Burning by mistake. (Closed to Seth Raul)

[Claudia]

Claudia looked around as she entered the city of Arno in Scara Brae. It seemed eerily quiet that morning. People were walking the paved roads, but nobody was saying anything. It seemed like everyone was staring at her as well, but that seemed normal to her. She looked different than everyone else.

The only reason Claudia had flown there was to take a nap in the inn. She had gotten tired of sleeping out in the wilderness and had decided to treat herself to a nice place to rest. As Claudia started to look around for the Inn, a pair of soldiers grabbed her from behind.

"What the heck is going on?" Claudia yelled out, confusedly.

"You know damn well what you did, lady." A third guard said, poking a spear at her from behind.

"I just arrived here. I haven't done a thing." Claudia said as she attempted to turn to get a good look at the man behind her.

"She's attempting to escape. Subdue her!" The guard holding her left arm yelled out. Claudia felt something hitting her hard upside the head, as she fell in an unconcious state.
------

Claudia woke up and looked around. She was in a tight jam. Someone had tied her up to a wooden post sticking out of the ground. There appeared to be quite the crowd gathering and chatting it up, the whole town seemed to be there, and it was around midnight.

Suddenly, what had to be the chief of the village appeared and began to speak.

"My good people, for the past couple of years we have been plagued with a murderous beast. Nobody who has seen the beast has survived, save for the few that have seen it from a distance. All those eye witnesses described it as a winged beast with a semi-human form. Tonight, we burn the beast that has made our life a living hell."

Out of the corner of her eye, Claudia saw the executioner light a torch, ready to burn her at the stake.

[Seth_Rahl]

It had been a long night. Ifrit yawned as he awoke, stretching his limbs as he stepped groggily out of his bed. He was naked save for his pants, as even his gaunlet he had taken off for sleep.

Wondering in the back of his mind why the hell he had stayed up so late, he remembered the strange figure he had seen in the sky last night, hovering in the darkness. It was a large beast of some sort, Ifrit could recall, but before he could go out and investigate it had flown off with a beat of its mighty wings.

Well, its not my problem. The demon thought grumpily to himself as he pulled on his gauntlet onto his right arm and slid his clothes on, still grumbling. A knock on the door alerted him of another's prescence, and Ifrit immediately reached for the giant falchion that stood propped up against the doorway as he spoke. "Come in, the door's unlocked." He spoke in an irritated voice. The demon was defenitely not a morning person. Ruffling his raven hair with his gloved left hand he grabbed the sword with his right and sheathed it upon his back in one swift motion as the door opened.

It revealed a young waitress, eyes fearful as she stared up at the taller man with blazing red eyes and toned muscles. They were eyes filled with both fear and awe as she stood, mouth agape and staring. "Well?" Ifrit said, a little snappier that he should have, and the girl flinched.

"Um, its just..." She put the tips of her forefingers together nervously. "The master was wondering if you would be ordering breakfast or not." She spoke quietly but without a stutter. Ifrit glanced at her once before slipping his boots on and turning away from her.

"No, i'll be leaving. Tell him thank you, anyways." He told the girl, only to find her gone when he turned around and the pounding of running footsteps retreating into the hallway. Ifrit shook his head as he gathered the remainder of his things and shut the door behind him as he too left.

---------------------

The morning air was fresh, and the grass was as green as ever. Dew soaked the newborn trees and showered the buildings with water from last night's rain storm, and birds twirped as Ifrit strode underneath, his eyes roaming the streets.

Something was wrong.

There was no one in the streets. Not a single soul. And this was frightening for the demon swordsman, who had come to associate Scara Brae with bustle and activity at all times of the day.

Suddenly a noise in the distance reached his ears, and the demon swung around to see a crowd gathered in the Square. Moving closer, Ifrit saw that a stake had been set up, and someone appeared to be tied to the stake. As he strode faster and faster, his straining ears caught the Mayor's words and his eyes widened at them.

Winged monster? Ifrit recalled the beast he had seen last night, and realized that this women who was tied to the stake was innocent of the crime. Taking an even closer look, Ifrit realized something else: She was a demon, like him.

He didn't know where it came from, but suddenly a strange rage came over him as he sprinted forward, drawing the massive blade from his back in one hand as he shoved people out of the way in the other. People screamed in fear and rage as he dashed through the crowd, his eyes never letting go of the executioner's hand.

And then he was there, leaping into the air. He swung his blade with all his might, knocking the torch from the man's hand, who jumped back in shock and surprise. Several guards were already rushing the demon, and his head pounded from all the noises that were flooding in from the crowd and the yelling guards. Sweeping his blade in an arc before him, he screamed, "Everyone SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!"

They did, over a thousand eyes turning his way. They were like the maid's back at the inn, like prey. Filled with fear and awe. Fear, and awe.

Breathing heavily, he slammed the tip of his blade into the stand as he pointed one clawed finger from his gauntlet at the demon woman, who he could tell was a succubus now from the curve of her body and the bat like wings that protruded from her shoulders. At any other time Ifrit may have had an interest in her, but right now he was focused on getting the both of them out alive. "She's innocent!" He proclaimed. "I have seen this beast you speak of. And she is not it."

[Claudia]

The crowd started talking to each other in whispers. Some of them seemed to be putting some thought into what was said, but most were just wondering when someone would get the man out of the way so the burning could still happen. Once again, it was the elder that spoke on everyone's behalf.

"Do you have any proof, my good sir, because it seems to me that it is just as likely that you are an accomplice. At the same time, if what you say is true, we may need your help to catch the killer."

Claudia perked her ears up. Was he going to set her free, or not? The chief continued to speak.

"I will give you a week to prove her innocence, but no longer."

Claudia had to speak up at this point.

"I'm sorry to say this, but it seems likely that if you just leave me hanging here, one of your townspeople will decide to burn me. They all seem rather angry at your decision. I would like to have a say in my fate as well, and hunt for the real culprit."

"I'm afraid that we can't risk that without some insurance that you won't try to escape. I will set you free, as long as you understand a few rules. Rule one: You must be escorted everywhere by this town's guards. Rule two: If you are caught attempting to kill anyone or trying to escape you must be executed immediately. Rule three: For the town's sake, if the deadline is not met, we must assume that you two have been in cahoots from the start and burn you both."

Claudia nodded. It was going to be extremely tough to find the guy within a week, but it was better than the other option.

Four guards took Claudia down from the stake as the chief gave her one last reminder.

"Seven days and counting."

[Seth_Rahl]

The day was late now. Ifrit walked with the female demon now for what seemed to be alone, but out of the corner of his eye he saw two archers and two knights setting their sights on the traveling pair. He knew he could have handled them, or at least held them off long enough for his companion to escape, but it wasn't worth breaking the law to do.

Speaking up, he broke the silence with a question. "What's your name?" He asked quietly, his eyes focused ahead on the looming sign of the "Shining Unicorn", the inn he had stayed at earlier today. While he was loath to spend the night once more here, he knew that if either of them tried pushing their bodies any further today it would do more harm than good.

Seven days...Ifrit grumbled to himself. Thanks to his instincts, now he was involved in something he didn't wan't to be in, whether he liked it or not. While a succubus wasn't a bad choice in companionship, he knew from tales about them that they were a fickle race, and quite deadly on their own. While she may not have been the monster that this town was searching for, she was a monster in her own respect.

In that case...Ifrit almost smiled at the irony of his statement. ...then so am I.

[Claudia]

Claudia turned to her mysterious saviour. "Um... The name is Claudia, but I'm a bit confused. Who are you and why did you save me? I mean we both know tha I'm innocent, but wouldn't most people just let the killing go on because of what I am?" Claudia sighed.

"Sorry if I'm sounding ungrateful, I really do appreciate what you did for me back there. I just was surprised to see a human that wanted to help a 'beast' like me to the point that he'd be willing to put his life on the line to save mine."

Claudia looked around and shook her head. "Which reminds me, do you have any clue on how we are to go about finding the guy within the week?"

[Seth_Rahl]

Talkative. That was the impression he had gotten when she had first opened her mouth, and to his dismay he had found that he had been right. A simple name would have satisfied the demon's curiousity, but instead a stream of blabber and her own questions came spewing from her mouth like an unending current.

Ifrit sighed. Of all the seductive demonesses in the world, why'd he have to be stuck with this one? But moments later she almost had him bursting into tears from the strain of trying not to laugh when she said she was surprised to see a human like himself helping her. She thought he was human?!

"I guess you really don't know, do you?" He asked her, then sighed. His eyes closed as he frowned in concentration, then when they opened they were blazing red. "Does this make you realize that I'm not human either?" He asked politely, chuckling slightly before walking ahead of her, his longer legs taking long strides.

It was growing darker now. The pub/inn was just up ahead, and Ifrit saw that several men had now gathered inside the glowing room, and were drinking and laughing. Looking back at his femenine companion, Ifrit saw the wings on her back again and realized that if the men saw them there would be trouble. Taking off his black coat, he wrapped it around the form of the succubus so that her wings were completely hidden by the black coat. Ifrit now showed that he had a black undershirt on with no sleeves, exposing sleek and toned muscles rippling beneath hardened skin. "We'll talk tommorow." He said to her, before grabbing her right hand in his unarmored left. "When we get inside, hide your face and hurry upstairs. Go inside room #3, which'll be on the left. That's my room." Looking around to see if the stalkers of their's would leave them be, Ifrit then took the succubus inside, the door opening noisily. At the sound, several pairs of eyes turned to the form of Ifrit in drunken curiousity or such. The bartender stopped wiping his glasses and stared at the demon.

"Sorry bout this, Hagar." Ifrit spoke as he reached into his purse and took out two gold coins. "This is for the both of us, for one night. I'll be staying in the room that I had last night." Glancing behind him, Ifrit motioned for the succubus to move towards the stairs.

[Claudia]

Claudia quietly nodded and headed up the stairs. It was hard to believe that she hadn't realized that she had missed the fact that her saviour had to be a demon. There were so many clues out there.

The fact that, according to him, he had seen the demon and survived, The fact that he had shown enough compassion to save her from being burned at the stake, the fact that he didn't seem at all afraid of her, the clues were all laid out for her, Claudia just hadn't noticed them.

Claudia picked up a newspaper and looked behind her nervously. The soldiers didn't seem to be following her at the moment, but that didn't mean it would stay that way forever. Being careful to keep her face hidden behind the newspaper, Claudia headed up the stairs to the room she was instructed to go to and opened it up. When Claudia entered the inn room, she immediately took in the sights. The walls were blue, and the floors were white. There only appeared to be one bed, but that wouldn't be much of a problem, since it was made for two people. The sheets were made of a fine cotton that matched the color of the walls perfectly. Claudia was tired, but after the day she had, she decided that she should clear her mind by taking a shower before heading to bed.

[Seth_Rahl]

"Ifrit." the bartender spoke sternly. He was looking to the stairs, where the succubus had hid her face with a newspaper that she picked up from one of the stools. "Who is she?"

"Just another customer." Ifrit vaguely replied. He could hide his own demonic heritage pretty well, but he knew that even with his coat covering the girl's wings she couldn't be called human. "Put her on my bill." He told the older man quietly before handing him four gold coins. Hagar simply nodded and began putting the coins in a bag, and when Ifrit began going up the stairs he noticed him writing them down in a notebook or something.

When he got to his room the door was closed. At least she had the sense to do that. He sighed silently. What was she thinking? Without knocking he opened the door quietly and stepped inside.

She wasn't in there when he stepped in, but he could hear sounds of the shower running behind the door to the small shower by his room. Ifrit almost scoffed, but held his sarcasm back not only outloud but in his head.

Give her a break, he silently ridiculed himself. She must be tired. Unsheathing the blade upon his back he leaned it against the wall and began taking off his undershirt, when he noticed that she had left his coat on the bed.

One bed. He had forgotten that. Sighing outloud this time, he ran his unarmored hand through his black hair, ruffling it slightly. He supposed it didn't matter, but he doubted it was going to be anything but awkward.

[Claudia]

After fifteen minutes in the shower, claudia got out and wrapped a towel around herself. She made sure her wings were covered by the towel before she picked up the newspaper and headed out to meet Ifrit. After making absolutely certain that noone else was in the room, Claudia put down the newspaper and dropped the towel, giving her wings room to breathe and in effect rendering herself completely naked.

It wasn't like she cared at all, she was beautiful and proud of her body. She picked her clothes off the bed and put them on. After a bit of hesitation, Claudia also decided that it would be a good idea to put the coat on, despite it making her wings uncofortable.

"Thanks again for helping me out back there." Claudia said just before she tucked herself in and fell asleep.

[Seth_Rahl]

Ifrit watched as she came out of the bathroom, wrapped in her towel and covering her face with the newspaper she had picked up earlier. Good, she's still cautious. Ifrit thought. She had also covered her wings with the towel, which was good, even though there was no one in the room besides the two of them.

She looked around for a bit before setting down the newspaper. Ifrit thought that that would be the extent of it, but when she dropped her towel and exposed her naked body, he was beginning to have some serious doubts. Still he watched, trying to be impassionate while he glanced away. Thankfully, she grabbed her clothing off of the bed and slid into them, and after a moment's hesitation put on his coat as well. Its not THAT comfy, woman...his mind muttered before she spoke again, thanking him for his earlier actions.

"Whatever." He said, trying to sound tough. In actuallity, he had been touched that she felt so open around him that she could expose herself and trust him not to violate her. Well, perhaps touched wasn't the appropriate word, but in any case, he didn't want to show that he cared that much.

After all, what kind of demon cares? He thought to himself as he glanced at her and saw that she had already fallen asleep. Sighing, he took off his metal gauntlet, sliding it off his right hand and setting it next to his blade leaning against the wall and slid off his boots as well, wiggling his toes slightly to get the feeling back in them.

The moon was full and shone upon the slight form of the succubus under the covers. Strange. Ifrit's thoughts raced as he sat awake, running his fingers through his hair as he debated whether or not to sleep on the floor or in the bed with her. I don't even know her, and yet I'm trying to decide whether or not I should sleep in the same bed with her. He groaned aloud as he rubbed his temples, but after a couple moments screwed his face up and with one last breath he stole into bed with her, turning his back to her as he slid into the covers.

She was warm, and even though she was wearing his coat, he could feel her wings poking him in the back. It wasn't uncomfortable, strangely. In fact, it was quite nice. And when he moved a little bit to get himself more comfortable he could feel the soft shape of her bottom rub against his--

Goddamit! Ifrit snarled inside as he held on to his self control. I didn't save her to have sex with her! Breathing slightly, he stayed still, fearing and yet wishing that she would move as well.

This is gonna be a long night...

[Claudia]

Claudia woke up the next day and looked around. The guards who were supposed to have been following them everywhere were still nowhere to be seen, which surprised her a bit. She had been traveling cautiously, but this Ifrit guy could be easier to track. The moment of solitude was quite short-lived, though.

As soon as she got out of bed she heard someone pounding on the door.

"You can't hide from your crimes forever!" The voice rang out. Claudia looked through the keyhole to find out who was pounding on the door. It appeared to be one of the guards that was supposed to be following her, but only one of them.

"Excuse me, but where are your friends?" Claudia replied through the door.

"You know Damn well where they are, you murderous scheming slut. You killed them! When you took off on us the four of us decided to split up to find you. I am the only one left, and nobody else was killed. You need to die for your crimes here and now!" The soldier yelled back at her.

Claudia couldn't believe her luck. She had no proof whatsoever that she didn't pick the soldiers off one by one, and all evidence seemed to all-to-conveniently point towards her. If ever she needed a brilliant idea, now was the time.

[Seth_Rahl]

A pounding on the door woke Ifrit up. Well, he couldn't really say woke, since he didn't think that he really slept in the first place. Still, hearing the walls being pounded in first thing in the morning is not something anyone wants to hear, especially not an exhausted half demon with the intent to murder on his mind.

It was the guard it seemed, but he was alone, and was apparently blaming Claudia for killing his comrades. Shit, so the bastard's already been here. Ifrit grumbled in his mind as he stood up and slid on his metal gauntlet on his right arm, momentarily flexing the clawed fingers before pushing past the succubus, who was still dressed in his coat. I'm gonna need that back before we go...He thought about saying to her, but a spear through the wooden door, interrupted any words he was going to say.

"Son of a--" he nearly swore as the speartip grazed his stomach, making a small cut. "What in blazes do you think you are doing?!" He grabbed the end of the spear that had nearly impaled him and pulled. Hard. Really, he had intended to just yank the weapon out of the guard's hands, but instead his whole body came crashing through the door. Must be a really weak wood. Ifrit absently noted before lifting the fallen guard, dazed and surprised, off of the ground and bringing him face to face.

"Look, I was with her the entire night, and I couldn't get one friggin' ounce of sleep because..." He looked over at her and decided to rephrase his sentance. "...because I couldn't get to sleep. So if there's anyone you should point fingers at, maybe its me!" He nearly shouted this in the guard's face, and for a second Ifrit thought he saw a monster in the guard's eyes, grinning evilly. But then he blinked, and the image was gone. "So lay off her, will ya?" He shoved the guard roughly to the side and out the door, where the guard was about to say something but a glare from Ifrit silenced him.

Turning to Claudia, he sighed and rubbed his black hair, only just realizing that he only had his pants on. "Look, I'm gonna need my coat back. I know you may want to keep it cause of your wings, but cause of this fool's racket--" He jabbed a left thumb behind him at the guard. "--I don't think it really matters anymore."

He reached over and grabbed his undershirt and pulled it on. "If you really feel uncomfortable without a coat, though, I'm sure we can pick one up before heading to the mountains. It might be cold."

[Claudia]

"The mountains?" Claudia questioned as she took the coat off. She was sure that Ifrit had ome plan in mind, but she had yet to figure out what it was. Her first problem with it was the fact that the guards were supposed to kill her if she even tried to leave the city. Her second problem was she saw no tactical advantage what-so-ever to going to the mountains other than running away from the town, or was that what Ifrit planned? Claudia doubted it, He didn't seem that type but her instincts had been wrong before.

"You c-can't l-leave town. R-Remember?" The guard managed to spit out, clearly afraid of Ifrit more than Claudia at this point. If Ifrit wanted the mountains, though, Claudia had finally thought up a way out of town.

"You are awfully cute when you stutter, you know that? Of course, a big hunk of a man like has already figured out the loophole. Why don't you take us out of the city yourself? I'm sure your brilliant mind could find some excuse to get us out there alive. I promise I'll make it up to you." Claudia said to the guard, laying the charm on thick.

"You are insane woman. Why would I help you? Still, I suppose I do have a duty to follow you, and I'm sure youll find a way to escape the city even without my help, So I will see what I can do. Just please don't ditch me again." The guard replied. It didn't work exactly as planned, but she got some decent results none-the-less.

Claudia then turned back to Ifrit.

"To the mountains, then, and yeah, a jacket would be nice."

[Taskmienster]

This thread has been sitting for a full year. Since no response has been made to create activity I am going to be moving this. If you would like it to be reopened please feel free to PM myself or another staff member and they will be able to move it for you back to Scara Brae.