Let's play~ Light vs. Dark

[Memoire]

A tall man roamed the forest, standing at a height of six foot five inches. His skin was pale and smooth, eyes a dazzling red that seemed flecked with bits of black. His hair was lone and black with a single red strip in the front. His hair was tied back in a ponytail, with a jeweled headband that had red and black stones on as silver band. Rings and dangling ears hung from his ears while his fingers were adorned with some rings as well. His clothing was tight and form fitting, though he currently wore a loose robe over his clothes that was open somewhat in the front.

He was a dark elemental, one that fed on shadows and negative emotions. Everything dark. His name was Darius Shadow. He roamed the forest, looking bored and in search of something to do. That is, until he caught the scent of blood and a light elemental's presence. Curious, he made his way to where the injured light spirit was, not sure what to expect.

He remained in the shadows, interesting eyes watching the form of the man before finally showing himself. "What have we here?" He asked, voice silky and dark. It was a pleasant voice and definitely suited him.

He hadn't done much today. He lived alone in a mansion in the woods, normally hidden from normal human's sight. He didn't like bothering with anyone, so he lived alone aside from some servants. He had wealth, some that he had earned and some that he had collected by taking by force. He was strong. His body was tall and lithe, but still with some muscle.

A crooked smile wove itself upon his lips as he approached the injured light spirit, wondering how this would play out. He was interested, even if the other was male. Darius had always had a weakness for the same sex but had tried distracting himself with the opposite.

 

[missedstations]

Forests were really terrible places, all leaves and branches, and no sky. The sky was his home. Before this, he might have only come to the ground a handful of times in his life. Arein knew how to sleep on the wing, he took showers in thunderstorms, and let the winds dry him.

Sometimes he flew down low, to see the ground from a little closer. He did not know what the hunter took him for, but the arrow pierced his wing and he fell, the twigs ripping through his skin and tangling in his hair. The hunter had seen him, and fled in horror at his sin, not thinking to give aid. Arein simply despaired. He was not suited for the ground. He had never walked further than a few steps!

His body was not large, and he was light, all hollow bones and muscle. His wings were massive and when spread fully could take the span of five yards, and his pinion feathers on their own were a few feet long. One wing was carefully folded, its gold feathers still clean, but the other was spread awkwardly, the arrow still stuck through it and stained with blood. Arein did not know what to do, and his attempt to take the arrow out a few hours ago had made him howl with pain. He had never felt such a thing before.

He did not even sense the presence of the other until it – he – spoke. Arein flinched, momentarily both defenceless and baffled. His hands were stained in his own blood, and he had been trying to smooth the damaged feathers, trying to work out how to fix this.

“Are you today my brother or my enemy?” Arein asked, his throat feeling horribly dry. Sometimes, their kind may cooperate. Sometimes deals and alliances were made... But at other times? Arein would prefer not to think about that option.

Arein was almost the direct opposite of the other being. He wore no jewellery and no clothes except a silken loincloth. His hair was the same pale gold as his feathers, and knotted by the wind into what were almost dreadlocks. His skin was turned almost coppery by the sun, but it was scar-less, just like all of his kind. His keen eyes were copper, flecked with gold. They always showed his emotions well, but now, all he seemed to feel was hollow despair. How could he be flightless? How could such a thing happen? How could he live with something like that?

 

[Memoire]

"Perhaps and perhaps not. I'm in an interesting mood, little man." He couldn't help but chuckle, running his fingers through his silky ebony bangs as he continued to approach the other male. "So, you've gotten yourself into a fix, have you? You're lucky. I'm in a somewhat generous mood." He reached the light spirit and crouched down in front of him, resting his hands on his thighs as he looked the other over. He studied the severity of the situation before nodding for some reason.

"You're injured. That looks painful. I would remove it now, but it'll have to wait." He said before leaning over and without another word, scooped up Arein before he rose. He was strong, but it also helped that the other male was light. "Just hold on and I'll take you to my home. Then I'll deal with that arrow, all right?"

 

[missedstations]

Arein stared back at the dark spirit, eyes narrowed. He would normally just disappear, spreading out his wings and flying so high nothing else could follow. But right now, he did not have that option... He was simply not a creature of the ground. It felt awkward and wrong. Generous? What on earth did that mean?

He hissed in pain as he was lifted, too quickly to really protest. Arein's hollow bones meant that he was only a little heavier than a human child would be, but his shape was slightly more difficult. His wings meant that he felt horribly off-balance while being held, and almost reflexively he wrapped his uninjured wing around the dark spirit's shoulders, like a feathery cloak. Closer up, his feathers had a thousand different gleams: silver, and orange, even a little red, but mostly all the different shades of sunlight. They seemed to reflect more colours than they actually had.

Arein was, however, unsure what to do with his injured wing. He half-folded it, but the pinions still trailed on the forest floor. To fold it any further would drive the arrow further through, or even worse: twist the shaft. He was only accepting this help because he was utterly confused, without a clue what to do with this injury.

 

[Memoire]

He seemed to be able to move fine even with the wing dragging. He was careful not to trip over it as he walked, not saying a word. He walked for what seemed like forever until a gloomy looking small house appeared in front of them. The door opened on its own but there was no sight of anyone else. He entered the building, the house seemingly bigger than it had appeared on the outside. He went up some stairs and into a bedroom before laying the light spirit on the bed. It smelled like him, so it must have been his room.

"Stay here and I'll be back in just a moment with some supplies to tend to your injury." He left with a mischievous wink but shortly returned, seeing if the light spirit had remained on the bed or not.

 

[missedstations]

Houses. It was not something Arein was terribly happy with. Rooms were always too small to spread his wings fully. Still – beggars could not be choosers. What was he meant to do on his own in a forest? Magic did not surprise him. They were both immortal and supernatural beings, and it would be stranger if it was none.

The bed was soft, but it felt weird under his wings. Being on his back was not something that Arein was particularly used to, and he didn't like it. He sat up immediately, trying to put himself in a more comfortable position. He carefully put his injured wing behind him, but wrapped his other one in front of himself, so that he could begin to pick out the leaves and twigs that had got stuck between the feathers and smooth them out again. He did it more to calm himself down than any real purpose. The room was too small. He could not take flight.

When the dark elemental returned, Arein looked up sharply. Not entirely trusting. Why should he be? They were opposites.