Carnivore PV Kaegen Deathmote Finished

She would have kept on walking. Maybe that would have been a better choice. The only reason why she stopped, the only reason why she began making her way back to the frail boy- was because he said please. It was true, please and thank-you could get a person anywhere, if used under the right circumstances. And it just so happened, that this was the right circumstance.

Stopping in her tracks, she let out what sounded to be an irritated sigh- which was paired with a tired eye-roll. She remained motionless for a few moments, contemplating. The cubs little, yellow, orbs flashed down, at the cat in her arms. Schrödinger looked up with half closed eyes, a sleepy look resting upon his face. "If you are asking if I own, and am capable of flying on a broom; then my answer is yes. Yes, I can fly."

She turned to Kaegen, once again. His question was an odd one. Why did he want to know? "Are you sssuggesting I fly away from my problem?" Her eyes narrowed into slivers of molten gold. She cocked her head to the side, like a curious dog. That was something to think about- the only problem though; was that she could not run, fly, or swim away from her problems.

She just wasn't wired that way. She had created this problem, and she had every intention to put an end to it. "Because if that is what you are suggesting..." She paused, shaking her head. "I could never do that." There was a sudden change in her posture, her back straightened, making her appear a bit taller. "I can't just fly away. I mean, what would I do with Schrödinger- he doesn't know how to fly. I can't just leave him here. "

Slender arms would pull the cat closer to her chest. If it wasn't obvious enough already; Schrödinger meant the world to the young Gryffindor. He was the closest thing that she could get to having a friend. And from what she understood; friends were not meant to be left behind. She continued to look at the boy across from her, with a curious side glare. There was a flicker from her eyes, as she stared him down- an inkling of what could have been a realization. "Is that what you've been doing Kaegen? Have you just been fleeing from your problems?"

It worked? He had been hoping it would, sure, but it was still surprising to him. He had partially expected her to fade back to the other world, to leave him back in the dark of his own twisted maze. But she stayed, if only for a little while longer.

"No, not like that. It's- well, it's a spell. It hurts, but it usually works, and it makes you fly. Or, get launched, anyway. If you're about to die, or if you don't know where else to go, it's sometimes all you can do. It's mine, but, you can have it. So you can come back to this world, now and then. I don't know why you would, but you clearly do."

Kaegen held out his wand, making it obvious that the tip was facing towards himself. He looked meaningfully at the girl as he did so, trying to make it clear that he wasn't a threat, that he couldn't betray her, not without flipping the wand around. Kaegen lived in a world of mistrust, and he thought this a world that the odd gryffindor also spent some time in. So it would make sense to treat her as he would like to be treated. With mistrust, gingerly. A potential enemy, and a possible ally always.

He waved it in a passable rendition of the flippendo jinx, paused a moment so the magic wouldn't actually fire, and then carefully enunciated

"Flee-penn-do"

The wand was quickly stashed in his sleeve before his raspy voice continued. By this time he had already heard the Gryffindor's question, but he was going to finish before he addressed something that could change so much, that had so many implications. Kaegen was careful, at least when he had his head clear.

"It's based off flippendo, but it's an intentional misfire, it launches you backwards. I wouldn't use it unless you have to, it hurts, a lot. But it works. It's saved my life a few times, now. And maybe it'll save yours."

He cleared his throat with a wet cough into the crook of his arm, making sure to keep both eyes open, and alert. He wanted her to live, yes. But he didn't want that to cost him.

"Not just fleeing. I've been running, fighting, hiding, killing. I've tried compassion and hate, wrath and fear. None of it works. Wherever you turn, whatever you use, it's the same world. Stabbing the beast will not remove the forest. But, it's nice. Nice to have someone else in the forest, for once."

Kaegen stared hard into the gryffindor's eyes. His own started to glow, luminous red rings that seemed to be trying far too hard to peer beyond the superficial, to pierce into the beast-girl's intent, her soul, her motivation, her anything. Kaegen stood unmoving, a temporary statue of concentration, but all he could see were the eyes that reminded him of something not quite human. He hadn't expected anything else, but he had hoped there would be something else. Something that could help him understand.

The sight of the wand caused her to jump back at first, her grip on the grey, feline in her arms, grew tighter. Her pupils momentarily pulled themselves into two small lines, before returning to a more relaxed state. It took her a second to realize, that he was not going to harm her. Yet. She had no reason to hurt him, therefore he had no reason to hurt her.

It sounded horrible- the Fleependo, or Flippendo, whatever it was. The thought of being propelled through the air, and risking a broken neck did not sound pleasant. But she was willing to take a broken neck, over being crushed between the palms of a Half-Giant.

At least an injury of her own doing, would not make her feel weak- as weird as it sounded. It made sense in her head, which is really all that mattered. As long as she understood her own thoughts and feelings, she was fine- well, for the most part.

Despite the fact that the reinvented Flippendo, was crudely primitive; the Gryffindor was determined to remember it. Hopefully she wouldn't be put in a situation to where she needed to use it. He was giving her another chance at life- if she needed one. She was truly grateful for that chance.

The brunette bowed her head in a polite manner, as a silent thanks. Hearing the boy cough had caused her to wince, slightly. Perhaps he was sick? He sure was coughing a lot. She could question him about it later, though it was probably none of her business. She swatted a nearby Firefly away, as she listened to the Ravenclaws next comment.

Was that all there was to life? Just running, and fighting, and killing? What an ugly life to live, if that was the case. The thought resulted in a sad little whimper from the lioness. She didn't want to hide, and run and fight, for the rest of her life. She just wanted to live a little, was that too much to ask?

"Don't you get tired of it? Of the killing? Of the running? Of this world- because its awfully ugly here." The last line caused her silky voice to quiver. A certain sadness had begun to surface. Her eye contact with the boy, kept breaking; she couldn't help but glance out towards the Forbidden Forest.

It was then, she had begun to consider the fact that her friendship with Meenauh would not last forever. When Meenauh left her, who would she have? No one. Maybe she needed Kaegen. Maybe, just maybe, they needed each other. A tale of two freaks. What a story that would be. "How long have you been alone, Kaegen?"

Her tone was solemn. She chewed the side of her cheek. This was a lot to think about. She felt trapped. She didn't want to have running, and hiding, as her only means of survival. The little gears in her head were doing their work. What if she switched the equation around? What if she made sure her threat was the one that needed to do the hiding? What if she just- prepared for the worst? Now that was something to consider.

"If I get tired of it, I'll die. This is how I tread water, this is how I strive to one day be rid of it all. I'll kill death, or it will kill me."

Yes, yes it was. It was ugly, and awful, and it made him want to cry. He hated his world, he hated the reality of it all. And there in front of him was someone who had a choice, and chose to come and visit him. Someone who didn't try and tell him that his world was okay, or that he was just looking at things wrong. Someone who acknowledged the reality of where he was, and understood just how ugly the shadows really were.

"I can't leave. Not like you. I was born here."

How long had be been alone? Well, forever. He had been born alone, had grown up alone. His feet had slunk through the brush of the fens for as far back as his mind could reach. There had been shadows, sometimes others that slunk beside him. He had been taken care of to some extent by grandfather, but that was only when he was near death. There was no one that was actually with him, not really.

"Grandfather didn't let me die. And I had a friend, once. But, even then. She lived in a much brighter world. The world everyone else lives in. And eventually, I scared her."

Kaegen pointed at a shadow by his feet that flickered and moved like some abyssal tendril. It wasn't a lot, it was usually a lot worse. But it was certainly not normal, or theoretically possible.

"...And now everyone's afraid. I suppose realistically, I've never had anyone else visit me here before you, not anyone that didn't want to kill me. It helps. If people stay away, there's less risk of being hurt. Harder to sneak up on me if there's never anyone around me. If you ever need somewhere that's... more safe. I can keep most people away."

He felt seen, and it felt good. He tried to figure out what the girl was thinking, but came up empty. He didn't know how to read her face, couldn't decipher her tone well enough to act on it. What was he supposed to do? It only took him a second to realize that she might understand what he often tried to remember not to use. That she might recognize the language that no one else seemed to understand. The language of his world, as he knew it.

"Kaegen Deathmote, Fens-Born Shade-Beacon, Monster of Hogwarts' halls, inhabitant of the silent rooms.

Kaegen's heart started to beat faster as he began to slowly close his eyes, and then nod his head, for a long, terrifying second, before raising his head, and only then opening his eyes again. He felt confident she would know what that meant, felt sure that what he had done wouldn't be lost on someone who lived in the same world as he.

"Why do you choose to come here?"

I'll kill death, or it will kill me. Why were those the only two options? Well, when it comes down to it, life and death, are the only options. In the end, you are either living, or you are six feet under. There is no in-between. Killing death was a rather ambitious goal, and would prove impressive if the boy actually succeeded. Unlike many children her age, the concept of death, did not faze the young Gryffindor. If anything, her interest in the subject only grew with time.

The metamorph was brought up in a house, that was quite literally built upon death. As she grew, she began to realize that death, was not something that she was meant to be scared of; however, dying was. From what she understood, there was a difference- one very small difference. But the child was beginning to learn that her former thoughts, and beliefs were not always right; so maybe there was no difference between the two.

As weird as it sounded, she was curious on the boys thoughts on death, and why he thought it could be killed. She figured that she could save it for a good conversation starter; for future meetings. For now, she just stared at the boy, listening to what he had to say. Her eyes were glossy with the tears, that she had been attempting to contain. Her attempts proved successful at this moment in time. She was beginning to get emotional, and paranoid. The lack of sleep was finally taking its toll.

She rubbed at her eyes, with one free hand. She wondered if Meenauh would one day grow scared of her; if she would leave her, like Kaegens friend did to him. Who was his friend? Meenauh and Xailah had a strong bond- but was it strong enough to withstand future obstacles? The little metamorph certainly hoped so. Her eyes followed the extended finger of a corpse, to a dancing shadow. She perked up, with interest.

She noticed that he disturbed things, she saw that he made certain things dance; however she did not notice until now, that he made the shadows jig. What caused this? What magic did this boy possess, that she didn't? Even his own shadow was afraid of him, by the looks of it. His own shadow wanted to leave. This boy had power. More power than Gryffindor initially though he had. She would be a fool to turn him away now.

Was he making an oath of sorts? She didn't understand. Not completely. To be fair she didn't understand much of anything these days. Heck, she didn't really understand why she was here in the first place. Sometimes it was better if she didn't understand; left more room to learn new things. "Hm." A pensive hum escaped the Gryffindor. "I guess because, I'm not much accepted anywhere else." She said with a stiff shrug.

'Here' could have meant a dozen of places. Her answer was one that she could apply to 'here', in all its forms. A shiver ran down her spine, as the cold finally dug its way to her bones. She wanted to go in. She needed to go in, she was too inappropriately dressed for this sort of weather. She hadn't expected to be outside for this long. She jittered, her gaze darted to the boys red-ringed eyes, and then to the old castle. "I need to get back inside. Would you like to come with?" She thought back to his coughs from before. If the coughs were a symptom of some sort of illness, then he probably needed to head inside too- and in truth, the Gryffindor didn't feel like going back to the castle alone this time.

That made sense, to him. Of course she wouldn't be welcome there. She was able to cha nge how she floated around the amorphous mass of reality, but that change scared people, made them not want her near them, made them not want her to see what they saw. So she drifted to where he was, to where he lived, to that world that was as much a part of him as he was of it.

There was a price for everything, and this was the price she paid for having that ability to shift between worlds. An exchange for greatness, loneliness and rejection paving the way for a power that few, if any other than her, had ever held in their hands. Kaegen briefly considered what he was getting in return for his own loneliness. Safety, maybe? But as he pondered, his head nodded. He was too cold as well, he didn't want to stay outside, but he had been planning to anyway. This gave him an excuse he could tell himself, a way out of his own pride and paranoia.

"Okay"

Kaegen would start moving towards the castle, assuming the girl started moving as well, moving side to side, weaving his way up rather than walking in a straight line, gazing over his shoulder, and trying very hard to watch for something that wasn't there.

"To be accepted by monsters and shadows..."

He looked down at his own shadow, which had stopped most of it's writhing, although it did seem to be slightly out of step

"I guess it's not really what most people think of when acceptance comes to mind. More like being allowed into a group without empathy. You're with them, you're part of them, but they don't care, they don't feel. I wonder if that's what makes a monster."

She moved in an ethereal manner. Her steps were light, soft, but also burdened. The weight of the grey beastie, she carried, resulted in a slight stagger. She moved at a slightly sluggish pace- fast enough to not fall behind, but slow enough to prevent taking lead. She was quite happy to hear that Kaegen would accompany her. But, if she was going to walk with Kaegen, she was going to walk with him as if he were a friend, a equal- not another student that needed guidance. To be fair, neither child was in position to be taking lead of the other, anyways- at least, not from an outside perspective.

Well, she tried to walk alongside him. His weaving was quite distracting, it caused her to occasionally lose track of her own method of movement; resulting in a few small, unsteady steps. The cat Schrödinger, was sound asleep at this point, so she was left to shuffle around, carrying his dead weight; his limp little body, half-slung over her shoulder. The little animal could sleep through anything, if he was tired enough. He was quite remarkable, in a pitiful sort of way.

"I sssuppose so. I think its more of a ssstart. Gives the monster a reason to become sssomething other than what the people around them are. They take notice of he lack of care, so they ssstart to become sssomething different, to ssseparate, and protect themselves from those that could potentially hurt them." She hummed, looking up at the sky; her eyes reflected a galaxy. "Humans make monsters. All monsters are born from humans- be it literally or figuratively." The Gryffindors face, morphed into something of mild confusion. "They fail to realize that they are casting their own creations away."

It was a semi-incoherent spattering of related thoughts, and the interweaving of new thoughts. "What are your thoughts?" She glanced at him, following his gaze down, to his shadow. The little black, haze quivered. "You have a defiant ssshadow. How do you make it tremble?" She blinked at the semi-transparent splotch, that shook in the twisted weeds. It was fascinating, but if she was being honest; her incapability to bend her own shadow to her will, made her slightly jealous.

Kaegen paused his weaving long enough for what the girl was saying to sink in before hurrying a little bit to once more weave around her. It was pretty equivalent to walking alongside. He would range ahead, and then behind, but not enough in either direction to really be leading or following. He liked this person, liked how she could see his world, and didn't feel the need to have power, or to bow to hers. He just wanted to be near her for a little, and talk.

"What about me, then. I wasn't created by anything but myself. I made my own decisions, built my own strength. I am a monster, but I am still myself. Can my circumstances and world really be to blame for what I have done to stay alive? I have been taught, but ultimately..."

Kaegen paused, to try and clear his throat. It didn't go so well, and he ended up half-coughing, swallowing hard, and then continuing.

"Ultimately, it was up to me to decide if I wanted to live, if I wanted to listen."

Kaegen looked down to where the girl was pointing, his trembling shadow, the shadow that moved just a little out of step, the unsettling mass of darkness that seemed glued to his feet by force, rather than it being a willing extension.

"Hate makes it bigger. Also makes my eyes glow. I don't think light likes hatred much, it tends to fade, flicker or just, run, I guess? It's useful, for keeping people away. No one wants to deal with someone different, especially if they're different in a way that no one understands."

Kaegen glanced over at the girl quickly, before looking towards the castle, and then behind him. He inhaled deeply through his nose, and then turned again to the girl, trying to formulate how exactly to ask what he wanted to ask.

"You smell weird. Like something sticky and sweet, candy, maybe. Or a cookie. Why is that, it doesn't match you. You feel like something from underneath. You should smell like a dry dusting of dirt, like the faintest hint of poison and flowers. Like something fast."

It was a few seconds before he piped up again.

"how do you walk like that, anyway."

His own movements were fluid, smooth, carrying a lot of potential energy to bolt and run, to dodge and flow around an attack. But they weren't on the same level. There was something he was missing, something this girl had that lifted her own movements on a scale higher than what he could hope to achieve, even with the cat.

The metamorph jumped slightly, at the cough, that came from the walking cadaver. "Perhaps you are an exception then. Maybe there are man-made monsters, and ssself-made monsters." She mulled over that before continuing, and throwing out another little thought- basically parroting what he said, but in the form of agreement. "In the end, monsters are monsters, I sssuppose. I guess what made them doesn't much matter anyways, seeing that they have their own thoughts, and ideas." She said, gesturing to him. "At least I think none of it matters. Not too sssure though." Monsters, like humans, evidently carved their own paths; as seen in literature, as seen in history, as seen with this boy. And once their story started, the creators would become obsolete.

Her golden eyes, focused on the boys shadow, with great interest. The pulsating of the translucent figure, was hypnotizing. She was tempted to jab him, just to see the shadow grow. The Gryffindor would however resist instigating him, seeing that there was no point in further jeopardizing her safety. Besides, she and the Ravenclaw had the start of something nice going on; she had no intention to just outright go, and crush whatever it was. His explanation for his living shadow, made enough sense to her, funny enough. "I see." Maybe that was unsurprising, considering that she understood humans- even animals, disliked difference. Humans just had worse ways for coping with differences. She knew that much.

Well. That was a first. Never in her mere thirteen years of being alive, had she witnessed someone sniff the aroma that wafted off of her person. Nor had she heard someone blatantly describe it as weird. She carried the scent of fennel, the scent of the candy detested by most of the human race. Black licorice. "Oh. I like to indulge myself in the occasional stick of Black Licorice- or two." Or ten. She admitted. "Also I room with three other girls, and they are always ssspraying ssstuff- so it uh, sssticks." There was something hidden underneath that scent of candy, she wondered if Kaegen had picked up on it slightly, without realizing. His comments of the poison and flowers would make sense, if he did. Woven into the deepest fibers of her clothes, was a very strange smell. It was nearly undetectable, but a good nose could pick up the very faint scent of, Nightshade, and moths. It was the smell of her home. Or rather, what laid beneath it. Moths. Corpses. Nightshade. Iron. A bit dark, sure.

The smell was covered well enough; that with time, even she forgot about it. The pureblood never really put much thought into how she walked, so she at first shrugged in response to the boy. "Don't know. Just do. This is how I was taught to walk." She blinked. "Well, I was taught how to walk like a lady. But then I ssstarted forgetting how to walk like that, so I replaced what was missing, with what whatever felt right." She looked over at the boy, Kaegen. His method of movement was interesting indeed, better suited for potential attackers, than hers. "Sometimes, I get an inkling of what I was taught at home- especially when in an environment that reminds me of home." She straighten, a bit, as if she had reminded herself to do so. "Kaegen." She narrowed her eyes, at him. "How are you feeling, cause you keep..." She tapped her chest with a free hand, as if she had forgotten the word. "...Coughing- are you ill?" She questioned.

"I don't think I like being this, even though I was mostly self-made. But, I also don't want to be what they are. Hard to find something worth being, so easiest to be what you are."

Kaegen paused, contemplating his own words.

"I don't think it's good to take the easy road. At least, not when it comes to what you are. But I haven't found any other paths yet."

He nodded in her direction

"Clearly, you found a path that's been closed to me, at least. There must be more."

It was odd, how much stock he placed in those words. She saw. She saw him, she saw what he saw, what he said. She understood something of what was going on in his head, she grasped some form of the abstract concept that was Kaegen. It made him wonder how much he could see of what she saw, but he reasoned that if she could walk alongside him, then he was also walking alongside her. He was tempted to ask if she felt that, if she could feel his eyes seeing the twisted shadows as hers did. But he didn't, perhaps afraid of what the answer would be.

Kaegen had always been better at sensing and feeling than he had at consciously reading things. What he thought she should smell like was something he did indeed smell, but something that he wasn't sure that he smelled, or didn't realize that he was. The sickly sweet, apparently black licorice, was too overpowering for him to read any further into it. He wondered why ladies would have to learn how to walk with a predatory gait, and why that was exclusive to them. Did men usually leave the hunting to the opposite sex? Like lions?

"Environment tends to bring out the traits that best suit it. Adaptability, in a way. I suppose that's why it's easier to tell what someone's thinking when they're adapted to something else. Like staying alive, fighting off a monster."

Kaegen's finger twitched, just a little bit, at the mention of his cough. He had a weak throat, always had. He had occasional shivers, his body was not happy, it was protesting the lack of care, and it was getting worse. He didn't always eat, only drank when he had to, hardly slept, and mostly ignored his own pain, his body's cries of protest being drowned out by fear, and hate. He didn't like that being brought up, didn't like thinking about it.

"It's nothing, I'm fine. How about you? Cold?"