&&. LOGIC is IMPLIED

[€ l o q u e n c e]

Eloquence

You asked for a hand, and I gave you one of mine to have.
But now I realize, it was just a joke, you were having me one.
You didn't actually need one.
Didn't actually want one.
What the hell do I do with this bloody thing now, Alex!?

[/color]

Mistake. Was it one? Not to her. Everything was planned. All the things she did were part of the great map that was her history. Unlike some, she actually thought of things from every point of view possible. It was difficult to learn, and even more so to unlearn. You didn't even know you were doing it sometimes. Right now, she knew she was. There was a part of her pretty mind that was telling her it was a mistake, and yet another that said it was necessary. Necessary to do things you didn't like for the grand scheme. 'The Greater Good'. That phrase has been used...Oh so many times in history. Generally it has a bad connotation. 'For the Greater Good' has been used to mean that slaughtering people now, will make room for growing tomorrow. Take the Egyptian Empire, which we are all so familiar with; the Pharaohs killed and oppressed the Jews to gain their own ends, to build what they saw was right. It was not bad, not in their opinion. They didn't see their slaves as beings with feelings and thoughts as acute as their own 'advanced' inner mechanics. They were simply animals that knew how to serve intelligently. 'For the Greater Good' could also mean sacrifice. Those heart-rending stories of parents sacrificing themselves for 'the good of the future, the new, etcetera...' Those who have hard-hearts may consider the said stories to be tiresome, repetitive and ground down. But, if we go back to the original meaning of them they are not. If we manage, inexplicably, to beat away the dozens of touching-yet-not hollywood hits, and we find the true essence of sacrifice...We realize how beautiful it can be. How heart-wrenching and tear-jerking those acts actually are.

We are not quite at that level with our little person here though. She is not about the saw off her right arm for somebody who needs it. No, no no...But she was one to lie. And she did so fluently. So well, in fact, that it was hard to separate fact from fiction with her. The land was strange to her. There was a stillness in the air, an illusion. That suited her though. It was something she could relate to, for what was she but an illusion? A small, throaty chuckle escaped her parched throat. Her body was screaming for water, and her most heavily used sense had been taken away. Although most don't realize it, when the water goes everything goes, and where she had been before coming here...There had been a drought. Nuff said. Her tongue moved around in a dry cave that had once been a mouth, nose and lips both sun-burned. Moving her pretty head from one side to another in vain, for the make-shift bandage over her eyes allowed her to see nothing but darkness. It had become...So dry. So very, so unbearably hot. Perhaps she should have known it would happen. After all, were not her eyes the most delicate things about her? The irritation in them had grown worse and worse, soon it hurt to open them at all, and she had had to make the best of it. An aching paw stepped out of the shadows she had been waiting and, and it was followed by another. Tall for a female, the figure was obviously young. But her form told lies, she had made it tell them. Instead of smooth, covered in fat and curvy, she had the hardened look of a traveler. Despite this, she was surprisingly clean. Hygiene was something that the lady prided herself in. Enough of her appearance, though, and more about her purpose.

Licking her bloody, chapped lips and wincing as she did so, the tall one did some quick thinking. Thoughts flitted in and out of her head, doubts and suspicions. " You know what sort hang around here, Eloquence! What happens if you get taken advantage of? " Ah...But that was just what she had been working to avoid. And after all this careful planning, it was impossible for her darling plan to be foiled. Usually, in these places, you found the wrong sort. " That is just what I am depending on though...I need the wrong sort. I want them to find me. They are just what I need to be able to pull this off... " It was crucial to find the right man for the job. Tall, wiry, clever, intelligent, and with a certain disregard for what has been done before. My my, looked like she needed a male equivalent of herself. As a thief, she needed accomplices. Or she would have to find a new job, and she had done that dozens of times already. Flicking her round, slightly notched ears around, Eloquence took a deep breath and moved. Lean legs struck out as she loped toward the middle of the land. An easy, effortless stride that matched her confident smile. It was a dangerous look. 'Don't-mess-with-me' was something she excelled at. Moving her tired body over to a warm rock, she lounged on it calmly for a few moment. A smile played on her tortured lips as a familiar smell touched her nose. Water! Dipping her head down into the liquid from her precarious perch, she gulped it in as dignified a way as she could. Eloquence was aware of how dangerous a position she was in, both literally in the moment--presently she was hanging off of a rock, near a pool of water--and indirectly. This was the sort of trashy place her cousin might hang out in. It was for them. But she would act like one of the inferior street-walkers. For now.

[/sub]

[v a l i d ||]

A Z U R E b l u

[/font]

Now he wasn't exactly a liar. He liked the truth, liked not having to remember elaborate schemes and the chemical mixtures of yester-day. Something hard to believe, I'm sure, someone of his standards being honest and truthful? But, really in his occupation he didn't need to lie. Those he did things to, knew it was coming, and before it was over knew exactly the whys and the hows. Admittedly it wasn’t wise to explain to the victims but, he rather not have any bad blood with their deceased spirits so he dished in a, ‘Sorry babe, your husband decided you yapped too much. Nothin’ personal, gorgeous. Now close your eyes, think of a happy moment. It’ll be quick, promise.’, and then the end. The end. Eh, he preferred to think of it end of chapter one, beginning of chapter two in a rather large book of their life. Nice to think of it in that way for them, even if he was downright convinced and hoping that when he killed someone they were put down for the count. For-ever more. The bastards of another day were simply… terribly folk, forgive him for talking evilly of the dead. But, they were. Brutal, savage, bestial. Much more so then himself everything with them was personal and mutilated. Disgusting and uncivil, the oh heavenly Acux… oh there was no doubt that they had the loath of him, among others. And even Baisu, perhaps Baisu found their lives rather repulsive as well… but then again Baisu had always thought everything and everyone was repulsive but his cave and that hidden cavern within that cave. Undoubtedly in the cave was himself, a part of himself, te parts yet unveiled to the world. Parts that would never be seen by a mortal. Well, in the very least parts that Azure would never seen. Not that he minded, the scrooge could keep all to himself if that was what suited him.

Now, despite the fact he wasn’t a liar or a particular dishonest man… that didn’t mean he wasn’t still a sinner. See, it was pretty much well known among his comrades he had a rather peculiar interest in the taste of blood and flesh. Of the succulent taste of a lion, oh my, even if the word cannibalistic was ever wretched… Nonetheless eating ones fellows was bad. A And even if, the fact of the matter was, was that he ate lions who died naturally and only on occasion he didn’t bother to correct them when they said he captured little babes and children just to devour them alone. Why? Well it was for obvious reasons, the main one being that because of such a nasty, morose reputation he had a bit more leeway. After all didn’t that create shivers down ones spine? The thought of someone eating you alive, crunching your bones and lapping at the blood. Especially so when that someone was one of your own? See, it frightened people, eating ones own wasn’t right… and unusualness was at times frightening. And besides it pretty much caused him a ticket to peace and quiet, few arguing with him or bothering him horribly so like some of those newer recruits. Poor folk, pestered so during the hazing. Hazing Azure never had a problem with. When he learned to walk he learned to throw a punch and receive one. And before many birthdays he wasn’t a child but a vicious, malicious murderous batch of fur. But, that was what he was suppose to be and he managed it alive better then most. Some lost their minds, their sanity… their sense and their heart. And he still had his mind, and his sanity was somewhere… and far as his heart though it was littered with staples, glue, scissors… he supposed he had it. If he didn’t he wouldn’t be so damn responsible and considerate. After all, he did more for his baby’s mommas then most. He checked up on them now and again and made sure the ornery little babies minded their ma. At least he owned up to them…

Not that he was brilliant with children. He was still a bit rough and when they started to cry he ended up shrugging and really no carrying. ‘Boo-hoo to you, baby’, he’d say, since that was what he called his sons and daughters. Baby, even the ones that were pretty near grown and learning their craft right and well. ‘Baby’, not cause he didn’t know their name, thank you very much he knew every name that the momma gave… Which led on to another aspect of him. He didn’t stay with those women, those ladies for long. He ran out, being the rascal he was… but he still cared now and again for them and provided food and aid when in need. Not that those mother-in-laws and father-in-laws didn’t think him a no good bastard anyhow… but… And not that some of those women did have children and told him nothing about it, not that some of those women killed those children and not that some of those women cursed him and spoke ill of him, wishing his death… and not that some of those women refused to let those children associate with their daddy cause daddy was what daddy was. And daddy was a man of the Empire and well, the Empire wasn’t a nice, lighthearted place and daddy wasn’t a nice, lighthearted man and explaining to those children how it was daddy’s task to rip eyes from sockets and make men bleed, how it was his duty to slice people open and watch them gasp and spasm, well that was a touch too hard to explain for some women… and those women were the ones who didn’t like Azure’s explanation. And what was his explanation? Well… when you play cops and robbers, no matter how much ya wanna… We call can’t be cops, now can we? Some of us just draw the short end of the stick… But he supposed women let things get to them more, though about things more.

He was bad company. The wrong sort. Not as much as some be he figured with his dinning with murderers and rebels and the really psycho sort he figured he was pretty much brand and cast along with him. Despite. His momma taught him manners, really she did, she taught him a good sum before, heaven bless her soul, she died. She taught him a good sum not that he could say honestly that he used a lot of what she learned. That pathetic excuse of a father was who he learned from the most and even after ever hit, broken bone, and busted lip during one of his rampages he still was envious and ever looking up to his old man. Even after, which showed how pathetic he was as a child. It was only after that man died that he realized how much he cared of that bastards opinion. How that he cared so much, when no one else didn’t. That man wasn’t anything great or good… how pathetic to want to be in that beasts good graces. And how pathetic to desire to be in anyone’s good graces, relying on them to find a way for him to be happy - pathetic but he was a pathetic person. Just so weak and pitiful, you know as they say? Weak. Weak. Weak. Weak. Useless, no good, horrible just not the type of crowd you’d find him in was not the crowd you ought to be in but… as spoken the way he figured was that not everyone could be ‘strong’ [truly be believed there was no such thing as being ‘strong’. Everyone wanted something. And ‘cause of it everyone was weak.] and not everyone could be ‘good’ and not everyone could be all good folk. That is what he figured and he figured that was why he was who he was and if a person didn’t like it he could say he didn’t give a shit ‘cause the way he saw it too many damn people do too much damn thinking for their own good. By the time these smart-alecky fools figure it our, they’ll be on death’s door and the door’ll be opening mighty quick to welcome ‘em in. Same way people always kill the smart ones quick, the ones that know. Never see nobody killing stupid people. Stupid people aren’t any thread - so long as they ain’t in a group… They their dangerous and stupid and those two things dun' work.

The same way this wasn’t working.

See, now he was a mighty nice guy when he got around to it. Maybe a bit obvious and maybe a bit blunt and rude but really now he wasn’t that bad. Well… most of the time. Though at the moment one really couldn’t contend, as the opposing male shoved him through the greenery and into the glossy pool [loosing the knife he had had]. Disturbing the peace and undoubtedly the lassie on the edge he gurgled a moment, utterly surprised at how cold it was verses the rather hot air temp] before climbing out, soaking, and with a claws hand whipping away some main from his yellowy eyes. On two muscular legs with abalone ever impeccably he slumped a bit at being wet. Knees bent, as per usual, and body upright. A tall monster, bigger then most men he remained rather muscular, but lanky and wiry also. And as the opposing tore though the shrubs and proceeded to tackle our man wrapped him into a bear hug. His strong arms, long and brawny he kept the other in the lock mighty close as the other scrapped and claws and wiggled. Now this was no joke, the other was bigger and was getting away but before he did Azure set about those vicious fangs and bit into the other’s furred mane. Biting pass some thick hair he sunk jaws into his shoulder, somewhat close to the neck and tore in. His own claws digging into the others back [they were still in a bear hug. Though now he placed and ever affectionate ‘kiss’ on the others shoulder and tore into his back while the other did the same, sav the kiss.] before the other finally broke loose, a blow to Azure’s head given as he backed away and shook it off. Seems darling Eloquence was in line for first class seats at a fabulous entertainment jig, eh?

[/center]