Taj and Aero: Advent of the Feather King

Oriana managed to bite back this moan as she tried to formulate and answer to his question. Why didn’t she stop him she asked herself. She supposed she would have to answer him honestly; the dark hint in his voice more than likely wouldn’t let her get off with some sort of lie. Was he actually mad at her? She couldn't read him at all. She wished she were a bit better, for times like these…as if they normally happen…”I…didn’t want to….” She admitted in a hushed voice, she averted her eyes from his own as the ever persistent blush continued to stubbornly remain on her cheeks.

"Why not?" It was an easy question, he already knew that part of the answer was because deep down she actually did like him for his body at the very least, if nothing else. But he wanted to know if there was anything more to it than that. The question was easy… the staying put was hard. Every bit of his body was all tense, and he wanted to make sure that Oriana knew that he was not in a humorous state of mind. He continued to press his hands into her, forcing her against him and resumed kissing at her neck, wanting her to feel the same desperation that he was at that moment.

What Alex might not have known was Oriana was being pushed into the same state of mind he was in. Her body was on fire and every little move against his hips sent little shocks of pleasure through her abdomen. She felt her heart and mind racing a hundred miles per hour. “Because…” She felt his kissed on her neck and as she tried to adjust herself from his pants it only got worse. She squeezed her eyes shut tight. “Because I like you!” She said quickly balling her fists against his chest in a weak attempt to push herself away from him. Though her weak actions betrayed her, she wanted to be there on his lap, she wanted to be against his bare chest. Damnit all!

The next morning was something of a fiasco. Rose had woken early and walked out of the tent only half awake. Upon collecting her clothes to change into now that they were dry and clean, she noticed something very peculiar about the arrangement. There was an extra set of pants hanging around, as well as Alex's coat. Her face had instantly flushed when she realized that Oriana was stark naked at the moment, feeling even more guilty than she had before about letting her poor cousin alone with Alex, Demetri or no Demetri. Especially when she figured out that the extra pants belonged to the pervert, which meant that he too was naked save for his shirt. All at once she was dying to know what had happened the night before and at the same time wished to remain blissfully ignorant.

Rose was kind enough to give Oriana her clothing, though after everyone but Alex had vacated the tent that morning she had violently thrown his pants at him and told him that he absolutely had to put them on right at instant or something terrible would happen to him. Nothing terrible of course would befall Alex on Rose's behalf, but he put on his pants and jacket anyway and was pulled aside by the twins for a man-session that involved the two blond boys bugging Alex about what he had been able to get away with while they had been faithfully distracting Ryleon. Alex had remained frustratingly close-lipped about the whole ordeal, only smirking and finding it exceedingly hilarious that the two wanted to know so bad.

Eventaully though, they did get things packed up and ready to go, taking flight and following the cliffs, heading to the next town, a four day's flight along the cliffs and into the forest.

Demetri saw the vast amount of trees they were coming upon and was more than happy to be landing around them. The sun was going down and he thought it best to keep Rose from flying into one of the things. He waited for the group to land and decided he would scramble up the tree later on despite his urges to do so at that very moment.

Oriana landed behind Demetri and dropped her pack, rolling her shoulders. It had been a long four days and this one wasn’t any shorter. The flights had given her time to think about what she had done with Alex and it brought a sigh from her lips. She had so easily accepted Alex’s confession but didn’t know if she honestly believed him. Things had gone back to normal over the few days and he was back to hitting on her as per his norm but seemed to be extra touchy.

Once Ryleon landed he went about making dinner and ‘asking’ with a bit of voice for the twins to help him out before doing whatever it was they wanted to do. He noted that the twins had to keep themselves busy sparring each other more often now that they did not have the company of a woman.

After dropping off all of her gear that she had been flying around with, Rose gave a grateful stretch, a small squeak leaving her as she reached for the sky. She was sore from lying on the ground and going through all the training with Oriana, not to mention the day-long flying sprees. But she was getting stronger and what's more, she was in a good mood. She was humming a little lively tune as she helped to set up the tent, reviewing in the head the lyrics that she mad made up to finally try and rid Demetri of his scars. It had been a long time since she promised him that song, now it was to the point where she only had to see if her powers of healing could actually work on repairing scarred skin. Once she was done with her part, she went to Demetri's side, gesturing toward the woods. "I've got the song." She said, excitement coloring her voice.

Ilario was less sore than his sister, but only just barely. He was absolutely ravenous instead, his stomach growling at him the moment he set foot on the ground. Unfortunately, they were a little low on food stocks at the moment, having not been to a town in four days. And with seven avians who all had ridiculously high metabolisms, keeping food on hand was a hard task. What's more, he was tired of smoked meat, no matter how well Ryleon managed to cook it despite what little in the way of supplies that they had. "Right." He said suddenly, dropping what gear he was carrying. "I'm off to go find something to eat. Who's coming with?"

The nightly training stints were just the thing that Alex had been missing. All of that inactivity while he was captured by the pirates had nearly driven him mad. Watching as his perfectly toned body waste away to nothing… that had been worse. He could feel his strength returning to him, most evident in the quicker reflexes he had while sparring with Tristan during their training sessions. He still couldn't beat the better muscled boy, but at the very least he could avoid earning quite so many bruises and could hold out much longer than he could before. There was only one down side to all of this. The day-long flying sessions, though great for building up his endurance (especially since Rose had given him a larger share of things to carry) also allowed him a lot of free time to think. Specifically, he had been thinking about that night with Oriana, and honestly wondered what he felt about the situation. He was getting far too involved in this whole situation, and after some deep introspection and a lot of denial, he finally came to the conclusion that yes, he really did have feelings for Oriana, and not of just the physical attraction kind. Coming to the realization had been something of a shock, and dealing with it had resulted in him reverting to a more extreme version of how he normally hit on women. The tactic change was paying off in a way. He had certainly gotten his hands on more parts of the woman than he had before, though it occasionally had resulted in her beating him up in a sparing match. Oh well.

As Demetri was about to climb up the nearest tree when a certain blonde woman was at his side. “Song?” He asked, cocking his head slightly as he tried to figure out what it was she was talking about. His mouth turned into the shape of an ‘o’ when he remembered what she was saying and turned in the direction of the deeper part of the woods. He kept at a comfortable pace, slightly behind Rose as they walked. It was oddly peaceful out there, with the only noises Demetri could hear were the leaves rustling under his feet and a few nocturnal creatures scampering around. They stopped once the camp area was out of sight and Demetri frowned slightly, knowing Rose wouldn’t be able to see well as soon as the sun dipped further into the sky. He figured he would have to lead her back once she was done.

~*~*~*~

Tristan looked up from his pack and watched Rose walk off with Demetri but had no real worries about it. Mr. Doom and Gloom had no interest in his sister. “I will.” Of course he would, he figured it would be fun to chase something down and even more so if he could watch his sword do it for him. He patted the pummel of his sword and with a grin on his face, joined his brother. He looked back to Ryleon. “Would you like to go, good cousin?” He asked, a playful smile there that meant trouble for the normally quiet man.

“I’d be of no use. That and I’ve no interest, go on, I’ll stay here and tend to the fire.” He took some note that Rose and her gloomy puppy seemed to have left the camp area. Why on Earth would she leave when she would soon loose sight? Shrugged, thinking the girl had good reasons, he went back to what he said he would and tended to the fire.

~*~*~*~

Oriana set her pack down near the completed tent and watched as the groups split off to do whatever it was that they needed to. It was just her, Alex, and Ryleon now. Well, at least her brother was there; perhaps Alex would keep his hands to himself a little more than if they were alone. Her thoughts drifted back to the night in the tent with him and she felt her face go red. Damnit, there was no need to think about that.

Once Rose had lead him far enough away from the camp, she sighed and stilled, thinking of the lyrics and the melody that she had been working on for so long now. "Okay, I think that this is far enough. If I failed, or ended up accidentally healing everyone's scars…" She shrugged, wondering what sort of energy it would take to do such a thing. She knew that her brothers didn't have much in the way of scarring because she had always been there to heal the worst of their wounds, but she was not so sure about Oriana and Ryleon. Or Alex, for that matter. He had been a captive, so she assumed that he would have some trace scaring on his body somewhere. "But sit. If I end up drawing energy from you, I don't want you to collapse and hurt yourself." Rose took her own advice, kneeling on the forest floor amongst the leaves and smaller shrubs there. Once Demetri was down at her level she spread her hands the width of his chest and closed her eyes, tapping into the magic that dwelt in her songs.

Marks in flesh, the scars of time
A mottled map you make
Let the notes of my song chime
From parchment let ink flake

Born anew the flesh rebound
Repairing with all haste
Revitalized by soothing sound
Your paths have been erased

*~*

Alex was caught between two decisions, one was of course to walk over to Oriana and bug her some more, as had become his habit. Or, he could join Ryleon by the fire and soak up the warmth that it offered, remaining in peace for the night. Unfortunately for Oriana, peace was not his style. So, cone he had finished unpacking his things, he walked over to the woman, nothing that for whatever reason she was already blushing. What? He hadn't even said anything lewd to her yet! "I would like to talk to you." He murmured, his voice quiet low in pitch so as not to be overheard by Ryleon. Not that the boy was a snooper, but one could never be too careful with such things. His hand twitched to reach up and tap her on the elbow, but he resisted, thinking that she wouldn't appreciate it in a flustered state like the one that she was currently exhibiting.

Demetri sat as he was asked, and watched as Rose did the same. He had hoped it wouldn’t hurt either of them, thinking it would be an odd spell indeed if it did the opposite as it was intended. He shrugged his shoulders slightly and waited for her to begin. As her soft melodic voice rolled over him, he closed his eyes. While the girls consistent talking to him, might have bothered him, he highly doubted that he would ever tire of her singing. It brought anyone who heard it to a relaxed and peaceful state. As he listened, pretty much his entire body began to tingle and twitched every so often. He opened his eyes to find out what was going on and a look of shock came over him. The scars that were on his face were gone. Rolling up his sleeves he could hardly even seen a few scant silvery lines that remained. He brought his hand to his neck, where he would easily have been able to feel the ridge of the thick scar and froze in his movement. It…hardly felt like it was there, and he had almost missed it the first time his hand traced over it.

Demetri looked to Rose, still not believing the power of her voice. He would have never of thought that the scars of his past could be removed, physically anyway. “Rose…” He stood, walking over to her and sat on his knees in front of her. He suddenly wrapped his arms around the girl in a tight, yet infinitely gentle hug. “Thank you.” He said softly, still overcome with the thought that his skin was no longer a miss-match of skin and scar tissue.

~*~*~*~

Oriana looked to Alex when he approached her and her blush died away some, brought back the present time. He seemed so serious and secretive about wanting to talk to her that it sparked her interest. She doubted it really was anything of important, him probably wanting to tell her that her beauty could not be compared to anything again but she shrugged, what could it hurt. “Alright.” She looked from him to her brother. “Ryleon we will be back, shout if you need us.” She said and led him to the outskirts of their camp. Once a fair distance away from her brother she leaned against a tree and crossed her arms over her chest, a fair amount of interest written on her face. “So what is it?” She asked, looking Alex over.

Rose didn't get to see the fruits of her handiwork, having opened her eyes only after Demetri had hugged her tightly to himself. she was a little surprised by the physical contact, but quickly enough simply fell into his embrace and managed to get a look at his neck. The massive scar that had marred his skin there was little more than a barely visible line. Her heart thudded hard against her ribcage, sudden tears springing to her eyes. "It worked!" She whispered, threading her thin arms around his chest and hugging him back, burying her face against his shoulder. "It really really worked! Oh Demetri!" She gave him a squeeze, the happiness for her spell working coloring her voice strongly.

*~*

They weren't really that far from the campsite, but Alex decided that he would just have to make due with it. Ryleon didn't seem to be paying much attention, so he felt a little more secure in what he was about to do. That didn't make the process any more comfortable, of course. He was still struggling with the idea that he could actually like another person, especially a woman. For a moment he was silent, not meeting Oriana's gaze while he compiled his thoughts. "Did you believe me?" He asked suddenly, finally drawing his gaze up from the ground to meet Oriana's eyes. "The other night when I told you that I actually liked you. Do you believe me?" He was expecting her to say no in all honesty. Given how he had treated her thus far, he wouldn't have expected anyone to say yes. But there was a little tiny part of him that hoped that she would have realized that he was being honest.

Demetri soon enough released his hold on Rose and sat back, looking at his arms once more. He suddenly wondered the extent of this spell and thought to his back. He remembered that the skin on his back was nothing more then a patchwork of scars and he honestly wondered if it could be healed. There was hardly any real skin on it. With that thought, he pulled up his shirt and turned his back to Rose. “Well?” He asked, with a slightly hint of hope to his normally monotone voice. He figured she might not be able to see as well, seeing it was nearing sun down but if she had to she could always touch his skin to test it.

~*~*~*~

Oriana waited patiently while Alex stood in silence, he looked almost uncomfortable and it wasn’t something Oriana was used to seeing so she would give him the time he needed to speak. When he did ask her if she believed him though she had to take a moment to her self. Did she? She honestly wanted to believe him, wanted it to be true but…had anything really shown itself that she wasn’t just part of his little game anymore? Perhaps? Though she wasn’t sure if she just wanted to see it that way. “I’m not sure.” She admitted easily and uncrossed her arms, letting them hang at her sides. “Though I want to…” She added on in a more hushed tone.

A small blush came to Rose's face when he suddenly stripped of his shirt, but she didn't say anything, simply staring at his broad back and what little of it she could actually see in the dimming light. "I…" Well, she couldn't see it, but he just sounded so hopeful. Tentatively she reached out and placed her fingers on his shoulders, slowly applying the entire width of her hands against his skin and ran her hands down his back. She expected to feel the bumps and ridges of old scar tissue that had matted his back so thoroughly, but instead felt only smooth skin, real skin with only the faintest trace of scar tissue left. She leaned her forehead against his back, unable to help the smile that was on her face. "It really worked." She whispered again, removing her hands from his back and sitting back on her heels. "I'm so glad. Just… so glad that I could finally really help you."

*~*

He wasn't sure what he made of Oriana's little admission, but at the same time knew exactly what he was going to do about it. He placed his hand over her elbow, touching her gently and dropped his face to meet her lips in a gentle kiss. Alex drew back from her slightly enough to meet her eyes. "I meant it." He whispered. "Not as a ploy to get at you, but honestly, as a person. I don't know how it happened, but I'm not playing the game right anymore."

Demetri waited, tensing slightly as her hand touched his back but forced himself to relax as her fingers traced his warm skin. She was silent for a moment until he heard her say it really worked. His shoulders slumped visibly in relief that he didn’t really expect. It wasn’t a cosmetic thing that Demetri was relieved about but the constant reminder of his torture. Every time he would look at himself it could easily bring him back to those two long years but now…He turned to face Rose once again and placed a hand on the side of her face. Her smile was bright and so happy he couldn’t help himself. “Thank you.” He said again and leaned down a little awkwardly to brush a soft kiss on her cheek.

~*~*~*~

Oriana felt her stomach flip ever so slightly when Alex touched and then kissed her with infinite gentleness. She had a faint blush on her face when he looked back at her and spoke. She suddenly had a defeated smile on her face as she rested her forehead against his own. “I honestly hope not, Alex, or I would have lost…” She whispered back, tilting her head back and placing a soft kiss of her own on his lips. What she said was true, and if Alex really was playing a game still he was so good she couldn’t tell. She knew rather well though that if he was and treated her like the other girls he was with it would end up breaking her heart. She knew she was in deep with Alex, despite his perverted, cocky attitude, she liked him even loved him more then she cared to admit.

Rose froze in place when Demetri kissed her, her heart fluttering in her chest at the contact. She closed her eyes briefly to get a hold of her emotions, though the smile still remained plainly on her face. "You're welcome." She wanted to say more, or to hug and hold him… Demetri just looked so happy. It was such a relief from his normal gloomy attitude. She wanted to capture the moment in her mind and preserve it for as long as she could remember. Then her thoughts turned and she remembered her siblings, stuck now in whatever hellish place Demetri had been in before he had escaped. She could heal wounds and even scars, but could she bear to see the rest of her family so emotionally tormented as Demetri had become? "Demetri… When you were kidnapped and imprisoned… what was it like? What happened there?"

*~*

Alex breathed in the scent of her, loosely wrapped his arms around her waist and simply let himself soak up her presence. Perhaps he was out of touch with his women woo-ing abilities, he thought briefly, maybe that was why he had been drawn in so easily… But then again, maybe there really was something to this relationship thing. Never before had he felt so… caring about a person. He actually wanted to be gentle with her, not because he knew that she would react well to the gesture, but because he honestly wanted to see that shocked look on her face when he didn't outright grope her. It was odd, to want to see a woman smile just for the sake of it. "I honestly hope so as well. You're a strange woman, you know. To have turned me from my wily ways. But I think perhaps you might be worth it." A playful grin crossed his face and he gave Oriana a quick squeeze, pulling her closer for that brief second.

Demetri’s faint smile quickly fell from his face at her question and he stood to separate himself from Rose now. It was such a quick turn of emotions that he didn’t understand it. He had been in that hell hole for two years and countless things were done to him, none of which he wanted to tell Rose about. It would only worry her about her parents and siblings more and he doubted she needed that. “You don’t want to know.” He winced, that could possibly make it worse on her but it was true, there was no way she could honestly want to know the torture he went though. She was a sensitive person and the capture of her family was hard but knowing couldn’t make it better, could it? “What good would it do you to know?” He decided to ask, turning a moody glance on her over his shoulder. He didn’t care if she could see it or not.

~*~*~*~

Oriana felt a blush come to her face, and thought dryly that it was becoming more common for her face to be red with a blush than normal. He was being so gentle and kind with her and she couldn’t possibly see that coming. As he pulled her in closer, she rested her head on his chest and sighed contently. Whatever she got herself into, right now she didn’t want to think about it. “You keep surprising me…” She admitted softly trying to hid her blush against his frame.

She was tempted to drop the subject, Demetri had made a good point, after all. Why would she even want to know what was happening to her siblings? But it wasn't just for her, it was for them, for him… "Because I want to know what to expect." She offered the confession as plainly as she could, tamping down a well of panic that bloomed in her chest. What if Demetri really wouldn't tell her? She couldn't force it out of him of course, but… "If it weren't for you, I'd be with them right now, suffering with them. I can't… It's too easy to try not to think about it. My brothers and I will be the ones helping the others cope once they're free…" Rose wanted to make him understand, to make him see that she wasn't just asking out of morbid curiosity, or to try and hurt him further. But it was hard making him open up and seeing such things, that she truly just wanted to help him emotionally as she had done for him physically.

*~*

"And I will continue to do so…" Alex murmured to the top of her head, tightening his hold on her slightly when she didn't immediately struggle out of his grip as perhaps would be normally expected. "If it will keep you close." He tipped up Oriana's chin gently, moving back a little so that he could place a kiss on her lips, enamored as he was with seeing that blush of hers on the girl's face. She had been hiding it against his chest, but Alex wasn't one to miss an opportunity when one presented itself. He pressed his lips against hers longer, his palm pressing gently against the small over her back, pulling her closer against his body.

Demetri eyed Rose and looked slightly defeated. Her logic was sound but it did not make the coping of reopening wounds any easier. Though the thought of someone else going through the same thing caused him to sigh. He turned to face her fully now and kept his head down. “If you honestly want to know…Do not say I did not warn you.” Demetri leaned against a tree, crossing his arms over his chest and closed his eyes to collect himself. Visions of his torment flashed in front of him and it took everything in him not to blow Rose off and bury his pain once more. “They were doing some…experiments of some sort…Always revolved around my wings…” He started softly, not really understanding the full meaning of his torture as it was. “To keep from fighting back I was always kept weak.” He looked to Rose now, his eyes boring into her own. He didn’t want to do this, the pain evident in his eyes but what right did he have to keep her from it? It was true, when they got out of there they likely would be in just as much pain.

~*~*~*~

Oriana’s blush only grew deeper as Alex spoke, when was he this gentle? Since when did he make her heart flutter? She let him lift her chin and closed her eyes slowly as his lips met with hers. It wasn’t a small kiss but a deep passionate feeling one. She lifted her hand and placed it on the side of his neck aiding in pulling him in for a deeper kiss. Had Oriana thought that she would ever-willing kiss Alex? She would say not but secretly she had wanted it for a while. Pulling back a bit and keeping her eyes anywhere but Alex’s face, Oriana looked tense and blushy.

"Your wings…?" Tentatively, Rose reached out and touched the area around Demetri's wings with curious fingers, feeling the circular pattern of scars there at the base of the feathery appendages. It was easy to imagine the man lying face down, bleeding an in pain as some nameless person stood over top of him, cutting into the thick flight muscles with a sadistic gleam in their eyes. What would anyone want with his wings…? She removed her hands, thinking over what Demetri had said and tried not to imagine her siblings in a similar situation. "How were you captured?" She was hesitant to ask the question, sensing that the roots of his emotional turmoil wasn't just because he had been tortured, though that was certainly enough to scar a man for life. There was a deeper issue here, one that she wanted to uncover if possible.

*~*

A small smile tugged at Alex's lips at Oriana's awkwardness, dropping a quick kiss on her forehead and released his hug, taking a step back towards camp. "You're adorable when you blush, by the way." He grinned and gestured toward the fire, figuring that Oriana would have something to say on the subject if he didn't interrupt her. "Let's head back to the fire. I think your brother is getting lonely by himself."

Demetri nearly jumped at Rose's touch, tensing almost instantly at her touch
on the spot on his back. It was the root of his tortrous memories, the main reason
they had said they captured him. Just the simple touch made him shake. It made him relive having some sharp tool slices through his muscles and cut into him until he passed out from the pain, or blood loss. And then it would be repeated soon after. His breathing took on a faster rythem and before he knew it, he was looking out of the cell he was placed in. He heard Rose ask him something, something about how he got there but his mind was somewhere else, locked in the painful memories of his past. He saw the same figure's shadow look in the doorway. The door opened to reviel his capture, and a cold weight dropped in his stomach. How was he back? Of course this was all happening in his mind, he had gone completely ridig, a cold sweat breaking out on his body which was trembling.

~*~*~*~

Oriana looked up at Alex with an annoyed blush but said nothing, walking back to the fire with him. It was odd that Ryleon had not bothered them the entire time, thinking that her brother had to be curious over their meeting. There was no way he didn't see them kiss, and then she turned an even darker shade of red.

"Oriana? Are you not feeling well?" Ryleon stood, noting the redness on her face, and not even thinking to blame Alex.

"Eh he...Yeah...Perhaps I should lay down... Let me know when Ilario and Tristan get back...Perhaps eating will make me feel better." She shot a dark look to Alex before giving a nod to her brother before walking into the tent. She would rather not be in Alex's company while she was so out of her element for a little while.

She wasn't sure if it was her question or her touch that had prompted the tense reaction that Demetri was displaying, the lines in his body standing out even to her failing eyesight. Worried, Rose stood and walked quick so that she could kneel in front of him, her brow furrowed in concern when she saw the terrified look on Demetri's face, her heart crying for him. Healing physical scars was easy… getting rid of the inner ones was proving to be much less so. "Demetri!" She called softly, placing her soft hands on his forearms in an attempt to draw him from whatever reality he was experiencing now, for he certainly wasn't in the present where that look on his face wouldn't be needed. "Demetri, snap out of it, please!" She called again, squeezing his arms and giving him a little shake, hoping to rouse him.

Demetri couldn't hear Rose, her voice was drown out by the taunting of his captors about how he would die in this place. What made it worse is he believed it. He felt someone on his arms and tried to pull away but in his mind he was too weak to do so. His captors took him by the arms and dragged him to a different room. Next he knew he was strapped down onto a table, laying on his stomach. It was always the same thing, always the same pain but it never made it easier to deal with.

He shook with fear, with the sheer terror. It made it so much worse to know what was going to happen. As he felt the sharp sting of the ice cold blade on his skin, Demetri quickly doubled over, just barley not butting heads with Rose on his way down. He had no idea she was there after all. All he knew is it hurt, this time was slightly different though as the blade stopped moving in his back for a moment and the people above him were talking. He couldn't remember what it was but he vividly remembered what happened next. something sharp stuck his open wound and it burned. It seared every muscle in the area, drawing a scream from his lips not only in his memories but in real time with Rose. His past self had no idea what they were doing to him now, perhaps they would finally put him out of his misery.

Her please for him to wake from whatever nightmare had captured him went unheeded, and even as she watched with a sense of welling panic, Demetri's sun-tanned face began to pale alarmingly beneath her gaze, the expression of terror never leaving his face. He tried to pull from her grip weakly, but she didn't let go, fearing that he would flee if she let him loose and knew that in her current state would never be able to find him in the dark woods. Rose was alarmed when he suddenly doubled over in pain, wondering frantically what was wrong with him, and when the scream of agony burst from his throat, her heart beat frantically, tears forming in her eyes. What had she done?

With trembling hands she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling Demetri forward so that his head rested against her chest, her fingers burrowing into his thick dark hair and rested her chin against the top of his head, rocking slowly like her mother used to do when she was scared as a little girl. "Every time the rain comes down, I close my eyes and listen to the sound of the lonesome sky as it cries. Listen to the rain, here it comes again, hear it in the rain. Feel the touch of touch of tears that fall. They won't fall forever. In the way the day will flow, all things come, all things go…" She recited the song with a shaking voice that grew stronger as the lyrics rolled off her tongue, her voice fading into the reaches of the forest as she continued to hold Demetri against her.

Demetri's hellish nightmare felt like it would never end, his body grew cold and felt stiff from hos muscles being so tensed. The sounds of his captors soon gave way to someone else's voice though...Who was it? They were singing. Who could sing in a place like this? After a short while he began to recognize the voice. Rose, It was defiantly her...but why was she here? It wasn't possible...no....As the fuzzy line between reality and his past grew clear he blinked several times. He was in the forest...against Rose...who was crying. Piecing this all together was hard for him some reason, thinking his past memoirs were fresh new ones despite where he really was.

He pulled away from Rose, confused but the look of sheer terror gone from his face. He felt sore, but not in pain. His breathing was rapid, but he attested to whatever the hell just happened. He felt cold though, for that much he was sure. He looked up to Rose, she looked scared. "I'm alright now....Sorry...." He had no words to say to her really, what could he?

She was grateful when Demetri stopped shuddering and had enough sense back to pull away and form a coherent sentence, but she didn't believe the statement that he was okay one bit. She wiped at her tears, not moving from her position or bothering to otherwise hide them. "No, you're not." She replied in her tearful voice, hugging herself against the chill of the night and the loss of Demetri's body warmth. "Whatever they did to you… Demetri, you're so scared of your past that you just got lost in it. You blanked out on me completely and…" She sniffled, letting her gaze fall to her knees. "I can't even begin to imagine what you went through… Don't be sorry, but Demetri, you should tell me what happened. I'm afraid for you."

Demetri felt like he was emotionally tired, so drawn from his episode he did not want to fight Rose not to tell her what happened. He placed a hand on his head, on the border of of hysteria. "Heh...Rose...A lot of things happened...They cut into my wings countless time...countless...and while they waited for it to heal they would torture me other ways to keep me weak...They would drain my blood, beat me, starve me...whatever they felt like..." It hurt, it hurt to talk about, hurt to say the words coming from his mouth. If he spoke them, the memories became real when he had otherwise tried to forget them. He kept his head down, and his hand against his face.