as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door

For @Achille

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There was something about this location that was alluring to the man. Something that made him linger much longer than he intended.
He wondered if the Haldis queen was questioning for his whereabouts. Erebus hoped that she was, something about her longing for his return made him feel confident and proud.

He listened to the night-time sounds of the these bleeding woods. Hearing birds and other creatures in their nightly goings-on. Wondering if any of them were worthy enough to stalk and eat.
Better worth his time, so he did.

Nose to the ground, sniffing out various smells as a sneaky Tenebris does.

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Achille was having a bad time, that was the extent of his stay here. Alone and afraid of the world, starving and hurting and allowing nonsense to plague his mind. Due to thyroid issues he was already a scraggly thing, the lack of food due to the life of a loner made him like like the flesh of the dead was upon the lands. He probably should be dead to be honest. He had wandered into a new area, and oh boy was this odd. Not sure if it was his mind playing tricks on him or if the world was really this fucked up. The trees, all of them bled, looking like putrid flesh was pushing out of the woods. It was as if their guts were falling out to be displayed to all. He could hear it, the cries of the damned from it, pupils dilating as he barely kept it together. No matter where he went or turned his head, only blood upon the woods where there for him to see. The bodies of yore. No...his body, the trees were starting to morph into his body among the black specks of his vision, his entrails leaking out...he was dead, they wanted to kill him. He would be murdered, oh no he could hear their plotting.

With a ghostly wail, Achille huddled onto the ground, curling into a tight ball as he chewed upon his legs fervently with sharp fangs. He could feel them dig into his flesh, a numbness echoing from the ripple of pain. He would be unrelenting until blood as red as the trees leaked from the self-inflicted wounds. He shivered as sounds and tactile hallucinations crept upon him as he got worked up. Someone save him, anyone, oh please.
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As he went, there was an air of the night that put him on edge. Erebus continued to stalk, cranium directed to the ground where his nose sniffed wildly. Perhaps it was just a feeling.

Yet a wail cried out into the night, something unfamiliar and investigation worthy. Perhaps not just a feeling.

He kept his belly low still but, did his best to approach the source of the sound. To which his nose flared, and the scent of a stranger pooled into his lungs.
As he came around, and a tree or two no longer perturbed his eyesight, Erebus looked upon a pitiful creature. Something afraid and whimpering, and despite his normal air, the man looked upon them with a concern.
No beautifully colored creature should be in such a state.

"It is wrong to destroy such a wonderfully colored coat." The man made an effort to make his voice warm and, hopefully, comforting. He knew not what bothered this creature but, as they lie in his bleeding wood, he would do his best to help them.

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Achille froze, his blood turning to ice as a new voice he never heard or thought of entered his brain like a maggot through flesh. His eyes darted to see the shadow that stood before him. There was a way to tell the living from the myth, and he was of the living. Which was bad. The most dangerous thing imaginable was cognition. His brain worked fast, this could end bad in many ways but this could also end uneventful and perhaps even beneficial for the frail. Gather information he could assume. Since the other came to him, he was curious and explorative, it wasn't a territorial surge or identity would have been stated or accused already. His words were focused on appearance. This was a social situation, subcultures he needed to figure out right away to avoid ruin and death.

With that said he could think of three hundred and twenty two reasons this wolf could want to kill him in the next five seconds, from logical points to whimsical ones. Milliseconds passed before Achille did all the thinking and loopholes he needed to acquire a route of direction and maneuver it upon his tongue. He flattered himself further to the ground, a display of submission but also something hidden, an offensive defense to spring himself up at the throat of those who might soon try to harm him in the next moment over.

"Idonotunderstanddoes-" He stopped, realizing he was talking far too fast. Slow it down mutt, sporadic energy could get him killed. "You...think my pelt is wonderful?" What does that even mean?" He asked slowly. It felt like it physically hurt his mind to talk at such a pace, he wanted to gush out all his thoughts and words, but few could keep up when he did. The question he asked in his opinion wasn't too odd, he was self-aware enough to know how ragged and haggard his physical form was, but some did like the scrawny and frail after all. It made them feel better about themself, big and strong and kind for interacting with the likes of the worthless such as himself.
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There was a pained look on the raven's face. Eyebrows contorting to look upon the pitiful creature with woe. To not know the reason of one's own greatness is a crime where the greatest victim is oneself. He stepped closer and sniffed the air around the boy.
"Your coat is blessed with the darkness only the moon can provide." It wasn't pitch, not like his and especially not like his beloved Sorina's, but it was dark. With gray splays like a Dragoth child, it was familiar and pleasant.
"You musn't ruin the goddess' beautiful creation." He sat, placidly on the ground next to the crouching figure. Trying to appear not so threatening, not so daunting. He hadn't realized he was this outputting in the darkness.

Closer now, he took his orange eyes and gazed over the stranger's coat. Much like the moon-seer he had met recently. Torn up by the world or, in this case, themselves. He couldn't understand why one would want to ruin the one thing that made them powerful in the realm.

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Achille felt the tiny pitter-patter of his heart increase as the other took but a step closer. The words the other spoke had not been exactly what he had expected. So it was his coat that he found interesting. Well if that was what was keeping the other from killing him he could walk all over Achille for all he cared. The words were abstract, suggesting a thorough education in some sort of regards, someone of higher rank or standing? He thought something of himself if he was talking like that.

Achille kept his mouth shut, hoping the other would say more and to his luck, he had rolled the dice correctly, the other speaking again as he laid down next to him. Vulnerability that Achille would quickly latch onto with interest. His ears picking up as he looked into the other's eyes. The words were religious but sweet, almost something he expected from a hopeless romantic. For all he knew, maybe this was some pompous guy's attempt at flirting. But to cross the barriers to lay by him like an equal was appreciated greatly. The flow between the encounter was starting to become unveiled.

He would get out of his flatten stance to lay in a way that mimicked the other (making sure the guest was still taller than himself). He would lean his head a little closer, blue eyes looking up at him as he remind himself to slow his words. "Beautiful, huh? No one has ever said such a thing to me before. To be told I'm worth something...it...it feels surreal." Were the sociopathic lies that easily spew from his maw. He must feed the other with correct responses, or he would die in the next five minutes, or so his anxious mind suddenly flashed. He could feel the other's teeth in himself already as phantom pains. Avoid ruin, grow, attach and ensnare. The lids to his eyes would become half-lidded in a somewhat sultry look as he took this to a more intimate level.

"I am scum." A truth he shared and would manipulate. "That's what I've always been led to believe in my pathetic tiny life. But if someone strong like you says otherwise...then I would be honored to believe in your words." He scooted a little closer and tilted his head. "But I don't. Will you make me believe that I'm beautiful?" He requested and dared to put a shaky paw upon his chest, implications for vulgar acts and attractions were heavy in the question as he scooted ever closer. Wanting to entangle the other like an ink spillage as the sound of his own heart only quickened. Flirting and love were equally advantageous weapons for survival. It didn't matter if the other accepted or not as long as he could weasel his way into safety through displays and actions of approval towards the stronger force.
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Erebus' eyes narrowed. Something in his gut felt off, a caliber of wicked elixir that The Raven himself had employed before. A dishonesty of the heart, one that caused his eyes to scan about the woods. Was this a trap? A scam? He wasn't sure.

Yet no other scent lingered except this one's blood and the damp dew of the grass. The blood-red sap of the trees. A distilled silence in the woods that, while peaceful before, now gave him a sense of unease.

The dark man looked back down upon the pitiful construction of pure blood and swallowed his pride. Though still with suspicion, a dark child that strays from the path need be realigned, and predetermined or supposed assumption must be put to the side for the sake of one's righteousness.
He noticed the other's shaky paw, and knew this course of action was for the best.

"Child of the moon, please know that you are the essence of her likeness. The darkness that consumes your pelt so entirely is only reserved for those of her true and pure blood." The man began, creeping so dangerously close to the other that if harm of death was truly his intentions for the other, such end would be made swiftly and without hesitation. Yet his own paw lifted below the others chin, with the express purpose of correcting their stance to mirror that of proper and deserving pride.
"Though if you still choose to remain in ignorance and disbelief..." His own head tipped ever-so-slightly to the side, observing the form with closer inspection. Truly, he was perplexed how they could ever believe they were not holy. "I will be glad to show you to her light, the only light holy enough to bathe in." Correcting himself to stare dead-on, he locked eyes with the young dark creature, trying to look deep within for any sign of life.

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