Knight In Not So Shining Armor -Vaughn-

[roland]

Now that her work for the day was done, and while there was time before the sun set, the young brunette woman set off for the hills. Her favorite place to go after finishing up on the farm for the day. Wearing but simple blue robes, her pace of walking was slow and evidently thoughtful. Glancing into the sunset, Roland momentarily marveled at the beauty that could still be found in this blood soaked, battle scarred world. The girl couldn't help but wonder; if her mother had been beautiful too. Roland remembered very little, and what she did remember of her mother was vague and blurry. Garahel rarely spoke of her, even when asked. Though it was a touchy subject for him, and Rowan understood why. Desirae didn't seem to, because as of late the teenager kept badgering their father with questions of their deceased mother.

Upon reaching her destination, Roland climbed the grassy hill and reached the top. Looking to see if there was anything worth seeing upon the top of this great hill, her place of peace and quiet. The breeze was gentle yet cool, and the peasant closed her eyes relishing the feel of it upon her flushed cheeks. Rowan's long wavy dark brown hair blew about softly, the smile on her lips brief yet a genuine one. She opened her eyes once more to gaze upon the sunset and the peachy pink surrounding it, slowly wrapping her arms around herself. Thoughts began to plague Roland again; the thought of ever using her archery skills to help the King, the thought of her dead mother and any vague memory of her.

( Bleah, crappy post. Sorry. )

[Vaughn Adeney]

Every man must decide
whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism
or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Vaughn was not on the same hill for the same reason Roland was. He was not there to appreciate the beauty of it, nor was he there to reflect upon his life. Life was dismal; filled with nothing but disappointment and corruption. These thoughts were what forced Vaughn to not leave upon climbing the hill, and seeing a woman there. He was intrigued by her. He stood in silence, watching her as she seemed to soak in the scenery, while a smile played on her lips. Vaughn smirked, folding his arms across his chest, and just standing there, eying her very carefully. He was not sure how long he had been standing there, but to be sure not to miss the opportunity to say this, he spoke.

"You must be a very naive woman," he said, finally breaking the silence, though peaceful for her, not so peaceful for Vaughn. He did not move from his position, as he continued to stand there, staring at her. "For only a naive woman would endure life and all its corruption, with such a beautiful smile of content." Vaughn appreciated nothing; he saw no beauty in a sunset. All he saw was another day of life waster away, while dark neared and allowed all the creatures of the night to emerge....whether they were people or animals. Vaughn still however, found it amusing that someone could smile at nothing. Yes; to Vaughn, she was not exposed to the true nature of life, and he was not shy to tell her those exact words.

[roland]

The presence of the man had startled her, but she did not let it show. He'd caught one of her rare moments, one of the rare times when she truly smiled. The smile vanished as quickly as it appeared; this hill was supposed to be her private sanctuary where no one but herself would witness her own emotions. Roland was far from pleased, but as with any other emotion she hid it from her face and actions. She simply pursed her lips, her eyes moving away from the deteriorating sunset and to the staring man. "Deem me naive as you will, I am not bothered." Rowan crossed her arms, wondering just how long he'd been standing there and why she hadn't seen him there to begin with. Next time she'd simply be more careful, hiding her emotions until she was sure there was no one around.

"I find there is little to appreciate in this blood soaked world, but what there is left I won't take for granted."Silence fell from her lips after this sentence, and although Roland didn't know the darkly handsome man she half expected another insulting comment. Still, she'd rather be naive than a cold and unfeeling person. Even then, Rowan was most certain she'd become just that in time. She never opened up to anyone, never let anyone in. As Garahel had taught her, always following your head and never trusting your heart kept you of trouble and inevitable pain. That motto had stuck by the girl good, and Roland was sure she'd follow it until the day she died a lonely woman. She met his intimidating gaze with a cool stare of her own, not afraid to speak her opinions.

[Vaughn Adeney]

Every man must decide
whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism
or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Well at least she was not one of those overly emotional woman who may have started crying at his comment. While he enjoyed provoking people, he hated it when women began to cry. Not because he felt sympathetic or caring towards them....but it because it irritated him. Crying achieved nothing. It was a symbol of weakness in Vaughn's eyes. Her next comment released a deep, amused chuckle from him. She was not easily offended, nor did she appear to disagree with his comment. This was going to be a splendidly amusing conversation indeed.

"Cynicism does not suit such an exquisite figure as yourself," he told her, still entertained by her remark. "Perhaps you should return to appreciating what you have instead of wandering the land by yourself." He moved towards her, standing very close, violating the invisible boundaries of personal space. Anyone who valued it, may feel uncomfortable at this moment. He leaned in, as he spoke in her ear. "You never know what danger could befall you. Or what stranger you could come across that could cost you your life." His smirk was still evident, clearly not being above instilling fear in a young woman. Now whether she embraced that fear or not...had yet to be determined.

[roland]

Suddenly Rowan wished her height was not so...short. It was a disadvantage to her, and an advantage to the taller man should anything happen. Her height of only 4.10 made the woman feel vulnerable, though she knew better than to show weakness of any kind. For the opponent would surely exploit them, opening her up to reveal other weaknesses and so on. Roland narrowed her eyes slightly at his amused chuckle, growing more and more wary of the man as each minute near him passed by. She refrained herself with great difficulty when he invaded her personal space, a brief expression of shock flitting across her face before it vanished just as quick.

The urge to hit him arose, because to her his last few sentences sounded threatening. But Roland kept her fists by her side, clenching them as she retained a calm expression. "I am not afraid of danger, nor the form it may arrive in. And if the outcome of the encounter will result in my death, then so be it." Rowan stared up at him defiantly, her heart beginning to race. If he were to kill her, she would not go down without a fight. Even if he happened to be armed, and even if she was not. There would be consequences for his actions if he so chose to do so, though they wouldn't be heavy. A few moments passed, and Roland took a few steps back. Betraying to him her uneasiness.

[Vaughn Adeney]

Every man must decide
whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism
or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

He could see her body slightly tightening, or perhaps it was her fists. What she planned to do with them, he could only guess. Vaughn was not one afraid to strike a woman....though in the past, he had not found it necessary to since he had not come across any who chose their form of combat to be without weapons other than solely their hands. Perhaps this would be no exception and if it was, then Vaughn did not regret his actions towards her. It would be an interesting encounter indeed. He looked at her when she took a few steps back and this time, did not move towards her. Well, he couldn't resist taking one step forward, but no more than that.

"What makes you so bold woman?" He asked, still in an amused voice rather than a genuinely curious one. He did not really care to hear her past life and anything she may have suffered. "It is not wise for woman to be such a way. It will land you in trouble." He looked at her, studying her expression, her stance which was now a defensive one, and somewhere, there had to be an underlying nervousness...he would try to draw it out, eventually. "Or perhaps you do not fear death." Fear was a weakness, just like emotions. "Perhaps your soul is deadened thus you care not about your life, for it is worth very little to nothing. Which is certainly something I would not disagree with." He may not know her, but he tended to find everyone's life worthless. There was no point to it, and while this made Vaughn far from suicidal...it left him with a cold, stone interior.

[roland]

Her facade was beginning to slip and she knew it. Roland had to keep it up the best she could, though. This man appeared to be dangerous, and it wouldn't do for him to see the fears and weaknesses she harbored inside. Best to walk away, and sooner rather than later. She tensed up slightly when he took a step forward but no more than that. Rowan didn't relax her shoulders, however. She kept her guard up. The girl took a swift glance behind her, just in case she needed to run. And Roland feared she would have to run. "Landing in trouble is not possible at the moment. It's standing right in front of me." She took another few steps back. Getting ready to simply turn and walk away.

"No, I don't think so. Perhaps you were describing yourself just then?" Roland cursed inwardly for her mouth; she needed to shut it or she had no doubt the man before her would get irritated and then...well, Rowan would rather not find out. "I'm happy my life is worthless. No attention is bound to head my way, then." She raised an eyebrow, the nervousness she'd felt slowly starting to fade away. Roland allowed her fists to unclench, now that she was at a semi-safe distance from him. To be truthful to herself, Rowan had never started to fear a stranger so easily like this man. He was intimidating, no doubt about it.

[Vaughn Adeney]

Every man must decide
whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism
or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Vaughn let out another laugh. "Now now, have I done anything to show I am a threat." While Vaughn may have wanted her to think that, apart from standing a little too close to her, his physical actions were not as threatening as they could be. Of course, that could change but at the moment, he did not know what he was going to do. His conversations with others were unplanned. He often waited, analyzing the character of the person; learning a bit about them, however brief, helped in knowing what to say to push them over their limit. "You are welcoming attention and danger by being alone at this hour, with what appears to be no weapon, or safety measure. What if, hypothetically, I were to attack you. What then would you do?"

He did not know how, or even if he was going to make any move towards her....maybe he would just try to play around with the idea for a while. "Say, I were to draw my sword," he said, as he slowly started to pull out one of his swords from its holder behind him. He then slowly brought it forward, positioning himself in a stance that most swordsman stood in when preparing for an attack. He took only one step towards her, though just like his other movement, it was slow and predictable.

[roland]

Roland shivered hearing his laugh. It sounded cold and unlike any other man's laugh. Perhaps it was because he wasn't just any other man; he was different. And not in the good way either. "No, as of yet anyway. We'll see." Rowan muttered the last two words to herself very quietly, lest he should hear. She crossed her arms defensively, still very wary of his unknown intentions. Her eyes then widened hearing him ask what she would do if he was to attack her. Truthfully, Rowan had no idea other than the fact 'running' was the first answer that came to her mind.

When he proceeded to pull out one of his swords slowly, Roland tensed. Surely he couldn't be serious. But it seemed he was. "My first answer would be running, seeing as I am completely unarmed against your no doubt sharp sword. My second, I could stand here like a fool and die like a fool. Third, I could attempt to defend myself with whatever is around. Sticks, hands, etc." The girl took another step back yet again, wondering if he truly would attack her. Secretly hoping and praying he didn't. Despite her big talk, Roland wasn't ready to die. Not yet.

[Vaughn Adeney]

Every man must decide
whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism
or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Vaughn could not restrain another laugh as she listed off all the possible things she could do when put in this position. "So you could die in three different ways, presenting those scenarios," he began to say. He was presuming that either way, he would kill her if he wanted to. He had the confidence, and enough arrogance to believe so. "You could die a coward, die a fool, or die with a sense of false hope." He was not planning on killing her or physically harming her. He had no purpose to. As ruthless as Vaughn could be, he did not kill without purpose. It was not fun to end someone's life when he had the potential to tease them horribly first.

"A a knight, I am willing to prove my generosity by allowing you to pick which one of those options you would prefer." As a knight. Those very words were said with bitter sarcasm for Vaughn did not consider himself a knight. A knight showed loyalty, mercy, respect, dignity...and Vaughn had no problem with admitting he lacked all of those qualities, most of all loyalty. Knights were like slaves; serving a crown, a country that was filled with corruption and injustice. They were all hypocrites to Vaughn, and that was why, he would never put himself in the same category as them. They very title was despicable, but he kept the armor on for he still enjoyed the attention he got, and the advantages that it had. A knight often won the immediate trust of a civilian, but for Vaughn, that false notion was something he enjoyed proving to be wrong.