Darker Purposes

[Skie and Avery]

closed

“A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is.... A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.”

-C.S. Lewis

"Where can I find a crystal whelpling?" Somewhere in the confines of the library, someone was speaking in a tone that obviously thought the rules of silence and calm thought were to be ignored, that she was above them. "I'm looking for the tiny crystal dragons that can be tamed." The voice was feminine, beautiful, and utterly distracting.

Avery had started his research in the library on good terms. He was pleased that most of what he'd need could be found along the grasslands, with one item right by the Shop and another within him. He smiled as he thought of the adorable Lasair. The days he'd spent with her since she'd given him the list of all that she would need had been enough to bring a smile on his face again, as he'd thumbed through volumes of beastiaries and zoology reports. Finding out just what a Coinin was, and where it's girly parts were found was more difficult than he'd thought when all he had to go on was a common name for the animal and the knowledge that it probably resembled something of a fur ball. The voice was not helping.

"I certainly will not keep my peace." the voice said again, dead centered on finding out someone who could tell her what she needed. Now that Avery was lost on the tome, unable to concentrate through her slightly pompous voice to find what he needed, he decided that it was his duty as a patron of the library this day to shut her up himself. He stood from the table in a fluid motion, gathering the same glances towards his nudity that he'd received when he'd first entered. He stalked through the library, until he found a strong-willed woman berating a poor library assistant for information. At another mention of whelpling, Avery stepped up, using all his charisma, and a bit of the information he'd seen posted up around the Synthesis Shop to give his services.

"You can't just find one. You have to make it. I can help you, you know."

[Luca]

If she had realized that Dheathain was as far away from Corone as it had turned out to be, Luca would have sent someone else to find this so-called crystal whelpling. Trinkets and artifacts from the distant land were all the rage among the nobility at the moment, but if you could get your hands on a crystal whelpling you had something no one else had yet been able to acquire. Of course that meant quite simply that the Baroness of Snowdale required one - which meant she had to make a trip to Dheathain.

Now, exhausted, frustrated, confused, and a bit upset, she stood in a terribly organized library with an adolescent attendant raising a skeptical eyebrow at her as she demanded to know where she could find one of these tiny dragons. He kept telling her to quiet herself, to control herself, to please calm herself, but it only made her upset. Taking a breath she prepared to instead use a bit of her legendary charm on the youngster - hopefully he wouldn't end up with a crush on her.

"You can't just find one. You have to make it. I can help you, you know."

Luca turned amber eyes on the perfect form of a completely undressed man who seemed to be offering help to a perfect stranger. It took her a moment (one which was extended by her slow appraisal of the lines and shadows on this exquisite specimen - the first breathing man she'd seen in such a state) to accept his statement that she had to in fact manufacture this whelpling. With an exasperated sigh she put a hand to her hip, her head tilting to one side as she rolled her eyes.

"I have to make a whelpling? You're telling me," she continued skeptically, trying to ignore the rapid increase in her heartbeat and attempting to keep her eyes on the man's handsome face rather than... other parts of his anatomy, "that a dragon can be somehow created? How exactly is it that you know how to do this?"

Luca wasn't stupid, and she knew that she should consider it strange that a perfect stranger (and perfect he certainly was) should offer to help her. It didn't matter at the moment - the beautiful man before her had just brought her one step closer to her intended goal. With a coy smile curving the corners of her mouth, Luca twirled a lock of mahogany hair between her perfectly manicured fingertips.

"Well, whatever help you're offering," she decided firmly, "I'll certainly take it - regardless of the cost. I can afford it I'm sure."

[Skie and Avery]

His smile remained one of fixed, friendly openness. His arm extended, so that she could choose to take it by the elbow and go with him. Of course at this point, the truth would be worth more than anything else, and so that is what he gave to her.

"In this place, amazing things can be made with the materials the land offers up. There are faerie who do all the work of object creation, you just have to bring them the tools. I, myself, am looking for some things to be mixed, and if you'd like, you can come with me. We'll gather our things and go to the fae together. A traveling companion is all I need for payment. Places as wild as this one can be daunting when you're alone."

He paused, walking towards the exit of the library, stopping to open a door and hold it in place for her. "Besides, if we journey together, it will save you some time. After all, I know what you need, so it would save you a trip to the fae to get the list for a whelpling."

[Luca]

Luca smiled, an inarguably feline smile, and nodded slowly. In reality she contemplated his offer. There was obviously more to what he wanted than just companionship, but he had the information and the ability to get her what she wanted. Whatever the cost was, it would be worth it the moment she saw the faces of her fellow nobles when she revealed her newest possession.

"It would seem you have made yourself indispensable to me," she purred charmingly, lightly laying her hand over his arm, "And at such a good price."

There was so much going on behind her hazel eyes than anyone would have guessed. Although they seemed only to be taking in the chiseled form of her naked guide, Luca was actually deciding just how far she could trust this piece of art.

"I'll certainly be in your debt," Luca continued, "But I'm sure we'll work that out later, no?"

[Skie and Avery]

"M'lady!" he exclaimed in mock surprise as they hit the streets of the fae city, great architecture of priceless beauty all around them. "The journey is the reward itself." As he took her down the steps of the building, past a glittering fountain guarded with the timeless visage of a fae maiden, he leaned in for her confidence again.

"Ingredients that we will both need can be found before we ever even leave the city. We will, however, need a way of wresting our prize from it's bed."

He led her down a thin and winding side street, where small shops were set up, some of them spilling their wares onto the avenue via carts and tables set up outside to showcase their most commonly offered items. A rare trinket or two was placed near the door to try and lure the customer into the small rooms where the most expensive things were held, and the best of salesmen could spin their pitches. It was near a jewel store, where from inside the dim candle-lit shop the glittering of gems could be seen, that Avery finally pulled them over to the side. He selected a small hand pick-axe and several small leather bags, haggling down the owner to a mere 50 gold, which quickly turned to a total payment of 10 gold when his wife caught a glimpse of her husband fleecing the poor beautiful beast.

They continued along their way, finding a pathway that led outside the main square and around the edging buildings. Here, the pathway of smoothly trodden cobble gave way to stone laid brick that was slowly being taken back into the forest by means of moss and small ferns that stalwartly refused to be stopped by the walkway. They nudged up from cracks between the slabs, helping to blend in the hand of the fae with the rest of natural Dheathain. Ahead, the sounds of rushing water was growing quicker as the two moved around a cliffside. Through the thick trees to their left, a glimpse of glistening river was seen here and there, sometimes treating them to a full view when the trees opened up to the rocky embankments. It wasn't long before they came to the waterfalls, where water from high above the city came crashing down to the river that ran beside it. The air was laden with moisture, the mist thick as it roiled away from the top of the water.

"Behind this waterfall," he said, his arm sweeping out to bring her attention to the view, "Is a cave filled with many crystals. You'll need two, I think ones with red hues would work best. I need one as well, with very specific requirements." His grin widened mischievously and he took her hand quickly, placing a kiss on the knuckles.

"For luck," he insisted with a wink as he edged behind the falling water, and into the darkness of the cave.

[Luca]

Luca did her best to keep up with her guide, which proved to be a challenge - not because his stride was so much longer than hers, or even because her heavy skirts hampered her, but because each storefront or cart held something new and beautiful and different that no one else she knew yet owned. It was almost an obsession for the young baroness, this deep compulsion to own that which belonged to no one else. And it was a growing compulsion, she realized as she lusted over a bejeweled gown of sheerest violet organza that hung motionlessly perfect in the window of a dressmaker's shop.

When the delicious man who led her finally paused near a jeweler she thought she was in heaven, but instead he only purchased simple tools. Raising an eyebrow, Luca silently noted that he seemed not to mind at all that with each passing moment she grew that much more indebted to him.

The path waned rather quickly as he led her from the shop, and Luca lifted her skirts to avoid staining the delicate peach silk on the verdant moss that was ruining her slippers. Of course the beads that detailed the edge of the skirt were a lost cause, snagging here and there on branches and bramble at the side of the path.

Such worries were swept from her mind, the annoyed frown erased from her face with a gasp as the waterfall came into view. For a moment she simply stared, and then her eyes passed over the emerald forest shrouded in mist, and finally rested on the man who smiled at her before slipping behind the waterfall. Her hand tingled a bit where he'd brushed his lips across it in a lighthearted kiss. If he hadn't been so perfect, she'd have probably shoved him headfirst into the rocks below the falls - instead, she followed him wordlessly, giving no thought to what the misty droplets that hung in the air were doing to her wardrobe. Her eyes were locked on that hypnotizing backside that moved so tantalizingly before her into the dim silver glow of the caves.

It took Luca several moments for her eyes to adjust to the darkness that swallowed them as they descended into the cave. For a moment she had to stand completely still. Losing sight of the stranger she began to call out to him, before realizing that she had no clue what his name was. What a rotten situation - the devastatingly handsome bastard had probably abandoned her here for some savage little fae folk to come and sacrifice her to their naked god.

Oh how Luca hated men at the moment.