Children of Blood (open)

[Lu Xiang]

This was merely the calm before the storm, the quiet backdrop as the temperature raised around them. Everything was so natural for everyone; normal at its best. Hands covered their eyes from the true reality. Nothing was as it seems. Lu Xiang smiled, peering outside a small gap and concluding his prediction - it was indeed foggy outside. His senses never failed him.

"It depends entirely on your everyday, Mi'lady."

He said before rolling his cup back and forth on the table before small red liquid rolled down before dripping on the table. The weirdest thing was that it looked nothing like alcohol. He laughed, his overgrown finger nails planting into the cup to lift it back up again. His prowess rolled upon his face like a rolling pin upon a freshly made piece of dough.

"So where do you stand in the current situation? Obviously you are fleeing to a leader, but what is your goal out of this calamity?"

He questioned ever so kindly, south. South she had said. South only meant a couple of things. South meant she was safe, safe for how long? Everyone knew the fire would spread. Tigers couldn't hold the flames in place forever. He laughed.

"More alcohol please!"

Lu Xiang demanded, pretending to be rather annoyed. A simple ploy now that he had the keen and affirmative attention of the staff and the tavern. The world was his?

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

Lifen looked Lu Xiang over, he wasn't the cleanest man. He reminded her faintly of the pirates who were left on land to rot, obviously losing their worth on sea. And yet, Lifen could see that underneath all of that Lu Xiang at one point was a very good looking man. He would probably notice she was watching him carefully, but she didn't care.

His question definitely caught her off guard, but it didn't show on her face. "Assuming this calamity would ever end, I secure myself a better future than the past I lived." she would have enough to have her own ship, her own crew. She would sail under her own banner and go to the places she wanted to go. Life would be simpler, she would grow weary of travel and settle down. Find herself someone she could spend the rest of her life with and then die peacefully... if she survived. Still, the prospect of dying in battle sounded better than dying while wandering alone.

Her mind wandered to death. Did she want to die now? No, she wanted to kill all those bastards first. If she lived much longer after that, then she would fight in the war. It sounded simple, but she knew very well that she had much ahead of her. Hardships, struggling, pain, but there were all minor setbacks she would overcome. She had grown numb to pain and was used to hardships and struggling all words that to her were minor buzzes in the back of her head. Her eyes glanced at Lu Xiang, dare she ask him? "And you? Do you plan on taking part in the war, or destroy as many lives as you possibly can for sheer amusement?" she wasn't being disrespectful, it was obvious in her tone that she was merely curious. He was such an interesting person to her, something about him drew her to him and she just wanted to know more.

His outburst got the waiter to come running back with a bottle for him. Before he left, Lifen grabbed his arm. "Listen kiddo, make sure you've got enough of this for me tomorrow morning." he nodded and scurried away, head bowed, he was obviously going to go home and pray for hours happy he made it through alive. The idea made Lifen grin just a bit-- the poor fool.

She returned her gaze to Lu Xiang, curious.

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang laughed and smiled, pouring himself another cup from the jug before wetting his mouth before replying. The cold liquid soothed his sore throat and tamed his head sending him into the spiralled abyss where he belonged.

"I was built for war, my heritage, my build, my motives. My life is war. I know nothing else but to strangle the life from my enemies."

He replied, obviously behind the curtain was a master plan. He was more than met the eye. A cold and collected overseer. An idea was the most infectious of diseases; once embedded inside of a head it is almost impossible to remove. The idea would combat thousands, tens of thousands maybe even more. The rivers would run red, the mountains scattered in flesh and the plains long burnt before Lu Xiang would finally collect his reward.

"Your ambitions are humble; yet you are complex. I don't know whether I should praise your lack of greed or if I should be offended that you seek nothing worthy of yourself."

He said, reading beyond her eyes a little more. She stared back at him; a brizzling firefight between the two of them. Before he downed his drink and refilled his cup.

"You treat me like a being, yet entrust that I am a monster. Who is to say if I am "destroying". Neither of us have been to the other side of the Netherworld. Just as the people find faith in the Heavens, I find mine in the Underworld. Your god grants you life, my god grants me the ability to conjure death."

He explained to her, he wasn't a man of faith but it was an easy way to understand a little more what he stood for. It backed up his causes a little more and explained his gruesome habits.

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

There was a momentary glint in her eyes. And so the game has started, her favored game. One where the weapons were words and the battle between intellect and rationality. Everyone's rationale was different than the other, but in a war of wits, it was always to see who's was more dominant. Her fingers wrapped around her bottle pouring herself some more. She brought the alcohol to her lips and drank just a little, only for the liquid to run down and soothe her throat. "And when the war is over, what more is there to live for?" she wanted a life after this, she knew she couldn't have the perfect life, but she can try to come close. Perfection was what satisfied you, and she would be satisfied with the bare minimum.

Her finger ran around the top of her glass, in many turns, one after another, it made no sounds, but the feeling soothed her mind. "The human mind turns simplicity in complexity. Perhaps I am the simplest creature wrapped in a veils of false complications." she looked up from the motion of her finger, eyes watching him carefully for his reaction to her words. Lifen hadn't spoken this much for ages.

He spoke well for a man who seemed like he relied on brute alone. She could see in his eyes that he knew what he spoke of and his mind was anything but simple. "Who said human beings are not monsters? If we were just merely humans, then this calamity as you called it would never be upon us." she paused to look down at her finger before lifting her gaze to Lu Xiang once more. "If death is not the end, then killing people like these would bring them bliss and not pain. The ones in pain are the ones who continue to live without their sons, husbands, wives and daughters." for she had killed women and men alike, all because they stood in her way, but never did she kill a defenseless person. "What good is there in killing?" once again, she was very curious as to know what it was about killing that he loved so much? Could it be that this man fell in love with death itself? The thought excited her.

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang had no intention to battle wits, merely to compare and express his own feelings on situations. He didn't feel the need to convince or even battle. They were to submit or that would be eradicated.

"They pray for villains, when their heroes fail them."

He said laughing, it was true. History repeated itself countlessly. Who better to cleanse the lands than a man the opposite of what everyone was trying. Brave men were a thing of the past. A strong ability to slay would only get you so far, the times were changing and if people didn't keep up; then the grave keepers were going to have their work cut out.

"Say what you will, and say what you might. But don't remember who it is for at the end of the night... Everything is complex; My lady. For example, the dullest of things.. say.. my shoes. At a glance they are nothing special.. tightened leather wrapped to keep my feet inside. But you would be daft to neglect the intelligence behind them, the great journey that have travelled from and the beast that donated it's hide to create them... No human is simple by birth."

He said clearing his throat before pouring himself another drinki noticing her actions around the top of the bottle. The conversation continued, almost turning into a friendly debate.

"War, is never over. You can conceal the hatred or block or ban violence. But we all know deep down that human nature is to kill. It is all we know and all we've ever known."

He said laughing before stroking his face a little, feeling comfortably numb at this current moment he finished the rest of his cup before turning back to her.

"A race that kills it own, that slaughters by the thousand, that kills and destroys everything around it and cares only for it's own needs and emotions? If we are not monsters, then why do our teeth crave the taste of flesh?"

He replied, discarding the fact that humans could ever be in complete harmony before listening to her once again as the situation became a little more heated.

"Death is the end, I dispatch any who oppose me to the place of the unknown. To better or to worth; doesn't bother me. Rejoice that they don't have to suffer the strifes of everyday life any longer. Living without family? Hmph. I like to execute their family in front of them whilst they are on their hands and knees..."

He laughs heartily before rubbing the back of his neck before rolling his head around to soothe the pain of sitting uncomfortably for while.

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

Her eyes wandered to the men around them, most slumped on their seats obviously drunk. Others were on the verge of passing out on the ground a humorous and pathetic sight in her opinion. Yu Lifen didn’t believe in heroes, not the concept at least. Even ‘heroes’ did what they did to benefit themselves, for the glory that came after their heroic act.

The example of the shoe was a good one, but to her it was not foolproof. “Using the example of your shoe, it will eventually become worn and be in tatters. By the end of the day, it is still a shoe and the stories will fade away with it.” That how she felt like was. That she would eventually die, and it would all just fade away with her. “But you might be right, shoes do carry a history with them.” She brought her drink to her lips and took a tiny drink of it, she could drink the whole bottle if she wanted to, but after two whole glasses, she supposed she could slow down a little bit. It was as soon as she said this had the stranger spoke, her grey eyes turned up to the man, who was he? As if the day couldn’t get more interesting.

He was right, war would never be over. There would be a momentary pause in the chaos, but it would never fade away. Lifen allowed the man to speak before speaking herself. “War may not end, but there will always be a calm before the storm. Will a person just wait, doing nothing? No one knows how long the calm lasts.” She would take that calm as an opportunity to do what she wanted, if it lasted for a few months or a few years she would be satisfied. It was odd how simple Lifen was.

Lifen laughed, it was soft, gentle, quite the contrary to the way she fought. “This is why I agree, humans are the most savage of beasts.” Lifen ran a hand through the front of her hair while the rest was pinned up, her grey eyes focusing on Lu Xiang. “Perhaps what we know as humanity is in reality monstrosity.” On that note she grinned.

She wondered would he kill a little defenseless child if he was in the state of mind to do it. Once again she allowed the man to speak first before adding her two sense worth. “So you would easily rip a person away from their family? Why? What do you gain out of it? Yes a momentary pleasure, but it is only momentary and you will once again be left to find another person to kill. There will be no rest, but breaks in between of absolute nothingness.” She rested her chin on her hand while her arm was propped up, balanced on her elbow. She wasn’t used to actually talking to a man; usually men would be focusing elsewhere, namely her body. She wasn’t saying that he wasn’t like that, but he didn’t see it as the most important thing, unlike other men. Lifen looked back at the man, wondering who he was, the question in her eyes, but she didn’t word it.

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang smiled, welcoming the new man with a glance. A weird aura about them; they hadn't met yet in this life - but clearly their fates were meant to twist and wrive. A collection of skulls and blacked hearts conjoined in a ceremony within the most unlikely of places.

"Shoes have soles, Humans have souls. We both wear out and die but that doesn't change anything to do with complexity; infact it only makes things more complex and divine - My lady."

He questioned everything humanity stood for, stories and fables. After all the victorious write history, nobody wanted to look bad in front of the next generations. Which was why Lu Xiang was going to be remembered for years to come.

"Everything carries a past, whether short or ancient. Just like everything carries beautiful; just not everyone can see it. Even my murder."

He replied simply, before pouring the new man a glass of some sake. Before offering him some, nameless but not speechless. For a "brute" Lu Xiang was intelligent. He possessed strength among most, the sort of man who would choke the life from you in the middle of battle but also the kind of man who would study or debate about things.

"There is never a calm, only the process in which a human kids itself into a state of calmness. You hit me, I hit you back. If friends were invented, then so were enemies. Human ignorance extends so far to ignore the ultimate demise at the end of the tunnel, we sit and enjoy pleasures yet we all know our doom is ensured."

He laughed, they were all going to die. Lu Xiang just made the journey more interested and swift. The quick pass into the abyss, the blade that seeked more and more. The hungerer...

"Easily depends on the situation, in the end there is only death. The solemn fact is that I kill. My hands were made for it, my mind speaks it and my heart no longer cares. I think if I would kill my own kin then I don't think a simple minded child would stop me either."

He spoke with no remorse in his words or in his eyes. Blunt to the very sides of his mouth. This wasn't a game or a ploy. He wasn't putting on and act. His hand extended, before clenching it.

"Is it more correct to kill to steal? to rape? to avenge? I do not kill, I murder. My work has art. A artist paints, I mutilate."

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

When in such discussions, Lifen took on the habit of pressing a finger gently to her lips as if she was in thought, she wasn’t sure why she had this habit, but it was something she realized she had been doing for quite sometime. “The human mind turns something that can be easily understood into something grandiose. I understand your standpoint and yes I agree that to an extent things are complex, but that doesn’t change the fact that a show is a shoe. Leather stitched to protect a foot and it will never anything more than that.”

Lifen couldn’t say she disagreed with him, his views stood strong and she herself could see that either standpoint could be right, it just depended on the persons state of mind. Like a glass of a water an optimist may call it half full while a pessimist would call it half empty. Lifen preferred realism, the bottom like was the water was at a halfway point and if she was thirsty it wouldn’t satisfy her, if she wasn’t it would be more than enough. “Of course, without a past there would be no future and in essence no present. Even the most beautiful thing would grow old and while you could argue that something aging is beautiful, how would you go about convincing the vain and the naïve that there is beauty in everything? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the vast majority controls what the rest should see.” Conforming, everyone conformed whether it was image wise or morally, the problem was you couldn’t stop the vast majority from conforming and realistically speaking, society wasn’t going to change for the sole non conformers.

Lifen glanced around quickly once more, the men were too drunk to pay attention to what Yu Lifen and Lu Xiang were saying. “That changes nothing, whether it is an allusion of calmness or if it’s real, the bottom line is that momentary chaos will only be momentary and with the breaks in between what is there to do? Humans fall into these illusions and grasp so hard that they turn a blind eye to the fact that there is chaos around them. When all trick themselves into this illusion, there is a brief moment where this illusion is close to being real. Then what can be done?”

“And so murder is your art.” she restated with finality. Lifen would accept the fact that it was what he did and nothing would stop him. Like a painter who would draw the risqué, he would never stop for it is what he knew and in a way, Yu Lifen pictured Lu Xiang to be an artists, only his paints were blood, his brushes were weapons and his work were lifeless bodies. “I am curious, but besides killing, what else do you live for?” if for some reason he was unable to kill,if for example his arms were both cut off by a worthy opponent, what would he do?

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang smiled, finishing his last for the night; deciding anymore drinking would punish his body. He slept in late normally but alcohol only made him worse. He scanned the room again, he was always close to paranoia; it came with the package. You had your good traits and then your bad ones.

"Everything is complex, Mi'lady. Everything. Look at your finger, a simple pattern is printed on the inside on your hand. Now look at mine...."

Lu Xiang extended his huge hands before showing them to her. Pale things, crooked but healthy to some extent. His fingerprints were stretched and rather evil looking; once he was sure she had looked for long enough he contract his hand to explain the theory.

"Now, you see my hand and your hand differ completely. Not a single pair of the hands in whole entire world are the same.. Much like boots, simple at glance by their materials and use.. but no two pairs of shoes will have exactly the same journey or creation."

He said, before smiling. He didn't even going into human complexity. Humans didn't even know where they came from or why they existed; his argument would be clearly if are the only beings to rule the earth as stewards over all beings, beasts and plants then that would make us complex enough? He laughed.

"People look up to people, in the scale of hierachy. People abuse the social system. We are reassured all the time, but is it correct to be? We fool ourselves into a state of safety.. yet we assume that we exist, we assume that we will wake up tomorrow... we assume that it hurts to die? Convincing the vain and the naive? Aren't we all vain and naive in one war or another? If I can accept it, then why can't the world?"

He ordered before laughing in a joking tone. The world would never learn. It took so long; he didn't have the patience or the heart to care. He was a killer, not a carer.

"Other than murder? Obviously I drink, I train both my body and my mind, I drink somemore.. I sleep, then I drink somemore, I plot, I read, I ride and hunt.. but all this things only conclude and escalate my self endulgence for death in the end."

He said smiling, his eyes glazing over a little at the thought of killing again. It was almost like a voluntary power. Like a bird who learns to fly for the first time; it was all down to making a leap of faith. Much the same for Lu Xiang; he had picked up a blade before but after his parents were slaughtered.. the way of the fist became second nature. Him and his blade became one. Granted with a gift to only kill and kill again.

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

Yu Lifen looked down at his hands, yes she could see the prints and of course they were different. What Lifen also noticed were the calluses and its rough nature, mostly from battle. Her eyes looked up to his she waited patiently for his explanation and for some strange reason she felt like his words did somewhat hold truth. But alas, she knew that her own mind would never change and neither would his. Still, she understood and knew very well that she should incorporate his own logic with her own."Perhaps there is no wrong answer when figuring out whether something is complex or simple by nature."

The discussion of complexity and simplicity was going around in circles, and when she felt like they had reached such a point and nothing more could be added, she always presented the compromise. Running a hand once more through her loosely pinned up hair, Yu Lifen laughed, it was soft and quiet as if laughing at her own personal joke.

Yu Lifen didn’t disagree with his rationale at all, but he was preaching to the wrong person, it was the world that was against his word and she could do nothing about that. “Because humanity would never readily accept the truth. We do all of these things, but humanity is still hiding behind a veil of safety and even if you have accepted it, the world wont and once again you are left to yourself with nothing to do but watch people in their moments of false security and still nothing has changed. Unfortunately, reality and imaginary have to coexist.” His laugh made her grin and she once again couldn’t help but laugh along with him. Many turned to look, but learning from earlier, they quickly returned to their drinks and refused to glance at Lifen and Xiang again.

If anything, Lifen had found someone who had completely captivated her interest, if anything, she found him spontaneous, interesting, baffling, confusing and there was much more, but she wasn’t sure what it was it just had her craving for more. She wanted to understand him and yet she couldn’t fully do so. There was something and that something sent a shiver down her spine, it wasn’t fear and it wasn’t an aversion to him, but it was something that made her wish she could delve into every corner of his brain and she wondered what she would find, perhaps it would be something unexpected and that only increased her interest in him.

Lifen earlier noted that he indulged in death so much. “If you are so indulged in death then…” she wasn’t sure how to phrase it, would she offend him? No, death was his life and applying it to him would only spring an interesting answer. Lifen would not apologize, for she could tell that apologies were useless when it came to people like him “…then why not just bring death to yourself?” he almost seemed to be enamored with death, if that was the case then why not meet the one thing he seemed to ‘love’ so much. She leaned forward, curious. They did say that curiosity killed the cat, would it kill her right now?

[Lu Xiang]

Lu Xiang coiled his mind around her, his deathly tentacles invisible to eyes but visable by the mind. She was interested in him, like every peon before. But she was different her worth was more than most.. yet wasted. He didn't correct her for her open minded views, he didn't feel amazingly arrogant tonight. But rather jolly; yet still hungering for more flesh like any beast would.

"Imagination is the cruel reality, when the shades are pulled shut and the world is sucked down into the spiral of misfortune and endless death; I do hope they pray for me. When humanity hangs on by its fingers on the cliffside, I will be the demon to stamp on its fingers and wish it farewell."

The world was cold, but it only needed to be cold. He would tear it asunder and create a new world. Riping into the very heart of it; creating something more than humans and something more then this pitiful civillisation. However; first he had to sit around and wait for the moment to present itself. People dreamed of conquering lands, but that wasn't enough for Xiang. China would only be the first to fall.

"I am dead, my heart beats a frozen pulse, my veins pump venom.. I am as dead as the very reaper himself. I exist because it is my purpose. If the world needed me beneath the group then surely someone would've smited me by now.

Unfortunate foe after foe had attempted to bring him down. Over and over again. Every victim who had turned and pulled a sword on him had fallen. Once or twice would be down to luck but when the death toll scattered and was practically uncountable anymore - it was something more then luck, wasn't it?[/b]

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

When it came to reality, Lifen always felt like it could never be defined. Everyone was too busy to figure out what was real and what was not, and yet no one had been able to give a decent answer without it be disputed. She wondered if reality could be grasped by the human mind. "Reality can be everything and yet it can be nothing. Humanity could be already on it's last breaths or it could be slowly getting stronger. I doubt the latter of course." she doubted that there was an increase in humanity, but by the end of the day it didn't matter to her.

He felt dead, she wondered if she reached out and placed a finger on the back of his hand, would it be as cold as it looked? The idea was one that excited her. "Still, your heart beats and your veins pump and obviously your mind is sharp and works exceptionally well. All signs that you live. The living dead maybe, but still there is life." despite what he felt, he lived and that was a reality.

Yu Lifen rubbed her propped right arm as if trying to feel the art permanently etched under her skin, her fingers traced the drawing without her even having to look at it. It was another one of her habits and it was less obvious so there was no harm. Her movement gave her the chance to look around, eyes darting around the tavern. It was the same people, some joining others at a table and drinking with each other talking about something probably of very little importance.

[Lu Xiang]

He looked around, becoming rather tired of the tavern now. He was an eagle and didn't like being caged or having his wings clipped. There was nothing more frustrating for him than being stuck in a single place for too long. When he was in prison recently, he drive himself so insane that he chewed through his rope bindings and escaped through the bars by starving himself.

"Can you prove we are living? I cannot."

He answered, it was true. Keeping a close eye on her as she seemed to play around; wondering to some extent before closing his eyes and reading the room with his mind, listening in a little as the smoke and ale whistled around. After several seconds, his eyes rolled open before loud hearty loud pounded against the walls, attracting an audience. He knew exactly how to do it. But he refused to cause violence, possibably due to his lack of energy and lack of food recently. He smiled back at the people who flared at him; hissing like a serpant of a thousand heads.

"Remember the name, Yu Lifen. Your cruel ways could grant you a ticket into the future someday..."

He smiled, finished with arguing for tonight. No answer would be found which in the end only annoyed him more. Such logic was pointless wasting time with. Wardens of the past, sitting all day mediating and thinking philosophically to determine pointless information. Fools.

"The drink has run dry and so have my funds; pardon my leaking pocket."

He said before muttering a chuckle as the whole room flickered with the light, a smooth wail is heard from outside, a gust maybe?

[Yu Lifen (Harley)]

Lifen leaned back, so much more could be said, but it was enough for tonight. Instead she crossed her legs and tipped her head in acknowledgment of his statement. "Touche." the easiest way to end it all.

Lifen smirked, it was something she almost never did, but it was within reason. "And yours will prolong your present." all though his ways were not just cruel they were beyond cruelty they were something else.

Yu Lifen shook her head, funds were nothing to her. Yu Lifen knew there was an inn nearby and the tavern did offer a few rooms upstairs, but she would much prefer a roof that would be secure above her head then one that looked like it was about to fall through. Looking out the, Lifen realized that the fog settled was thick. "Looks like you were right about the fog." Yu Lifen lifted her arms above her head stretching arching her back and feeling a slight crack, inaudible. How long had they been there? Her joints were stiff and while she wasn't even the slightest bit tired her body felt like it had already fallen asleep. Or was that the alcohol finally taking affect? Either way the numbness was welcomed.

[Lu Xiang]

He laughed, of course he was right. A smirk on his face of arrogance and cheek was brushed off by the lack of conversation, he smiled. Some could consider this as awkward; but she didn't like talking. In fact you could completely blame it on her alcohol lust that she even spoke to him; un-true to some extent.

"I was raised by the wilds, after my parents were slaughter. Practically a feral child for several years. When your stuck on your own, you tend to learn the enviroment around you.. but the fog was obvious.

He laughed rolling his eyes in sarcasm; he may have been out of money but he was sleeping in a bed tonight. He didn't care how many people he had to threaten or even kill. The wilderness was fine, when well rested but tonight he desired a comfy resting place. Yet in his body he couldn't help but feel discomfort for some reason; the alcohol dimmed his senses a little but.. he was still alert normally. The paranoia never left him.

His fingers rolled across the table, scratching at the thin lines in the aged wood, glancing outside the window before looking around.. everything was too natural that it provoked him now. Something was going on.. surely? Maybe it was the alcohol. His mind raced, back and forth, sweating a little.

He stroked his fingers upon his face, trying to caress the thoughts gently, as obscure as they were he was living in his own world. Anything could happen, no matter how insignificant as he was at the moment.

"Excuse me, slave boy.."

He called, not long after the waiter appeared at the table presuming he referred to him. Lu Xiang gripped him by the collar but made sure it wasn't noticable from the bar. Pulling him close to his mouth; within a few centimeters.

"Can you hear me clearly?.. if not I may have to clean your ears out with my sword.. Ha.ha.ha. You are going to fetch me the key for a room and there are going to be no arguments about it.. disobeying your master is far better then denying my orders - believe me. No hurry along before you vex me anymore."