The Guardian [Rayne & Inkidu]
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		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Exotic Solos =&gt; Topic started by: Inkidu on 30-05-2012, 17:24:28</h2>
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				Title: <strong>The Guardian [Rayne &amp; Inkidu]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Inkidu</strong> on <strong>30-05-2012, 17:24:28</strong>
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				The fragrant smell of peach blossoms mixed with the smell of blade oil as Lone scrapped a whetstone across the sharp, one-edged blade. He was nervous. They were going to move again. It always made him nervous, despite the fact that it was a game both of them had played countless times. Like all orphans he didn't have a formal name, he was named for his personality. Though Lone might seem like the worst possible name for someone who spent every waking moment guarding someone else, there was no better man. <br><br>He had been taken in by the monastic order of the land and trained as a guardsman. It was his job to protect places, people, and holdings of the church, but since passing his test at sixteen he'd spent&nbsp; ten years guarding one woman. He knew as much as she knew about herself. He knew she was special, but no one ever told him why. They said simply to guard her. So he did. He slid the sword home and strung his small compact recurved bow. He bound his armor to his legs over his baggy trousers and slid on his undershirt, followed by scalemale and then his robe. He wore a quiver at his hip and the sword at his back. He slid his tonfa into his belt and wrapped his prayer beads around his hand. He was tall and lithe, but impeccably muscled from years of martial training. He had angular features and several scars. He wore his hair short with a small braid in the back. It was light brown and a little bleached. <br><br>He looked around at the well kept garden and the ancient stones of the imposing compound carved into a giant living tree. Cat people and dog people walked by in habits and frocks. Several humans were tending the leaves off small bonsai trees that adorned ceremonial pedestals. He had a feeling. Lone knew that if she hadn't been watching him, and he didn't feel like she had been, she'd be in one of the great branches sunning herself. <br><br>With a sigh he began climbing. It was easy for him. He was surefooted and confident in his abilities. He was the only person who had a hope of finding her if she didn't want to be found. Lone had the feeling that she was laughing at him right now... just a feeling. His gray eyes scanned the shadowy cool springtime canopy. He gave a slight smile, "Here, kitty." He whispered in a sing-song voice knowing she would simply hate it. 
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Guardian [Rayne &amp; Inkidu]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Rayne</strong> on <strong>30-05-2012, 23:48:16</strong>
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				Aria was a cat anthromorph. Not a house cat, though. Her appearance was closer to that of a tiger, her white furred body covered with black stripes that seemed to flow from her spine to wrap around almost to her ribs. Her moon white hair was thick and fell in curling waves down her back, and her eyes were as bright a blue as the summer sky itself. Her ears would have been almost obscured by her soft silver locks if not for the black tips. She vaguely remembered as a child hiding in snow banks when playing with other children. She had always been the best at hide and go seek. It was a talent she never realized would be so helpful later in life. Of course she had never imagined any of her life being like it was now. She had lived a happy childhood, running in the woods, playing in the streams with other children- she had always been a tomboy. But then one day people had attacked her home and her family. She still didn’t know why, but she had been on the run ever since.<br><br>She missed her parents and her friends, even after all these years. The man with her now, Lone, had become the only constant in her life, somebody she had only met a few days before the attack. He had saved her countless times. She liked him- at least now she did. At first it had been rough. She’d hated having to constantly be on the move, always looking over her shoulder and not trusting anyone. She’d blamed him for the way things were. But with age came maturity, and she finally realized how lucky she was to have him by her side.<br><br>Though that didn’t mean she was above making his life difficult from time to time. Just because they were on the run didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed any fun, did it? One of Aria’s favorite activities, probably not surprisingly, was climbing trees. And their latest temporary home was a huge tree perfect for the activity. By now she had climbed so high she could see for miles in all directions, not to mention the entire compound. Far below she was sure Lone was readying to leave, that or already running around looking for her. Aria smiled to herself and stretched with a yawn, then continued to lay stretched out on her belly on one of the tree’s large branches. Her head rested on her arm, while one of her legs hung over the side of the branch, her tail lazily flicking back and forth.<br>After a while, though, she heard movement below her. Aria’s ears perked forward, catching the sound of rustling branches. Then she heard a familiar voice calling out for her. Calling out for <em>kitty</em>. Aria sighed, rolling her eyes, and leaned over the branch, her blue eyes soon spotting and narrowing at Lone, who was climbing up towards her. <strong>”You know I hate being called that. Do we have to leave now?”</strong> She complained, rolling onto her back on the branch, her body disappearing from his view as she looked up at the sky above. It was so nice here, she didn’t want to leave again.
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Guardian [Rayne &amp; Inkidu]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Inkidu</strong> on <strong>31-05-2012, 01:36:18</strong>
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				He walked over to her and sat on the branch beside her. He dangled his booted feet. "Yes, you know the more we stay here the more we risk the good nuns and priests who sheltered us this year while I recovered." He felt the twinge of all the cuts and arrow wounds. "I have no desire to find out if they have another Master of 1000 Cuts in their midst." True to form and style none of the cuts were scarring, but untrue to form he survived. The arrows had laid him up more than anything. <br><br>"Do you have all your things packed, we won't come back." He said. In their ten years together they'd never visited the same place twice unless it was to double back on their own trail. He did not mean to lecture her, he'd always felt older than she had, which he thought was a good thing. He didn't want their struggle to ruin him. She had a great power locked deep inside her. A pure and loving power, but one that could easily be corrupted. He had not taken the role of moral teacher per se, but he always tried to teach the beautiful tigress through his actions. <br><br>The cold truth was that one day he might not survive and she would be on her own. Lone hated the thought, hated it with a kind of gut-rotting dread. He looked at her body. He sighed, "Come on, Aria move your bottom. I want to make the Great Forest of Many Paths before sundown." He might be a warrior monk, and he might not be a lecherous man, but he wasn't a white knight. He was very no-nonsense, terse, and eve brash with Aria not to mention other people. He climbed down the tree expertly, but she'd put him to shame. Anthros were naturally stronger, faster, and more powerful in general to humans, but Lone made up for his lack of power with a sagacious outlook. <br><br>"Are you going to dress?" Anthros often went naked around their own kind, but they enjoyed clothing as well... most of the time. She wasn't a young girl anymore, sixteen years and gawky. Aria was a womanly feline now, and she would attract every male within a village if she had a mind to, and sometimes Lone thought she did it because it irked him. It irked him more than he let on, but he'd never dared express his feelings. <br><br>She was to be protected not loved. His love was to his duty not to her. Still, he wrestled with it every day of his life. So what if she was the only stable woman in his life? It shouldn't matter, but it did. "Say your goodbyes, pack, and meet me by the front gate. There's a man with oxen and cart who's going to take us to the Huan-Lo Crossroads." He said with more formality than he'd intended and left to calm his emotions.<br><br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Guardian [Rayne &amp; Inkidu]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Rayne</strong> on <strong>31-05-2012, 02:55:02</strong>
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				At his reminder Aria let out a sigh- perhaps a touch dramatically. <strong>”I know.”</strong> She knew they should leave, that they could never stop running, but it was tiring. She’d made some real friends here in the past year, despite knowing she shouldn’t. She couldn’t help it. She tried to be cold and shut off at the start of their journey everywhere they went, but it had made her even more miserable than the alternative of saying goodbye to friends she did make. It just wasn’t her personality. She liked people, and people seemed to naturally like her a lot too. <br><br><strong>”Yea, its all packed and waiting outside our rooms.”</strong> Sitting up she stretches, nodding as he reminds her of the forest that was their next destination. She heard at night in those woods there were bugs and fungus that glowed in the dark… something to look forward to, she told herself, trying to see the bright side of things as she began to climb down after him. Aria was a lean and athletic creature. Years on the road had conditioned her that way, and in the past two years especially she had also begun to definitely mature as a woman, with shapely hips and large breasts. But modesty was never strong amongst anthros. The entire last year, living with other anthromorphs, she had rarely worn clothes. They just got torn and dirty when she was climbing or outside, and with all her fur she hated how hot and stuffy clothes made her feel. But at least they weren’t in the desert- that was the absolute worst. She’d stripped down one day when it finally got to be too hot for her and nearly caused a riot when they’d passed some human travelers. <br><br>Reaching the bottom of the tree, though, she nodded, knowing it was time to dress up like humans again. <strong>”Yea, I’ll go get dressed and grab my stuff. I’ll meet you in fifteen.”</strong> She liked to play around and be mischievous, but she also knew when to be more serious, his tone sobering her up a bit. He was right, if they stuck around somebody would eventually get hurt, and that was the last thing she wanted. As he headed for the gates Aria headed back to their room. She slipped on a dark blue dress and some sandals then grabbed her bags. As she left the room some friends showed up to say their goodbyes. Tears were shed and hugs were exchanged. The worst part was people always wanted to know why she had to leave… and she never knew the answer to that. She also knew she couldn’t say she’d be back, because she almost never came back. <strong>”Lone’s waiting for me by the gates. I have to go now.”</strong> She finally tells them, hugging everybody one last time before grabbing her bags again and walking away. <br><br>A few moments later she saw the cart and came over, wiping at her eyes a few times before she got there. 
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Guardian [Rayne &amp; Inkidu]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Inkidu</strong> on <strong>31-05-2012, 03:38:06</strong>
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				Lone was ever-vigilant as he scanned the open area in front of the big convent. He waited for her to get situated in the cart before hoping up himself. The man whipped his oxen into action. He was an aging bear-shape, so he was cranky and silent most of the time. Lone didn't mind. Aria was never able to hide all her emotions from Lone, he tried to give her all the privacy he could spare, but it was not really enough. "I know it's hard, but it's for the best." He said. He must have said it a million times by now, and would probably suffer in the bowels of the underworld, for they sure felt like lies to his mind. <br><br>I made you something. He reached back and pulled out a staff. "You broke your last one." Lone thought it was important to teach her how to defend herself, but he taught her specifically how not to kill. She seemed to innocent for that. Still, her number one weapon was her own body."I had time." He twisted it and it broke into three sections connected by strong hand-braided rope. "Chains break and make noise." He said in the same manner that someone might say it was nothing. <br><br>Lone leaned back protecting her from attack while presenting the picture of pure confidence and ease. He was the master of ten different styles five weapon five, hand-to-hand. He knew sacrifice. He'd sacrificed the first sixteen years of his life to the monastery and its cold, distant strictures. Like most of his life he kept it away from Aria. <br><br>"Being so close to you... I often forget that you're not the gawky little half-cub from ten years ago." Of course, his gawkiness was offset by the efficiency with which he'd slain her followers, half of them anthros. "You used to despise me." He said smiling, "I remember carrying you through the rain. You accused me of wanting to feel up your tush." He looked at her with fondness. He looked down and shook his head, "I... kind of did..." He admitted. "You've always had a nice one, and now I can die happy." He passed her a flask with cherry wine in it. "I did sneak a little something to remember the monastery bye." 
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Guardian [Rayne &amp; Inkidu]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Rayne</strong> on <strong>31-05-2012, 08:03:23</strong>
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				Aria managed to halt her tears by the time she got to the cart- but she knew Lone would be able to tell she had been crying. He always could. But unlike a lot of men she could think of he never scolded her for it, never insisted she needed to be tougher or acted like it was wrong for her to cry. She was thankful for that, and while his words didn’t make it any easier, she knew he was trying to comfort her, and that made her feel just a little better. <strong>”I know…”</strong> She mumbles softly, casting one last glance back before looking at Lone. She still had one person who she’d never have to say goodbye to… or so at least she hoped. <br><br>She honestly didn’t know what she’d do without Lone. Not just as a protector, but as a companion. Sure he didn’t share about his past, or anything really personal at all, but he was never cruel to her, and he constantly tried to make this entire experience easier on her any way he could. He taught her what he could and gave advice. She didn’t know if he felt the same way, but she did consider him a friend by now.&nbsp; <br><br>Noticing the staff, Aria blinked in surprise, pulled from her thoughts. <strong>”Oh- thank you Lone. I had forgotten about that.”</strong> She admits, nodding as he explained about the rope. Aria took the staff from him, running her hands over the smooth wood, then tucked it away. Out of habit she set it within grabbing distance, but hidden out of sight. After, she returned her attention to her guardian, smiling a little when he mentioned how she used to dislike him.&nbsp; That first night was a mixture of things she remembered with total clarity and moments she hadn’t been able to grasp even as they happened- such as seeing dead bodies for the first time. She remembered seeing him fight, though, how impressive it had been. She also remembered him picking her up and trying to carry her away and her kicking and fighting almost the whole way. She’d accused him of a lot of stupid stuff, like making it all up to kidnap her.<br><br>However, apparently it wasn’t all stupid. When he admitted to feeling her up she blushed just a little, luckily unnoticeable under her fur. Her ears flicked, then she shook her head.&nbsp; <strong>”I hope that’s not the sole reason that you can die happy.”</strong> She remarked, pausing and smiling as she saw the wine. <strong>”I knew there was a reason I liked you.”</strong> She teased, accepting the flask and lifting it to her lips. Aria drank some, then sighed and sat back. <strong>”… Do you ever regret being assigned to guard me?”</strong> She suddenly asked. After his comment she couldn’t help thinking… in a different life, in a different place, he’d probably be married, living happily in one place.
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Guardian [Rayne &amp; Inkidu]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Inkidu</strong> on <strong>31-05-2012, 15:35:21</strong>
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				"Mm... I don't know about that. They say if a man can live his whole life and only see one perfect thing it's a life well spent." He laughed at his joke. It wasn't forbidden for him to admire or to be downright bawdy at times. It simply couldn't come before his duty to the order and gods of this world to put his own needs before their demands. <br><br>Lone sighed and sat up a little straighter. "Regret? No." He said, "It was a duty assigned to me by the gods." She deserved his honesty, there was so much he already kept from her, "I resented it for the longest time though." He looked at her, "I never showed it, but I was like you, young. You used to fight me tooth and nail, for years. I meditated searching the the answer to why I'd been stuck with you. Like the seasons though things change." He took the flask back and tucked it away.<br><br>Lone had never stopped her from really doing anything that he didn't deem dangerous. He tried not to let his protective jealously get in the way when Aria started noticing men of her own kind. There was never any order to perverse her virginity only her inward purity. So, Lone had actually, against better judgement, sometimes left her alone with men she flirted with, tried to let her live... it was hard to orchestrate and for him to take. It wasn't unheard for an anthro to love a a human or vice versa, but it was a small taboo. The area around her was very well patrolled, and he never once pried. Though he'd never taken a woman himself. His duty came first. How much more would he have to sacrifice? The answer was simple really, and only now did it give him pause. The answer was whatever he had to. <br><br>Lone realized he was getting pensive and broody on her and slipped off the car to walk beside it. He pulled his bow and knocked an arrow. He didn't suspect danger, but he wouldn't be caught flatfooted. It was the kind of life he lived for her. A hard one full of scars and sacrifice. He knew she was special, and he knew why, but the one thing that upset him every day was that he never knew the enemy that he stood against. They all wore The Black Lilly on them in some way. <br><br>The land was a big place. It had taken them ten years (though until she stopped fighting and he stopped resenting did they really make progress) to get the Great Cleave. A canyon said to be made by To-Fey the warrior goddess (canine) when she dropped her sword. It was unusual because there was o river at the bottom. Though Lone figured it had just dried up. One never knew. <br><br>They traveled for a few more hours before they bid farewell to the man and set out walking there own way. "So," he said uneasily walking down the cart path toward an easily noticed forest. "The forest is supposed to have mineral hot springs..." He always tried to find the best feature of where they were going, something for her to remember fondly. Though he didn't always succeed. "I guess I should be glad that you've stopped trying to spy on me in the bath." For a few years after they stopped fighting curious tiger Aria had tried to see him bathe naked. Lone always said she'd given up, but really he thought she'd just gotten smarter and stealthier. <br><br>Like anything though he never pushed or pried. "You know, there was never any challenge in seeing you naked." He accused lightheartedly. He didn't blame her humans were new to her at the time. She had grown up in a completely anthro village. "Copper for your thoughts?" He asked as twilight began to settle among the treetops. <br><br>
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