[Z_] and Eclipse

[[Z_]]

The brothers exchanged glances, uncertain how to explain.
"Right here," Kraid said finally, looking back to Leona.
Miles smiled reassuringly to Leona. "We are Avin," He said, gesturing to Kraid and himself. "Something happened a while back," He began, covering his eye once more.  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

It took her a few moments, but Leona accepted it fairly easily. It was two people in one, Avin being the one, Miles and the scary one, being the two. The young girl looked up at the dark foreboding creature, and held out her hand, "I'm Leo, your name sir?" She wasn't particularly scared of him, though she wouldn't test his control, she didn't believe he'd attack her. Not if he was half of Avin. If she had allowed herself trust Avin, why would she distrust half of him? "So, do you know what happened?" she asked softly, figuring out it probably was a touchy subject. She worded it in a way that there were two choices in answers; either the straightforward yes or no, which she would accept immediately, or elaboration which she would probably love.  

[[Z_]]

"You may call me Kraid," He said simply, ignoring her gesture.
Miles sighed and took a seat near the fire pit. He made a small pile of logs and lit it with a snap of his fingers. "Yes and no," He said, collecting his thoughts. "I know how it happened, looking back, however, I couldn't tell you why," He admitted, warming his hands by the fire. "The short of it is I lost someone very special to me, and went to a very dark place. This was the only way I saw to keep from going mad."
Kraid laughed, "That didn't work out like we'd planned though, In fact, it exacerbated the situation. For you see, Avin is delightfully mad."  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

Leo frowned at being ignored, but Miles took her attention. Silently, she enjoyed the warmth from a fire, something they hadn’t dared to use in years. There had been an accident; it had spread throughout the warehouse they originally slept in, burning it to the ground. They’d lost someone in that fire, a boy named Raylan. Leo had pulled him out, getting burned down her leg as she did. He was so black, but wasn’t dead. No, Leo had to do that too. With her dull knives. Her ears filled with the young boys’ cries and screams, and she wrenched her gaze away from the flames. She only missed him organizing his thoughts. It was amazing how much pain could be felt in such a short time.

She nodded a little, both an encouraging gesture as well as an understanding one. A lot of things she couldn’t tell you why she’d done. Like kill Raylan. Should she have tried to heal him? At the time she wanted his pain to stop. But was it the right thing? She worked harder to push the memory away, focusing completely on Miles. She understood, he probably lost Emelie. And she couldn’t deny Kraid’s comment; Avin’s sanity was quite friable. But she didn’t think that mattered. He wasn’t evil, even though something told her Kraid might have been. “Sometimes being a little mad is the only way you can cope.” It was after Raylan’s death, murder? That she’d started pulling away. She looked up at Kraid and smiled at him, “It’s good that Miles had you.”  

[[Z_]]

"Shortly after I lost Eimelle," Miles added, wringing his hands together. "That's when I realized we'd made a mistake," he said, shrugging. "But like you say, what's done is done. All of my friends are gone or being hunted. But that's enough of that," He smiled. "We promised to teach you magic, that's what we'll do--"
"Who is it you lost?" Kraid questioned, cutting his brother off. "I can see the pain in your eyes," He added, moving closer and watching her intently. "They must have been very important to you," He added, kneeling to level himself with the elven girl.  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

"made a mistake?" The question came from curiosity, and immediately she tried to quell it though, apparently not fast enough. She looked away, biting her lip, and was about to take it back. Though as he continued she wondered if she'd said it aloud. The idea of his friends being hunted did strike some fear into her heart, but Kraid startled it right out of her, as he appeared in her gaze. Her eyes widened, and she answered simply, "I've lost..." she hesitated, knowing now it wasn't as many as Avin, or was it Miles or what it both of them? Either way, as many as 'they' had. Swallowing, she kept her voice steady as she replied to Kraid, keeping his gaze, "I was simply thinking of a difficult choice I made a...while ago."
 

[[Z_]]

"Leave her alone," Miles ordered Kraid, kicking dirt at him. "Why must you stir up unhappy memories?"
"I've done no such thing, she already had it in mind. And besides, she must learn to cope 'else she'll end up like you," Kraid growled, turning to his brother. Turning back he stared Leona in the eye, " Elaborate."  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

"It's fine," she assured Miles, going between the two of them. She definitely didn't want to see the two of them fight. Maybe it was because they both were probably mad. But then, didn't that mean it was crazy to sit between the two of them? She really needed to think about her actions before she did them. Turning her back on Miles, because it was probably safer, and she needed to talk to Kraid, she looked up at the darker man, "It happened a long time ago," she emphasized, as if to prove she wasn't mad. She would have left it at that, but the two of them had obviously shared a lot with her. Licking her lips, she let her gaze drop to the fire pit. "In our old place, an old shoe warehouse. It's what used to keep our feet warm." She glanced down at her own shoes. They'd slept in their latest pair, thus providing them with one last before the fire. "We had one of these," she motioned to the fire place. "I don't know what happened. It just grew. We were sleeping, but when the pain woke me up, it was everywhere." She swallowed, and it was an effort to keep her voice even, "I...we...almost all of us made it out. Except one. I don't know how he got left behind." With that her voice cracked. "I went back in to get him. I was tiny, I could slip in the easiest. It seemed to take me forever to find him. He was the only dark thing in the whole place. At first I didn't think about it. I couldn't hear him over the flames. But as soon as the roaring left my ears his screams came." She could still hear them. "I killed him." She stopped there, not trusting herself to keep it together.
 

[[Z_]]

Kraid nodded, neither approving nor condemning, just accepting. "I see," He said. "Your actions were noble," He assured her, taking a seat by the fireside. " 'Tis better to die than live a life of misery," He said, staring into the flames. "Trust me," He added, grinning to her. "After all, I am dead," He laughed, repositioning one of the logs in the fire.
"Are you quite finished?" Miles grumbled, drawing in the dirt between his feet. I hadn't stopped going over past events since they left the diner, judging every mistake he'd made. The two sat in silence for a long while before Miles spoke up. "We rest for today and leave first thing tomorrow. Today we'll sharpen those weapons and begin your lessons."  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

"W-wait, you're dead?" That seemed mildly important. "How are you still here?" She looked over at Miles, waving her hands as if to brush away whatever he was saying. "What can a pyromancer do?" Was it similar to necromancy? Somehow? If so then how had he lost anyone?

((>.< Short post, sorry. I'm half watching a movie.))  

[[Z_]]

Kraid laughed, " I would have assumed my appearance would give that away. Never the less, I'm not a pyromancer."
"I am," Miles said, erasing his drawing with his boot. "Kraid is a necromancer," he continued, looking to his brother. "We didn't tell you earlier because we didn't want to scare you off," He admitted.  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

Geez, this was starting to get complicated. Pointing at Kraid, she tried to organize things out loud, "You're here, because of your crazy necromanic powers. Except...your powers aren't crazy enough to be alone are they?" She turned to Miles, "Is he who you lost?" She didn't say it like he was mad for losign him. No, there was a softness to her, one that wanted to brush against the bad parts, understand them, then get rid of them completely.  

[[Z_]]

"No, in fact he's been like that for near ten years now," Miles laughed, amused that Leona was so interested.
"Right," Kraid continued for him. "However, my powers are fine and I take offense to any thoughts otherwise. In fact, they're stronger alone," he said, crossing his arms.
"About who I lost..." Miles took over once more. "A girl," He stated simply, unsure if he wanted to elaborate. "A girl I loved very much. Her name was Yousei," He said, drawing in the dirt once more. "She was a beautiful elven girl, much like yourself. We journeyed half way across the world together, the three of us and two others," He smiled thinking about it. "But something happened," He said, frowning now. "She lost her memories. Memories of our trips, of our battles... of me," He stopped here, sighing deeply. "She left soon after, seeing no reason to stay, I guess. I don't know what's become of her since then," He shrugged. Looking up to Leona he forced a small smile.  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

Leona decided she liked Kraid. Whatever faults he had, she couldn't blame him for. It more than likely wasn't his fault necromancy was where his powers laid. Everyone was strongest in something. Except her, she summoned heat to her fingers, to distract herself like Mile was. As she watched the energy spread from each tip of her finger to the neighboring one, then down, she focused on his words. As she listened to his story, her eyes filled with tears. She kept them from falling, but not appearing. She’d lost lots of people, but never anyone willingly. No wonder he went mad. She couldn’t imagine the pain that he must have felt from practically willingly being abandoned. On instinct, the young girl took his hand, squeezing it. She didn’t bother with another pointless apology, only used the warmth she created in her hands to try and warm him up. She didn’t pressure him about talking more about his past. There seemed to be enough pain for tonight. Instead, she kept her hands in his and asked, “So, what can a pyromancer do? Fire stuffs?” She smiled at him, telling him silently it was okay. Pain was a natural thing of life, but no one really knew how to deal with it. All you could do was suffer until you found a distraction. Leo was pleased to be that distraction.  

[[Z_]]

Miles and Kraid watched, fascinated as the girl transferred energy between her fingers. This was good, she could already do most of what she needed to.
"It depends on the strength of the user," Miles grinned, standing. "Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty powerful," he said proudly, stretching his arms. "On occasion I've been known to take on an elemental form, but that's only ever happened twice. Other than that I can't be burned and I can create and control fire," he shrugged. "When you list it, there's not actually much to it," He laughed, scratching his chin. "Do that thing you did again," He urged, motioning to her hands.