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 Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 7:39 pm
When Shiva returned that evening to her home, it was with laughter still clinging to her and a fondness for several of the others that had been dormant some time. So much time had passed, so many differences, so many new opportunities. For the first time, she could see a clear and hopeful future stretching before them. The ones that had left, had left. The ones that remained were committed to taking back this planet and protecting it. It could never be the way it once was, but it could still be theirs.
As the door clicked shut behind her, she turned the key and did a quick sweep of the room. It was a natural response from her, a cool appraisal to ensure security.
Then she chuckled softly, thinking 'You could take the girl out of the dragon guard....'
Pulling her hair out of the pony tail she kept it in, she shook it out and then brushed it out of her face with a quick swipe of her fingers. It lay playfully against her neck and back in loose waves. The slight grin was still on her face as she contemplated them all again. It would soon be harvest time, and all the remaining foods would have to be picked and stored. Grass would need to be cut and set aside as hay. Wood chopped and stacked. The sooner they could get their own resources secured, the more self sufficient they could become.
She turned the water on for her shower, and then went to the other room to grab her sleeping garments. Her foot crunched down on something suddenly and she frowned and backed up in haste. Then kneeling she picked up the broken pieces of cheaply made mask with a frown. It was a crudely made mockery of the diamond draco masque she had been cursed with.
It dropped from her fingers even as a flash of precognition warned her she was not alone in her room. Turning, she caught the blow levelled against and stared aghast at what was there.
"What happened to you?!"
The...person standing before her was obviously male. In a loose fitting shirt and khakis that were meticulously clean. The hair was cropped short and neat. But it was the expression in the eyes, as well as the ruby dragon that adorned the face that had caused Shiva to blurt out her question.
She knew this person.
Or rather. She knew the person that had resided in the mask. But it was not physically that person.
*Interesting, isn't it?* the voice was a cool snarl in her head. *Do you like it? I admit it was a bit surprising at first, but I wasn't ever one to let things like this hold me back. I've worked hard on this body, afterall.*
Shi's eyes had narrowed. "Why are you here? And for what reason have you not announced yourself?"
*And ruin the surprise?*
"I don't think it's all that great of one to begin with."
*Funny girl. You found a sense of humor.*
"And you found a spare key. So talk." She kept her arm raised until the other lowered his. "Did you want help? We've never had one that's happened this way. There has to be a way to -"
*I didn't come here for charity.* the tone was menacing. *And even less for your pity*
"Thats good." she shot back "I have neither for you. If you're not here for help with your condition, and you aren't here openly, then that means your motives are as usual chimerical. So either spit it out, or find the door."
*So hostile, aren't you?*
She was right. Shi grit her teeth and then carefully forced her reaction down. She WAS being hostile. And she was being that way because of what this person had been before. But everyone had changed, and her being nasty was based on the past, and not the now. So she swallowed her anger and suspiscion and said "Correct. Would you like something to drink? And given that you broke in to my home, I'd say that being wary is called for."
*Still always intent on being right, aren't you?*
The words were like a cold shower. She stared. So he DID remember...
Her hand was at her dagger even as the other person slammed into her, shoving the weapon back into its sheath and her into the wall. Shi twisted and ducked the counter-attack and sweapt the shelve next to her clear of the items on it, creating a shower of sharp and foreign objects that flew between them. Leaping away, she avoided the bauble tossed at her head and stumbled as she was tripped.
The amused *tsk tsk* annoyed her to no end as she flipped back to her feet and vaulted the small couch there to meet him now where he stood taunting her.
"We should take this outside." she growled.
*But it's fun watching you destroy your own posessions.*
"It will be more fun watching me destroy you. Did you not think we didn't know what you were up to back then?"
*Not remotely.*
She wasn't going to be fully goaded into rash actions. She knew him to be a master of manipulation. In truth, that was one of the things she had secretly envied. His ease around people and seemingly magical ability to get them to do what he desired. She might have fantasized of weilding that level of confidence and poise, but she sure as hell did not like the uses it was put to. She kept her weapon at the ready and carefully moved to be in a position where there would be more room to maneuver.
If he was expecting a rush, and was disappointed...it never showed. But the next flurry of attacks came before she was fully settled where she wanted. Why would he wait for her to be ready? The attacks were blindingly fast and coming from a body more intrinsicly powerful than her own. But Shiva was never one to rely on strength alone. Deftly enough, each strike was countered or avoided entirely. The metal was screeching against each other as they battled now. The floorboards beneath them were shaking at the impact of their two bodies. But her home was seperated, with empty houses in between. She liked her privacy. So when his body smashed the wooden table, with glass showering them both, Shiva did not expect help to come.
He had snatched up a chair leg as an off-hand weapon, and then hurled it at her. She ducked, and grimaced at the crash that resulted. This place really would be a disaster after this. But if she could take him down, she would deal with the broken things later. Tackling him, they scuffled on the ground briefly, and then she gasped as he drove his weapon into the fleshy part of her wings. The force of his strike pinned the bloody feathers to the floor and she just barely got around the boot to her face. Spilling him back to the ground, she yanked at the dagger pinning her and ripped it free, down spilling to the floor in a red mess.
She launched to her feet, and stared into the muzzle of a gun.
In a laughable way, she was annoyed more than frightened. At least for now. Her house was in shambles, her wing was shredded, and she was soaked in blood and sweat. "If you were going to use that, why bother with the fuss of hand-to-hand?" she growled.
*Just testing the waters, darling* was the answer. *Now be a good girl and give me your hands.* she lowered the gun to Shiva's middle *I know your pride wouldn't normally let you submit to captivity. But I know something you don't know. You'll be coming along with me, we've already seen it.*
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Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:37 pm
This letter is addressed to the Boy who thought he was once a King.
It's storytime, Nika! You do love storytime, do you not? All children do. My story is a tale of the past, when the crumbled ruins were once majestic spires that lorded over and shadowed the sky. The ivory towers and metallic gems of the city sparkled and burned in the night and day alike.
When it was all ruled by a lonely boy-king and his daughters. When the establishment was as effete and rotten as the death it rested and pulled its strength from. When the ruling class smothered those not of its caste under taxes and wage-slavery.
Once upon a time (for all fairytales start this way) there was a boy king high in a tower made of dreams. He was guarded ferociously by dragons, and kept ignorant of the things that went on in the real world outside his castle. But the Boy King was not a victim, he had set up this system to shield himself from it all. He was, after all; just a boy.
Until one day, a magnificent day, a day of a glorious ball...there was a coup. The dragons killed, and the King stood in ruin as his wonderful kingdom fell apart around him. And all others lived happily ever after.
The End.
Did you like my story? It was how things were about to end, back then. Only you royals ruined it once more. You are ever so good at that, aren't you? Your own daughter, no less. Tsk, tsk.
So now time has passed, and I see the nucleus re-forming. All the royal brats reborn. I can see the future stretching out years from now. A re-establishment of the same elite culture. But even if I didn't, it's just enough to make you all miserable. Especially you.
Your little dragon girlfriend is coming to keep me company for a while. I won't tell you not to bother trying to rescue her, I expect you will. And by the way, congratulations on your forthcoming fatherhood. If I keep them all alive that long.
--Scarlette
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Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 5:21 pm
It'd been too long since he'd seen his girl; too long since he'd held her in his arms, too long since he'd heard her voice. It was funny how swiftly he'd groan attached to that oh-so-familiar sound, after years of hearing her only inside his head. Their relationship had bloomed from a tentative friendship, during which she'd spent most of her time worrying over and protecting him, into a romance that he just couldn't get enough of.
Nika walked towards Shi's home with an energetic spring in his step. He'd been delighted when she'd shown up to watch him get his a** kicked by a couple of kirin, and was even more eager to spend the rest of the evening with her. His head was full of everything they would do that night.
They would talk. They would laugh and, if he was lucky, they might even cuddle.
"Shi?" he called loudly as he took the last few steps towards her home, and smiled at the site of the open door. Was she expecting him? Nika chuckled and positioned himself beside the door out of site, so that he could jump out and frighten her when she finally came outside.
He waited for what seemed like hours, but was really only a couple of minutes, and after no sounds came from inside, leaned forwards to peer around the door frame.
His eyes widened in horror at the site of the front room. The place looked like it had been turned upside down!
"Shi?" his voice cracked and Nika took a couple of tentative steps into the house. What the hell had happened here? Something worse than fear started in the pit of his stomach, clawed it's way up his chest like a wild cat and sunk it's teeth into his heart.
"Shiva!" He called again, voice louder and steadier than before.
When there was no answer, Nika tore up the room. He looked everywhere he could think of; in the adjoining rooms, under the cracked table, in the fridge and was very close to tears when his hunt came up empty. Time, anxiously rapped his fingers against the wall and raked his surroundings once more with his eyes.
He blinked in surprise when they fell on a slip of paper, which he must not have noticed during his fierce search of the building. Nika bent, picked it up and began to read.
With every line that passed before his eyes, his stony expression transformed into something that was entirely unlike Nika. Fury had been added to the terror that bubbled within the pit of his stomach and, as the ex-king began to realize what the contents of the letter meant, his whole world came crashing down.
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Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 10:25 am
It was so obvious that her captors enjoyed this little game of kidnapping. She reveled in all the little details of it, from the hard-boiled dialogue, to the blindfold they made her wear, to the many times they spun her around in circles lest she be able to remember the way.
The toying infuriated her, but she forced none of it to show. Her anger would please them and show that she acknowledged their control over her. In her mind, there would be that small but definite distinction between manipulating her physical location, and manipulating her.
A very small distinction.
That she had given in was a shame that burned her. To her defense, the information that Scarlette had lorded over her had left Shi stunned and vulnerable. But that too, was unacceptable. And now she was a prisoner.
For now. She would find a way out of this.
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Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 1:55 pm
A series of explosions went off inside his head. Nika struggled to accept the truth of what he'd just read; his chest heaved with the effort of understanding. He let out an eerie, angry sound and crumpled the letter in his fist.
"Scarlette," he hissed through his teeth, as distant memories of the Ruby Draco flashed behind his eyes. She'd always been the most power-hungry and least patient of his guard. How had she come back? As far as he could tell, the aboriginals of masquerade needed a host in order to be reborn. None of the colonists had been near the ruins in months!
How could this have happened?
How long had she been watching?
She knew about Shi's condition, so it had to have been for some time. How could she have known something so important when neither he nor Shi knew about her supposed pregnancy? It didn't seem likely. Yet, he couldn't afford to doubt the contents of the letter.
The excitement and elation he should have felt at the news of becoming a father again was, instead, replaced by dread. He didn't like hearing about it in this callous, cruel fashion. Shi should have been able to tell him about it with a smile on her face and a spring in her step, and he should have been able to show her just how much he loved her- again.
"Oh, god, Shi," Nika sobbed and slammed his fist against the nearest wall, which shook slightly from the force.
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:54 am
Now that the various goads had been placed, Scarlette was quite beginning to enjoy her work. There had been a time when thoughts of vengence had been cold comfort to her. But comfort was comfort even if chill.
She was growing fond of the cold.
Time was not so far ago that she had been bitter about her fate. It was so ironic, so intrinsically topsy turvy that she was for a while mad with the anger of it.
But then she had reconsidered. And had become almost cheerful. Plans were so malleable. So she had applied herself and worked hard to build a new network of support.
And now it was time to see what the results would be.
She could hardly wait.
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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 5:19 am
Just a little more...
The thought had come to her often the past few days. She had been hard at work attempting to fashion some sort of defense. Once her shock had worn off she had been doing nothing but carefully examining her surroundings.
She had tried not to be too obvious about it. As she was sure that Scarlette would assume this of her eventually. But at the same time, she did want her captors to under-estimate her. So every once in a while she let drop an obvious moment where she was trying to formulate an escape. A careless movement here or there, an unguarded sentence spoken to herself. Sometimes a fixed stare. She was sure she was being watched.
Eventually she had established a pattern. She was provided food 3 times a day, irregularly. A small dig at disdaining time, more than likely. Scarlette did enjoy her tiny jokes. But there was only ever 2 of them.
She was sure she could handle 2.
And so when the designated day came, she waited patiently. When the doors opened she would act. And then she could make her escape.
Except when her meal came, there were 4 guards.
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