OOC: A bit of expanded background...and foreshadowing. Enjoy!
IC>>>>>
In a well-furnished house made largely of wood, in the more woodsier ouskirts of La'Marri, Sano Alistair prepared a table with food and drink. The note had stated specifically: Five day's time to complete her mission in Connlaoth. She never said who it was or why or even how, just always that it was done when it was, and that was that. Even still, Sano could guess at the reasons. The country of his birth, the place he had met Keefe and been taken from for his salvation, hated those who were different, those who were supernatural, those...who were different. This included Sano, because he'd been born with the family's red eyes and pointier ears, and this included Keefe herself. Of course, in both of their cases, they also had access to a form of magic that held sway over metal, but in Keefe's case...they'd just take one look at her and consider the girl illegal. That'd been his very impression the night she found him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Look at him! He's some kind of vagrant illegal!"
"I am not. I've never done anything to anybody, magic or otherwise!"
"Your mouth says no, but those red eyes say yes, you freak."
A scene as typical as sunrise and sunset in Connlaoth. Just a small town place with small town people who have small town minds. They see a guy on the street - or in an alley, in this case - they don't like, they pick on him. They see something way out of place, they immediately think it's something evil and monstrous. Oddly enough, it actually WAS a sign of something, but it wasn't as bad as what they were thinking. However, as they cornered the teenaged Sano, things were about to get alot more dangerous. There was a blacksmith's forge nearby, and everything in it made of metal began to rattle as Sano's temper grew. As soon as the fight broke out, there was going to be serious trouble... However, before the first punch could be thrown, a black shape swept by and clubbed each bully in the back of the head, knocking them out! Sano looked around, and only after the rattling stopped did the figure come out of the shadows.
"You should be more careful with that power. If I hadn't intervened, we could've ALL been dead."
"Dead? How? I don't have any power...do I?"
"I would say otherwise, but if this is your first time, then I guess it's only recently woken up. You don't have to worry about them, by the way. I didn't kill them. I tend to set my sights a little higher."
Sano narrowed his eyes at the woman. Yes, it was obvious from her frame and her voice that his hooded savior in the black leather was both female and highly skilled, but judging by the way she spoke, it seemed as though she might be more than just a passing defender.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Keefe Zarla, but there are those who call me the Ebon Knife."
"Wait, I've heard people talking... You're an assassin."
"Precisely."
"Well, what does an assassin want with me, apart from saying I could've killed you?"
He flinched as she suddenly pulled out a blade. He expected to have to duck or dodge it, but instead she...changed it into a steel model of a dove, then a perfect sphere, and then back to a knife again. It was only then that he noticed that her hands had a color and a slenderness to them that didn't seem human, expecially considering the claws! But...there were more important matters, at the moment.
"You're the first person with a natural talent akin to my own that I've seen. It isn't common, messing with any element other than earth, fire, wind, and water. People like us are rare. I thought I'd help you out, since you seem to be down on your luck."
"You want to help me? That's kind of you. Is there a catch?"
"Of course, there is. You become my student and do what I tell you until I say you are ready. Training will be tough, I won't take any lip, and you will not question my methods or life choices. Any questions?"
"Yeah. I just noticed... You're not human, are you?"
To answer, she drew down her hood. Before, there had only been the gleam of violet eyes, but now...he saw what was basically a walking, talking animal with a human-like build. Keefe was a Beastkin, a ferret cast in ebony and black. She gave a toothy smirk at his surprised expression.
"Anything else?"
"Uhh, no."
"Then, let's go home. I'm just guessing - from the smell, you understand - but I think perhaps you haven't had one in a while..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And that was Keefe, basically. She lived a quiet life here in La'Marri, but when she went out...well...it was clear she did not approve of Connlaoth's methods. At a guess, her targets would probably be nobility, mordecai, and greedy merchants. They didn't argue about it. She forbade him and he didn't care. Connlaoth was a terrible place to live, if your humanity was in question. Now that any confusion regarding his possession of magic abilities had been cleared up some years ago, Sano didn't want to have anything to do with that country. He didn't need to. Keefe had given him a roof over his head, food and drink to live on, control of his abilities, the skill to fight on his own, and more. Assassin or not, she was the best thing that had ever happened to him, which was why...a little while later...his blood froze when he heard it.
"...SAAANOOO...!!"
It seemed distant, at first, a voice half unheard and half...he wished he hadn't heard. But it persisted, louder.
"...SAAAAANOOOOO...!!!"
Haunting and terrible, a voice of pure agony, and it was Keefe's... Sano reacted now, almost by instinct. An assassin's life is a dangerous one, and so apart from any normal medicinal supplies she used for day-to-day life, Keefe had a case of emergency supplies: Strong potions and tinctures, and alot of bandages. She had carefully gathered them for extreme measures, and it looked like this would be such a night. Sano ran out and into the night, never once slowing, for he had always been able to see in the dark. Her voice came from the woods to the north and he followed it. Soon, he found Keefe staggering forwards, using trees for support, as she seemed barely able to walk. When she spotted him, she sank to her knees, leaning on one arm while grasping that arm with her free hand. She was tensed, and her breathing was labored. But why? There was barely a mark on her!
"Keefe, what happened to you?! What's wrong?"
"It's a...blood curse...struggling to burst from my body... I tried to hold out, strained against it... It's going to tear me apart...!"
"What about your own medicine, the stuff you take with you?"
She shook her head, then looked him in the eyes.
"Used it...to get this far. Had to come back...warn you... Don't go back to Connlaoth...! Don't ever go back, Sano!"
"Keefe, there has to be something I can do. I don't want you to die. You mean everything to me!"
"I'm sorry...Sano...but my body's gonna give out any minute... Even if you ran for a healer now...I'd be dead before you got back..."
Keefe was not the sort of person to lay down and die for any reason, but the tragedy of it was that she couldn't see a way out. It was a curse, and you needed healing powers to work against it, or something similar to lift it from her, or at least some way to keep her alive until it was spent, and the only way it would do so was if blood burst from her body, tearing her open in the process. Unless...
"Forgive me, Keefe."
Sano took out one of her knifes and stabbed Keefe in the lower torso. Thanks to her teachings, he knew everything there was to know about living bodies that could be known. He had been trained like an assassin, though he always preferred to act like a knight with a sword. Even still, this had...an effect, one he expected and yet was surprised by anyway. Blood gushed from the wound, with force, as Keefe let out a scream of shock and pain. However...despite the wound, what she was not...was torn apart, he hoped. Sano was covered in it, really, but he had no time to waste. He pulled out the bandages, sealed the wound, and then forced Keefe to down potions for healing and whatever medicine she had to relieve pain. Somewhere during the process, she had passed out, but for the moment...she was alive.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Time passed, and Sano had only managed to tear himself from watching Keefe at her bedside long enough to clean up and change. Even still, part of him could almost still feel the blood, moving along as though it were a living thing itself before it sat inert. It shocked him, and from that point on, he had moved automatically through necessity, not through conscious will. He'd taken Keefe inside and placed her on her bed. Dinner lay unattended. He didn't care. Hell, he didn't even think about it. What he'd said before was entirely true. Keefe was everything to him. She'd plucked him out of misery and brought him to a town where people live and let live, and do not hate you for your magic or your appearance. She'd taught him a great deal and she was even nice to him. Well, when he didn't screw up in his lessons. Those could be rough, but she was supportive, and that's what mattered.
Sano did not attempt to keep track of the time or assume whether she was going to be alright or not. Keefe looked weak and barely clinging to life for hours. The only good thing appeared to be that the curse had spent itself, that she was not still being torn from the inside out. Her pulse had always been a little fast, due to being a ferret, but now it was slow, even for a human. Hours passed, and Sano didn't sleep. He couldn't if he wanted to. The night passed through his mind, again and again. He couldn't believe he nearly killed her to try and save her. That was insane. Of course, all those reruns of the evening distracted him from what was in front of him, which was funny since Keefe chose that moment to awaken and jabe him in the forehead with a claw.
"That was really terrible, what you did..."
"Keefe...! I'm sorry, I-I couldn't think of anything else to do."
She managed to smirk at him, weakly.
"Don't apologize. It worked. And I'm grateful."
He got her some water, which she needed badly, and then began to ask her what had happened. That drew a sort of haunted look out of her, something Sano had never seen before.
"It was a vampire. Had to be. I was on my way out from my latest action, when everything became deathly quiet, and he showed up. Bald, yellow-eyed, pointy-eared... He was in battle armor, wearing a grin with more fangs in his mouth than I have. I've seen vampires before, but this one scared me, Sano. He absolutely evaded or negated every attack I made, and then tracked me through every effort I made to lose him. And when he caught me, he struck me here, in the chest."
She indicated the exact center.
"He didn't hit hard, because what he hit me with was magic, blood magic of some kind. He then told me that I was cursed, and that my blood would slowly begin working its way against me, until it burst from my body and tore me to pieces in the process. And then, he said that should I happen to survive, 'Do not come to my hunting grounds'."
"A vampire, hunting and feeding in Connlaoth? How is that possible with the Mordecai? Unless... Keefe, you've been hunting people against mages and supernaturals, right?"
"Yes, but there hadn't even been one around, where I was. I was after a slave trader and had full command of my abilities. Yet...I don't think it would matter to him. He seemed to want to keep me from my given tasks."
"That's not possible. A vampire using magic-"
"A vampire has many abilities not reliant on power, Sano. And this one could influence blood the way you or I rule over metal. This bends the rules a little, but even if I'm wrong, this creature fears not your homeland or anything in the world. Promise me you will never go back, not even to settle with or kill your parents."
She seemed very adamant of this. As a protege', he'd shaped out nicely, and aside from that...she cared. She really did, and it had shown throughout the years under her guidance. To what extent, Sano didn't know, but she was serious about this. Nothing put fear in Keefe's heart like this. Nothing...until now.
"Okay. I promise...until I find some way to definitely kill the beast, a surefire method or force that you can be proud of."
"Sano-"
"He nearly killed you, Keefe, and I'm not taking that lying down I'm serious. As soon as I bring a healer from the village, I'm off."
"Okay, I understand this, but tell me one thing, Sano? Why in all the gods' names didn't you fetch a healer after you stabbed the curse out of me?"
"I...I was afraid. I didn't want to leave you, even though..."
Keefe sighed, about as heavily as her wound would allow.
"It's just as well. Explanations are going to be hard enough, as is. I don't involve these people in my external affairs, and neither can you. Never lead anything back to this place, Sano."
"I won't."
"Now, have a look under the bed. I had a feeling you'd be ready soon, that your training would be complete, so I made you something."
"Are you sure?"
"You've taken in my training, you've saved my life, and I can hardly stop you, anyway. Go ahead."
Reaching down underneath the bed, Sano found a case and pulled it out. Inside of it...lay a very fine-looking black mantle with a metal plate in the shape of Keefe's Ebon Sign - a small face mask with eyes - sown into the interior at the small of the back. The only other time Sano remembered seeing it was in the back of Keefe's own hood.
"This is very nice, Keefe. What's the mask for, anyway?"
"Call it a lucky charm, to watch your back. You'll need it."
"Thanks, Keefe."
