Behind the mask of Shadows

[Anonymous]

The burden of her past hung heavy over her head, a cloud composed of nothing but negativity. She allowed her lower jaw to clench, but the thick shadows that clung to her beautiful face told the tale of much unhappiness. But, perhaps, that was her fate. To live in utter despair and hate and watch others live like happy.. normal people. She stiffened as her teleporter blood already felt ashamed of belonging to such a saddened mind. This was not supposed to bother her. This was, in her twisted world, normal. And that made it even more pathetic in her intense eyes. At least, beneath the supple, fat belly of the moon it all seemed right. The darkness was a comforting blanket, where beasts belonged to wallow in themselves.

She stiffened, closing her fathomless brown eyes as the youth of her face was brought out much more as the dancing silver tendrils of the moon touched it. It lifted the shadows of her face, showing her age of 15, although the seriousness and intensity of her eyes and the anger of her body, and the rigidness of her stance told of an older person. Not to mention, her physical body seemed fully bloomed and fit. Perhaps it was just how her species endured the introduction of hate, anger, war, and bloodshed. But.. that was natural to her. As natural as Mother Earth, as natural as the wind and sky.

Ziarre had ditched Toviel in a pub, knowing she'd collect his woozy self in an hour or few. But what would she do until then? Right now, she stood, watching the light from the windows down the road. The moon was out and the sky was an abyss with silver specks lost in it's folds. She had nothing, not a someone, to go too. Hell, this was her life. How.. pathetic it was. Maybe someone needed an assasin? But she didn't feel violent. No, the ruby around her neck was cold and lifeless. She knew now, that what she felt, was lonliness.

She bitterly spat on the ground and and leaned against a building, pressing her spine against the rough, coarse stone. The darkness that plagued the corner suited her mood just fine. Perhaps someone would dare mess with her... Or perhaps, she'd just stand here and wait for the hour to be up and collect that be-damned man from his love - his love of booze.

[Goldie]

Night...normally it was the worst part of the day for Sahirah, but now, just for a little while, she felt completely and utterly safe from all destruction.  Her brother was in captivity, his shadows imobile for the time being which meant she was free.  Now she didn't have to worry about being chased by shadows that would slowly drain the energy from her, a weakness Siyavash had used many times.  The shadows only worked on her, or anyone else who's soul was close to the Spirit Realm as her was, only, she wasn't close because she was dyiing, she was close because of her magic.

With a light step she had not realized she had lost, the woman walked through the deserted village, basking in the moonlight, soaking up darkness in a way she had never been able to do before.

But despite her happiness, she could not help the grown dread that raced through her heart.  As much as her brother deserved what was happening to him, she couldn't help feeling guilty for not helping him escape the dungeons...for not giving him any support but scorn.

And then there was the warning he had given her, that she would endure every ounce of pain that he received when he was finally freed...and he would be freed, that much she could tell.  Even if it wasn't the guards letting him go, he was bound to have friends in high places that would bust him out, and then what?

She was screwed.

He would double his search and leave everything to come and find her...oh Gods....and his Shadows would surround her, waiting excitedly for any chance she would slip out of her body and into the Spirit Realm to try and escape....they would be ready, and then they'd devour her soul.

Take deep breaths...deep breaths.  She still had the upper hand.

He had no idea where she was.

So let's just enjoy the freedom of the moment.

[Anonymous]

Was her mind playing tricks upon her once again? Were they drawing her deeper into an illusion? Or was she not alone, was she not the only one wandering the Serendipity Village streets? It appeared the mystical moon goddess touched another. The moon always had a crazy affect upon people - oh, what was that? She was beginning to believe farfetched moon stories that she had heard. Campfire tales as tall as mountains. Then again, insanity had a variety of forms so it wasn't too farfetched that moon just seemed to transfer it easier? Who knew! Ziarre really didn't want to know at that moment, she was content to stay in the darkness that clung to the corner.

A taunting feeling writhed inside her, curling and yawning. A slow, steady grin crept it's way upon her features, but the laziness that developed itself inside her was hard to overwhelm. Should she attempt to spook the girl? It sounded fun, really. Maybe she could turn this into a humorous night afterall.

Ziarre slowly dissolved, slowing her teleportation so she appeared as an odd, vaguely colorful distortion in the air. She danced around Sahirah, although her heart wasn't thrust into her constant series of slowed teleporting. It was slightly exhausting to constantly teleport, but go slow enough where that portal that split from God Knew where was nearly transparent. She wondered if she appeared as moon magic to this girl. Or perhaps they already knew it was some pyscho out already touched by the moon.

[Goldie]

Sahirah stopped short as she felt someone else nearby, her sixth sense informing her that another spirit lingered nearby.  Well, that was at least a good sign.  If it had been Siyavash or one ofhis shadows she would never have been able to feel him....so this just had to be a bystander of some sort....

But what kind?  In a village, at night, anyone could be out but most of her thoughts pointed towards drunken fools, theives and murderers.  All three she would have rather avoided, but it seemed she would have to meet someone along the way.

As the figure shimmered around her, she could not help the small start of surprise but soon realized that this could not possibly be a ghost or a phantom because her senses provided her with a spirit, even if it was hard to track as the girl transported constantly around her.  After the first shock, the woman contented herself with following the ghostly figure, trying to understand just exactly what was taking place.  She'd never known of a power that could let its master or mistress turn into ghosts.  She herself could enter the spirit world and return without dying, but she was never a ghost, just a wondering spirit.

Smiling she clapped, deciding that she would never be able to figure out what was going on unless the figure itself informed her of just exactly what she was doing.

"That really is quite impressive." she informed her "spooker", trying to mask her annoyance under something that she hoped was awe or...or...not awe....damn, she probably got the emotion wrong and ended up sounding sarcastic...which she wasn't!  Not really....the ability really did impress her, but it was annoying when you could barely focus on the world around you because someone was shimmering all around you.

[Anonymous]

Ziarre's accurate senses caught the annoyance with a twinge of satisifaction. But with the other's following her and talking to her, she decided she could hang around. Allow Toviel to drink away his problems for a little longer. And slowing her body down from it's nearly automatic teleporting, she materialized from her ghostly shimmering. Her intense gaze rested heavily on the other girl.. judging.. scruntizing.

To her, that wasn't impressive. But she had been born with that power - it was useful for amusement or escaping. Ziarre treasured the freedom it gave her above all else. It was useful for assasinations and murdering. It allowed her to sneak up on her opponents, but usually, she allowed herself to have an enjoyable fight before she grew bored with it.

A crazy.. moonlight drunken murderer was, perhaps, the closest way to describe her. She was, in her own right, sane to a certain point.. Then it was insanity from there on in. She enjoyed it but it did frustrate her. I mean, the burden of insanity could be quite cruel.

"Hardly," Ziarre finally snorted, it both casual and cold, despite the fire that burned inside her eyes.

[Goldie]

Her reply prompted an eyebrow to raise in question, arms crossed across her chest as she looked at the woman who appeared before her.  Well, it certainly was easier to talk to someone who wasn't shimmering out of no where, but it was apparent that the two would not get along.  Or at least part of Sahirah hoped that they wouldn't and then they could travel their seperate ways.  She had never been a people person, and this shimmering ghost of a girl certainly wasn't helping her get over that slight hump in her life.

"Well then I apologize for being impressed" she replied mockingly, sweeping herself into a delicate curtsy.  She ever pretended to be wearing a skirt and everything!  That had to count for something.  Most people just received a biting remark and a cold shoulder, this girl had actually inspired her to be even more sarcastic.

Kudos, that was an accomplishment.

The fire that burned in her eyes didn't phase Sahirah.  She herself had felt that same fire burn in her own eyes, and even more so in some of her opponants through the years.  Hell, this girl didn't phase her at all.  She seemed more like an immature prankster who took pleasure in attempting to scare people on the road.

But at least it gave herself something to occupy her time with as she wandered the night for the first time in years.

"You should pat yourself on the back." she continued, leaning nonchalantly against a nearby building, "Not many people have the ability to annoy me so much."  Blunt...Sahirah had been and always would be possibly the most blunt person on the face of the earth.  If she didn't like you, you would know, if you were annoying, hell she wouldn't even give you the time of day....but in this case she thought it prudent to voice her annoyance before turning and walking away.

[Anonymous]

Ziarre's intense brown eyes rolled, a fluid roll to show her sarcasm. She reached back an arm and patted herself on the back with a chilled laugh. She rolled back her shoulders, dropping her arm but her muscles were taut in her body. She was rigid - a ball of nerves. She was ready for the unlikely, as usual.

"Ah. And not many people sate my lunacy," but her eyes were not on the girl.. they were off down the road.

Usually it was apparent her immediate hate for everyone she met. It was clear by the eternal, hating glare in her gaze. And the cold way she spoke. She wasn't afraid to say she hated you or what she thought of you. The teleporter way. Although at the recent time her teleporter blood wished to disown her from all privelages of a teleporter. She was being too... self-conscious. Teleporters were not supposed to give a damn and unfortantly, Ziarre was beginning to do so. She had not been raised in a proper teleporter home - but on the streets. And so, her knowledge of the inner workings of a teleporter were lost to her.

"Toviel, behind you!" Her voice lifted, a sharp, frozen knife through the silence.

A staggering, tall man wavered, arms wavering wildly, flailing as he walked in a sloppy gate. Ziarre twisted, eyes suddenly intensifying and bright as a blade appeared in her right hand. With a sharp snap of her wrist she slung it off behind Toviel, it hitting something invisible as it shrieked and a muffled thud was heard. Toviel continued walking, obviously drunk out of his mind.

[Goldie]

The time came for Sahirah to raise an eyebrow of her own.  Wow, it seemed she had met her match in curtousy....the whole patting herself on the back raised this woman's rank in her mind...if only just slightly.  Well it was a pleasent thought to know that she wasn't the only person who had a problem containing her sarcasm and blunt manner.

"Well I'm glad to be a service." she added, aware that the woman wasn't looking at her but rather at the road behind her.  Curiously, Sahirah turned her head to see a drunken man staggering down the road.  Well wasn't that a pretty picture?  Nothing like a drunken fool to walk down the road only to meet two women and probably use his charming attitude to try and work them into his schedule....

The cry caught her off guard, marking the man as a friend of the woman behind her, and the knife marked the shadow behind him as a foe.  Immediately her heart stopped as the blade flew through the air, striking something that was invisible.  Had Siyavash gotten free of the dungeon?  Was that one of his shadows...Oh gods...did he have the amulet?  

With frenzied speed she searched for the necklace and was relieved to find it firmly placed around her neck, just like it had been the day before and the years before that.  So the thing that had attacked wasn't from Siyavash....well that took a weight off of things.

"What was that?" she asked, turning back to Ziarre, eyebrow raised.

[Anonymous]

Ziarre pursed her lips, debating on whether to give this girl any information about herself. She lifted her shoulders slightly and glanced to the flailing, wavering figure still, somehow, moving towards them. A brow twitched at his fast pace, wondering if he'd fall flat on his face any time soon. She couldn't believe he drank so much - she'd have a bone to pick with him later.

"Someone after my head," she responded, crossing her arms over her chest.

She had noticed the sudden fear, or was it panic? That had spread across the other girl. She could do nothing but lift an eyebrow, but ignored her. She didn't really care if anything was after her, Ziarre was only worried about the people after her head. Not those after some girl she didn't know. And she hated, of course.

Ziarre would have felt better if Toviel was sober and beside her, despite how she hated him with a deep passion. She grabbed a dagger, fingers curled around it as she tilted her head. The silence.. the breathing. But grip tightened. There was that girl's breathing, her own and the faint breathing of Toviel. But there was another one, nearly stifled as it tried to assasinate her. She snickered and turned, slicing the air, leaving a trail of blood in it's wake. She listened to it's dying gurgle and fell over with a thud. This was great.

[Goldie]

Just as Sahirah felt the presence of another behind the woman she was talking with, it was cut down by a swift blow.  She had to admit, the girl was fast and seemed to be able to sense other presences just as well as Sahirah herself could.  Not that she liked her at all, because she didn't.

To be frank, Sahirah hated everyone because everyone seemed to hate her at one time or another.  If they didn't hate her at first, they would, and they'd disappear like so many before.  She didn't mind at all either, she liked being a loner, walking around by herself, dealing with her own problems.

"You must have quite an expensive head." she remarked as the second assasin was killed in a spray of blood, "I dont' think I've met anyone who has had two murder attempts chance upon them in the same instent."  She smirked a little to herself and feigned contemplating, "Hmmm....maybe I should take a stab at this head.  Could prove quite useful if I find myself in need of money."