Topic: Firesong Sunstrike Aldrack Haze

FireSong

Date: 2006-04-10 17:07 EST
The Slavers were gathering again in Rhydin. The whispers were spreading from house to tavern to inn to slum to harbor; through the thriving city.

Worse things were also returning than Slavers did they but know it. Destroyers, Assassins, Hunters, and those that would without emotion dispense Justice were coming too.

Firesong Sunstrike Aldrack Haze was not one of those without emotion that had returned. She was a destroyer of all things. The fury raging within her slender form was not something she ever cared to control. It was a part of her that she set free at every opportunity.

Currently she had been sent to protect the ice dragon, so named Icer, that according to her information had been trapped by the Nexus in the Inn. The job of bodyguard suited her for the moment. There were males she could hurl small balls of flames at, upon a whim, which helped to take the edge off her need for violence.

FireSong

Date: 2006-04-10 17:32 EST
Red and yellow sparks were spitting and hissing around her, illuminating pale almost elven features, as every poster she came across burst into flames then floated away on the breeze as the petite, silver haired female stalked down the dark streets, both hands extended before her with small balls of flames swirling above them. In place of each poster was left behind a brand that a few might still recall from long ago. "~?"~"

A smirk rested upon pale lips as glacial blue eyes searched for the pictures that had been tacked up all over town. At least part of them had already been torn down or so it appeared. Nails left with only shreds paper, that smelled new, attached to them were a good indication that someone had come along ahead of her and removed some kind of notice.

It was a good bet that the Slavers had sent out their minions to remove the posters to keep the normal, everyday, citizens of Rhydin in ignorance.

Fire was cursing viciously to herself in Tayladras as she stalked down the middle of the cobblestoned street, lovingly caressed by licking tongues of flames that were flowing like a waterfall over her from head to toe in a beautiful but deadly dance should any dare to come near but Nyte.

Her aura continued to pulse around her glowing hotly with her fury as posters flared to life then died in flickering embers as the female Huntress continued her burning of every last one she could find.

She would not stalk the more crowed parts of the city yet as her fiery temper was out of control and to end up killing an innocent bystander, and that had been known to happen on more than one occasion in the past when her Ashke was not present to control her outbursts of ungovernable fury, would have the townsfolk after her head just as fervently as they were after these Slavers.

It had never been like this in the past. Time used to be she could step out on the street and have dinner without a second thought. Now she had to actually take the time to scan minds of the next tasty treat to find a decent meal. Had the couple actually been away in their home for that long"

The males were the worst. They appeared to think they had the right to speak to her if they wanted to even though no one had first introduced them to her. Had they no realization that she was royalty and they required at bare minimum an introduction to her first' And then if she was so inclined to grant them permission to speak with her she would.

More fires sprang up around her slender form. A male whimpered in agony as his body writhed helplessly as it was mercilessly engulfed in hungry red and yellow hues that gloried in the devouring of his body after she had fed until the last possible second. Above the whimper and hungry roar of flames could be heard a feline-like purr of satisfaction at the end of his life.

Suddenly she paused in mid-step and canted her head to the side as a feminine voice sounded in her mind. Her aura immediately withdrew inside herself to snap and crackle just beneath the surface of her skin as she turned on her heel to return back to hidden forge that she and her partner had called home for centuries untold.

Firesong replied the same way through their bond. "Hai. Ye did not say that I was not allowed to have a little fun while ye were repairing the dint in ye armor Ashke. One would think after these centuries ye would tire of the repairing of such and simply leave it for me. I return now with news."

FireSong

Date: 2006-04-11 10:51 EST
Firesong woke to find a foreign taste in her mouth. It wasn't the nectar of life but rather some type of seed-like things. Sitting bolt upright on the couch she snarled; those glacial eyes quickly taking in her surroundings as her aura exploded outward in a rush seeking death and the destruction of anyone that might be within it's reach.

Inhaling deeply to catch the numerous scents in an attempt to sort them out left her on overload. They were too many and too varied so she shook her head vigorously to clear the scents from her nose and gracefully rose to her full height. The soft hiss of leather and chiming of silver bracelets mingling with crystalline beads brought some semblance of comfort as she scanned the unfamiliar room.

The last thing that she could remember was the fight she had been in. She sought the female's death and had she been but still laying in the tangled bloody heap with her she would have killed her on the spot. There was only one that could survive her flames unless the Mage Adept was only toying with them and Kristia was not the one.

It appeared that someone had taken her to this place, where she could detect no hint of a threat to herself, while her body had been Healing itself of the wounds she had sustained during the physical brawl that had ensued after the woman had caused her to lose her link with the node beneath the inn. She would be better prepared for her next time. First encounters were often messy things. More of a feeling your target out than done with any sense of finesse and so this had proved to be.

Broken ribs, broken finger, concussion, lost link to the node, and numerous bruises, cuts, and scrapes that had her more thankful than ever of her Vampire heritage. It hadn't been the clean swift kill she could have hoped for but she felt she had a better grasp now of what the female was capable of and would shamelessly use that knowledge when next they met as they assuredly would.

But for now apparently she had a benefactor, that she could sense was upstairs, to thank for seeing her to a place of safety while her body Healed itself. Removing four silver coins she left them on the shop counter where they could not be missed by the woman that had gone to the trouble to help an injured stranger.

The shopkeeper would forevermore be protected by the couple from afar. Their work was such that to be called friend by them would gain the notice of those better left unnoticed by. A simple note upon a piece of paper was left along with words that would appear only to the one they were intended for and then disappear as soon as they were read.

My thanks ye have. If ever in need ye be send word via the ice dragon. Lady Firesong "~?"~?

((Cross posted from Fay's Woven Dreams))

FireSong

Date: 2006-04-11 13:19 EST
Firesong smirked as she streaked across the skies above Rhydin. The flames surrounding her glorying as they dispersed the darkness. The trail of red and yellow sparks streaming behind her mingled with droplets of blood that were steadily dripping from the injuries she had sustained in this latest encounter with the Slavers.

The night had begun simply enough with her coming to the Inn to protect her charge Icer and at last introduce her wife to the ice dragon. She had no intentions of fighting this night. The Bodyguard had learned all she needed to know to report back to her wife the night before. Then the female Kristia had entered armed to the teeth, literally, and looking to finish what had been started the night before.

She was happy to blast the female through the doors and out into the alley with balls of fire that she would follow with preternatural speed in a vortex of flames.

The two had barely gotten started this time when a crowd had gathered to watch. Fire was concentrating on her opponent but could feel the eyes directed toward her as if they expected her to take unfair advantage of this Slaver. It would seem perhaps those gathered approved of Slaving.

As though Slavers were not the ones that need be exterminated by any means possible. Fire was not the one to do the actual "terminations" of slavers. She never had been. She specialized in assassinating cheating males for women.

She was the one that went out and determined the situation, got a feel for how they fought, and who was where when, and who they were talking to and about what. The connections they made both above and underground were sometimes difficult to determine unless you found a way in.

Firesong had always played that role although when asked she gave the same answer. She was a destroyer and a dispenser of Justice and was here for them. In this alley she took note of all the players and where they stood. How they reacted to her actions and who was standing next to who. Shamelessly she read each mind that was not shielded from her as she attempted to avoid the attacks by Kristia while delivering a couple of her own in return.

FireSong

Date: 2006-04-11 13:21 EST
The whip bit viciously into her hand as the tail end curled up her wrist as she barely saved the cheek of her face from the quicksilver speed of the woman's weapons. She was a formidable opponent and she had to turn all her attention toward the battle once more as she jerked in an attempt to pull the woman off balance.

As Tara and the male Vampire Lord appeared she recognized Tara from years past and knew her for who and what she was and had been. Her wife would be pleased to know she was still around or displeased depending on her mood at the time she reported back and that depended upon whether or not she survived this fight.

The male perhaps she would investigate further at another time. His shielding was more complex than any she had come across before and at the moment in the middle of what could in the blink of an eye turn into overwhelming odds was not the time for any but the briefest of brushes against it.

As she was running all the information through her mind and noting the steadily increasing odds against herself the Slaver used the momentum from her jerk to gouge at her eye with a sharpened spoon. Both hands went up to grab the woman's wrists in a protective measure and if she hadn't been gifted by Vampiric speed she would have lost her eye.

As it was the skin peeled back from beneath the socket and blood poured down her cheek a blood curdling scream that could have been heard clear to the harbor was let free at the attempt to half blind her for the rest of her undead life.

Tara Rynieyn

Date: 2006-04-11 22:06 EST
The hellcat sat in her throne and looked around the tavern. Everyone was yapping. Did they ever shut up and just listen for a change? She thought not because if they did, they wouldn't feel the need to come to her with the questions they usually did.

Her arms crossed over her chest and she began to tap her fingers upon her forearms as she analyzed what had happened in the back alley the night prior.

An assassin had come to harm Kristia which would not have been a big deal had this particular assassin not spoke to her as if she knew her. She could not recall the woman's face but she knew, deep down, she had met her before. She just couldn't place it.

When she had taken out Soul's blade and attacked her, the assassin demanded she give it back to its owner. At first she chalked it up to grandstanding but as she sat in the throne and really thought long and hard about it, she wondered if the woman knew the circumstances regarding how she came to be in possession of the weapon.

Soul was dead. Long dead. But that didn't mean all his allies were.

She needed information, in the worst way. She needed to know who the woman that attacked Kristia was and why she had taken an interest in the enchanted dagger of her long dead husband.

There were two ways to get information quickly.

On your back, or out of pocket.

She wasn't about to even entertain the former as she was happily married now and even the latter was seeming unnecessary as she still held the title of the reigning queen of gossip. If there was something to know, Tara Rynieyn knew it save the assassin's name and purpose.

This disturbed her.

Not knowing what else to do and growing irate by the constant chatter of the mortals (some of whom she called friend) she got up and went to Hunter's Chalkboard.

There she took up the chalk and scrawled a note that to the ignorant reader might seem like a cipher though it really wasn't, it was just a note to an old friend who, incidentally, had the same remarkable ability to remember past events and personages like she did. Except with the old friend she possessed a clarity in her vision whereas the hellcat's memory was chaotic and frenzied.

There was much to remember in the space of six centuries, you know.

Mistress of Rhilshen-

I'll need whatever guild rosters you have from the Golden Age and a meeting with you and the White Queen. A.S.A.P.

Your fan,

Da Cockroach Killa

If the note went unnoticed by its intended recipient, which she sincerely doubted it would, she would have to make a trip to Loreil to go see Blue. Another, old friend.

Failing that, there were two other places she knew she could go to get the information she required.

One was the Rhy'Din Library, a hellish place filled with absolute silence that was so loud at times you could just put your head through a wall.

or...

Grimm himself.

The thought of returning to the FOES compound to see the man she still called father made her twitch. He'd ask her questions, want to know what she had been doing since they last spoke (four months ago now) and since Grimm never was a man that trusted his "daughter" as far as he could throw her, he would know, at once, something was up.

Especially when she asked to see the tomes relating to Rhy'Din's history.

She walked out of the tavern and got into the black carriage that was waiting for her outside, then instructed the driver to take her back to Longden Castle.

There she would break out her own recorded history of the lands, scour them until the early hours of the dawn and sooner or later she would turn something up.

And if she didn't, she'd just have to turn the whole town upside down until she got what she wanted.

FireSong

Date: 2006-04-12 12:04 EST
Fire had to get to high ground. There were few in the alley that could match that feat she could tell so wrenching free from Kristia's attack she leapt for the rooftop. Right behind her was the female known as Tara. The shock of Soul Light's blade being viciously thrust into her gut had both hands wrapping around the woman's wrists instinctively.

Tara spoke to her threatening her with things that gave Fire cause to laugh had the supernatural abilities of the blade not triggered the lifebond to her wife. What one saw so did the other. What one felt so did the other. What one heard so did the other. What one knew so did the other. The reports were an intimacy that they shared more than an actual 'reporting back".

Such was their bond and had been for centuries untold as they walked their lives" path together. Partners in all ways. Much moreso than mere mortals could ever hope to understand.

Silvery hair whipped into a frenzy around her slender frame as the two stood facing each other upon the roof top as flames licked hungrily yet were under control because no longer was Fire the one controlling herself. Talisa had come in answer to the unprovoked attack by Tara upon her wife.

The voice that came from Fire no longer was the Vampiress Mage Adept's voice it was Talisa's, the NyteStalker, even the words were hers. "Once a slut always a slut return the blade it does not belong to you." As the words were uttered, although the impaled woman was unaware of it, the male Vampire Lord joined the two woman locked together by the blade upon the peak of the roof to support his wife.

Transfixed, and in total control of Talisa, Fire stood with her hands around Tara's wrists, blade burning cold within her insides as it sought to devour a soul and was denied. Fire hadn't possessed a soul in centuries and technically wasn't made of flesh either unless she wished to be like she had chosen to be for this particular job.

Soul Light's blade would have driven a sane person slowly demented and eventually completely destroyed them. Fire was never stable to begin with and only Talisa could control her at the best of times so having stabbed the only thing in the world that mattered to her, without direct provocation on Fire's part against Tara herself, with it Tara had served only to bring down the wrath of Talisa upon her head.

Talisa wouldn't bother with Kristia as her wife had attacked her first the previous night and so she left Fire to fend for herself with that fight as was her way anytime Fire started a fight. But this was another matter entirely. Her wife had not attacked Tara and she had been stabbed with a supernatural blade by her.

Tara had also threatened her wife with being enslaved and used and all of those other things that those involved with and that are around slavery enjoy making threats of having done to a person but Nytestalker takes those things very personally when it comes to her wife and through their lifebond had heard each word.

FireSong

Date: 2006-04-12 13:18 EST
The next afternoon the couple made their way in silence to the Inn. Stalking through the doors they each stepped to the right and took up a lean against the wall. One set of glacial blue eyes watched the occupants as they waited. One set of glacial almost translucent gray watched as they waited. Neither saying a word to any that were there.

Fire reached mental hands to the Node beneath the Inn taming it to her hand before setting up the link between its energy and herself that would allow her to use it rather than her own inner reserves even though she had fully recharged herself. She knew Kristia's concentration breaking tricks now and it would take more to break hers by the woman and anyone else now that she was in "battle mode".

Never again would she enter the Inn without full shielding that would repel anything that anyone could throw at her. She was an Adept and had studied combative and defensive magics for centuries now. Word was quickly spreading about her as evidenced by Tara attacking her without being attacked first. It was back to basics as her wife would say.

The shields that she placed upon herself were a combination of multiple layers for she had been in too many Guild Wars to count and survived too many assassination attempts to count as well. She had begun to center herself not within herself as most mages do. Also unlike most mages Ric had attacked Fire with roots and so her shields extend to even beneath her feet in a seamless encircling of her entire slender form.

Instead Fire centered herself as she had learned in her native homeland, outside herself in another place so that there was no possible way anyone or anything could truly capture her by any currently known, or future known, means.

The outer shield was passive and merely would serve to bounce people and things off of it that attempted to lunge at her or that were thrown at her. It was only as you got closer to her that they became hostile and more deadly. If you had been able to survive the death dealing multiple shields poisons and drugs would not work on her as she simply pushed them from her pores to rid them from her system as soon as they were injected. Being a centuries old Vampire allows one to do that.

Her mind was fully shielded as well now. Only Talisa could reach her and that was through their lifebond. She had trained and was able to resist all forms of compulsion and was able to watch someone being tortured before her eyes and never move a muscle or show an emotion. The woman had been battle trained the hard way as her wife would say.

Talisa was pissed to put it mildly and when her wife was in this mood heads would literally be rolling in another game of bowling for dollars. Fire was gleefully looking foward to the coming confrontation. It had been years since she had been able to watch her wife in action. She had hoped the male Tanzin would catch her Ashke's eye and the petite Warrioress would fight him. So far Nyte had not found him to be worth her time.

The couple had stood waiting for Tara to make an appearance so that Talisa could talk with her, everyone else being left to their own business, as Nyte had only one purpose now; find the one that had brutally stabbed her wife.

Having no more time to wait this day Talisa withdrew a dagger and threw it to the bar leaving it deeply embedded there with a note to Tara reading. "Tara we need to talk - Tal."

The couple then turned in one seamless motion still wrapped within their cloak of grave cold silence to return to their hidden home.

FireSong

Date: 2006-04-15 17:27 EST
The couple had returned to the Inn the next afternoon to take up their vigil once more. Stepping to the right of the door one set of glacial blue eye and one of translucent gray they watched and waited in silence. Full shields were in place and battle magics already set-spelled ready to be triggered with a single word uttered.

Red and yellow snapped and crackled just beneath the surface of Fire's skin as the males began to enter and take up places around the Inn then the ice dragon awoke and come to speak to her. Apparently the woman Kristia had wanted information on her and her wife badly enough to collar Icer the night before in an attempt to gain what the dragon didn't know.

She and her Ashke listened emotionlessly as the dragon repeated the events of the previous night up until the part where a mage named Braxeus had removed the slave collar for her that morning. Fire almost shook her head at what she knew was a futile attempt on Icer's part to regain her freedom but knowing that the ice dragon would find that out soon enough on her own kept her still and silent on that.

After Icer finished the telling Fire simply replied to her. "The next time shift human then back to dragon if they step on ye wing." It was an old Slaver's trick to keep a dragon pinned down while they collared them to just step on their wing. The dragon had a fighting chance if they shifted to human and bashed a fist into the side of the Slaver's head with their free hand and brought up both feet to kick at their knee, belly, or groin during the collaring attempt.

The young ice dragon couldn't have known that at the time. Now she would be prepared and better able to defend herself in the future.

Talisa and Fire continued their silent vigil until after sensing a presence Talisa stalked out into the alley with Fire right behind her. Erecting a barrier of flames around the two combatants was no effort and she did so without hesitation before taking up a lean against the Inn wall with arms crossed over her chest.

The barrier touched neither of the fighters. The sole purpose it had was to keep others from interfering. This was a fight between only two and would remain that way if she had anything to say about it. NyteStalker and Kain Gray were facing each other.

It was a macabre dance of death being done there in the alley that had already seen many of the same. Yet this one was different. There were no battle cries, moans, groans, screams of pain, nothing. Not a sound was made except the spit and hiss of flames as they licked lovingly around Fire's slender form.

Emotionlessly as ever she watched as time and again the two came together viciously attacking and artfully dodging. In the end the dance did not matter as Talisa ripped through Kain's armor and pulled out his core then slowly looked at it before putting it in her pocket; leaving his psyche to wander.

Turning from the scene the couple stalked back into the Inn. Talisa took a seat in a shadowed corner as Fire stalked to the bar to get a towel to clean the black substance from her wife's pale skin where she had been injured in the fighting and the ebon armor. She took note of who was sitting where and with who as well as what each person was talking about.

Returning she set full shields around their area then wiped the worst of the mess off before her wife grabbed the towel and cleaned the set of blades that retract into the armor of her forearm.

FireSong

Date: 2006-04-15 18:02 EST
Fire's attention was caught by that male, Brian Ravenlock, he was spouting off about her charge deserving to be collared and the flames greedily sprang to life in one small hand. She longed to set them free, burn anything, let it all burn, her fury was rising as more often of late it had to be set aside in favor of reason.

Kristia was present but Fire ignored her. She had learned all that she needed to know of that one and so it was no longer her job to antagonize or fight with her. If there was fighting to be done with that female it would be Nyte that did it or so Fire had been ordered and since Nyte was GC and Fire SIC so it would be.

Again the flames she had called forth were taken from her palm by the ebon armored hand as it was left smoking the same very special gift was left behind. A gift that had first began being given to a Beloved one years and years ago.

It had not come easy being married to an assassin at first. Fire had sought ways to protect her Ashke at every opportunity even though Nyte's confirmed kills at that time were already in the 30's. The Mage Adept had spent two full days making the gift for her wife. She still carries it at all times to this day.

They had spoken of themselves to none since they had returned. Their path was one of silence and watching, waiting for the right moment to revel themselves to those they waited and watched for.

Eventually all except the couple and the ice dragon as well as a male had left the Inn. It would seem the other two had forgotten their presence as the lifebonded couple were whispering to each other in Fire's native language while listening to the other two's conversation.

Suddenly there was information passed by the ice dragon that had the couple pausing in their conference to listen completely to the other conversation. Missing pieces fell into place with a loud snap and the two glanced to each other before Fire stood angrily and called forth a gate.

Only an Adept could call forth a Gate and she did so with the ease of long practice. Gates were tricky things as if the one building them were not careful they could drain their maker completely of all power. Only the one that called them forth could control them and the person creating them had to know exactly where they wanted it to open in order to create one.

The power for the Gate could only come from within herself not from without and she slumped once the lush foliage of their home Vale was visible where before there was nothing but the brick archway. Talisa picked her up and threw her over her shoulder with a growl and stalked through it as she had many times before.

Fire brought the power back into herself with a loud snap as she closed the Gate behind them far too quickly leaving mage channels raw and burning.

She made certain to leave not a trace of herself that could be tracked by covering it with the magic of the Inn itself rather than her own and by using not "true" or ?high' magic.

Fire had taken them straight from their corner in the Inn to one of the Vales. There Talisa could heal from her fight with Kain, she could recover from purposely overloading herself to prevent them from being tracked, they could discuss the new information they had seemingly accidentally been given, and decide if it was worth their time to return to Rhydin or not.