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 Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:28 pm
She hadn’t seen another human being for seven months. She hadn’t spoken words that sounded anything like the human language for six. Instead she had spent the last seven months deep in the Rift, an area she liked to call the Wilds, with only other youma for company. The first month she had talked to herself and attempted to talk to the youma. By the second month she had given up on speech, learning a new language. It didn’t have words, the sounds were more guttural, more animalistic.
In those seven months she nearly lost herself to her primal nature, so it surprised even herself when she finally decided it was time to return to civilization. Or at least to the more trafficked areas of the Rift. Leaving the youma filled Wilds was difficult when half of her longed to stay, but she was starting to crave human interaction. Not to mention a hot meal and some semblance of a bed.
By the time she finally reached the castle that dominated the Rift’s skyline she looked more like a monster than a Negaverse officer. Her eyes were wild, there were sticks and other debris stuck in her hair which had grown wild over her extended vacation. Her dress was, surprisingly, in one piece, but it was dirty and wrinkled- something she would have never allowed seven months ago.
Leathery wings fluttered then snapped shut, an involuntary motion in reaction to her increased heart rate as she stared at the castle. Nervousness. It was an odd feeling after months of being half-wild. In response to her nerves came a strong feeling of admonishment and disapproval. He wasn’t pleased with her weakness, after seven months she was able to read his feelings rather well.
Ignoring the nerves she made her way up to the castle moving as quietly as she could manage, which actually, considering her tail and high heels, was fairly quiet. She could still sense energies and after spreading her consciousness over the castle she was able to pick up one strong energy signature, and several weaker ones. Immediately she recognized the weaker ones as youma, but she wasn’t sure who or what the stronger one belonged too. Maybe she had spent too much time away from officers. For a long moment she stood debating whether or not she wanted to investigate. Suddenly, her body lurched forwards against her will sending a clear message. Move. Grimacing she hissed, the scales on her neck rising to show her irritation. She still hadn’t quite gotten a handle on controlling her youma side.
Entering the castle she looked around, a clawed hand sliding lightly over the cold stone walls. As she got closer to the unidentified energy signature her curiosity grew. Who, other than herself, would want to stay in the Rift for longer than they had to? The castle was amazing, but she remembered from her first exposure to the Rift that not everyone loved it like she did.
The light click-clack of her heels echoed against the stone walls as she made her way towards the energy signature, up a spiraling staircase then across a dim hallway lit by guttering torches until she reached a heavy wooden door that was cracked open. Settling into a crouch in front of the door she lowered her head setting her horns against the door before she pushed gently. The door began to creak open and when there was just enough space for her to squeeze through she was inside slinking against the stone wall. After months of being hidden away in the dark of the Wilds being pressed against a wall in a lit room was like being naked. Lifting violet eyes from the floor the first thing she saw was a high-backed armchair. That would work.
In one fluid movement her muscles bunched and she sprung landing neatly on the top of the armchair, but she didn’t stay there for more than half a second already jumping again, this time towards the rafters that lined the War Room’s ceiling. Unfortunately she pushed off the chair too hard and it fell over even as she overshot the wooden beam. Her body reacted before her mind even comprehended that she was about to crash, twisting hard in mid air. Her wings flared out to slow her down and she reached out hooking her claws into the wood. Pulling herself towards the beam her tail lifted coiling around the wood and further stabilizing her. Breathing hard she wrapped legs and arms around the beam, that could have ended disastrously.
After a minute she relaxed and hanging there like a sloth she looked down into the room, examining it for the first time since she entered. Currently she was hanging high above a very large table covered in papers and various writing instruments. More interesting than the papers was the dark haired General-King asleep at the table. He was the one giving off the steady energy signature she had followed. She searched her memories and came up with a name, Zinkenite.
”General....King.” Her words were stilted and it was obvious she hadn’t done a whole lot of talking in the last seven months.
While she felt a bit bad waking him she was an officer who hadn’t reported in in seven months. Her guilt complex wouldn’t allow her not to report in now that she was faced with one of her superiors.
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:52 pm
A soft groan from the folded arms, tired and stiff from too long spent over the table. Too long reviewing both human and senshi affairs, class notes, power types, senshi names, attack ranges as best estimated by those unfortunate enough to have found themselves in the path.
“Go…away Locke, I swear to god… just eat the ‘thing in the wall’, its too small to actually bother you that much.” He sat up bleary eyed, blinking with a frown when he realized that Locke, was belly up against the far wall doing, well, as close as a youma passed off for sleep.
Had he dreamed it? He glanced around, sliding the heavy chair back to peer under the table when he saw no officers immediately in the room, but he felt…
He glanced up, eyes widening. The expression might have been far more comical had he not been wearing the half mask that obscured so much of his face.
He did not recognize her immediately, no, amend that thought, he recognized something of the clothes, the color of her eyes, the shade of her hair, the amethyst studded glasses she wore on silver chains. That. He recognized, it was other aspects that set him quite aback. It mixed in him, a feeling of sadness, and shock.
“My god.” He whispered. “…Would, you care to come down?” He asked trying to restore some semblance of polite conversation. He had not seen her in so long, had only heard that she had left for places unknown deep within the rift and he had not opted to be the one to summon her back from her quest into places unknown.
“Do you remember me?” He asked carefully, as though he had some sure reason to suspect she might not.
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 9:28 pm
She was silent as she waited for the General-King to locate her. The eighteen year old knew it would take him a minute. Humans never looked up first, they looked everywhere but up not thinking anything could swoop down on them from above especially when they were inside. When he actually looked under the table she couldn't help but laugh which surprised even her. She hadn't laughed in a very long time.
The laugh was followed by something just as surprising, a wide smile curled on her lips, though because of the way she was hanging it may have looked more like a frown, being upside down and all. She couldn't help it, the shock on Zinkenite's face was priceless, even if she could only see half his face.
At his offer to come down she tilted her head to the side looking thoughtful. "I...suppose" Her words had a rough edge, but it was nothing personal to the General-King. Ever since she had joined with her youma companion it had become a bit less melodic.
Without warning Captain Zanazziite let go of the wooden beam with all of her appendages, flipping in the air once before she landed in a crouch on the table in front of Zinkenite finally coming into the light.
His question caught her off guard and she crept forwards until she was perched on the edge of the table almost like a gargoyle. "Yes...We both...helped General-Queen Tanzanite a long time ago" She didn't mention that she had also lost her temper and yelled at him. She didn't think it would do her any good to remind him of her insubordination. "You're Zinkenite." Her wings fluttered and she stared at him, wondering if he remembered her insubordination.
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 9:44 pm
“Not so –very- long.” He said with only a slight hesitation in his voice. “You, also said some rather sharp things while I was still… stunned by that rather, frustrating victory by the senshi.” Even now there was the bitter taste in his mouth to know they had HAD them, they had been so close but when the senshi had… had worked as one.
Disgusting really, it was like a cartoon show.
“…So, you are like her now?” he glanced her over, or them over to see the wings and tail, other protrusions as well that were distinctly lacking in ‘humanity’ from her small form. “Yes, though, Yes, I am Zinkenite…captain.”
It was amazing really, the wings and tail still seemed to have minds of their own, moving, twitching sometimes in a way that seemed unrelated to what Zanazziite herself chose to do at a given moment, other moments, the coordination was perfect. “I take it, this was not perhaps as involuntary as… it has been for others?” He asked and reached a hand, almost touching, but never laying a finger on the almost vestigial wings. He drew back lest they reach back to touch him, not out of disgust though. He would have drawn back from the greater part of the Dark Kingdom, let alone the world.
“Have you, have you lost anything to it? Memories? A … sense of self?”
He had to know, he had to understand, it was just his nature to need such a thing.
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:11 pm
His comment on how long it had been was answered with a slight shrug. The passage of time had become skewed for her. The last seven months had felt like seven years at some points. His next comment had her ducking her head, so he did remember. How unfortunate. "I...apologize" Really she should have apologized right after the fact, but she had been more worried about Tanzanite at that point.
Crouching there staring at the General-King she was intrigued. He seemed more curious about her than anything. She had been expecting some sort of chastisement for being out in the Rift for half a year, but interrogation was a welcome alternative. "I am...was it the horns that gave it away, or the wings?" A grin was flashed after her little joke showing off her enhanced canines that were now more like fangs.
Zanazziite barely noticed the twitches and fidgets her youma parts made anymore. She had learned that keeping Cornelius completely under control all the time was impossible. Even keeping him still for a minute when he wanted to move was exhausting, so she let him have control when she could and it made her life smoother. Though it led to odd moments, like when her tail snaked up and coiled around Zinkenite's wrist when he reached for her wings, not quite letting him pull away. Violet eyes flicked to the grasp and then back to his face.
"The General-Queen offered and I was...honoured to accept." It was true, her first reaction to the offer that Tanzanite had made her was disbelief followed immediately by pure excitement. His second question left her thoughtful for a moment before she answered. "Lost? ...No, I don't seem to have lost anything. I'm sharing my mind now, it's...difficult at times." She wasn't quite sure how to put it in to words, what she was experiencing.
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:34 am
“Don’t… your comments at least were merited, I should have appreciated that we were alive, not focused on the fact that they pulled so sudden a victory.” He tilted his head the other way, still watching, stiffening slightly when the tail coiled around his wrist though he did not let himself yank away. Offered, this had been OFFERED to her not forced upon her in any way. She had willing joined with the youma, not been forced into it as Tanz had, or forcibly changed as he very NEARLY had. “Amazing.” He murmured. “In such things, it seems that willingness makes a profound difference. I can’t imagine this could have been easy though, you have been gone for some time.” He arched a teasing eyebrow at her. As though Tanzanite would not have been sure where she was, the idea was laughable almost. “You sound hoarse, would you like some tea? I’d like it if you would tell me what you saw, what you found.” He pulled a heavy chair out for her, though if she would sit in it, or perch on it was still a question. She could hardly return to the civilian world that way; he’d need to see to it that she was comfortable within the rift. Would she want a bed? Or would she want something more like a Nest? His head was spinning with questions, it was just a question of how to phrase them.
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 8:24 am
Zanazziite could feel the General-King react to her touch and she attempted to let go of his wrist. She didn't enjoy making people uncomfortable, even now when she wasn't quite human. Unfortunately the youma didn't seem to share her concerns and her tail barely twitched. Forgetting about Zinkenite for a moment she narrowed her eyes giving her tail a disapproving stare much the same way a mother would as she scolded a child. "Cornelius," The name was more of a low hiss on her lips, but it seemed to get the tail's attention. After holding on a moment longer her tail loosened, falling away from the man's arm.
Zinkenite's words brought her back to the conversation. She may have been with youma the last seven months, but she could still pick up on his teasing. The smile on her lips was small and she shrugged with one shoulder. She had spent the first few months waiting for Tanzanite to call her back, Zan knew that General-Queen would know where she was. The dragon phoenix youma she was bonded with had been born on the night the Black Phoenix had risen after all.
The offer of tea made her perk up. She hadn't had tea in what seemed like a lifetime. "I...would adore a cup of tea." The bluenette looked to the chair that was pulled out for her, pausing for a moment. Oh, yes, chairs were for sitting. The Captain carefully hopped off the table straightening up slowly. Looking down at herself she seemed to notice for the first time that her dress was a wrinkled mess. Wrinkling her nose she shook out her skirts attempting to look a bit more dignified.
She settled into the offered chair gracefully, a rare moment where her youma and human parts worked together in harmony. Spreading her skirts over the chair she looked like a proper lady- if you could ignore her fluttering wings, curved horns, and twitching tail.
"Is there anywhere specific you'd like me to begin?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:08 pm
He retrieved his thermos of tea, and then dug for some of the take out he’d broken down and purchased for his dinner. “Do you mind…”? He checked the slip to remember what he had ordered. “A slightly cold, at one time toasted sub? I’m afraid Its been left to get cold.” He poured them each some tea into plastic cups, easy to carry and easy to dispose of as well, before splitting the sandwich between them on the napkins the shop had provided.
“As for where to begin, I’d say the start is an excellent place, how far did you go? What did you see?” He paused in his questions and dug for paper, he had little doubt he’d want notes on this. “…And what may we get you? I think it’s likely that you’d appreciate a place to stay since your new ‘friend’ you’re so close to, makes it a little hard I think to go out on anything other than ‘business.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:17 pm
Violet eyes followed his movement from the tea thermos to the sandwich. The smell of food set her stomach immediately rumbling. She had spent the last seven months living off the energy of the Rift, only surviving because half her insides were more youma than human. "...A cold sub sounds amazing." Her words were starting to flow a bit more easily now, but her voice still held its roughness.
Taking the plastic cup from him she held it delicately careful not to scratch him on accident. She had learned after her first scuffle with another youma that her claws were infectious and she didn't think Zinkenite would appreciate any necrotic wounds. Zanazziite inhaled deeply, surrounding herself with the smell of the tea. It didn't matter that it wasn't super fresh, it made her feel more civilized than she had in months. Slowly she began to sip at the tea, warmth spreading from her insides out.
She nodded as he spoke, but then paused as she noticed the paper being brought out. It reminded her of something. "I have something that might interest you," Setting the plastic cup on the table she reached into a hidden pocket in the skirt of her dress pulling out a small, extremely battered notebook. Placing it on the table she slid it towards him before picking up her tea once more. "I kept a journal...the first couple months will most likely be useless, but...everything I learned is in that book." If the General-King decided to open it he would find pages of journal entries with sketches of youma scattered in between.
Drinking the last of her tea the cup was replaced on the table and she started on the sandwich, thinking about his second question. Chewing slowly she swallowed then spoke. "....I would like to stay in the castle...if that's possible." The thought of returning to the surface to live was not a pleasant one. She felt much more comfortable in the Rift.
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Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 9:13 pm
“Of course.” He replied with a small nod and then pushed some blank slips of paper towards her, taking the opportunity to pull the journal she produced with the aura of a man who’d just been offered a clue to the location of the Holy Grail.
“Thank you, Zan.” He said flipping for a moment to the first page before closing it again, he’d be polite enough for now at least, better that than to start devouring it as though he were starved for the information to be found within. You just never knew what kind of information you could find if you just put the right pieces together.
“Make a list…there, of things you would like, thins that would make this more comfortable for you. It may take time, but I’ll see to it, that we get you at least the basics. I’ll bring you food as well, warm water may be the biggest issue.”
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:50 pm
When she was told she'd be allowed to stay in the castle a knot that the part-youma hadn't even been aware of loosened inside her. As much as she had loved being out in the wilds of the Rift she did like the idea of having a room to herself again.
Seeing his reaction to the journal she grinned, pleased that she managed to do something worthwhile. "You're welcome, General-King" She could tell he was having to restrain himself from reading the entire journal then and there.
Looking at the blank paper she thought for a moment before she began writing items down, clawed fingers holding the pen carefully. It wasn't a very long list, there wasn't a whole lot of tings she absolutely needed. "I can do with cold water...I don't want to be too much trouble."
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:09 pm
“No trouble really, It could be useful for more than you, I just haven’t thought of any logistics for it beyond… car batteries.” He waved a hand making a face at the irritation of ‘no electricity within the rift’.
“We will figire something out.” He nodded. “even if its boiling water in a copper tub. I’m pretty sure they still function.” He gave a soft chuckle. But it would be something good to have, people with injuries could clean them and so on. Of course that still required something like ‘wood’, and…
He had to stop his mind from wandering away on that particular problem again. Things like ‘Did the rift run the risk of suffering pollution? Could it be considered ‘properly ventilated’ what WOULD happen if you started a fire in one of the fireplaces?
“Blankets, bed, chairs? I’m fairly sure Internet is… not going to happen any better than cell phones but…”
He pursed his lips imagining a cabin in the woods, creating their own ‘terror in the woods’ legend to keep people away. Hmm… possibly insulting to her though.
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:15 pm
Finishing her list of necessities she pushed it and the pen towards Zinkenite. "Well, if you need money for supplies or...anything really I still have access to my bank accounts. I have no use for the money now...but the Negaverse may." Money was never all that important to her, and now it was even less so.
"I'm sure whatever you bring in will be wonderful," Feeling a bit antsy she shifted in her seat. After months of being in the Rift sitting in a chair was foreign to her. Her wings fluttered, stretching outwards then pulling in again. It was a call for movement. Turning her head to the side she muttered out of the side of her mouth her words not directed at the General-King. "Behave," Unfortunately Cornelius wasn't what anyone would call obedient. Instead of calming down things went the opposite direction- her tail began twitching like mad and her wings started flapping kicking up a small breeze.
Knowing it was only going to escalate she stood up, barely managing to keep her balance. "I apologize, General-King, but I need to-" Her words were cut off by a inhuman screech, the cry of an angry dragon phoenix. Abandoning decorum she turned and fled the room, retreating to the security of the maze-like passages deep inside the castle before she lost all control. The last thing she needed was to end up scratching Zinkenite's face off.
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:25 pm
He stepped back, well out of the way to let her pass, fighting her own body, trying to control herself. She had power; yes… she had something nearly unique in the Dark Kingdom. Even if she hadn’t lost her memories, herself… she’d still lost a great deal in what she had become. His knees were shaking when he sat and he had to breathe slowly to calm himself. He wanted to help her, needed to help her. It was not his fault…but he understood on some level. He was not pleased with it as she seemed to be, and her pleasure in the transformation was at least a blessing, that –was- a first.
Half youma, he rubbed his eyes. Tanzanite, now her, would there be others?
Locke rolled over and perked his long ears watching intently after Zan. “Well,” murmured the youma. “Isn’t she fascinating.”
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