Hunter and the Hunted [Private]

When Astor saw those icy eyes once more seem to glare deep into his soul he froze like an prey that was about to meet his end. He couldn't speak, move or even think when those eyes watched him in that exact moment. After what seemed like an eternity passed him, Astor finally found his ability to be more than a figure frozen in fear. Some relief however started to build when she appeared clothes without making the action to physically dress herself, that threat lingering in his mind while he started behind Nalia, but far enough away that he would not have to worry about a claw slicing open his throat from any future mistakes.

The silence between them was deafening. It was a silence he had known when he first began his career as a soldier, the silence of a prisoner about to face the gallows or the executioner. He hated that silence even if he could never break it himself.

Nalia wanted to go far away from here. A childish feeling of wanting to run away and hide in a dark corner ran through her mind, but she pushed it back as she thought of all those people that had sacrificed themselves in a vain attempt to keep her out of the clutches of the Empress. She closed her eyes, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before glancing at him over her shoulder, her expression as cold as ice. "None of your business. Now, let's go." She had immediately shut down, not wanting to admit that she was becoming more and more afraid, the closer they got to her. Turning, her clothes appeared on their own, then she headed out the room, down the hallway and stairs, and then out the front door of the tavern inn.

There was a shiver up Astor's spine when he heard that growl echo out of Nalia's throat after he made what he felt was a harmless statement, all the while with his hands going up in something of a disarming gesture, "As much as I'd prefer not to have people think that, I'm going to take advantage of anything free I can get. I didn't exactly bring a fortune with me to what I thought was just going to be a quick back and forth. And that's it." Ultimately letting Nalia have her space, he sidled aside to grab a hold of his armor while giving Nalia enough space to not think he was about to try and grab at her, "Promise, I will not touch anything on you." With that he tossed his armor jacket back on and another swift motion for his sword belt, "Yeah, the Empress." He rolled his eyes at the idea even if he didn't really have a choice in the matter. Now with everything strapped on that needed to be strapped on, he made his way out not far behind Nalia though giving her enough space so that she wouldn't just make a quick swipe at his throat if she so wanted, "So." He started trying to break the somewhat awkward silence, "About last night. You were sort of freaking out while you were asleep. You want to talk about it? Since we have a ways to go and all."

For some reason, Nalia felt a growl leave her at his offhanded comment of getting free food from such a ridiculous assumption. "So much of human kind is the same. Especially the men. Doesn't it bother you that people think you automatically sleep with whoever you bring into an inn." She suddenly got close to him, her eyes narrowed. "I saw that wandering gaze. You touch me, at all, and you lose some fingers." Snatching up the clothes she had been wearing the night before, she put them back on and moved for the door. "Let's go. Better not keep the Empress waiting."

While Nalia avoided the meats assorted on the tray, Astor didn't seem to have any of the same reservations. Astor flopped himself against the wall near Nalia with a chunk of sausage hanging loose from his teeth, "Well, I suppose that there's one thing that we aren't having to worry about. Now to deal with the bandits and the like on our way." He muttered the last bit before snapping his teeth shut and chewing the chunk in his mouth. Astor's eyes slowly and instinctively ran down to his almost nude companion at the few places that her hair shifted. His head snapped back up at the mention of the girl thinking they were in a relationship, "Well, a young man and a young, looking, woman walk in and request a room to share and only one bed. It kind of does look like that if you think about it. If I get breakfast out of the deal then it saves me a bit of coin." With that he chomped down on the rest of the sausage in his grip, "After we finish up here we should get moving while we still have fresh morning light. Possibly with you wearing clothes so you don't get the attention of every man in town."

Nalia looked up from the bun she was eating, giving a light shrug as she continued to enjoy the foot. Avoiding the meat on principle, after she was done she hopped to her feet and stretched her arms high above her head with a yawn, unaware of her hair shifting to throw out glimpses of her body. "Those things are not strong enough yet to travel in daylight, so you shouldn't have to worry right now." Looking at the tray, she gave a ight sniff of annoyance. "That girl was lying. They do not give free food to guests. I have the distinct impression that they think we are in a relationship."

(Didn't realize you sent a reply. Sorry about that)

Astor groaned with a small measure of strain in his back when he heard the door opening up. Somewhat groggy from his sleep, he pulled himself out of the bed still clothed despite his companion's distinct lack of them. He stretched out his back with a couple of loud pops when the serving girl handed Nalia the tray for their breakfast, "Didn't realize we got breakfast too." He muttered before tapping the sides of his head to awaken himself faster. His gaze started shifting up and down again while he got his bearings back and remembered that his companion was more than likely going to remain naked in the more technical sense, along with the fact that he was forced to bring her back to the capital city, "When do you wa-, when should we leave?" He asked thinking about how long it should be before they left and hopefully avoid more of those things that he saw the night prior, a small shiver running down his back when the thought came back to him.

There was a light knock at the door shortly after sunrise, and Nalia's sensitive heading picked up on it instantly. Climbing out of the bed and stumbling slightly, she rubbed away the itch in her nose as her hair swung down to cover her body. The slip of a serving girl's smile turned into a look of mild shock as the door opened and she realized that the young woman had to be naked underneath her hair. "Uhm... W-We make sure to give every guest some breakfast in good harvest months." Nalia yawned and took the tray, shutting the door behind her. Looking around slowly, she spotted a small table near the window and she walked over, setting down the tray and taking a seat, shifting her hair to keep her modesty. She really didn't care, but she knew that humans as a whole viewed nudity as a bad thing. Picking up a fresh roll, she made a surprised sound when he found it was super soft and warm.

All the excitement of the day finally began to wear down on Astor and now that Nalia had finally calmed down he felt that he had his own chance to get some rest. With The spare moment he finally removed the heavier armor while leaving the tunic that was underneath on so that there was some modesty between the two of them. With the intent to keep from disturbing Nalia from her sleep, he crawled into what little space there was between the wall and Nalia all while trying to keep himself comfortable. With everything finally winding down, Astor finally felt himself slip to sleep.

In her dreams, she was being chased by those creatures, tainting and literally destroying the stuff in their path as they chased her. One hand moving jerkily, she managed to grab the covers by her waist and pulled them up over her shoulder, curling up in a tight ball underneath the covers, pulling herself closer to where he was sitting. For whatever reason, the dreams lessened, and she slipped into a deeper, calmer sleep.

Astor felt some relief from his hunger after his short stay below in the tavern. Slowly the door opened and soundlessly closed behind him, just to help Nalia sleep while they still had the capacity to rest. When he turned from locking the door he froze seeing that Nalia had shifted enough to uncover some of her. He stepped cautiously towards Nalia, some overwhelming force seeming to drag him closer and closer until he had set himself right beside her. That overwhelming force then decided that it wanted him to start stroking her hair in some manner of comforting both him and an effort to comfort her. His eyes slowly traced down her frame until it found the nearly tattoo looking mark that was bare to the world. His hand however remained in her hair while he continued stroking, almost as if he was petting her.

When he returned after his search for food and to retire for the night, he would find her laying on her stomach, having tossed her pillows onto the other side of the bed so that way she was able to lay her head on the bed itself. She tended to be one of those that tossed at night, but tonight was much worse. Nightmares plagued her, and so her tossing and turning had caused the covers to slid down to her waist level, still hiding everything below her waist. Now, her hair had fallen to the right, showing a rather detailed marking of an Inari fox, showing her intense connection to nature.

It felt kind of good to see Nalia start laughing at first his smile then his stomach growling, at the very least she would be in some good spirits even if her life had changed as drastically as it did. After a few seconds he started to laugh along with her from how much her laughter made him want to start laughing with her for little to no reason for it. Once both had calmed from their small fits of laughter he nodded with her small explanation, "And I'll be sure to lock the door before I go too far." He added in before he watched her undress right in front of him and use her hair to cover her body. He watched her crawl up in her hair and couldn't help himself but to simply watch over her even as she came close to passing out from exhaustion there before him. To prevent any further thoughts he left the room with the clack of the lock signalling his departure while he made his way to the inn's tavern for something to eat.

Nalia giggled behind her hand at his awkward smile, the giggle turning into full blown laughter when his stomach gave out a loud growl. Shaking her head, she took in several deep breaths to calm herself before shaking her head. "You concentrate on yourself for now. I don't have to eat as often as the rest of you. I am going to sleep for now." Walking over to the right side of the bed, she kept her back towards him as she pulled off the clothes she was wearing. Reaching up, she ran her hands through her hair, which caused it to grow more. Using her hair to cover her nude body, she climbed up under the covers and almost passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was far tired than she thought.

It was strange looking to see Nalia somehow smiling at him despite what he had ended up doing to her in just the last day. By this time he would have figured that she would have tried to put her fangs or claws to his throat by now, especially seeing that he's in a vulnerable state, but there she was giving him a smile and saying that she didn't hate him. He stood up as well then shook her hand, "Yeah, I think we can be friends in this." There was something about her now, but somehow he felt at ease and was even able to return her smile with a slightly awkward one of his own, "Anyway. I can take a quick trip down to grab something to eat if you need anything." He started though the grumbling of his stomach seemed to say he was looking more into feeding himself at the moment.

Nalia looked up at him and managed to give him a small smile. "While what you and your men did is wrong, at least for you, you did not know how she was. You were just doing your job, so I don't... hate you for that." Standing up from the bed, she walked over and held out a hand towards him, projecting calm, her tails slowly moving side to side behind her. "We are both in this together. Friends now?"

Astor hung his head down in defeat while he let that fact that they were locked into this plan now, "So. I guess I really screwed up. Just had to be the obedient soldier following orders." He pressed his hands to his head with a gentle squeeze that seemed to help what was building up to be a headache, "I'll at least try to do what I can to not make this any worse than I already made it." He didn't dare look Nalia in the eye after his mistake made him stuck in this new path.

Nalia looked at him when he said that, her ears twitching forward and her posture going straight as she came to the realization of what he had said. Her expression had lightened for just a moment, but then she remembered the last report she had gotten from the people in the village about the Empress, and she knew that the Empress had several of those... creatures in her employment. Even if they managed to successfully go on the run... they would find them eventually. Her shoulders pitched forward and she slumped a little, her tails limp. "If you don't... They will just kill you when they finally catch up to us."

There was some relief that came when Nalia said that he wasn't at that level, but at the same time she did say that she would have killed him if he was like those things, "Thanks, I suppose." He mentioned hoping that now things had quieted down enough that they wouldn't be worrying about them in the middle of the night. The smile that she gave him did seem to help that feeling in the back of his head as well as her comment about him having more light than most.

Now that there was some more quiet between the two, he had time to think more about what he was doing and what it would do, "So. Are we on the run now?" He asked in a low tone like he was expecting to be killed just for knowing, "I can't just deliver you to the empress now that I know about those things."

Nalia looked over at him, her expression kind of hard to read as she shifted on the bed, sitting in the center of it. "I would have killed you back when I was at my strongest if you were anywhere near that." There was a few moments of silence before she gave him a faint smile. "Your light side is stronger than most. You should be okay." She looked down at her hands with a low sigh. "You should continue to question. Even if it is only in your head, and not out loud."

"Everyone?" He started before his head sunk down at the thought of what he had been doing under the ordered of the empress. The thought came to him that maybe he had something in himself, "Do you see anything like that on me?" He asked somewhat in a panic at the thought that he was possibly turning into one of those things. He didn't feel different, but he also had no idea what it would feel like to turn into those monster.

Nalia went over to the window after he shut and locked the door, jerking the curtains closed, taking a moment to get a breath before she walked over to the bed, sitting down while closing her eyes. "That is what is going to happen to every person under your precious Empress' rule. Every man has darkness in their heart, and her endless conquest and war will create more and more, until the entire world is consumed. Those people have been like that for years, having let the darkness inside of them consume them long ago. The darkness... it turned people into monsters."

Astor kept close by Nalia as the two started their way through the street and on the way to that inn. When she stayed silent and he saw the look she kept even when the two individuals, it was difficult to think of them as people with what he saw, it was best to be suspicious of who was human and who was one of those things. Once inside and a small modicum of safety was felt, he kept to a more stoic posture while his eyes shot side to side to see if he was able to spot more of those things. In an effort to try and keep exposure to a minimum, Astor paid for his and Nalia's room. Mere minutes later he shut the door behind them. It was there that he dropped the stoic persona and set himself down on a chair set in the corner of the room, "Nalia. What were those things?" He asked with a visible shaking in his hands even as he tried to stay brave.

Nalia didn't say anything as she poked her head out to make sure it was safe before bolting ahead, obviously shaken and mute. She hadn't felt such pollution in a single being before, and the fact that there were two and they were together was even worse. Once they got to the inn, she hid herself behind him, keeping her gaze on the floor beneath her.

Astor held back much of an involuntary yelp when Nalia pulled him back into an alleyway. Instinct also lead him to grab at the back up knife tucked into his belt right until he saw Nalia's face and her motion for him to be quiet. He did as he was told, especially when he felt a tingle creeping up his body while the two disappeared into a shimmer of what he assumed was her magic. He watched the entry where she had pulled him to watch the two people pass by, the black tendrils billowing off of them forced him to hold what breath he had. He dared not breath even as he choked on his remaining breath. He released that held breath he had and struggled to keep it all under control right until Nalia lifted the cloak from them, where she could see the frightened look in his eyes. At least he didn't feel like he was the only one afraid when he saw her shaking even as she dressed herself in what he was able to gather, "Yeah." He spoke while his breathing returned to normal, "And when we get there we are seriously going to need to talk about what I just saw."