A Quiet Display of Intrigue (w/ djedereshotep)

[madameryuu]

[This role-play will be set to Final Fantasy VII universe, and will feature characters from it's namesake's franchise. We do not own the characters, but I DO own Zhu.]

The long path that had drove her to this point in her life had as many turns and twists as it had cliffs and dead-ends. If you asked her why all of this had happened, she wouldn't be able to give you a proper answer; because she held no answer herself. It was difficult to share information you didn't have.

But even if her enlightened mind was weighed down by such dreary and dull questions and thoughts, she found the utmost tranquility and solace in the crystal cave. Quietly tucked behind a waterfall and out of sight, ti was the perfect place for her to hide. For even though someone was there in the front-most part of the cave, beyond the pond of water around the encased woman, were crystals and stalagmites- and a maze of crystal hiding spaces for her to wander around freely without human interruption. It was so quiet and so peaceful, she found herself often falling asleep to the gentle lullaby of water dripping onto the crystals that illuminated the cave in soft whitish-blue light and upon the puddles and pools of clear, crisp water.

Though many found it dank and color, the soft cream furs she kept with her kept her warm and toasty. And the wandering and adventurous children that often got lost in the caves looking for her or the exit, more often then not, ensured that she was always entertained in some way.

"Lady!" A child's voice called out and she turned her head, another one of the children from the nearby town emerged from behind a stalagmite. "I'm lost again." They admitted sheepishly; but her pale pink lips pulled into a gentle smile as she gracefully stood up.

She took the child's hand and they smiled up at her as she led them through the winding and twisting crystal stalagmites and crystals, and when they came to the larger body of water at the entrance, she knelt down and wrapped the child up in the large fur she carried with her. They dozed off with a sleepy yawn as she lifted the bundled up child in her arms and carried them, walking across the surface of the water, and towards the waterfall that covered the cave's entrance. Even the water parted over her and  left both her and the child untouched, as she set the child down outside-

And she caught a glimpse of the Man in Red.

Carefully, she unwrapped her furs from about the child and wrapped it about herself, allowing herself another moment to gauge the distance between the cave and the Man in Red, before retreating back into the crystal cave once more. She had gone for so long, without anyone knowing she was there, and though he was a more frequent visitor now, she still wished to keep her location unknown.

For if it reached His ears, she would lose the one place she enjoyed most.

[djedereshotep]

(Cannot fine the italic button so these * will indicate thougts.)

He stood, silently, like a statue as if he too was encased in the seemingly peaceful stone. What would it be like? Is it peaceful? What would it be like? To not have a half of oneself ripping their mind apart. He stood silently staring at his one regret, his betrayal...his love. The chaos swirled deep seated within wanted to feel the clawed slicing of stone then flesh. Wanted her gone for all time.

*Just forget, forget all of this*

His head tilted back ripping his eyes from his personal horror. Trying to keep the wetness contained. He would pray, but to whom? and why? Praying never worked.

He brought his head slowly back down with a deep sigh. Turning his head slightly to the right. He caught it. A rare glimps of fur peaking around one of the stalagmites. The golden armor covering his hand twitch slightly, barely a movement. Eyes narrowed to peer further into this chamber of torture. His other arm smoothed his cape back and to the side as it settled against his side like a gentle flow of blood. He began creeping towards the oddity. The Dragon already sniffing for it's prey.

This was good. A distraction was what he needed.

[madameryuu]

Once more, he had settled himself into his thoughts and she had stayed silently behind a stalagmite as she normally did. It was routine. It was safe. Though a frequent visitor, he never spared much time to leave the shore of the small lake int he front room.

But she was close this time; too close.

His reflection was reflected a thousand times if not fuzzy and vague from the distance, in the glimmering and shining surfaces of the crystals. What was it like? To not be hunted and persecuted? what was it like to walk in the daylight instead of be contented by the small pockets of sunlight that seeped into the deeper parts of the cave from where the ceiling had collapsed?

What was it like to live a day without the fear of being caught? Without the lingering feeling that if one spent too much time, they were much too vulnerable?

These were thoughts she would keep to herself and perhaps she had zoned out too long; for his reflection was now gone from the crystals.

Perhaps he had left- but his visits always seemed to last longer than 5 or 10 minutes. Something felt off... something felt wrong. She flicked her gaze to the other crystals and let them search for any glimpse of the Man in Red to her left, and when she didn't see anything, that was when she decided it would be best to leave. Perhaps his silent worshiping had come to a sudden end, who knows? It was better this way.

Nah'Zhula stood quickly if not gracefully, and fluttered across the puddles of water,leaving ripples in her wake as she took what few moments she had to quickly stow herself away. The deeper she was, the safer she was; besides, there was no reason for the Man in Red to go deeper than he needed to into the crystal caves; he hadn't before and he seemed to be a beast of habit.

[djedereshotep]

The slight differences in scent. The air suddenly changing in temperature. This was what he followed. His steps ever aware of the interchange between crag and moss, lichen and puddle. He wouldn't call out. Only fools who not possessed by a hunter would do so.

Shifts in dark and light. His eyes adjusted accordingly as he stopped softly at one of the water puddles. It was disturbed. The end of one ripple trying to hide itself at the earthen edge. The holden fingers reached out skimming the surface of the liquid then bringing it slowly to inhale.

*Leather, handmade. Flesh. Small*

His prey was small. The air was not as sterile or moss filled as it usually was. Something was here and he find out what. Or whom. His brows furrowed in thought as his clawed hand ached for the hunt. He shoved the ach down deep. What would the others think if he randomly destroyed another life? Tifa, Cloud...the kids?

Another voice answered him within his own mind

*What would it matter?*

His flesh hand wiped itself down his face trying to silence the Other. The beast that constantly hungered for blood and chaos as he stood slowly. Vincent continued his hunt for the elusive creature. Gliding over the puddles and barely disturbing the ground.

[madameryuu]

She didn't remember if she hears foots steps or silence or if she knew what she was hearing at all. The paranoia was thick as miasma amid her mind and sometimes it consumed more than it hid from her. It had been so long; perhaps too long. Perhaps her senses were more dulled from the mundane silence and solitude than they were sharp for disturbance or unusual occurrence.

She didn't know and she couldn't tell. Not with how she was in these moments.

None knew this cave that birthed sub-caves and undergrounds alike, better than she had memorized them since she submitted to them like a willing girl to a nunnery. However, she knew not how good hunters were; He was quite the predator himself, but were they all as skilled as He? Perhaps, perhaps not, after all-

She had lost to Humans. But not again.

She took several sharp turns, forgetting herself as she slipped into a tight cranny that gave away to a larger and more secluded room- one of which she called 'home'. She walked freely into the rest of the room that enlarged into a rough circle with another pool of water between a drop of the cave where a slope of sturdy rock once resided; now eroded and collapsed to earthquakes and time. Above a small hole had collapsed in the ceiling and let in light to splash against the water and cast it's shimmering waves of luminescent blues and cerulean against the inside walls of this cave. A small dry foothold was all that remained after the crevice but she didn't mind- the water of this planet did not dare allow itself to touch her unless she did.

A moment. That's all she allowed herself. To test whether she was running from shadows of her troubled mind or from something more. And that's when she caught it on the swirls of fresh air that wafted in and out from the skylight- the scent of blood and the scent of something primal and similar to her. But she could have swore it was not possible and it confused her- and she caught a glimpse of something. Something solid and real, not a shadow of her mind.

She turned from the crevice and ran towards the adjacent wall to the cliff in the cave's area, rebounding off it and landing on the cliff, walking backwards towards the tunnel that went further into the caves to her back and into the shadows that hid the mouth of it.

Though she held hope that no one would pass through the crevice; a small flicker of something brighter deeper in her hoped that someone would. Hoped that maybe even though her defenses were tall and high and stronger than the metals and stones Humans used and worked with; that something would slip through the cracks and elevate the loneliness she had unconsciously admitted herself to.

[djedereshotep]

He stopped momentarily to hear the footfalls ahead. A crimson began to cloud his vision. Since the distruction of Omega his crystal has been faltering. He stopped once more to gather his mind as his hand came up to touch the pink ribbon tied to his left arm in memory of Aerith Gainsborough.

*Aerith. You helped Cloud...are ny sins to great?...of course they are*

A few deep breaths and he began his steps slowly. Vincent looked ahead for his small quarry. He could hear it's heartbeat. The Mako within had already attuned itself to this cave. It helped his search, even into caverns he has never fully explored. Chaos did not know fear. Only curiosity and the hunt, destruction and blood.

His journey brought him to a small series of leaps and cliff falls which was easily navigated. Landing upon the last stitch of earth before a vertical opening. Barely big enough for himself. Without a thought Vincent clawed at the rough hewn stone breaking away pieces to allow himself entrance.

His caped was the last thing through as he crouched down surveying the vast cavern before him. Taking in the shaft of sunlight glittering within the pool of water below. He lept down to greet it's shore. Staring where the light met the dark mesmerized him. Ever alert he appreciated beauty even if it was fleeting.

[madameryuu]

Her translucent purple eyes watched as he came up to the crevice and began clawing at it to make it big enough for him to enter. Her inner-self flickered to life as she silently watched him enter and drop down, looking around until his eyes fell upon where the sunlight hit the water.

As much as she wanted to walk out, maybe even to investigate him further, she stayed alert and still. But she could feel it in the are now that they were closer than in the front room. She could feel it.

The tenseness in the air and how it stirred with danger; almost as if it was alight with unseen gasoline fumes. Awaiting any sort of occurrence that would initiate a spark and then explode with into grateful flames. It was the same feeling she remembered from those of her people; is was called the 'Presence of Draconis' by Humans long ago. Perhaps he was one of her kind who had came down before she had; but where were the signs of his heritage?

She wanted to know; She wanted to ask. But he was male.

She continued to quietly watch and wait to see if he meant harm or not; and inwardly hoped it was the latter. She would rather not fight when she was too weak to even change shape.

[djedereshotep]

He stood slowly, still watching the water. Looking beyond his reflection. Still mesmerized at the pool remembering when the waters themselves washed away the Geostigma. He wanted to bathe in that beam of sunlight. Wanted to wash his sins away, but no. Not now. Not while his quarry was watching. He could feel it. Eyes upon him. He took his gun out of it's holster and laid it upon the rock shore.

"Come out. I do not mean harm." He spoke plainly and softly as if not wanting to disturb the rock spirits sleeping within.

[madameryuu]

She watched as he removed his weapon and her body reacted as it had been taught to from years of torture; it tensed. Even when her heart was calm and her mind sorted- it tensed. And he laid it down on the shore away from him. The words he had spoken were the same she had been told and heard so long ago; but since the integrity of words had been ruined for her, she let his action hold more weight than his words.

Perhaps, if she talked to him in their language, we would feel comforted knowing there was someone else and perhaps believe this area to be her territory- and leave. But what to ask? How long had be been down here? When had he fallen? And he been captured and tortured by the Humans like she had? Perhaps just his Divine Name would suffice;

"What is your Divine Name?" She asked in their language, however, to a Human it would sound more like a weaving of melodic notes rather than speech itself. They considered an alphabet and lived by it, while her kind lived by song.

And she waited for an answer, but when he didn't seem to give one, she was puzzled and asked in their hard and gruff human language,but even then her voice was harmonious and melodonic, "Are you sure?" As she stepped forward from the shadows and just enough in the light to be gently illuminated by the waves and shifts of the blue lights from the water that danced their glow upon the cave walls.

"I have been lied to before."

It was then that the memory of such a time returned to her as it flicked across her mind's eye. The memory of a charming if not secretly vulpine smile and a hand being held out her her. The same words coming out from an almost too-perfect mouth past pearly white teeth of equal perfection. The voice which gave them the life held the equivalent of fine whiskey; smooth and strong with a firm and promising bite behind them. The man she so desperately sought to hide herself from and told her those same words, long ago.

And she had trusted him as she put her hand naively into the gloved one he had offered her. He had always kept up his professional and charming appearance, perhaps out of honor and duty, but she had to leave. She had to.

Just as she flirted with the idea of leaving now, even though the water and a high cliff separated herself and the Man in Red now.

[djedereshotep]

Vincent did not hold out a gentle hand he just watched her. A stoic mask of expression. Tilting his head slightly not making any abrupt movement. His eyes studying her.

"I do not lie unless it is to my enemy. Even still Inwpuld rather cut them down then waste time with a verbal battle. Do you intend to be my enemy?"

His dulcet tones filled the cavern scintillating across the crystals like an amplifier.

"I know your language...Divine name? I am only known by two. Vincent and Chaos"

His matter of fact way of speaking held a calm tone. Succinct and gentle. But firm with it's own subtle conviction.

[madameryuu]

She was confused as he questioned whether or not she was his enemy. When he had entered what she called 'home' and followed her here to what could be considered an entry way to her 'bedroom'. But still, she was intrigued.

"I intend to be no one's enemy."

Nah'Zhula's answer was firm despite her sweet and easy-going voice, layered with nobility and sprinkled with elegance to hide a sultry undertone. She brought the fur around her to fight of the slight chill of the room, and walked towards the edge of the cliff, watching him. And gracefully sat down, her starlight hair cascading around her in a demure curtain of shimmering grace to hide the tasteless style of the dress the scientist had fitted her in without a back. The front of the pale, off-white dress, however, was modest and flattering on her figure; but quickly covered up by the fluffy and deceptive cream-colored hide.

It puzzled her how he could still smell like a Dragon, yet not be one. Perhaps his mother had bedded a dragon who took the form of a human to trick her; it wasn't common but it did happen among those of her kind who were more...cruel and curious. Perhaps she could ask him to display something small and unseemly- to showcase his heritage. Something simple and done without a thought to them. She wanted to close her eyes to think, but she kept her violet eyes on him before committing to an idea.

"Well, 'Vincent and Chaos', you smell like a Dragon." She said simply and stood , walking over ot the edge and hopping off it, landing on the water's surface just below. And though ripples spread out under the surface, the rest of the water was not touched and she stood there patiently.

"Can you walk upon water like one, too?"

[djedereshotep]

Vincent moved over to the cliff's edge watching her dance upon the water. It intrigued him. SHE intrigue him. He easily fell softly to the water and then sinking in. Once surfacing and now soaking wet. He looked at the lovely curious female, a face of nobility.

"Apparently not"

He stated plainly. A slight smirk threatening the stoicism as he watched the creature upon the water.

[madameryuu]

She watched him walk and seep into the water and was a bit appalled that he actually DID NOT walk upon it's surface, and he just- sunk. Maybe he was a faulty Dragon? They had those too- then he emerged before her and took a step back at the closeness His scent was draconic but he was a fucking Human still. The clashing of these two facts inwardly irked her and bewildered her, but nothing showed on her face of these thoughts. And he spoke again, his voice without tone and stoic calmness. She frowned upon this and stepped back a bit more,

"I don't understand." She said softly and truthfully, tilting her head slightly and looking him over, but it was harder to tell with him sopping wet and almost every inch of him covered in clothes. Seeing him just dripping wet made her pull her loose fur about her a bit more, walking around him in a loose circle, not breaking her stride on the water, but stopped before him if not a few steps away for good measure. Just in case it was a poly of some-kind to get her guard down and he would attack her. "Are you a Man-Made Dragon?"

As she asked him, she gracefully sat down upon the water, rippled moving beneath her from the action but she didn't suffer any type of dampness nor did any part of her or her clothes get wet. She just sat there, intruded on how he came to be. The scientist had technology and their ways to creature creatures- all different methods that suffered even stranger names. There was one that the Doctor torturing her had bothered her with- what was it called again? Where bits and pieces were mixed together to make something inhuman.

"A golem? Or Chimera, perhaps?"

[djedereshotep]

The slight smirk was quickly erased at the mention of being made. He turned from her swimming gracefully towards the shore. He stopped before pulling himself out. Barely looking over his shoulder.

"I was killed. Then, I was made and resurrected. By the woman I loved...I was betrayed."

Vincent finished hoisting himself out of the mineral rich lol liquid and walked toward the last cliff he jumped off of and glided to alight upon it.

"Goodbye"

[madameryuu]

She saw the slightest of changes in his features, a turn for the worse and expected just as much- but he turned from her and swam away. Her reaction was her merely standing up and she frowned as she listened. As he bade her goodbye, she walked forward and gently reached out to take hold of a small portion of his cloak-

But the thought of him being Human flickered across her mind and the same hand flicked closed around air instead of fabric.

Still, she stood behind him on the water's surface,

"I am sorry, Vincent and Chaos, My curiosity and excitement got the better of me." She admitted quietly but just loud enough for him to hear, given their short distance, "I was hoping for a moment, that I was not the only one... but it seems that, once more, I am mistaken." With her sincere apology given, she turned away and walked back across the water towards the cliff with it's crystal illuminated tunnel that led to the area where she slept.

She was tired and she needed rest. It was gradually getting colder and more difficult to maintain a proper form without the vast reserved of her natural form. In short, she needed to sleep as herself again to restore herself.

[djedereshotep]

Vincent stopped and turned around. His eyes studying the other once more. So out of touch with any emotion except for focus, the words were out of his mouth withput effort.

"The woman in the Crystal. She was whom I loved. A scientist. Her Professor and mentor raped her and she became pregnant with the one named Sephiroth. He was treated cruelly by Hojo and she turned a blind eye to her own child. Experimenting on him. I took care of young Sephiroth at one point. When they were not watching. But.. It was not enough for him to gain the love and affection a child needed and his heart turned cold. He held an odd obsession for one called Cloud Strife. My friend. I should not of been offended. I...was reminded of a painful time and torturous ordeal. I am sorry I was hostile towards you. I'm lost and confused inside. I'm not human or normal creature. I am this made "thing". Your simply trying to find your people."

Silence fell over him as sudden as he began talking. His eyes now cast to the water. Ashamed and feeling oddly bare.

[madameryuu]

She stood and silently listened to him and froze when names he spoke matched up with names from her memory and past.

Professor...Hojo. Sephiroth. Cloud Strife.

And she listened still as she turned back to him and stood before him. "You are not the only one to be hostile towards me, Vincent and Chaos, and I doubt you will be the last." She said in an almost motherly way and clearly. He seemed almost child-like in his burst of speech to explain himself, and she reached up and patted him on the head in a 'there, there' sort of manner, "Now there are two of us who are 'lost and confused inside'." And though she was hungry for information and light companionship, perhaps some sort of kinship, she was starving for something much more appetizing to her strange pallet; for safety in solitude.

"When you leave, if you take a left outside this crevice and follow it straight down, it will lead you to a curve that leads to where the crystallized woman is." If he didn't intend to stay, who was she to keep him? Man-made or not, he was still a male and the male humans in particular were particularly willful to have things their way or no way at all. But even though she was tired, she would wait until he left before going to bed herself; lest he remember the path to it and easily scale it. That would be more troublesome than she would appreciate as she pulled the furs around her to keep warm and the sunlight slowly began to silver into moonlight as day gave to night outside the cave. The change effecting the lights in the cave too as they gradually darkened it and added their mystical silvery properties to the shimmers on the walls. Her unusual eyes that much more vibrant in the ever-growing dark.

[djedereshotep]

Vincent, never one to bother another nodded after her directions. Despite her motherly actions that most males of am adult manner would normally cringe at, it didn't bother him or Chaos. She was a creature not a human. Perhaps she was much older than he. Vincent sensed her weariness. He would come back in a day or two. She intrigued him. If she wouldn't mind the bother.

He was gone as quickly as one could draw breath. Her eyes glittering in the dark were the last things he saw. They stayed with him. He did not look upon his once love after exiting the cave. He couldn't.

His evening was spent suddenly seeing all things within purple hues. Finding himself among the wealthy merchants. There were a set of hair combs. He cocked his head to the side admiring the inlaid lavender and deep purple stone. The intricate gold filigree with mother of pearl. The combs were a hefty price but his needs were few.

These were for her. A gift for the jewel-eyed creature within the caverns whose name he did not know. For once in years. He did not sleep fitfully. He did not dream if Hojo or Lucrecia or his sins. He dreamed of swirling mists amid the cosmos. Soaring through the skies next to a jewel-eyed dragon.

[madameryuu]

The night was silent and quiet as it was normally. She slept where she always slept in the ring of crystals and tufts of shed fur from her natural form that made a bed of no equal. The fur of her form was heavenly soft and could be used to made a luxurious and elegant comforter set fit for the highest of kings and queens to sleep upon; but she used it as padding to sleep on.

Tonight, she curled up in her natural form and smirked a bit at the memory of the interaction with the Man in Red- No, 'Vincent and Chaos'. It was pleasant if not short and a bit confusing. But it was pleasing to her to know that she was not the only one anymore.

The morning was cool and calm and she awoke and stretched, leaving her area to wander around the rest of the cave- the sound of children echoing from all over. Calling out for each other as she walked over to one of the children and smiled when the child turned to her, "I'm lost, Miss Lady!" She smiled as she picked the child up and carried him to the front of the cave, setting him down before wrapping her furs about him. As the child fell asleep, submitting to the lulling call of the fur's pheromones, she began to retrieve the other lost children, one by one, and place them on the fur as well.

It happened enough to keep her busy, and the children were rounded up fast enough; their parents teaching them that if they became lost to stay in one area and stay still. It made it easy enough to round them up. And since they showed her no fear and knew she meant them no harm, it made it that much simpler to lift them up and carry them as if they were her own children. But they never would be and she never would be blood mother to any child. So the lost village children were as close as she'd ever get.

Still, even as she wrapped them all up in her furs and carried the sleeping children out of the cave, she wondered if the Man in Red would visit again; but this hopeful thought was quickly dashed by his reaction to her question the night before and his obvious distaste for being anywhere near the crystallized woman. Perhaps it was for the better. Then she wouldn't have to worry about being exposed to getting too ahead of herself and keep to the steady years of nunnery she had committed to.

[djedereshotep]

"Good morning, quite the bundle."

A familiar dulcet masculine voice carried through the air. Another smirk. Ever so slight played at the edges of full red red lips. Vincent could not help himself. Watching this small ethereal creature carry a bundle of children was so adorable it was almost comical. He cpuld remember the last time he chuckled.

He suddenly felt awkward about his gift. He didn't want to give her more to carry.

"May I help? These children know me."

[madameryuu]

The children were a bit heavy but nothing that she couldn't manage even in her condensed form; and she had soon forgotten about their slumbering little forms when the voice of the man from the day before reached her ears. She smiled and nodded as he mentioned the morning and the children and attempted to walk past him before hearing a chuckle. Not a mocking chuckle like the males she knew gave off- a friendly one. In jest. As he offered to help, she looked affectionately at the five sleeping children, bundled up safe and warm in her cream fur, before turning and walking over to stand before him.

"I would appreciate it." She accepted quietly and offered a few of the children to him, "Careful." She cautioned and refrained from going into detail about how the pheromone effects of her soft fur had completely put the children to sleep.

She didn't need to bring up unasked questions; He had mentioned Sephiroth and raising him, she didn't want to find out how deep that loyalty to the silver-haired male ran. And She was much happier forgetting about him rather than being re-introduced.[/i][/font]

[djedereshotep]

"Here. We will trade."

Vincent offered her an ornately cloth wrapped small package as he gently scooped three of the little ones frim her arms. His blood hued cape curling around them with a will of it's own. His golden boots clanked quietly as they walked and his gun's symbol glistened in the morning light.

It was odd. No matter where he moved, shadow covered him like a protective lover. The sanguine of his eyes pulling the light in as he looked down upon the three and smiled fully. Vincent carefully removed some curly locks from one of their faces.

He walked sure footed next to the small elegant female.

"Your name. May I ask it?"

[madameryuu]

The day was warm but not too warm and it didn't effect the way she carried the children- but the small package he gave her in exchange was a surprise. Perhaps it was enough to show on her face too as she maneuvered the children in her arms to take the package and tuck it away. It would be dealt with later, but right now, the children needed to be returned. And that was more important.

A silence fell over the two of them as they walked almost in stead in almost equal stride, her foot falls almost nonexistent in their falls. It wasn't a painful silence it was... comfortable. Yes, comfortable silence. It had been a long time since she had been comfortable around a male. Then he asked her name and she scoffed lightly,"The Humans named me 'Adeline'." Thought she said it, the name held some quite spitefulness to it. Humans had no right to name her what they wanted and she knew it; but they didn't listen. And the only one who really did listen wasn't all to human himself.

"My Divine Name is Nah'Zhula Rashamirakhah Luminouviah, first of my name, heir to my lineage, and..." With a deep breath she exhaled the last part of her regal and noble title with a bit of begrudging acceptance, "Keeper of The High Lord's Divine Licorice Liquor."

[djedereshotep]

It is a pleasure She who distastes Adeline but prefers, Nah'Zhula Rashamirakhah Luminouviah. I prefer Vincent."

He still held his smirk. He knows he said her name perfectly. Clearly a noble creature stolen in the blasted name of science. He was not without manners nor courtly ways. He was originally a Turk after all. The rigors of a Turk included etiquette and courtly deeds. Akin to a modern knight. And Vincent was highest in his field save a few others he chooses not to think of.

[madameryuu]

She smiled and laughed a bit, a sweet and harmonious sound. It was amazing and cheerful. "Well, Vincent, you may call me 'Zhu', if it's easier for you."

The smile still playing on her face as she carried the children, not minding their weight. Her mind gently wandering to her the elegantly wrapped package as they came to the village where the children hailed from. Off to the side, was a small area of soft hay- meant for horses originally that wandered in from the valley- had been rehabilitated and labeled 'Lost'. To which she walked over, gently unwrapped the children from her fur and tenderly set them in the hay. Her job of returning the children was finished and she could promptly go back to her cave and bathe and then sleep until they wandered back in and got lost. Again. As was routine.

However, this time, she stood next tot he small area and waited for Vincent to deposit the children he had taken from her on the hay. As she pulled the furs about her to cover up her dress and keep her warm, she smiled down at the two sleeping children, "They're fine from here."