Paradise

That sound... the gentle flurry of snowflakes that playfully left the clouds gathered upon the torn garments that Calor wore as the wind carried a slight chill into his body. Against his fingertips, he could feel the rough, cold ground, while his lips dried with every exhausted breath he took. All around him, the environment crumpled, flames creeping along the frames of exotic trees, while the loss of blood from his body began to nauseate him. None of this mattered now, for something far greater had begun crawling out from within his very soul. A chime, the first bittersweet note in a song of misery, about to be written, made the very spirit of his being ache with fear. "That sound..."

His muttering fell upon deaf ears, and he knew this as he looked over his shoulder to find the beast responsible only a few yards behind him. How long had he been chasing his target? How long had he pursued a man, long thought to be dead, through the burning collapse of the forest? What sort of cruel irony awaited Calor now, he wondered, as he stared in disbelief at the twisted smile of the beast before him. Again, the chime pierced the bitter cold of twilight. The note resonated in him, haunting his being as though it was pulling something from within him. With every chime, he could feel his senses fading and his heart begin to race... he knew of the horrid truth.

The distance yielded battle cries as, somewhere else in the forest, furry creatures were fighting valiantly, turning the tide of the battle for survival but to Calor's dismay none of them fought for him. It had been a straight forward mission, simple enough at least, for Calor had tasked himself with eliminating the beast and leaving the forest safe for himself to live in, but never had he expected to find the beast to be intelligent enough to predict his actions and learn how he attacked through observation. "Why...?" He asked aloud, his voice hoarse from earlier shouting. Kneeling there, he couldn't help but realize his entire world had shattered over the course of a few weeks and what felt like an endless pursuit for a home he could never have. It hadn't been until this very moment, though, that his world would begin fading to black, as hunger, blood loss, and loneliness were becoming his end.

"Now is your time to die... Calor!" The sound of his own name terrified Calor as he felt his very sense of being slipping away. Calor could feel his darkest fears tearing their way to freedom as the beast taunted him.

"Get up, you are not dead yet" Calors's eyes widened as he jumped himself up, somehow his wounds had healed. The beast was slain and he found himself alone in the forest. "Have I come back from the dead again... or..." he stared off and let his eyes close as he fell back on his back. He breathed shallow breaths wondering what could have saved him, or who had an eye out for him. The Avatars... He thought. One of them must have been keeping an eye out for him. That was the only explanation he could come up with as he weakly stood up on wobbly legs and leaned against one of the trees. It was still snowing but the area around Calor was wet and warm rather than dry and cold.

It was nice to have a little more freedom to do what he wanted now that the beast of the forest was gone he had no worries. Unfortunately he did have a normal routine ingrained into his brain to the point that he just had to do what he'd always done. He rolled over onto his stomach smiling and began doing a number of pushups followed by sit ups and finally he used a nearby tree to lift his body up and down. After that, he proceeded to take a bath and wash his tattered rags, while he was surrounded by snow due to his miracle the ice lake was now boiling hot from his presence.

His clothing was a little odd, what with the fact that the ones he had gotten from the avatar were now all torn but he liked it just fine as pants and a red jacket without a shirt to go under it suited him just fine, unfortunately the zipper to his jacket was broken, but at least he was covered for the most part. He heated himself dry while exiting the lake and then climbed a nearby tree and sat in it unsure of what his next move was. He knew he needed to eat, but that part would come easy to him as the trees were full of different varieties of edible fruits. Vegetables were all across the land as this place was home to every form of plant life to exist.

Cael couldn't believe it. He actually managed to take down the beast he had been stalking. If it hadn't been for that poor sap who came along and tried to take it down as well, Cael may have never gotten it. He rejoiced silently as he made his way down to the beasts body. Looking at the massive thing he realized he would not be able to move it himself and he needed to get it to the sanctuary of the trees lest other creatures come along and want it for themselves.

Cael wondered if the bait would be willing to help. He then began to wander to the forest looking for it. He was getting cold but as long as he kept moving the cold didn't bother him, that is until he felt warm air, it was faint but he felt it. He readied himself for a fight as he followed the source of the heat.

He crept along slowly making sure as not to draw attention to himself. The bow he had managed to fashion out of a branch and plant twine, served as his main weapon and he knew that he had limited ammunition. His arrows weren't the best only being made of the same tree as the bow and sharpened rocks. He could feel the sweltering heat full force now. Cael looked around on the ground around him not seeing the source of heat and then he glanced up.

"Found you..." He whispered as he crept around the tree and then saw another tree right next to it. He quickly scaled the tree and lept to the branches above the heater. Cael hadn't landed as softly as he wanted but he didn't care. With Bow at the ready he dropped in front of the radiating heater and nearly wanted to die with how unbearably hot it was.

"You. Carry the beast up the tree with me." Cael was pretty much covered head to toe in camouflage Mostly made out of the natural plant life around there. Although his snow covering had long since melted so now he looked like a rather large talking bush with a weapon.

Calor's eyes shot wide open as he panicked and managed to fall out of the tree after tossing, and turning for a bit, and onto his bottom. He quickly scurried doing a backwards crab walk away and ended up with his back up against a fine oak wood tree, looking up at the birch tree he had been resting in he saw the male covered in sticks and twigs from all over the forest he was not exactly sure what the creature was. Pulling his senses together he instinctively set the tree he was behind on fire, as it had combust into flames. He had attempted to do this before when fending off the beast to use the tree as a weapon.

He calmed down noting the object that jumped out at him whatever it was holding a makeshift bow and arrow. Carry the beast up the tree with me. The words replayed in his head and then he gained a somewhat quizzical expression on his face trying to figure out what it was that the person could have meant. "What do you mean exactly..." He expressed his concern letting his guard down.

Cael leaped back and landed on the ground, unsure if he should attack, however after seeing the tree be burst into flames he made up his mind. Cael shot an arrow as a warning to this person, "Do not do anything stupid. Just help me and no one gets hurt, yes?" Cael kept watch on him as he stood in front of the bait. "I just want to get the beast up off the ground. I need it. Do that and I won't have means to end you."

Cael kept his distance, watching the bait. It was perplexing how he seemed to be quite comfortable in the heat. And then there was the tree, it just caught fire by the bait's touch. "What are you...?" he whispered as he kept his gaze locked on him. Cael wouldn't be caught off guard, not here not ever.

I just want the beast up off the ground
Calor planted his feet on the ground careful to do things slowly as he held his hands in the air so they could be seen. He wobbled at a bit because it was difficult to get back on his feet with pressing his back against anything in particular. "What are you talking about?" He said hesitantly repeating himself as he side stepped away from the burning tree without losing eye sight of the forest creature before him. He was more so in the open now and less protected. A certain radius around him indicated how far his heat traveled as he made the snow melt away with each one of his steps.

He was worried of just how crazy the person he was dealing with was, as he was not exactly sure what the person had been referring too, he shifted his eyes for a second to get a better look at his surroundings as if for a means to take off running if he needed to. He didn't really want any trouble but with someone pointing potentially dangerous projectiles at him he was going to take a chance to run unless he had to run towards some cover. He considered getting close enough and emitting enough heat to burn everything, but truth was he wasn't a killer. He could not see himself taking the life of another intelligent human being, under these circumstances.

He was slightly frightened but the more he thought about things the more he figured he would attempt to reason with the creature. Maybe introduce myself... he thought. Feeling incredibly awkward he took a few steps back and yelled "I mean you no harm... umm... My name is Calor... ummm... how... are... you...?" He speech was hesitant mixed and distraught all at once as it attempted to reach the creature in some way... the goal was to get the two of them talking and build at least some form of trust rather than be at each other throats always not trusting one another but somehow in each other’s company, Calor figured that like him the male had come to this place as a means of hiding and living off the land possibly making it his permanent home.

Cael lowered his bow as the bait, now named Calor, introduced himself and tried to make conversation. Cael was growing agitated as the longer he was away from his kill the more animals would find it. He really hated all these formalities and seeing that this person was below his intelligence level he pulled off his face covering and let out a sigh.

"Lovely." He spat at Calor, "Now then, I would like it if you would help me carry the beast, the one that was going to make dinner out of you, up into the trees so I can have it for food." Cael said in a tone laced with growing irritation. He really hated asking for help. It always went like this, the other person had to know everything that he was doing and then it was still no guarantee that they would offer assistance. Cael just wanted to get the deed over with and go his own way...away from Calor.

"I'll tell you my name after you help me." Cael thought this was a good bargain seeing as if he was curious about Ceal he would certainly help. "Now can we please go?!"

Calor raised an eye brow at the male before him thinking it was rather odd for him to show up now rather than before, as he surely would have helped then. Lowering his arms he nodded understanding what it was the bush wookie man had been referring too. "Alright, he said calmly as he began making his way towards the beast, turning his back on the apparent hunter. The ground had successfully snowed over his earlier battle with the beast as snow pretty much covered up the remains of the beast.

He looked down and gently nudged the beast with his foot, noting the beast was most certainly dead. He considered attempting to pick it up himself but looking up in the nearby trees he noted they were all taller than the average tree. He turned around to face the bush man, curious as to what his next course of action should have been. A part of him considered burning and cooking the beast right away, or chopping it up into pieces to make transport easier for the both of them.

Finally spotting the bush man, he yelled out "So where do you want us to take it... like which tree I mean..." As he spoke he pointed to all of the trees around him one by one, in an attempt to figure out just what kind of living conditions the bush man had been living under.

Cael followed after him and looking up at the trees he grinned. "Here." He said as he headed toward the center tree and climbed up it to the point where he blended into the tree's branches. He returned a few minutes later having discarded his camouflage and carrying a makeshift net. He laid it down next to the beast and then looked at Calor. "Alright, grab a leg and pull." Cael said as he picked up the legs of the beast and moved it on to the net.

"What are you?" Cael asked looking at Calor. Sadly before Cael died he never learned of other races aside from the elves that lived in the forest with him. So to him, seeing someone with non pointed ears puzzled him. "Your ears aren't pointed. Did you lose your points in battle or were you born with a defect?"

Cael picked up his corner of the net ready to drag it to the tree and carry it up off the forest floor. He hoped Calor was strong enough to carry up the beast with him. Cael needed to get the hide off the beast so he could make a coat or blanket out of it. He would also have food for a while as well and if he had anything left over he could build other tools he may need. Cael's cold amber eyes looked around at the sky and the surrounding area, time was running out. Night would be coming soon and that was never good.

Calor doing as he was told did his best to not burn the beast with his grip but the added friction and heat made it to be a bit much for him as the leg began to blister and the little bit of fur on the leg began to stink from being put under so much heat. Calor dragged the beast onto the net and once the task was done he let go as quickly as possible in hopes of not exerting to much energy and causing something else around him to burst into flames.

As they did this he heard the male ask him what he was and this left him once again confused. He tried to answer in the best way he knew how. "I am human... male..." He said as his eyebrow rose again giving a quizzical look. As the male brought up the distortion of his ears he looked at the males ears and noticed they were different from his own. He touched the tip of his ears to check to see if maybe his had changed by some strange coincidence but they were the same as they had always been. He jokingly laughed "Maybe I lost them at birth" He said aloud as he grabbed the other end of the net and positioned himself to start climbing the tree.

Cael climbed up the tree with the beast. He pulled it up on to a platform made of branches and woven plants. It wasn't a grand place but it functioned. The roof was made of moss, twine, and branches with the leaves still attached. His walls were naturally there from the thick branches but they too were also supplemented by the same moss, twine, and branches with leaves combination. Cale had managed to make a bed but since it was cold he intended to get use out of this large beast.

Cale, having got what he wanted turned and said to Calor, "Well. That was all I wanted. You can leave now. You are obviously a freak or sick if your points are lost." Cael then began to work on the beast. He had a lot of work a head of him and he had to work quick...or well as quick as he could work.

Cael began to hum a song mostly so he couldn't hear Calor. Cael skinned the beast and then laid the hide out to be tanned. Then he built himself a fire but he was having trouble lighting it. The kindle just wasn't staying lit. It would light for a second and then go out. Cael muttered curses under his breath as he tried yet again to light the fire and failed. "Oh come on! Just light damn you."

Calor had helped Cael make his way up the tree, and making it to the make shift home he couldn't help but note the hard work that had been put into it. He was slightly nervous because it had looked as if one false move could cause the entire thing to come crumbling down. And Calor would without a doubt be the one to blame for it.

When Cael turned to Calor and spoke to him he couldn't help but raise another eye brow, out of curiosity, he wanted to know how to skin and cook and handle an animal as he did not have those skills, and not that he needed fur because he was a walking toaster. "You don't suppose there is anything else you need help with... maybe we can help each other more often..." He spoke nervously, but the truth was regardless of how he looked at it he had been traveling alone since he had come to Eden, and the lonely nights were brutal, on his emotions. He would never admit it to himself but he was lonely.

Seeing his words ignored, the muscles in his neck twitched as he felt he had done something incredibly awkward. As Cael began to hum his song he politely looked down the tree and considered his options on how to get down without hurting himself. Climbing up was one thing, but climbing down would surely lead to splinters. After hearing Cael struggle to light the fire he decided to cling to the male, as much as he could, subconsciously. Looking back at the kindle he simply held his hand up and directed a concentrated wave of heat at the kindle. The fire lit and stay lit, as it was at the perfect temperature.

"I think we really could help each other..." He said with a half hearten smile, hidden beneath his messy bangs.

Cael glared at Calor and placed the stone knife to the boys neck. "Should you want to live, I suggest you get. off. of. me." Cael's voice was dripping with anger and resentment. He lowered the blade and then looked to see the fire starting. Cael was amazed that Calor had gotten it to light but, Cael wasn't going to him that satisfaction.

"I don't work with a partner. Go find someone else." His voice was stern as he went back to separating a joint from the beast. Then he began to separate meat from bone. He pulled the bone cleanly, well mostly clean, away from the meat. He got up and found a branch and he suspended the meat from his ceiling. He continued to do this until he had the entire beast chopped up.

Cael then chose what he was going to cook and began to cook it. While it roasted he picked up a bone and a sharp rock and began to carve another blade to replace his rock ones.

"A new set of arrow heads and possibly a few knives and maybe some spears." He said as he looked over the bones. Some he could use, others he would need to think of ways to use them. The fangs of the beast he knew would make excellent tools for cutting food and the claws would make fine blades and prongs for a make shift fork. Cael was quite happy to be working on his tools, although it was not his favorite thing to do, he knew he needed to do it in order to survive.

Cael could see that Calor wasn't leaving. So Cael just said one word to him, "Cael."

Out of fear for his life, he quickly backed away from Cael, not wanting to offend him anymore that he had already done. Feeling slightly stupid he could not help but actually punch himself in the face a few times. He turned away from Cael as he attempted to do as much physical harm to himself as possible before getting a hold of himself. His bruised knuckles were indeed sore from punching his rock head, and he had managed to give himself quite the headache. 

After hearing the male voice his opinion on partnership, he began to feel isolated once more. Gently scratching his head a churning feeling in his gut made him want to flee as fast as he could, but truth be told he even though the male hinted at him needing to leave, he felt trapped. The island after all wasn't that big. As Cael bashed away at the beast's remains. When he heard the male mention his name a shard of hope filled his heart, but it was quickly drowned out by thoughts of insecurity, and uncertainty. "Well it was nice meeting you Cael" 

Calor looked down once more, and disregarded his original fear as he hugged the trunk of the tree and slid down until he could find some stable footing to work his way down. Looking down he had not realized how far he had climbed up, and felt a little woozy at the thought.