Talking to Ravens

[Fell]

Kio knew the West Tower\'s reputation well, but that had never stopped him from visiting the place. Some of  the other students liked to waste their time talking about it and spreading useless rumors, but the truth of it was that Kio only came here because it was quiet, and a little wild, and more or less devoid of people during the day. Anyone interested in that "extra training" wasn\'t going to be doing it during the day, so Kio could feel fine coming here, and not be constantly on the watch for a couple who was "otherwise engaged". Not that it was likely anyway.... People tended to be very, very loud when they were being intimate, so Kio would probably hear them long before he saw them.

But no one was here now - just as Kio had suspected. The white-haired boy made his way through the rubble, ducking through a hole in the wall of the building. It took him into the stairwell, which he began to swiftly climb. The gaps in the stairs didn\'t bother him much, either. Most of them he could jump across. Only on a couple did he need to use his chain to swing across on, but all of the actions were familiar ones.

It didn\'t take long for Kio to reach the top. He was barely breathing hard when he did, but it had been a good exercise nonetheless, if only in how to use your chain as a way to get across large gaps. You never knew when these things might come in handy.

Kio stepped out of a hole, and onto the roof. That was where the Ravens lived - a whole big flock of them. They all looked up when Kio walked into their territory, but none flew away. Several even hopped or flew over to him to chat. Kio grinned at his friends... Sometimes the avian ones were nicer to speak to than the human ones!

Kio offered a hand to the one that stayed behind - a bird with a name that, translated from Raven, meant "Gold". Kio began to make cawing, half-way whistling noises that sounded altogether more natural in his throat than they should have. And the oddest thing was, the bird was making them back. And they seemed to understand each other perfectly...

[sagedistorm]

Zane rushed through the rickety, raggedy ruins that indicated the West Tower. Whatever happened here had obviously been devastating. As he went as fast as his legs would take him, his eyes burned in the back and seemed to dry out. It was as if somebody were radiating his eyes with a campfire.

<> he heard in his head. <> <> <> <> <>.

The voices got louder as he went pressed on forward, hearing the thudding footsteps behind him grow lighter. That didn\'t mean he could stop running, though. His eyes burned with such intensity that he had to close them and open his mental sight. With a split-second difference, he now saw in a 360 degree sphere the thing around him, the things through the things around him. Just his luck too! Had he been running with his eyes burning, he would not have seen the staircase through the hole.

The discovery must have sent a sort of shock to a part of his mind, for he no longer heard the complaining disembodied voices telling him their life stories or what happened to the West Tower. Seeing through his mind\'s sight, he learned that there were things that would have stopped him from  getting to the top of the tower. There were nails and darts that looked as if the tips had been poisoned, there were a few daggers, a baton, a worn pocket spellbook (he pocketed that), and what looked like a claw attachment for someone who wanted to make it look as if a jaguar came running through the place. He decided that he\'d have to archive that bit.

It then dawned upon him that he began to hear the thudding footsteps. He saw three of the original four pursuers gaining distance. That would not do well, he decided. He quietly sneaked up the stairs, stopping at a gap a few steps ahead--another thing he would have missed if his eyes were opened... He slowly lifted his eyelids and realized that when the voices stopped, their physical influence must have as well. The mental sight slowly went away as Zane foolhardily leaped across the gaps in the wooden stairs, picking up his slack with a slight telekinetic boost.

He wound up hitting his knees with the force rather than pushing them to propel him forward. He go to the other side okay, but he made a rather loud creaking noise and his knees still hurt. He was okay to walk the remaining stairs until he got to the very top (deciding to pull rather than push himself with his mental powers). He froze when he saw a white-haired neko-jin making cooing sounds to a bunch of ravens.

At that moment, Zane let the spell book he had just found fall from his pocket. He grinned, "Bad spell." That should have explained why he turned up there. He flipped through it, seeing the antiquated idioms of the verbal magic. "Bad book, now that I think about it..."

[Fell]

In actuality, Kio had been listening to Zane, and four others, it sounded like, for several minutes before they even got to the tower. He and Gold had both listened, heads cocked, though only Kio had heard until the noisemakers had gotten much closer. The white-haired boy chuckled when he heard the loud creak, accompanied by a thump. He must have tried to jump, Kio thought, amused. It was impossible to make that jump without some sort of supernatural ability or aid, though - Kio wondered which it was, for whoever this boy might be.

He really was a boy, as Kio saw shortly afterwards. Kio and Gold had gotten into a minor argument over whether or not the boy had used an aid or a power to get over the large gap, which was why Zane found them whisting and cawing to each other. Kio looked over when Zane reached the roof, puzzled by why he suddenly dropped a book out of his pocket.

Spell? Kio thought, cocking his head to the other side, perfectly in time with Gold (who was perched comfortably on Kio\'s wrist.) Kio asked Gold. The black bird just did something he picked up from Kio and shook his head. By now, the rest of the flock had noticed the stranger as well. Many hopped farther down the roof, but some came closer, curious about this other human.

"What spell? You walked up," Kio said matter-of-fact-ly, though his smile belied any thoughts of a mean undertone. The white-haired boy didn\'t understand why Zane was pretending he\'d used a spell when he clearly hadn\'t.

[sagedistorm]

Zane frowned, for it was the perfect physical front as he raked his memory for possible answers that were either true or could not be verified. Even with his encyclopedia-like knowledge of modern and classical spellcraft (he had not studied the truly ancient stuff yet), he could not find any that didn\'t sound overly and overtly stupid.

"You see," he said, choosing to go with the overtly stupid as he rubbed his knee, "I\'m working on a way to shield spell detection." He realized he was the legendary slacker around the school so he had to go give an explanation, for everyone else worked hard in their studies and enjoyed what they did. "I figure that I can get my marks up by contributing something to this school... And since you had not sensed anything, I assume it\'s working... Though I could quiet my running and jumping a bit."

[Fell]

Kio and Gold both cocked their heads to the other side, perfectly in time with eachother. He really does feel a need to lie, but why? the shifter thought curiously. "There\'s nothing wrong with having walked up, you know," Kio said, lightly joking. He didn\'t believe Zane, not when his ears had told him otherwise. One had to trust onesself over others, and Kio did exactly that.

"Why pretend, anyway? I walked up too," the white-haired boy went on, bobbing his wrist upwards a little bit when Gold tensed to take off. The crow had probably known that Kio would want to talk to this boy, and human-talk bored him. "Nothing interesting in it," Gold had often said as he preened. Kio supposed that, to a crow, talk of spells and lies really wasn\'t very useful.

Gold thus dispersed, Kio took a step towards Zane and offered a hand. "I\'m Kio," he said with a soft smile. "You?"

[sagedistorm]

Zane considered the other\'s words. No need to overcompensate when it wasn\'t needed. He shifted a bit when the bird took flight, though. It was more from his lying nerves than anything else.

He smiled somewhat guiltily, every bone in his fourteen year old body weighted down. He took the other boy\'s hand and shook it. "I\'m a walking liar; Zane... But I\'m not lying about that."

Now he understood the proverb: "One lie can ruin one thousand truths." He hoped that didn\'t apply in this case. He would hate to not be trusted by the fair-featured neko-jin after only one handshake.

[Fell]

((Are you confusing Aiko and Kio? o.O))

Kio returned Zane\'s smile with a soft, calm one of his own. "You shouldn\'t lie when you don\'t need to, you know. It does you no good," the white-haired boy said kindly as he shook Zane\'s hand. Kio kept it in the back of his mind that he might be lying about his name, but it didn\'t really matter whether or not he was. One might consider Kio lying about it because Kio was only a nickname.

Still, they were slightly different circumstances.

Kio turned to face the newly-risen sun, its light turning his hair into white fire. "So what brings you up to the top of this tower?" the shifter asked quietly. His tone was friendly and curious; nothing more. It needn\'t be anything more. Kio was curious about Zane, though - he seemed different from all the other people here. Then again, he is, isn\'t he? the white-haired boy thought, remembering what he\'d heard about the other boy.

[sagedistorm]

Zane sighed. It wasn\'t like he made a career of lying or anything--quite the contrary--it was just his nature to protect his mental points of interests. It just so happened that this one was embarrassing. The truth would suffice though.

"Have you ever been ran out of your own bed? Room? House?" He waited for a second, but cut in before Kio could (or even would) respond. "Well, neither have I... Until about a half-hour ago. I\'m nearly certain that it has something to do with the grudge-duel I won about two days ago. Apparently pride is big around here."

He looked directly into the rising sun. A second later he averted his eyes slightly so he could stare at the point right at the side of it. This way he would not ruin his vision, but he could still stare at the magnificent Life-Fire. The sun reflected well in his orange eyes, making them look slightly more brown in its own brilliant orange hue. Zane could win at a lot of things, but he could never win against the Life-Fire that his eyes imitated.

[Fell]

Kio thought back to his time at the Academy. No, he\'d never been run out of any of the above. He\'d held his own, actually. Zane wasn\'t looking for a reply, however. The other boy didn\'t even leave a pause for Kio to reply in. The shifter wasn\'t very bothered. It could be a lot more annoying than it was. Besides, Zane seemed to just want to get it out. Kio let him, patiently listening.

"Pride is important to some," Kio said warmly, smiling, "though I am sorry that you had to suffer the brunt of it. I would simply avoid grudge-duels in the future." Sometimes there were extenuating circumstances or very good reasons for them, but in general Kio had never seen one he considered good enough.

Kio cocked his head to the side, following Zane\'s eyes into the rising sun. The shifter blinked, slightly confused as to why someone would stare straight into it. "Why look right at it?" he asked curiously, turning his eyes to the surroundings. The ravens were pecking at something on the ground between here and the dormatories, but Kio disregarded that for now. He could go see what was so interesting later.

[sagedistorm]

Zane had to agree somewhat with the Kio. He was not one to run most of the time, but surprise will do that to one. He could only think back and see what he could have done instead. Hindsight is always twenty/twenty.

"That was only to get a fix on it," he said, staring still only to the side. "I love the sun and it\'s power. Most people call water the life force of earth, but when I feel the fire flowing through my veins as I power up--" he made sure to not lie by not saying exactly what he was powering up so it would sound like the equivalent of warming up, "--I can\'t think of anything but the sun."

"I don\'t look directly at it, if that was what you were thinking; just a bit to the side where it stays in my vision. Besides, if I ruin my eyes I\'m nearly certain there\'s a spell or something of the sort that can fix it."

[Fell]

Power up? Kio thought, reflecting on those words. When Zane mentioned spells, the shifter just nodded. A mage of some sort, he guessed, though it can\'t have been too hard to tell. After all, Zane had walked up with a spellbook. "What kind of magic do you practice?" Kio asked curiously. He spoke very softly, always, it seemed. It was because his voice was loud in his ears even as soft as it was now. When you spent so much time in silence, even the little noises meant a lot.

Kio listened quietly when Zane explained exactly what he was doing with the sun. \'There\'s probably a spell to make it better\' didn\'t sound like a good reason to do anything. After all, what if there wasn\'t a spell? Magic was a useful tool, but relying on what could potentially be with it didn\'t seem like a good idea. It was too.... unreliable. Besides, why ruin your eyes in the first place.

It occurred to Kio that he still didn\'t know precisely why Zane had come up here, so he decided to ask again. "What brought you up here?" the shifter asked softly, walking to the edge of the broken tower. If he looked down, there was nothing below him. He wasn\'t afraid of getting pushed off the tower. Why fear the air, when you could fly?

[sagedistorm]

Zane realized that it would be pointless to lie to someone that obviously meant no harm. He closed his eyes and opened his mental sight to see a benevolent aura around him. Nothing about him seemed to mean Zane harm. "It isn\'t magic so much as a natural ability--I guess you call it psychic, though the formal name for it is psionics. It can pass for magic if done correctly, however."

He exhaled deeply. It felt good to get that much off of his chest. As if to demonstrate, he responded to Kio\'s musings with: "There may not be a spell to make it better, but considering the applications of some of my skills, it would be child\'s play to fix the problem--even though that is not a true reason to continue this bad (even if enjoyed rarely) habit. You\'ll help me with that, no?" he said with something of a playful smirk. "Perhaps I came up here to meet you?"

[Fell]

Kio shrugged, seeming resigned in a friendly manner. "I can only help you if you want to stop. Unless you do, there isn\'t anything I can do," he retorted with a calm grin. Kio stretched, then seated himself, his legs hanging over the edge. The shifter considered the second part of Zane\'s claim - that he\'d come up here to meet him. Such a belief would also require a belief in fate, and that Kio didn\'t have. Luck, yes, but not predestination.

"I doubt you did. You seemed more surprised to see me than I you," Kio finally said, turning to look over his shoulder at the other boy. He cocked his head a little bit, turning back to the sunrise. You were probably running from those other people I heard, Kio reasoned, kicking his feet a little bit in the open air. You can probably hear my thoughts to boot. Well, that wouldn\'t be so bad. It would save me my breath, he continued in his own mind, looking up thoughtfully. Kio wondered if Zane really could read minds; he was almost sure he could, based on what he\'d said and the way he\'d answered unasked questions beforehand. It was a very interesting ability... Though, without control, it would be hellish.

Kio eyed the other boy again, then smiled softly. You seem fine, though...

[sagedistorm]

Zane\'s smirk became a grin--a wild, sloppy, badly composed grin. At least it was genuine. "Can do," he said. Looking at the sun wasn\'t exactly something he made a habit of.

"Ehh," Zane didnt know how to tell him that it was a joke--somewhat flirtatious in nature, but a joke nonetheless. "It was a joke," he said. The blunt and honest way seemed to work best with Kio. His grin faded into a socially acceptable smile to match his new acquaintance\'s. The smile was able to hide the fact that Kio\'s thoughts began to seep their way into his mind.

<<You were probably running from those other people I heard...>>

Zane quickly cut off the connection between their minds. He would not invade the other\'s mental privacy if he could help it. And he could definitely help it. But he did hear what he heard (as far as hearing thoughts went) and said: "Guilty. I was running to escape them and not get into another grudge duel--especially against all of them."

[Fell]

Kio laughed a little bit; a light, friendly noise. "Well, that sounds like a perfectly good reason to me. There\'s no need to seek out fights, or even take them when they come to you," the shifter said with a grin. In truth, Kio wasn\'t this cool - he was just exhausted. He\'d meant to go to bed right after catching up with Gold, but then Zane had come along... At least it was entertaining. Kio was always happy to meet someone new. He just hoped he wouldn\'t put his foot in his mouth too badly.

"Why were they so mad in the first place?" Kio asked slowly yet suddenly. "You\'re not even in any of our houses... Right?" The shifter turned to Zane with a friendly smile. He didn\'t care how the other chose to live, so long as he lived well. Kio was proud to be an assassin in training, but that hardly meant everyone was, or wanted to be. Zane had clearly not wanted to be, but had done the best with what he\'d had. For that, Kio gave him respect. It was too bad, though... He probably would have been a great assassin.