WELCOME TO RAYVEN'S REIGN.

[♔ Bridget]

She was abnormally silent and somber on the car ride; it wasn't that she was a loud person but Rayven always seemed to be overconfident and strong-willed - with her so silent and unusually mundane, the air was tense in the car on the ride out of London to the countryside. Admittedly, she was nervous even though her face was carefully blank as she inspected her clawed fingernails,the presence of her mate keeping her from squirming at the idea of going back to her birthplace. It was the reason she'd requested one of her Veteran members to accompany her and drive one of the sleek black cars they had for more formal matters.

She didn't so much as glance at Fallen during the half hour drive - in fact, she didn't even say anything when the car stopped on the side of a very small, country road and the woman driving nodded to her superior. Exiting the car, she brushed her clammy hands off on the thin tee shirt, glad she had opted for wearing normal, comfortable clothing.

She inclined her head for Fallen to follow her and stepped away from the car and started approaching very distant, stone ruins on the horizon. God, she hated this place; her eyebrows furrowed together slightly at the sight of the ruins and she couldn't help but to sigh quietly before glancing back up at her mate while continuing to move forward. "I did tell you that I am a human turned demon, right? I'm surprised anything has survived of my birthplace after five hundred years."

[✖ Outlaw Fallen]

Fallen shook his head as they walked, his mate's unease easily spreading to him. It wasn't so much a sense of trepidation for him at that point so much as it sucked any enjoyment he might have gotten out of the experience away from him as it did her. He didn't mind... just being with her was enough. The time they spent together was important to him, and seemed to grow more important as time went by.

After she had attacked him, things had stayed awkward for a bit, but slowly things seemed to be coming around. He could never look at her and say he wasn't stunned by her... and he noticed himself worrying for her when they were apart from time to time. It was a different sensation for him... things he had never before experienced with another creature. She had taken something that seemed trivial at this point in exchange for something akin to an egg... an egg that would produce something directly proportionate to what had been put into it.

He did what he could to nurture this egg... this relationship. He felt like he was failing at it, though, and that hurt. Perhaps they had made a mistake, he found himself thinking on more than one occasion. Perhaps, he thought, for all of their likenesses, they were simply too opposed philosophically for them to actually find a bearing with their bond. Deep down, he knew that whatever hurt he might endure if it didn't work out, he wouldn't really resent her for the experience. In the short time of being with her, he had learned so much about building a relationship.

"I have not had the occasion to touch your soul and ascertain what manner of creature you truly are. I could only ever know that you were a demon by your scent. I don't know why they call it a taint, though... demons smell better than most creatures." He offered her a fanged smirk at his corny joke. He thought maybe cheering her up would improve the trip for both of them.

[♔ Bridget]

She shot him back a smirk in responce, a semblance of her normal calm air of confidence coming back a bit in that moment. Her eyes moved from him back to the few standing stones a hundred feet away that were the remnants of stone houses. Yes, this was her birthplace... and the place she'd truly lost her humanity. It wasn't debatable that London was where she was reborn, but she'd still had her humanity then. Between the moment her eyes opened as a demon and until she came here - came home - she was the most at peace she'd ever been. And that peace was something she'd never experienced again. Even now, she could still smell the burning flesh and wood like it was a memory of yesterday versus five hundred years in the past. It was her strongest memory; the betrayal was sharp and biting and if she was completely honest with herself, not even now had it lost it's edge. And not only had this betrayal haunted her, another would happen in the same spot by her previous mate. She knew how much it hurt to be burned alive at the stake - it was the reason she brought him here and burned him. Because he knew her past and knew the significance of it - unfortunately for him, he didn't realize her plans to reward his unfaithfulness until it was far too late for escape. The vengence wasn't nearly as sweet as that she'd exacted on her mother, though; it hurt more than anything.

She realized that she'd been silent for far too long and turned her eyes back to Fallen with a neutral expression. "I hate this place," she commented, rubbing her palms on her shirt. Taking a few cautious steps forward - almost as if she was afraid of startling the long dead - she approached a darkened circle in the ground admist all the stones where grass refused to grow. Carefully sitting down in it, she huffed quietly and bent her knees in front of her and beaconed Fallen to join her. "Funny how life turns out sometimes. If I wasn't such a bold child, I'd never have become what I am. It started as me avenging my father's murderer and ended with me making a deal with the devil. Pity my mother didn't see it as a fair trade off - vengence for damnation, she called it. Didn't think she'd have it in her to burn her only daughter alive." Rayven's eyes rose from the ground to her mate, a soft smirk painted on her mouth. "Funny how she made me into the monster she claimed I was. Funny how I burned my previous mate alive just like she did to me for his lack of faith in me." Her eyes grew hard and she frowned. "You are my mate; you deserve to know me. I am a powerful being, yes, but I am an absolutely wretched creature. I am so completely unnatural it is completely impractical to not realize it. I have no purpose after my goal is achieved - causing mayhem was my promise for my demon form. It is not unlikely that once it's done, I will wither away. Maybe that's why I've been delaying it until recently."

She shrugged a bit and her eyes scanned the ruined bricks again, a smal smirk on her features. "This is my birthplace. Where I was born, where I was betrayed, where I burned my mate alive. You should know this because this is likely where I'll meet my end; call it a gut feeling."

[✖ Outlaw Fallen]

The young demon stepped over to her side and stood next to her as she spoke, taking in the ruins and trying to reconstruct them mentally to what it might have looked like back in the 1200's. It seemed so typical that humans would do something so foolish as try to burn an infernal creature. He doubted his mental reconstruction of the village was terribly accurate, but looking down at Rayven and hearing possibly the most vital pieces of her story, he was finally able to put the pieces of the beautiful shattered creature that was his mate together.

"You are my mate; you deserve to know me. I am a powerful being, yes, but I am an absolutely wretched creature. I am so completely unnatural it is completely impractical to not realize it. I have no purpose after my goal is achieved - causing mayhem was my promise for my demon form. It is not unlikely that once it's done, I will wither away. Maybe that's why I've been delaying it until recently." Fallen dropped to his knees next to Rayven, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him for several brief moments before he released her, letting himself down into a sitting position. The last part of her explanation slid through him with a depressing tug, but he justified it by thinking that she was simply speaking in an allegorical sense of her existence as a creature of chaos once there was no more chaos to cause. Of course, she had not said the entirety of her piece yet.

"This is my birthplace. Where I was born, where I was betrayed, where I burned my mate alive. You should know this because this is likely where I'll meet my end; call it a gut feeling." He might have given himself whiplash with how quickly he shot a look at her. It was hard to tell in that instant what exactly flew behind that beautiful gaze of shattered sapphire hues. The ice cold blue in his eyes had chilled the very souls of lesser creatures in the past... and his startled look might have conveyed a sense of hatred, betrayal, and fear all at once. How dare she speak of abandoning him after she had taken him as a mate.

Fallen looked away from her, unable to speak for fear of his voice betraying him, his brow furrowed in an artistic curve as it usually was in moments of concern. He sat in the silence for several long moments before he finally broke the silence. "That's not fair." His voice seemed meager and pained, as if he were pulling form the last vestiges of a shattered will to speak. Clearly, he was hurting. "I've tried so hard to make things work, and keep feeling like we're just falling apart... but every time you smile at me, I feel like... you know, at least we have eternity."

His gaze fell to the ground in front of him and his arms wrapped around his legs, hugging them to his chest. He looked away from her as a tear slipped down his cheek. "You know, I've been around long enough to know... long enough to have heard that the devil collects on the deals he makes. So long as you shrugged it off and just kept going, I could handle it. I'd rip him limb from limb with my bare hands to keep you... but to hear you speak of these things as if they are inevitable... with such a sense of finality." He sighed, eyes staring at the damned circle of grass. "So you're just going to wither up and find your end right here... after I've done everything to evade my brother... practically locked myself in my club for its protection... all so I can be here for my mate... It's just not fair."

[♔ Bridget]

She watched him look away, his eyebrows furrowed together as he contemplated her words. Long moments seperated them before he spoke, breaking the growing tension. "That's not fair," he told her, and she could hear the pain in his words. "I've tried so hard to make things work, and keep feeling like we're just falling apart... but every time you smile at me, I feel like... you know, at least we have eternity."

She couldn't look at him anymore as he protectively wrapped his arms around his legs, the smell of salt hitting her nose in time for her own golden eyes to close as he continued, "You know, I've been around long enough to know... long enough to have heard that the devil collects on the deals he makes. So long as you shrugged it off and just kept going, I could handle it. I'd rip him limb from limb with my bare hands to keep you... but to hear you speak of these things as if they are inevitable... with such a sense of finality." Her eyes remained shut as he sighed before adding, "So you're just going to wither up and find your end right here... after I've done everything to evade my brother... practically locked myself in my club for its protection... all so I can be here for my mate... It's just not fair."

With her eyes still closed, she pushed herself up to her feet, a cool breeze running through her hair as she opened her yellow, piercing eyes on the landscape, her eyebrows minutely furrowed. "I don't intend on dying just yet," she mused quietly, her hand coming up to rest on one hip as the other pushed her hair out of her blowing hair. "But I thought you should know this. I've spent decades pondering just when my downfall would be. And if the plans I have in motion go sour, it might just come quicker than anticipated. Of course I have alternate plans of escape, but I won't leave my men to suffer the consequences alone. I will defend my comrades until my dying breath if need be. I've always been a warrior first, lover second. I can't change it and I won't lose my honor to save myself. This is who I am. It's what makes me Rayven and not just another cult leader."

Her eyes moved from the rustling grass in the distance to her mate and her eyes softened a bit. "I am sorry that I have not been kinder to you as your mate. I'm sorry that I haven't been a good mate at all. But I care for you and that is all I can offer. I'd be lying if I told you I was sane and stable; I'm neither. My human mind is incapatable with the demon soul fused to my own; I find it hard to be sympathetic or kind for extended periods of time. You will undoubtedly see the more sadistic, volatile nature of myself come out. Please don't think to harsly of me when you do. I can't help the state of my shattered mind and periods of such stablility and... humanity such as now are rare and fleeting. I'm surprised I've kept myself so placated for as long as I have; it won't last much longer though, I'm afraid. You might have to find your own way back. Coming home always tends to draw out the worst in me. It's part of the reason I brought you. So you wouldn't be surprised when you see it later."

[✖ Outlaw Fallen]

Suddenly, he was a young teen again... asking one demon out for a date. She had been nice, giggling at his poor attempts at jokes and providing him with what little bit of interaction he had had outside of Sia. After hearing his proposal, she had laughed derisively and simply said 'What? With you?' That was all he needed to shut back down.

This wound was much deeper, though. And while everything in him reeled to gain leverage on the summary of what she had said, he wanted to lunge... to dig into her with teeth and claws... become the animal he was and simply remind her of his status... that he was supposed to be the alpha.

'I care more about causing pain and chaos with a bunch of hooligans than being there for you. Take it or leave it.' Even if it wasn't what she meant, it was the short and skinny of it. He knew a violent action would garner no desirable reaction from Rayven... he knew her well enough by now to know that beyond any shadow of a doubt.

The color in Fallen's dark locks started slipping as darker thoughts entered his mind. The ice blue hues in his eyes almost shined as he brought himself to his feet. A finger wiped the liquid from his cheek and he looked at it, scrutinizing its very existence. He had a tenuous hold on the demon in him and every moment he felt anger in her was more lost to that horrible thing.

The bandages on his arm turned to ash and fell away, and he gave the remains a few brushes to make sure it was all off of his arm. Of all the things he wanted to say, all the shots he wanted to take at her, how much he simply wanted to make her hurt as much as she had made him hurt, he simply turned his back on her, pulling the tie from his hair to let it fall. It was already down to his mid-back, and the mark had crawled over his jawline onto his cheek.

"Thank you... for letting me know where I stand." His tone could not have been flatter... more devoid of emotion. Yes... it would have been easier to simply let the flame take his mind and go about his own musings. but... hating her felt better for the moment. More than that, he cursed himself for even letting himself believe he could feel love for her.

[♔ Bridget]

She could smell the hatred and pain, it was so thick. Her face remained impassive even as she felt him stand, even as her muscles coiled up as she expected him to lunge at her. She literally could not become his beta, become submissive to his wants and desires over her organization's... or her own. Not only was she far to prideful, but such submission wouldn't last once the not-so-sane part of her mind took over again. She could feel the insanity scrabbling for a foothold into her mind, enough to push her back into the senseless void of violence and chaos that thrummed throughout her soul. "Thank you... for letting me know where I stand." She felt regret for a brief moment, regret at putting him through such pain and anger before it was swallowed up as her sanity slipped away in her moment of weakness and contimplation. A feral smile worked it's way onto her lips as her eyes glossed over, intellegence and sentience lost from her for now. At the same time that Fallen's footsteps carried him further away from her, a similiar set of footsteps carried him closer.

Alexander had heard a bit late that his friend was returning to her birthplace with her new mate. He personally was against her mating again, expecially with her not having known him for long, and had told her so. She'd waved of his concern while nibbling on her thumbnail, lost in thought earlier that week and he hadn't spoken to her since, both of their schedules conflicting. But when he'd heard the whisperings from their London headquarters that she'd gone to her birthplace with her mate, he knew it wouldn't end well. She'd been too calm, too docile lately and heading home had never boded well for her. The worst was that she knew it and was willing to face it again for her new mate. He didn't know what this demon had done to his friend, but he wasn't sure he liked him. So seeing him walking away from his obviously maddened friend who was rapidly losing control of her own sanity made the decision for him. He didn't like Fallen. He didn't like him simply because he could never understand her. She wasn't kind but neither was she cruel to those she cared about; her affections and praise were simply odd and often misunderstood. Leveling a glare at Fallen but otherwise keeping his face impassive, he pulled his eyes away from the man as he stepped past him, having flashstepped the entire way up until then, and approached his friend. She wasted no time in noticing his approach as well as her mates departure.

"Alex, darling, why have you not visited me lately? I get so terribly bored without you or Vexxi to keep me entertained." She sounded almost like she was whining, her face turned toward her friend with a manical grin twisting her lips up, fangs bared as malice danced in her eyes. "I feel the need to destroy something ravishing," she added, purring out the last word in a demonic husk, her body already breaking down to reform her demonic form. By the time she was standing tall, a taloned paw firmly grasping her friend's shoulder hard enough to be painful, her talons ripping the dress shirt and drawing blood underneath, he was already answering the unspoken request. "No, we can't. You're too unstable and your remaining self-control will vanish the moment you draw a prey's first blood."

If her demonic form would allow it, she'd be grinning. Leaning down slightly to match his height which she towered over, the gutteral growl was all this form allowed her to speak in. "Who said I was asking," she growled, putting enough pressure on his shoulder to break his collar bone and dislocate his shoulder. He didn't utter a sound of pain nor did it pass on his face; the only sound heard was the crunch of his bones as she bore down on him, a mouth full of razors coming for his face. Instead of crunching on his throat to demand obedience from him, she recieved a mouthful of his tantō, forged from her own bones so she couldn't break it. A look of displeasure flashed on her face as she dug her talons deeper into his shoulder, one of his feet lodged against her chest to keep her from crushing him under her massive size. He titled his face up to see the world upside down, being flat on his back at this point during the struggle, to see Fallen's retreating back. Annoyance flashed through him and he called, "This should be you dealing with her now. But you know nothing of your mate. You know nothing of Rayven and you do not want to; you only want to consider yourself and your works. You don't realize how much she struggles with not harming you like she could. I've been her friend since we were mere pups and I can say that you do not deserve her, maddened or not. So, leave and despise her and let her fufill her destiny. Because you do not deserve to stand beside her if you cannot help her achieve it, or at the very least, understand why she cannot put you before us. And that is why it will always be I who is here to be her voice of reason when she has lost herself. You are unworthy of such trust from her if you can hate and abandon her so easily."

[✖ Outlaw Fallen]

Fallen actually stopped, seeming to consider the vampire's words, though all Alex had to work on was the demon's back. His hair had already returned to its darker hues and he had been telling himself that all he needed was to get away for a time and sort himself out, and everything would be fine.

The vampire's look of absolute hatred hadn't even phased the older demon as he had walked back. More than that, his features no longer even hinted at sadness. No, he was coping in his own way, and would eventually be the one to bridge the gap between he and his mate once more... because even if he hadn't told her... he loved her... deeply.

Somehow, though, Alex's words hit something in him that shifted gears. All of a sudden, he was the monster, and Rayven was the poor, misunderstood, mistreated victim. Before Fallen could stop it, he was transformed into his demonic form, standing next to Alex as he tried to keep Rayven from simply crushing him.

The demon had nothing to say to the vampire at this point, simply taking Rayven's hand and the back of Alex's shirt and applying the appropriate pressures to pry the two apart. But before throwing the vampire aside, he decided he should give him some manner of warning.

"Cross me again, insect, and I will turn you to ash." The tone of his voice was as flat as it had been before, albeit it had the ethereal effect of multiple levels of voices at one time. It wasn't a threat, but a simple promise. The vampire could probably pick that up by the lack of emotion in his beautiful face.

With the warning given, he tossed the vampire away and turned to face Rayven. Even though he was quite a bit taller, Rayven still towered over him. This form of himself was not so functional when it came to emotions, but he still wanted to give an effort at avoiding hostilities. In the back of his mind, there were now two who had seen this form of him and lived... he must have been growing soft.

"Rayven, please... don't do this." It was all he could really offer in this form. But he knew he had to stay this way in case she decided to get violent... she could severely injure him if he were in his normal form. Fallen watched her as she towered over him, knowing that if the simple plea would not suffice, then her mind was probably far enough gone that heart-filled speeches probably wouldn't help either.

Don't forget... you rate below second in her book. Why lower yourself to feel and care for her if she won't do the same for you?

[♔ Bridget]

Alex wasn't surprised when he felt claws pulling him and his closest friend apart, taking his tantō out of the fanged beak of the female demon across from him. He didn't appear afraid of the threat issued to him and merely glared at her mate, ignoring it completely. He wasn't concerned by the threat because it was only empty words; Rayven was a creature of an odd, twisted loyalty. She'd never allow her mate to kill him and he hoped she had not heard the threat. Thankfully, she didn't appear to. Landing on his feet as he was tossed away, he defensively wielded the blade before him expertly, watching Rayven carefully as her mate spoke to her. He didn't fear Fallen, not only by her protection, but by the knowlege that he was strong enough to be her second. This demon couldn't kill him that easily.

"Rayven, please... don't do this." Her locked eyes seperated from Alexander's to focus on her mate's, her jaws curving enough to give the hint of amusement; deep seated, insane amusement. "'Don't do this' he says. 'Don't do this.' He knows nothing but he asks this of me, 'don't do this'. Don't do what? Don't kill? Destroy? Burn? It is as I've always done, will always do. Vexxis understands this, why do you and Alexander not? Is this madness as you call it so incomphrehensible? Or do we revel in it so that it seems like madness? I'm not quite sure anymore." The air had gone sharp with the scent of brimstone as she unleashed her aura, sucking the life and happiness out of the air. "'Don't do this.' You ask for a high price, mate. Tell me," she asked, eyes glinting with insanity and voice vastly distorted as she leaned her face in close to his, "What would you have me do? What would you do to sedate this desire that consumes my mind? Why do I need to stop this? Only Vexxis understands this, I think. Only Vexxis understands what you call madness. It does not need to be restrained and controlled but exhausted. So let me ask again, mate, why should I not burn everything in my path and kill whatever stands in my way of glorious chaos? What is so wrong with losing yourself to the darkness?"

[✖ Outlaw Fallen]

Fallen stood perfectly still as his mate leered at him, her presence overbearing as she posed the one question he couldn't quite answer, and she had been the only one to date that had brought that shortcoming to light. He held her gaze, never shying away as she berated him with the seeming impossibility of what he had asked. He found himself questioning that reasoning; what was so wrong with losing one's self to the darkness?

Even his demonic self could summon the answer... it had been how he was raised. No matter how dark his dark side was, he was always able to bring the light forth in him because from the very beginning, he had been taught that it was there, no matter if he was a demon or not. Good and right were wonderful virtues. Still, he knew he could not make her understand this.

"Then let the burden fall on my shoulders. It is yours to bear, and should be mine, as well." Fallen was changing even as he said it, but it was back to his normal self. "I am in your way... so let me be the one that bears your pain." He saw the logic in this, and yet... knew that there was no other option to save others and keep her from being hunted.

Fallen coiled the chain around his arm to keep his demon from taking over to preserve itself. He would have to endure this without resistance, as fighting her would surely only stir her pot. As Fallen's gaze finally broke from hers, he glanced off behind her to see an image he wasn't quite prepared to see.

His brother stood there, tall and beautiful as only the mad arbiter was. He wasn't sure if he was actually there, or... "It's so fun to watch you torture yourself for something that won't do the same for you. I must vouch for you in this instance, though. You once knew madness... it was once your most intimate companion... hell, you even once bested death and the devil at once."

"If she knew who and what her mate were, she might take a little more stock in you. If you tried knowing madness once more, your darker half would only become that much more powerful. Still, I can understand her frustration; it's hard to feel love for something so simpering and weak as you. You kids have fun breaking off pieces of yourselves." And then he was gone. Fallen couldn't know if what he had seen was an illusion or if it had been real.

The more troubling question was... what had he intended with his commentary? Knowing him, he was sure it couldn't be good, and he was willing to bet that in some subtle way, he was trying to incite a fight that would chip away at their relationship's crumbling foundation.

This post has been edited by Outlaw Fallen on Jul 23 2012, 07:30 PM

[♔ Bridget]

Rayven was still as she waited a response, her amusement growing with each passing moment that he failed to anwer her questions. Only one person had ever responded to it, and the answer had simply been that there was nothing wrong with it. But the insanity knew that her mate would not answer as such, he had a light in him that she had long ago lost, because what she asked was impossible. "Then let the burden fall on my shoulders. It is yours to bear, and should be mine, as well." To say she was surprised was a bit of an understatement; she watched as he changed back to is normal self before adding, "I am in your way... so let me be the one that bears your pain."

Molten yellow eyes stared at him before blinking languidly, a talloned paw coming down to rest on his shoulder just like she'd done to Alex earlier. His eyes were no longer on her's and she used to opportunity to shift back into her half-shifted form, feathers and fur in her hair and her wings at her back. Her lips were at his ear in a moment, an insane smile on her lips as her clawed fingertips applied pressure to his skin and fully intending on making him bear the pain for interupting her; before she broke his skin, however, her smile faded and she froze, her eyebrows narrowed in confusion. A sharp intake of breath followed and she stumbled back from her mate, her eyes drifting off to the side where Alex stood, frowning. Lifting a hand, the clawed fingertips gone, she felt the spot where his boot had been moments earlier when he'd used his foot to keep her at bay. There, the impression of a cross was raising her skin and she knew a silver piece of metal was trapped under her skin by her own acccelerated healing. Just like her claws had been banished with the holy item, she knew that all of her demon attributes had been negated until it as was dislodged from her skin. In her maddened state, something not even stripping her of her demon powers seemed to be able to cure, she bared her now blunt teeth at her vampire friend, furious for further impeding her. He'd tricked her! He'd baited Fallen to keep her occupied and distracted long enough for the trinket to be absorbed into her flesh and fully neutralize the threat. And she knew that neither Fallen or Alexander would remove the holy symbol until she was sane again.

Insane or otherwise, she despised having holy items used on her. When used as weapons, they were incredibly deadly and painful to go against. But to absorb a holy symbol into her body? Alexander knew that it negated her demonic powers temporarily and rendered her little stronger than a human. He also knew how much it enraged her to be forced back to such a weak form; even if she retained her increased healing, her strength and speed, her demon form and all it's attributes were locked away until either her body slowly expelled the foreign entity or it was removed for her. She was still glaring and baring her fangs at Alexander when he moved his eyes away from her to rest on her mate.

"Bring her back to her sanity and you'll be talking with the Rayven that I first met. I might not like you but it's not my decision; she chose you out of all the powerful creature's she's both encountered and lead throughout her centuries. She chose you over myself, her oldest friend, and Vexxis, the most insane man I've ever met. You really should take this opportunity before it's gone; it's unlikely you'll see it again for a few more centuries." With that, he left the same way he came. A low hiss came from her mouth as he left and she brought dark eyes around to rest on her mate, her frustration apparant on her face. "Please remove this thing from me now," she asked him, teeth clenched as she asked it of him with very thinly restrained anger in her voice. She wasn't having fun anymore; she no longer had the means to destroy anything in this pathetically weak body. And to have her mate see her in such a frail state? It was plain embarassing.

[✖ Outlaw Fallen]

Fallen's attention was returned to his mate when he felt the definitive weight of her paw come down on his shoulder, her sharp talons tickling his flesh through his shirt. Much to his surprise, she had returned to her form that shared characteristics from both parts of her. He felt her lean closer to him, her lips just barely grazing his ears as if she were about to convey some great secret or something much worse, as he knew better.

Her grip tightened around his shoulder, sharp talons becoming hot points of pain where they slowly threatened to pierce his flesh. It was phenomenal, the change that occurred in him, but only for the sheer alien nature of the experience; he was going to allow Rayven to do whatever to him... even if it meant his death. And why? The answer was simple, but it had and continued to become more complex... more difficult to justify.bHis heart pounded in his ears, and his breathing was shallow... anticipating the pain that would surely befall him.

Then she was stepping away from him, shock painting her features as her demonic features faded entirely, and she was merely the human he was as she faced him. As he gaze fell to her stomach, his followed, and he saw the impression of the cross beneath her flesh. It took him only a moment to understand... where he had been created, she had been damned, and the holy artifact would banish her demonic power until removed. At least, that was his theory. As powerful as she was, he wasn't entirely sure of the effect it would have on her.

He knew one thing for sure; Alexander wouldn't hurt her. That is, he was counting on that attribute in Alexander... that depth of loyalty. If Alex's talk proved to be just that, he would skin the vampire alive. Her condition seemed to worsen no further than her devolution from her demonic form, though. Then the vampire was addressing him.

"Bring her back to her sanity and you'll be talking with the Rayven that I first met. I might not like you but it's not my decision; she chose you out of all the powerful creature's she's both encountered and lead throughout her centuries. She chose you over myself, her oldest friend, and Vexxis, the most insane man I've ever met. You really should take this opportunity before it's gone; it's unlikely you'll see it again for a few more centuries." Before he could conjure an appropriate reply, Alexander was gone.

Then, he and Rayven were alone once more... as they had been before Alexander and his brother had made their appearances. Rayven hissed at the vampire's exit before returning her attention to him. "Please remove this thing from me now." Despite the preceeding pleasantry, he knew there was no genuine plea in her at the moment... only anger, hatred, and madness. And Fallen knew the last thing he should do is remove the cross from her flesh.

He set hard eyes on his mate, ready to talk her down from her need to destroy and kill and maim. He stepped closer to her, hand extending toward her, and he couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. "As you wish, my dearest Rayven..." A razor sharp claw extended from his fingertip, cutting into her flesh as carefully as he could. His gaze fell to watch her crimson blood cut trails in her beautiful flesh from the growing cavern his claw carved. Silver and crimson shone in the cut where light hit it.

He knew the shouldn't do it, but he finished his surgery. Stepping closer to his mate with full knowledge of what was to come, his hand shook as it slid over that flesh he longed to caress and kiss when she acted as though she might love him. Fingers slid into the incision and around the cross, shifting it. Before he removed it, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. Then, the artifact was slipping from his fingers, falling to the ground between them. Fallen kept his eyes pressed shut, waiting for the agony of her wrath.

[♔ Bridget]

Her dark eyes met his own, a psuedo sweet smile painted on her face as he stepped to her, a hand extended towards her. She was painfully aware of her weakness and her eyes both reflected her insanity and promised retribution for being forced to such a lowly form. "As you wish, my dearest Rayven..." A flicker of a grin crossed her face as his claws extended and pierced her flesh; she showed no response of pain, only a maddened smile lighting up her face as his eyes watched his own handiwork.

She didn't move as he stepped forward, his hand shaking as his fingers slid into the hole in her stomach, wrapping around the invading metal as he placed a kiss on her still grinning lips before it slipped from his fingers, falling to the ground with a soft clatter. She watched as he closed his eyes, waiting for her coming wrath. A hum of approval passed her lips and she raised her hands to cradle both sides of his face, her long fingers becoming claw tipped again as her demonic powers returned with the absence of the holy artifact, her teeth becoming fangs again. The crimson from the wound quickly turned into an inky black and the incision healed, the flesh stitching itself together.

Running her thumbs across his cheeks, she hummed again in thought, dark eyes watching him carefully as she considered him. "You obeyed my request," she spoke softly, pulling his face down slighly to be on the same level as her own. "Even though you knew it could mean your death, you obliged me. Why? I was more than managable without my powers; it would be easy to overpower me. Why did you not take advantage of this weakness?"

[✖ Outlaw Fallen]

"You obeyed my request. Even though you knew it could mean your death, you obliged me. Why? I was more than manageable without my powers; it would be easy to overpower me. Why did you not take advantage of this weakness?"

A soft growl... a sound not threatening in its utterance, but... displeased... rumbling in his chest and throat as her thumbs slid over his defined cheeks. She could feel the muscles controlling his powerful jaws tensing beneath the soft skin. Didn't she think he knew that? Or did she simply want to hear him say it? The truth was much more complex than he wanted to admit, though. He couldn't even say whether or not he would even fight her to save his own hide. I hate you, Rayven... because you can never love me the way I love you...

"Yes, I did..." IT'S NOT SOME KIND OF RECONCILING SUBLIMATION TO YOU! YOU'RE MORE OF A CHALLENGE WHEN YOU'RE AT YOUR BEST! AND THAT'S WHAT I WANT! CONFLICT! PAIN! I WASN'T SUBMITTING TO YOU OR EXPRESSING SOME DEEP-SEATED LOYALTY, YOU POMPOUS BITCH! "It... wasn't..." Maybe... it's because...

"I... didn't do it..." ... because admitting that I'm more selfish and demanding than you... and that I ask more of you when you love me the only way you know how... "... You deserve it... and I know that... no matter what..." ... it makes me the the monster... and I know what I am... and I hate myself for it... but hating you is easier... "No matter what, you will never show an OUNCE of loyalty or love to me when compared to that I offer you! I don't know if I'm some sort of trophy or burden to you, but I know I'm taken for granted."

And... maybe... I want you to hate me, too. But it's even easier and simpler than that... He was crying at this point, but his eyes remained shut. "And I know... no matter what you say, you will never submit to anyone... not even me... ESPECIALLY me..." I hate myself so much and love the twisted innocence of your madness so much that I want you to hurt me... and ultimately kill me... it's the least I deserve... "Because to be topped by me... a creature so comparable to you... means that you have met your match. And you know that I would sooner show submission to you than throw this away..."

He was slightly shivering... though it was hard to tell if it was out of anger or... just overwhelming emotions. He had reigned in so much of what he had wanted to say... and how he had wanted to say it... and all because he cared how she reacted... he cared how it affected her. He just wanted to get the idea across and let her know how he was feeling without hurting her feelings.

After several moments, he calmed down significantly, a great sigh escaping him. After it all... he just wanted her to hate him, too... and wanted her to lash out and hurt him. It would certainly make things easier. He just wasn't sure if she would actually do it.

This post has been edited by Outlaw Fallen on Aug 28 2012, 01:26 AM

[♔ Bridget]

Her expression was meticulously devoid of emotion as her dark eyes focused solely on his own gaze, her unrevealing gaze only offering the short-lived certainty that the storm of turbulent insanity was quelled for just a moment as she listened to his choppy response, pauses interupting him as he tried to explain himself. "I... didn't do it... You deserve it... and I know that... no matter what... No matter what, you will never show an OUNCE of loyalty or love to me when compared to that I offer you! I don't know if I'm some sort of trophy or burden to you, but I know I'm taken for granted."

She neither confirmed or denied this statement, her dark eyes remaining on his face as he refused to meet her gaze, her hand pulling away from his face to cross over her chest loosely as she continued to listen to him answer her question. "And I know... no matter what you say, you will never submit to anyone... not even me... ESPECIALLY me. Because to be topped by me... a creature so comparable to you... means that you have met your match. And you know that I would sooner show submission to you than throw this away..."

A cold sensation crept up her spine but she resisted the impulse to shudder in response to it and blinked languidly in response, her face remaining impassive even as he calmed down, letting out a huge sigh and signaling to her that he was finished. "Did you really expect anything else from me," was her quiet yet firm response; she would appear rather aloof and uncaring if it wasn't for the maniacal glint in her eyes that betrayed her and lead the way for the corner of her lips to tilt up into a small sneer. "If you did, then you are a fool and you know it. I don't want your goddamn submission; I want my fucking equal."

The sneer had worked it's way into a snarl, her eyebrows furrowed together and her lips pulled back slightly away from her lips as she spat out her response before a soft, angry 'tch' left her mouth and she whirled on her feet to put her back to him, her arms more firmly crossed across her chest. "Since I will never show you an ounce of love or loyalty compared to what you offer me," she began, her hands fisted into her upper arms in response to her temper as she spoke with venom, "Then you'd better either adjust to my lack of affection or find a new mate. In fact, if you think that I'd take a mate just to parade them around after everything I've told you, you should find a new mate anyways because I have no time or patience to dance around delicate egos."

Dark eyes glanced over her shoulder at him, her eyebrows slightly drawn in the only expression of anger she was willing to express. Playfulness and teasing was gone from her hardened eyes as she stared at him, the corners of her lips slowly pulling down into a frown. "Fuck you," she snarled suddenly, her dark eyes flashing to a bright, eerie yellow and she swirled her head around and purposefully walked away from him, her long dark hair whirling after her in a vengeful halo as she stormed away from her mate.