Taj and Aero: Advent of the Feather King

If Tristan were awake enough, he would have pushed his brother off of him as he rubbed a sleepy out of his eye but as he was he let it go. Ryleon grinned up at the boy’s expressions. “How glad my cousins find me of such use.” He said, flipping over a piece of meat and watched as their eyes followed it. He couldn’t deny the joy he was having with this. He was about to say hello to Rose as she stuck her head out of the tent but as soon as her golden locks had come out of the tent they went right back in. Cocking his head he turned his gaze to Demetri, and let it hover there for a moment. With no coming response from him, Ryleon went back to cooking the food.

Oriana woke to hearing Rose move about the tent and sighed. She supposed it was time to get up and sat amongst her covers for a long while. Her long black hair was sitting a bit haphazderly around her but she simply swept it from her shoulders and let out a yawn. “Mornin’.” She said to Rose and crawled her way to the edge of the tent. She was greeted by two sets of legs and glared at them as if they could see her. Sitting on her knees, Oriana balled her fits and promptly punched the backs of their knees to put them off balance for her to crawl through.

Tristan nearly lost his balance completely as Oriana made her stealthy blow and made a point to get out of her way quickly as he set a scowl on her face. “I swear you punch like a man.” He grumbled rubbing the back of his knee.

“At least I don’t whine like a girl.” She said with a sour tone but left it at that, moving closer to the fire to get herself warmer. She hated being cold and dearly missed the warm coast home they had.

For a moment he was afraid that he was afraid that he was still captured, still clutched in the cold hands of those monsters that had taken him or the sweaty smelly pirates that had captured him before that. His eyes flew open suddenly and his hands moved to grab the wrists that had a hold of him in a purely defensive action. His captor made a very high-pitched and rather girly squeak which he though quite odd, then woke up enough to actually realize what was happening. A rather beautiful girl was staring down at him looking half terrified until he quickly took his hands off of her wrists and sat up, forcing her to move back else their heads would collide. "You startled me a bit there. I've come to expect many things these past few months, but never to be woken up by a beautiful lady such as yourself." He gave her his most charming smile, a motion he was sorely out of practice by now, but hoped was effective never the less.

Rose felt her face heating up now, first from finding it incredibly ironic that every wounded person she tried to heal inevitably lashed out at her. Second from the compliment and the realization that when he wasn't completely beaten up and unconscious this new character that they had found was actually quite handsome. His eyes were as dark as they had been the night before, brown so dark a shade as to nearly be ebony in color. She noticed his mouth moving again but couldn't make much sense of what he was saying until an awkward pause had stretched between them. "Oh! My name? Roselina Serenoa, but everyone just calls me Rose. And you are…?"

"Alex. Alexander Verdesworth. A pleasure to meet you, especially to one who has saved my life." The young man replied, his grin widening ever so slightly. She was pretty indeed, but incredibly easy to sway. Hardly any challenge at all. He had noted last night that there were others in the group but hadn't gotten a good look at them.

"Oh well… I only healed you. It was my brothers and cousin that went out into the woods and got you. They're outside eating our entire store of supplies, I would wager." Getting a bit of a handle on herself again, Rose managed a smile and nodded over her shoulder toward the tent flap. She stood and walked outside to find Ilario scowling at Oriana, her cousin looking quite triumphant with whatever it was that she had done to make her brothers react so.

Alex came out shortly afterwards and surveyed the campsite quickly. His gaze searched the twins and took them to be Rose's brothers that she had before mentioned. There was a sullen looking man hunched over near the fire, another lad was sitting nearby cooking and tending the fire. Then he saw Oriana. Immediately he could tell that unlike the blonde girl this one had a personality and from the superior look that she was shooting the bigger blond boys it appeared that she was confident in her abilities. Overall, a much better target than the demure lass that had woken him up. A sly grin crossed his face and he promptly took the young woman's hand in his own. "You my lady are a fine sight to behold. Therefore I must inquire how much it would cost to procure your services for my sole benefit."

Tristan kept his scowl on his cousin as he rubbed the back of his knee until he heard a familiar high pitched squeal coming from within the confines of the tent. He turned a concerned glanced to Ilario and went to make his move to inspect the noise most likely made by his sister. He stopped, however, when both she and the man they had rescued the night before exited the tent. He was about to say something clever, perhaps insulting, when the man made a direct bee line to Oriana. A look of shock crossed his features when he spoke to her. Oriana was a lady?! Beyond that a broad grin spread back over his face, waiting to see how his abrasive cousin would react.

Oirana sat near the campfire with a triumphant grin towards her cousins knowing full well it was written all over her face. Her gaze flickered to Rose and the person behind her but paid no special interest, rather going back to her unfinished food. As she was happily about to dig into it, she found the new man directly in front of her. Before she could speak the words 'can I help you' he grasped her hand within his own. She felt her cheeks grow a bit warm but it was nothing compared to when he started to speak. How dare he?! She pulled her hand away from his and promptly slapped him with it as her anger boiled over. Rightly so, she believed. "My services are not and never will be for sale." Oriana growled, standing to move away from the man to get her anger and blush under control.

Ryleon, the poor man, had no idea what to do about this guy hitting on, if that is what you could call it, his sister. He shifted his concerned look to Tristan and Ilario thinking to ask for advice on what to do. Though he quickly shook away the thought. He figured the two of them would just try to beat the snot out of him if it were Rose he was hitting on. Ryleon couldn't help the smile that curled on his lips when his sitter slapped the arrogant fool for asking such a question before even introducing himself.

Demetri watched the entire thing with passing interest. He never was one to play nice with snobby people. They always assumed they could get what they wanted with money be it objects or people. His glance shifted to Rose. This new fellow and her probably would meld seamlessly with one another, he figured. He only changed gazes to see Oriana directing her death glare to the twins as they chuckled over this odd proposal.

The best way that Ilario could have described the scene was simply 'priceless'. He had been a little curious about the man that they had rescued the night before and of course with over-protective brother syndrome worming its way to the top he also had to wonder if this new guy would be any threat to their hopelessly defenseless sister. Not that it wouldn't make a grand spectacle to watch Rose flail over this new guy, but still. However, his worries were put to rest as soon as this mystery character made his appearance from the tent and quite honestly he had to keep himself from laughing when the man made his opening statement. Not that it worked for very long. As soon as Oriana laid the smack down on him and he had his back down in the snow blinking at her confused like an owl he couldn't restrain his mirth any longer. A deep belly laugh escaped him, hardly dimmed in volume despite Oriana's death glare. It was just too good!

"He must have been hit on the head by those metal heads really hard to mistake you for a fine lady Oriana." Ilario wiped his eye and held his side, his ribs hurting from laughing so hard. That was rick. Oriana a fine lady. Pah! There was nothing ladylike about her and her only fine point was her swordsmanship.

Rose was slightly horrified at the whole scene and endured it in quiet shock. He wanted to… buy her? But that was outrageous! You couldn't just buy people! Her knee jerk reaction to come to the rescue to someone under assault was stifled by the realization that this handsome man wasn't as handsome on the inside as he was on the outside. What a dreadful thing to discover.

As for Alex, he was a bit bewildered by Oriana's reaction. He had certainly never been denied a woman's hand before, especially when money was offered. Before he had been kidnapped he had been idolized and fawned over for his wealth and good looks. To have someone turn him down so abruptly… that was more of a shock than the actual slapping bit. But he wasn't going to be deterred. Everyone could be bought for the right price. It just took a bit of negotiating. Oriana however did not look like she was in the mood for negotiating, especially after the scathing comment from one of the twins. His first priority was to get out of her way, because she was probably going to go on a rampage now

Oriana's attempts to control her anger were for not by Ilario's comment. "I shall make you regret those words cousin." She growled, picking up the thickest stick she could find near her and promptly throwing it at his head. So what if she wasn't a copy of Rose?! If she did that, Oriana knew she would be raped and killed by the pirates living on the coasts so near to their home. And it hadn't been just once that pirates had invaded their house seeking revenge for lost comrades. Not caring if the hunk of wood made contact with her foolish cousins head or not, Oriana picked up two more and chucked them at him. Damn him. She thought to herself knowing she was just getting even more flustered.

Ryleon slapped his forehead at Ilario's comment. He really had to go there and insult his sister further? He really didn't want to be the one two tell the two to knock it off so he simply started gathering up the cooking supplies and packing them away. He knew as much as Ilario would want to cause Oriana further trouble, that he wanted to get off the mountain more and into warmer weather. Who didn't?

Demetri, too, began collecting his things. "If you ever want to get off these mountains, I suggest we get moving." His usual even tone came through, even though his glance moved about Oriana, Alex, and Ilario. Tristan on the other hand wanted to congratulate his brother for saying such a bold statement against their cousin but a barrage of sticks came flying their way and he made it a point to stay clear of the hurled objects.

Laughing half with mirth and half with the excitement of the chase, Ilario quickly leapt away from the giant stick coming for his head and the various other things that Oriana was hurling at him for his comment. He flew out of striking distance and half-way up a tree, landing on a thick branch that spilled snow onto the ground with added weight. "You do have pretty good aim for a girl, though!" He called down with a huge grin, knowing that he was only angering Oriana further. Everything was all doom and gloom these past couple of days. They deserved to have a brief respite, right?

Alex had snuck away from the scene of combat, appearing near Rose's side. He had pegged her as the typical rich girl that was all beauty and no brains. Her clothes told him of the richness aspect, the empty smile betrayed what he presumed to be a likewise empty head. "Is everything always this exciting?" He asked, watching the loudmouth twin escape the attacks of his cousin.

"Only when there is a selfish bigot among us." Rose replied stiffly, standing quite straight as soon as she noticed that Alex was nearby. "Now if you wouldn't mind, I have work to do to break down camp. Demetri is right. We need to get on with finding our family." With a curt nod, Rose excused herself abruptly from Alex's presence and grabbed her portion of breakfast before helping to repack everything and leaving a very confused Alex behind.

What in the world had he stumbled onto?

-!-!-

It was early evening before they saw the end of the mountains and the greenery after so much white was a refreshing sight indeed. The capitol city lay spread out before them, house and street lights turned on in the hours before sundown making the whole place shine like a gem in the shadow of the mountain peaks. The city bordered on being massive, wedged as it was between an incredibly steep cliff and the unyielding mountains. It was a center of trade and wealth and even so close to closing time there was still much activity in the streets.

Demetri saw the town from their arial view and let a small sigh escape him. He was thankful for the rushing wind to keep the thoughts to himself though. He nodded to Ilario and Tristan near him to let them know he was planning on landing. Keeping his word, Demetri landed a good distance of the city but its soft glowing light from several lanterns could still be seen from their landing spot. Once everyone had landed Demetri spoke," Guards tend to be suspicious of traveling this late in the day. Best to make camp and go in during the morning light." His logic was only partial truth to his reasons for not going in. True, city guards would be suspicious but it was still early enough he reckoned that they would let them pass without much trouble. Demetri simply couldn't stand the thought of being in that crowded city, not anymore. He was distrustful of people, this he knew, but it only made him more uneasy being around a lot of untrustworthy looking people.

Oriana was glad simply to out of the mountains. The warmer weather made it far more comfortable to fly and she knew it would be far more comfortable to sleep as well. There was still a chill wind that would blow now and again but the thought of sleeping on the snow once more made her grateful. What she wasn't grateful for was the looks she would receive from Alex and Oriana made it a point that if he even tried to get close to her while flying that she would move away. Now that they were on the ground it was going to be harder to avoid the man.

Ryleon made short work of setting of a camp area and asking Demetri for his help in finding some firewood. He too was thankful for the warmer wether, being more accustom to it from their coastal home. That and the wood was actually dry. Once the fire was set Ryleon looked upon the city limit. He and Oirana had been there a fair number of times with their parents. This was a huge trading city and so during the summer they made a few trips here.

Tristan looked about the camp and then to the city with anxious energy. He wanted to see the large looking city right now and to set camp this early seemed a waste. "Why don't we just spend the night in the city?" He grumbled but a stare or two from Demetri had him keeping his thoughts to himself, well him and Ilario anyway. "Wonder what we can get into there?" He nudged Ilario, nodding his head in the direction of the city. He knew from the stories uncle Talos had told them that Oriana and Ryleon had been to the city before but their family was not so ambitious to leave their mountain home.

Setting up camp seemed like a waste of time to him, and apparently his twin was thinking the same thing voicing the question that he'd had in mind already. At Tristan's nudging he grinned and looked toward the city lights that they could see from this distance. "I'll bet they've got a bunch of weird stuff in there since this is such a big trading city. Hey hey, tomorrow wanna go in there and see what we can get?"

Rose vaguely heard what her brothers were talking about but chose to ignore them. If they were scheming to go do something in the city, then she was having no part of it. Though sleeping indoors did sound like a nice respite from spending nights out in the cold on the hard ground. That, and the tent was getting a little bit crowded now with the six of them stuffed in. No one seemed to be agreeing with her brothers however, so she didn't dare to either. Instead she went about helping Ryleon prepare dinner for the night.

Alex stretched after he landed and got the gear he'd been carrying off of his back. Even though Oriana had a rather obvious distaste for him after the fiasco from the night before he had decided to stay with their group. He was a long way from home and with those ghost armor kidnappers still on the loose he didn't want to chance being captured by them again. Plus, staying around gave him the chance to continue to try and work on Oriana to coming over to his side, and that really would take a lot of working. Though the price of his persistence came in the form of carrying an equal share of the camping equipment just like everyone else. An unsavory task to say the least. Mostly he was just impressed that he had managed to fly at all given that he'd been in captivity and unable to do so for a few months now. Rose had taken pity on him, so he had a lighter load than everyone else but it had still been quite the burden. Personally, he was in agreement with the twins. Why not go into the city? It had to be safer in there than out here in the wilderness, but who was he to say? Oriana would probably shoot down the suggestion if /he/ were the one to voice it.

Tristan grinned, expecting but still enjoying his brothers reaction. "I dunno." He grinned thinking about all the things they could buy. He brought a hand to the bag of coins on his waist and grinned. "Suppose we will find out tomorrow, eh?" He wiggled the bag up in front of his brother to show what he had meant with a huge grin on his face.

Oriana frowned at the twins' conversation. They planned on spending their entire worth in one stop and probably on useless junk. She also believed that the twins would be so caught up in the throngs of people and stuff that they would easily be tricked into buying some sort of hoaxed item. She knew right then and there that rick kids were not going to be allowed to handle the money. Moving swiftly, Oriana grabbed the bag Tristan was holding and in the same fluid movement cut the string holding Ilarios money so it would easily come lose from his belt. Before either could try to snatch the coins back she hid them within her clothing in places they would dare never to touch. "Both of you will end up foolishly spending all your money." She explained quickly. "You don't understand what it is to have a budget. All your lives you had endless money, well simple facts this is it! Once we run out, there will be no one to refill it." She made her tone absolute but knew they were going to fight her on this.

"It's our money, let us piss it away how we wish!" Tristen said taking step towards his cousin. If he wished to buy the coolest damned sword there was out there and it cost all his money, so be it. He would slaughter anything in his wake and there he goes. Dinner.

"As hilarious as it would to see the two of you starve for being so stupid, I can't. So unless you need, and I mean really need the money for something don't ask. And by the way I will sleep with it." She spun on her heel excusing herself from the twins. Tristan grumbled, annoyed. He looked to Alex and a stupid grin came on his face. Maybe the man would be bold enough to try for their money while she slept. Naw. Well there went their fun, or did it? He looked about the camp as a plan began forming in his head. "Oi Ilario. Shall we have some fun?" He eyed his sister for a long moment and then to Demetri. He might not be able to extract revenge on his cousin but he might as well take it out on Mr. Gloom and his sister. "What say we make Rose freaked out, hm?" He brought his brother in close, wrapping arm around his shoulders. "The very sight of Demetri makes Rose blush…" He paused for dramatic effect, "What if Gloom and Doom was forced to get healing, /shirtless/?" He grinned, hoping that Ilario had caught onto his plan.

Demetri, being on the other side of the camp area eyed the twins for a moment, knowing they were up to something but figured it was to extract their revenge on Oriana, oh if only he knew.

Ilario was going to agree with his brother whole heartedly right when Oriana took his brother's money. Well, at least he still had his- wait… it was… GONE?! "How did you get that?" He yelled at Oriana, searching his waist for the fat pouch that contained his money. When she told them that she was going to be sleeping it he probably thought the same thing as Tristan and his gaze slid over to Alex. Well, if they wanted their money back badly enough they could probably get him to do it. For whatever reason he was enthralled with Oriana so having an excuse to raid through her clothes while they were still attached to her was probably going to be the highlight of his life. But that would have to come later when she wasn't expecting it and asleep…

However, Tristan's plan seemed just as good at the moment. He grinned and nodded, comprehending his brother's meaning and looking between his sister who was serving out dinner to Demetri, who looked as stiff and unemotional as always. What she saw in him he would probably never know, but Ilario wasn't about to pass up a chance to let off some steam at the expense of his sister. "I catch your drift, brother." He replied, putting his own arm around Tristan's and moving slightly so that if somehow Demetri or Rose were lip readers they wouldn't be able to figure out what the two were plotting. "I'll sneak attack him from a tree or something. What are you going to do?"

"Once you attack him from the front, I will attack him from behind. This way he can't just shrug the wounds off. He will have to go to Rose." He grinned loving the plan already. "We need Demetri slightly away from the group though." He said rubbing his chin as if to stroke an invisible beard. He looked to the small stack of firewood and grinned. He nodded to his twin and walked around the camp, frowning at the small pile of wood near the fire. Making sure the rest of the group was busy he kneeled down and tossed the twigs into the fire. And then the plot began. "Did we run out of fire wood already?" He asked, rather confused sounding. "Oi Demetri, wanna help gather enough for the night?" He asked, standing. Demetri stood, casually shrugging his shoulders and walked off into the thick of trees. "Might as well help 'em, I'm hungry." He walked in after Demetri, though going off a bit to the right. This would give Ilario a chance for a sneak attack, he thought, bending down to pretend to look for firewood.

Ryleon eyed the twins but when he looked for the small stack they had collected, he found it no where. It was a bit odd for them to do anything before eating but he decided not to question it. It was a good idea to get enough wood for the night. He watched as Oriana took her seat near the fire and kept her attention on the food in front of her. She could never tire of eating and was glad that she never gained any weight from it. She looked to Alex for just a moment and then went back to eating, rather unsure how to deal with him.

Ilario nodded and headed off into act like he was doing something else, tracking Tristan's procession with his eyes and trying hard to seem overly suspicious. A very hard task indeed. When Demetri got up to follow Tristan out into the woods Ilario followed along a parallel path, unsheathing his sword as he did so. Rose's face would be priceless, he was sure of it. Once they were all out a bit away from the campfire, Ilario opened up to a sprint, holding his sword out to the side as he went for Demetri. "Ah! Surprise attack!" and thrusted forward with his sword. He yelled so that the man would at least have enough common sense to jump out of the way… and right into Tristan's awaiting dagger who yelled out a similar warcry. Ilario's blade barely nicked a spot just below Demetri's collarbone on the left side and from the pained grunt he could assume that Tristan had stuck him as well.

Stepping back, Ilario feigned a look of apology, letting his sword rest down by his side. "Oops! Sorry Snowman, I didn't mean to get you quite so bad." Trying very had not to grin, he shrugged his shoulders and held his hands to the side in apology. With a likewise look Tristan also made the thinly veiled apology and the two exchanged devious glances briefly. "It looks like you'll have to go see Rose about this."

Demetri quickly went from shocked to pained and finally in anger as the attack played out. "What foolish notions do you have in your head to attack me?!" He demanded to know but the helpless shrug from both twins put a sour look on his face as he walked back to the camp. A thin line of blood ran from the cut Ilatio had gotten and he knew the one on his back was bleeding as well. What reason did they have for attacking him so?! As he neared the fire he walked over to Rose. How was he even supposed to ask her to heal him. Shrugging his shoulders he stood in front of her. "Your brothers had the bright idea to surprise attack me, told me to come to you." He felt awkward just asking her but what else was he supposed to do. He kept a mental note to repay the twins for this once she was done healing him.

"A great plan perfectly executed." He complimented Ilario with a slap to his back and then moved into a position behind a grouping of bushes to watch the action unfold. "And to you brother, I offer a seat to which we shall thoroughly enjoy ourselves." He offered the spot next to him with a smug smile on his face. He watched as an even more perfect event went down as Ryleon moved to the tent to set things up. Oriana was on the other side of the area with Alex. It was perfect they were pretty much alone!

Rose had just finished her dinner, which was probably a good thing since the first inclination she had when Demetri told her about her brother's schemes was to nearly choke on her own breath. For one, how could the two possibly be so stupid as to actually hurt Demetri? well, not like they hadn't accidentally hurt random passerby's before, but really! The second thing was that in order for her to know what she was dealing with Demetri would have to take off his shirt. Just the thought colored her cheeks and embarrassed red and for the second time in two days she was grateful that it was dark enough that the blush might go unnoticed by someone if they weren't staring at her. Unfortunately, Demetri was staring at her quite thoroughly which unnerved her even more.

"T-that was very careless of them." Rose managed to mutter, her voice a little mousy and very timid. She cleared her throat and stood, patting the wrinkles out of her shirt though it wasn't really a needed action, more just out of nervousness. "Well I um… I'll need to… n-n-need to see the wounds and uh…" She could feel her face heating up even more now, her fingers twisting together in that nervous habit of hers. "Can you take…your shirt off… please?"

Ilario was doing his best to keep from laughing. Sitting there in the bushes he had his hand over his mouth holding in the roaring laughter that was sure to come if he let go. His sides were aching with holding it in, but he endured. Rose's expression was just too good to give up the game now. He elbowed Tristan in the side lightly. This plan was working out better than he could have possibly hoped. The only question was if Demetri would take the bait.

Tristan had nearly lost it when he could see the look on Rose's face but knew that it would only get better with time so long as he was quiet enough to sit through it. All the bad mood from Oriana taking his money was now gone and he was enjoying himself. He accepted Ilario's light nudging found himself holding his breath to see if Demetri would in fact take the bait.

Demetri on the other hand had been far too annoyed to see what the twins' had planned but readily expected the girl to be a blushing mess. Hell, even looking at her made her blush. He felt as if he would never understand women. With a helpless sigh at her stuttering he nodded. "Fine." He said with no real emotion attached to it. Reaching down Demetri pulled at the hem of his shirt, lifting it up and over his head. For his past experiences and lack of any real fighting skills Demetri was rather well built but not overly so. His skin was pale which hid the many scars on his body well until the light of the fire hit them. A thin line of blood trailed down his collarbone and on his back a slightly larger cut bled out just the same. Demetri sat down next to Rose, unsure how it worked and waited for her to begin.

'Oh no. Oh yes? Oh god', she didn't know. He actually did it. He actually took his shirt off. 'Oh god oh god oh god…' Rose's brain had totally shut down leaving her face a blank red mask. It was just like she had hoped and feared it would be like… He hardly had any tan lines being as pale as he was from head to toe and the moonlight reflected against his pale skin on one side, the fire light playing over his muscles on the other. The dancing of the orange lights was mesmerizing on its own, but when combined with the play over Demetri's skin… Only the sight of his many scars brought her back to consciousness.

There were plenty of those thin silvery lines just like on his arms. She wondered where he had acquired them all briefly but ultimately decided that it wasn't any of her business… yet. "T-thanks. Wow they got you good here. I um need to touch it and s-s-see how deep t-the wound is…" She valiantly fought the urge to shut down again and simply stare at him, reaching out toward the wound beneath the collar bone. Her fingers hovered over his skin for a moment, then with a deep breath she let her fingers find his warm flesh. It was just like the first time, she though, except for now those wildly dark eyes were open and they were /watching her/. Like a hawk. A mysterious, broad-chested, sexy… 'YOU'RE HEALING HIM ROSE!' Her inner thoughts screamed, putting a halt to that line of thought quite quickly. 'Not ogling the man while he's bleeding. Get yourself together.' Easier said than done.

Rose heaved a deep breath and let it out slowly, bringing up the lyrics of the short minor wound spell that she had recited many a time for her brothers when things got too rough between them. After reciting it the wound closed up with only a slight drain on her energy, hardly even noticeable. She stood and moved around to his back, ducking her burning face as she did so. Half done, only half more to go…

It was a little less daunting healing his back without Demetri staring her down like before, but that of course left her open for more ogling than before. The first thing she noted was that his entire back seemed to be little more than a very painful looking network of meshed scars. All of them were thin like they were from a whip, which, upon some reflection she realized that they probably were. Without even realizing that she was doing it Rose reached out and traced one of those scars with the tip of her finger, her blush reducing in vibrancy slightly to be replaced by a sad expression. What sort of life had he lead? Then blood crossed the path of the scar and she was snapped back to her duty. Placing both hands around the wound she took a moment to simply feel the muscles of his strong shoulders before reciting the healing verse again, the wound on his back closing up. "There, its all better now."

Demetri nodded not seeing why she wouldn't be able to inspect the wound as she wished. He had no idea he was driving her crazy but saw her deep blush none the less. A soft look that had not yet been seen from the man came to Demetri's face as he listened to her song. He felt such a calmness when he listened to her healing words. "Thank you." He said as he thought how much he enjoyed listening to her sing and how much he disliked to hear her talk. Odd creatures; women.

Tristan felt as if his ribs would break from the sheer force he had to use to keep himself from ruining the perfect moment. It hurt just too bad and soon he found his laughter erupting from him louder then he could have expected. He stayed where he was, unable to move as laughter rolled over him. This had played out so perfectly he could not believe it. Tears rolled unchecked down the mans face and he neither cared or wiped them away.

Oriana, having been close to the couple, but busy from keeping Alex at bay stopped mid-sentence to listen to the thunderous laughing. What on Earth happened? She glanced from the bushes to Rose and Demetri. The man was shirtless, this she knew but Roses' face was a darker shade of red than she had ever seen. It all came together for her, the twins had set this up. She grinned slightly amused now and watched to see how Rose would react.

"You're-" Rose began to reply before a noise that vaguely sounded like a small explosion came from the woods. Instantly she was afraid that some sort of monster had found their campsite and was going to go o
n a rampage, then she began to recognize the noise. Her face fell and an even deeper blush came over her features. Oh no. Oh no no no no no no no…

Ilario, like Tristan, simply couldn't hold it in any longer. The two twins were in hysterics, Ilario pounding on the ground with a closed fist and trying hard to breathe. Really really hard, actually. It was just too much. His sister's ration and Demetri's complete uncaring about the whole thing. Ah, it had been worth the pain of his splitting sides. Definitely worth it.

"Tristan! Ilario! What have you two been doing back there?!" Rose nearly screamed, her fists clenching tightly with embarrassment. Had they set this whole thing up? She knew that they were devious but this… this was on a whole new level of cruel.

Alex watched the goings on silently, distracted from his self-assigned task of trying to get Oriana to open herself up a little bit to him by the spectacle of the two outbursts. Wow, did the blonde bimbo have a thing for that Demetri guy or what? A small smug grin encompassed his face briefly at the show, and then suddenly an idea hit him. Of course! Why didn't he think of it before? "Hey, Oriana…" Turning his coy smile on the young woman, Alex stripped off his shirt as well, his chest puffed out proudly. "Does this work for you?"

Tristan tried to breath air into her burning lungs. This had made his entire night, no! His entire year had been made from this scene alone. "C-…"He couldn't get the words out as more laughter came. "Collecting Firewood!" He got out in between fits. Eventually he calmed himself enough to pull air into his lungs and breathe. Every couple of seconds new fits would start but soon enough they calmed to chuckles. Wiping the tears from his face he put am arm on Ilario's shoulder for support and stood holding the three twigs he had pretend to collect before attacking Demetri and starting this entire thing.

Demetri look from Rose to the twins and back again. He was rather amazed by the lengths they would go to torture their sister and still intended to get revenge for the 'surprise attack' he received. Perhaps this time he could use Rose to his advantage to make the operation go smoother. He stood, putting his shirt back on. His thoughts of concern were for Rose and not for the obvious reason. The man just could not understand why Roses' voice was so strong and harbored thoughts of sirens.

Oriana let herself laugh at the bit of mess that just happened before her. Hearing her name, she turned her attention to Alex. "What?" She asked, not trusting the avian and she had good reason. Before she knew it his shirt was off, and his chest was puffed out. "Perhaps when there are muscles adoring your chest it could have an effect." She said sweetly with a hint of disapproval at his actions.

Rose's face was stained crimson now, not just from embarrassment, but from anger. Usually she didn't condone acts of violence especially since most of the time it was up to her to heal up those who had been victims of said violence. However, considering the situation, she was ready to punch someone as hard as she could and not heal them afterwards. Displaying a certain amount of aggressiveness the peaceful girl was not usually known for, she ran over to where her brothers were cackling and attempted to whack the closest one in the head.

Ilario ducked and rolled out of the way, cackling madly as he did so. "You hit like a girl! And I don't mean the Oriana type of girl!" With another laugh he took to the skies, flying out into the night where he knew that Rose couldn't see him anymore. Tristan was gone from her field of vision now too. Grumbling darkly, Rose stomped over to the tent and ripped the flap open. "I'm going to bed!" She called over her shoulder moodily and disappeared inside without another word.

Alex's face fell a little at her casual dismissal of him, but not so far that he could be deterred from pursuing her. "Fine, fine, I see." He slipped his shirt back on and crossed his arms over his chest, a devilish grin on his face. "But, if you ever feel the urge to touch them, never fear to ask."

Tristan grinned like a fool when he saw Rose coming for them and like wise ducked when she came swinging for them. "Try turning your anger on Demetri, maybe he'd like it!" Tristan said taking to the skies after his brother. He watched from afar as the girl stomped her way over to the tent, roughly open it and excused herself to sleep. Hovering in the air, he high fived his brother laughing in a carefree manner. "I'm pleased, and yourself?" He turned to Ilario as he gently floated back down to the ground, ready to take off again if Rose came charging for them from the tent.

Ryleon jumped as the fabric of the tent suddenly swung open and Rose came storming in. "Rose? What happened?" He asked, with concern for her and interest. He knew the twins had done something from their vast amount of laughing coming from them. He could tell by her anger that if she didn't answer he didn't want to push it.

Demetri looked up to the twins in the air and went about gathering his cloak. Putting the thick material on and with a couple flaps of his wings he was in a rather large looking tree and got comfortable. He had hoped that the two boys would keep to themselves for the rest of the night. And with that he curled up to get some rest.

Oriana looked at Alex with disbelief. He really was going to push it that far, wasn't he? Rubbing her head, "I'll be sure to keep the offer in mind." She said from beneath her hands and stood. "If I so much as feel your hands near me tonight I will cut them off and force you to eat them." She growled in warning before going into the tent after Rose.

"Do you like her harsh words?" Demetri asked from above, his head cocked to the side now. He wasn't sure why Alex insisted to pursue Oriana when she obviously she had no interest in him. Then again, he could ask the same thing for Rose. He sighed at the thought.

"Ah, that was some of the best fun we've had in a while brother." Ilario replied, clapping his twin on the back. They probably wouldn't be able to head in to sleep until after Rose was completely out of it, but again, it was a fair price to pay for the amusement she had provided for them that night. once it became apparent that Rose wasn't going to immediately storm back out and try to strangle them both to death he took a seat by the fire and immediately became interested in the new conversation going on. It was all men around the fire now except for Ryleon, but he wasn't entirely sure if he counted as a true blue manly man.

Alex watched Oriana go with an appreciative eye, studying the way she walked from behind. At Demetri's words he looked up and gave the man a small smile. "It'll be worth it in the end." He replied simply, releasing a long sigh and looking up at the stars. "You don't get women like her very often. The independent type, I mean. Can't tell them what to do or how to do it. Stubborn, obstinate and even mean sometimes. But that's what makes them the best to pursue. It's a challenge good man, a challenge. If you have a girl fawning all over you then what's the point?"

Inside the tent Rose whipped her gaze around at the sound of Ryleon's voice. She had forgotten that he was in there in all honestly, flustered as she was by the harassment from her twins. Her cheeks heated up again at his question when she considered trying to answer. Instead, she kicked off her boots angrily, tossing them carelessly at the foot of her sleeping bag. "Just Ilario and Tristan being stupid." She growled murderously, stripping down to her sleeping clothes which was little more than a black sleeveless shirt and her riding pants. She crawled into her sleeping bag with as much vehemence as possible and promptly buried her head under the welcoming material, hiding her face from her cousin. "It's so stupid. I shouldn't have gotten so flustered over him but I can't help it. And those two-"

Her quietly muttered tirade was interrupted by Oriana entering the tent. She looked out of her hiding hole briefly to see who it was and then promptly retreated back into her cocoon.

"You make it sound as if its a game to win something." He said, no real judging in his voice, more interest then anything. On his last point Demetri's thoughts went straight to Rose. The girl had good intentions, if she was truly avian as he thought(and not some other worldly creature trying to eat his soul), but fawning was putting it rather lightly in his mind. Even before the tragic events of the last two years Demetri was awkward around woman, and never had one so enamored with him. He thought about himself going after Oriana and promptly shook the thoughts from his head. The woman was just…scary. "I get the effort, but her…" He looked to the tent, his words hung in the air with hope that Alex knew he spoke of Oriana.

Tristan could understand Demetri's confusion over Alexs' choice. She wouldn't exactly be the easiest of people to get along with and never had been. She used physical means to get things and emotions across. Usually anger. The only times he had seen her otherwise was when it was around Ryleon. Tristan shook his head, keeping on the same train of thought as his twin that the boy just wasn't a manly man and probably never would be.

Oriana shifted her gaze from Ryleon to Rose and back again. "Rose, honestly, it wasn't that bad. And by the looks of it, Demetri had not even noticed." While her words were meant to be caring and lift the girls spirits back up it was probably doing more harm then good. With a nod to her brother, she stripped down
to her sleeping clothes and rolled into her covers. She pulled them as close to her body as possible just in case Alex really did get any funny ideas.

Alex laughed in good humor, a soft chuckle in the back of his throat. "But of course it is! When you're as devilishly handsome as myself and wealthy to boot, every woman in the countryside is going to naturally want you. Finding the ones that don't want you and then making them change their minds… That is where all the sport is." He rested against his log, stretching his toes toward the crackling fire to warm up his toes. "And what a sport that Oriana will be. She seems quite set in her morals."

Ilario snorted at Alex's observation but he couldn't help but to admire how he went about choosing which girls he took interest in. "She's bull-headed is what Oriana is. Good luck trying to get her to change her mind."

"Mmm, you'll see, I'll get her to crack. All this charm and talent won't go to nothing." Ilario had another little chuckle to himself but commented no more on Alex's proposal. If he said so… but when Oriana finally cracked down and kicked his face in, Ilario would be standing nearby saying 'I told you so'.

"Wasn't all that bad?" Rose repeated, sounding incredulous. She sat up, her sleeping bag falling around her waist as she stared at the bundled up form of her cousin. "Are you joking? They set that whole thing up! And I- I played right into their hands! They are such.. AUGH!" Abruptly Rose flopped back down and re-buried herself, pulling it tightly around her. "Whatever, I do not want to talk about it anymore. Good night."

Demetri frowned, unsure how to take Alex. So what would he do after Oriana finally fell for him? Not wanting to ask or know the answer, he turned to face away from the group and turned his thoughts inward. He was going to get to enjoy this night, finally able to wake up not covered in a blanket of snow.

Tristan turned to Ilario, “Doesn’t he sound like our old man?” He asked poking at the fire. Of course they had no idea how much he really did sound like Kol. When he was younger the two of them were probably very much like one another. And both loved their own beauty far too much.

After awhile where Tristan was sure that those in the tent were asleep he stood. “Well boys, I’m hittin’ the hay. Oh, and Alex, while you try to feel up Oriana look for our money, would ya?” He grinned, sending a wink in his direction before quietly heading into the tent. He climbed over the girls, got himself into his corner and went to bed.