Judikael Ruadh
Legacy Name: Judikael Ruadh

A handsome and respective Knight of the Kingdom, Judikael is noble as he is wise. A gentle soul, with an interest for knowledge and reading. Although though his height is intimating, he is truly a friendly giant.
Kael is very skillful with his hands and enjoys labor. He believes in honest hard work and that a little bit of elbow grease is all something needs sometimes. When Judikael is not practicing his swordsmanship, he enjoys his other hobbies such as woodwork and being a carpenter. He helps build houses around the area and loves every minute of it.

He is a very talented swordsman, but he only draws his blade in defense. Never for glory or boasting. He protects and honors his Kingdom and is truly a knight of the old code. When in training, he always gives out pointers and makes sure the other opponent knows what they are doing wrong and how to fix it. JaKaelid is very sociable and well-liked throughout the entire Kingdom. He is great with children and is a socialite. He enjoys going out for drinks every once in awhile around the town. He has a dry sense of humor every once in awhile when he starts to drink a little too much, but when he is sober he mostly relies on his quick-wit to pull out some jokes.

When in battle, Kael is able to calculate every move and examines every outcome possible in a short amount of time. He relies on himself though more than others, and even when he should put faith in his soldiers around him. His selfishness strategy can sometimes be his greatness strength in battle, but also his biggest downfall. He does not need a lot of teamwork to help him pull through his plans that he executed. His main goal is to succeed without hurting as many people as possible, and as far-fetched that may seem, he realizes that he sometimes has to give up the goal to attain victory.

( Lol - this is here until I can draw a picture myself ^__^;; )

(Judikael & Zelkian)

Unspoken Words

Their tent was almost too small for the both of them, or more so likely because Judikael was so large and he had to bunch his legs to fit entirely inside. It spanned long enough, but not wide enough. The shelter was made with cured deek (deer hybrid) skin that was stitched together and held up with its bones and antlers. Judikael was laying on his side facing away from Zelkian. The energy in the room was tense and was filled with unspoken words and arguments about to happen. Maybe that is why Coralie assigned the tent to both of them, so the mission could go on more smoothly, thought Judikael.

Time passed and Zelkian could tell both of them were not sleeping, just drifting and trying to grab the nearest direction of any sort of release from reality. The words came of his throat, not his lips, and were clumped and dry and scratched on the way out, "I'm sorry."

There was a period of silence that seemed too long for the both of them, yet the right amount for what was about to happen. Zelkian was laying on his back with his arms above his head, looking through tiny holes in the tent, where the trees and night sky were visible. He squinted his eyes and connected the constellations of the stars he could find. The gentle breeze outside brushed in through the tent at times, but it was musty enough for both of them to only be sleeping in undergarments. The warmth of their bodies created the heat within the tent.

Judikael left out a brief sigh and sat up. His large figure would seem to burst them tent open if he moved one more inch. He was sweating down his back and as the moonlight hit individual spots, it glistened. His muscular arms were wrapped around his waist as he hunched over farther. Judikael's red, straight hair was left down and dangling in front of his face, so Zelkian could not see any type of expression and this worried him. He sat up as well in a more relaxed pose, eagerly waiting for any type of response.

Zelkian's legs spread out father and one grazed the side of Judikael's left leg by accident. A jolt of energy electrified both of them and caused a sudden in-sync flinch. He quickly moved his leg back into its original position and he decided to bring himself to sit up. Zelkian was placed a little farther back than Judikael, and bent forward to try to see his face. Judikael barely turned his head toward Zelkian, and a scowl was noticeable and turned back to looking at the ground.

"I was your best friend, yet you treat me like I don't exist," Judikael exclaimed in a loud whisper to keep his voice down from the neighboring tent.

"As soon as you were recused, you hardly looked at me, didn't talk to me, and ignored me. I have been searching nonstop for you for weeks! Fought for you, would have…" his voice clamped up "…died for you…" a teardrop hit the floor, and he brushed it away in the dirt. The emotion in his voice made Zelkian grip his throat and hang his head in shame.

If only he knew, but how can I even tell him now? Zelkian quickly thought.

"We were BEST FRIENDS! For years. We grew up together. The day you were taken from me was the worst day of my life! I have been sick to my stomach, unable to sleep nor eat until you were safe. Hell - I thought about you every second." Judikael was now looking in Zelkian's direction. His amber eyes were puffy and his lips quivered. He stared him down as Zelkian looked away.

"I - " he tapped his chest,

"was the one who organized the search party for you. Everyone else was more focused on Kazan and Aurora and Iris, to rescue them." his words pierced into the midnight.

"But I reminded them about YOUR importance as well. How valuable you are." Judikael pointed to Zelkian.

"Everyone forgot about you, except me. Yet, you forget about me." Judikael stated. He bluntly turned forward. He pushed his long hair back from his face and wiped his eyes. His breathing was the only sound in the tent and Zelkian's heart sunk.

Zelkian turned and looked at his Judikael's eyes, they were worn with dark circles drooping under them. He used to be able to read him and calculate his movements in battle, as well as his emotions, but not tonight. Something seemed off, and he could not understand what was happening.

He continued, "With everything I have personally been through, for you, I should at least get a little gratification." His voice became sterner and his thought process was clearer and less emotional.

Judikael said nothing more and leaned over fathered, cupping his face in his hands and cried. His cry was silent with a wheeze for air and was muffled by his hands. His chest moved in sharp pulses with every gasp.
....... Zelkian was dismantled in every emotion, ever since he was young, he always bottled up any feeling and threw it away. The sting of not knowing his family leads Zelkian to be a little more mischievous with a rebel side. He always felt like his family discarded him like trash, and he was deserted alone in the world. Zelkian wanted love but resides in having attachment issues from the abandonment.

Any relationships he has never lasted long. The pictures of the people he has been with floated through his mind as the silent grew around them. He was always too afraid to commit seriously, incase they decide to leave on him.
This is why he never offered himself to Judikael. He knew how much he would fall in love with him, so he kept a distance. He often joked about himself, but Judikael knew. He knew about Zelkian and Astraeus but kept his mouth shut.

Zelkian built up a lot of walls in his own mind and played off his emotions and feelings. He acts childish and awkward in front of any confrontation and tries to make jokes out of anything serious to avoid sharing himself.

So, as of now, one of the most serious conversations he has had, Zelkian was too choked up to say anything back to Judikael. Everything Judikael was ranting about was right, of course. Zelkian did ignore him and played with his heart.

Wait… he never said that I played with his heart… Zelkian inquired.

Well not on purpose, ever, but because he did not know how to process his own feelings. His words bounced around in his brain and sticking to the sides of his skull, with no trace of leaving his mouth. He was frozen numb with anticipation, dumbfounded because he had nothing to rebuttal with. Zelkian did not how to speak of his true feelings towards Judikael, so he was left there looking star-struck with his mouth wide opening mouthing imaginary sentences. He cared for him, more than anyone would imagine.

They remained that way for quite some time.

The dry knot in Zelkian's throat was pushed away by a couple of swallows, and he tried,

"I don't even know what to say…" the sentence was short and quick, but ironically came out wrong.

"Of course you don't! You never know. For goodness sake! I have to try to read a book when I'm with you! You never tell me anything and I am left with guessing what the hell is going on through your mind." Judikael exclaimed moving his hands furiously.

"It's like you want to play games with my mind, that you have fun with it." He threw in there after his previous sentence.

"No…" Zelkian muttered

"No? What about you dating Astraeus?" Judikael regretted that as soon as it exited his lips. He did not mean to convey that, but it was too late. That whole incident was something bothering him since he knew and the heat of the argument revealed it.

"What!" Zelkian threw his hands up in the air and smacked them on the ground while still keeping his eyes on Judikael. His blue eye and yellow eye were fixated angrily on Judikael. The entire argument seemed to become more transparent of why it even began. He was offended that this even mattered to Judikael, but why would it…. Oh.

Even though Zelkian knew what it was probably about, he was still livid at the accusation and continued yelling at him.

"What does this even mean? It's my dating life and I can do what I want!" Zelkian was agitated still, and still had his hands laid out on the ground, closer to Judikael. "And again - why does this even become thrown in!" He sat back up and locked his arms in a confused position around his head. The sound of the dirt scrapping around as his hands glided over it made Judikael face briefly toward Zelkian.

"I-I-I don't know." Judikael was embarrassed, all sounds dying in his throat.

"If you have a problem with that, then what else am I doing to knock you right off your rocker?" Zelkian exclaimed.

"Do you want an explanation? Because sure as hell I don't know what else you want."

"You don't owe me that." Judikael said quietly as he moved his head back down and rubbed his temple.

"If you want the dang truth, then fine! I never say any of my feelings because I am afraid of them!" Zelkian's voice grew louder at first, then became softer, while it started to shake. Sweat began to draw from him, and wiped his forearm across his forehead.

"I date everyone because I don't know what I want - but when I'm with you - I know what I want."

Judikael drew his head from his hand and looked at him. His eyes became tender and his heart skipped, and his breathing slowed.

"Ever since I met you, I knew. I never wanted to admit it, I was afraid. Afraid you'd leave, like everyone else seemed to in my life." Zelkian began to cry as he spoke in broken sentences.

"For the glory. I ignored you because I was baffled that you rescued me. I didn't deserve it.I ignored you because I knew my true feelings for you. I didn’t want you to leave,…. I didn't want you to leave…" he began to sob and bent over in his hands and cried.

Judikael quickly grabbed Zelkian by the neck and dragged him closer to him. As Zelkian looked up, his mouth gaped open and was already where Judikael's mouth was before he could even see him. The steam that radiated from Judikael's face was an indication that he was crying as well. Zelkian gasped from the sudden jerk, as though he'd been waiting for that touch.