milliways_bar | (no subject)

*Yrael leads Ramon out the door by the wrist, and they begin walking around the lake, towards the treeline.*

*conversationally* Have you seen our lake? It really is quite beautiful. A friend of mine made all this: the lake, the trees, the stars here.

He glances over with a frown. 'A friend of yours? Like...God?

And no, I haven't been out here before. It's different from home.' He looks over the lake. 'I don't know your name Senor.'

I know many gods, but none of them made this. This was made by my friend Peter, a wizard. He used to be one of the main healers for the bar, and made this for the first Barman, because he was homesick.

*Yrael smiles at the demonic rabbits that graze alongside the lake. Their reddish fur and evil red eyes show up well in the green grass. The demonic rabbits shuffle away as Ramon and Yrael pass by.*

This area was actually modeled after a place in Scotland, I'm told. And as for my name? I have had many names; I cannot remember all of them. Forgive me.

(ooc: Adiva said she'd be on much later, around ten pm my time and around seven her time.)

'Oh. I misunderstood, I thought you meant the bar and everything else.'

He watches the rabbits go away and starts to get a little apprehensive. They didn't look like the sort of creatures that scared easily but then, he had nothing to back that up with. Maybe they only looked evil. He eyed them and bit his lip uneasily.

'Well, my name is Ramon Senor. And you said you wanted to talk to me about something.'

[OOC: Np, I'll have to slowtime the healing I expect. Lol, I'm sure Yrael will be done with him by then.]

*The demonic rabbits' eyes are fixed on the man in white; they move back into a group with the younger ones in the center, watching. Yrael leads Ramon into the trees at the edge of the woods.*

I know your name, Ramon Salazar. I have heard much about you since we first met.

*He looks around at the forest.* It's peaceful, out here, isn't it?

That's when he starts to worry properly. Not only is this man unnerving in his serenity...if he knows his name, it can only be a bad thing.

'Well, I suppose that's not good news. I can assure you I'm not as bad as people say. Especially today.' He remembers the threats though, and starts to tense up but to stay polite he gives the surroundings a cursory glance. 'Yes, its peaceful.'

*Yrael lets go of Ramon's wrist once they reach a clearing. It's the clearing that is often used for demonic rabbit hunts on the full moons, or for private conversations such as this one. Yrael stands, barefoot, with his hands in his pockets, at ease as he gazes out into the distance over Ramon's head. In the shade of the woods he seems almost to glow.*

It usually is pretty peaceful around here. A lot of people make their homes here, either by choice of because they are Bound. They do what they can to find their place. Milliways is a place to meet people, to find new friends, to learn about new worlds, to fall in love, even a place to raise a family if circumstances go that way. People make ties with others until, for many, family doesn't remotely mean 'blood kin' anymore. Mostly a peaceful place, yes, made so by the families within it and their care for it. A place to call home is a precious thing, you understand.

*Yrael lets his bright green gaze come down from the distance and focus, unblinking, on Ramon's eyes.*

We don't like it when people disrupt the peace in our home.

*He turns, suddenly, and in a strange, inhumanly fluid movement, kicks Ramon in the dead center of his chest. Hard.*

He's listening - and understanding. The magic Arithon has him under means he can't help but understand. He's fully aware that it won't last - and he's looking forward to being free again - but he's about to explain that he does see that when the kick hits him.

He staggers back but manages to keep his feet just about. Its nearly knocked the wind out of him and it's hard to catch a breath. Fuck, so this is how it's going to be...

He's been in more fights than he can count, been sliced and stabbed, been tortured and not given in...violence has never scared him. But it had always been carried out by other men and he'd always been able to fight back. He's painfully aware that this thing isn't human - and even if he wasn't currently incapacitated, he probably wouldn't stand much of a chance.

He's not scared yet, its just been one kick. But the potential of what might come is something he doesn't want to think about. 'Look...you should at least tell me what I did. I haven't done anything to you.'

[OOC: Visitors gone, slowtime over for me. Have at him! :D]

*Yrael stalks forward, growing brighter now in the shade of the trees. Bright in the shadows, like a white-hot sun. He reaches forward and grabs Ramon by the neck, shoving him back into a tree. Where his hand holds Ramon's neck, it burns. Yrael burns brightly, brighter than the sun, blinding. Blinding. His voice contains a harsh crackle, like the sound of sheet lightning.*

You met a friend of mine, I believe. Do correct me if I am mistaken. A Lady named Kim?

FUCK FUCK FUCK!! He closes his eyes instantly, trying to slam them shut against the white light thats piercing his eyeballs...and some part of him knows its too late. His neck is burning but he can hardly feel it against the agony in his skull and everything's black, much blacker than it would be if his eyes were merely closed...his throat closes over in horror as he realises what's happened...oh fucking hell...!!

He's trying to breathe but the hand on his throat makes it difficult. Still, he eventually manages to croak out, 'Yes I know her,' hardly even aware that he's speaking as he tries not to go into shock over the loss of sight. He's managing, by simply refusing to believe that this is real.

*The creature's breath is as hot as falling sparks as it speaks, its voice crackling like loud static.* She knows you, too. But could not speak of you to me. Could not bring herself to. Only through another friend of mine, her father in fact, could I learn of whom she was so frightened.

*The scent of the Free Magic is strong, tangy, unnatural, catching in the back of one's throat like the scent of hot wiring. Yrael only vaguely looks human anymore. A torso and head and arms, set upon a pillar of blindingly white, whirling flames. It speaks fierce words that are not of any tongue humans were meant to utter, words of the corrosive, chaotic Free Magic. There is a sickening crack as Ramon's knee cap shatters from the force of the spell. All that now keeps Ramon upright is Yrael's hand on his neck, holding him to the tree.*

*darkly* Why is she frightened of you, Ramon Salazar?

The scream catches in his throat as the agony hits and it hurts too much to make a sound. But he's screaming in his head, yes, there's nothing that can stop that. Waves of agony crash through him without pause, and he wants to hit the floor but the burning hand on his throat is forcing him upright and he can hardly breathe for the pressure. And the pain is mixed with terror, because he feels like he's going to die...and he's never been afraid of death but he never expected to go out like this.

And the terror is heightened because he can't see whats coming.

He tries to focus on the question, it takes a moment to remember what it was and a while longer to form a response. He tries to turn his head away from the heat of the breath before he responds, 'I don't know why she's scared of me. She wouldn't tell me. I've never met her before I came to this bar...'

*The Free Magic creature is pretty much a pillar of white fire, now, with a vaguely human torso, arms, and head. The heat intensifies suddenly, flaring up, then returns to normal.*

And in the bar, Ramon Salazar? What did you do that caused my friend to retreat to her room, afraid to come out? That you threatened another with?

He's gasping for every breath now, fighting the shock, fighting the knowledge that he's blind and going to die, trying to keep a grip on sanity even as he tries to deny reality.

'I slapped her. I was angry.'

And the way he had humiliated her floods his system, Arithon's magic not letting up even through this, it all mixes and the weight of guilt crushes him further and weakens the walls that are keeping the agony from taking his conciousness.

*The white-hot arm of the creature, the one not holding Ramon by the throat, reaches forward and hits Ramon hard across the face, burning added to the hurt of the blow.*

Prove to me that you were listening when we first met. What did I say would happen if you harmed my friends in any way?

He head snaps to the side under the force of the blow and he feels his skin start to blister immediately under the heat. He closes his blind eyes out of instinct, still unable to deal with the fact that when they open again, there will still only be darkness.

'I think you said you'd kill me.'

*The thing sounds amused.*

I am glad you paid attention.

*And Yrael leans in, to finish it.*

"YRAEL!"

Nita's standing a ways away, looking at the battered Ramon rather than the pillar of flame, one arm in front of her face to shield her eyes, for all the good it'll do.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

*Yrael turns his head nearly one-eighty degrees to look at Nita. He had brought Ramon out here so as not to be interrupted.*

I am making good on a promise. If you will excuse me...

*He turns back to Ramon, the movement a clear dismissal to Nita.*

Ramon hears a voice that is only vaguely familiar, but he can't work out the words. Searing agony is making his grip on consciousness slip and it's taking everything he can to hold on to it. He doesn't know why he doesn't just let go, because then it wont hurt any more and he wont feel the moment of death...he can sense its close. The heat near him lessens for a moment as the creature talks, but then its back and there's nothing he can do...and all he can thik is that he wants to be able to see. He doesn't want to go out blind and crippled like this. He always wanted to be standing.

"STOP!" -- yelled in the Speech, this time. She takes a half-step forward, but the light and heat are too intense to get very much closer.

"Yrael, stop and listen to me!"

*Yrael growls and turns to Nita.*

Why should I?

She gulps, and hurriedly turns her face away.

"You kill him and you're going to be inside a cell so fast your head will spin."

Considering that a moment ago his head did spin, this is probably not the best choice of words, but she's under pressure.

*His grip on Ramon's neck slackens somewhat. There is a purr somewhere in the voice that crackles with power.*

You would turn me in, my friend?

". . .Yes." Again, in the Speech -- and there is no lying in the Speech. "If you kill him, then yes."