(o) Silver Tongue, Pearl Teeth

Always running his mouth, yeah he's got a few scars

It was rare that Nate found himself seeking out peaceful vistas, over bustle and motion, solitude over people and crowds, but he had found himself in a mood lately, dissatisfaction and contentment both warring in his chest to be the loudest, with neither of them winning, leaving him in a lurch.

Maybe the rainbow stones and geysers wouldn't help balm whatever emotional struggles he was working through, that he refused to give too much thought to, but at least it was a distracting vista, especially in the moonlight, when the water that clung to everything sparkled like the stars above. It was pretty, just enough that his gaze never had to settle on any one thing, and leave him without that distraction, that excuse to focus outside of himself.

Nate picked a spot among the rocks, on the edge of the geyser field, and sat, still as only the ascended could be, staring out over the horizon, over the ocean that crashed just a little bit further along. Beyond his stillness though, he made no effort to hide, to avoid anyone who might come upon him.

NATE

Kellan usually traveled and hunted by day, spending his nights in a lean-to he'd built in the jungle near the edge of the beach. The volcanic eruption and subsequent ashfall had changed his tentative new routine, however, forcing him to take shelter in the Port and lending his meager talents to trying to help clean the air while he waited for the autumn (apparently it was autumn, though the weather was so warm and everything was so green he couldn't help but think of it as high summer still) rains to wash the jungle clean again.

It made for a restless young hunter, with too much pent energy to sleep well at night and too much wariness about the townsfolk to let his guard down enough to get much in the way of rest.

Tonight he had taken his bow and quiver and gone out to walk amidst the grey landscape, seeking a release of pent-up energy in spite of the dangers. His path had been meandering as the game trails he had previously followed had been hidden or destroyed, but eventually he found his way to the broad river and took his bearings, walking along the edge of the geyserfield to keep from losing his way again.

He might have missed the man sitting among the rocks if his hunter's eyes weren't so well-trained. He paused a moment in surprise at finding another out here at such an hour, but there was something strange about the man as he started to walk warily past, the flow of the water and shore forcing him to go closer than he would have wanted.

When he was a few feet away Kel realized what it was. There was no rise and fall of chest or shoulders, no sense of breath about the man, and he stopped, caught between concern for the stranger and caution for himself.

"Are you... alright?" he asked hesitantly, not sure if he really wanted an answer or not.

Always running his mouth, yeah he's got a few scars

This particular spot had been chosen because Nate had assumed it would give him some isolation, but it seemed his luck only applied in the most specific of situations, and this was not one of them. No sooner had he settled in than a man approached, picking a path along the border of the geysers. Maybe, if he kept still, he would be passed by, would avoid any kind of confrontation and be left alone with his thought.

That wasn't how his luck worked though.

Just as Nate thought the man would pass by, he stopped, and called out, voice hesitant, but present. Resisting the urge to heave an ultimately useless sigh, Nate couldn't help being a little dramatic, his arms thrown out to either side. "Don't I look fine?" The words were almost accusatory, like it was a struggle to believe he could be anything but. A wide grin had appeared on his face while he shifted, and now it was fixed on the stranger, bright eyes taking in everything about the other mans appearance.

"Really, I should be asking about you." Nate shifted where he sat, leaning back and letting his hands fall to his hips, where the pockets of a jacket would sit, if he was wearing one. "Who takes a walk this time of night? Other than people with bad intentions?"

NATE

Kel couldn't help himself; he jumped back as the man's arms flung out in a sharp movement, and the young hunter stumbled as he fought for his balance and to stop himself from falling into the geyser field. The stranger might not have been dead, but he didn't seem happy, either, in spite of the grin with unsettlingly sharp teeth that glinted in the moonlight.

Messy black hair that fell to his shoulders, brown skin turned darker by the Torchline sun, a green tunic sewn with slices of antler that belonged to no Caido beast in a form of rustic armor, and well-fitting breeches and boots, Kel was very much what he appeared to be - a hunter, with a body both strong and slender. And a stranger, with eyes that moonlight turned from amber to silver, that grew wide and fearful at that flash of inhuman fangs as he brought his bow between them as a shield rather than a weapon.

"You're not... not breathing," he stuttered by way of explanation, for Nate did not look fine by the metrics he was used to. "And I'm... I don't owe you an explanation," he tried to bluster, though it was hardly effective. "I just didn't know if you were..." Alive hung unspoken in the air at the end of his sentence, a word he gulped back down at the obvious incorrectness of it, now that Nate was talking and moving with every semblance of mortality.

But wind-born as he was, Kel couldn't help but notice that aside from speaking, the stranger still wasn't breathing.

Always running his mouth, yeah he's got a few scars

There was a kind of grim glee that came from making the stranger flinch back, something deeply satisfying about it to Nate. A sense of actual control, actual effect on what was going on around him. He didn't push it much further than the initial burst though, too focused on looking over the other man, eyes narrowed.

The stumbled over explanation of not breathing seemed to almost strike him, Nate sitting up a little more, puffing his chest out, though he didn't quite give in to the spiteful urge to suck in a deep breath, not yet anyway. "Real observant, aren't you?" He shook his head as he spat the words out, then stood. He was the same height as you other man, but he had experience in acting much bigger than he was, and he put all of it to use.

"You don't owe me anything, but I asked, and it would be polite to answer, don't you think?" His head cocked to the side, and he gave in to his urge, pulling in a deep breath and letting it out again easily. "And I've satisfied your curiosity, haven't I?"

NATE

The man (ghoul?) was snappish, his tongue as sharp as his teeth, and when he stood Kel took another step back - this time from the direction he had come, rather than into the geysers. The hunter had no answer to the comment on being 'observant;' he was a hunter and it was in his nature to be so, or he didn't eat. Hunger was a powerful motivator. It wasn't hard to see that Nate was making him uncomfortable, and his inhuman characteristics had the Outlander wary and on edge, both magnified by the swagger and confidence that the other man exuded in contrast to Kel's uncertain footing in this strange world.

Calculations flowed behind amber eyes, wondering how much he was giving away and whether it could be used against him, but he could find no reason to hide what was a simple - if perhaps depressing - truth, and he nodded cautiously that his curiosity had been satisfied. Or at least, his concern for what he'd feared was a dead man propped up among the rocks.

"Couldn't sleep, in the town. Too many people." He shrugged cautiously, trying to wave it off as a small thing, of no concern. "Came out to clear my head. See what new game trails are breaking, with all the..." he trailed off, gesturing at the ash that still coated much of the land around the volcano.

Kel hesitated, knowing he was pressing his luck, but he couldn't help himself. "What... what are you?" he asked, still tense and ready to run. "Are you a... a ghoul?" He'd never seen one of the undead before, but rumors of them were used to scare children and adults alike, and there was always just enough truth in the tales that only a fool would disregard them completely.

Always running his mouth, yeah he's got a few scars

It was clear that the moment's Nate had to wait for his answer only further incited his irritation, his jaw working as he watched the younger mans face work, watched him weigh his options. "Too many people?" Nate scoffed, shaking his head. "Where do you come from that that," an arm is thrown in the direction of Haulani, "is a lot of people?" All he could imagine was some backwoods bumpkin, though, looking at the other man again, that didn't necessarily seem to be outside of the realm of possibilities. Not with the way he was dressed, the way he gestured around.

It's too bad he wasn't in a better mood, because in any circumstance, the question of what he was, the suggestion of a ghoul, would have him rolling. Right now though, it just pulls an irritated huff from him. "How long have you been here?" He asks back instead, head cocked to the side.

"There's no way I'm the first ascended you've met." Really, that would be right in line with Nate's luck tonight, to be the first one with the burden of explaining his race an outsider, of trying to make a good impression when he really doesn't want to.

NATE

Nate's scoffing dismissal burned Kel's pride, and he finally raised his chin in something more like defiance as he stopped retreating, though the wariness and tension remained as he stood poised like a stag caught between flight and charging. "A long ways away from here," he said with as much quiet dignity as he could muster after almost falling in the geyserfield and letting Nate intimidate him. "There was no reason to live all piled on top of each other like that. The Forest provided, as long as we weren't greedy." Painting an overly-rosy picture, sure, but the stranger was getting under his skin and Kel felt the need to defend his home from the fanged man's derision.

The following question, though, brought a little embarrassed heat to Kel's cheeks. He didn't glance away - the other man was far too much of a mystery and potential threat for that - but his shoulders slumped a little as he tried to tally the days that had begun to blur. "I... a few weeks, maybe. I was mostly keeping to myself, out in the jungle here before... before the volcano happened." A word he knew largely from overhearing the people in town talk about it; there had been no such geological timebombs near his Forest home. "What's... what's an 'ascended'?" Humans and Fae, wielders of magic and those who could change shape without cloaks of feathers or skins, those he'd seen walking around the town in the sunlight since he'd been forced to shelter there. No one like this, though, sharp toothed and breathless and dangerous in the moonlight.

Always running his mouth, yeah he's got a few scars

Something he'd said had struck a nerve, it seemed, judging by the way the young man stopped retreating, looked at him with a glint in his eye. Nate all but huffed, and took a step forward, closing the distance between them, trying to get back some of the sense of control that the other's anxieties have given him. "A long ways away." The words were repeated almost mockingly, Nate rolling his shoulders. "Things are different here, aren't they? No matter where you come from." Nate huffed, then leaned in again, head tilting to the side as he did. God knew this was a far sight from the place he'd come from, was a far sight from even the Grounds. The sooner one accepted that though, the better they seemed to do.

"Shit, you really are new new." A hand came up to rub at his eyes, no fear of letting the other man out of his sight for those few brief moments. It was unnatural, how quickly Nate's demeanour seemed to shift from hostile to just tired, though it was really just his shoulders slumping. "Ascended is... the fangs, and the no breath. Not dead, but I sure as hell can't fucking enjoy living." And just like that, the anger is back, though it's not longer aimed at the stranger, for all the difference it really makes. He almost utters the word vampire, just to see if the man knows something similar to the idea, but it feels wrong to apply the word to himself, when it wasn't quite right.

NATE

He might have been proud, but he was also wary and not so stupid as to let this stranger with unknown abilities and unknown intentions close to him. He was too familiar with bullies, Hidden and human alike, not to recognize what Nate was doing, but unlike those others he had no idea where the limits were here. Kel took two quick steps back and then planted his bow in the ground, frowning at the encroaching breathless one as Nate continued to mock and huff at him. "Stop," he said, quiet but with more force than he had used before. "Stop getting so close." But the words prickled at him, raising more questions. It almost sounded as if this man was also...

At least he stopped looming, tiredness overtaking his previous spite, but the shift was so sudden that Kel couldn't help but doubt its sincerity and he remained on edge and waiting for the swift shift back to anger once more. "How can one live without breathing?" he asked instead, the explanation not quite like a ghoul but not enough different from one for him to relax his guard. "You have no... no spiritus vitae. Not dead, but you don't really seem alive, either..." At least, not by the Outlander's limited definition of the term. His eyes widened as something else occurred to him a moment later, and his attitude shifted to a little more concern - not for himself, but for the stranger. "Were you cursed?"

Always running his mouth, yeah he's got a few scars

The order to stop coming after the steps back, and the attempt to seem firm brought a low chuckle to Nate's lips, the sound utterly humourless. It was a play, an attempt to seem strong, and it kept him still for the moment, brow raising as he looked over the other man. "Why? I'm not even in arms reach." As if to demonstrate, he swing his arm out, tips of his fingers falling far short of the stranger. Though, without those two steps back, it would be a different story.

Though he had slumped into a tired sag, there was still venom in Nate's mouth, a sigh hissing out of him before his words. "First, you lose all your blood. Then you don't need to breath." He all but rolled his eyes with the description. "I was... made like this. Made to be like this." The concern has him reeling back a little, face hardening again, his shoulders coming back up, though it was more defensive than aggressive this time. "The only thing I got cursed by was a fucking inability to say no to some whining skid."

NATE

"Good." Kel didn't want Nate in arm's reach, and his eyes narrowed at the demonstration as he was mocked with the humorless laugh. Now that he'd drawn the strange man's attention he wasn't about to turn his back on him, though, which made getting away a much more difficult option. For the moment they were just talking, and as long as things stayed that way he didn't want to risk provoking... whatever-he-was without having a better idea of how to escape.

Besides, he wanted to know what he was dealing with, and the hissed explanation gave more information even while it only confused the hunter further. "Made? I don't... don't understand," Kel admitted, though not for lack of trying. The man sounded more and more like a ghoul, except for that 'made' caveat. Unless it was spite or vengeance that had tied his soul to his body even after death?

It certainly sounded like it as he placed the blame firmly on another and Kel swallowed, hands white-knuckled on his bow. "What... what did he ask you to do?"

Always running his mouth, yeah he's got a few scars

It would be a struggle to not roll his eyes at this point, so Nate didn't bother putting in the effort. "What do you mean you don't understand? Made, created, put together?" His head tilted back like he was looking for some mote of patience among the stars, though the look on his face when the blue eyes fell again said he had returned empty handed. "I had all the bits of me that used to be meat swapped out for something that is very much not meat." Honestly he wasn't even sure what he was made out of any more. It was another thought he didn't like to entertain for long.

There was another irritated hiss from Nate at the question, but it seemed to have the effect of focusing his irritation somewhere other than the stranger, and saving him, for the moment, from anymore direct barbs. "He asked me to change for him. So we'd be together forever." Nate scoffs, rolling his shoulders again. "Look how fuckin' well that worked out." Normally, there wasn't so much vitriol for what he'd done, what he was, but there were certain thing's he'd been missing lately, and it was starting to boil over.

NATE

Kel had been sneered at as a country bumpkin more than once, but that had been in daylight, either in a town with constables a few blocks away or else in the Forest that he knew better than any human ever would. There had always been an element of control in those situations, but here, alone in the dark with this strange creature that seemed to be neither dead nor alive, on a world where he didn't know the rules, his confidence was badly shaken. He didn't shrink, but there was the tiniest flinch in toned muscles and at the corners of his eyes at the other man's impatient mockery of his confusion.

"That... sounds horrible," he admitted quietly, still at a bit of a loss. He had nothing in his experience to compare with what the stranger described; no fairy tale or myth or work of fact or fiction that he had read - not that he had read much - or heard.

A tale of love lost, star crossed or cursed, at least made a little more sense to the hunter, though his native compassion was blunted by the Ascended's bullying ways. "Were... were you together long?" If only to keep the other man talking, and his attention focused on the past rather than Kel.