A Holy Statue

[Rosier Moore]

Rosier settled down in Avaleur, picking out a cheap, small, run down apartment. It wasn't much, but he was used to that. If he stayed long enough, he knew, he would at least get an average place to live. Never good, but average.

Alas, after settling in the vampire decided to walk around. But he had enough of people for the time being; he wished to explore the forest. If only for an hour.

The man slowly crept through the forest. A confident stride, and yet one that did not show how cocky he truly was. Blend with the crowd, don't stand out. Of course, he did anyways, even if he tried hard. Which he never had in his life.

He wore his usual bartender outfit. Clean black pants, matching shoes. A nice long sleeved shirt below a fancy over shirt. It was not enough for the cold air that held the air, the snow that fell on the ground, but he didn't care. His hair shone red, and his eyes were black as night. He looked creepy. Not in the, he will kill me way. But the, he is odd, I want to stay away from him, sort of way. But he liked his appearance. Except his eyes. When he was a boy, a human boy, they were a bright blue, as bright as the sky.

As the years went by, the black eyes the vampire that bit him had transferred onto Rosier. He hated it. Almost as much as he hated the scars on his wrist from the bites. But he was not just hateful towards them- he was scared.

Day turned to dusk, as he found an interesting shrine. He did not know who of which this woman was. He stepped up onto the open shrine, and walked to the statue of Almora.

Rosier tilted his head, a hand on his side and the other on his chin in thought. No matter, she seemed to be a beauty. Alas, the black eyed vampire stood back and admired the art of the statue. Taking in every detail. A holy figure, he thought, and his hand automatically went to his wrist, brushing over the bites hidden under his sleeve.

Holy, but pretty. He couldn't help but stand there, watching the statue of the woman he did not know, admiring the details. Admiring the way the dusk sky grazed over it.

[Deleted]

"Quaint eh?" Delliks said as he ducked under a branch of a nearby tree, careful not to knock any of the snow out of it and onto him. He had stumbled upon this shrine the other day out of shear luck! It was a shelter that was able to keep him out of the snow and relatively warm.

Now that it was getting dark it would begin to get cold and the night normally brought snowstorms, at least they had so far he had been here. Delliks had assumed at some time he would run into someone here at the shrine, but after a week of nothing he had begun to wonder if it had long since been abandoned.

[Rosier Moore]

Rosier tilted his head to the side as he looked at the man. A curious smile danced on Rosier's lips. He hadn't spoken to many in the town since he had got there- only to buy things, or ask a quick question. He had never been approached by someone wanting conversation. It was a nice surprise.

"I do believe so," he replied, taking a small step back to allow the stranger more view of the statue. Rosier took that time to place his hands on his hips and admire the statue from a distance.

"It does give a simple sense of...elegance to the forest. Not that it did not have it already- more or less it is a touch of man-made structure that does not harm the beauty of the forest," the vampire chimed, looking at the man out of the corner of his eye. Rosier felt a bit parched, but this man did not seem like the right target. He seemed bulky; the man was not about to test his luck.

"Might I ask, though I must seem like an idiot, whom the lovely statue is a representation of? I am not of these lands," Rosier chuckled with a slight shrug.

[Deleted]

Delliks' boots crunched the snow underneath him with each step, leaving a footprint in the snow.
"That is very well said," he walked up toward him and the statue, "Too many times, it seems, that what man builds takes away as much as it adds."

From over his shoulder, he swings a sack over to the side. It slumps into the pile of snow just before the stairs to the statue.
Delliks continues to walk toward the statue, passing Rosier as he does so. He comes reaches behind the statue and removes a cloth covered in snow. As he pulls it up and shakes the snow from it, some logs are revealed, dry because they were covered.
"Don't you worry, I'm not sure many people from here would even now who this is. The sculpting is a bit different than what I've seen in town. An older interpretation probably..." He picks up a few of the logs and begins carrying them out of the shrine. "The goddess Almora. You see the eye and tear mark etched into the fine stone, hardly noticeable on the bottom? That signifies it, so I've been told anyway."

He is now just a bit to the left of Rosier and near his sack, stacking the logs after clearing a bit of snow from the ground. You can see that he has done this times before as the removal of the snow reveals ash and burnt ground.

[Rosier Moore]

Rosier looked the statue up and down. From the distance he was at it was more of a blur, but he could see the outline. And he couldn't spot the symbol at all. So, he got down to his knees and ran his hand over the bottom of the statue, searching for the engraving. His fingers found it, and he pictured in his head what it might look like as he used what he felt as a guideline.

He had to wonder what significance it held though, why it was her symbol. What made it important. And more importantly, how she came to be this land's goddess.

Rosier looked over at the man, spotting the logs. He watched carefully, one eyebrow raised, before he finally decided to speak.

"Do you come here often?" Rosier asked, squinting his eyes at the ground to try and see better. He could see a bit of difference- blackness on the ground. It was Rosier's first thought that the man had been here before.

[Deleted]

Delliks nodded as he prepared his fire. He would need it to last all night and so the formation that he stacked would be essential before he lit them.

"Yes, it serves as a good enough shelter during the night's snowstorms." he looked over to him for a moment, not really noticing his squinting quite yet.

Finally satisfied, Delliks gathered some small sticks and twigs that weren't too wet from the snow.

[Rosier Moore]

Rosier raised an eyebrow at the man. "Do you have no home to call your own, then?" he asked, standing up straights and stretching his back. He stopped his squinting, only peered at the man in interest.

(( sorry for the small reply, I couldn't think of anything :"D ))

[Deleted]

Delliks smirked, "The world is my home. Not too mention it costs less eh?" He chuckled before takin the sticks back over to his pile of wood.

He breathed in deeply, already he could feel the cold creeping in. His lungs felt the sting of the air. He would need to make the fire soon.
"And you? I hope your home is near or you'll risk getting caught right in the thick of things." He himself stood up straight next to his preformed fire. This was the first time he ha gotten a chance to really look the man over. He wore what one would normally see in a bar. A tender perhaps?

[Rosier Moore]

"Well, I live on the poor side of town...don't know how long it'd take me to get there," Rosier smiled with a shrug, not even remembering the direction of the town itself.

Rosier had lived in cold winters. His homes were always run-down, and when he was younger, living in the woods, winters were always bad. But the weather where he lived was of warmer temperature than in Avaleur.

"I'm Rosier, by the way. And your name, if I might ask?" he tilted his head, leaning up against one of the poles, fixing the position of his armband over his wrist.

[Deleted]

"Name's Delliks. I'm not familiar with how far things are around here. To be honest I couldn't tell you which way to head if you wanted to go. I'm not sure how long you've been here but I think it would be fair to warn you that the weather gets frightfully bad at night."

After many days of seeing no one this man's company was welcomed.

[Rosier Moore]

Rosier bit the inside of his mouth as he thought. Leave now? Stay for a while? Fuck leaving, he wasn't scared of a little storm. Though he didn't like them too much.
Disregarding the thought he placed a smile on his face and shrugged. "I'll stay for a little while. Might as well, you know? Haven't had much conversation with anyone for a while."

As Rosier spoke he thought about the possibilities of feeding on this man. Maybe when he slept, Rosier could come back in the dark of night and attack.
Who was he kidding, he wouldn't be able to sneak up on this guy. Let alone find this place in the storm again. He gave up on that idea, and moved on to thinking of a new one.

"So I assume you travel a lot? Y'know, if the world is your home and all," Rosier smiled slyly, shrugging once more as he crossed his arms, looking over the man.
From the blur that he was he looked to be sort of bulky, and with the traveling in mind he probably knew his stuff. Not Rosier's ideal target. But he kept thinking.

[Deleted]

Delliks chuckled, "Yes I have traveled a bit. If you are staying then I suppose I'll start the fire."

He walked into the shrine, taking lamp from one of the pillars. He poured a bit of oil from the lantern onto the wood. A few clicks from his flint and the sparked were able to ignite the wood. In a bit they'd have a good one going.
Delliks starched up his sack and pulled out the limp bodies of two bunny rabbits. He placed them near the fire to thaw them out.

"If you are new here I have to assume you are a traveler as well eh? So it would seem we share a home." He smiled to himself as he left the fire alone and returned standing.

[Rosier Moore]

"I lived on the land for a long time," Rosier nodded, making his way to the fire before sliding to the ground and getting comfortable. He rubbed both his hands together, careful not to uncover his wrist. He was much too stubborn though- he liked his outfits. Barely any included warm clothing.

"But usually I just move around quite a bit. Never want to stay in the same place very long, ehh?" the man chuckled. Though, an interesting thought crossed his mind. Delliks didn't seem to think any different of Rosier, despite his eyes and tattoo. Not to mention it was winter, and he was walking around the forest with thin clothing, nearing night.

Scratch that- he figured Delliks thought him weird anyhow.

"Have you been staying at this shrine for very long?" he asked, staring into the warmth of the fire with delight.

[Deleted]

"Yes, probably three nights now." He chuckled to himself a bit. Three days, a long time?

Delliks once again looked over Rosier before sitting down on the opposite side as him.
"You don't fit in do you Rosier? People like us, you and me. We just don't do we? Or do you travel for other reasons." In truth Delliks just didn't want to fit in. He preferred this simplistic lifestyle. No unnecessary attention to him.

[Rosier Moore]

Rosier was a bit surprised. He had never been related to someone before, and here he was, being related to the man sitting opposite him. He sort of liked it. Granted, he was still thirsty, but it was nice to be thought of similar to another person.

"...I suppose I just do not make friends very easily," the man grinned with a shrug. "People don't like me." It wasn't as if he couldn't make friends. It was that people never got close enough to be his friend. He either left, or drank from them. Neither left any further contact between himself and others.

"I suppose all the same I don't fit in too well either," he shrugged, realizing the truth behind it. He feared vampires, and he was one, and he killed humans. So where did he fit?

[Deleted]

Delliks listened well to the man as he talked, with the fire going now it sort of made the man look a bit creepy, throwing the light up on his face how it was. He realized it was just the fire's shadows though, not the man at all. He seemed to be a fairly nice man.

He chuckled, but then again so is everyone until the time suits them to not be.

"Well don't let it bother you too bad, it would probably be harder to travel if we lived to try and please."

[Rosier Moore]

Rosier thought for a moment before grinning, "Nah, I won't let it bother me. Why should I?" After all, people fear me. Better to be feared than loved.

He bit the inside of his lip as he looked the man over again, squinting his eyes once more. Not that it helped with his vision- he just pretended it did, to help him cope.

"Have you always wanted to travel?" Rosier asked curiously, tilting his head slightly.

[Deleted]

"I was born traveling lad, I have never known anything different really. A son born into a mercenary's family. Sort of joined in the with the family business. But to answer your question, I suppose I have never wanted to travel, never not wanted to either."

Delliks smiled as he thought back to his family and crew deep in the wilderness of Core, battling bandits and rouges, evil creatures and unlordly lords.

"And you?"

[Rosier Moore]

Rosier bit the inside of his lip, contemplating what to say. He didn't really want to tell this man his sap story- but humans responded well to empathy. Usually. It wouldn't hurt to give the man some of the truth.

"When I was about five my parents passed away. I had nowhere else to go, so I just started wandering. I'm lucky to be alive today. But the forests were nice to me. I was quite the wild one, it took me years before I moved into civilization again. Thank goodness too, I don't know how I lived without well-tailored clothing and fine tea!" Rosier smiled, with a slight chuckle.

After he stated a bit of his past he realized how silly it sounded- a five year old surviving on his own. But, who knows, maybe the man didn't even think him human. Maybe he thought him a werewolf, or a demon. Maybe even a vampire.

With another shrug he added, "I wasn't completely alone though. I'd often meet kind travelers that would give me food, and offer to take me with them. I always refused, stubborn child of course," it wasn't all false. They would give him food. A night to rest in their camp. But as they slept, he would take their lives. It was the only way such a young vampire alone in the world could survive.

[Deleted]

Delliks stared at the man, almost glaring at him. As if he saw through him for his lies.

"...Tea's gross." he stated before laughing while his facial expression faded away back to his calm composure. Was it odd that a five year old managed to live, yes, but Delliks wasn't about to judge this man. He was in no spot to.

The only probable way he survived was either being extremely lucky, or he wasn't all or part human. Judging by the black eyes he wasn't fully human. But like he had mentioned to himself before, he would not judge, after all the evil he had done he was in no position to.