(no subject)

[hazed_knight]

As usual since she had arrived with Hyne at her new home, Lenne was at the piano in one of the parlor rooms. Or perhaps it was a library, Lenne wasn't too sure. All that mattered to the woman was that there was a piano, and she could spend all of her time singing. There were no wars going on around her, no lovers to go and stop from destroying the world, nothing. Just her, and the music.

She was sitting on the piano bench with perfect posture, swaying back and forth slightly as she played a slow and dark sounding piece she was working on for Hyne. She wanted to impress the other woman with her music, and more importantly, she wanted to impress herself with what she could write. Humming the notes as she played, Lenne's voice and the piano tune probably carried out all across the wing of the castle that was reserved for the 'pets'. She didn't seem to care or take notice as she lost herself in her music, a content little grin on her face. Even if she was basically a prisoner in her new home, it didn't matter because she wasn't alone and she could sing in blissful peace once again.

Being held prisoner didn’t sit well with Kain. Neither did his being referred to constantly as ‘Pet’. This kind of captivity reminded him all too much of the ‘last time’ it happened, and unfortunately, it seemed circumstances were the same yet again. The only difference was, he was allowed to wander freely around the wing restricted to him. So rather than get himself in trouble by blatantly disobeying the insane woman-his anger only seemed to amuse her anyway-he decided to use the time to explore. Even so it was a difficult task; being deprived of his freedom was akin to ripping off a birds wings… he would rather the woman kill him instead of caging him. He wouldn’t be surprised if he went stir-crazy here soon.

Yes, it was that bad.

So wrapped up in his thoughts as he was, he didn’t notice the subtly dark music at first until he drifted closer to the room where it was coming from. He was vaguely interested-only at first-until he remembered that it was that same initial interest that sent him here in the first place. He was briefly torn between investigating or bolting the opposite way he came. His pride, of course, won out in the end. The very idea of a Dragoon giving in to a little music phobia. Laughable!

Shrugging noncommittally, Kain quietly walked over to the parlor, and peered in. Well, it wasn’t the woman who’d captured him who was sitting at the piano. It was someone different, and he eyed her suspiciously while leaning against he doorframe of the parlor.

Lenne didn't notice the man, and therefore didn't stop playing. When she got wrapped up in her music like this, it was hard to break her attention away, she got so drawn into it. She continued to sing up and down the scale, her notes now clashing against those coming out of the piano, causing a hauntingly beautiful dissonance. As she reached the end of the piece, she fell silent, and stared down at her hands on the keys. She was breathing a bit heavily, and abruptly stood up to move away from the piano. She had lost all track of time, and it was almost like she was coming out of a daze or a sleep spell. She couldn't remember a thing from the time she had sat down on the piano bench.

It was a bit...disturbing, to say the least. Turning to leave the room and head back to her own, she gasped in surprise at seeing someone standing in the doorway. She didn't say anything to the man, just stood there staring up at him.

In response Kain stared back, looking her up and down in that nearly imperceptible way of his before lingering on her face for the briefest of moments. Typically its been said that this Dragoon’s gaze never lingered on any one thing for too long, but in this instance, he didn’t have anywhere else to look. It was a way he had of either intimidating the hell out of a person, or deliberately ignoring them. Surprisingly, neither was the case; he was merely curious.

Used to performing for others and being stared at, Lenne didn't mind. She took a step back so she could look the other over, an amused little smile on her face. "I didn't mean to disturb you, if I did. I sometimes get so lost and carried away with my music, I don't realize how loud it is." She murmured, bowing her head.

Being stared at was a quick way to get on his nerves. He didn’t like it, but chose to overlook it. Shifting a little, he shrugged.

“Obviously.”

Well, wasn't he nice? Laughing, she moved in closer in an attempt to stare him down. In a mostly playful manner, of course. "My name is Lenne. I'm staying here...for an undisclosed amount of time." She introduced herself, smiling up at him. "Are you staying here because of Hyne as well?"

Vile sorceress… The corner of his lip twitched visibly at the mention of her, and he drew himself away from the wall now to stand at his full height. The tall knight clearly overshadowed her smaller frame by leaps and bounds. “Staying is such a genial term,” The Dragoon bit off with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “Let’s just say that my being here is completely not of my choosing...”

Despite the fact that he towered above her, she didn't flinch or make a move to shrink back. She wasn't startled or afraid. "She worked the spell over on you too, then? I wasn't happy at first...but...this place is much better than where I was, and the conditions I was living in. I'm safe for now, and have hope that this isn't a permanent thing." She smiled, with a firm nod of her head. "Not even my magic could prevent me from being snared, and I have no idea how to dispel it, or if its even possible. So instead of sulking in my room still, I'm taking time to work on my music. Like I mentioned, I really do hope I didn't disturb you."

“Hmm.” Again, Kain shrugged. He couldn’t share her same sentiment that this place was better than where he was previously. Freedom was everything to him. Right now he just felt like a caged animal. And unlike Cecil, he didn’t feel the urge to ask a complete stranger questions, since he didn’t like being questioned himself. In any case he’d already deemed this girl harmless, for the most part. She was a polite but fearless little thing, though…

He started slightly, surprised at himself for making such an assessment.

With that as a distraction on his mind, Kain unconsciously let his stony exterior soften a bit. “You didn’t,” he finally answered, albeit distractedly. “Although… you yourself seemed a bit disturbed only moments ago.” The blond arched an eyebrow at her.

"I was surprised to see you standing there." She shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. "You know, you never did state your name. If we're going to be trapped here together, I should have something to call you, shouldn't I?" She raised an eyebrow, and stood up on her tiptoes so she could smile up at him. He reminded her a lot of Shuyin when she first met him.

Something about this girl unnerved him. He just couldn’t figure out what… He also figured she was lying, but let it go, figuring it was a personal matter that begged no interference. He had plenty of those. After some internal debate, he sighed.

“Kain,” he introduced himself as simply.

"Its nice to meet you Kain. Even if you don't seem very enthused to be in my company at the moment." She teased, and attempted to feign a pouty, upset look. Unfortunately for her, playful pouting and other childish things didn't come very easily anymore. So she only looked rather foolish, she was certain. Oh well.

"I'm sorry you're stuck here, but...if we're going to be held here, we might as well learn to enjoy and appreciate each other's company. Correct?" She smiled up at him, taking a step in closer to him. She wanted to see if he'd shrink back or attempt to leap away, as Shuyin had done the first time they'd met.

Her attempt at teasing actually succeeded in pulling a rather bemused look from him, which he punctuated with another half-raised eyebrow for effect.

“Er...”

Before Kain could finish that already so-eloquently-put statement off, he reflexively stepped back from the approaching girl, his back hitting the doorframe with a gentle ‘thump’. He blinked vivid emerald eyes at Lenne almost warily now.

"I'm not going to hurt you..." The songstress softly laughed, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth so that he couldn't see her overly amused smile. Yes, he was much like Shuyin. It made her smile...but also made her very sad at the same time.

"You remind me of someone I once knew, a very very long time ago." She frowned, taking yet another step in closer to reach up and softly run her fingers through his hair. It was better kept than hers, it seemed. How horrible.

"I miss him greatly, so I expect you'll get to enjoy my company frequently, dear Kain." She whispered, and found herself wishing desperately that it was Shuyin standing before her and not this man she was just meeting.

He grimaced inwardly at her words-all of them, but especially the part about him reminding her of someone. For she reminded him of someone too, he just realized.

Rosa…

Kain nearly flinched away from her, but instead leaned his head back against the doorframe, shutting his eyes. He wanted very much to evade those roaming fingers, but as he was pressed up against the wall, found himself at a disadvantage. “I expect we’ll be here for quite some time, so why the hell not,” he gritted out after a moment, wishing (like her) that it was another certain woman standing before him and not this girl currently invading his personal space.

Hearing him speak broke her out of her thoughts. Blinking a few times, she just stared up at him for quite sometime before realizing her fingers were in his hair. Once it dawned on her she was touching the man, her cheeks began to turn dark red. After retracting her hand back to her own body, she timidly took a few steps back. "I'm sorry...I was thinking about someone, and was imagining them here before me, I suppose. Apparently you remind me a bit too much of him." She apologized, bowing her head.

“Hm…,” was all he said before turning his back to her. Then, he added in a slightly cutting tone, “Did you love him?”

"Yes, I did. Very much so. But things...things didn't end so well for us." She bit down on her lip after whispering this out, to help prevent tears from falling. She quickly found that stopping the tears wasn't possible. Not wanting anyone to see her cry, she simply turned away and returned to her seat at the piano. Her fingers slowly moved down to the keys, and she began to softly play the song that she wished she had gotten to sing so many years ago. A thousand words would have meant so very much, had she been able to sing them. But she supposed they were useless to want, since not even a thousand promises or ten thousand 'I love you's' would've been able to save them from their fate.

Kain turned and gave her a very strange look now, almost as if he were trying to read her. He stared at her for what seemed to be an age before he turned around again, striding quietly across the room until he was standing directly behind her. Then he whispered into her ear, “I’m sorry,” as if to make up for his cutting tone earlier. For lack of not knowing what else to do or say, he simply stood there and watched her fingertips glide over the ivory keys without pause.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and chills went down her spine as he whispered into her ear. Shaking off the feeling, she simply shrugged. "I'm sorry too." She nodded, and paused in her playing for a few seconds. Deciding that she was going to force herself to be at least somewhat happy, she began to play once more. She picked up where the previous tune had left off, and this time added words. She softly sang, allowing herself to once again become absorbed in her music. When all she thought about was music, she wasn't sad. Her heart didn't ache so horribly, and she wasn't alone in a strange world a thousand years after her time.

Kain couldn’t help but feel pulled in by her music, yet it was obvious that he was hearing something other than her words. He tilted his head as though listening to a faint but familiar voice calling to him from some great distance. Then, in total silence, he moved to stand beside the piano, not looking at her moving hands anymore, but at her tear-streaked face instead. His expression was inscrutable as he watched her sing.

As the song ended, her fingers remained on the keys. She didn't move, didn't speak. Just stared down at her fingers and let the tears silently flow. All that she had left was this, her music. She wasn't even supposed to be alive, for Yevon's sake. She had died over a thousand years ago, and had no place in this new time and place. She knew that Kain was watching her, she could feel his eyes on her. He probably thought she was the strangest person in all the worlds. Laughing at herself, she shook her head. "I need to learn to move on, to adapt...but its a very hard thing to do after being a shadow for so long." She attempted to explain her situation to him, but knew he couldn't really understand.

“Shadow,” Kain repeated calmly, his expression never wavering. “Why do you say that?”

"Its what I was...I wasn't at rest like I should have been. I was trapped...as a shadow, until I found him and stopped him from causing more harm. My Shuyin. It took a thousand years, but I eventually found him. Then we were able to rest, together, but..." She paused, turning so that she could look up at him. "But now I'm here and I don't understand why. I shouldn't be here, in existence. I was happy where I was..."

The enormity of her words finally struck him, eliciting a soft intake of breath. “I see…” murmured Kain, thoughtfully. Well, that explained a lot on her part. A thousand years…

She didn't say anything, just wiped at her tears as she stared up at him. She doubted he actually understood her jumble of thoughts, but it was nice for him to listen. It made things a bit better, just getting to actually talk to someone about all of this.

More staring, but this time he didn’t mind… as much. Leaning over slightly, he idly traced his index finger over one ivory key, then pressed down. The single chord hummed richly in the mutual silence.

For some unknown reason, this caused her to smile. Maybe it was nice to have the tension broken, she figured. It was hardly a noticeable thing, but at least she wasn't frowning any longer. "So perhaps now you understand how and why being here is alright for me. For now, anyways. I don't have a home, or anyone to want to fight to escape so I can be with them. I have nothing, but at least here, I can have my music." She murmured, eyes glancing down over at the keys.

“Fair enough,” Kain said, meeting her eyes. His fingertip lingered over the pressed key a second longer before moving on to the one next to it. Another hum as he depressed it lightly. “I can’t honestly say I share your same sentiment, but, I do understand…” Trailing off a bit, he straightened, and pondered whether to leave the young lady alone or not.

Lenne nodded, her smile growing a bit more with his understanding. "Thank you...for listening. To all that I had to say. That really means a lot to me. Ever since I've returned, I haven't really spoken with anyone about my true feelings, and my past." With one last glance down at the keys, she rose from her place on the bench and walked over to peer out the large window in the room. "I'm sorry you're held here against your will, but...I am thankful that you're here as well."

Kain watched her walk over to the window, smirking faintly. “I have a feeling I won’t be here against my will for much longer…” he predicted calmly. No, he didn’t give a damn if Hyne was listening.

He continued, “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but… when I return to my own world eventually, you are… free to come with me, if you’ve nowhere else to go...” Pause. “It’s entirely up to you, of course. I won’t offer again.” Not wanting to expand on that any further, the Dragoon threw one last look at her before starting to walk out of the parlor.

He was offering her an escape? A place to go? Spinning around, the ex-summoner caught sight of the man leaving. "Wait!" She called out, and ran over to him. "Thank you. I know you're probably tired of hearing me say that, but...you're very kind." She sweetly smiled, and stood up on her tiptoes so that she could brush her lips across his cheek. "I don't have anywhere else to go. Spira isn't my home any longer. It was a thousand years ago...but now...there's nothing there for me. I'd love to see your home, your world. I could maybe learn to make new friends and live again there...just maybe."

Spira… Kain recognized the name. He’d just come from there recently. Not a place he was too eager to revisit any time soon. Feeling slightly awkward as the girl kissed him, he laid a hand on her shoulder with all the intention of (gently) pushing her away. Far from it, however. He rested it there, but tilted his head so that a few strands of hair fell over his face. He was NOT blushing, dammit.

“Well,” he said slowly after a moment, trying to compose himself. This was remotely difficult, and he gave her another long, bewildered look. He really wasn’t used to this sort of contact from others.

Lenne really had to giggle at the sight of how awkward he was acting. He obviously wasn't used to being touched, or getting attention...or something. Once again, he was so much like Shuyin when she first met him. It was almost frightening. "I did say earlier, I wasn't going to harm you, Kain. I'm nothing but gentle, really. I can't even harm a little bug." She laughed, flashing him a grin. She didn't move away however, and just let his hand rest on her shoulder.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, dear Kain?" She smiled up at him, an eyebrow raised with amusement. It was always so much fun to play around with men like this. They never knew what to say or how to act. It was priceless entertainment, really.

Feeling as though he’d just been insulted, Kain roughly removed his hand from her shoulder and frowned. Okay, so he used to like getting attention like this… when he was younger. He didn’t deny that. So when, then he wondered, did he suddenly start to get annoyed by it instead? Well, not annoyed, really, but this kind of attention made him incredibly edgy. Relationships-friendly or otherwise-he could do without, thanks.

Don’t kid yourself, a little voice in his head sarcastically remarked. You should see your facial expression now. Priceless.

Taking a step back, he muttered an annoyed, “Not in the least,” before focusing his attention on anything and everything else but Lenne.

"Hmm...I'm sure." She smirked, and reached up to comb her fingers through her long hair. "Well...I think I'm going to go out into the garden nearby. Hyne will allow us all to go there, I think. Would you like to come with me? Even if the area's not very large, its wonderful to be able to get outside and enjoy the fresh air." She smiled, and took in a deep breath as if she were actually enjoying said fresh air.

The prospect of “fresh air” was enough to draw his attention back to her. He didn’t know there was a garden outside. Shrugging, Kain feigned disinterest with an ambiguous reply of, “. . .”

"I'm not twisting your arm and forcing you to go. If you wish to be in peace, I'll find you later and we can speak more then." She nodded, then turned to head out of the room. Not waiting for him, she briskly walked down the long hallway until she reached the side door that led outside to the tiniest of gardens. Once outside, she tilted her head up to the sky and began to spin around with her arms outstretched. The warm air felt so nice, she couldn't help but enjoy it.

A hint of surprise registered on Kain’s face at her hasty departure, and in an uncharacteristic move, he did indeed follow after, though not as hastily. Outside, he took a second to drink in the sunlight and fresh air, much like she was doing, only, without the spinning involved. Speaking of which, it was this that distracted him from his own enjoyment. He watched her delight in the open warm air of the garden before moving away to explore a bit.

Lenne could hear Kain walking around, but didn't pay him any attention. If he wanted to speak with her, he would approach and start talking. It was obvious that he wanted company since he had followed along after her...but then again, maybe he had just wanted the fresh air. So she just continued to spin around, and began humming to herself. It was such a nice afternoon, why not enjoy it as best as she could?

Actually, both of Lenne’s assumptions were correct. Kain strolled around, enjoying the silence, and at the same time looking at the various foliage and flora that encompassed the garden until he stopped before a particular variety of flower. Roses. Lightly, quietly, he traced a finger up along the thorny stem until he was cradling the delicate pink flower in his palm.

She caught sight of Kain holding the flower, and abruptly stopped spinning. Seeing him enjoying the beautiful garden made her smile a bit, and she tiptoed over to him. "They're beautiful, aren't they? I love coming out here, to take care of the flowers. Before, so long ago, I used to have a garden of my own. At home in Zanarkand. Of course, that was before the war and all of those events..." She frowned a bit at the memories, but quickly brightened back up. "If you'd like...you could help me take care of them? You seem to enjoy them as much as I do...the flowers, I mean."

He looked over at her. Yes, Lenne’s similarity to Rosa was uncanny; perhaps that was why he was not so adverse to her continual presence. He just didn’t know how to go about it. Humming softly in assent, he dragged his finger back down along the stem… and promptly pricked himself with a long, vicious looking thorn. A small bead of blood blossomed on the calloused, punctured flesh. It didn’t hurt-he’d had much worse in the past-but stung mildly. How annoying.

Seeing the blood, Lenne's first instinct was to coddle him as she would have Shuyin. But... Kain most certainly wasn't Shuyin, no matter how much he reminded her of her former lover. Even still, she reached out for his hand and took it in her own. Lifting his hand up to her face, she saw that it was just a small little cut, nothing too horrible. "You really should be more careful." She informed him, and leaned down to place a kiss on his finger. As she did so, she cast a cure spell, which created a white light around them. Yeah, she was talented like that. Being a white mage for a thousand years did make it able for you to learn some things, after all. Smiling shyly up at him, she dropped his hand after making sure it was alright, and headed back to where she had previously been spinning about.

He didn't know which surprised him more: that the girl went and did so incredibly intimate a thing as what she did just now, or that she could cast white magic. Talented, indeed. Staring after her, Kain turned, his back to the rose bushes. "I was being careful," said the Dragoon somewhat indignantly.

"No you weren't!" She called out over her shoulder, before picking back up her slow spinning and soft humming. She spun around a few times and stumbled to a stop, staring over at him. Her humming trailed off as she re-approached him, reaching past him to gently run her fingers along pink petals. "If you had been careful, you wouldn't of pricked your finger in the first place. At least you didn't crush the petals, however. I would've been sad had you done that." She nodded, and flashed him another wide grin.

Her cheerfulness was starting to become infectious, Kain noted. He also noted that she liked to move around a lot. Half-amused by this, he stared back at her, reaching over to finger the soft petals again. “How do you know I won’t?” he questioned with a raised, incredulous eyebrow.

"Because...I just know you wouldn't. You don't seem the type to go around crushing things. You seem...very gentle. And kind." She shrugged, mimicking his expression. "Besides, if you did, I probably can still cast a bit of black magic as well. And I can summon my aeon." She laughed, imagining Ixion or Bahamut flying in to crush someone for destroying a flower.

“Aeon?” Kain queried, trying not to think too much on her ‘gentle’ and ‘kind’ comment.

"Yes...they're my guardians." She tried to think of a better description, using the terms she had learned from the other worlds she had visited. "They're called espers, and eidolons in other worlds. But they're large creatures, beings who have enormous power. The two that I have a close bond to are Bahamut and Ixion. Bahamut is a dragon that comes from the skies, and Ixion is a lightning horse, he also comes from the sky."

“You’re a summoner?” Kain stared at her, obviously interested now. “I had no idea,” he murmured, smiling for the first time since he’d come here. Bahamut, he was most familiar with. Dragons, he had a distinct kinship with, after all.

"Yes, I am...or I was. I was trained to be. I haven't in a long time, though." She nodded, returning his smile. "I doubt I could summon anything here. Hyne wouldn't allow it. I don't think I want her knowing that I can...I'd be afraid of what she'd ask me to do. So if we do manage to get out of here one day, I'll introduce you to Bahamut and Ixion. I promise."

“That would be nice,” he whispered, fairly distracted. If she could summon… maybe a summoning could distract Hyne when the potential for escape came along. But… she was right on her part. There was no telling what the witch would do if she found out about Lenne’s… abilities. For some reason, the thought of Hyne forcing the girl to cause destruction with her… Aeons… caused a trace of anger to swell up in him.

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To be continued... Ooooo. XD