In the Shadow of Death

[greywalker13]

Candor listened attentively to Altruism, attempting to judge the value of his words. They seemed to confirm his suspicions, that this man had indeed killed before and would do so again if need be. That being said, there appeared to be no reason for the man to lie, as Candor could think of nothing that this man could gain from him that could not be acquired by force. But to not care for one’s self seemed...strange. One who does not desire to live should by all rights not have survived as a killer. Or was he a bodyguard for the lady? That was more likely, but what could cause such deep loyalty? For one to give up on their life was a concept he could not fathom. Regardless, he had no doubt that this man would make good on his threat. He resolved to take Altruism’s words at face value, and nodded in consent once his speech had finished.

Turning to the girl called Mercy, he smiled and spoke.

“That’s quite...”

He tried to force out the word “alright”, but it wouldn’t come. He struggled with his tongue for a few seconds before finally concluding.

“... understandable.”

After an awkward grin, Candor shifted closer to the riverbank and sat down, crossing his legs. That little performance was bound to be suspicious, and that was the last thing he wanted to appear to Altruism. He motioned for Vi’Lana to land beside him, which she seemed to understand and relaxed next to him on the riverbank. He whispered,

“Best try and appear the least threatening as is possible.”

After a minute of silent consideration, he spoke to the others.

“It is proably best if I introduce myself formally. My name is-”

His tongue seized again as he attempted to say “Darvos” on reflex, which after a moment he corrected.

“-Candor, and this is my...summon?”

He looked at Vi’Lana questioningly, and she responded with a nod. He continued.

“My summon, Vi’Lana. I have been alive for perhaps a half hour. I died far away from here, in the North Lands where I grew up. My killers were strangers in the woods, so forgive me if I am hesitant to trust you. I have heard that South Landers carry Hearts of Ice, and will lie freely as a result. What my new name means, and why I am not bleeding out in a drift of snow, is a question I would much like answered. I have been told that I am now a “Virtue”, as is this young lady, and I can only assume that you, sir, are one as well. I have not heard of a Virtue before, nor a Summon, nor of the dead returning to life. As for my personality, Altruism, I have never had to tell a lie in my life, as there is no need in the North Lands. There one can gain nothing through lies, as the frozen world cares not what you say, and sees through deception. I was journeying to the South Lands to seek a world beyond what I knew, and was killed by those who lie as a result.”

At the end of his speech, he sighed and lowered his head. Then he spoke once more.

“I know not why I am here, how I came to be here, or what I am. If there is anything I seek in the South Lands now, it is answers. Believe what you will.”

[Tetris]

Mercy instantly felt a wave of regret when she heard Candor tell his story. He's in the same situation as us. How could we have been so suspisious? Her eyes darkened at the thought.

Do not feel bad, it is better to be safe than sorry. I suspect this virtue is telling the truth, but perhaps not the whole truth?

Mercy looked over to Altruism, uncertain of what to do. She looked back over to Candor and realized that she just couldn't not help him.

"Well, it seems that you're in the same position as me...and Altruism. But at least you remember your past, I don't even know where I came from. Altruism does... i think..." She searched for words, hoping that Altruism didn't get mad at her.

"See, we're looking for answers too, and well civilization. Would you like to travel with us for a bit? Well, if Altruism's ok with it... and if Vi’Lana promises to not eat Eth, she makes him nervous." Mercy tried to smile.

Noticing Mercy's unease, Ethedus lept onto her lap and nuzzled her lovingly.

[tyr]

Altruism sat down with his legs tucked to his chest, his arms hanging over his knees. As he listened to Candor's story, he cocked his head sideways, not unlike a confused dog. None of it seemed like it would be a lie. Most of the things he had said were just too clumsy. If he wanted to gain their trust and then betray them, he wouldn't have told them that he didn't trust them. Trust spawns trust, so either he was telling the truth, or he was just very bad at this. Either way, Altruism decided that he would not have much to fear from this man.

Altruism looked back at Mercy, seeing that her eyes had gone dark again. He could tell that she wanted to help him, which was only confirmed by what she said next. Mercy, you fit your name too. I fit mine, and Candor... We'll see, but he probably fits his as well.

"Well, Mercy's kind of right. I know I was in some monasteries undergoing training to be an assassin. I don't remember the training, but my body does, and I don't know where they are now. I remember Hallow, but not who he was to me, just that I was torn away from him, and that I would give anything, do anything, to be by his side again, and I know that I cannot. I can see your hurt, feel your pain, but as you can see, you are hardly the only one."

Altruism considered Mercy's offer to Candor, but he already knew his conclusion. He would allow this, but he would keep an eye on Candor until he proved himself worthy of their trust. Altruism shot a smile at Mercy, to show that he didn't mind, and spoke to Candor, "I have no problems with your company. Do join us. I assure you that no harm will come to you from me, and I very much doubt from Mercy." His smile contained a hint of unspoken words, unless you do something first.

He got up, walked slightly closer to Candor and sat down next to him. Not too close, but enough. "You seem to be confused about what I told you earlier." He punctuated this remark with another smile, but this one gentle. "Prove yourself trustworthy, and I'll be willing to die for you as well. It is my way."

[greywalker13]

As the pair spoke, Candor felt a mix of both relief and suspicion. If what they say is true, then this is quite a stroke of luck. If our goals are the same, than it makes sense to travel with one another .However, this seems like too much of a coincidence. Three strangers, all recently dead, just happen to resurrect this close to each other? It cannot be coincidence. Someone or something is influencing this. Mercy seemed genuinely surprised to see me. If nothing else, I can believe her. As for Altruism...He was an assassin. One who lives by deception and cunning. To announce this freely means that he is likely telling the truth. It also makes his position as the strongest here clear. Trust is not earned through words, but actions. Even then, the wolf that leads you to shelter when full will eat you once hungry. Protection by him would be welcome, but I have no defence if he becomes my enemy. Cooperation lasts only as long as a mutual need can be filled. Still... I am a stranger in a strange world. It is best to stay with a danger I know.

Vi’Lana was the first to respond.

I have no intention of eating a summon, regardless of how our species may behave otherwise. I give you my word, for what it is worth to you.

She bowed deeply, and then relaxed once more. Candor took this opportunity to speak.

“I accept your offer, and thank you.”

He removed his gloves and extended his hand towards the pair.

“Comrades?”

Ooc: Note: While in skin-to skin contact with Candor, a person will be affected by his ability, which prevents outright lying. It works similarly to the above posts, where either the truth will slip out, or a lie will stop itself from being said. It shouldn’t be noticeable otherwise. Just a heads up. Also note that as Vi’Lana is Candor’s summon, this affects her without contact.

[Tetris]

Mercy was first to reach over and shake Candor's hand. She could sense that he was uneasy, but wanted to trust her and Altruism. Ethedus too, nudged Candor's hand with his nose.

"Comrades."Mercy agreed "I'm sur-"She tried to force the word 'sure' out, but was unable to.

That's his power, apparently you are prevented from lying. Try using 'hope' instead

"I hope we'll find what we're all looking for" Mercy felt like a bond had been created, and she was glad that she'd gained a new companion, even if he and Altruism didn't appear to be the best of friends.

She thought about Candor's power. Eth, Do i have a power too?[/]

Yes. You know how you can sense the feelings of others? that's one of your powers. The other one you'll discover eventually. Curiously Mercy cast a sideways glance to Eth, but said nothing. Instead, she addressed the other thing that was on her mind.

"So, now what?"

[tyr]

Altruism watched as Mercy shook Candor's hand and forced out an awkward sentence. It reminded him of Candor's own choppy speech patterns. What was that about?

He hadn't been expecting an answer, but Tobor replied. I'd guess that that's his power. She has to tell the truth when she touches him. You probably will too. Power? he asked, confused. Tobor responded patiently. Yes, everyone has a power. You do too, you've even already used it. When you were sneaking up on him. You went really still and stopped breathing. I didn't even realize...

He noticed that the others were waiting on his response, and snapped back into the moment. He lightly shook Candor's hand. He was sure that he could feel a slight pressure in the back of his head. No, you're being silly. You just think that since Tobor told you that you have to tell the truth now.

Without breaking contact with Candor, he said "Comrades. I don't know where we'll end up, but we'll find out, won't we? I want to trust you, Candor, but I'm still not sure. And I hope that you'll learn to trust me." Now, he let go, knowing that Candor would know the truth of his words.

He turned to take in both Mercy and Candor. "I don't see why our plan should be any different, now that we've added a member. Unless either of you object, I think we should continue walking down the river. What say you?"

[greywalker13]

After Altruism had finished shaking his hand, Candor deliberately put his glove back on. Whatever was causing him to stutter had affected Mercy as well. Did it's influence extend to those he touched? He’d have to ask Vi’Lana about it later. She'd mentioned something like this earlier. Candor... that means open and honest, if memory serves. Vi’Lana told me that my name would influence my life heavily. Is this part of it? Forcing a person to speak only the truth? Perhaps as one with no Heart of Ice, I can melt the Ice of others? This can’t have gone unnoticed. Certainly Mercy must have felt this, and Altruism no doubt suspects. He deliberately held on, though. Assuming it would affect him as it did Mercy, he must have spoken only truth.

“I have no objections. However I must ask what can be eaten in this forest. I grew up in the North Lands, and much of this place is unfamiliar.”

As if to punctuate his remark, his stomach growled angrily. Candor smiled apologetically.

Ooc: Sorry to slow this down a bit, but Candor hasn’t eaten since he resurrected.

[Tetris]

Ethedus laughed, hard. The whole situation just seemed too funny for some reason. Mercy gave him a worried look for a moment, then began laughing with Ethedus; his laugh seemed to be some what contagious. neither of them could remember the last time they laughed so hard, and they couldn't stop.

Mercy realized how silly they must've looked to the others and tried to calm down.

"S-S-orry, it's just that we were all so serious before." She said between giggles.

"Um Candor, theres blueberries over there and I still have a few of these edible leafy things too, they're actually tastier than they look" Mercy let out a few more giggles as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a slightly squished leafy vegetable, which sent her into a whole nother fit of laughs

"Oh, dear. You guys must thinhk i'm crazy! So sorry, well, I'm sure Eth or Altruism will show you where they grow along the river" Looking over to Ethedus, who was rolling in laughter. Well maybe just Altruism, then we can continue..."

[tyr]

Altruism's eyebrows rose in surprise as Mercy laughed. She was out of control! When she told him to find Candor some food, he stood up, shaking his head, but smiling. Maybe I've just been around serious people too long. Either that or hungry people too long... I don't get it. He shrugged it off and beckoned Candor to follow him.

"North Lands, huh? Wouldn't know much about them, but I doubt there were too many plants just lying around. Sounds cold. Here it's a little cold at the moment, but you can still find plants." He glanced down at his bootless feet. It was a wonder that he wasn't frozen after splashing through the river earlier. He had worked hard for the heavy calluses that protected his feet now, and he was glad of it. "The monasteries were cold like this sometimes, but you could still find... These!" He exclaimed as he found and pulled up one of the tasty plants. "See, they've got the stalk like this, and the leaves are huge," he said, pointing as he talked.

He held the plant out to Candor, already looking for more. He hated to admit it, but Mercy's laughing fit, or whatever it had been, had calmed him down some. He was still keeping an eye on Candor for suspicious activity, but he wasn't really expecting anything. In fact, he felt rather at ease now, even though he had turned his back to Candor several times while searching for plants.

[greywalker13]

Mercy’s laughing fit caught Candor off guard. Vi’Lana joined in with the girl and rabbit, and soon enough Candor found himself chuckling a little. It was a little funny, in a sense. Candor took the squished leaf, sniffed it once, then took a small bite. The leaf itself was strange, like everything else here, but it was tasty, and somewhat filling. Vi’Lana seemed content to laugh along with Ethedus and Mercy, so Candor took another bite, a fair bit larger this time, then rose to join Altruism.

Altruism seemed a fair bit more relaxed this time. Perhaps the laughter had affected him, too. Or perhaps he was content with their unspoken truce. Regardless, Candor doubted that even if he wanted to try something that he’d get very far. An assassin doesn’t live long if he can be caught unawares.

Altruism produced more of the strange leafy plants, which Candor accepted gratefully. He listened attentively to Altruism’s description of the plant’s different parts. All of this was foreign to him, and he felt it best to learn as quickly as possible.

“If you couldn’t hunt in the North Lands, you typically die quickly. You can scavenge, but anything you can find will likely have been picked clean. The moss from trees, their needles, the mushrooms that grew in their hollows, those were what you had to look for. But you have to be careful. The wrong food can kill you as easily as save you. There weren’t any plants like this, to be sure. Occasionally you could find grass beneath the snow, but that’s hardly worth the effort. ”

He glanced at the outfit that Altruism was wearing, and noticed the lack of boots. That was quite a feat of endurance, to say the least.

“As for the temperature, it was quite cold. If you ever travel there, I’d suggest finding footwear. Stealthy or no, when your feet turn black and die there’s no way to fix them.”

[Tetris]

Mercy watched as her two new companions looked for food. They appeard to be warming up to eachother, and she was glad. Ethedus too looked like he felt less threatned by Vi’Lana. The owl had even laughed with them. Mercy Was calming down a bit, but was still a little bit giddy.

She picked a few more blueberries and put them into a few small containers for later. She though about Candor, Altruism, and herself. She wondered if they'd ever find a town, or maybe abother lost soul. She also pondered her new found powers.

"Eth, do you know what my 'other' power is?" Instead of replying, Ethedus, gave her a knowledgeable look, shrugged and hopped away.

"pshh some use he is." she muttered to herself as she got up and walked over to where Altruism and Candor were. "Seems you boys have found something to munch on, shall we leave so we can make some progress before sunset?"

------------------------------
occ\\: I won't beable to post 'till Monday night, maybe. So feel free to continue with out Mercy's input; just assume she's following

[tyr]

He considered Candor's words carefully. "Moss, mushrooms, and food that can kill you. It sounds charming. I don't think hunting is really an option for us. We have nothing to bring down big game, so we'd only be able to get small creatures and fowl." He glanced at Ethedus and Tobor. "Not an attractive option. In fact, it's rather repulsive. I'd feel like a cannibal." It was true, it was actually making him slightly queasy just thinking about it. To take his mind away from such unpleasant thoughts, he tried to focus on what Candor was saying.

Altruism turned his head sideways again as Candor described the North Lands. "Well, I definitely need my feet, don't I? I don't like shoes because they make too much noise, but I did train a little to minimize the noise I made with them on. Snow though... The way you describe the North, the snow would be... crunchy. Noisy. Not really the place an assassin wants to be sent to... That being said, I love a challenge... After we get to wherever we're going, perhaps I will journey to your North. Training never truly stops." By the end, he was talking aloud to himself more than to Candor.

"I'm sorry, that was odd." He smiled. "I take my skills seriously. I like to improve them whenever an opportunity arises." As an afterthought, he added in a small voice, "The better I am, the more protection I can offer."

Mercy walked over to them, and Altruism picked more of the leafy vegetables to pack into his pockets. No doubt they'd be useful later. He smiled at Mercy when she finished talking and said, "I see no problem with that. If everyone is ready to go, we might as well. Maybe we'll find a road downstream from here."


OOC:

@ Tetris: Seeing as Grey is gone till Sunday, and you're gone till Monday, I have no issues with waiting. Don't worry about it.

@ Grey: As to where we are going, it's fairly open right now, I think. It doesn't matter to me where I end up, but I think that Happiness wants to meet up with me at some point. That's as far into the future as I've gone, so if you get an idea, feel free to sweep Alty up into it.

[greywalker13]

After the laughter subsided, Vi’Lana ruffled her feathers and returned to the treetops, her hearing sufficient to catch any conversation below. While the episode between herself, Ethedus and Mercy had apparently made the two more comfortable with her, Vi’Lana felt that perhaps excusing herself to let them bond with her partner was the wisest move at this point. As she listened to the exchange between Mercy and her summon, she chuckled silently to herself.

These young ones must learn that the world cannot be handed to them on a silver platter. ‘Tis sad, but when the times of strife come, as they surely will, they must learn to fight and adapt on their own, for their foes will not reveal their secrets so easily.

On the ground, Candor laughed slightly at Altruism’s sarcasm, and then sobered as the conflict regarding hunting set in. After Altruism had finished, he replied.

“While the snow can easily give away your position, it also swallows sound, which makes it both peaceful and dangerous. And it’s not odd to want to improve yourself in all things. To stop improving means to fall behind, as the world changes with or without you.

With regards to food, I can understand your reasons for not wishing to hunt small game. I suppose fishing would be valid, if there are some in this river. Failing that, perhaps we shall get lucky and a wolf or wildcat will pick up our trail. Those do exist down here, right?”

Before Altruism could answer, Mercy approached and asked if they should continue, which Altruism and Candor agreed to.

“Yes, let us be off. Following the river seems to be the best course of action for now.”

The trio continued down the river, with Candor glancing ever so often to the tree line, as though expecting foes unknown to emerge.

As the sun began to set, Vi’Lana descended and perched on Candor’s shoulder.

A brook flows into the river not far from here. Follow it, and it leads to a clearing in the woods. There are signs that it has been used as a camp before. It would be as good a place to sleep as any.

With that, she returned to the treetops, perching on a tall tree near the brook.

Candor nodded in silent approval and increased his pace.


Ooc: The clearing is the same one that Restraint, Talent, and Detachment used. I'm going to make a transfer post. Let me know if you have any objections.

[tyr]

OOC: No objections, but I just noticed that if we go to House Eternity, Determination is lonely in the library there... Just a thought, some different ideas, if we wanted to meet some other people. Different options, etc.

[greywalker13]

Ooc: Thought about that. The only problem is if we go to House Eternity now we'll get tied up with Justice, Innocence, Chastity, Loyalty, and Equanimity. Figured give them a bit of time to sort out the mess, then either find them or let them find us. We'll be close enough to House Eternity that it's feasible, perhaps Purity and Honesty could catch us if they return after dealing with Lark/Taint. New thread will be "Fireside Tales"