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Heart of Clay - Happy x Razgriz

KimiDoll

KimiDoll

Star
Joined
Jun 8, 2011
Location
Australia.
"WHAT ARE YOU?!"
The aggravated cry of the young witch rang out through the vacant shop, quickly followed by a noise that would seem much more fitted to some sort of wild animal rather than to a petite and delicate flower such as herself. Green eyes glazing over Ren stared down at the open text book upon the floor, her arms crossed over her chest she slowly paced around the room. "Aramaic?!" She cried with a joyful burst as she held up a piece of parchment with scribbled symbols, her expression quickly falling to disarray. "No... No, that wouldn't fit, but it feels close" Ren sighed, slumping back down onto the ground before her book she began to study the pages once more. Her lust for an answer to this puzzle seemed to be driving her around the bend, but still she soldiered on, she wasn't one to give up so easily.

Boxes upon boxes of ancient texts, tombs and crumpled pieces of parchment crowded the small and dusty shop. Some in leaning towers that could barley hold up their own weight, others lay spilled out upon the hard wood floors from Ren's attempts to find the answer she sought buried somewhere within the pile. Empty coffee cups, half eaten noodle pots and old take out containers added to her look of desperation. For no more than a week had she been searching for her answer and had yet found anything of use. Even her usual tame appearance displayed her heart filled desperation. Her dead straight, midnight blue hair had been dragged up into a loose and messy bun on top of her head, strands of it cascading down over her eyes and behind her ears. Her outfit worn and shabby, she had slapped on a pair of faded grey tracksuit pants, a torn and filthy old white t-shirt and a loose, black hooded jumper. The sleeves of which had been rolled up around her forearms. A pair of thick rimmed glasses sat perched upon the ridge of her nose, the lenses in desperate need of a polish. It was very rare to see Ren in such a state, but whenever she set her mind to something it was impossible to derail her.

With a long winded sigh Ren slammed the text book closed. Her eyes dark and blood shot from lack of sleep she slowly fell back to lay upon the ground, muddled within her mess. Reaching into the pocket of her pants, Ren withdrew her phone and searched for the images she took of the riddle in question. No more than a week ago had she found him, buried among the oddities in her basement. His stone gaze watching her from behind a fallen book shelf. For years she had lived in that house and not once had she seen him before, a statue made entirely of clay. Though it wasn't the statue that had caught her attention, rather, the inscriptions her had carved into his side. Ren had never seen such writing before, it was so peculiar, she had to know what it was that it said and thus began her long and winded search.

"What are you?! DAMN IT!" Ren growled, stuffing her phone back into her pocket as she stared up at the ceiling with a disgruntled pout.
 
*Some time earlier*

Before the witch Ren had purchased the place for herself, it was owned by a very powerful warlock; who it was no one could really say, as the man was very secretive. It was said that he owned several houses, places he could go to should those who hunted him ever find him and force him to leave; it seemed a plausible theory, as the house itself laid on the outskirts of town and away from prying eyes.

Of course, it was because of this lack of information that no one really bothered to spread it; when stories are told, one expects a tale of intrigue and mystery. The hype was there, sure but those who performed 'dares' on staying in the house found it to be incredibly empty, save for a few books...And boring. And once this spread, the dares stopped and the house fell back to being unnoticed. Until Ren Razor moved in, and lord was a hornet's nest stirred.

But she would get another surprise; as the young witch would begin to settle in and find out things about her new place, it would turn out that not everything was taken. By some off-chance, a veil was lifted by the presence of her arcana and to her was revealed one of the master's old possessions: A clay giant, its featureless body a dull red and its eyes nothing more than black holes in its 'head', standing behind a long-since broken bookcase. Strange scripture and sigils covered parts of the form, clearly an ancient tongue, but the marks were faded from the harsh caress of time; though perhaps the strangest bit was a small hole in the forehead. What this could be for, only time would tell.

*Present day*

Ren should be so thankful her home was on the outskirts of the town; at least there the object of her concern was safe from prying eyes. However, it would be obvious to anyone that she hadn't slept in some time; that and the enormous mess was currently affecting the rate at which customers would enter her shop. Which might work for her in this case, but she would soon find that there was a bit of a concerned party.

Darren Reynolds, a young warlock around the same age as Ren but with a few years on her, was currently making his way to the shop after having just come back from a trip; they had said over the course of the past few days, the witch running the healing parlor had been making all kinds of weird noises. Not to mention that there was a slightly off-putting smell emanating from the door, as they had said; as Darren was a good friend - well, as good as a friend could be when it came to Ren - he was hoping he could talk to her and see what was going on.

Upon testing the door, he found it to be open and let himself in; the poor guy couldn’t believe what he found. This place was a freaking pig-sty! “Ren! Ren! It’s me, Darren; are you buried here somewhere?” he then spoke out, trying to his best to not step on any of the mess. However, he would soon find her face-up right in the middle of the chaos; what really shocked him was her appearance though. Sure, she was a bit of a recluse but she never looked THIS bad. The fact that her eyes were bloodshot and her clothes looked like something someone threw out made it worse. “Oh my god, Ren. What the hell happened here? When was the last time you slept?!” he asked in an incredulous tone; she’d been quite secluded
 
As if it were Moses parting the Red Sea, Ren raised her hands and with relative ease she created a narrow path within her mess so she would have a clear view of her appalled acquaintance. With a hearty sigh the young witch dropped her hands, her books and rubbish still hovering in the air as if frozen in time. “I’ve been busy” Ren muttered with a blunt tone, she did not appreciate being judged like this. Rising to her feet she straightened her appearance to the best of her ability before releasing her long hair from its bind upon the top of her head. The silken locks cascading down over her shoulders she appeared a little more presentable, but still the wear and tear of her late nights wreaked havoc across her once youthful looks.

“What are you doing here, Darren? I’m not too keen on getting distracted today” Ren huffed, her slender arms crossing over her chest she slowly moved towards the back room of the shop which were cleverly hidden behind a moveable book shelf behind the register. With a flick of her wrist the shelf slid to one side and she stepped down a few cobble stone steps into the back room, making her way to the small kitchenette along the back wall. Turning on the cold water she wet her face, the brief refresh causing a smile to tug at her lips. “Where have you been anyway? I haven’t seen you in a while?” Ren inquired; filling the kettle she placed it back on the counter and turned it on before moving back towards the front of the shop. Her green eyes focusing on her visitor she began picking up her rubbish and sorting it into the nearby bin.
 
"Yeah, no kidding...Remind me never to leave you alone again" he muttered as he eyed the disaster area that was her shop; running a hand back through his brown, shoulder-length locks he watched as Ren worked her magic...Literally. Skilled as she was, witches and warlocks alike needed sleep. Even though he too had spent countless hours on research, he never let it get this bad. Well that wasn't entirely true; his own little flat had been subjected to some serious messes itself when he got absorbed.

"I just got from a little trip...Parents were having some trouble dealing with a "bothersome" half-giant and asked me to come give them a hand. Turns out the poor guy was just lost and the folks couldn't understand a single word he was saying; thought he was threatening them but was just asking for directions" was his clarification. He then added, as if to try to impress Ren, "Turned out to be an old Slavic dialect. Knaanic, to be exact; strange he was speaking a language that went extinct in the late middle ages, ain't it?" Darren was sure this would work to earn her favor...Even if the other times had no success, being able to translate a half-giant's garbled words should be considered quite a feat...Right?
 
It was probably safe to assume that Ren was only half listening, if at all. Her mind still preoccupied with her own conundrum she only took in certain keywords, nodding her head whenever it felt appropriate. Though, it wasn’t as if she was purposely ignoring the only person who had the patience to take an interest in her personally, it was just in her nature. Her mind always seemed to be in a million places at once, she never had the attention span to focus on one thing and one thing alone. With a flurry of her hands the books that had been scattered over the floor lifted into the air and began to neatly stack themselves into neat piles upon the shop’s back counter.

“Sounds troublesome” Ren mused vaguely, stepping back down into the back room she began to organize a pot of tea with the water from the boiling kettle. Waving a hand she offered him a seat at the small, round table with mix matched chairs of peculiar shapes and colours. Unlike the décor of the shop front which was fairly modern and clean cut, the back room was more like the woman herself, strange, mildly interesting and as if from a children’s fairy tale. Crystals fastened to lengths of fishing wire hung down across the back window, their fragments catching the light of the afternoon sun, scattering it in small pools along the opposite wall. Bunches of herbs and dried flowers lined the counter of the kitchenette, some still fairly fresh from her last wander into the nearby nature reserve. Their crisp and refreshing scent dancing upon the air, masking the wretched smell that wafted in from the shop front, it was a bit of a relief honestly.

Setting down a pair of elegant tea cups and saucers on the table top, Ren placed sugar, milk and a plate of small, delicate biscuits in the center before moving to pour the tea. Her attention quickly catching hold of the last of his sentence, she thumped the tea pot down on the table, excitement gripping her heart. “An ancient language? You know some ancient tongues?!” Ren asked abruptly, her stare almost menacing as she probed at him. Her lips pulling into a wicked grin she stuffed a hand into her pocket and withdrew the piece of parchment that she had been studying all week and slammed it down on the table in front of him “This! Can you read this?!” It was more than obvious that these past few days had indeed driven her around the bend.
 
For the short while Ren was trying to fix herself up a little, Darren mindlessly moved about using magic to place trash into the bins nearby; and for that while she said almost nothing in response to him. What does it take to impress this woman, he thought; she was a smart girl, surely she would appreciate someone who was also knowledgeable? Giving a sigh as he finished up, he took up on her unspoken offer and sat down at the table.

"Appreciate it, Ren" he then said in a somewhat defeated tone; however, he would soon find his peace disturbed as the last mention of his knowledge of ancient tongues seemed to flick a switch in her brain. He gave quite the start as she pulled out a piece of parchment and slammed it in front of him; though her asking him that question made him smile as well. This could be my chance, he thought; he knew how she acted when she got excited, and this scroll must have been something major.

Puffing out his chest a little, he thought to himself "Alright, time to show her what I'm made of" before picking up the piece of parchment. "Hmmm...Now here's a language I thought went the way of the dinosaurs. It appears to be Masoretic Hebrew...Looks like a dialect used near what's now the West Gaza Bank, sixteenth century I'd say". Squinting his eyes a little, he then said "Looks it reads "Born of Adam, in the Name of God and......". Setting it down, he then turned to look at her, "Ren...Where exactly did you find this? It seems....incomplete. Like there's more to it. What exactly was it that you were working on?"
 
Happily stunned, Ren dragged a chair from the table and plopped herself down into it. Her hands wringing together in her lap she watched him with wide, excited eyes, her gaze constantly switching from him to the parchment and back again. For the first time since the day she met him, Ren found Darren to be genuinely interesting. It was odd, it almost made her heart feel a flutter as he explained his impressions of the text, finding his smug confidence almost charming. Maybe she should have spent more time listening to him instead of staring off into space?

Dismissing the thought Ren took back the piece of parchment, stuffing it into her pocket she rose to her feet and took his hand. "You've gotta see it to believe it" She said with a smirk, pulling him to his feet she threw a clear vile to the floor. It instantly shattered and a thick cloud of grey smoke erupted from its remains. Slowly the back room of the shop vanished from sight as the cloud engulfed their form. Darkness setting in, it felt as though they had become trapped inside a storm cloud, flashes of harsh light crackling within the smog. However, as quickly as the smoke surrounded them did it disperse again, fading into the air to reveal a change of location. The front step of Ren's home.

Without pause Ren pulled him towards the entrance to her home, with a wave of her hand the large wooden door swung open and she rushed inside. Unlike the state of her shop, the house was in impeccable order. Crisp, clean and smelling of nothing but sweet perfume, it was obvious Ren had not stepped foot in to her house since she had discovered the text a little over a week ago.

"Down here!" Ren sung happily as she pushed against a wall panel to reveal a hidden entrance. Cobble steps lined the wall as she lead him down to the basement, dusty candles flickering to life as they made their way further inside. "I had discovered this place a couple of months ago while resealing a few gaps, it's an incredible treasure trove of oddities! I swear my heart almost flew out of my chest when I saw everything!" Ren smiled as she stopped at the bottom of the steps, looking out over the small basement filled with piles of junk.

At first glance it looked to be nothing more than the former owner's filthy basement, a dumping ground for old knick knacks and appliances. However Ren seemed to think very highly of her hidden trash heap, her hands on her hips she gave a smug grin as she slowly edged towards a couple of broken book cases. "I found him while rummaging for anything of use. He scared me at first, but he's kinda grown on me. I think I might take him upstairs sooner or later" Ren rambled on as she struggled to push one of the book cases aside, revealing her clay soldier hidden amongst the trash. "Well Darren, what do you think?!"
 
As he went through his analysis, Darren couldn't help but glance towards as she pulled up a seat next to him; it took all his effort not to grin at his apparent success. Important, yes this was definitely important. "But most of all, she recognizes my genius. And she likes it" he then thought to himself, thinking that he finally managed to impress her. Maybe now he could try to put the moves on her, maybe even convince her for a date. Though his expression became one of slight befuddlement as she mentioned that he 'had to see it to believe it'.

Before he might be able to question, the parchment was taken away from him and his hand grabbed; he felt color rush to his cheeks, the sensation of Ren touching him both exciting and unnerving. Darren then found himself wrenched from his seat and surrounded by a suffocating smoke cloud; before long he arrived, coughing in a rather comical fit, at the foot of Ren's home. And like a dog being put through its paces, he found himself being dragged into her house before his bearings came back to him.

Needless to say, he was definitely surprised by the orderliness of her house compared to the rampant scene of chaos that was her shop. But he was in her home! This was a huge step forward! Darren just grinned ear to ear as he followed her down, soon reaching what some would call for this place to be condemned! This was even worse than the shop! He felt himself at a temporary loss for words as she explained that she was excited about this...enormous pile of useless junk. Or at least, that was how it appeared to him; there might be something of value buried under there, but there was no way he was going to bother trying to find out.

However, Darren's little trance of amazement was broken when Ren called his attention over to another place amidst this new chaos; stepping gingerly to avoid breaking anything fragile, he made his way over to her and nearly had a heart attack as he stumbled back in fright, hand grabbing onto one of the edges of the broken bookshelf in reflex. Placing a hand over his heart, he stared up at...A giant statue. "Well, I can see why you got the jump; this thing looks almost ten feet tall!" he exclaimed after his breathing returned to normal. It was huge; but what on earth was it? Whatever it was, this must be where the text Ren was studying came from. "But...I have to ask, what exactly is it? And how on Earth are you going to get it upstairs?" he then queried, turning to look at her as she stood proudly before him. He might have heard of a few creatures, but right now he was drawing a massive blank on what this thing was.
 
"I have no fucking clue!" Ren beamed happily, an answer to both of his questions. Leaning in she held tight to his hand, her fingers gently laced between his own, she pulled him in a little more closer. Their position fairly intimate, though Ren was completely unaware she had put them in such a position, her mind taken over by excitement to put up her usual defenses against this sort of closeness. Running a finger over the air above the statue's carved script she studied the markings before giving Darren a sideways glance "The most I have gotten from this is that it is indeed, made of clay" Ren said with a snicker "Can you get anything from it?" Her eyes searching his expression for any form of understanding, she bit down on her lower lip, her mind racing with all the possibilities of what this could be.
 
Darren seemed a tad disconcerted; he'd honestly never really seen Ren this ecstatic. Even in the shop she was milder than this; it was like she found out Santa Claus was real or something. And over an inanimate hunk of clay/stone...Whichever it was. She said it was made of clay, so it probably was the true material. But he was distracted a little...ok, more than a little...when she pressed herself closer to him. His cheeks felt like they were going to spontaneously combust and he was feeling some heat start to creep into his groin.

And it didn't get any easier when she gave him that sexy look; well, truthfully, it was a look of searching. But to him the way the light played across her features and pale skin made her even more gorgeous than before, and he tried hard not to swallow too loudly. But then, a slightly devious thought crossed his mind...Maybe he could barter with her. Regaining his composure, he decided to try to play it cool and suave-like. "I could...I certainly know my way around languages, as you know. Tell you what...I'll translate the whole thing for you. IF....you go on a date with me. And don't worry, it won't be anywhere crowded. Hell, if you like, we could order a pizza and play that new action-adventure RPG that just came out".

He then turned to face her completely, grasping her shoulders somewhat tightly but not so much as to cause discomfort as he stared into those beautiful eyes of hers, "And to sweeten the pot...If you say yes, I give you a partial translation. Absolutely free. So....What do you say?"
 
The expression upon Ren’s brow quickly began to change from her excited stare, to one of confusion and then one of utter shock. His request was completely out of the blue! Since when had Darren ever thought of her as someone he would like to date?! Why would he want to try? Ren, completely oblivious to his fondness for her, dropped her gaze and bit down on her plump, lower lip. It was not like the idea of going out with Darren was completely unappealing, in fact he was rather handsome and if Ren actually put any thought into it she could probably end up liking him too. However, Ren had never been approached by a man before with romantic intent, she was unsure of what to do. This whole situation was abnormal to her, but with the offer of his translation all too appealing Ren couldn’t possibly refuse him… Could she?

Furrowing her brow, Ren looked up at her clay soldier, his hollow eyes holding her gaze for a moment as she contemplated what would be at stake. Urgh! He only asked for one measly date! It wasn’t like he had just asked for her hand in marriage. Her lips formed a lopsided pout as Ren turned her gaze to Darren, a dark blush crossing her cheeks she seemed to squirm awkwardly beneath his grasp. “If I say ‘yes’ you will translate it completely and tell me what he is, right?” Ren asked, but before he could answer she let out a loud sigh and dropped her head. “Alright Darren, I will go out with you” Ren muttered into her chest, trying so hard to ignore the battalion of screaming butterflies that had begun to swarm within her stomach.
 
Darren was not so dense as to be blind to the shift in her expression; a slight hollow feeling arrived in his gut as he contemplated that he might have been TOO forward. Shit, what if this completely made her avoid him altogether? Crap, now she might think he's some kind of creeper; which he was to a degree, but never did he go so far as to try and invade her home to peep on her showering or something like that. Even if some part of secretly fantasized being able to catch her naked; despite the baggy clothes she wore, he could tell she had a rocking body underneath.

Darren felt her squirm a little, so he let her shoulders go; his heart thudded loudly in his ears as the woman of his dreams mulled over going on a date. When she then asked if he would really hold up his end of the deal, Darren's eyes went wide; did that mean....? The answer to his unspoken question came soon after, and he couldn't help but grab her shoulders again and kiss her forehead before stating excitedly, "Awesome! You won't regret it, I promise! It will be a night to remember! We can do whatever you like, no questions asked and no fuss!"

He then straightened up and gave a slight cough, "But...As per our deal, I will give a partial translation". He then walked towards the clay giant and started looking over its massive figure; Darren's eyes seemed to focus on different areas before focusing on what would logically be the left side of a normal man's ribcage. To anyone unfamiliar with the language, it would look like unintelligible scribbles; however, Ren would see that he was no slouch. Giving a slight grin, he then stood up and turned to her "You know that script you gave me? It reads ""Born of Adam, in the Name of God and He who made us from ash, form here that from which the partner of Adam was created". He then clarified, "They're referring to the ribs...You know the whole Adam and Eve story, right?" But giving a dismissive wave, he simply added "Anyway...What time should I come over? I was thinking about ordering a pizza and playing that new MMO that came out. What was it called again?"
 
Ren froze up, her eyes wide she tried to lean away from the kiss to her brow, but his hands held her still. Swallowing a breath she tried to hide her crimson face behind her long locks of hair, the warm and wonderful sensation of his kiss making her squirm again. Ren had never felt this nervous before, she could swear that if he were to look down he would be able to see her heart pounding out of her chest. His excited reaction to her reply caused a sweet smile to tug at her lips as her gaze slowly rose up to look at him again. Why on earth was she so flustered around him now? Damn it, her calm disposition had been flung out the window! “I’ve never been on a date before, so whatever you think would be good I can do… I think” Ren replied in a soft tone, her hands tugging at the bottom of her shirt. Suddenly she remembered how repulsive and untidy she looked, a week of frantic studying had left little time for personal hygiene… and yet, he still asked for a date. Ren placed a hand to her heart and smiled, God help her, she was charmed.

Soon enough her attention was quickly focused back on the clay statue, her heart racing she leaned in closer to inspect the text alongside him, although she was still oblivious to its meaning. “Oh my God, Darren! That’s amazing!” Ren gasped with an excited grin, her form straightening up she beamed up at him, her arms folded across her chest as she began to regain some of her confidence. “Come by around seven and you mean Realm Reborn? Sure, that would be nice. I could show you the ropes” Ren smirked before casually stepping around him to make her way upstairs, excited to start researching the passage of text that he had translated for her. “Are you sure you just want to hang out here for our date? I can man up and go out if you’d prefer?” Ren asked once she hit the foot of the stairs, patently waiting for him to join her.
 
Darren was quite surprised when he heard Ren's little confession; she'd never been on a date before? Surely she didn't make herself a recluse ALL of the time did she? "Well then...Guess it will be a learning experience for both of us. Honestly, I've tried to go out on dates...no one seemed to want to be anywhere near me though" he then replied; however, that didn't really matter now. He was on a date with Ren freaking Razor! How far could this go, he wondered; he knew better to not screw it up now. She'd never even noticed him before and now she was willing to go on a date with him!

"Seven? Sounds good" he replied, grinning ear to ear as his eyes gleamed with joy; she practically turned from ignoring him to falling head over heels in a matter of seconds. And all it took was deciphering some phrases on a piece of crusty old clay. Walking up to her and joining her on the staircase, he then added "Like I said, we can do whatever you feel like. We can go out to eat, go see a movie, or even just stay here....Anything you want. I'm not going to push you any farther than you're comfortable with going...Though I know a really good Chinese place that's not too far into town. They might even have something good playing at the Cinemax Theater". Finally reaching the top of the stairs, he then turned to her and looked right into her eyes. "Trust me, Ren. I'll make sure you have fun. And don't worry...I'll uphold my end of the deal as well once it's over".

Being bold once more, he then leaned in and kissed her cheek before turning and going towards the door; his demeanor was like a kid in the world's largest candy store. "See you in a few hours, Ren. We'll figure out what to do when I get back, alright?" he gave as a final statement before turning and walking towards the door. Before long the heavy wooden slab was swung open and after speaking a few words in traditional old Latin, walked through the doorway and vanished from sight.
 
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