Ever green

[caitlyin]

Caitlyin shrugged and dropped her eyes to her lap as she fidgeted, her fingers twisting in the fabric of her skirt as her stuffed rabbit lay there innocently staring at the soulstealer. "Big brother wouldn't let me. We travel too much," she said softly, a hint of sadness coloring her tone as she continued looking away from him.

Caitlyin couldn't remember any of her previous life before big brother, seeing as it was a blur and she didn't know where she came from since probably it had been big brother who had wiped out the people she had been with, but the little girl didn't know nor did she particularly care about that either.

[Tyebolt]

“Well, then, I can take him,” Tyebolt said with a reassuring smile. “I can look over the little bunny. I’ll make sure that he has what he needs to have a comfortable life. He deserves as much especially since now he has a chance at life.”

The soulstealer was somewhat curious about this girl’s history as she continued to spoke. He gave little thought to this ‘big brother’. He could only assume that her brother was the only one who looked after Caitlyin. There seemed to be a bit more behind all of this, too, but he could not put his finger quite on it.

[caitlyin]

When she lifted violet eyes again, childish happiness was present, but if one looked a bit closer, they could see the small flecks of sadness that were always there, drawing others in with her unique charm and personality. She presented him with a brilliant smile, leaning forward and kissing his cheek quickly, her childish attitude returning. "Okay," she agreed, nodding as her hair moved about her, enhancing the young human's movements.

Her fingers went back to her work quickly and she hummed under her breath as she continued making the crow. Once she finished the crown, she placed it rather haphazardly atop the soulstealer's head, clapping once and smiling with excitement.

[Tyebolt]

The soulstealer gave a laugh as she placed the crown of flowers upon his head. He pushed a few strands of hair out of his eyes as he laid down on his side in the grass. His eyes still flashed over to Caitlyin who sat before him.

Tyebolt suddenly realized he could not just leave this girl. This could not be their only meeting. She was captivating in a way that he had never imagined a human could be. She was absolutely beautiful and charming even with how young she really was.

Perhaps, this was the feeling his own soul longed for. Someone who could bring desires unthought-of before to him. Even his artist side was mesmerized by her. The soulstealer suddenly had the urge to capture this girl’s image with paint. If she would ever allow him, he would paint a portrait of the girl.

“Thank you for this crown, Lady Caitlyin. How does it suit me?”

[caitlyin]

Caitlyin shrugged, her hands still playing with her beloved stuffed rabbit. "However you feel it should suit you," she responded, making her stuffed rabbit do all sorts of tricks and turns, acting as if he were in the circus or was an acrobat, like the ones she had seen a while ago while following big brother through a larger city.

She did pause in her playing long enough to move some of the hair out of her face in order to better see her surroundings. She tilted her head back to look up at the sky, seeming to judge the time in her own way before nodding once to herself, deeming that there was still plenty of time before she had to go back.

[Tyebolt]

Tyebolt watched Caitlyin as she played with her stuffed animal. He smiled a bit as he thought. How had he never come across such a beauty? She must have really traveled quite a bit with her big brother. The soulstealer had traveled all over this world, and he had seen no one like this Caitlyin. What a bit of luck he had coming across her in the forest today.

“You must travel quite a bit, Caitlyin,” Tyebolt said to her, his hand playing with the grass before him. “Where are you staying now? In Temarra? Or are you staying in a camp out here in the woods?”

He only meant to strike up a bit of conversation with the girl. Perhaps, she would allow him to know a bit more about her than what she was letting on.

[caitlyin]

Cait looked at him, seeming to weigh her words before she spoke, fixing the soulstealer reclining in front of her with a penetrating gaze. "We stay out of the city because the cities have priests. And they are bad. They try to take me away from big brother," she said, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes at her most recent memory of being kidnapped by a group of priests that had beaten up big brother.

"Besides, big brother likes to stay out under the stars when he can. It's far more pleasant than the noisy and crowded cities," she said simply as her hands stilled and she watched the soulstealer with curious amethyst eyes.

[Tyebolt]

He raised a slight eyebrow at the mention of her being kidnapped by priests. That was rather interesting in its own. Why would priests be trying to take Caitlyin from her brother? Well, of course, Tyebolt knew nothing about this big brother, but he could tell that the girl who sat before him was well taken care of. She seemed not to go hungry at all. She was dressed well, and there were no injuries to her. What could possibly be the problem?

“Well, that’s a pity that you must fear priests when going into cities. Priests are supposed to be beings of the gods and goddesses. They are meant to help and protect people, not bring harm upon their bodies.”

The soulstealer thought for another moment, weighing his words before speaking once more. “Why would they want to take you from your brother anyways? You seem well taken care of by him. I see no marks of injury upon you, and it is obvious that you love your big brother. So, I do not understand.”

[caitlyin]

"Because priests are ignorant beings who only believe the lies and fallacies of what has been fed to them through the generations of texts that they must read. They do not wish to simply let things as they be, they must always insert themselves in order to maintain a peace and tradition that has been there for years. If anything so much as disrupts it, it must either be killed or fixed," she said calmly.

She sighed and dropped her gaze from him before shrugging. "And they call big brother a demon. He won't hurt me, he protects me. They seem to think I'm under some sort of spell and they won't leave us alone. I'm safer with big brother than I am with them," she said. "They hurt me," Caitlyin sniffled, rubbing at her arms where she'd had rather rough looking bruises from the last kidnapping. They'd long since faded, but while they were there, it was easy to tell that it had been hands that had grabbed her.

[Tyebolt]

Tyebolt reached forward with a slow hand and gently touched Caitlyin’s arm in a soothing manner. He hushed her gently, giving her a slow smile. “It’s alright,” he told her gently. “There is no reason to get upset. The priests aren’t here now, and I wouldn’t let them hurt you if they were.”

He sent her another smile, sitting up a bit. The flower crown was still upon his head, and he did not think to move it. His white eyes were studying the girl carefully. Tyebolt really did not want to see her get upset.

“Do you like caramel?” he asked her, in hopes of maybe brightening her mood once again.

[caitlyin]

Caitlyin looked a bit startled at him, chewing on her lower lip as she took in his appearance again, seeming now to only become curious as to what he was. She nodded slowly, her hair spilling around her face before she spoke. "Okay, Tye," she said, seeming to answer several questions both to herself and him.

She shifted slightly on her knees, having been sitting with her legs tucked under her and she was slowly growing uncomfortable. Moving slightly so her legs were to the side, instead of sitting on them, she smiled slightly as she grew comfortable again.

She reached up small hands and adjusted the crown on the soulstealer's head, making it sit straight and so that it didn't look as haphazard as it had been before she smiled.

[Tyebolt]

Tyebolt smiled once more. He took a pouch from his waist band. It was a little tan hide pouch that opened by pulling a string loose. He opened it up and pulled out of caramel that was wrapped up. He handed it to Caitlyin before taking a piece for himself and eating it.

The soulstealer watched her to see how she would take the little offering. “It is good, I promise,” he said after finishing his piece. “If you want more you can have more. I do not mind sharing with you.”

[caitlyin]

Caitlyin shyly accepted the piece of candy from the soulstealer, a faint flush of color staining her cheeks as he watched her. She put the piece of candy in her mouth and ate it, her nose wrinkling in a way as if she were trying to decide just how much she liked it or not before she shook her head. She was fine with one piece.

She brushed a few strands of hair out of her face as she tilted her head to the side and watched Tyebolt in return. "You should smile more often, Tye tye," she said, nodding.

[Tyebolt]

“I can smile more often for you if need be,” Tyebolt said, giving another smile for Caitlyin to see. He put the pouch of candy back upon his waist band before looking back to the human. “But I must ask you to smile more often as well, Caitlyin.”

He was enjoying his time quite a bit with the young girl. He was rather glad that he had not scared her off.

“Tell me, Caitlyin, what is it that you like to do? Or mainly, what do you like in general? Besides Bun bun, of course.”

[caitlyin]

Caitlyin bit her lower lip for a moment as she thought. She had never really given much thought to little things in life, such as hobbies or deciding what it was that she liked to do in her free time. She was always following around big brother, going from place to place. She liked that, she guessed, shrugging.

"I guess I like exploring new places. And songs," she said smiling and clapping her hands. Caitlyin had always loved music and anything that went with it, from the instruments to the dancing to the music itself. She shifted slightly as she thought, tilting her head up to look at the sky as she seemed to sort through her thoughts. "And I like baby animals," she said with a light laugh.

[Tyebolt]

The soulstealer smiled and nodded his head. She seemed to be rather simple, which was alright. She liked the little things in life, and he could appreciate that. Not everyone had to be complex creatures. It was actually nice to find a girl who did not feel the need to have everything that was out in the world.

“Have you ever been to the city of Shempii? Out in the swamplands? That is where I come from. If you haven’t, you should definitely go sometime. The music there is very unique to that area of Yviex.”

[caitlyin]

Caitlyin tilted her head to the side as she regarded him, playing with Bun Bun in her lap again. Her hair spilled down to one side of her face, accentuating the curiousness that shone in her demeanor. "I think big brother and I passed through there once," she said with a shrug and a soft smile.

She knew what most people thought of her and was rather fine with it, preferring to let them think what they may rather than attempt to dissuade them from their opinions of her. Once you scratched past her surface, things became interesting and quickly.

[kel]

The priests were starting to get very annoying for Kel, they had recently taken their desires too far which indirectly caused Kel to declare war on their asses. Normally Kel would be doing his own little murders of those with the signs upon them, but now he's been purposely hunting down these priests and killing them in the most horrifying ways. In fact, the church where they had taken Cait was truly a mess. Kel was no longer pleased with the priests and their actions against him and his little sister. No, he truly hated them and it showed as he was dragging one back to the cave in which Cait had found a while ago. The priest was kicking and screaming at the top of his lungs, trying to pry Kel's hand from his hair, but nothing seemed to really work. In truth, Kel was on a mission and he didn't feel like asking politely. Turquoise locks danged around his white clothed face with the black slits showed where his eyes and mouth were, but showed nothing of what he was beneath. As for his clothing, it consisted of a black long coat today with black dress pants while his white hands poked from the black sleeves. White boots beat against the dirt and leaves while his blunt back-sword rested upon his left hip, covered in dry blood from the war he was creating. "You and your people cannot leave things as is, can you? You have to try and make everything to fit your perfect little world," his deep words growled with nothing but anger filling each syllable. The priest began to fight harder to release himself from Kel's grasp as he beat at the hand, but nothing seemed to work.

Reaching the cave, he gave a grin beneath his mask and tossed the priest against the wall while his hands reached back and unbuttoned the back of his white skin. Pulling up, he removed the mask and let his turquoise locks dangle around his demon features while red feline eyes glared at the priest and sharp fangs glittered. "You declared war on the wrong person little priest and now you will be my puppet," he grinned as the priest's eyes filled with fear. Leaning down, Kel began to chant while his eyes stared directly into the priest's, his hand holding the priest's head in place so it wouldn't turn away. When Kel's chanting was done, the priest seemed to go quite lifeless as he stared into Kel's eyes as he gave a devious grin, "Go back to your fellow priests and tell them to have a nice day. Go, my puppet. Kill your friends." Releasing the priest's chin, Kel watched him get up and flee into the forest. Standing up, he watched him flee with glee as he pushed his mask back up over his head, stuffing his locks through the hole on top and buttoned it back up.

Rolling his neck, he looked around idly, finding that Cait was no where to be seen. Perking an idle brow, he stared down at the ground, examining the tracks very carefully before he gave a gentle grin. "Oh my dear sister. You can never sit still while brother is away, huh," he chuckled to himself. Making sure to have the collar of his coat cover the buttons on the back, he began to follow the footsteps of Cait, knowing them all too well. He moved slowly along the tracks, clearly in no rush at the moment. His ears could hear the movements of the forest around, but he knew most of the dangerous creatures were not out, yet. As he got closer to Cait, he could hear voices, Cait's and another's. Perking a brow, he moved in a bit quicker, stopping at the edge of the forest as a clearing approached and stared in, seeing Tyebolt and Caitlyin talking. Automatically Kel became paranoid, believing this was some sort of trickery from the priests and his hand shot to his back-sword instantly. Giving a growl, he moved into the clearing and barked, "Get away from her!" His white hand was tightly gripping his back-sword that rested in ready to attack at his side. "You priests and your games will not go unseen by me so if you dare lay a single hand on her, I'll make sure you never see your friends ever again," he growled darkly, his deep tone showing he had no patience for these kinds of games.

[Tyebolt]

Tyebolt was slightly startled as this man came from nowhere, hand upon his sword ready to attack the soulstealer. Well, that was rather abrupt and unusual. He was quick to conclude that this was the big brother that Caitlyin was talking about. Well, he understood why people thought the girl was under this big brother’s control. They definitely were nothing alike, not even the same species. But, Tyebolt would not question it.

“I think you have mistaken me,” the soulstealer said to him with a faint smile. He was already gauging this one’s power. Tyebolt was not afraid of getting hurt, after four thousand years, he felt as though he could take on most threats.

His eyes moved over to Caitlyin, hoping she could stop this fight from even starting.

[caitlyin]

Caitlyin gasped and turned, hands flying to her mouth as she dropped Bun Bun before rising to her feet and darting over to her big brother. She had already taken in the bloodstains, and while it was not an unusual occurrence in and of itself, she still worried nonetheless. Her arms flew around his waist in a hug as she held onto him tightly. "Big brother!" she exclaimed. "You're not hurt, are you?" she asked, as her face tilted back to look up at him with worry.

Blonde hair framed her pretty face as she hugged him, careful not to impede his arms, should he need them and decide the soulstealer was indeed a threat to her. After all, big brother was right.