Here comes the next contestant [Ramsey and Leander, everywhere in the DGA]

Ramsey headed down the halls, going as fast as she could walk without arousing strange looks. She was lost in thought about her mother, trying hard to think of the last words they spoke. Her mother hadn't visited in weeks, this worried Ramsey to frayed ends. She was sure nothing had happened to her but she couldn't help feeling like she had done something to disappoint her. She wasn't paying attention and she nearly ran into a guy. All she caught was the untidy blonde hair as she mumbled an apology and kept walking toward her room.

Leander walked through the halls like he owned the place at the low gracefull lope that seemed to be the only speed he did things at. He surveyed everyone he passed splitting them into categories as he tended to do when suddenly a girl smacked into his side. She mumbled an apology and kept walking. That was all he needed to start his chase. He charged after the girls and grabbed her shoulder spinning her around to look at her gentle but demanding. He held up his empty hand in front of her face. "Miss you seem to have dropped this" with an artful flick of his wrist a red tulip appeared into his hand and he held it out for her.

Ramsey attempted a smile. She failed, he was a beautiful boy but, she wasn't able to flirt when she was so, anxious. "Thank you but I'm kind of in a hurry." Tonight she would attempt to call her mother, she had never done that before. She looked at the boy, at his eyes, and she got that odd feeling. The one she always got when she knew someone had a deep problem. It stopped her for a second, but she needed to get back to her room, although she wanted to try to uncover the boy's secret.

He made a disapproving sound and trapped her close to wall with his hands on either side of her. The chase had officially begun. He had to see it through now, she had obviously shown interest no matter what kind it was that was enough for him. One of his fingers very lightly touched her skin but it was hardly anything, still it was enough so that his shadows could reach her he got a sense of what she was thinking and smiled. Whispering with his sweetest voice in her ear. "Listen whoever your lookin for, will come when they're ready. Why don't you just.... unwind a little? You'll find what you need when you stop looking so hard."

Ramsey gasped in surprise. Now she knew why she had a feeling about him, his darkness. He was trying to gain something, a quest, her wisdom in observation told her so. She placed a hand delicately on his shoulder then shoved, hard. "Back away from me, I know what your doing, stop." her voice went flat and prophetic, "Nothing good can cone of it, only disappointment and anger." she shook herself and headed back down the hall, running, trying to get to her room.

Leander laughed and followed her. "What makes you say that? You don't know who I am, where I've come from, where I've been. Nothing. A soul may be tainted by it's past wise one but past is past still and should not rule what you think of a person in the future." He could tell this one was going to be hard to win over, she was not faint hearted and was wise beyond her years. Still he would pursue faithfully until he found someone more accepting, this had happened before and he would come to realize he'd made two girls fall for him at once. He was too good at this game. It was what he had known his whole life. Leander would have to play this one smart, the girls eyes reminded him of Athena and it would not fare well for him if she was.

Ramsey threw herself around and faced him. "Old habits die hard, and through darkness how can we find light, son of Hades?" she hissed just trying to get away. "I know that if I were to flirt and capture your own attention, I would soon fall in love with you. Your good looks and charm are part of an act, and I will not pretend that I don't know I'm just one more notch on your belt!" she said in a whispered fury. "I know much more then you think. I am not oblivious." she started to walk away from the beautiful boy and her nerve endings were tingling where she knew that their paths were crossing, and it could either be bliss or it could be a train wreck. Ramsey stopped when she turned a corner and leaned against the wall, willing her headache, that had formed with all these decisions, to go away. She placed her hands over her eyes and slid down the wall of the unoccupied hall.

The girl walked away and Leander stared after her with a raised eyebrow. He gave her a few seconds tilting his head in the direction she'd gone so that he could hear her when she stopped and slid down the wall in exasperation. Only then did he follow. He trod quietly on the stone, the halls were nearly empty now and even his well used boots clacked quietly on the cobblestone. When he reached her he crouched down, still not to her height he lowered his head until he could look her directly in the eyes. "A man cannot choose that who is his father. I despise the man more than I do myself." he whispered and he was truly speaking in all honesty at that moment. "Still, light is always present in the darkness my dear. Without the contrast neither can exist therefore no matter how small the amount there will always be light in the darkness, and please, don't make everyone else's mistake darkness doesn't necessarily amount to evil and those who come from it are not always forces to fear. You know even now our fates are entwined for time to come. For she who should care, I am Leander, Leander Kiron son of No One." He stood up then and walked away slowly closing his eyes hoping for all the world that she would follow. It would mean he had a chance here, that she wanted to solidify what had already surely started, the outcomes were to many to count and she knew it as well as he. "This one's different somehow," he whispered into the air. Shadows pulsed off of him curling and evaporating away like smoke coming off his body.

Ramsey sat for a moment, knowing that his words rang true, but said in the entirety of falseness. Her mind was pulsing, telling her not to, but her heart was the one who picked her up and made her walk, inch by inch, following this man. This man who was already, strangely intertwined with her life, even though she did not wish to be. Involvement with this man would bring her heartbreak, she knew of it now. Even though this was the truth, she couldn't help feeling like she needed to save him from his dark quest. He was the bird, wings broken, and like all birds with such injuries, he would fly away or his injuries would never be fixed, no matter how hard she tried, no matter how much effort she put in. Leander was her next attempt at helping someone, no matter how difficult the quest.
She walked up behind him, "And to you who cares most definately, I am Ramsey, Daughter of Athena." She stared into his eyes, not knowing the future, but feeling as if this man, Leander, was going to cause great emotions of her. Pain and sorrow, but also happiness and exhaultation. She just didn't know why or when or how, it was going to happen.

He almost sighed in relief when he heard her quiet footsteps follow then her voice as she told him her name and origin. "Athena? Could have guessed. It's strange for her though, rare." Leander was already calculating as he spoke. If the Goddess found out about him it wouldn't end very well. Athena was all knowing and the fares of her uncle Hades were no exception to her knowledge. He needed trust from her and Athena knew well of Leander. Enough to tell her daughter to stay away from him. He had met the Goddess once and she had almost killed him in rage of what he had done to one of her preferred mortals. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that Hades was his father and it would displease Zeus if the Underworld got angry enough to rise to the Earth. "I'm sure she is a good mother to you. Being the only child she has all time to devote to you and bless you as often as she wants."

"And there lies my problem, Leander." she sighed and started walking back toward her dorm, still anxious to call her mother, but now unwilling because of Leander. If she, in any way found out about her trying to help him, Ramsey didn't know what could come of it but she knew it wouldn't be well. It might mean her life, or worse, Leander's. Ramsey was scared for their fates. Her mother already knew of Leander's troubles, and she passed them on to Ramsey, to stay away from him. "If she finds out I'm even conversing with you...." she trailed off with uncertainty about what would happen. Ramsey wanted to rest her head, the headache becoming more and more prominent and becoming the forefront of her concentration.

"Cross the bridge when you get to it." He realized she was heading back to the dorm rooms. Leander needed to think fast he looked at his surroundings, there was nothing he could concoct with the limited things he had around him. 'It's all me this time' he thought to himself. Quickly he snatched her arm and held it tightly not letting her go on her way. Leander pulsed his shadows through her searching for any problems until he felt a sharp sting like a headache. He laughed "A headache? Is that what it is?" He pulled her closer turning her around again to face him. He looked into her eyes and whispered. "Don't move." Leander put his hands one her face. One on each cheek and closed his eyes to concentrate. He let his shadows into her skin being careful not to taint her essence with his touch, it would make it easier for her to love him that way but he would not gain what he needed from it if he cheated in such a way. He whispered in a language unknown to all but himself and his demons banishing the chemical concoctions that caused her head to ache. Once he was sure she wouldn't ache any longer he pulled out every last of his shadows from under her skin and stepped back to a respectful distance a bit tired form the effort.

Sheknew what he was doing, why she still let him was another thing entirely. Ramsey had closed her eyes, had felt the deep blackness that went inside her mind, and felt the headache go and his exhaustion as he pulled the deamons out. She knew he was using her. She knew he didn't really care about her at all. She knew all of this and still her heart stuttered when he touched her, when his hands settled on her face she felt they belonged there. She felt that they belinded to eachother. 'It's part of the act, it's all part of a plan to get you to fall for him. It's like that with everyone he forces love upon.' she thought to herself. She was yearning to not believe it, but deep in her mind she knew it was true. "I know you don't care for me at all, so why do you do this? It's all part of an act, and I've simply become a pierette, my strings being controlled. I don't want that." she said and she turned toward the parthanon-styled collums. She rested her head on the stone and closed her eyes. "Why me? Am I really that important for you, to you? No I am not, go find a girl who is more willing than I." she urged carefully with her eyes shut.

While she spoke he felt a peculiar feeling rush through him. He sucked in a breath and gritted his teeth against a pain that assailed him as soon as she turned away. Clamoring his demons spoke to him but over the din he culd only hear snippets of what they said suddenly it all culminated and stopped as if all the sound was sucked into a vortex and only one clear voice was heard

"I am that which you have made but not trully received
I am the bane of your existence all you fear to be
If you walk away now normalcy is redeemed
if you choose to stay many trials you will see
but if you play this one game right hope and happiness will be sure to proceed"

Leander looked around fearfully, he didn't recognize the voice as one that belonged to his demons. The riddle fazed him greatly. Deep inside him he knew, but he chose to ignore it for his fear. His fear of falling. He walked over to where she stood head resting on a column. He didn't know what to tell her. The experience he'd had just moments ago left him dumbfounded. "I don't know. I don't why but, I think you're different" He closed his eyes and for the first time in his entire life he cried. His shadow filled ink black tears rolling down his face, cascades of dismay.

Surprised by his words, Ramsey turned to look at him for an explaination. She was shocked to see the slow black tears rolling down his cheek. "My gods." she whispered and took his face in her hands. "Shh. Leander. It shall be fine, don't, don't...." she wiped his tears with her fingers. 'You're trapped, he's acting, why didn't you just walk away.' her mind told her heart. 'Because he isn't just darkness, there must be light somewhere.' her heart replied. Ramsey wanted to cry herself, seeing another in such pain. She looked him in the eyes. Why was she conflicting so much. She couldn't get a clear answer from herself. She didn't like not knowing the answer to this formidable problem. He was sad, or he definately looked like his shoulders were waited like Atlas with the world. But...was it an act? Was it an attempt to reel her in? She didn't know what to do. The uncertainty was scaring her. She was never this unsure of herself.

Leander let her hold his face. She wiped his tears away only to be replaced by fresh trails. Lee could tell she was thinking of this. Him crying. She most likely thought it was an act. Her hands felt so good against his skin, as if pieces of his face had been missing all his life and he hadn't realized it until she had touched him. He wanted to tell her his tears were no joke. 'whats the point?' he thought to himself. Nothing that came from Leander Kiron was viable. The boy was filled of deceptions and shadows. He gave out glass kisses that shattered as soon as they touched the lips they were meant for. He wounded more girls than he could remember and the fact that he couldn't remember any names except for his most recent conquest made it worse. He closed one of his hands lightly around her wrist, then the other and with a herculean effort slid them away from his skin. He kissed her palm and let go of her hands then turned away, Leander wiped his tears and stared straight ahead. "I don't deserve this" he said, and started walking away to pack the things he had in his dorm picking up speed until he was sprinting that way.

Ramsey was struck by the realness of his statement. He had pulled her hand away like it was painfull to do so. Ramsey reached out and then her heart said three little words that changed everything, 'Run after him.' she did. She sprinted and ran as fast as she could, all her training preparing her for runs just like this. Tears were beggining to fall down her own cheeks. "Wait!" she nearly screamed. "Please!" she tripped and she stumbled, the ground coming fast, it's stone coolness knocking her out cold. Her last thought was 'Come back Leander. I need to tell you....' and then everything went black.

Leander could hear her running, yelling after him. He needed to get away from her, from this. Then he heard a falter in her steps and the crash as she fell to the ground. He skided to a stop digging his feet into the ground and sliding a few feet on his side then e sat on the ground catching his breath thinking of what he should do. He didn't want this but at the same time it was all his heart longed for. He expected to hear her get up and continue her chase. Seconds passed. "Ramsey!" no answer, no footsteps, only silence. He got back on his feet and charged back in the direction from whence he came. "RAMSEY! RAMSEY!" His shadows pulsed around him swirling and chasing searching for what their master longed. When he finally reached her again she was crumpled on the floor. She could have been asleep were it not for the wound that bled profusely on her forehead. "Ramsey, Ramsey please. Wake up. Good God's YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" he yelled towards the heavens. He picked her up easly into his arms cradling her like a child and ran back to his dorm. Leander set her down on his bed and tended her wound, watching over her like a hawk until sleep overcame him.

[[OOC: I'm seriously smiling and fangirling ugh!]]

Ramsey was out, her subconcious throwing things at her from all directions. Insults, praises. She couldn't pay attention to them all. She awoke in a steady fog, unable to see quite yet all she knew was the pain in the back of her head. She couldn't concentrate. When her sight returned she looked around. She was laying on a bed that was not her own and as she looked she saw Leander sitting in a chair, asleep, his innocence amazingly vivid. She scrambled into a siting possition and felt the bandage on her head. "Ouch" she winced. Ramsey placed her hand on Leander's cheek. "If I'm so different why am I still falling over myself to be near you?" she asked him in his sleep. She kissed his sleeping lips softly, a silent thank you.

Deep in his sleep Leander felt something brush across his face. In his stupor he couldn't tell what part of his face but the sensation remained. He turned his face in the other direction still mostly asleep and settled into a more comfortable position. Another brush on his face made him come more awake then he remembered what had happened the night before. It all came crashing on his mind and his eyes flashed open, still unseeing he jumped up and crashed into Ramsey. She stumbled with the force of his stand and trying to help her but still half asleep Leander was dragged down rather than being helpful. They both fell in a tangle on his bed. He extracted their tangled limbs and clothes then stood up quickly fully awake now and blabbering apologies. "Sorry. I didn't mean to but you, uh you surprised me. What are you doing up anyway? Aren't you-" then all of his feelings squealed to a stop like a steel grade inches above the fresh meat. He stood to his full height straightening himself and his clothes out. 'I can't let myself do this' he reminded himself. "You need your rest. You can go to your dorm or stay here. I don't care." he lied.

Ramsey stepped closer to him. "Why re you so afraid hmm? You are lying to me, I know it." she placed her hand against his cheek. "Isbt this what you wanted? Another girl? Although I can say I'm not in love you, I fear that I am too far into this hole to dig myself out of it." she removed her hand from his face and sat down on his chair. "Ill do what you wish, Ill leave if you'd like me to, I'll stay here if you'd like me to. But you started this, and I know that you finish what you started. So I don't understand why you dont want me near. It's out of character." she furrowed her eyebrows. She couldn't understand him, everytime he showed a different side of himself, she was thrown deeper into the complexities of him.

"People change," he said simply "every second of every day. Why should I be an exception?" Lee was furious with his own confusion. He wanted her to stay but at the same time he knew it would only pull him down deeper if she did. The battle in his head raged on and he grew more confused by the second. He shook his head and stripped off his shirt not caring that she was there to see the beautiful patterns that had been stitched onto his skin. They were so beautiful that it led one to believe only the god's or muses themselves would be possible of such an art. They seemed a part of him as much as the canvas of skin they were painted on, almost like he had been born with them. He rummaged through his closet for a clean change of clothes. When he finally found one he stalked off to the washroom glaring at her on the way and hissing "I don't lord over you. Do what you want." He slammed the door behind him and stood fuming clutching the edges of the water basin so tightly that pieces of the stone crumbled under his touch.

This piece was mailed to me from Kenz! So that's why I'm triple posting!

Ramsey stared at the door long after Leander left. She knew he was going some place and she knew that by being with him as a constant, she was only making his life harder. Leander had a terrible past, one that contested every belief and good bone she had in her body. Her life wasn't changed with his presence, but his was going to be. Ramsey sat in a chair and debated what to do. One the one hand, she could say, 'Screw the gods!' and be with him, risking lives, on the other hand, she could walk away from him, letting him find other girls and complete his task. A few tears fell down her cheeks as she made her decision. She found a pen and a piece of paper and wrote something she wished she didn't have to:

Dear Leander,
I'm writing this, for you have left me with a decision that is much too weighty. A feel as if you attempt to conquer my heart (in which you would, despite your evil deeds), you would fall as in love with me as I would with you, hopelessly. In turn, that would kill us both, maybe by my mother but most definately by your father. Your task would go unfinished and your life would end....because of me. I absolutely can't let anyone die of my own faults and actions. I'm going to try to leave your life now, you may still see me, of course, but do not, DO NOT, look for me. If we run into eachother, it shall be the action of fate, and fate alone. If you must, make me the last conquest and make sure that I fall for you first, or you shall be compramised by your own heart, and we can't have that can we? All I want is not for you to die. Could you do that for me?

With my mind, my heart, my body, and my soul,
Ramsey

The note was tearstained, as her tears had fallen whilist she wrote it, but she set it on his bed and silently left the room.

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Three days later
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Ramsey was in excrutiating pain. Her back felt like it had been blugeoned. She knew of the term: sympathy pain, but as her back formed scars she knew this was more. She knew this was exactly the kind of torture Leander went through three days ago, as that was when she felt the slapping of metal against her back as if someone was whipping her with chains. She was crying again, her back hurting so badly, she couldn't move. When she did look at the wounds, she nearly cryied out with pain. Her back looked horrid, five distinct lines cutting across her back at different angles. Ramsey let tears fall as she waited for the pain to subside and layed on her stomach. Leander was coming home today, he would find her note, she would hide behind her locked door and hope he listened to her words.
She had a bad feeling that he wouldn't.

Leander ghosted through the academy looking like nothing more than a dark ghost. His shroud of shadows made him almost invisible as the lost souls that accompanied him caressed his skin, a futile attempt at making him feel better. As soon as he entered the room he saw the note that had been left on the bed. It was stained with tears, the streaks of ink silent testaments of past pains. He read it quickly and looked around the room hoping he would find her hiding in a corner. “How much time have I been gone?” Leander wondered to himself. He sniffed the paper in an almost animalistic way. His shadows whispered to him telling him he had been lost in oblivion for three days. What could have happened in three days? He looked down at the paper feeling numb, Leander didn’t know how to react and even that confused him just like everything that happened when she was around. He folded the paper carefully and set it on a counter then ran out the door towards the girls side of the school. It felt like forever but he finally made it to her door. Leander stood outside silently, what if she had left the entire school for good? He knocked on the door quietly and called her name in a whisper. “Ramsey?” There was no answer. “Ramsey, I’m sorry. I’m sorry” he whispered. There was still no answer, slowly he let his shadows slip under a crack at the bottom of the door and slide back up from the inside to unlock the door. He stepped in quietly and looked around. She was lying on her bed, the back of her clothes laced with blood. “Oh gods no…” He charged forward and pulled up the cloth to see her bare back. Five long gashes sliced through her skin. They were placed exactly where his had been before the healer had cured him of all mark, identical. He could almost feel the stinging in his back again. “This can’t be true!” he hissed at his shadows when they attempted to reach her and they slunk back under his skin. He moved to sit on her bed and placed her head in his lap brushing back her hair until he could see her sleep softened face again, that beautiful face that haunted him, the one he knew would haunt him forever regardless of what path he chose to take. Leander looked at the wounds on her back once more his eyes were brimming with his dark tears, the truth floated to his thoughts, the one he’d been ignoring since he’d met her, but it was inevitable now and he chose his path in that instant. He leaned down and whispered in her ears, she was asleep and he knew she probably wouldn’t hear him but he couldn’t wait any longer. “We’re bound now you and I. You can’t leave me.” he kissed her forehead and sat up again looking up at the ceiling, “And I don’t want you too leave.” Live or die, he would see this through.

Another of Kenzies posts!

Ramsey was in so much pain that she had gone unconcious, fighting it the whole way. She actually could still hear and feel, but her eyes were shut and she couldn't move. Her thought processes were still semi-functioning but she was still knew in full about her back. Although she felt like her back was on fire, a strange sense of peace when someone walked in her room. As her head was placed in a lap she felt like she had a fighting chance. Words, beautiful words that she swore were a dream came from a deep voice that she knew. It took her a second to place it but then she realized. With this knowledge her eyes shot open and she tried to sit up, but shrunk back with pain. Trying not to wince, she spoke. "You..were supposed....to stay...away from me." But as she spoke the words she was contented with her cheek on Leander's leg. "Entertwined? I knew that....since I met...you." she said and tried to smile, but her eyes filled with tears at the slicing wounds.