Voice and Silence *Finished*

[Sera]

(( just a personal RP to help me find these characters. xD feel free to read or ignore. these guys are sketched but not outlined, sooooooo no pictures yet. These guys are finished! ))

They were a pair. Not a pairing. Just a pair. They were partners, comrades, compatriots, though not necessarily friends. The Fire was as close, but the Water was not. The Fire had real friends. . . or, used to. And now he did not. But he had charge of the Water and, for now, that was enough.

They had once been part of an experiment; a prototype of the move to Hawkings Crest. But Altoron was not as friendly as Crest, not as kind, not as. . . forgiving. And now they were the last two. The last of the Quad, the last of the quads, the last of the pairs. Simply, the last.

They were a disparate pair, but they were each all the other had, so now they wandered. They had wandered back to the Home Reality and found it wanting. They had wandered to Hawkings Crest and found the memories painful. So now they wandered to the lands connected to Crest to see and to survive.

Voice and Silence

[Sera]

The Fire had an indolent air about him; his lean, sleek figure seemed to laze about, moseying through the motions of walking or hunting. A small pair of curled antlers mimicked the sharp curves of his ears as he looked out from a spray of spiked forelock. His markings of flame stood stark against the rest of his coat and a small pendant caught the sunlight with an eye-averting gleam. He slunk through the trees, eyes roving with a smooth, lazy movement.

"This is an interesting place," his voice was a mixture of tenor and bass, a nearly musical sound but for the sharpness in the tone. It had once been a much sought after commodity, but life had given him a bite in his voice that defied the natural gift. "I wonder wot we shall find here. Wot do you think?"

[Sera]

The Water moved with a cringing grace just behind the Fire. He had a shrinking air that seemed to fit his long forelock and mane that draped along his forehead and neck as though depressed. His tail curled sharply around his hind legs and seemed nearly glued there. His frame was heavier than his companions, hide slight dulled and not as smooth, as though he had simply lost interest in personal care. A band clung around his left hindleg, glinting dully in the light as though mocking the brilliance of the Fire's necklace.

Most interesting, however, was the tight, leather belt that clasped his muzzle closed. He moved steadfastly, without a sound, without a word, simply following where the Fire led.

[Sera]

"Yes," the Fire stated with a sound of deep satisfaction. "I do believe you're right. I don't think think we will find much of anything. At least. . . nothing worthwhile. But we know wot happens to that which is worthwhile. So we may as well be pleased we will find nothing of note." Eyes cut sharply to his companion. "Don't you agree, Silence? Don't you agree we will find nothing of note here?"

He waited for the slow, hesitant nod, before turning away, satisfied. "That's because I know wot I'm talking about. I am the Voice, after all." And then the two of them continued on for some time without a word.

[Sera]

Eventually, their path crossed a meandering stream, with still no sign of life to be had. The area as, for all practical purposes, deserted. They moved towards the water and Voice stopped so suddenly that Silence nearly ran into him. Nearly, but not quite. Experience had taught him not to touch the Fire without invitation. So he backed up a step to expand the shivering, uneasy space between them.

Voice stared at the water, before leaning slowly downwards to dip his black nose very, very gently into the flowing liquid, seemingly unaware of the other gryvern behind him. The water was cold and fresh, and the Assassin stared at the clear depths with an avidness that could be quite frightening.

"We should talk to Mozer," he announced suddenly, raising his head to send Silence a dark look. "Go fetch Mozer and bring him back here."

The Water stared at him for a moment, then turned and slowly began to walk away. Voice turned his back on the sight, staring back at the water. He could almost see her lovely face hiding in the waves. . . how she looked before she died. . .

[Sera]

(( 100th post! omedetou, self! ))

Silence shuffled back the way they had come before suddenly pulling open the portal that would take him back to Crest. He stared out from beneath limp locks, eyes panning slowly from this way to that, looking for his quarry. But there was no sign of Mozer.

Next best thing, then. He started towards the main complex of Crest and was rewarded by the sight of Sera bustling about. As usual, she had a group of creatures around her and today the personage of note was Mishuen. The short-haired Miberu watched her with detached amusement, not bothering to help her as she went through papers and items, though he was willing to make comments.

Oh, that one is lovely, Sera. You should keep it for yourself. His sarcasm was directed towards the strange paisely limegreen and pink scarf the woman had in hand.

"Yes, thank you, Mishuen, I'll be sure to do that." Her voice bespoke her distraction.

I bet Trebias would love it.

She finally rolled her eyes and sent him a look. "I'm sure he would. Can't you do something useful?" For once.

Don't try that telepathic guilt trip on me, it won't work. His vibrant green eyes went to the approaching gryvern and his tufted ears went back slightly.

Sera turned to look up herself and noted the Water male. Upon being noticed, Silence stopped and waited for them to come.

[Sera]

Sera hesitated, slightly belated recognizing Silence. The Tactician had stopped by once, just before their arrival, and had given her a quick chat about the two. The story had curdled her blood, but she was careful to keep her horror and pity for them tightly sealed away, especially around Voice. Well, the problem at hand was Silence's pointed stare.

"May I assist you in some way, Silence?" she asked quietly.

The Water continued to watch her. . . silently, of course. Okay. With an inner sigh, Sera put down the things she was going through and rose, moving closer to the gryvern. Silence turned and began to walk away. Mishuen chortled from behind her. Sera sent him an exasperated look before she continued to follow the Water. A scan showed that there was a sense that Silence wanted her to follow, but it wasn't anything as easily defined as that. He was nearly a void, and it tripped the empath out.

Mishuen slipped upwards from a nearby shadow, moving in step with the woman. You hang out with the chattiest bunch, he sneered.

"Yes, well, you more than make up for it," Sera retorted. and Mishuen sent her a mock look of dismay.

Sarcasm, Sera? How unbecoming!

"Of you, I'm sure."

[Sera]

Silence seemed unaware of the banter, simply moving forward and onward until he opened another portal. Sera hesitated, but Mishuen stepped closer to her and the two moved as one to the greenish-blue circle of light. The Water stepped through, moving out of the way on the far side, then simply waited for his followers to do the same.

Mishuen came through first, green eyes shooting a swift scan to be certain it was safe even as the woman followed after him. It looks clear, Mishuen sent her, but there was an edge of worry to his mental voice.

I just wish I knew wot he wanted.

Don't we both.

The Water stared at them with eyes of the deepest ocean then continued to lead them onward.

I don't know where we are, Mishuen noted with concern.

We're still on Crest land, Sera answered distractedly. But only just.

This information didn't relieve Mishuen's mind in the least.

[Sera]

Silence had placed the portal well and they were just a few yards from the reclining red gryvern.

"Ah, Sera. I sent him for Mozer and got you instead," there was no telling wot that meant; the words were sharp, the tone friendly, and the thoughts shielded.

"i trust i'm a suitable substitution, Voice," the woman answered, moving up so she could see his sand-toned eyes easily. She felt Mishuen come up behind her, close enough that he could stand in her shadow, and she sensed that he was prepared to shift them away.

"I suppose you'll have to do," the gryvern rolled his head away, extended his black muzzle to the sky as he stared at the clouds passing lazily overhead. He didn't seem to notice, however, as a potentially awkward silence filled the air between them.

The woman saw no reason to break it, however, and, despite Mishuen's growing anxiety, she simply clasped her hands behind her back and waited. After several minutes of this, however, the Miberu cleared his throat pointedly. The Fire blinked and dropped his gaze to the pair.

"Tell me of this breeding program Mozer has enacted."

[Sera]

Both of sera's dark brows lofted in surprise and she inspected the male for a long moment. He met her gaze easily, calmly, so she finally began to explain. "When Mozer first came over he set up a safe place for the Gryvern to stay. However, as he began to interact with the other species here, he realized that the natural Gryvern abilities and defenses could not hold against the beings and creatures they would find in this and the connecting dimensions. He understood that the only way the Gryvern could become stronger would be to mix in the outside blood to hopefully give the Gryvern more innate strength."

Voice accepted this story with little aplomb, mulling it over in silence for several more long minutes. "How does it work in actuality?" he finally asked.

Sera blinked and tilted her head at the Gryvern, but held her questions for now. "The gryvern must simply find an outside mate," she replied quietly. "For a single tryst, or for several, is your decision. Until, of course..." She hesitated for the briefest of seconds but the sand eyes went to her, suddenly growing fierce in their heated and sudden flare of rage.

"Until wot?" he snapped, and rows of white teeth showed from within the black mouth. His anger flowed off of him and Mishuen moved closer to sera, showing his teeth in response and a low growl sounded from with the night elf's chest.

"Until you find your mate," sera answered, meeting Voice's angry gaze without evident trepidation.

"Well, that's already been taken care of," Voice snarled, rising suddenly to his feet. Mishuen placed a precautionary hand on sera's lower back, but the gryvern stalked away from them in a tense, weaving pattern.

Sera glanced to the other side of them, but Silence was simply standing there as though oblivious to wot was going on around them. If Voice was angry ot upset, it didn't really seem to affect the Water and he had no reason to react to anything that had been said thusfar. He would do as Voice told him to. That's all he did now.

[Sera]

Silence hung heavily over the group, as none of the disparate species seemed willing to break it just yet. Sera stared at the Fire's back as the red, golden-tufted tail flicked from one side to the next, more like an angry cat than one would expect from such a canine-appearing creature.

Mishuen's interest slipped to Silence for now, especially since his 'friend' was so agitated. The Water looked like an undisturbed pond, however; his dark blue eyes were almost dully watching Voice's actions as well, but he seemed singularly untouched by it. Voice could be in a killing rage and there was no sign that Silence would even step forward unless called. The Miberu found this chilling and very disturbing.

"Well." Voice spoke again without turning around. "We will join your breeding program." The implication beneath the words gave rise to the bitterness that his words stirred up.

Mishuen still watched Silence, but the Gryvern didn't even give a flick of an ear to indicated he'd heard, much less understood. Mishuen couldn't understand.

"Well, i'm sure Mozer will be quite pleased to hear that," Sera answered lightly. "Would you like to tell him or should I?"

Voice flicked his tail negligently. "It doesn't matter; you may as well. Tell him to find some females. We'll do as we need to."

Sera hesitated, trying to cover her unease. Mishuen sent her a bemused look then pointed out dryly, "There are some who would prefer to choose their own partners."

Voice turned to pin the Miberu with a hard, unreadable look. "Some would, and some have. And some of those partners have been ripped away."

The night elf shrugged as though it didn't matter to him, but he felt Sera's quick stab of guilt. "Well, then, by your leave," he said mockingly, giving a quick, sardonic bow to the Gryvern. He grabbed the woman by the elbow and sketched a salute to Silence as well before, dropping through his own shadow and carrying the woman with him before she could say another word.

Voice stared at the spot where they disappeared, then said harshly, "Silence, go fishing for both of us." He stalked off to drop himself beneath a tree yet again. He sensed the Water heading for the river, as he stared off into the distance. Had he made the correct decision? But. . . wot else was there for them to do? They were lost. It was done.