ooc: lol, ugly skull ok, I'm done.

IC: Aureliano's charge proved to be very fruitful. The imp was clapping and enjoying his brief victory, unaware of the second attack. Qucikly and with speed, Aureliano's Deku sword cut along Kei's arm, leaving a deep slash. As the creature squealed with pain, distracted once again, Aureliano's curved falcata sliced Kei's chest, and a fountain of blood squirted from the imp.

Sakiko, clutching to her wound, got up quickly, and raised on hand. She pointed her palm directly at Kei, and yelled,

"ELEMENTAL EXPLOSION!"

A fiery orb shoots out of Sakiko's hand, dividing itself into many small balls of light. The red energy surrounds the wounded imp, and collides against the creature. Kei screamed with rage and pain, cursing with the last breath of life he had. All that remained of him was a pile of ash, and two glass vials.

And it was done.

Kei was dead.

Sakiko sighed, and held her wound painfully. She turned to Aureliano and asked,

"Well, shall we examine his potions?"

OoC: Wow, you actually looked up a falcata?

"Good job," Aureliano told Sakiko after she delivered the final blow. He sheathed his swords and then reached down to the imp's ashes. The Hylian picked up the two glass vials, one in each hand. Which one will he choose (left, right, left right, show me, guide me....)? Which one would Sakiko get? Would they even split the potions? So many questions popped into his head once he actually had the vials in his hands.

He extended his hands out toward Sakiko and said, "WHich one will you take?" He gulped, for he knew one would poison one of the two.

ooc: Yup - I had no idea what a falcata was, until I looked it up on images. I'm so proud of myself! lol jk

IC:

"No, you did more than half the job. I'm handing the compliment back."

Sakiko smiled slightly at Aureliano's confusion. She rarely saw him this way, so lost, and it was somewhat comical to her. It was like seeing an old man perform a cartwheel. The mage took the glass vial from the Hylian, and examined the almost identical looking potions carefully. She had devoted her time to research poison and herbs, but she had never heard of a potion that could prevent the drinker from having illusions. Carefully, Sakiko opened the cork top (ooc: I'm not quite sure what they're called - like wine cork or something) on both, and swished its contents around on the glass.

There were many ways to test for poison, and it often required other potions. The mage pursed her lips, and set the two vials on the ground carefully. She plucked a blade of grass from the ground, and carefully lowered it down to the first vial. She quickly pulled it out, and examined the blade meticulously. She did the same for another blade, and held the two pieces of grass.

They both looked exactly the same.

Sakiko sighed, and was about to throw them away, when one of the blades began to turn black. The tip began to disintegrate, then quickly to where Sakiko's fingers held it. The mage smiled, and pointed to the second bottle.

"That, I think, is the poison. But I'm not sure, it's all uncertain."

The mage put the top back on the vial that was assumed to hold the poison, and held up the other. Sakiko stared at the black liquid gravely, and raised her eyebrows.

"Well, if you don't mind, I think I'll drink it first."

She raised the glass to her lips, and tilted the glass to drink.

Aureliano watched Sakiko's experimentation with the vials and noticed she drank the vial that was not poison (so he assumed). He then proceeded to pick up the grass-blade-disintegrating potion and swallowed it all.

"H.....how do you feel, Sakiko?" He asked the mage. He hoped the potion he drank was in fact the poison the imp had talked about. He did not want to see Sakiko suffer for his carelessness. He should have paid more attention, but it was too late now. "Do you feel weak?"

OoC: So who drank what

Ooc: Ok, plan B. Sorry, I should've explained this earlier...

IC: "AUREL!"

Sakiko dropped the vial in surprise, not expecting that he would drink the 'poison'. She had been planning to share half-and-half, but that was all hopeless now. The potion, which was on the verge of being drunken, had been dropped - and the glass had shattered to the ground. The mage ran towards Aureliano, and frantically grabbed his wrist.

Her voice trembled,

"You shouldn't have - would you really think I'd take all the potion by myself? Did you really..."

She choked, all guilt crashing down on her. She lifted her silver eyes - glimmering with tears - and gazed at Aureliano's face, as if searching for an explanation. After this brief second of doing so, Sakiko dropped her eyes and held Aureliano's wrist, her finger trailing to his veins, knowing it was hopeless to do anything now. If the potion he had drank was indeed poison, they were past all hope.

OoC: Well....if the vial Sakiko took was poison, and if she would have shared half with Aure, that would have been a waste. Did you plan for the non-disintegrating potion to be the good potion or the bad? Any way, this makes things more interesting

IC: Aureliano simply smiled and said "Too late now. I drank the potion and you dropped the other one." He had already swallowed the vial containing the "poisonous" contents. He then waited for any unusual feeling or effects to tke place.

OoC: since you started the topic, you can say how Aureliano feels, what he sees, etc. Don't be shy. I can't make adequate posts if you do not give me some details .

ooc: sounds good!

IC: It was as if Hell had broken loose in Aureliano's body. All heat became trapped into his skin, and he could feel cold trickles, like sweat. However, he was still dry to the touch, except burning hot. Sakiko's tears ran freely, her cheeks becoming wet. She grabbed Aureliano's blistering arms. The mage's cold hands were soothing, but her icy touch was short-lasting. Her hands became warm from Aureliano's heat.

It wasn't just the heat, either. It felt as if the blood from his veins were being sucked out. The pain became stronger, and if felt as if small claws were pulling at his muscles, thousands, millions of them. Inside, Aureliano's red blood had begun to turn liquid black. As the heat became almost intolerable, Sakiko almost let go. She had never felt such a sensation to another human being before, a sort of connection... the mage wrapped her arms around the suffering companion, her cold tears running down Aureliano's chest. Soon, the salty liquid sizzled and evaporated into the air, as if it had never been.

Suddenly, black fumes began to curl from Aureliano's body. They writhed into strange patterns. It looked as though it was black fire, heavy and thick. It looked almost like liquid, except lighter...Sakiko held on tightly, ignoring the seering pain transfering over to her body. She sobbed,

"Aurel...you...idiot..."

Aureliano could not help but to bite his lip. He bit it, letting his now-black blood seep from his bite and sizzle on his own flesh. Had he been smarter, the two would have never found themselves in this situation.

He enjoyed Sakiko's cold touch and her tears, but they were short-lived, since his heat took them away from him.

He began to feel claws pull at him now, like a fleet of Keese seeking for revenge. It was a horrible feeling, this unbearable heat and the tearing of the imaginary claws on his muscles. The young Hylian felt like screaming, but he bit his lip even harder. Sakiko somehow managed to hold on to him, despite the unbearable conditions that led to. He wanted her to let go, but at the same time he enjoyed her embrace. He knew it was selfish, but he realized a very important thing that instant.

When the black fumes emerged, Aureliano knew what was coming. The pain was already unbearable, but now the fumes were a sign of his salvation from any pain. At least he was going to perish in Sakiko's embrace, and not in the hands of an enemy.

"you.....prissy.....mage," was his only response to her name-calling.

"teach Aureliano.......to be.....a mage.....or a vassal..."

Sakiko sobbed harder, feeling as though she was being burnt alive. The mage rested her face on Aureliano's chest, and choked,

"I...can't..."

Her voice was cut off, her throat feeling tight from the smoke that was arising from Aureliano's body. So they'd die like this. Sakiko suddenly felt the fear of death, the full impact of it. Now that they were dancing along the edge of life, her cold heart beat faster, her face blanched. Was this the end, truly? The concept was somewhat vague, her brain unable to catch up with the full comprehension of this situation. But her feelings, her emotions deep inside, was enough.

The mage closed her eyes, and stopped her sobbing at once. She trailed her hands along Aureliano's shoulder, and paused her hands along his neck. Sakiko wrapped her arms around his burning neck, and brought her face closer.

Her pale lips lingered hesitently on Aurel's, only for a brief second. She pressed her lips to his, wondering if this kiss could help him, somehow. Sakiko remembered from all the fairy tales that Opegaria used to tell her, how kisses were magical, miraculous. She was doubtful of any of this, but it was worth a thought.

She could feel the black swirls engulfing her, shoving themselves into her body. Her lungs felt weak, her whole body tingling with pain. But if this was her last moment of breath, what did that matter? A single tear dropped from her closed eyes, creating a pearly streak through the dark smoke covering her face.

"Sorry.....I won't....die." He told the mage, trying to sound as confident as he could. He mustered all his strength and courage, for he was not going to die without giving up. "I won't die!"

Aureliano soon after felt his parting gift on his lips, smooth and beautiful. He almost flinched back, as usual, but the pain was too intense to do so. It was the loveliest thing that he had ever felt.

He felt the pain intensity increase slowly, and he began to think that his body would incinerate. He knew it was painful for her as well, so he tried to push Sakiko away, but his arms hurt more with every movement. He just stood there, sharing his heat and fumes with the lovely mage he had met for what seemed such a short time.
OoC: Sorry for not posting.....I have been veryyyyyyyyy busy

Ooc: It's ok - with Christmas coming and all, it sure is a busy time of the year. Oh, and feel free to describe what Aurel may be feeling... it's not godmodding, I think(?)

IC: Sakiko felt Aureliano's arms trying to push her away, although the attempt was feeble. The mage shook her head weakly, and whispered,

"No, if we're to die, I want to die like this."

Sakiko closed her eyes, all sorts of incantations and spells running through her head. She knew they were all useless, and that their lives were slipping away each second that passed. More tears rolled down her cheeks, dropping unto the ground with small plops. As they touched the ground, small, white smoke hissed from the soil. Sakiko blinked, noticing how where her tears fell, that part was white.

She lifted her arm, and touched her face. As she did so, her black finger created a gray streak on her tear-washed cheek. The mage paused, trying to reason with logic what had happened. She still wasn't infected wholly by the poison, thus her body was counteracting with the black toxic fuming around them. They still had hope.

The mage smiled slightly at Aurel. She wasn't sure how to do this, exactly, but she was planning to give away part of her soul, her life, to him. Sakiko bit her lips slightly, trying to remember a passage from a book she read a long time ago. She shrugged it off, and did what she always did before performing a spell. Sakiko put her hands on Aureliano's chest, and breathed in. She searched over her mental state of being, trying to find any remaining energy in her feeble body.

Sakiko pressed her hands more powerfully, feeling the white, pure energy singing to her, a sweet, gentle melody. The mage felt her energy coursing through her veins, traveling to her hands, brining warmth as it passed through her arms. She imagined what Aureliano would feel - a restoration of strength, a warm feeling, a pure, white cleansing of the black poison in his veins.

Sakiko's hands felt weak, and she dropped them to her sides. She could see that most of the black fumes were gone... The mage fell on her knees, and collapsed unto the ground. Her silver hair was sprawled about her pale face, which was chalky white. Her lips felt dry as she whispered,

"Aurel.."

Aureliano's pain was at it's peak now. It was worse than ever and he wanted to roll in agony or jump in some water, but any movement increased the pain. Tears began rolling down his cheeks from the intense pain, but there was no evidence of them since they evaporated in contact with his skin.

He then felt Sakiko's hands on his chest. He was so lost in his world that he never noticed Sakiko's tears or her gray streak on her face until now. "Stop...." he told her, "leave...me..alone." He knew she wasn't going to leave. She had already told him he wanted to die like this.

Suddenly his body was being flooded by a white energy. Aureliano felt the energy running through each vein, healing him from the deadly poison he had drunk a moment ago. Slowly, he felt the pain leave him along with the retreating fumes that were surrounding his body. A warmness was spread throughout his body, dulling the remaining pain to a simple throb, which was nothing compared to what he had experienced. He even heard a faint melody, singing in his ears, calming him, reassuring him that he was going to keep his life.

Even though only a few fumes were left, Aureliano dropped to his knees, feeling drained from the horrible pain he was cured from. He looked at Sakiko now sprawled on the floor, and thought she never looked so beautiful. He proceeded to brush aside the hair from her face, and bent over to give her back the kiss she had given him earlier. He then collapsed next to her and whispered back, "What?"

Sakiko held Aureliano's hand, and snuggled closer to him. He was so warm...She buried her face in his chest, feeling as if the world around her had disappeared, as if everything was fine, nothing to worry about. The mage snapped out of this daydream, and murmured,

"I'm so tired...but we need to look for Aureliano..."

OoC: I see you edited your post. You were trying to be sneaky huh ?

IC:
As Sakiko buried her face in his chest, Aureliano realized that he did not flinch at all this time. He felt calm and collected, and also glad that he was here, lying down with the silver-haired mage, hand in hand. It felt wonderful to be with Sakiko, but as she had just mentioned, they needed to find Aureliano. He reluctantly got up slowly and then continued to pick up his swords from the floor. He put away the wooden one, since he much preferred his strong, metal falcata. It gave him a sense of security, holding the curved blade with rubies on the hilt.

He then cracked a smile. It was a smile of pure joy, and the joy to supply it came from keeping his life and being with Sakiko. He looked down at his companion and saw that she indeed looked as tired as she had mentioned, and immediately he knew why. The white energy that healed him from his ailments had come from Sakiko herself. He felt like kissing her again for saving his life, but he decided he wouldn't over-do it. Instead he asked, "Do you want to rest for a while, or do you want to continue our search?" He then extended his hand, offering it in case she wanted to get up.

ooc: *gasp* I have been discovered!! ermm....*cough cough* Yah...um...

the best excuse I have for that is...erm, it wasn't Sakiko(?) *shuffles feet* *runs away*

IC: Sakiko sat up, her eyes drifting towards Aureliano's face. She returned the smile, and grabbed hold of his hand warmly. Pushing herself forward, she leaned against him, her balance unsteady. She muttered weakly,

“Lead the way, Sir Knight.”

The mage brushed a strand of hair on her face, her vision a bit blurry. The forest looked the same as it had ever been, dark, endless…but her heart became warm at the prospect of having Aureliano with her, the very person who was supporting her physically – and emotionally, too. She wasn’t a romantic, and she had never been in love – not that she could remember, anyway. But this… Sakiko thought that it’d be safe to call it the beginning of a relationship she’d never had before. Or remembered to have.