RP:Three Days

Tyler stands just at the tree line separating the swamps of Gualon from the Milious plains. The human practicing his art in seclusion. Dressed in a cartoon style of clothing ranging from the large mouth cargo shorts, sleeveless wolf fur vest, over sized gloves and boots the man sticks out like a sore thumb with no help from his bright blue hair and the large sleeve tattoo of the night sky that has laid claim to his entire left arm. His katana and belt of kunai are at rest upon a tree stump while he dances about the area tossing elemental blasts around at armored guard targets made of his own mind. In a flash of fire and ice he makes quick work of the foes and hunches over with his open palms resting on his knees. Sweat pours as the burning sun bores down on the human relentlessly, the humidity of the swamp making breathing a difficult task. Moving to his bag he pulls out a chilled bottle of water and quickly downs it before moving back to his original position. A deep breath is given to steady his stance as his eyes fall shut and tendrils of mana expose themselves from his arms and creep out ten feet before him, placing more targets in flawless craftsmanship.

Emilia could be described as a few things by a few different people that knew her, but three things were consistent, 1) she was a pretty a thing, 2) she was as clumsy as clumsy could be, and 3) she was little bit crazy. On this day all three of those notes about the human were present. The blonde haired woman had those crazy curls pulled back into a braid that wrapped around her scalp falling into a free braid with flower woven into the hair. A fitted white summer’s dress that went well with her perfectly tanned freckle covered flesh. A look complete with worn leather cowboy boots, a dark wood bow on her back, and a bandage wrapping up her left arm from palm to just before her elbow. Beauty with injury. What made the farm girl crazy was that she was walking her way back to Gualon from Venturil. A journey that she took all too often for any sane person. It was on this returning walk that she stumbled upon the man with the bright blue hair dressed in, to her thoughts, silly attire. From the distance where her light steps came to a halt the bright blue eyes of the blonde watched the man intently. Something of him looked to be familiar, but completely a stranger at the same time. It was from this point, a safe distance from his training, that Emi folded her arms lightly across her chest while leaning back against one of those trees separating the swamps from the plains. Here she’d just watch him in silence.

Tyler's breathing is slowed now as he finishes his conjurations. Rather than assaulting some stationary targets he decides to add some flavor this time around and when his eyes snap open they are glowing brightly and mana steams off of them as the tendrils stay extended from his body and begin to animate the armored foes as guards. The next few minutes consist of the illusionary enemies launching a plethora of assaults against the human only to be deflected by rapid counters of elemental magic including fire, ice, water and earth. Roughly ten minutes into the fight the blue haired man grows exhausted and frustrated that he has been unable to beat himself as two of the guards are still standing. He releases a loud shout and a burst of flames erupt from his body, severing the tendrils and claiming the lives of the remaining illusions. His entire body is soaked in sweat now and his throat is dried. Moving back to his bag to reclaim his water he takes a seat on the stump and pushes his katana and kunai to the ground. While taking a drink something catches his eye. Turning his head he spots Emilia observing him off in the distance. "Ah.. sh-." He mutters to himself while downing the water. If he wasn't so exhausted he would up and move through the woods to escape the view of the onlooker. Unaware that Emilia was the one watching him, he thinks it's simply a stranger that's spotted him. He hated letting his abilities be seen, exposing himself to weakness to those that find him to be a mere illusionist and not a true elementalist. His eyes flicker between the ground at his feet and to the distant Emilia as he tries his best to cool off and catch his breath.

Emilia remained where she was away from the stranger and his training series with himself. It was impressive to watch. One person controlling illusions of guards while at the same time attacking against those images with the elements. The farm girl was not gifted with anything like either of his two talents that he displayed while practicing out here beyond the tree line. No, her only skill lies within her ability to plant things, but that was something that didn’t take any true talent, anyone could put seeds into the ground add some water and wait for them to grow. Not a single drop of magic was present in the human girl, even though she’d been told it would have done her some good in life. Now as the blue haired man finished with a shout and a burst of flames the blonde pushed herself away from the tree. A curious blue gaze met with his as she caught him glancing in her direction. No longer was she just the invisible set of eyes watching. Light steps carried her closer to him, but the path they walked didn’t show any signs of moving to him. No, instead they moved with a distance away from him toward the city. Emi had a fear of magical people and no interest in making contact with one. For the stranger she would become more recognizable the closer her steps lead her to closing the distance between the two.

Tyler maintains his casually seated position as the stranger moves closer to him. He releases a short sight when he notices her trajectory is destined to move right by him. The man relieved to avoid any sort of confrontation with the passer by. However, the closer she gets the man takes note of her smaller stature and squints his eyes to try and make notice of any valuables on her person that might be worth intervening for. A nagging pull at the back of his mind constantly cries out some familiarity with the woman before him but he can't place his finger on it. After all, his eyes had trouble staying focused on her face as they constantly slipped chest side against his own will of course. As Emilia crosses the closest she'd approach the man, it clicks in his mind and Tyler calls out in a confused and rather loud tone, "Emi?". His mouth snaps shut just as quickly as it opened and his head drops to face the dirt once more. Why had he said anything? She was passing right by. The thought of him shredding her letter and tossing it into the wind reclaims the forefront of his mind causing him to release a small audible growl of frustration as he curses himself.

Emilia paid no attention to the stranger as he squinted at her while she walked away from the trees toward the city. His little show of talent was over and her interest in him was lost. While he tried to see if anything about her was familiar or if she carried anything worth taking her eyes kept to the ground before her feet watching it before she stepped again. Of course, the moment her name slipped from his mouth in a tone clearly loud enough for her human ears to hear the bright gaze of the woman snapped up from the ground to him once more. Feet coming to a halt once again while her arms folded over her chest once more. Fingers lightly digging into the exposed tanned flesh of her arms just above her elbows. That voice. It lingered in her mind playing over and over again until it clicked. Tyler. Unlike it was before the human had learned to conceal the emotions that once easily showed with her facial expressions. No, now it was harder than ever to tell what the human was thinking with her stoic look as she stared away at Tyler as if he was indeed a stranger sitting there on that stump. “Yes, Sir? Can I help you?” The words contained no emotion or tone to them at all. The act almost perfectly flawless, pretending that he knew her name from word of mouth from someone within the city or the paper in Venturil should he have been down that way to read it.

Tyler nearly bellows in anguish as Emilia actually stops and replies to his call. Waving his hand rapidly in dismissal and shaking his head while he stands up to leave with the air finally back in his lungs. "No ma'am. Merely making sure my mind wasn't playing any games, sorry for the bother." He's trying his best to avoid eye contact and prays that the woman hasn't figured out his identity quite yet. However, while he is fastening the Katana back to his belt he spares a moments glance and makes eye contact with her. The caramel hues linger only for a moment before bouncing back to the kunai. As he begins to strap up the ranged knives he's clearing his throat despite the pain of it being so dried out. It takes every fiber of his being to resist from moving to Emilia and connect a right hook with her jaw in punishment for writing him off. He's struggling and due to his exhaustion is unable to put up the same mask Emilia wears. Once his things are finally gathered he moves to make his way back to Kelay and is forced to walk right by the woman. Suddenly, he doesn't care if she knows who he is. He looks her dead in the eye with a strong distaste present though his voice wouldn't betray him. "See ya' around, or not.", and with that he was pressing on.

Emilia remained where she stood there facing the city of Gualon where she had intended to head. There was things that needed to be tended to, but for the moment the only thing that her mind could think about was the man that was standing there fastening this things back into place on his person. His glance up was met with a cold stare from those blue eyes of hers. Finger digging into tanned flesh until there was eight small droplets of blood forming. Anger. How long had it been since the farm girl had felt such an emotion…she couldn’t recall. And for all reasons in the world she couldn’t place why she felt such a rage toward him. Blue gaze continued to stare at him even though she wasn’t actually paying much attention to what it was that he was doing. It was not until he paused for that moment as to lock stare with her that she blinked back into the reality of the world around her. Instead of allowing him to walk away a hand darted out to take a tight grasp of his arm when he moved to pass her. If she was able to take hold of him she’d with a single jerk attempt to turn him so that he was facing her again. As tiny as the human was she had that hidden strength of being a farmer. “You are an ass.” Yes, she knew who he was the moment he uttered her name. And she was intent on letting him walk away until he dared look at her with such a distaste.

Tyler isn't surprised when Emilia's hand takes hold of his wrist and allows himself to be spun around when she tugs at him. Her insult hits him with the entire force of a feather as a smirk spills across his complexion. His eyes move back and forth between her own as he savors the emotion raging inside of her. 'Good', he thinks to himself. He's pleased that someone has even given him the time of day to grow angry towards him. His next step is a cross road. Should he push the woman further down the path she's already treading and turn that raw anger into pure concentrated hatred? Would he rebuttal her insult with a faux scene of hurt emotions in an attempt to leave her with guilt that would possibly trail behind her for hours if not days? Or, would he agree with the statement and press to make amends in an attempt to rekindle the small flame that once existed between the duo and lead to a friendship, if not a relationship. It feels like ages in Tyler's mind as he goes over each possible outcome, the man trying to decide on which fate he'd like to aim for the most. Finally, his choice is made. In reality, only a moment has passed and his reply is swift spoken, "I am? News to me. Though I have no evidence to defy your claim." He shrugs in an uncaring demeanor yet makes no effort to move away from Emilia. He wouldn't pull away from her, he refused to be the bad one. He wanted her to jerk her hand away in anger. To see that pretty face of hers transform into one of complete disgust. The man has grown accustomed to being alone, and now thrives to feed off of the negative emotion of those around him. How lucky Emilia must be, to be his first target. He waits anxiously, the sweat still staining his skin as he grits his teeth and flexes his jaw to hold his tongue from lashing out in defense. She must be the enemy. She has to take the first step. It was all simply a matter of patience.

Emilia was expecting something different of a response from the man whose wrist she held in her hand. For the man he would feel a chill coming off her hand that for a human was not natural for their kind. Not a deathly child, but one that was out of place in an area such as this where it was warmer and muggy in the swamps. It was that wrapped hand of hers that held onto him with that cold seeping past the bandages. For a moment it was as if time itself was standing still while the two were in each other’s company once again. All those moments that the two shared spinning around in her mind playing like a movie within her head. From the time they remet at the caves, to the caring touch as he fixed her wounds, to the crazy half-elf woman he introduced to her, to the drow attack in the forest, to that letter she wrote him. All the while time was not standing still it was continuing to move past while the duo were in the same space. The look that danced within those blue eyes of hers. A mixture of all sorts of things though the anger and rage were the most prominent as he blew off her words. Like every moment in time the two shared prior were nothing to him. It was then in the moment the look faded away. Pity. That is what she truly felt for the man. The anger and rage vanished as if a wave had just washed over the blonde. A sigh escaped her slightly parted lips before she slowly let go of his wrist. It was a gentle action. “A promise is a promise.” The words almost a whisper as she lifted that injured hand up slowly to brush the backs of her finger tips over his cheek before taking her hand back quickly. She’d chosen some time ago that she would stick with him and remain at his side. She could remember that moment at the cliff before he’d taken off and she’d not seen sight of him again until now. With that she’d turn to walk away now off toward Gualon.

Tyler indeed feels the chill but shows no interest in the wound. His eyes are still scanning hers and he can't help but feel his heart drop when he sees the anger leave her. He's failed to get the rise out of her he needed for the odd satisfaction he craved. As she turns on her heel and proceeds toward Gualon he wrinkles his nose and whispers to himself, "and a lie is a lie.", before he turns to continue heading to Kelay. His emotions overwhelmingly negative as Emilia took the high road and left him. It was uncanny to be completely honest. The way everyone simply walked away from him.

Emilia was at a loss at that moment as she walked away from the man. Yes, she was still angry at him, but she learned some time ago that letting rage get the better of a person is no good for anyone. She'd promised to stick with him...she wasn't doing a very good job at that. He wasn't making any effort on his part either. Clentching her hands into fists she stopped again. She'd didn't go after him, but turned to call out to him, "Three days. The farm house on the hill top in Venturil. Meet me there." Simple words to a location. She'd find out then how different this Tyler was...if he even bothered to show.