remainder of damage. To your west is the path that leads back to the tree town of Kelay, the Pixie kingdom lies in a southerly direction and east takes you further into the new forest.
True to her promise, Talyara had returned to the same location the following week to resume her bow hunting lessons. Taly also came bearing a picnic basket full of a variety of items, mostly fruits and vegetable and a ground up bean spread spiced with garlic. She wasn't sure how else to repay the orc, so she does the same this week. Only this time, her lunch includes a variety of meats and cheese complete with some crispy breads an a vinegar to dip in. She is dressed rather similarly to how Larz always seems to find her--leggings and worn leather ankle boots. The air was a bit crispy today so the little witch had pulled on an oversized, purple sweater which hung low over one shoulder. While she waited for Larz to arrive she pulled out her throwing knives and worked on aiming them towards the target.
Larz trotted into view shortly after she did, he was running late a little. “Sorry,” a deep breath, “the archery shop held me up.” Speaking of which he was holding a long rectangular box, it wasn't wrapped fancy or anything but had a dull purple bow on it. “This should suit you better than my old bow,” if she accepts the box he's holding out to her and open it up she would find a bow fit to her specifications, fashioned out of a beautiful cherry wood bow. With a liquid crystal boasting (like fine kevlar). This was definitely something thought out and he explains, “once I got myself a custom bow I got ten times better. With this, you'll be a force to be reckoned with,” a clap of his hands before he set down a quiver full of arrows. “Let’s try it out.” You can tell he was excited for her and of course this came with no expectations or anything in return.
Larz trotted into view shortly after she did, he was running late a little. “Sorry,” a deep breath, “the archery shop held me up.” Speaking of which he was holding a long rectangular box, it wasn't wrapped fancy or anything but had a dull purple bow on it. “This should suit you better than my old bow,” if she accepts the box he's holding out to her and open it up she would find a bow fit to her specifications, fashioned out of a beautiful cherry wood. With a liquid crystal bowstring (like fine kevlar). This was definitely something thought out and he explains, “once I got myself a custom bow I got ten times better. With this, you'll be a force to be reckoned with,” a clap of his hands before he set down a quiver full of arrows. “Let’s try it out.” You can tell he was excited for her and of course this came with no expectations or anything in return.
Talyara had just thrown a knife particularly badly and let out an elven curse before turning to face Largakh. She treats him to her customary friendly smile before moving to pull her knife free from the target, having to press her booted foot against it and give a grunt of effort to pull it free. The blades are sheathed before she approaches Larz, curiosity teeming in her doe-like green eyes. She takes the box and her lips part in a gasp when she opens it, her fingers gliding along the beautiful cherry wood and the shimmering bowstring. Carefully, as if it could easily break at her touch, she takes it out and examines it. After a few silent moments of admiration her eyes flick up towards the half-orc. "This is...it's just...beautiful. I...thank you!"
Largakh didn't think anything if it. His grandparents were giving people to a fault and he learned everything from them. When she was distracted his attention was drawn elsewhere, someone was coming and he had a feeling this wasn't going to go well so he steps around her so she was behind him. His expression dimmed when a few elven men come into view with their faces twisted up in disgust, “so, tell us where your hiding and torturing her loved ones so she doesn't have to pretend to like you anymore, *Larg*.” They chuckle at his ugly name, “come on woman, we will save you from this evil, ugly creature.” Then one of then said to the other, “I just know she's not out here because she wants to be.” Largakh is calm and not easily riled by them, but his fake dumb act comes back, “ask lady.” With a shrug he steps aside so Taly can speak for herself.
Talyara is pulled out of her surprised stupor by the sound of rustling leaves only to Largakh stand in front of her, acting as a barrier between her and the elven men. A scowl immediately tugs on the corners of her lips and she feels her grip tighten on her bow as she storms past the half-orc just as he is moving the the side. She is small but she is mighty and the little witch marches right up the main instigator and spits right in his face. "You racist, horrible man! You! You all the the evil, ugly creatures. Largakh," she says in a long drawn out voice to correctly enunciate his name. "Is a good friend. Caring and ki--" WHACK. Whatever else Taly was going to say is lost as the man cracks his hand across Taly's face, causing her to stumble backwards, her cheek already reddening with the impact.
Largakh let his head drop just a second. Wow, he thought he had a short temper. When he looked back up, it was all second nature to him as he read the body language of the elven man. Silent steps of an elf and the strength of an orc adding speed to it when he propelled himself toward them. Not laying a finger on the jerks, but lifting Taly easily (surely her side was healed after three two weeks now) and out of the way. The hit lands on him instead and unceremoniously he placed Taly over his shoulder and his arm wraps about her hips to keep her secure when he dashes back over to her gifted bow. All the while they band throws insults at the orc, “yeah! That’s right, the only way you’d get a pretty one like that is to kidnap her!” Jeering and laughing at the pair as they are retreating. Larz starts running as fast as he can in any direction until they are no longer followed and alone. He slowed and stopped before gently setting Taly back on her feet, “I'm sorry for just carrying you off like that.” He felt hot having run around for so long and slipped off his soft leather jacket revealing a dark grey cotton shirt which was a bit damp in some parts from sweat. He didn't realize how far he traveled until a fellow city guard of Gualon said, “all good, Larz?” He shortly grins a bit breathless, “yeah. Thanks,” the guard moves on and leaves them alone in front of a rather run down apartment complex.
Foundling Street
A small well, situated in alcove of this section of Foundling Street, provides clean, fresh water for the residential districts of eastern Gualon, the source a bed of water far below that babbles up through thin seams of porous rock to spill in font at various points within the city. As the main source of the vital liquid, used in so numerous an activity or procedure complimentary to city life, this spot is often filled with life by the locals, men, women and children of all the various races residing in Gualon making the walk here to fill their daily bucket or pail. At certain periods of day, and on occasion by night, the peoples flock in their masses, apparently attuned to the ritual and routine of gathering within this little cloister for gossip and rumour, departing in much the same fashion, a quaint tradition likely unnoticeable by their own. The competitive flair for design and decoration that seems apparent all along this street has its own little take on rivalry, as the same with the other sections. Where as north the contest is over flower and plant and south over paint and design of house, this stretch is that of ornament. A hotly contested subject with the inhabitants, the ornaments range from the unique, with miniature statuettes of great heroes, fearsome dragons and noble kings, to the ostentatious, with characterettes arranged in impossible poses, engaging in lewd encounter or making occasional obscene gesture, to the downright crass, garishly, and poorly, painted figurines in whimsical pose, making a poor attempt at appearing satirical. The bland pale into insignificance when compared to the stalwarts of these respective classifications, even the tasteless standing out due to their sheer arrogance. The road continues north, with door into small convenience store on western corner, and south, both further along Foundling Street.
Talyara had luckily not taken the brunt of the hit thanks to Largakh's interception, but the elven man's nails at still raked across her flesh. She doesn't have much time to ponder anything as her world is suddenly, and quite literally!, turned upside down when the half orc throws Taly over her shoulder, the little witch letting out a little squeal. She attempts to right herself but Larz is too quick, retreating to grab the new bow and Taly's disregarded bag, before running off. "You...can put...me down!" She calls to him but the orc seems to be in a zone, so intent on getting them safely away that he doesn't hear her. When he finally puts her down her face is flushed a bright crimson and she looks a bit cross. "You should have let me at those...those...scum!" She huffs, putting her hands on her hips.
Largakh didn’t mean to bring her near his home and luckily the streets this day were rather quiet. He grins down at her, finding her hard headed temper endearing, “I know, but in the off chance they got through your wrath and actually did some harm to you… I would have to harm them for harming my,” friend? Acquaintance? “Student.” A shrug, he was still calm and it seemed to resonate off him, “when it comes to those small minded people I have the patience to just ignore it and walk away. Their opinions do not matter to me,” he sees someone coming and in attempts to continue to hide his intelligence from everyone he guides her to the side of the building for some privacy, “and I cannot harm anyone, especially elves, from Sage for my grandparent’s sake. They’ve been through enough already.”
Talyara continues to scowl although, admittedly, she probably looks more adorable than menacing due to her short stature and lithe frame. "Student?" She repeats with a small frown but doesn't say anything further. She takes her bag and slings it over her body as Largakh leads her to the side of the building. "-You- weren't harming them," she reminds him, prodding him the chest with her pointer finger. "-I- was!" Taly crosses her arms over her chest. "It might not matter to you but how can you be happy? Pretending to be someone you're not to appease awful people like that!"
Largakh read her expression and hesitantly asks, “friend?” It’s not that he doesn’t want friends, but it’s more that he’s never really had an elf so openly wish to be his friend. “I know, I’m-” he’s being cut off and all he could imagine was that there was only so much she could do before she was going to get hurt over some useless arrogant elf. His own scowl spreads across his lips and shows how his tusks were shaved down, the fiery flicker in his yellow eyes, his face lowering close to her own and his hands gently fold around her slender biceps when his harsh voice darkened further in the elvish they speak, “you don’t want to know what I would have done, what I imagined doing if they hurt you, Taly.” His jaw tenses again, he takes his hands off her before backing away and rubs his forehead. “It’s simple… I feel like an elf even if I am not accepted as one. I’m okay with how freakish I am and the fact that I'm viewed as some monster, so I am not pretending.”
Talyara diverts her gaze, almost in an embarrassed manner. "I dunno. I mean, I consider you friend. I don't know how you see me." Taly stands still when her hands easily wrap around her arms and he brings his face close to hers. "I'm not completely useless you know," she counters with a frown of her own. "I can take care of myself," she adds with a huff, crossing her arms when he lets her go. "Then why do you pretend to be unintelligent, hm?" Comes her pointed question complete with an arch of her brow.
Largakh pinched his shirt and pulled it from sticking to his narrow build - something to do when he’s nervous or feeling awkward. Occupying his hands and his thoughts as he was almost afraid to say, “no, Taly… I do see you has a friend.” Fully expecting her to poke a finger in his face and say ‘gotchya!’ before running off. He takes a deep breath, “I know you can hold your own. As I said, your strength would have been wasted on those scrubs. I am not worthy of you doing that for me though when there is a lot of evil afoot these days,” his fear is actually becoming one of those evils one day, “I do that because it’s what people expect simply because of the hue of my skin. It’s a good defense mechanism because if their insults hold no meaning to an empty mind then they get bored from doing such a useless thing... It’s a way I weed out people who will only judge me on my appearance. After eighty years I’ve got a hold on how to read people to use that dumb act on.”
Talyara seems momentarily placated that at least Largakh can see her as a friend; they were on the same page at least. "I disagree. If you don't stand up to them they are never going to change their thought process. I'd rather stand up to them again and again and again even if it meant only one time one of them actually thought about their actions and words and changed." Taly seems to have an excess of energy and she begins to shake her limbs out and pace so as not to inadvertently cast magic. "You acted dumb when you first met me. And even still, after all these weeks, I get the sense that you don't trust my kindness towards you."
Largakh looks down at his feet, she’s got him there. His arms cross over his chest and he simply watched her a moment, “whenever someone digs deeper than the surface with me I do give them a chance…” In his quiet hesitation he heard someone going up the steps that are near them and they pull open the door to the apartments that seem to be what we would consider a ‘ghetto’. “Hey, Larz!” It was an orc, “go in?” He was really just being nosey, but this gives away that Larz lives in such a dumpy place. Even though he wasn’t embarrassed of it he wasn’t entirely ready to share that so he simply answers the orc, “soon.” He moves on and Larz answers Talyara, “I let a friend close once and she turned on me. Called me evil. Then she sent her brothers after me and that’s where I got this,” he points out the scar almost making an X on his brow/forehead area. “I don’t think you’d do that, but maybe one day you’ll see the evil in my blood.” She possibly already has.
Talyara blinks up as the orc calls out to Largakh to see if he wants to go up. Taly, of course, doesn't think anything of where he lives. Her current cottage was merely a temporary thing and her previous one had been blown up by her sister so she was hardly on to judge. "I don't have any brothers," she answers Larz quickly. "If I wanted to beat you up I'd do it myself," she says with a frown. Still, this thing about evil in his blood has Taly shaking her head. "My father, my -real- father, was the one who orchestrated the drow attacks that killed my mother, most of my cover, and kept me tortured. He did unimaginable things to my sister, tried to kill me. Blood means traako." With a sigh, she goes to move past Larz unless he stopped her.
Largakh boldly reaches out after she passed him, “Taly, wait…” grabbed her gently by the hand and pulled her further down the abandoned alley a little. The silence between them is ruined by the faint comotion many families living in the structure, “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone. Will you keep this secret?” His hand now slipped from her own and he put distance between them again, “I’ve seen some evil orcs here. Some of my blood is the same. I look at them behind bars and think… ‘this could be me’. I have this fear and recurring nightmare that one day I wake up and there is no good left in me,” he can’t look at her now. This was shameful to admit - being weak. “It’s a strong possibility that this may happen to me one day so I do all the good I can. I protect, teach and give. Majority of my pay goes to the orphanage here, I hunt and provide food for them. I take care of my grandparents and serve Gualon in case that happens one day. Maybe the good will outweigh the evil I'll do and that will be what people remember.” There is a charged almost silence between them.
Talyara doesn't pull away when Largakh grabs her hand or when he tugs her down the alley. When he asks if she will keep what he has to say a secret she just looks at him expectantly, her eyes wide and waiting. "Karma," comes her singular answer once he has confessed his greatest fear. "Karma is real and you are certainly racking up the good stuff," she says with a half smile in an attempt to ease his anxiety. "You are who you are Larz," she says in a quiet voice, taking a step towards him so she has to tilt her head back to see in his face. "We all have the ability to either be good or bad. I have just a big of chance of being evil as you. Your parentage, doesn't mean anything," she says prodding him in the chest again.
Largakh simply looks down at Taly, having to tilt his head down to do so, though there was a sadness in his eyes, “I wish it were that black and white, Taly.” He still has needs which isn’t solved in the most healthy of ways and gets selfish once and awhile, “you may be right and this fear may be irrational, but it’s been seen to an undetermined date in the future. The indicator is on my skin,” he lifts the cotton shirt up half his abdomen and she can firstly see a toned torso, but more striking was the vitiligo which seemed to be spotted larger here and more random… It almost looked violent. “This condition spreads as time goes on. A while back I found a prophecy of the blue orc,” he would let the shirt drop. “It may be nothing, but it is just my fear.”
Talyara's eyes drop to Largakh's torso, unashamedly lingering there for a moment before flicking back up to his eyes. "A prophecy?" She asks with a small frown tugging on her lips once more. Talyara had her own theories on prophecies but she didn't want to interrupt Larz's train of thought at the moment. "What did the prophecy say?"
Largakh stepped further back which allowed him to lean against the wall and his head tilted back to rest on the cool brick of it. “*The green fades away. Giving the blue orc back to the world and paint death upon us all.*” He let that sink in a moment, “I had nightmares long before that. I saw a fortune teller after finding the prophecy and she confirmed a piece of it. She said to count the good while it still counts in the green because the blue will withdraw it’s evil blade.” Another shrug, “it could all be bullcrap.” He lift his head and looks back to her if she’s still there, “but sometimes I feel it. I get images of what I would do to someone. For example, the man who tried to hit you. I had to run away because if I didn’t… I saw myself using his entrails to hang his friends and use his blood paint war on my face… Tell me that’s not normal.”
Talyara remains quiet when Largakh continues on with his story, pulling at her bottom lip and gnawing for a moment, before reaching out and taking Larz's hand in her own if he'd let her. "It's a good thing you're not a orc then," she says with a smile. He was half elf after all. "Listen, prophecies, even if this one does somehow apply to you, are self fulfilling. You don't have to make it come true if you don't want it to. This skin condition of yours, I've seen it before. The daughter of one of the coven members in my old village had it. You continue to defy your prophecy by focusing on the good. Being kind. Donating your time and money and skills." If Taly still held his hand she'd give it a little squeeze. "We all have bad thoughts. We all do bad things from time to time."
Largakh allows her to take his hand, of course, and his tuscan eyes rest within her viridescent ones. “You are kind Taly,” he wants to believe her and maybe on some level he does because these are points he’s realized himself… It’s just always lurking in the back of his mind that one day he might be completely different. He gave her a squeeze of the hand in return, “thanks for listening to my reasons why.” He glances up to the darkening skies, “are you okay to walk back to Sage? If not I can get you a room at the tavern here. Then I can walk you out of Gualon in the morning.” Sure she’s a friend and he’d invite her to his measly studio apartment, but he’s got only one uncomfortable sofa bed - or hollow’s version of a futon. He would start to show her out of the alley - not paying attention to if she dropped her hand from his or not.
Talyara gives Largakh a small smiles and another squeeze of his hand before her hand drops away as he leads her out of the ally. "I'm okay to get to Sage," she tells him quietly, making sure her pack is secure. Taly pulls her new bow over her body before turning to face Larz once more. "Thanks again, for the bow." She begins to walk away before turning around once more. "And opening up to me," she adds.
Largakh scoffs, “as if I’d let you just walk out of the city on your own. I know - you are capable, but it’s my job,” it isn’t, but okay. He slips his jacket back on and makes sure nothing nefarious happens to her in Gualon, he even takes her to the boundary of the Sage forests.