Announcement

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 06-30-2014, 06:49 PM

Jack stood. "I can show you. Come on." He took her hand and led her outside. It was evening by now, and the moon was shining down, shining through tree tops. He pointed to it. "See? The moon peering through the forest, or even glittering on the snow. The stars glimmering in the night sky framed by pines. Some nights you can here the wolves sing, or the owls debating with one another. During the day, you can see for leagues. Every rock and crevice hides some beauty."
"Some danger too," Sylviana muttered, having followed them out. "The only beauty up here is a cold, hard beauty."
Jack rolled his eyes. "That's cause you don't know how to appreciate it."
"Doesn't feed me or keep the wet off, so why should I?" she retorted. With that she turned and went back in the cave, leaving them alone.

**Peeps** · 07-04-2014, 08:54 PM

Aria clutched Jack's hand as he brought her out into the night, the blanket still loosely wrapped around her. His hand was significantly bigger than hers, and was heavily calloused compared to hers, which only had some brand new scrapes. He could probably crush her hand if he tried, yet as big and strong a man he was, Aria felt safe around him despite only recently meeting. He seemed easily able to handle the frigid climate, so already she could go as far as saying that she needed him.
"I see what you're talking about," she said, slightly realizing the dreamlike beauty in the moonlight while struggling to not focus on the cold night air blowing into her face. "That's not something I'll get to see much." She actually wasn't sure if she would ever see it again after that night. As pretty as the sight may have been, the harsh mountains were not close to winning her over. However, Jack himself may have been getting there. She couldn't help admiring the way he seemed so innocent, and how he seemed so comfortable in these conditions. He seemed like more of a character she would meet in a dream, and there was almost an otherworldly sense about him because of how isolated he was from the rest of the world while he was nearly living in the sky above everyone else. For a while, she even felt like she was about to wake up back to her city life.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 07-31-2014, 04:41 PM

Jack looked at Aria with something of a frown. "That would be up to you, you know. No doubt you'll want to return to the warmer lands below, but you can always come back up. I'll show you mountain goats and snow leopards. Pine trees decorated in icicles and waterfalls frozen for eternity. I could lead you along trails that only the wildlife and I know, show you how to spy on people that wander here. Nothing happens up here that I don't know about," he added, somewhat proudly. Yet despite his size, he sounded like a child claiming the ability to count to ten, with all the innocent pride of the young.

**Peeps** · 08-12-2014, 03:49 PM

"Well, I'll have to come back sometime," Aria noted. She had to admit, Jack lived an amazing lifestyle, though it wouldn't be suitable for most people, especially Aria. The cold was one thing, and it was all around a rather dangerous place if you didn't know what you're doing, but there was another thing that would make it hell for her. "Doesn't it get lonely at all up here?" she asked as she looked up into his eyes, gripping his arm which did not give off as much warmth as she had expected. This was something that made Aria actually feel bad for Jack, knowing that he could probably count on his fingers all the people he had met in his life, and that his only friend seemed to be a lynx. He had obviously never even gotten to experience the pleasures of romance. But perhaps the fact that he wasn't used to company allowed him to live like this.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 09-02-2014, 02:58 PM

"Lonely?" Jack repeated. "Well, yeah. The only one for me to talk to is Sylvanas, and as you've seen, she can be rather bad-tempered. But I've learned to enjoyed the quiet." He looked at their surroundings, the beautiful chill that encompassed his entire life. "Even if I wanted more, though, I can't. I'm... dangerous." He touched her hand, her warmth feeling so wonderful against his chilled skin, but he carefully removed the blissful heat. "You see, I'm a Stari. I wasn't raised by them, but I have the blood and with it, the powers. Not just any, but the unique powers of the glacinox. No doubt you've felt how cold I am. If I'm not careful, I could give you frostbite, if not worse." He sighed and shrugged. "A curse my father tried escaping from, and one I hide from. I've learned to control it, though, to keep it from hurting anyone." He grinned, not noticing that he still held her hand, and the cold from exposure and from him was turning her blue.

**Peeps** · 09-04-2014, 03:03 PM

Aria kept holding Jack's hand as he spoke, and did feel pretty cold but it was hardly noticeable while the snowy wind whirled around them, freezing air nipping at her skin wherever it could. She looked down at her hand when he mentioned frostbite, but was relieved when he said he could control it. However, she couldn't help pulling it free from his grip when she noticed that it was almost blue. The weather was changing as they talked, and with the wind picking up it became difficult to make out what Jack was saying. Despite her efforts of squeezing the blanket around herself to keep warm, Aria couldn't bear the cold any longer. She hoped Jack would understand, as easy as it was for him to stand around in air this cold. "Why don't we head back inside?" she asked over the howling wind, not caring about how weak she must have sounded. "The cold is getting to be a bit too much for me."

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 01-18-2015, 04:04 PM

"Oh! Yes, yes of course!" Jack hadn't realized how blue she was getting from cold, and hastened to escort her back towards his cave. Sylvanas raised her head to watch them from her place on the bed. "Here, let me get the fire going again," Jack said, moving to the fire pit and stoking the glowing embers. Before long there was a good blaze burning. He smiled at it happily, but was forced to take a few steps away from the blistering heat. Sylvanas scowled at him, then stood, stretched, and walked out, likely to hunt while he and his guest continued to talk.

**Peeps** · 01-18-2015, 04:24 PM

Once they were settled down back inside Jack's cave, Aria sat down by the newly revived fire. The blanket she kept flung around her body absorbed plenty of warmth from the flames and before long her body temperature had reached a more reasonable level. At first she just sat there watching the flames dance, not wanting to speak as she got more comfortable. Her eyes traced Sylvanas as the lynx walked outside. Aria was impressed at how Jack and Sylvanas could just walk out into the numbing cold like it was nothing. It made her feel weak, and she thought about the road ahead in her search for her brother. She tried to stay confident, but couldn't help getting the thought that maybe she wasn't ready for this. "How would you feel about leaving the mountains for once?" Aria asked. It seemed like if a man could handle living in the mountains he could handle anything, though perhaps it would be difficult for Jack to adapt to new climates after living in the snow for so long. She thought about it and realized that a man living in a rock probably wouldn't do so well in a visit to the city. But he would surely know a thing or two about survival that could apply to any environment, and that would be helpful to Aria if she were able to bring him along on her adventure.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 01-19-2015, 08:35 PM

He frowned at her. "Leave?" he repeated. "Why would I leave? This is my home. Sylvanas and I are happy here. Well, usually happy here..." He trailed off, thinking of why his father had left the Stari. Of the dangers his abilities had posed to others. He'd fled to the mountain to protect others from himself. Jack was in better control of his powers, but as he'd never been around people other than his parents for long intervals, was he really any safer? He hadn't hurt Aria yet, but that could change rather easily.

**Peeps** · 01-19-2015, 08:50 PM

"Ah, well..." Aria started, noticing that Jack had no idea where she had been leading him with her question. His clueless ways were kind of cute, but she figured it could become irritating if she had to explain everything to him. "If you want, you can come with me in the morning, see what the world below is like."

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 02-09-2015, 12:52 PM

"You mean, for a visit?" he asked, considering. He could do a visit. He wouldn't stay down there, not if his gifts would continue to be dangerous, but a visit would be fun. He was beginning to get excited when he remembered. "I'll have to ask Sylvanas. She doesn't like when I go anywhere without her, and I'm not sure she'd want to go. It could be fun though, if it was just a visit." He smiled happily, thinking of how nice it would be to see something other than the snow covered rocks he'd grown up with. Beautiful as they were, it would be nice to see something new.

**Peeps** · 02-09-2015, 02:07 PM

"I'm sure it'll be fun," Aria told Jack, showing an encouraging smile. "It's been years since I've seen the other side of the mountains. I remember it being very beautiful down there. Very green." Even though her eyes were glued to the fire, she recalled the serenity of the forest and her village. Until she had to leave, of course. She broke her gaze from the fire, blocking out horrid memories of her last night in Pinehaven. She couldn't help letting out a sigh. "It'll definitely be a change of scenery, but you'll like a visit." She made it sound like she was bringing Jack with her for fun, but in all honesty, she wanted to get him to join her so she could have some protection. Judging from her experience with the mountains so far, there was no way she would be able to make it all the way across them by herself. However, she also wanted him to come for the sake of company. Looking back on her life, Aria had always been getting attention and she never had to spend any significant span of time alone. Suffering from loneliness would certainly hurt her efforts to locate her brother.

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 02-09-2015, 04:21 PM

"Very green," Jack repeated to himself. He knew what green was, of course, there was plenty of pine up here, but not much other fauna. What was up here was sturdy but somewhat colorless. He wanted to see more. Maybe some colors he'd never seen before, and certainly people and animals that he couldn't even imagine. Maybe even another like him, a Stari able to control a powerful element and turn into a majestic bird. Doubtful, but possible.
Sylvanas came in then, carrying a limp white hare. "Is that for us?" Jack asked cheekily.
She snorted and set it down. "You can get your own food."
He snorted. "Not from what you're always saying." He glanced at Aria, then asked, "Sylv, would you mind if I went with Aria down the mountain?"
"Long as you don't kill anyone, why would I care?" she asked, settling down.
Jack grinned and turned to Aria. "She said it's okay," he told her happily, ignoring the sounds of tearing flesh as the lynx began tearing into her meal.

**Peeps** · 02-10-2015, 06:06 PM

An uneasy expression shaded Aria's face as the lynx began to rip apart her catch, and she almost felt sick. It wasn't strange for villagers to toss their pets little scraps of meat back in Pinehaven, but she had never seen a wild animal just dig into a fresh corpse like that, and she couldn't bear to watch. She kept her eyes away from that general area, but she couldn't help hearing it and eventually a little gag had forced it's way out her throat. "Great!" she exclaimed with a bit of delay in acknowledging Jack's last comment. She gave an excited grin to cover up her disgust for the lynx's activities. "So we'll leave here at dawn, then?"

**HyrulianBlackcat** · 02-12-2015, 07:43 PM

Jack frowned as he noticed her turning green, trying to figure out why. When he couldn't however, he shrugged it off. Maybe she still wasn't feeling well from her sprained ankle, or it was that medicine she'd taken. Granted that had been awhile ago so the effects should have worn off by now, but maybe it had some secondary effect that only now was kicking in? He shrugged. If she was really feeling sick, she'd say something and he wouldn't worry about it until. "Dawn seems a bit early, doesn't it?" he commented. "Maybe a bit later in the morning, when the sun's had a chance to settle herself in the sky?"

Announcement

Ragged Rocks

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment