Colorful flags danced across the winds that swept through the sand-stone city of Essyrn. The buildings all glittered like polish white stones against the skies, and the heat- intense, as women and men alike swathed themselves from head to toe in clothing to protect themselves from the sun. It was this reason Iyla found no extra attention drawn her way as she slunk through the bustling city streets of Essyrn.
The desert city was immense, so consuming it stretched farther than the eye could see. But it wasn't sight Iyla was depending on. Clothed in her usual attire, she drew her cloak closer over her face and wiped at some of the sweat collecting on her brow. Though the heat was intense, she wasn't about to discard her leather armor, but she felt smothered in it. But it was necessary- not only for whatever protection it could offer, but to keep her gender secret. She found, in her times of travel, becoming a man made these sorts of treks much easier.
And so here it was, the glittering city of Essyrn. Pausing nearby the well in the city square, she stood in line to wait her turn to get a drink. Though as she did so, the vibrating ring inside her body started up again, and her red eyes cleaved through the streets. The shadow seed... she could feel it. But part of her tensed, for she hadn't felt it a second ago-
Was the seed on the move? And then it was there- the sensation burning hotter and wilder and her heart, drumming inside her ears. Where was it? Was it heading her way!? And by such a distraction she didn't notice the large man approaching, getting in line for a drink- and the momet he touched her she recoiled.
The man gave her a jolly smile, cheeks red and eyes sparkling.
"Sorry there, sir. I didn't mean to push. Hot day today, isn't it?"
Wrinkling her nose, she stared up at the behemoth of a happy man and gaped, though her lips were hidden behind a clothe, it was at their sudden physical contact that she knew- This man had the seed! And without warning, Iyla let out a cry, drawing out her spear and pointing it directly at he man's face.
"You have it!" she declared, voice gruff to hide her gender. "Hand over the black seed!"
And with the spear suddenly pointed at his throat, the large man blinked. He had NO idea what Iyla was going on about but the crowd around the well gasped and grew quiet, and seeing someone grow violent, a woman raced off and shouted, "The guards! The guards! Someone call the guards! A fight at the well! The well!"
But Iyla was ignorant to it all as she kept her spear pointed directly at his throat without relenting.
"What.. what on earth are you going on about? Are you mad?"
But Iyla would hear none of this as she pressed the metal sharply against him and he gasped.
"Careful with that thing!" the man exclaimed. "You could hurt someone!"
Iyla growled. "Just give me what I want and no one will get hurt."
The hot desert had not deterred the likes of Vincent from prowling, waiting to catch unsuspecting criminals. Or anyone that looked suspicious. He had mostly hung around on rooftops, and when he saw the cloaked man approach the well, he stopped and listened.
He couldn't hear anything yet, and didn't hear the start of the engagement as a man came and began talking to Vincent, being particularly annoying about how this was his rooftop, and how he was trespassing.
Obstruction of justice, and distracting those operating to conduct the business of the law. Punishment, death... He swung his body round, letting an arrow lodge in the man's head. He knew himself, he was no saint.
The only thing he heard of the conversation was everything that followed the woman screaming for the guards. He drew a second arrow, taking careful aim at the man with the spear, ready to take the shot, before he realised that he risked hitting the man next to him.
He's collateral. I will kill this hooded man at least. He pulled the bow string back, before letting the arrow fly, aiming as carefully as he could, and letting the arrow fly.
The arrow hit true, and sunk right into Iyla's arm as the woman suddenly let out a yelp of pain. Doubling over, she clutched her arm and watched as cool, inky black blood began to seep from the wound. Damn. She hadn't planned to be attacked so quickly, and when she turned to see just who had done the shooting,s he was overwhelmed by the sudden panic that now had the crowd writhing all around her like a massive, craze serpent.
Turning her attention back tot he man she had believed had the seed,s he cursed as she realized he was making a getting away and growled.
"GET BACK HERE!"
Undeterred by her wound, she began to push through the crowd- one arm bleeding, one arm with a spear. The man woudl NOT get away!
Vincent quickly gave chase, free running across the sandy rooftops, avoiding every obstacle that came his way, and following Iyla, hearing that the yelp had been slightly off. Either it was a young teenage boy, or a woman under that cloak. Obviously it didn't matter, they would die, the same as the rest of the criminals would.
He still had his bow drawn, and had drawn another arrow from his quiver, ready to fire another arrow as soon as he got the chance. He was glad he had injured the person with the spear.
Finally, he got a break from running and aimed the arrow at the cloaked figure again, not caring for potential collateral.
There were so many people in the crowd, but somehow, as luck would have it- Vincent's arrow struck the sands just beside Iyla's boots as she ran. She paid little attention to it as she continued to push her way through and where the large man now rushed into a side street, Iyla soon followed.
Vincent saw where the man went, and cut knew that the cloaked being was following the man, so he cut across rooftops to meet both of them.
He jumped onto a crate, before jumping down in front of the man, an arrow set in his bow. His face was hidden behind his armour, but his voice was as clear as day.
"Care to give a witness statement?" Vincent quickly loosed the arrow in the guy's lower leg, hoping the man didn't bleed out too badly.
Seeing the man come to a halt, Iyla wasted no time taking advantage of the moment. With the archer's bow without an arrow, she roared and thrust her spear his way. Obviously, this idiot was the one responsible for her wound and she wasted no time letting him know they were enemies as a few quick, haughty swings were aimed for his face, arm and chest.
Vincent dodged one or two attacks, before receiving a nasty blow to the chest, drawing his very simple sword in self defence.
"Who are you?" Vincent shouted, trying do dodge as many attacks from the spear as possible, receiving nasty cuts to the arms, legs, and a single one to the face.
"None of your concern if you're dead!" she roared, thrusting her spear towards him once again, only to realize, the injured large man from earlier was getting away! And with her shadow seed! Her eyes widened as she turned from him and cursed.
"Shit!" and Slamming the blunt end of her weapon towards Vincent's gut, she took off running again.
THAT MAN WAS NOT GETTING AWAY WITH HER SHADOW SEED!!!
Vincent dodged to the side of the sharp attack, before getting hit by the blunt end of the spear, winding him. He took a second to recover, before climbing to the rooftop, drawing a bow and arrow, and cutting to a rooftop above them.
He spotted the fleeing man, and for a minute, he thought time had slowed down, feeling the adrenaline kick in. He aimed at the man, taking a few seconds, and let the arrow fly, aiming for the man's head.
Fate was cruel to Jareth Fischer, a man who would go nameless to those toying with his life. But he couldn't have realized that the shiny, black rock he found had any significance, and pocketed it in hopes to give it to his grand children Roxi and Poe. But when the arrow sunk into his head- his life, and all stories to proceed it, ended and he hit the sands hard.
Gasping, Iyla stumbled to a halt and watched as the blood spilled out and stained the sands in a round pool. With her heart nearly in her throat, her eyes then cast towards the roof top before she dropped down to her knees and began to frantically dig through the man's clothing and bags on his person It wasn't until she found in his pocket the rare item she sought- and there, in the palm of her hand she now possessed another shadow seed.
Vincent jumped down onto a stall, crushing fruit on the stall, and walked over to Iyla, snarling under his mask.
When he reached her, he aimed a vicious kick at her chest, drawing yet another arrow out of his quiver, emptying it. He aimed at her, the bow held to a near breaking point, the creaking of the wood and string obvious.
"Because of your greed, you pathetic excuse for a thief, an innocent man died to day. I have no regrets, but I take pleasure in killing scum like you. Any last words, thief?"
Iyla barely had a chance to recover from the kick when he placed an arrow at her head. She bared her teeth like an animal, not that he could see it behind her mask. Her red eyes bore at him and if looks could kill-s he'd wish it so.
But the blazing heat reminded her of her plight- though she was immortal in this form, she still would have to deal with her wounds later when she returned to her mortal body; and she'd much rather not endure any more pain than she had to.
But the shadows here were few and far between- but the ones that were around were potent. TOo bad she stood now in broad daylight on the street.
Glaring back at the man meanly, she growled, "If you're to kill me, let's take the fight to the shade."
"You think I'm stupid? I'm finishing this right now. I don't care if I have to fight through every soldier in Essyrn on my way out of the city. But I will kill you." Vincent prepared the shot, ready to loose it into her skull.
"Well... If you're done saying your prayers... Time to say goodnight..." A vulture circled over head slowly, casting a shadow within arms reach of Iyla, and just out of Vincent's line of sight.
Her red eyes were slightly unnerving, but he didn't let that stop the judgement. She would die.
Die...s he might later. But if he shot her, she could at least evade that for now in this form. Even still,s he wasn't comfortable with his threat, but when the buzzard over head cast a shadow over her, she felt it- and her own powers tingle within it.
There wasn't a lot to cling into, but it was enough to blur her form and get her the hell out of there, and in a flash of movement- she was before him one moment-
then she was gone.
Seconds later she was stumbling out of the shadow as it passed away and pushing her way back through the streets.
"Get out of my way!"she screamed. "MOVE!!!"
He loosed the arrow too late, and she had disappeared, his arrow lodging in the sand.
"What?!" He looked around, and saw her materialise, giving chase quite quickly, confused as to how she had done that. He had gathered that she was a woman now, and that meant she would be as agile as him, possibly more. So it was that he ascended to the roves yet again, trying to see where she was going now.
OOC: How could he deduce she was a female from that? XD just curious
Cause flexibility and speed wouldn'treally give away gender 8D
Though I guess maybe your character is biased 8D
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Iyla continued to push her way through the crowds and once she was able to, she dashed into a side street where the sun struck the awnings and cast deep shadows on the path. She gave only one quick glance to the roof tops before pressing herself to the side of a building, leaning into it's shadows before she disappeared again completely from sight. She need to recooperate, so instead of traveling through the shadows, she simply blended into it to catch her breath.
Damn archer. What the hell was his deal anyway?
And while she rested, she gripped onto the arrow. Damn- did the wound ever hurt.
OOC: I don't know, I just assume that considering that he kicked her to the ground, he cloak would have shown off her slightly more effeminate form. xD
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Vincent managed to follow her till she disappeared, standing very confused on the rooftops, not having seen her merge with the shadows. He dropped down to the street level, and took cautious steps forward, drawing his elvish dagger, and looking around warily.
"Where are you?..." He mumbled to himself, stopping, albeit unknowingly, dead in front of her, looking around for her.
OOC: Lol, she's wearing wraps to bind her chest, but I guess it'd be hard to hide her hips? :P
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Iyla had placed a firm grip upon the arrow, ready to snap the thing in half (if she could..) when suddenly the man dropped down from seemingly no where and her eyes went wide. WIth her heart hammering inside her throat, she kept a firm grip on the arrow and held her breath- and waited, hoping the damn archer would pass.
OOC: That's what I was thinking Spicy :)
And is she actually invisible? Or just exceptionally well camouflaged?
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Vincent looked around, not sure if she had actually gone this way, and sheathing his dagger again, taking a few slow steps towards a crate, before losing his temper, and smashing the crate, yelling. He had let a criminal get away. He needed to sit down, and evaluate the chase. See what had gone wrong. Had he tracked her wrong? Had he taken a wrong turn? Missed an alley that she could have turned down?
"Gods dammit! Stupid! Gods damned! Bloody! THIEF!" He kicked a wall, taking a chunk out of it with his metal boot.
OOC: She actually vanishes and merges with the shadows. So she's 'safe' for now 8D
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Watching the man get dangerously close to her makes her begin to sweat, but the moment he moves away and begins to unleash his temper on walls and crates, she grits her teeth. She wouldn't want to face that crazy man any more than she had to. And thankfully, the moment she had a chance, she was getting the hell out of here. Though even as she held onto the shadow seed, something else made her senses prickle-
Oh... was that... another seed? Remaining poised against the wall, she held her breath, wondering what the archer would do next while calculating her next move.
OOC: Ok, awesome. I know where to go from here.
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Vincent looked at the floor, frustrated with himself.
Then he saw the small black item, picking it up, before deciding he needed to leave before the guards showed up. He took the quite route to the roves, climbing the walls themselves to reach the rooftops.
Then he began a rather leisurely stroll across the roves, trying to figure out his mistake.
Vincent wasn't the only one that noticed something peculiar and black in the sands. Her face twisted in surprise, her breath held within her throat-
Had.. had he just found another seed!? This was preposterous! How could it be? It normally took her ages to find one, let alone a second...
And just like that- the sensation was gone- moving away, and quickly. Cursing beneath her breath, her eyes followed Vincent to where he had disappeared upon the roof top. Baring her teeth, she slipped into the shadows and moved about within the darkness, unseen, but kept her senses ever alert to where he was.
If he had a second shadow seed.. (which it very much felt as if he did)... he HAD to get it off of him. But how?
FOr now..s he was biding her time.
Vincent escaped the guard's area of search, removing his mask, and found a place to sit in the shade, examining the object, confused. It was definitely odd.
It was unlike any stone he had ever seen, and was seed-like in shape.
He decided to get it appraised, floating from stall to stall to get it valued. Nearly all those who examined it called it worthless, but intriguing nonetheless.
He sighed, keeping it as a memento, and looking around for guards, before putting the mask back on.
Iyla had been watching him like a hawk, her eyes never leaving his form and even making a mental note of what he looked like without his mask. There was no more hiding from her anymore, and as he went around- seeking a price, she found herself growing angered, but soon turned tepid as the shadows as she lurked- unseen.
Eventually, she caught him at the end of a one way street- cornered, and she, without anymore shadows to hop. So when his back was turned, she stepped outside, and she completely solidified in sunlight, and silently drew out a dagger from her side.
He'd feel the weight of the metal against the back of his neck.
"One move, I'll cut off your hair. A second move, and it will be your neck. Now... hand over that stone and I won't kill you."
Vincent felt the blade against his neck, and kept a relatively cool composure.
"So you're a common thief. Have you ever heard of me?" Vincent sighed, pocketing the stone. He wasn't giving anything up to a thief.
"I have no stone. Leave. I sold it to a vendor." He lied, a calm confidence strong in his voice. He was confident this was just a random robbing. But something felt different. He thought he recognised the presence. The voice.
Is it that woman before, dogging me? If so, what relevance does a worthless stone have to her?
Iyla didn't care what this person thought of her. Nor did she care if he thought she might of heard of him. She wasn't from around here anyway, but at his lie- she growled.
" I can feel it's on your person,"s he said, and let the blade clip off just a few hairs from his tail as she growled. "And you're trying my patience."
And luck.
And she was out of patience.
And he- very soon, of his luck.
"You are clever. Very well. Take it, it is worthless. Although, if you are a criminal, no doubt you would kill me anyway. Because I promise you. I will look for you. I will find you..." Halford reached back into his pocket, taking out the stone.
"And I will kill you." Vincent held the stone out to her, ready to spin around and point an arrow at her face the instant she took it.
"So run, thief. Run."
Iyla's eyes shifted to the desired stone, and she could feel her heart, it leaping and flipping inside her chest. She wasted no time in snatching it from him- and just before he'd get a chance to turn around and stick the arrow into her-
She'd be gone. And nothing would be behind him by the faint movement of a shadow as cast down from the animated motions of a nearby flag in the sun.
Down below, on a lower level of the city... however, Iyla was already pushing her way quickly through the streets...
She had to get out of this city, and fast.
Vincent spun round, drawing an arrow, and becoming confused when she disappeared. Then his brain made a connection. If it had been the same person from before, then he connecterd one think she had said.
"Let's take the fight to the shade... A mage then. This is gonna be fun." Vincent pulled his mask back up, and ran up a building, leaping off the edge, and landing on a pile of hay he had memorised. Then he continued running, heading to the nearest gate. He knew that she would leave if he was going to be dogging her, and so he ran to intercept her at the gate, crossing rooftops, and bypassing the masses of people.
"We'll see just how magical you get when we get to the gate, and you get out of the city. Nowhere to hide out there."
Iyla had no idea the man would be so persistent, but when she made it tot he city gates- she gave pause and peered back into the masses. Her red eyes stalked across the roof tops, and scoured through the bustling streets. But to pick one man out of the masses was impossible. She just hoped she had lost him.
Turning around, she adjusted her cloak around her person and turned towards the gates before stepping outside of the city and into the screaming, blinding desert light.
Vincent had already gotten to the gate, and was hidden in the crowds, choosing an angle where he could examine stall wares, and see the gate. Then he saw her, and for a minute, thought she'd looked right at him. Then she left the city, and he followed calmly, and upon exiting the city, drew a single arrow and his bow, and tapped her on the shoulder three times.
Then he put his bow up and drew the string back, ready to fire the arrow into her.
"Hello again."
Iyla turned around at the tap, and was taken back when the arrow was pointed right at her nose. She could have swore- maybes he did, but as she groped for the shadows, she realized one thing-
She had no connection to her power-
and that very thought did make her swear as her eyes narrowed upon the man but she said nothing as the anger inside her began to boil.
"You've been a fun little game, running me round Essyrn all afternoon, but the game is over, and the winner is declared now. But I do say, that stone interested me. So, I'll make you a deal. Hand over the stone, and it will be quick and painless. Resist, and I will make it hurt." Vincent frowned, his bow creaking as he drew the arrow to full force.
They were in the desert, no shadows for her to hide in, nowhere for her to run. She fought, or she died.
Iyla's eyes narrowed at the man's threat. She remained paused where she stood before her lips tightened into a frown.
"You're going to have to take it from me if you want it," she dared, eyes gleaming in the shadows beneath her hair. And she was not about to go down without a fight.
"Fine then" The bow creaked constantly now, and he narrowed his eyes.
"But why do you want them? I take it that the thing you attacked that other man for earlier was one of these?" He loosened the string slightly, so that he wasn't on the verge of snapping the bow with the tension.
"What's it to you? I owe you no explanation for what I do," she growled through the clothe mask.
"I'm curious. Because once I kill you, I'll take that second stone, and see what it's worth on the black market. Or, if your cause is just, I'll leave you to your business. But I need to know. You never know. It might save your life." Vincent waited for an answer from the masked person.
Iyla's eyes narrowed. She didn't fear death nor care about his threats. She only cared for the simple black seed in which remained buried inside her pocket. Perhaps it was crazy, but the force, the draw- it was something she couldn't fight.
"Whoever said I'd let you kill me?"
And it was hard to tell if she was calling his bluff, or making one of her own. Either way, she wasn't standing down- and the arrow pointed to her meant nothing. She would kill for the seed. She would do anything to get it- and this man was NOT going to stand in her way!
"Then please elaborate on why you're getting so protective over a stone? A normal thief would give up his prize before dying. Are you really that devoted?" He could see that she wasn't going to let this go, and so he decided he would give her some time to defend herself against his questioning.
"For starters, I'm no thief. The stones are mine."
"Right? Prove it. You have two. Show me others like it, and I will believe you. If not, then you're a thief, and you will die." Vincent looked at her expectantly. It was believable, considering the stones were apparently worthless. That would mean they were either trinkets, or this girl was stealing worthless items. Which wouldn't make sense.
Iyla's eyes narrowed angrily.
"You don't get it." She grit her teeth, hands clenching into fists. "I haven't found them all yet. They were.." she hesitated carefully over the right words. "Stolen from me."
Though technically, they were not. They were simply fallen beings, left overs of those who had just been like her master who would have all but vanished had he not forced himself inside Iyla's body and used her like a vessel. Now she had little choice but to remain his pawn. It was either find these trinkets, or remain these merged entity forever.
"If that is true, you must be able to show me at least a third one? Go on, if you can, I'm giving you a chance to defend yourself."
She ground her teeth.
"I don't have any more on me," she growled.
"Shame. You were starting to convince me." Vincent drew the arrow back to full tension, then smirked.
"Goodnight. I'll leave you for the buzzards."
Iyla knew she was as good as dead, but thankfully she could not simply die. So when the arrow was loosed,s he moved as swiftly as she could, even after it caught her by the shoulder. Black, ink like blood dribble down from the wound, staining down her arm as she dropped low, and threw a handful of sand at his face.
The sand came straight at him, and as he moved to put his arm up, he realised he was too late, and found himself blinded by the sand, the microscopic shards of glass from the sun baked sand causing him unbearable pain as he yelled and dropped his weapons, blinded by the sand attack.
At his yelp, Iyla wasted no time in driving kicks towards his head, hoping to knock the man over in attempts to disarm him and get the upper hand.
Still blinded by the sand, Vincent tried to discern sound, but the only sound he heard, was Iyla's foot connecting with the side of his head, and then the next thing he knew, he was lying face down in the sand. His head was pouning, and he couldn't think straight as he failed to rise from the sand.
Iyla was on him in seconds, her body pinning his to the ground roughly as he was forced to eat sand. She had a hand full of his blonde hair, and her other hand kept his arms pinned as best she could.
"How about we negotiate you taking a little nap?" she told him threateningly. He did cause her enough grief for one day. And no one.. no one would get in the way of her and her shadow seeds!
Vincent began to choke on the sand, and he realised he would have to think quickly. He squirmed slightly, before inhaling through his nose, and pretending to pass out, going completely limp. Now he just had to wait for the weight on his body to move, and he could get up and get her.
Iyla's face fell as he went limp as she blinked. She hadn't done anything to warrant his sudden stillness, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to take advantage. Spotting his weapon nearby, she snatched it up and ran like hell, back towards the city, and away from all of this light.
It was his one chance, but he wanted this one alive now. This had become personal. He stood up, and reached for his one knife, a kunai hidden in his cloak, and he threw it at her leg, hoping that, by the luck of the gods, it hit her. Hopefully it would.
Lucky for him, he was close enough the knife hit true, and down onto her knees in the sands she went, his bow falling out of her grip. Swearing between her teeth, she yanked the dagger out and turned around to see just how fast he was approaching, as she remained crouched down like an angered beast, the bloodied blade in her hand as she growled at him defensively.
He slowed up, realising he had no weapons to fight her with.
"I'm beginning to wonder if you're worth the trouble. Only beginning though..." He took a cautious step forward, slowly nibbling away at the 10 foot gap between them.
"Come quietly, and I'll only hand you in to the guards. It's very clear you won't be dying if you have any say in it."
Iyla tightened her grip on the blade.
"Come any closer and I'll gut you clean open," she threatened, eyes sharp and wild, like an animals.
Vincent was stuck. He had no weapons to fight her with, so he simply stepped forward, waiting for the blade to sink in. He hoped the plan in his head would work, because otherwise, it would be a lot of unnecessary pain. Possibly even his own death.
"Now now, just give me the knife back, and let me get my weapons, and we're even..."
Iyla cut towards him and moved back.
"You must think I'm a fool if I'd ever consider giving you your weapons back,"s he growled.
Vincent darted to the side and towards her, and in his head, the plan he had, was to tackle her, stun her with a surprise kiss, then headbutt her and stab her in the neck. He just needed to not get stabbed in the process.
He just had to hope he didn't get stabbed.
Well, the whole process would have gone on without a hitch- except when the kiss came- instincts kicked in and well- her knee promptly went to his groin.
"GET OFF OF ME, YOU PERVERT!!"
OOC: Looooooooool