Shadow of Hope

[Shadowstorm]

Be invisible, hide your face, hide your feelings, hide your eyes. It is not your place to want, to live, to feel. You are but a puppet, a prop in a larger play. A secret life, of which you are but a shadow...

With his head bowed, the young boy shuffled in his too-long grey cloth robes, tied tightly at his waist with the pale sash, bringing out the ashen tones in his skin as he was led by a firm hand forward into the entrance hall, carrying nothing with him but a small bundle of papers.

Beneath a spun gold fringe, eyes like water lifted to the balconies, the towering staircases and then fell to marble floors and intricate patterns. A grand prison.
Silently, his shoulders shook as he openly wept, tears already staining his cheeks beneath that mop of beautiful hair.

So this is home now...

Hands clutched those gently crumpled tokens of his life with desperation. This looped, intricate handwriting was all that was left of his former name, his life..his family.
With shaking legs and pale knuckles, he dropped to his knees as instructed in a low and humble bow to await the one who would show him with no warm welcome to the beginning of his torture. Above his head, his outstretched arms presented the letters of passage, and his father\'s short note of explanation and thanks, rolled unceremoniously into one short scrawl...there was the summary of his arrival....

May I express my humble thanks to the Academy for their services to our family. As promised, I have sent my fifth son as payment for the further use of these valued favours.

I sincerely hope that he will be of use, he has been trained in the basics needed, and is a fast learner.

With sincere thanks,
~V~


So, that was that.

To become a shadow.

[Mayquiri]

A new arrival? That wasn’t something that happened every day. Especially when that new arrival wore the noble crest of the house of Eruditio. A soft smirk crossed across coal lips as he watched the boy. He was small, and young, but then again, they always seemed that way when they were new. As frail as a newborn baby bird sometimes. Until they learned how to handle themselves in their new life and their new job that was.

Taking a near silent, tentative step forward, Venorik placed his hands at his hood, pulling it low over his face. No need to frighten the boy any more tehn necessary quite yet. After all, he was already crying and he wasn’t even out of the entrance hall yet. Poor creature hadn’t even reached his room, much less his classes.

Excitement flashed in his crimson eyes as he appraised the boy from afar, not yet approaching. For all his size and obvious sorrow, he might yet turn out to be a good student. After all, he was allowed into the house of Eruditio, and only those with the highest ethic and passion for learning their art could be admitted in Venorik’s less then humble opinion.

Keeping his steps light and silent, Venorik sidled up behind the lad, looking down at him. “What are you crying for?” He asked in a soft voice, speech marred by a strange hissing, sputtering accent. “This place is not so bad. If you’re willing to embrace its beauty and learn what it has to teach.” Head bowed, Venorik begun to circle the boy, his face hidden deep within the shadows of his hood, his hands pulled up slightly into his sleeves. His fingers showed every once in a while, though due to their inky color, they could have been dyed, or perhaps Venorik could have been wearing tight, dark gloves.

[Shadowstorm]

This fledgling kept his wings well-folded, shoulders hunched and shaking as he was approached. With a quiet sniff, he brought a hand up to streak tears across his cheek, despite the fresh ones brimming at the corner of his turquoise eyes.
Quietly, obediently, his head sunk into a nod, replying with a voice like a wavering thread of silk beneath the morning dew, "I understand..."

That was all, simple from beneath his protective golden veil, the drab robes blossoming from the base of his knees. Even through his softened vision, he caught a glimpse of those inky fingertips, circling around him near eye-level without so much sound as a foostep.
Like a shadow.
Was this what he was to become? A faceless, nameless, silent inky mass of shadow...

As if remembering himself suddenly, Ilvarion glanced upward and offered the bundle of papers to his current company - finally addressing him with a bright gaze, deep rings of amethyst dancing around a pair of strangely inhuman eyes.

"...that I am left no other choice but to embrace that which embraces me."

[Mayquiri]

Taking the papers to look over, and listening to the voice, Venorik couldn\'t help but to smile to himself.  When he was told he was to show a new student around, Venorik had felt that there were far better uses of his time.  Quite frankly put, he\'d rather sit in the dusty library studying like he was supposed to be doing instead of showing this whelp around the schools.  

However, when he saw the boy, and when he noiced the crest, Venorik couldn\'t help but to smile to himself.  It may be a bothersome chore, but Venorik could still teach the boy a thing or two like he was supposed to, and perhaps learn something himself.

"Do not look so glum boy." Venorik offered, "This is far from the worst place you could have wound up.  They could have dropped you into one of the deep caves that lead to the lands of the dark elves after all." Venorik then said, both to try and comfort the weeping child some, as he disliked it when the new ones cried; it made him angry.  Venorik also wished to gauge just how much the boy knew about
 his species.  If he knew of the drow and was frightened by their mentioning, he would have to keep the hood up a bit longer, if he did not, then Venorik could allow himself to show his face.

[Shadowstorm]

Bright eyes searched inquisitively upward, spending less than a second to process a somewhat odd reply...he had indeed heard of the drow, but over-riding those few pages of a chance tome, Ilvarion reverted to something commonplace, something comfortable.
It was with the glimmer of a slightly bitter smile that he replied, "Then I would merely have to adapt, as I shall have to here..."
Repeating his father\'s advice brought an end to his tears...

As if it set off a spark of life, he straightened his shoulders, shrugging away that cowering affliction of but a few moments ago.
What his father had told him was applicable here, more so than ever. If it were to be his new life then he would have to learn to embrace it.
As this companion had told him, it wasn\'t the worst place he could be.

"Thank you."

Pulling his thin robes around himself, Ilvarion got slowly to his feet, head still bowed to his superior as he requested politely, "If it isn\'t too much to ask, sir, may I see the library?"

[Mayquiri]

"Just keep to your studies and get better at your chosen speciality.  You\'d do fine that way.  Especially if you watch your back and don\'t make to many enimies." Venorik advised, smiling to himself under his hood as he thought of the few people who dared try to bring him down.  Often those who got in his way one to many times were found floating face down in the lakes nearby, or killed in some manner in the halls.  Often hidden, and often without blades.  Usually brutally.  Venorik wasn\'t to fond of such crude murder, but they drew suspicion away from himself, often placing blame on the general house of Cruori.  And those were usually looked over in the general sceme of things simply because of the nature of the house.

Hearing the child perk up some, Venorik ripped himself out of his reviere, turning his glowing ember eyes down upon the child again.  "That\'s the first thing you\'ve said that I like." He commented honestly as he took down his hood, silvery white hair cascading down his back with a casual flick of the hand.  "You were meant for this house with an attitude like that.  You\'ll go far so long as you keep your prioritites straight.  Come on.  I\'ll show you around."

[Shadowstorm]

This boy wasn\'t slow, he realised what that questioning beforehand had been.
Snatching a little more than a glance upward, he admired that stream of silvery hair across jet skin.
He had heard of the drow indeed, but never before seen one of their race - with skin like ink, and bleached hair, as if spun from silk.
Respectfully, he lowered his eyes again. After all, when you looked so very different, it was common to be watched constantly...
That, he knew first hand.

"That boy of yours, the one with eyes like the rain, and fair hair...is he really the same blood?"

Not that he hadn\'t wondered that plenty of times, watching his brothers with their tan skin and chestnut curls, dark eyes amongst a spatter of freckles.

Reverting back to that quiet obedience, Ilvarion nodded his head gently. No need for words when none at all would do just as well, after all.
With a relit spirit in his eyes, and a dash of determination somewhere in his stride, he followed Venorik - eager to see what his new \'home\' had to offer.

[Mayquiri]

He was used to stares.  People who had been around him for a while, or were out often after dark, were generallt no longer phased by his appearence.  Or at least theyw ere good at pretending.  What surprised Venorik wasn\'t the fact that the boy stared, but how he stared.  A look not filled with revulsion, or fear, the child merely looked...curious.  

Smirking as he watched the child out of the corner of his eyes, Venorik moved through the darker parts of the corridors, always keeping in view of the child, so he could be followed easily.  It wasn\'t a wish for secrecy that kept Venorik in the shadows, merely a distaste for the lights.  Having been in dark for a long time this day, his eyes were left hypersensitive, and they ached lightly in their sockets.

((this\'ll be my last post in this thread.  I\'ll make a new one in the lbrary))