The Song of Aelik - Verse One (Immortal) [IC]

[Phenox]

The city of Aelik was buzzing with activity. Lamps hung from posts on the side of the streets, illuminating the darkness. The wonderful scent of pies, breads, and stews filled the six districts of the city. The streets were full of people drinking, laughing, and dancing as if it were the middle of the day. Music and good times could be found everywhere. Everyone was celebrating The Festival of the Dead, a festival held every twenty years to celebrate the lives of past kings. So it has been since old King Hemlin Athanvan I, the first king in the Athanvan dynasty, instituted the holiday almost five-hundred years ago to celebrate the life and achievements of his predessor. The streets of every district, save for the Palace District, were lined with stalls where traveling merchants sold their wares. The merchants were selling everything from exotic drinks and food to weapons, armor, and spells from far off lands.


Kilo Falcodian, a Dark Elf wrapped in a pitch black cloak, stood by in the shadows of an alley in the Market District, watching everyone have a good time. A few other cloaked figures stood with him, still as statues. Kilo, unlike the other people in the city, wasn't here for the festival. The purpose of his visit was far more sinister. He waved towards a group of five Dark Elves, who stepped over to him. Kilo was silent for a moment before speaking. "Find five souls willing to break into the palace. I have decided to go through with the plan tonight."


He paused. "That fool of a king giving the entirety of the guard the night off shall be his undoing." With a nod, the group walked out of the alley and dispersed into the crowd, searching for someone willing to do what Kilo wanted. A female Mystic Elf clad in the robes of the Royal Academy of Magickal Arts and Sciences, entered the alley just as Kilo's servants left. She had the swirled tattoos of a Mystic Elf native to the far off continent on her face. She walked casually up to Kilo and stood beside him. The light from a small nearby lantern accented her features. She looked like a very beautiful young woman, when in reality, she was actually close to six thousand years old.


"A beautiful night, Kilo." The elf smiled at the man beside her.


"Beautiful indeed. Much more beautiful if you have what I asked for." Kilo flicked his red eyes over to the Mystic Elf, who took a small clear ball out of her robes. Kilo tried to reach for it, but the elf quickly pulled it out of his reach, pouting.


"What, I don't even get a kiss for it?" She teased. Kilo growled and snatched the ball away from her. The Mystic giggled. "That crystal ball should make it to where you can see inside the castle. You can get a good idea of the security."


"Will I be able to see details?" Kilo asked. He already somewhat knew the answer, having studied artifacts like this in the Order's library.


"No." The elf replied, placing a finger on the crystal ball. "You will only be able to see vague details." As the elf touched the ball, Kilo was able to see what looked like a map of the castle. "The red dots represent the guards. Blue dots, servants and the like, and that yellow dot is the king." Kilo saw the yellow dot and beside it, there was a red dot. Other than that one, nineteen other red dots were spread out throughout the castle's east wing, protecting the treasury, no doubt.


"Just twenty guards. I can deal with that." Kilo looked the elf in the eye. "And do you have the... other thing that I asked for?" The Mystic Elf smiled and took out a scroll.


"You mean your little distraction for the guards that are in the city? Right here." She gave it to Kilo, who tucked it under his arm.


"Fantastic. If all goes as planned, the knight will be mine."


"I assume you have a plan to get me out of here, right? The king will behead me for sure if I stay." The elf gulped and put her hand on her throat. Kilo chuckled.


"Of course I do. The Order is good to those who are loyal. Right outside the city is a carriage. It should take you to Castle Thaig." The elf bowed slightly and turned to exit the alley, only turning back to put her right arm across her chest.

"Hail Hufan." She said with a serious look. Kilo repeated the gesture and spoke the same words.

"Hail Hufan." And with that, the elf was gone.

[Aydan Tenaebra]

The festival. Wren gave a short snort of disgust. The woman's skin shone an almost silver grey in the flickering light of the lamps that lit the buzz of activity around her where it was exposed- save for the jet black lines of tattoos that curved across her body. A black hood hid most of the small assassin's face. She leaned against the stone wall behind her, standing where she could watch the crowd comfortably out of the way at the end of an alley way she had found to duck in to a few moments before. She nearly ran in to a mystic elf with the familiar robes of the Royal Academy of Magickal Arts and Sciences. Odd. She shrugged it off. For all she knew the woman could have been trying to avoid meeting someone in the crowd. She couldn't say that, even outside of taking jobs, she hadn't done such herself to avoid an old "comrade." She glanced down the alley, a habit she had picked up to ensure her safety. Always look before you let your guard down. It saved her life often enough.

She was glad she had. There was a form at the end of the other end of the alley. Male? It seemed the best guess, though the dimming light between her and the form a little more difficult to tell. She gave a soft chuckle. Perhaps the girl had been meeting her secret lover. She rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes with a soft sigh- though she kept her ears open for movement from the man.

Damn, she hated crowds. So much noise. The various smells of foods assaulted her nose mixing interestingly, in some ways good, some ways bad. But it was the noise and pressing crowds encroaching on her space, making it hard to move. She couldn't stand it. It made her instincts scream in her head to get out. To get away. It made her cringe at the very thought. Bright, ice-floe colored eyes opened and cast a slanted glare at the festivities. Drunkards mixed with celebrating families. Laughter permeated the air, breaking in to the usually quiet night and it's serenity. Typically, this was her time. She loved it. Except during the Festival of the Dead. She let out a soft hiss. Damn, she hated crowds.

[InqWeaver]

Finally! Sa'dia had waited so long to see this, the lights, the people, the food... She smiled, and wormed her way through the crowds. Her bare feet made almost no noise as she stared wide eyed at the stalls. She smiled and neared one "Ah, a lovely, silken dress woven by Mystic elves for lovely Darcsen maiden?" The old man called and cooed.

"Material wealth is a trapping of the weaker soul." She spoke, just above a whisper, the lesson, almost mechanically... she had learned it word for word, but it was obvious by her wanting eyes that she had not yet absorbed the true meaning. The stall keeper cringed.

"Hmph... a monk... and nary a coin to your life, eh?" he sneered. Sa'dia, as most of the monastic students, had abandoned wealth and material goods in favor of a more free life. She nodded, and smiled, still eying the red dress with gold threadbare seams and embroidery. She longed for it, but ultimately sighed and bowed to the merchant, before turning away and continuing, trying her best to not look back. She sighed a few more times on her wondering journey through the crowd, staring at golden slippers, silken gloves, jewels and gems, fine things... that she could not afford.

She decided this festival, while fun and distracting was a bad idea. This festival was much more entertaining 20 years ago, she ultimately decided. She made her way from the stalls, and crowds. But someone caught her eye... a girl. Small, and hooded, leaning against a wall at the entrance of an alleyway. Sa'dia couldn't make out any details, but felt a weird tug in her gut; she kept her distance, but kept her black eyes on the girl... She walked, absentmindedly through the crowds. Now that she was focused on this girl, she was more able to ignore the stalls, the merchants, the food, the aromas, and the sparkling jewels. She couldn't shake a feeling that this girl was up to something... she didn't know how, or why, but she was so... conspicuous.

[Zhaliora]

Lidol was sitting in her small room in the tavern and pondered about tonight. She had been thinking of visiting Tengwa in the castle, but Tengwa did not like Lidol visiting for no reason at all. Lidol disliked that Tengwa was stuck at the King's side for the entire duration of the festival instead of going outside and have fun. She had planned their entire night together since a long time ago, but when she had snuck in and told Tengwa about it, she had been rejected by the duty-bound Tengwa.

She pouted and lit her pipe for the tenth time since she had asked Tengwa this afternoon. The smoke hung heavily in the air near the ceiling as she kept smoking her pipe. Despite what one may had expected from the smoke, it had a distinct lavender scent. If one would had walked into her room, the scent would almost be overpowering so much she had smoked her tobacco. As she finished her tenth portion of tobacco she glanced down at the tobacco pot, empty.

Lidol sighed and resigned to her fate, that had been her last pot of tobacco. She had intended to save it for later and finally convince Tengwa to smoke it with her. Lidol walked up to the window and opened it. She exhaled deeply, her breath almost stinking of lavender before inhaling some fresh air. She proceeded to breathe deeply a few times as she tried to get new air into her lungs. She knew just how much her breath smelled to others right now, and she needed to take a trip down to the festival.

As she walked out of the tavern into the festival, Lidol got enraged once again. She kicked a garbage container out of frustration as she once again was reminded of her failed night. After the frustration had left her, she bent down and picked up the garbage again before walking into the centre of the festival, heading for a specific store. On her way to the store, she noticed a noble looking High Elf with a purse hanging from his belt.

She casually strode up behind him and slowly loosened his purse before yanking it off. It would had been too easy just to take it, she wanted to have some fun too. The man shouted "THIEF!" and pointed in the wrong direction. Lidol had pulled it in such a way that he would think that the thief was running past him in the other direction. It worked splendidly as a few guards started chasing after a young boy that had taken off running when the man had shouted.

She felt sorry for the boy at first, but she knew that the boy would be able to get away without any problems. Lidol smirked as she juggled the purse once before hiding it under her cloak and entered the tobacco shop. She nodded once towards a cloaked person before she made her way up to the clerk.

"OOOhhhhiiiii, old man, long time no see. Do you have any more of that tobacco that I like?" Lidol sat down on the counter and leaned in close to the man. "I am out of tobacco, and I know that you tend to keep a big stock of it."

"So you're here again Lidol? You were here just yesterday and brought a pot full of it. Have you already smoked it all up?" The old man had a grumpy look on his face as he spoke.

Lidol leaned in closer and kissed his cheek before she started speaking in a seductive tone. "I know that you have some...Can you give me a discount on it since I buy so much of it?"

At that moment a lady walked up to the counter, carrying a pot. "No he won't give you a discount this time either Lidol, I'll make sure of that." She put the pot down in front of Lidol before she smiled warmly. "Were you not supposed to be with Tengwa today?"

Lidol's own smile vanished in that moment and she placed the purse of money in front of the old couple and pocketed the pot and left the store.

[Tetisheri]

It was a nice day to enjoy a cup of tea sitting on the balcony of her capital house. And that was exactly what Aisling was doing. She wasn't in capital for the long time and arrived only a few days before the festival. It had been hundreds of years since the Festival of Dead interested her, but the atmosphere around was still pleasant. And so, the pretty elf was sitting on her balcony, wearing her azure silken robe and watching the people below.

The fact that she was summoned during the festival, was quite mysterious. Well, she never really minded the opportunity to pretend to be a student of the magical academy and thus get the full access to its priceless library, but the reason itself was disturbing. It was nothing for her to play that role and sip her drink, though.

People were wandering, wondering, going and stopping, and chatting and somewhere dancing and singing as she observed them. Such simple form of happiness for everyone. It was normal, to feel careless and happy during the festival. Aisling noticed a few thefts, a few fights, a few love meetings... Everything was so sweet and bright that she couldn't help but wonder what she was doing here. As if enjoying the delight from the lights and the festival, she leaned back in her wicker armchair and half-closed her eyes.

That didn't mean that she stopped to watch though. As the people were passing by, Aisling noticed a shadow standing there consistently. A few others left it and went in all directions probably searching for someone or something. Well, all sorts of crimes were planned during such crowded events, so it didn't really matter. What mattered was the fact that a moment later that shadow was speaking with one of her "professors". This person couldn't be taken seriously by Aisling, since she was younger and less experienced and it didn't even take much efforts to hide Aisling's true self from her, though they were of the same race. Still, that simpleton (only in Aisling's opinion, of course) became even more curious when she took out a magical artefact. Skilfully done and accordingly, very costly. That's when the things became interesting.

Was it this why they summoned me, wondered the elf watching (or rather feeling) another of her kind leaving the scenery. It seemed that her tea had to wait. So she stood up, stretched herself after sitting and gracefully left the balcony. The next moment she was in the crowd, wearing not really expensive but of good quality black leather armour set under a simple wool cloak. Tons of people around wore the same, since the festival gathered all kinds of travellers. Aisling looked exactly like a person who was looking for something to do for a good reward. She tracked one of the shadow's subordinates and after following him for awhile and watching his interaction with the others, finally she approached him.

"You look like a person searching for someone capable," said she pulling off the hood from her face.

[Phenox]

((A little short, but meh))

Time continued ticking on, the night reaching its latter stages. It was around 4am now and the sun would soon rise here in the next couple of hours. Still, the festival went on, showing no signs of stopping. In fact, the party in the streets appeared to be getting wilder and more energetic. This was when the priests from the temple started coming out to speak out against the debauchery and decadence going on in the streets.

"People of Aelik, hear me! The High Son is strongly displeased with your arrogance and indulgence!..."

The rest of the priest's words fell on deaf ears.

The entirety of the people simply pretended that the priest didn't exist. After a good ten minutes of trying to get their attention, the priest let out a dejected sigh before walking off.


Tengwa Athanvan, Captain of the king's Praetorian Guard and Princess of the kingdom, walked out of the glorious palace, Kellesou. Her long, flowing hair framed her pretty snow white face. Already, countless suitors have come to win her hand. She wasn't even the heir to the throne and she had Dukes, Counts, Princes, and high-powered nobles wanting to marry her. She found it annoying. Tengwa had no interest in marriage or children or anything like that.


She completely lacked wife and motherly instincts. She sees a threat, her first reaction is to stab it. You can't stab people when you have children. It might scar them. Tengwa sighed. After spending the entire night protecting her father, he finally convinced her to go out and enjoy the last few hours of the festival. She tugged at her Praetorian armor, the golden Manticore gleaming in the lantern light.

"Hamlen!" She called. A young man in peasant clothes ran out of a nearby cabin and began to remove Tengwa's armor, leaving her in her red and purple finery. "Thank you." She smiled at him. The boy, Hamlen, bowed to her.

"Anything for you, your Highness." Tengwa's eye twitched at being called by her social rank. Still, she liked Hamlen. So she wouldn't yell at him. Tengwa really wasn't a royal figure. She didn't carry herself like royalty. She never really did. But she was an odd child. When girls were playing with dolls, she was practicing in the training yard alongside the soldiers in her father's military. She was always more like a boy in her interests. She trained with her brother for most all her childhood until she finally surpassed him and began training on her own. She had been so lost in thought, she forgot to tip Hamlen. She looked to where he was, but he was already gone.


"Oh well..."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The shadowy robed Dark Elf turned to the elf that addressed him. He made a few snarling noises before gesturing for her to follow. He slowly walked back to the alley. Aisling would notice that there was something very off about this figure. If she tried to speak to him, he would only respond with a growl. She would also notice that he was walking strangely, as if he hadn't learned to walk until just recently. As he walked, it would appear that he was turning his head around and making strange noises. Almost as if he was... smelling? Once they had arrived at the alleyway, the elf would motion for her to go in, then walk into the alley and stand next to the robed figure.

Now, those waiting by the alley would have a choice to make;
Address the strange elf? Or go off and enjoy the festival?

[Aydan Tenaebra]

As time wore on and the man, she had definitively decided he was male by this time, did not move to leave the dim corridor Wren grew mildly uneasy. She kept her posture relaxed, but her ears were open and her gaze would flick down the alley towards him every so often. She got the distinct feeling that something was happening this festival that was likely out of the norm. If that was the case, he had something to do with it. She was sure of that much. If her surety was wrong? Well she had learned it was better to be wrong having erred on the side of caution, than to find a blade between your ribs. She'd had people call her paranoid before on jobs she'd taken as part of a team. They usually hadn't survived long enough to realize there was always a base for her suspicions. Oh well, she had tried to warn them, after all. They had been adults and perfectly capable of making their own stupid decisions and living with- often dying from- the consequences.

The small cloaked woman straightened immediately, skillfully feigning the need to stretch after a time leaned against the wall, upon detecting the two approaching forms that were obviously not part of the festivities. She kept her back to the wall, and broke the stretch, folding her arms lightly beneath her chest. She kept her head down, hidden beneath her hood, and ice colored eyes on them as they passed her and went down the alley. The crossed blades in their scabbards were a comforting, constant pressure between her shoulder blades. They stayed hidden well beneath her black traveler's cloak and were always in easy reach should things turn ugly. She slipped ever so slightly deeper in to the shadows, no more than a few inches, as if to better avoid notice from the crowd that seemed to grow ever more energetic. She was curious now, but did not want to openly intrude until she was sure she could manage to do so without the possibility of bodily harm to herself. Suicide was not her kind of deal. She intended to live a great deal more than she already had.

Wren toyed with her tongue and labret piercings in an almost meditative habit. The Dark Elf found it calming, almost to the point of soothing. With that simple trick she could lower her heart rate and begin to focus a little better. It was a great help in times like the festival. It took her mind off the noise and crowd and allowed her to better train her attention and hearing on the subjects she preferred. The trio at the end of the alleyway, in this case.

[Zhaliora]

(Lill collaboration post between me and Phenox :3)

Lidol had left the store in a fit of rage and disappointment. She had looked forwards to spending the festival with Tengwa ever since she had taken an interest in her after they had become friends. It was not the old couple's fault, she knew that. She decided to apologize to them the next time they met each other. She walked around in the city absent-mindedly for a while. She took little interest in the festival itself, her mind was on Tengwa and Tengwa alone.

She almost bumped into quite a few people as she made her way through the city until she ended up in front of the castle without really intending to do so. Much to Lidol's surprise, she noticed Tengwa walking out of it without her armour! Lidol quickly hid and waited for Tengwa to get close enough before she jumped out and hugged her from behind.

"Hello Tengwa! Did you miss me so much that you had to leave the King's side?" She said teasingly as she poked Tengwa's cheek.

Tengwa was breathing in the night air, genuinely enjoying her break. Perhaps this was not bad. She still had time to enjoy the festival, so maybe... that was when Lidol hug attacked her. She groaned, knowing how it was before Lidol even spoke. "Boundries..." Tengwa mumbled, glancing back to Lidol. "You know I don't like it when people hug me..."

Tengwa liked Lidol. Or at least hated her less than she hated most people. Was that a bad way of looking at things? Of course. But it was a great way to stay alive. She was the Princess, Captain of the Praetorian Guard, and head of the city's Defense Committee. There were many people out there who would see her dead.

Tengwa sighed and looked back at Lidol. "What are you doing here?"

Lidol pouted. "Boooo. You are so stiff Tengwa." Lidol liked to tease Tengwa, but today, she wanted Tengwa in her best mood. The night Lidol had planned could still be saved. Or that is at least what she hoped.

When Tengwa asked why she was here, Lidol responded; "My legs drew he towards the palace. I am drawn here, people want you dead, you must be quite the Dark Elf magnet Tengwa."

Lidol reluctantly let go of Tengwa and walked up in front of her. "Now that you are out here, without your armour, it must mean that you are free for the night," Lidol said with a very happy smile. "And that means that I appoint myself to be your company this fine night as you enjoy yourself at the festival."

Tengwa scratched her head. She kinda wanted to go about it alone, maybe get a drink at one of the stalls. To be quite honest, she was tired of the wine at the palace. It was too... refined. She just wanted to get a mug of ale or mead and just knock it back and have some fun.

But now that Lidol was here, she wouldn't feel very comfortable doing that. "Fine, fine, let's go." She walked towards the castle gate, looking up at the night sky. The stars were shining particularly bright tonight. She absent mindedly rubbed the scar on her neck. It was a long, horizontal scar that drew across her neck and vanished behind her hair.

"Where do you want to go?" Tengwa asked, looking back at her.

Lidol watched Tengwa pass her with a big grin on her face. "Yes!" she thought to herself and ran up next to Tengwa again. "Oh...I am fine with going wherever you want to go Tengwa. Ask me for what you want to do, and I'll take you to a great place. I know where everything is in the city and at the festival."

If Lidol was going to be honest, she had scouted out the entire festival as they set up their stuff. She had talked to stallkeepers, people who hired out spots to those who would come from outside the city. She had memorized every single part of the entire festival for this night. As for the city....she needed to know where everything was due to her profession as a thief.

She had almost given up hope after Tengwa had declined her invitation due to duties, but now, she did not care about that.

Tengwa shrugged. "I don't know. I'd like to drink, but I doubt you'd like to do that." Tengwa sighed. "Whatever." She went through the gate and headed to a stall she had her eye on. They had some exotic drinks that she would like to try.

Lidol raised an eyebrow. She had not expected Tengwa to drink the night away, but she did not really mind that either. It would be her first time drinking with Tengwa either way. "Sure, lets go drinking!"

Lidol was happy no matter what they did. It was not too often that they could meet up to do things. A few times it had been Tengwa and her guards chasing after her due to a crime she had comitted. Of course, Lidol had never told Tengwa it was her, nor what her profession actually were. She knew that Tengwa was a proper woman, and she feared for what she would do if Lidol told her about her work.

Lidol was about to lead the way when Tengwa walked up to a stand full of exotic drinks. The shopkeeper nodded at Lidol, recognizing her from earlier when she had brought some after Tengwa had rejected her offer.

She noticed that Tengwa seemed very interested in the drinks there and she pointed towards a bottle. "This one is not too bad if you mix it with different types of juice or milk. It burns quite nicely in the throat though." She then pointed towards another bottle. "This one is much like the other one, but a lot sweeter and less strong. Those are the only two that I've tried from this stall, so I don't know about the other ones."

Tengwa looked around at all the drinks. "Hmmm..." She pointed at the strong drink. "This one. How much?" She asked the shopkeeper.

"20k." He responded.

"Yeesh..." Tengwa thought it over. "Eh, what the hell." She tossed down a coin purse and took her drink. "Come on. Let's find some place to drink this." She walked back towards the palace. She knew just the place.

Lidol smirked as Tengwa picked the stronger one. She did not know just how used Tengwa were to drinking, but this might cause her to get drunk. She shrugged her shoulders when Tengwa paid for the drink and followed suit, buying one for herself before she rushed up next to Tengwa again.

[Tetisheri]

The figure turned to her and for several moments Aisling felt being stared at. Or to be precise, she expected to be stared at, but the feeling that person was giving wasn't exactly a "stare". She was examined with more than just eyes. But then the figure in dark cloak nodded and made some kind of gesture for her to follow him accompanying it with several snarling sounds. Without asking unnecessary questions the Mystic Elf pulled her hood back on her face and followed him.

They were passing the main street quite quickly, but she noticed more than a few strange things about her guide. From time to time he was making strange noises that sounded like growling, as if that person had lost their voice and it was stuck somewhere in his throat. Sometimes it sounded almost artificial, with sharp metal notes that ended as abruptly as they started. His posture also wasn't something an elf would find graceful in their race's normal specimen.

Though all the proportions didn't seem unusual, the way he moved was as roughly as his voice. He was like a doll with stiff joints that could change positions of his limbs only in one direction, only with straight angles and even in some kind of order. It didn't seem unnatural, if you took only a glimpse at him, but it was very odd after some time of observation. Either he wasn't walking a lot, or walking was generally not his kind to move around. And the mage wondered, if she got the opportunity to see him on his four.

The last drop to feed up her suspicions were his abrupt stops followed by another kind of not quite casual noise. He was turning his head and inhaling deeply (or so it looked), then continued his way or changed direction. Is that smelling? wondered Aisling. Inside she was already prepared to see a wild beast taught to move like an elf. Or a golem. Since the person who had sent him had a meeting with her "professor", Aisling wouldn't be surprised that he had the access to such magic as well. After all, it was in blood of their kind. She considered looking through the soul of her companion but decided that it could wait. He was only the underling in the end. It was his master who mattered.

And so she kept the careless appearance as they were walking around the district. Then finally the cloaked man (man? She wasn't sure any more) leaded her to the dark alley. Her guide turned to her and waved to follow him in the depth of that quite unattractive place and stepped in. Aisling could see the person she'd noticed from her balcony there. The air he gave was quite menacing and more than that, kind of dull. Geez, I hope he isn't some kind of masochist who wants to die for his revenge, thought Aisling as she approached him without showing any hesitation. People of her current sort couldn't hesitate.

As she was close enough to be heard and not to be pierced by any surprise attack, she pulled off her hood again.
"So, is it you who gathers a party tonight? That guy beside you was kind enough to invite me, but he wasn't quite talkative. So what's the deal?" asked she. Her voice was casual, with the intonation of some habitual familiarity close to rudeness, as her eyes flashed. Right now they were of the steel colour and some wild flames danced there. Aisling didn't demonstrate any stiffness talking to the stranger. She was just a reckless person now looking for another kind of reckless job to pay for her reckless life.

---
Note, in case it wasn't understandable from the CS but might be important for further interaction:
Aisling looks like a High Elf and usually is considered to be the one, if only she doesn't reveal herself or the other representative of her race, much older and stronger, recognises her which happens quite rarely due to the lack of such beings.

[InqWeaver]

While staring at the girl, Sa'dia watched as 2 hooded and cloaked figures strode down the alley. Her heart beat quickly, she was curious, and worried. She stared at the girl at the mouth of the alleyway for only a split second. Her mind was made up, there was definitely something there. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment... her mind stretched and pulsed, ebbed and flowed, she could feel the energy around her, and tapped into it gently, as she opened her eyes, they appeared softer somehow, more at peace. She readied herself for any instance, she could feel her every muscle, and was prepared to command them.

As she strode past the small figure at the delta of the alley, she looked only briefly at her, looking into her perfect, pale blue eyes. Sadi'a's pitch black eyes stared, hollowly, out from her dark features. She ignored the girl, for the most part, she would take no chances in this, but knew where her focus must lie. She walked, gracefully and powerfully toward the cloaked figure, which only seemed more unnatural as she approached... something wasn't... right... about him... about... it.

What are you? She thought silently, as she moved ever closer, she wished only to ignore the creature, to be sure that no harm was coming to any innocent who may have gotten in over their head. Though she was unsure what she would find inside. Maybe nothing more than a gambling game set up by a family friend of the blue-eyed girl, and enabled by an invalid.