[PP-F4] Moving On (Flints) - Complete!

[Emerath 0]

Emerath sat in his store, sitting by the fire. It was evening now, and he had had had yet another busy day in Aincrad. He relaxed in the chair with a nice cup of tea. He had come such a long way from being this silly little alchemist who sat upside down in chairs to pass the time. Emerath had grown a lot, not just as a person, but as a player. There were a lot of things to experience in Aincrad, and so little time to do so. He smiled over at Mist, who sat on her perch by the fire cleaning her feathers with her beak. Emerath made a noise and the owl stopped for a moment, looking at him quizzically, before going back to her cleaning. Emerath couldn't help but chuckle. Emerath was relieved. After the most recent events, he was more at peace than ever. But there was only one thing he had never found closure on. One Flints, who had disappeared after he had taken the Avalanche quest with her and Tristan. Emerath had considered messaging her, but knew the girl well enough to know that doing so wouldn't do much. If she wished to return, she would have long ago. Emerath simply sipped his tea instead, passing the night away gazing at the fire.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Emerath

[Flints 0]

Flints traveled quickly and quietly in the snow, her wolf mother hood up, protecting her face from the wind and snowfall. She followed Antillian to the place he whined to be. She wasn't one to deny him of his guilty pleasure. Plus she had things she needed to sort out. She gripped the center of her chest, lost in thought, she realized too late that she had already wondered in after Antillian, into Emeraths warm shop. She didn't snap out of her daze till she heard the sound of Antillian wooing to Emerath, although it was lower and more muffled from the invitation he so carefully carried in his mouth, the dainty parchment was embossed in lace and had subtle blushed beige but when opened the scribe was in a deep Crimson colour All against a light cream to make the subtle pop a little stronger. She sighed. "Sorry for barging in like that...Emerath."    

[Emerath 0]

Emerath was a bit startled by the sudden ringing of the bell above his door when it opened. He nearly spilled tea on himself, but managed to recover enough to settle the liquid in the cup. He gave a sigh as he thought to himself, Now who could that be, at this hour? He set the cup down and stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles of his suit jacket and turning only to be greeted by Antillian. Emerath cocked his head, of course realizing the his master wasn't too much farther behind him. The dog made a muffled noise, as Emerath saw the parchment in his mouth. He blinked for a moment, before patting the pup on the head and taking the parchment from the wolf.

Rather than immediately reading it, Emerath held it up and looked to Flints as he said, "It's no problem at all, though I am surprised to see you here. Are you certain you're in the right shop, mi'lady?" He still held up the parchment, admittedly disinterested in it compared to the woman, "And where have you been? Oh, surely you must be cold, come sit in the chair by the fire."

[Flints 0]

Flints looked off when Emerath asked if she was in the right shop. She had been missing for over a week. Her eyes were dim. She looked up at him and felt her jaw tighten as she looked right in his eyes. "It's fine really..I didn't mean to startle you." She shifted uneasy. "I have a lot of explaining to do. And..." Her voice began to tremble in the wake of someone she had become so close to in the over a year or so she spent in Aincrad. "Emerath this isn't going to be easy to say so I should just come out with it." She sat on the floor next to Emeraths chair. Thinking about if she had gone to Endilix's how things would have been. "Emerath...I'm soon to marry..tonight actually..." Before he could ask or even worse, break her heart by saying something  about Endilix she quickly spoke. "I'm marrying Tristan.." She took a quick breath, her chest already tightening. She looks him over, her body tense. Was she actually scared?

[Emerath 0]

Emerath watched as Flints moved into a position by his chair. The fire light was the only light in the shop, and it danced wildly across her features, highlighting them in odd ways. It was oddly beautiful, seductive, or perhaps that was just his imagination playing tricks on him again? He listened to her calmly as she explained the situation, and once finished, he placed, what he could only assume based on what she was telling him was a wedding invitation, into his inner suit jacket pocket. "Well, I suppose that saves me the trouble of reading that. Don't worry, I'll deliver it to the proper party for you. He deserves to know." Emerath smiled down at her and said, "Oh, but you must be thirsty. I know how you hate tea, so here's some water." He grabbed a pitcher from the nearby bar and offered it to her, along with a cup. "Really though, I'm more disappointed than surprised. I had an inkling on the Avalanche quest based on how he was acting that this type of thing was going on, but of course I had nothing to prove it."

[Flints 0]

Flints watched Emerath as he stared at her from where she sat, she curiously cocked her head and then when he pocketed the paper she sighed. She heard the slosh of the water and was very thristy but denied drink. She stiffened a split second before be had offered it, she was afraid he was going to drench her in it, she deserves it after all. His brother had given her so much, his life, his love. Only to have her fall for another man. She kept her eyes on Emerath as best as she could, she didn't want to disrespect him. "The Avalanche quest was a turning point I didn't understand. I didn't know anything was happening till it was too late...I spent nights alone at starglade...thinking things through..." She stopped herself from speaking anymore. She was afraid she was going to say too much, she didn't want to cause any more distress than she already had. "I'm sorry for making you both worry of my abcence..." 

[Emerath 0]

Emerath placed the pitcher of water on the table next to his tea, along with the cup when it was denied. When Flints spoke, most of what she said had honestly begun to pass through him as mere excuses for her actions, but that last bit caught him. He gave a chuckle as he folded his arms and took a step back to look the woman over. "Worry? No, it's quite the contrary. We thought you were hale and healthy, out roaming the wilds having fun like you always do. I suppose that was our problem. We didn't worry, because we trusted you." Emerath walked around the table so that he stood between it and the fire and turned away from Flints, placing his hands behind his back. "We've known you for what, a year now? Boy how time flies. You've come and gone from our lives like a shadow. One moment you're here, next moment you're off in the trees. It was never our place to tell you how to live your life. Just like it isn't now." Emerath turned to her, looking over his shoulder, a hard line forming his mouth, "But really, I must know, how does it feel to betray people?"

Edited November 24, 2015 by Emerath

[Flints 0]

Flints looked down at her feet as he turned, his back to her and his face accented by the flames that danced playfully Infront of him, crackling and licking the air without a care in the world. It never left the safety of the fireplace, a few stray flames attempted to leap out but were quickly extinguished before they became a great blaze.  She thought on his words, each one hung on the air, stagnant yet strong. As if the brittle coating the surface had made was broken, all the foul scents and bodies were sent forth into the air and the world. Ready to poison anything it touched. She whimpered. Not fighting him. She had no reason to. Her wild spirit long gone. She spun the ring on her finger slowly, using it to calm her nerves. "How does it feel to betray someone?.." She felt the anger build up in her, she wanted to lash out at Emerath. She wanted to bare her teeth and beat him to the ground, Her wild nature in full force. The fiery nature he wanted his assassin to have. "If you mean, how does it feel to follow my heart, I answer with this. Freeing; in a sense that I never thought I could understand. I love you both greatly...you are family.." Her voice cracked. At the realization that Emerath wouldn't be wishing her well at the ceremony. That he wouldn't be okay with her decision. Who would in that little circle that was once them. She thought about the friend of theirs she never got to meet, she couldn't remember their name but she figured it was for the best. An outcast amongst outcasts flints was. She was in an uncomfortable place. She glanced to Antillian who now sat beside her, obidiantly watching his master, and how tense she had become, his body tensed, he was confused as to why he would attack Emerath. Why Flints would fathom it. Before it could cause growling she calmed. Things about what was at stake. "I hold you both dear to me..and that will never change..and in a way I hoped you would search for me, when I was out on my own, just to make sure I got home safe...I wished Endilix would have came for me many times. Eventually I stopped telling myself he would. I battled myself a lot, before I met Tristan. It was always small things, that I would ignore once we came back together...but they always ate away at me.." She knew as soon as she said all this, that Emerath would shoot it down, and say it was a poor excuse. She didn't care. She needed him to at least know what she thought. "But you haven't lost me...only in one sense. I will always be here for you two, and we have the guild, I'll still work just as hard.." 

[Emerath 0]

The flames danced on Emerath's face, as he listened to her response. "Following your heart, hm? So then, deep down in your heart you wanted to be broken. To be a servant. You know, if that was all you had wanted, you could've just stayed in my shop and did all the little ditty work that I didn't wish to do myself." He turned to her, his hands still behind his back. His face was a mask, there was no reason for him to feel any emotion anymore, not about this. "Does it hurt?" he asked, pointing to the scar, "No, I suppose it doesn't. That shouldn't even exist, but it does. You willed it to be so, as your own personal learning lesson in Aincrad." Emerath stared into her eyes. Her dull, lackluster eyes. "I once thought your eyes were beautiful. Now they're as lifeless as the Flints we once new. Sure, maybe we haven't lost the lifeless husk that is Flints Delaney. But what have we gained? Absolutely nothing. The Flints we knew for a year apparently died out in the snow. The sooner we all accept that, the sooner we can all move on."

[Flints 0]

Flints sat still on the floor. He was behind her in a sense, but still in her peripheral. She looked off and away from him, she saw his eyes fill with disgust from the sight of her, it pained her. But she sat still, taking all of Emeraths verbal abuse. That's all it was. She needed to let him get it all out. She wanted him to say everything he had on his mind, from how terrible she was, to the way he said her name with such malice, it dripped to the ground and splashed beside her. She shed no tears. If this is what he wanted. She would endure it. She didn't know how long they had left in this death game, if she would ever see him again after today, maybe she would try to take on a quest she couldn't really handle, and in a blink of an eye, she would be gone. Truth was, they would never know until it was too late. That's why she came to make amends, to say what they wanted before it was all gone. There was no promise in tomorrow. Her throat tightened. If this was how she was to be remembered. Then so be it. But after his speech she corrected him. Sternly. "Kita Delaney." She paused. "Maybe if one of the people who claimed to know me the most had ran out for me, when I was alone, dying in the snow. Things would be different. But here we are." She closed her eyes and swallowed the hard lump in her throat. "Tell me what I have to do guild wise.." 

[Emerath 0]

Emerath was a bit amused at her correction, as he raised an eyebrow and gave a smile, "Oh, is that Flints I see, hiding in there? I thought I heard some fight in those words. But no, she's dead. That would be impossible, Mrs. Flints Delaney. You simply stole her face, her name, but you can't be who she is." He walked away from the fire, towards her, but in a roundabout motion so it was more like he was circling her in the small space. Emerath stared at her, looking her over on the floor, "Tristan didn't run after you in the snow either. And before you try to claim that he did, you had only just finished telling me that you spent nights alone in the Starglade, thinking things over. But you don't blame Tristan for leaving you alone, do you? Your logic is flawed. If it's wits you want to match, you know that you are no equal to me. Combat, I'll give you. But wits, no." Emerath stopped and turned to her, his hands never having moved from behind his back, now that he was in front of her again, "Flints has been replaced by some impostor named Flints Delaney. Flints is dead and buried in the snow somewhere. Her role in the guild has been fulfilled, and you, her impostor, can never hope to take her place."

[Flints 0]

Flints watched as Emerath circled her, as if he was watching his prey, slowly picking out her weakest points and lashing out at them, trying to find a way to make her bleed. She barred her teeth at him and growled low. "Back off Emerath. You know not what you speak of." She felt goosebumps rise from her skin as she bristled from his malice. "She's here. She's always been here. Whether you want her to be or not." With each strained word she felt Antillian make his way Into the circle, he stood at her back and watched Emerath circle. The man he trusted was making his master uncomfortable. Making her feel unwelcome. He was confused. Not long ago Emerath uttered sweet words to Flints. He couldn't imagine why he changed. Couldn't fathom why flints was his enemy. "Tristan never had to be by me, he wasn't my mate.." Her voice broke. "He wasn't anything at that moment, nothing more than a dear friend and a wonderful ally." Her eyes became more dim the more she fought Emerath. She wasn't going to back down. Not this time. If anything, if push came to shove, she was going to shove back. This time Emerath didn't have the upper hand. Not the way he used to. She rose from the ground, her passive gesture no longer something she could hold. She stood tall and held her head high. "All I wanted....that whole time...was for Endilix to realize I needed him. That I wasn't as strong as you guys make me out to be. This place was driving me insane. I needed him to show me that he missed me when I was gone...that's why I ran off so much, and tried to explore on my own...I wanted him to want to be near me...." Flints was shaking. "And not just near me when I came home...You guys knew me well..you still do..but I'm not always this strong person..." She began to circle Emerath. She was confused. Hurt. But she wasn't going to let him hurt her. Not again. Not before her wedding. Not ever. 

[Emerath 0]

Emerath sighed. Based on what she was saying, how she was acting. Her defiance was final, and she was long past the point of him getting through to her. Emerath shook his head, his hands still behind his back. He was making no motions to be aggressive to Flints, despite that they were in a safe zone anyway. Last thing he needed was making a tense situation even worse by showing his fists, the one weapon he actually had in this game. As Flints spoke of his brother, he continued to stare ahead, stone faced. As she circled him, Emerath just let her be, not even watching her as she did so. When she was finished, he said, "At the end of the day. We trusted you. You know that had you ever actually been in danger, we would have come. We always have, though admittedly you didn't really find yourself in danger often. Endilix was by your side many times, as was I." Emerath simply shrugged, "We're at the point that now I wonder if you expected us to be attached to you at the hip. You certainly can't have expected that from me. I'm far too busy with guild matters and other things, and while I enjoyed the odd quest here or there, it appears it wasn't enough. As for my brother, I know he truly cared. To think otherwise is rather unfair to him. He isn't psychic. Unless you tell him something is wrong, he won't know, same with me."

[Flints 0]

Flints stood still and lowered her gaze when Emerath stopped his movements. She had no reason to attack. She had no reason to fight him anymore. Her voice caught in her throat when he spoke, which silenced her further. She stood stoic, her eyes almost glassy from the interaction. "I've made a mistake.." She whispered, not enough for Emerath to actually hear her. Antillian whined from the sudden change in her tone. "I've hurt the ones I love over my own selfishness. But yet, I don't regret it. I do regret all the pain it's caused...but I don't regret my actions.." Flints looked at Emerath, his piercing gaze cutting though her, through her facade, through her soul. "Eru...please.." She let out a small whine in frustration. "I don't expect either of you to forgive me at this point. What I did was unforgivable. And now...I'm almost certain you'd never want to be friends again..or see me again..I caused a lot of harm...to both of you.." Flints tightened her fists but quickly relaxed them so it didn't seem like an offensive stance. "I love you both very much...and...I'm a terrible person who threw away something great..just to follow her heart and curiosity.." Flints broke down, finally giving into the emotions she had been holding back. Tears welled up in her eyes quickly, she hissed a little at their presence and didn't want this to happen she didn't want to give him the upper hand and let him see her at a low point. She looked to the door but couldn't move. Her body shivered with the force of the emotions she had been holding in, she felt just as trapped as she did at starglade. This meeting wasn't going well at all. She slowly backed up, giving herself more distance from Emerath, when truely all she wanted was to be close to him. He was one of the very few in Aincrad she trusted. To see him close up, especially to her, broke her in ways no one else could. 

[Emerath 0]

As Flints backed away, Emerath took a step towards her, his features softening from the hard gaze he had been giving her. First, Emerath went to Antillian, hopeful that the pup wasn't so stressed out by this whole encounter that he attacked him, as he patted him on the head. "The first step on the path to redemption is admitting that a mistake was made. Nobody says you have to regret your decisions, but you have to be able to admit that sometimes the decisions you make can, and have, hurt others, and you have to be able to live with those consequences," he said, as he stroked Antillian's soft fur.

He looked down at the pup for a long time, before he finally looked up to the nearby Flints again, "I'm not going to say if you made the right decision for yourself. But for the brothers Endilix, you made the wrong one. As long as you can live with that, then there might be a chance after all." Emerath sighed and looked at the wall adjoining the alchemy shop and the bar, "He probably won't ever forgive you, or talk to you. He's going to close up, and do something drastic. Not to get himself killed, but he's going to lose himself in some sort of fantasy to escape the pain." Emerath turned back to Flints, "I know, because I'm the only other person do to that to him. When I closed up and ran away because of my own demons, he closed up as well, in his own way. He got reckless, almost got fired from his job, and did all sorts of stupid things."

Emerath crossed his arms and looked down at the floor in thought, "Honestly, despite what little connection there may have been between us, I was only your friend. What I did, I did both for my guild, and to protect and care for a friend, nothing more. You will have a chance to earn my trust, but it will not be easy, and one more misstep, and it will be over. It will be a hard road, but I am offering you one last chance." Emerath looked to Flints with hard eyes, "And if I give you this chance, and you betray us again, there will be no more, no matter your reasoning. You will remain forever unforgiven."

[Flints 0]

Flints watched as Emerath approached Antillian and her, Antillian was still stiff from the whole interaction, Emeraths sudden reaching out and Flints' backing away confused him further. All of his masters feelings were hard to distinguish he gave a growl only to be Sedated by Emerath's petting, he stood still not sure if he should attack or not. Why would he attack someone who helped find him? Why would he attack someone who found him a player to cuddle up to at night, to watch over and give him a purpose. Antillian whined and leaned into his touch and then padded back to Flints' side, sitting like a statue beside her. Flints looked to Emerath and listened to him speak, she kept her emotions masked, no longer able to cry or argue. She just nodded silently, thinking of a way to respond to him. 

"I know that if he doesn't talk to me I wouldn't blame him one bit. So I'll leave that be, if he does eventually open back up to me, I'll try my hardest to be there for him in any way I can...he opened back up to you. And that means something..I've proved he can be different..it just takes the right person." Flints mind was brought back to when Emerath assumed she was another fling, which probably wouldn't have been a bad thing now that she thought about it. She shook her head. "No...I don't regret any of the time we spent together.." She thought to herself. Finally speaking again after her pause. "I'll try my best..and this will be a true testament to our friendship...and how it can withstand even then biggest of hurdles.." She sat at the chair he had offered what felt like forever ago.  

[Emerath 0]

Emerath sighed and wished he could believe the woman. After everything that they had been through, it was difficult at best. Finally, as Flints finished speaking and sat down in his chair by the fire, Emerath made his way over to the fireplace once again. He basked in the warmth of the flames dancing there and stared into them for a long time, considering what she had said. Finally, he turned to Flints, the fire at his back as he spoke, "I will need to sit down with Endilix and discuss with him how best to proceed. As he is a member of the Council of Master Rogues, he at least deserves a say in things for my consideration, though as you know I make the final decision. I will not give you false hope and say that you have swayed me entirely, but I will consider your earnest plea. The past does not mean nothing to me, and I can see that it doesn't entirely mean nothing to you, though it obviously means less to you than it ever did to us."

[Flints 0]

Flints' gaze dropped to the ground as Emerath spoke. He didn't forgive her, but he at least said he would attempt to put up with her. So that was a start. When he mentioned Endilix she perked up only to be told that the past didn't mean as much to her as it did the brothers. She longed to tell them it meant just as much, that her time in Aincrad was filled with happy memories, some of the best memories were with them, adventuring or locked up in their shops, getting the familiars. Those memories were all she had to keep her sane in this game, and when the weight of the world became too much she had her soon to be husband. Flints' heart grew heavy at Emerath's assumption. She was more than hurt by it. And couldn't do a single thing to change it. 

"Well..thanks I guess..I hope that one day we can all get back to the same amount of trust...I hope I can prove I'm worth it.. She looked up into Emeraths eyes again, hers grew bright as a little grin graced her face. "You still owe me our rematch~" Flints purred and gave her chest a little nonchalant scratch, hoping the mood would lighten. 

Edited November 29, 2015 by Flints

[Emerath 0]

Emerath sighed, "I suppose I do. Though you'll be waiting for that for quite some time. If we're going to rematch, it should be as Grandmaster Martial Artists on the same level field. We should also make a big event of it in the arena. I'm sure people would be interested to watch two high level Martial Artists duke it out." Emerath shrugged, "But a discussion for another day perhaps." Emerath poured himself another cup of tea, placing in the sugar and cream, before bringing it to his lips for a drink of the warm liquid. "Honestly, though, you have to realize that you can say you want to be trusted all you want to. But you have yet to do anything to show it to me. I'm giving you the chance to do so, and if you take it or not, it's no skin off my back either way at this point."

[Flints 0]

Flints had hoped that Emerath would have taken to the idea, and maybe opened himself up to her again, just a little bit. But she was fighting a hopeless battle. He accepted it, but to her it felt more like he was treating it as a chore, he was treating her the way he did when they first met; as if she was a bothersome creature he couldn't seem to swat away. This time she didn't have Endilix to soften the blow. It hurt just as much. She gave a little scoff and figured if she was thrown back to square one, so was he. She held her head high and narrowed her once soft eyes. She glanced at her Hud and realized time was not on her side. She stood and gave a small nod and put her wolf mother's hood on and adjusted her clothing, a small flash of Endilix's shirt showed beneath all she wore. 

"I realize this won't be easy. And you took my pleads and hopefulness as me thinking it's going to be a walk in the park. I know what I'm in for. And I accept it. If I had to i'd spend the rest of my life trying to prove to you both, that you mean the world to me, just because things didn't go as well the first time, doesn't mean I don't love you both. It took me some time to realize it was a very different love. Something I had yet to understand. And you say all these things..." Flints walked up to Emerath slowly, reaching out to him and placing her hand in his cheek, gently brushing the wisps of hair that laid against his face back with her hand and cupping him to gaze down at her. she knew it was a risky move and she knew that she had never really touched him before. His skin was a little softer than Endilix's, he was warm and she could feel the pulse against his neck where he fingertips brushed. "You say all these things like I had never meant anything to you before, Eru..as if we were never close. I trust you with my life. And if I have to prove to you both, That you mean more to me than my life..I'll do just that. And not just in Aincrad.." She became tense, she knew her closeness was risky, this was no accident like in their attempts to find mist, no this was her purposely touching Emerath, trying too soon to get him to welcome her back into his world. She was afraid. She didn't expect him to accept her, but a tiny part of her wished he could. She kept her eyes on him, assessing his posture and his eyes most of all.