RP:The Price of Being Valiant

Northern Sage Forest

Dogma slowly marched through the forest. His wings tucked tightly behind him, to keep out of way of harm and to keep random branches from snagging the pristine black wings. Bright blue eyes and shocking blond hair where on display for the world to see, if only for the fact that he had lost his helmet during his rather... impromptu flight from the city this morning. His body bore the marks of worked and beaten leathers , that he usually wore under the full plate of his order. A simple dagger tucked into his boot. A gleaming bastard sword sat snugly at his waist the scabbard bearing holy markings and scripture. Around his neck was an odd, holy symbol, Just something that helped the paladin channel his gods influence upon the world. A small bit of ink seemed to be peeking up from his leather's neck line. Where was he going? What was he doing? Only the paladin knew... Or hell maybe he didn't know at all and he was lost in this damned forest.

The blackbird sitting in the tree above the paladin's head, merrily singing but a moment ago, ceased its cheerful twittering. The shush-shush of the leaves as abruptly stilled to silence, and even the rustle and gentle thudding of forest creatures making a wide berth around the site of humanoid activity stopped -- and it was quiet. Quiet as a grave, in the mighty northern forest of Sage. Uncanny, that lack of sound hung in the air for the space of twenty human heartbeats, just long enough to make a good man feel a shiver up his spine... Then there were footsteps, light and dainty but moving swiftly toward Dogma and his little winged observer in the tree he stood by. Closer and closer came that single sound, far louder than it may have otherwise been, but for the dreadful stilly air. And from a copse of bushes dashed a woman, as fair as any great and noble house had ever bred, midnight of hair and her peridot-hued eyes wide with terror as she bolted in a beeline toward the man. Her rosy lips formed a small 'o' of shock and dismay, and her whiter-than-white skin showed a faint flush of pink from her exertions. "Sir.. Oh.. thank gods you are here. Sir? Please. I need your help." The damsel was, apparently, in a state of distress.

Dogma stopped, then calmly looked about the area. The stilled area was confusing him ... Just moments ago it was so full of life and vitality. His ears twitched a sudden noise of feet running closer towards him. Turning , the paladin slowly grasped the handle of his blade then released it as it was a women in distress.... Damn his paladin oath. " Calm down ma'am..." Cultured, mannered, and above all sympathetic to the plight of the woman. Though he kept his distance well away." What is troubling you? " The stillness was still sending a shiver down his spine... Why wasn't anything moving... Nothing making a sound. This wouldn't end well at all.

The petite woman halted several yards away, her eyes set upon the paladin's sword-hand, where it rested on the hilt of his weapon. She did not answer him right away, but for a long moment looked confused, and still quite afraid, glancing back to the thick of the forest as though expecting something horrible to erupt from the treeline at any moment. Tiny, pale as the moon and clad in scarlet, the woman turned those intense green eyes of hers upon Dogma once more, and the foggy look she bore fell away. "I... " she paused, and rubbed her forehead, whereon was set a dull stone. ".. I was .. I believe I may have been.. set upon by robbers." She looked very much as though she would, at any moment, break into tears.

Dogma waited with a patience of the sea. When she spoke of robbers the paladin's bright blue eyes seemed to harden. " Robbers... Bandits... Heathens." A small nod then a turn as he started towards the area she had escaped from." And your sure that... They where bandits? Can you show me where they are? I feel that they need a few words of the good book. So if you could..." He made a small motion for her to attempt to show the way. Damsels in distress was all good and dandy... But no use in taking care of the woman when the problem may show its ugly head.

Tene glanced again toward the convergence of trees from whence she'd come, and shivered, and shook her head slowly. The forest seemed to be more dense now, or perhaps just a little darker, and then a little more so, as if shadows bled from some hidden source to fill the gaps where trunks and branches were not. "Oh.. I do not think that a very good idea, kind sir. They were.. they..." she frowned, and rubbed at that ugly gem on her otherwise flawless forehead. ".. stole something from me. Something very.. precious. And then my head, oh sire, it hurt! And when I awoke, I did not know where I was at all." As she spoke, the woman had taken a few tentative steps toward the man, as if seeking his shelter from whatever storm of evil and decrepitude lay in the murky wood beyond. "I have no wish to be left alone here. Please, sir, if you would stay.. " another step toward Dogma was taken, a light step, faltering but taken all the same. ".. with me. Here. Just until my senses return to me, so I might find my home."

Dogma cocked his head to the forest that seemed to darken. Such an odd happening thing.... That seemed to start when the woman appeared... Surely she couldn't be the cause of all this mess. A victim in a sea of evil. " Are you sure?" His blade vanished back into its scabbard. The gleaming metal making a ringing noise as it was put away. Silently the avian slipped his hands up to the holy emblem on his neck. "The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." As he finished his prayers the area around them seemed to brighten as if the darkness could not stand against the light of the gods. He turned towards the woman, releasing his pendant and giving a warm smile to her." Its alright child... For the dark cannot harm those that walk in the light. "While he was still channeling the powers of his god he opened his arms towards her. Letting the warmth and feeling of safety flow through the area. " If they have stole something child... I shall retrieve. "

Tenebrae hesitated only briefly, a pause during which her whole frame appeared to shudder as the paladin's power flowed from his frame, the open arms inviting embrace. And in that pause, the forest almost seemed to close in on them, daybreak or no the darkness was encroaching in increments. But slowly, as if pushing through some sort of gelatinous barrier, the woman stepped forward into the holy man's arms and allowed him to hold her. She was cool to the touch, like a river-stone newly drawn from a shaded stream. That was when the blackbird overhead let out a strangled, unmusical squawk and fell from its perch like a stone and lay still on the mossy ground. This event went unnoticed by the woman, though, who was all but swooning in Dogma's strong arms, while a strange and occult sort of prickle buzzed the air about the two. "Oh thank you, sir.. knight, is it?" That fine pair of peridot eyes turned up to meet the paladin's own gaze. From that short distance, he would have a chance to study her injury closely – around that gem, a circular mark, red and blistered a little, dark about its edges as if caused by scorching. The woman went to speak again, but stopped - and blushed. "Oh, where are my manners?" she seemed appalled. "Here I am, in your arms, sir, and we have not as yet even exchanged our names."

Dogma noticed the rough barrier she seemed to have trouble passing through. A small grin lighting up the paladin's face as the light of the gods didn't strike her down. His arms wrapped about the woman in a protective embrace. The feeling of danger would vanish for the holy man would put his life on the line for any of the weak or the wronged. Though his eyes followed the sudden death of the crow... Odd. " The order did not give me a birth name. Only a name to be known by. I'm Dogma..." The paladin was quick to introduce himself. No need for the woman to blush... It was odd woman where something they hadn't taught the paladin about. And for the love of the gods why was she so soft? His eyes flickered up to the wound placed on her head such an odd mark... had they pressed a brand to her head? He would have to destroy the vile beasts that would harm an innocent. " No worries, A name or none I'll ensure your safety. Where are you headed? I could escort you there?" Damned his paladin code for ensuring the welfare of all individuals.

Tenebrae said, "Oh, just to the tavern in Kelay will do nicely, Sir.. Dogma." The word, as it crossed her lips, curled the corners of her mouth into an odd little smile as she snuggled deeper into the paladin's embrace, so he would indeed have a chance to ponder the softness of her slight frame a moment longer. As she did so, the tingling between them grew more intense, a peculiar sensation.. as though some unseen force were attempting to prise the pair apart. "I am.. Joliette." She said, quietly. "Joliette Thorne." Perhaps it was because, rather than in spite of, that strange, repellent feeling that the woman clung to the holy man for dear life, her slender arms wrapping his waist as he was the taller of them, by far. And around them, the darkness grew.. and thickened, like a dense pall of sudden midnight fallen across the space, aside from the little patch of it occupied by the man and the damsel he held, which shone with the light of approaching day and answered prayers, both. "Perhaps, though," she added, after a time, "We could just…" then she looked up at Dogma, her gaze searching his, her features bearing the very essence of a woman's admiration for a heroic sort of man. ".. stay here, like this, for time. That is, if you do not think it too forward of me to ask it?" Again, that ladylike flush of pink coloured her chalk-white cheeks. Where skin met skin, perhaps a little bit where their arms might touch, that energy between them was almost electric, and building steadily in every moment the embrace continued. "For in your strong arms, Sir Dogma, I feel safer than I have in many a day.. "

Dogma said, "The tavern? That isn't terribly far away... And no sir. Just Dogma. " The Avian's eyes flickered down to her smile. Terrible sinful thoughts running rampant through his mind. His eyes clenched tightly shut for a moment before opening once more to stare again in her eyes. " A pleasure to meet you Ms. Thorne... But.. I don't think I can continue to hold you without breaking my vows..." Though even as he spoke the paladin didn't release her. Though her tight clinging would have prevented it should he decide to let go. The buzzing popping noise was starting to irate him... Let alone the unseen presence that continued to try and separate the duo. Didn't the gods understand she was a fearful woman? Or was there some unseen danger in the small woman... Dear gods... Could she be the cause of the sudden darkness? At the moment only his prayer and divine light kept the shadows and darkness at bay. Dogma did not enjoy the dark far to many things needed smiting in the dark corners of the world. Then she had to speak again saying she felt safe in his arms... Damned her and the words to stroke his paladin oaths and ego... he could not refuse a request to ensure she felt safe.

“Oh, I would not –dream- of tempting you from your righteous path!” And in Tenebrae’s gaze shone a fervently pure light as she spoke on: “For good men are.. so.. “ here, she snuggled even closer, so there was no room at all between them to slip a piece of paper through, though that force still pushed at them like two magnet-ends repelling one another. “.. hard to find,” she finished, her voice breathy and hardly audible. “And I am of such great fortune, Dogma, to have met one so .. good.. as you.” Her beautiful features were tilted up toward the avian’s, her fingers smoothing across sleek feathers, where her hands were at his back. Her lips, as they moved with speech, would inch closer to the paladin’s with every word… and he’d feel her shapely frame tilting up as she stood on her toes, peering into his eyes with a look that screamed ‘protect me!’. “Anyway, I am sure such a dowdy maiden as myself could never turn the head of such a handsome.. and honourable.. man.”

Dogma tried hard to resist the appeal of the woman before him. Even as she clung so tightly to him and claimed to not wish to turn him from his righteous path. Even her eyes screamed that she was being truthful. The detection spells of the paladin didn't even register in his mind. Snuggling even tighter and tighter against his frame. Leather armor was the only thing that protected him from the woman's full embrace . Without conscious thought the paladin's arms tightened around the woman in his arms as he attempted to keep her there for a moment longer. The avian shook his head blond hair hiding his face for the briefest of moments as she spoke of how good he was. No... he wasn't a good man... A reformed man maybe. But never a good man. He attempted to speak. To say anything to deny her words but damned if her lips didn't work in the opposite attraction of the two. Like a magnet he came closer as well. The back of mind he screamed at himself to stop... Stop this insanity his vows! His oaths! But gods above the order never warned him of the ways of women. Then his mind registered what he was touching and feeling a cascade of emotions running over his face." Your wrong... And far to pretty for a simple man of the gods. " Closer and closer his lips got towards her as if he had lost control of his own body.

And all at once, two things happened.. For as that darkness finally crushed around the pair, enveloping them in a deep and inky blackness, a complete absence of light, as if those fell shadows has simply consumed all the paladin’s holy efforts and spat them out elsewhere… as the dark ate them alive, Dogma would feel the cool press of the woman’s lips against his own, softly at first, then more firmly and finally with the sort of passion that might melt the studs off his bracers such was its heat. And thus, plunged into darkness and moral abandon, the holy avian might not notice the midnight tendrils exhaled by the sineater, Tenebrae, slipping into his mouth like a cool tongue, a breath of chill air. And, as that dreadfully sinful kiss ensued, all of the paladin’s former sins, and present ones, and even some he had only thought about, would swarm his consciousness like wicked, devouring locusts in a ripe field of wheat. It might be some time before the man recovered his senses.. and when he did, he would realise he was suddenly alone and once more standing in the dying light of day.

For the Darkness had clearly kissed the boy and run away, taking with her all the lesser shadows…