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Post by Shari'Adune Forestsong on Jan 24, 2018 13:30:30 GMT -5
Night had the city of Stormwind in a firm yet gentle grip. The stars above looked especially bright on this crisp evening, even under the light of the moon. It was very quiet, leaves rustling occasionally and the roaring of Shari's crackling fire the only things heard in her immediate vicinity by Stormwind Lake, away from the patrol routes of the guards and any drunken people staggering to or home from the bars.
The small elf sat quietly curled up by the fire, its warm light kissing over her features as she stared blankly into its depths. In her lap lay a little wild rabbit, enjoying her stroking fingertips, its ears laid flat on its back.
She looked sad, and quite alone with random tendrils of her long hair blowing across her face, the tickle on her nose barely felt. The feathers in her hair twirled and twitched as if eager to join the wind in its games. However no matter how much they stirred, Shari was unphased, her mind caught in a loop. The departure of her Owner had had a devastating effect on the normal happy and joyous woman, plunging her instead into a vortex of self doubt and worry. Feelings which had consumed her in the past under similar circumstances which always led to the removal of her collar by powerful members of the Thorn.
A shiver ran across her spine, not caused by the cold, instead it was caused by thought of what Shan'do A'rion would do this time if she had to return to him yet again for the removal of her adornments. Although such a fate was not to be thought her fault by the Order, Shari always took it personally as if she had somehow failed. Even though the metal was still there, cool about her flesh, she was beginning to feel the weight again. Shan'do had left her alone to fight without her. They were supposed to be a team, be as one... and now she was alone and so was he. It went against every grain of what was right and just in her body.
Upon her diminutive frame she wore her spring rain robe, the long sleeves helping to keep her arms warm, as did a clock she had wrapped about her shoulders. As usual however her feet were bare, poking out from under the robe to be kept toasty by the fire.
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Post by Feljäger on Jan 24, 2018 15:18:31 GMT -5
Human cities insulted the senses. They were a poor imitation of such magnificent landmarks as Elun’dris, the elegance of design in architecture and subtle visual aesthetic was lost on these short lived mongrel offspring of the Vyrkul. The city also smelled of excrement if the wind shifted properly and the air was too often choked with the soot and ash of one too many hearth fires. Humans crowded within walls of stone, as if those protections would ever save them. They huddled together against a cold that elves bore superior natural resistance toward. Everything about humans seemed to come from a flagrant misunderstanding of the nature of things and an overblown sense of self. They ignored the truth of the universe to wrap themselves up in illusions and facsimiles of reality so they might live out their momentary existence with some sense of ease. At least they had sense enough to allow natural spaces within their capital city. It might astound outsiders but every demon hunter, at least all those Fellen associated with, had a profound and distinct affection for nature. They were all willing to burn a world to cinders to save the other billions of living worlds where nature thrived. They were uniform in their love of the harmony of natural life and their absolute dedication to the end of the Destroyer and his Burning Crusade, that would see all such miraculous worlds die in all corners of the cosmos. Outsiders thought the Illidari were callous and cared nothing for life. They could not be more mistaken. Indeed, Fellen felt so enamored of nature he would kill everyone else on Azeroth to preserve it. His was the long vision, as was the vision of his Master. Only myopic individuals would not be inclined to agree. So it was that he strolled casually into the oasis of primal energies ensconced within the loose ring of human erected walls and buildings. His enchanted vision allowed him to see much that was lost on the normal eye. He saw life more than he saw the reflection of light. Small motes of energy, insects and rodents and arachnids, flitted and moved about the larger masses he knew to be trees. There was also another glow, a bright star of elemental energy, and aside it the shifting multi-colored ember of elven life. He walked in that particular fashion he had, with a straight back and carefully controlled posture, but an almost awkward swish of arms and hips that gave his limbs a haphazard, almost lazy aspect as they moved. He was in no hurry, he had no destination, but it was not in his nature to simply stroll up on another creature without invitation. He was a demon hunter, and he well looked the role, and he was no fool either. He knew what his appearance did to others that were not Illidari, as well it should, and he did not parlay that into some malicious game to unnerve others. He did not have time to play such childish games. He was an elf with a grand mission and petty intimidation were the things of the meek and the narrow minded. However his senses did tell him the elf that sat alone was of the female persuasion and that always perked his interest to some degree, so he did skirt around her but not so distant that he could not be seen and not so close as if to be mistaken for approaching her directly. In some ways it was a ploy of another kind. Designed to draw out hidden watchers that were cloaked in arcane spells that his vision would not immediately detect. Also employed to give the elf maiden an opportunity to determine if she actually wished to engage a racial relative that had ritually killed and consumed a demon. ((And I have a question! Would it be acceptable if my wife, whom is the player of Zaeram, also joined this rp thread? Zaeram and Fellen are most certainly NOT a couple but they are a pair… and she loves to RP as much as I do. So just color me curious. Also, to be honest, Shari might like Zaeram better in fairly short order. ))
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Post by Zaeram on Jan 25, 2018 10:20:30 GMT -5
Darkness shrouded her like an old friend as she moved swiftly and silently through the streets of Stormwind undetected by all save other Illidari or those with similar senses to see her move through shadows. Granted she could walk openly, braizenly, but she was on something of a schedule and wanted to be early to rendezvous with her Master Fellen and when she was on the move she didn't much like being bothered or detained by anyone with banal questions - attention her kind attracted still sadly. Sometimes it was just a drunken bystander slurring insults, or an over zealous guard showing off his supposed power by stopping her and riddling her with inane, useless questions, thus she moved stealthed and because of this, unhindered.
The only time she shed her shadowy mantle was when she reached the docks at the other end of the small lake within the city. There, she ran and then jumped, her demonic wings sprouting from her shoulders as she sailed over the lake, landing softly on the grass on the far side the wings disappearing in a strange twist of reality. Looking around with her spectral senses she realized she had made it to the meeting place early as she had intended, and then lazily wandered into the forest, the sway of her narrow hips reminiscent of how a shark slinks through the water. Reaching the stump covered in moss and tiny blue flowers that marked their meeting place she leaned against a nearby tree and waited, her non-existent eyes always scanning the area around her.
The fire attracted her attentions as she saw what looked like a small female Kaldorei sitting there being bathed in the firelight. Zaeram quietly took in her features as she had nothing better to do while she waited, just looking over her former kin drinking in many details as her multitude of feathers woven in her hair tossing about in the wind playfully. She briefly wondered if she'd looks similar if life had taken a different turn for her millennia ago, but then the Illidari tossed the childish though aside quickly as she had no time nor inclination to give into such nonsensical thoughts. That way led to weakness, something she'd never tolerate in herself, her Master had taught her better than that.
Speaking of her beloved Master, she tilted her horned head as she scented and then sighted him, a tiny smile tugging at the edge of her lips...
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Post by Shari'Adune Forestsong on Jan 25, 2018 20:53:12 GMT -5
The rabbit Shari's lap suddenly stirred, and perked up its ears, little velvet nose twitching quickly. This action roused Shari from her thoughts, making her tilt her head to the side curiously peering into the darkness.
She knew better than to be sitting alone on a dark night at such an hour, however, truly, she really did not care. Since the departure of her Owner she had not been entirely herself. A void much like the black darkness itself had left an emptiness in her heart which wrapped its arms about her like the cold winds that rustled the leaves.
Sensing an unseen predator in the night the rabbit suddenly jerked off Shari's lap leaving little scratches through her robe upon her thighs. She winced slightly more concerned about the bunny than herself. Watching him hop off and disappear into a clump of bushes she inhaled deeply then sighed, her shoulders slumping forward.
The druidess tilted her head to the side, peering through tendrils of her hair into the night. Being Kaldorei she had excellent night vision, however she did not see anyone, or anything to have caused the rodent to skirt away as it had.
"Hello?" she ventured tentatively. Usually she would have called out a greeting in her own language, but being in a human city, odds favored using Common when faced with the unknown.
Drawing her lower lip into her mouth she nipped at it with a fang, her fingers beginning to twist within her lap nervously. There she was unarmed- or was she? Perhaps unknown to any would be attacker she had one almost fail safe defense strategy, in the blink of an eye she could take to the air and be free on the wild breeze.
"I-Is... anyone there?"
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Post by Feljäger on Jan 26, 2018 0:58:07 GMT -5
He had not yet seen his protege’, though in fact he was not looking, as though it was their traditional meeting time and place Fellen was a creature that only place so much import on those moments. He had a mission to accomplish in Stormwind and though Zaeram was the most entertaining part of that mission she was by far the least pressing.
His eyes maintained vision of the solitary elf female when she called out into the night. Looking around timidly and speaking in a tone that oozed uncertainty.
“I-Is… anyone there?” she chimed out with that particular trill most of the females of the species possessed.
Fellen stopped his casual cadence of a walk and narrowed his glowing emerald eyes. Spreading out his arms and peering down at himself. The tattoos that all his kind carried and were often either dull in ambient effect or carried no unusual manifestations other than to symbolize the arcane weave that allowed them to contain their demon seed, on him those same patterns flickered and seethed with the contained demonic essence that coursed through him. He lit up his immediate surroundings with a soft, sickly, pale green glow.
He was a massive and muscular Illidari, seven feet in height, with horns and lambent decorations across his bare chested form. He was not moving silently, though all elves moved with a gentle step and an innate grace that allowed them to walk quietly even when moving without an aim to a silent end, and was not moving to keep in any shadows. Beyond that all elves had a keen vision in darkness. The species were not called “Night Elves” for an amusing play on words, as one might call a giant “Tiny”, and unless she was blind herself his presence should have been clear. She should have seen him. If not that she should have heard his steps with her keen ears. If nothing else the scent of myrrh tinted with sulfur and ozone should have been able to alert her to some kind of unnatural being in the vicinity.
He dropped his arms again, chuckled in a snide fashion and replied simply in the Darnassian tongue with, “No. There isn’t.”
His low, slightly hoarse voice, dripped with sarcasm and thinly veiled contempt, as if the words were bitter on his tongue.
He decided to continue on his path as he spied his companion at their appointed meeting place, and thus continued to skirt around the blind, deaf, deficient elf out for a night time meditation. He gave the fellow Illidari a curt little wave, little more than the sweep of his right hand, the first and middle claws extended while the rest of his nearly black hand was curled into a loose fist, as he approached.
“Partner,” he called to her in Demonic. His tone sounding casual, measured, and less snarky than before.
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Post by Zaeram on Jan 26, 2018 10:18:02 GMT -5
"Hello.... I-Is... anyone there?"
The female Illidari was not particularly surprised at the inattentiveness of the non-demonic kin near the fire. The smaller diminutive female had already seemed rather distracted when Zaeram was studying her to begin with, plus Zae had noticed during her time in this city many of the Kaldorei that lived here seemed to have dulled senses. Maybe it was the city, maybe it was being around other races for too long, she wasn't sure, but she also made a point to keep herself sharp at all times to combat this possibly effect while she and her Master were on assignment here.
“No. There isn’t.”
The flush of ambient demonic energy along with his comment almost elicited a chuckle to bubble forth from her chest, but instead her chest shook silently for a moment (if one could even notice it with her chest being as bound as it was) as her usually stoic face split into a feral grin showing off her shark-like teeth. Deciding to follow her Master's lead she increased her own heart-rate for a moment, which sped up the violet energies pulsing up and down her own tattoos giving the area around her an eerie purplish glow for just a moment and then stopped by slowing down her beating heart all the while still grinning.
Her awareness snapped to her Master the moment he made a gesture toward her as she pushed off the tree she had been leaning on and stood up straight, completely at attention so perfectly it would shame a veteran drill instructor. Her Master would demand nothing less and she gave her all at all times for him.
“Partner,” he called out to her in the demon's tongue as she bowed her head to him slowly, respectfully as he neared her, her nostrils flaring taking in his intoxicating scent that she found exhilarating.
"Master," she replied promptly inclining her horned head toward him waiting on his next words, as her face was centered on him but her awareness still lingered on the little female seeing what'd she do next...
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Post by Shari'Adune Forestsong on Jan 26, 2018 11:29:44 GMT -5
Indeed Shari should have had the ability to have sensed the presence of the male and female demon hunters, through sight, smell or sound... but since losing part of herself it took a bit of effort to reconnect with such things, like a human unwilling to get out of bed for whatever reason.
Pressing her lips together she frowned at herself when the demon hunters (two!?) lit up like demonic glow worms. At that time all her senses kicked her in the face at once, her gasp was likely very audible to the both of them despite whatever distance they were from her.
Only from a distance had Shari observed demon hunters. None she had met personally to accurate asses how much her kin had changed, and for the good or bad. However from their beastly looks alone she already carried a hint of pitty for them. How far removed from Elune they must be now, and how alone. She would not even dare think about being cut of from Elune as well. It would certainly be her final death if that ever happened.
Swallowing an uncertain knot in her throat, when the male Illidari replied in Darnassian she flushed from embarrassment. Of course someone was there Shari, you should have known better. You really are slipping. No wonder he left you behind. She frowned heavily at her thoughts. Such negativity was alien to her. Perhaps they were not her thoughts at all and someone else was whispering them to her. But who would be so cruel?
As the druidess muddled through her thoughts she appeared very still, eyes unfocused, dimmer and dull. This would last through the called demonic greetings when awareness slowly bled back.
Drawing her knees up to her chest she buried her face between them, wrapping her arms about her shins. "The demon hunters were there to meet each other and she was in the way. What would they do to her? A frightened shiver crept up her spine and rolled down her arms sending the little hairs to stand at attention.
Perhaps if she pretended she wasn't here at all they would not see her. It had been a game her daughter had played when she was very little. Of course it never worked, but Shari wasn't a child. Whispering a few words in Darnassian she wrapped the shadows about herself and melded into them. The last thing she wanted to do was anger one demon hunter, little own two.
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Post by Feljäger on Jan 26, 2018 15:28:17 GMT -5
The large, male demon hunter made a soft, almost passing gesture in the air. A sign that he long ago had established to mean the equivalent of “at ease” between the pair of hunters. He then looked over to the diminutive elf to see what his words would prompt. She did not seem to speak Demonic, so that was of benefit.
Dazed, unfocused, one might even call her expression “lost”. With the lack of physical dimensions he at first had assumed he was not “seeing” her properly, losing her mass in the fashion of her seated posture, but now he focused his vision (causing his eyes to spark with a brighter glow of chartreuse) and realized it was not position that made her look so small. She actually was rather diminutive, more like a Kaldorei youth, only just past childhood really. She instantly plunged to near the bottom of his “list” at that point.
He loathed children.
Her next actions almost solidified the thought until her form wavered for a moment. Magical eddies cascaded down across her to somewhat obscure her form in his eyes.
Shadowmeld?
His brows came closer together, his long brows rose, and his demonic face bore the expression of disbelief as he looked back to his partner. He shook his head, his horns cutting the air softly such was the violence of the action, and then looked to Zaeram while jabbing a thumb in the air in the direction of the elf. His expression saying what his silently gaped mouth did not.
Does she really think Shadowmeld hides her from the demon born vision of hunters that are actually blind?
He shook his head again and looked back to where the youth sat.
“Seriously?!” he grunted in Darnassian, sharply, his sneer somewhere between confused and disgusted.
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Post by Zaeram on Jan 26, 2018 18:29:00 GMT -5
Relaxing a trifle at her Master's gesture, she noted his attention shifting back to the Kaldorei over beside the fire as she followed suit by turning her head ever so slightly. As the smaller female shifted and seemed to realize her faux pas in not noticing the demon hunters earlier, Zaeram noted in turn her interesting adornments glinting in the firelight catching her non-existent eye as it were. The delicate choker peeking out from under the other's hair and the way it looked it just didn't strike Zaeram as merely a necklace, but something else. However she was not one to jump to conclusions and kept her postuations to herself unless she was asked for them in the future.
She had been about to turn her complete attention back to her Master seeing what he was planning to do to either run off or provoke the Night elf, but then the girl went and did something rather daft...
She shadowmelded.
Zaeram instantly went as taught as a drawn bowstring. Her manner reminiscent of a sighthound or a feline predator's senses being drawn by potential prey. The other female's attempt to hide did the exact opposite of what she might have hoped in that if one hid, that meant they had something to hide and thus was possibly worth the chase. If she had just left or ignored Zaeram and Fellen, she would have been ignored in turn, but now Zaeram wanted to mess with her. Like a bored cat seeing a mouse scurry past, Zaeram wanted to pounce now, see how quickly she could ensnare it and possibly... toy with it.
Yet she was a well trained huntress as she didn't move a muscle until her Master would give her leave to do so. Even though Zaeram was far more powerful a demon hunter than her Master and if the two ever came to blows she could dispatch him with ease, she still waited for his permission to be let off her imaginary chain...
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Post by Shari'Adune Forestsong on Jan 26, 2018 21:43:16 GMT -5
The tone of Fellen's word made her jump and squeak, dropping the shadowmeld as quickly as if it were a hot stone. Displeasure of any sort (obviously directed at her) instantly triggered her submissive nature. Her posture quickly changed from having her knees drawn up to her chest to being drawn under herself (as they sit in game). Palms were laid upon her thighs, head bowed.
Since she could easily hear him, it was logical to assume he would hear her. Why she did not just speak instead of pulling such a move was beyond her reasoning at the moment. Freckled cheeks were flushed with color that reached all the way to the tips of her ears.
"Please, pardon me." she said in Darnassian through a tremor, "i did not mean anything ill by such an action. i... j-just - shall i go as not to disturb you both further?"
The woman had no idea what the two demon hunters had planned this late at night, off in a relatively private, quiet area, but if they were anything like many human couples- even groups- she had accidentally come across she definitely did not want to interrupt that!
Little hands began to twist before she stopped them with a soft huff of breath. With her eyes downcast, she had only her ears to give her an idea where both of the others were.
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Post by Feljäger on Jan 27, 2018 2:43:21 GMT -5
Illidari were fairly simple creatures, when one actually considered their inner workings. Illidan may have been complicated, but then leaders of armies usually were less simplistic. Kayan and others also operated on more numerous levels, but by and large the rest of the gathering were of a pretty simple mental structure.
They felt rage against the Burning Legion, they felt fanatical devotion to their leader, and they loathed weakness. Weak Illidari didn’t exist because to become weak always ended the same for one that consumed a demons heart, total transformation into the demon that from then on lurked in the depths of that Illidari’s body.
Fellen had felt nothing but contempt for weakness since he studied the arcane in Elun’dris, so he had a head start on others of his kind. His nature prior to becoming a demon hunter had made him a perfect candidate to follow in Illidan’s hoof prints and he had never disappointed his order. He destroyed weakness in those he was fortunate enough to train or he made sure their inability to find inner strength destroyed them.
He could hear Zaeram’s form tighten. The scales of her skin made the most interesting micro-noises when it flexed over long areas, the curved and pointed denticles overlapped in many areas and produced a micro-sound almost like a zipper when undulating swiftly enough and over enough of her skin. Even an elf had to be close to hear this, and one had to know what to listen for, as it was faint even to Fellen and lasted but a fraction of a second, but Fellen had ample experience with Zaeram and the sound also pleased him. He shot her a fel-birthed glance and smiled. The child had inadvertently triggered the hunter.
The other truism that applied to most of the Illidari was that they were creatures of instinct. They survived their transformation into quasi-demonic amalgams through no force more powerful than an overwhelming instinct to survive. After their transformation was complete they learned to trust in their instincts from then on. The demon within always tried to tempt and corrupt and manipulate its way to freedom and the first defense in keeping the monster contained was to never let higher level thinking mask the innate disgust for the Fel that all Illidari felt at their core. Trusting in the instinct to deny the Fel was the first step in conquering the heart of the demon.
Zaeram was a hunter. Her totality had been honed to a razor sharp edge that made her singularly spectacular at the performance of that task. Her instincts were powerful and immediate, yet as any true Illidari should she controlled her instinct. Trust did not imply succor to instinct, as that was weakness and that was the path to the demon inside.
Fellen grinned, showing off his teeth and his long canine fangs. He looked at Zaeram and was filled with delight in her nature. Such a marvelous beast. Such a beautiful living weapon. His masterpiece.
“I think the child needs a lesson in observation, no?” he near cooed to his companion in the tongue of demons. “No physical contact, she shall not be touched even by a blade of grass you stir with your speed, but show her a reason to pay attention in the future, teach her the meaning of terror.”
His command was said easily, almost casually, but he never issued an order without a total understanding that his desires would be carried out.
He looked back to the child, his love of pain and horror burning brightly in the green within green glowing spheres that were now his eyes, and flicked the part of the ring that was looped through his lower lip with the tip of his tongue. Wagging the loop in the night air and causing it to glint in the perpetual soft chartreuse glow cast from his broiling tattoos.
“Go.”
The weapon was unsheathed. The warglaive had been cast.
Before she moved he was already in motion, making a wide circle toward the outside. As he darted, inhumanly swift and agile, his body flared with fel power and his tattoos flashed with the green of his demonic essence. But underneath that contained raw power there was the violet glimmer of the weave that contained it. A burst of energy, a soft implosion of air, and the acrid scent of ozone and sulphur were the hallmarks of his summoning spell. In a mere moment his kilt was gone. Replaced now by the leather and fel iron armour of a demon hunter readied for combat. Wickedly curved and serrated warglaives surmounted each fist and were held such that one lead his charge and one followed. He was a living weapon as well. Less powerful, by his own admission, than Zaeram by far but still a creature that dwarfed the ferocity and lethality of most Azerothian born warriors.
Theirs was a style that he had perfected and practiced ample times. They operated marvelously together as they knew the other with an intimacy that few other pairs of Illidari matched. They did not think about what they did, each one acted and reacted to the other by instinct born of practice and training. She was the direct one, focused to pinpoint precision, while he supported her and maintained integrity of the attack. They prey seldom escaped them. Any attempt to flee Fellen turned back into the jaws of the Red Shark.
The elf child had been lax, she had allowed those stepped in the blood of purist evil to get so close to her, and if she had been a waif in Zin-Ashari that night when the elven world came crashing down she would have been a slaughtered lamb. She then added injury to insult by daring to hide in plain sight, hoping a gift from her Goddess was somehow equal to the presence of the Goddess herself to protect her from harm. A foolish ploy. A reckless ploy.
Her apologies were destined to fall upon deaf ears. Fellen heard her words but at that point he was beyond listening.
The world was full of horrors.
The world was full of demons.
Time for an education.
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Post by Zaeram on Jan 27, 2018 12:27:05 GMT -5
Dark whispers slunk through her mind as her inner demon, her former mistress from centuries ago, woke at the flush of Zaeram's powers thrumming through her, the readiness before the hunt. Ignoring that familiar voice by brushing it aside like one would a curtain so they could see out a window, Zaeram near-quivered with repressed energy as she waited for her Master's words.
“I think the child needs a lesson in observation, no? No physical contact, she shall not be touched even by a blade of grass you stir with your speed, but show her a reason to pay attention in the future, teach her the meaning of terror.”
Rolling her head and neck as she cracked some joints she rumbled a near purr towards her beloved Fellen, "Yes, Master," she replied her voice breathless with desire on more than one level.
"Go."
Taught muscles coiled beneath her shark-like skin finally unleashed their power as she launched forward into the air, twisting through it like a master gymnast as she cleared her two bone blades out of their sheathes. As she spun her wings appeared out of her back as her projected arc in the air neared its zenith as she swung them back, slowing her decent a hair. Her face was a mask of intensity as she zeroed in on something on the other female and before even hitting the ground one of her blades snapped out delicately slicing one of the feathers in the girl's hair off at the base so close to her green hair but never breaking one strand in the process. Finally Zaeram landed softly in the grass between Shari and her fire sheathing her blades with a blur of speed as she then snatched the now freed feather out from their air in front of the smaller druid. Now held betwixt two of claws she gently brought it up to under her sharp nose as she inhaled the scent with a slight smirk.
The female Illidari sighed blissfully as she leaned over the smaller, meek female and whispered, "You smell of the wind and forest, little one. I bet you'd make a lovely pet..."
However she made no other moves towards the druidess without further say so of her Master...
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Post by Shari'Adune Forestsong on Jan 27, 2018 13:59:36 GMT -5
Twisted in the tendrils of night, her ears could faintly hear the demonic voices... they were like far distant howls of a wolf pack sending chills into the primal reachings of ones soul. Shan'do was not here to protect her, she only had herself and the blessed Elune.
The call of the sky beckoned to her through the wind, through the terror that was blossoming within her breast. Yet she swallowed it down, suppressed the natural reaction to flee at the first sign of danger like all prey animals did. The doe within her brayed anxiously making her legs twitch. For a brief moment she came close to understanding the battle Druids and perhaps Worgen must face with the battle of their feral sides- something she had never known and likely never would.
Nostrils flaring she could smell them. It reminded her of Argus and she shuddered her little face twisting up. Don't cry.
The swoop of wigs catching the air was a keenly familiar sound to her- yet the wings she heard aloft were not soft feathered ones, no, this was the sound akin to wind catching sails. Only this time it was catching the leathery wings of death.
Like a deer in the head lights Shari froze- actually holding her breath, glowing eyes wide as she stared into the fire.
Hungry blades snapped out from above like the talons of a descending owl upon its prey, slicing one of her beloved feathers from her hair. A startled cry pierced the night like a flash of lightening sending the female lurching backward to brace her fall with her palms pressed quickly into the grass.
Panting heavily, and trembling with silent silver tears streaming down the wing tattoos on her face Shari stared up at the intimidating figure of the demon hunter silhouetted by the fire behind her. Surely it was an image even the worst nightmare would have trouble topping. Wherever her Shan'do was, he would feel a sudden heart wrenching twist of fear and know it was from her.
Scrambling before the demon huntress she curved her spine, drawing her knees up to her chest, and planted her forehead upon her hands on the ground. Her long teal hair spilled about her shoulders and intermingled with the blades of grass.
Although Shari could not see her, she could FEEL the huntress leaning over her, then her voice filled the druidess's ears. " "You smell of the wind and forest, little one. I bet you'd make a lovely pet..."
Swallowing thickly with a quivering voice Shari whispered, "I-I already have an Owner."
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Post by Feljäger on Jan 27, 2018 15:27:46 GMT -5
His body was alive with demonic power, his flurry of speed born not of Azeroth but of some nameless world lost in the Twisting Nether, and he came to an impossibly swift stop just as Zaeram made her “attack” against the prey.
The child should have been dead. 10’000 years ago she would have been. If they had been ANYWHERE else but inside of Stormwind she may well have been as well. Though Fellen and Zaeram were not the blades that would end her life it was patently obvious that anyone that was so quick to freeze and cower was lucky to remain one of the living in the current age.
Zaeram spoke and the mewling quim replied in such a weak and pathetic way that Fellen could only laugh at her pitiful response. His cutting laugh was brought from his belly and echoed with the malice and sadism that one may have thought was drummed up from his demon seed. Those that knew Fellen would know differently. His nature was such that even the Terroguard he kept rigidly and tightly chained within had to respect. He was every bit as horrible as any demon when his talent for the sadistic was concerned.
He did not approach however. That was not how Zaeram and he played this game. She was the attacker and he circled to make sure the prey did not escape. So he continued to circle, watching the demure and tiny elf that lay at the heart of the circle, and waited to see if she was foolish enough to try and put distance between her and the Red Shark. He did not desire it, he did not let the demon in him have that satisfaction, but if she moved she would find his glaives waiting to turn her back into the sharks lair.
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Post by Zaeram on Jan 27, 2018 16:51:12 GMT -5
Zaeram could almost taste her fear and it was glorious; hear tears, the way she prostrated herself, oh this one was too precious by half.
"I-I already have an Owner."
The female Illidar's ears twitched at her Master's echoing laugh as she too joined with a silent shaking of her bound chest before replying with the exact words Fellen was also probably thinking, "Really? Where are they? I see no one else, and I can see many, many things."
She knelt beside the prostrated elf as she reached out with a clawed hand and gently took a hank of her lucious veridian locks as she again sniffed the scent trapped within the strands. It was time to levy the child with her previous conclusions Zaeram had come to from her prior observations.
Her voice was like silk rubbing across sharpened steal, "I see you here alone, distracted and distraught with the face of one lost. I see you wear the marks of a pet; a collar as it surely sits like one on your pretty little neck, certainly no mere necklace. Someone has trained you well, I can see from your ingrained mannerisms, but again... where is this 'Owner'?"
Letting the hair fall, she gestures around her into the still night, "My Master is here with me, as a good Master should be. A good Master wouldn't leave such a tasty morsel out of their sight lest someone might snatch it up. A good Master would be here with you, training you, making you stronger, better, complete."
Her face hardened as she sat back on her haunches, still ready so spring at a moment's notice, "Sit. Up." she snapped, "And tell me true little rabbit, where is your Owner? I will know a falsehood when I hear it and it will not end will for you."
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Post by Shari'Adune Forestsong on Jan 27, 2018 17:36:06 GMT -5
Shari did not have to have her eyes on Fellen to hear he was circling, like a wolf; and she was sure he had gleaming teeth like one too.
The scent of the earth was filling her senses now, giving her small reprieve from the smell of the demon huntress. It helped to comfort her, and in that moment, locked under their gazes she wanted to start to burrow into it and disappear, certain the cool ground would settle the burning of her cheeks and ears.
The elf's hair was soft to the touch as pleasant as the scent that clung to it. Zaeram's touch through it made her shiver and shrink further into a smaller ball.
Zaeram's voice was like silk rubbing across sharpened steal, "I see you here alone, distracted and distraught with the face of one lost. I see you wear the marks of a pet; a collar as it surely sits like one on your pretty little neck, certainly no mere necklace. Someone has trained you well, I can see from your ingrained mannerisms, but again... where is this 'Owner'?"
The words stabbed at Shari's heart as surely as if they were a blade. Where is this Owner? Where IS he? Shari's mind tumbled back to the uncertain nights and days she spent wondering that very thing. He had been there every evening, keeping her by his side, save for two nights he claimed as his own as was his right. He had joined her family and through hard work and determination he quickly rose to an important position- even enhancing his feral abilities and mastering the spirit of the bear. He had taught her many things, including how strong and competent she truly was giving her confidence to dance through any battle with skill and desire to succeed at all costs. They had become the perfect team, she his complementary item in battle.
Or so things had seemed. The letter she had finally received was a crushing blow to one such as herself, informing her he had gone alone- without any from the family, without her. It said he would return. The others had also promised such a thing... Even Shan'do Krae'sharel before he jumped into the burning dwelling... never to come out alive.
Letting the hair fall, Zaeram gestured around her into the still night, "My Master is here with me, as a good Master should be. A good Master wouldn't leave such a tasty morsel out of their sight lest someone might snatch it up. A good Master would be here with you, training you, making you stronger, better, complete."
The demon huntress was right. Shari fully agreed with her. Training you, making you stronger, better, complete. Yessss.
At such a close proximity, with her special 'eyes' Zaeram may notice that the metal circlet about Shari's neck matched similar metal circlets upon her wrists. The metal was unusual. The bangles even more so in that they did not seem to have any end or beginning, no clasps or locks. Should a demon hunter be able to see such things, it would be obvious they were magical and not something that could be removed by any conventional means.
At the barked order Shari instantly sat up, her heels pressing into her round, pilllow-like behind- the only part of her that had any padding at all. Her burn-scarred hands rested upon the tops of her thighs, chin tilted to the side slightly.
Just like all questions that were presented to the druidess, she had no choice but to tell the truth. It was a blessing and curse from Elune.
"I am n-not certain, Miss. The l-last i was told, he was heading to Sithilus." At no point did her eyes raise or meet the other womans.
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Post by Feljäger on Jan 27, 2018 18:22:22 GMT -5
She did not run. Thus now the question stood was that motivated by fear, by instinct, or by the training she was admitting to?
Fellen rose slightly from the low posture a combat readied demon hunter kept, as the use of warglaives was predicated on speed and totality of a slash. He had to keep his center of gravity low otherwise he was unbalanced and top heavy and prone to over extending himself. But he was not needing to stay completely on station now, though he was still readied.
He continued to circle, more slowly now, and watch. However the focus now was not totally on the elf, now his head went on a swivel and his vision shifted. He blocked everything that was stationary, simply willing them to not be seen, so that he could focus on the ambulatory life that was in the region. Rodents and insects, fish in the lake, Zaeram, the elf, and in the distance some other bipedal figures. He was on the lookout for Stormwind guards more than anything else. It was why he ordered Zaeram to place no harm on the female, as they could little afford even the perception of predation while within the city. Stormwind officials were already as leery of them as they were of Death Knights, thieves, or warlocks. More so for the ease of identifying a demon hunter. More so for the fact they were Illidari and not prone to even marginally hiding what they are and whom they serve. He didn’t want unwelcome visitors at this stage and he still wasn’t certain if this was bait from some other agency, so he turned his gaze about and extended his awareness. As the waif should have done in the first place unless she was acting as bait.
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Post by Zaeram on Jan 27, 2018 19:36:46 GMT -5
Trusting her Master implicitly, the Red Shark knew he'd give her a head's up if any trouble was on the way or not, thus she zoned in on her little 'rabbit.' Without eyes it was hard to tell where Zaeram was looking as her head didn't move an iota, just kept it centered on the druidess's freckled face as she looked her over more. Burn marks on the hands and arms, interesting, the curious bracelets that matched her choker and the Illidari hazarded a guess that she had matching ones around her ankles too. What an interesting Owner she must have had at one point. Curious. Reaching out with the feather she had sliced off of her, she drew the tip of it up one of her burned hands with just bare enough pressure to tickle.
"I am n-not certain, Miss. The l-last i was told, he was heading to Sithilus."
Sithilus... Zae's face became slightly softer at the mention of the name, not that anyone could notice such a minute change.
"He's dead," she said as she retracted the feather and abruptly stood up, "And you know it, don't you?"
Zaeram knew what had happened in Sithilus, she had gone there as the muscle for an Illidari scouting party to see the damage first hand. What they saw was not pretty and they had withdrawn quickly to tell the heads of Illidan's followers what they had seen and let them decide what to do next. It was one of the things she had intended to tell her Master this eve, news from the order, what she had seen on her recent mission for them, let him make of it what Fellen will. Such things were often shared between the two so they always had a grasp on the goings on among Illidari - especially to suss out the weak and find those who required further training.
Turning her horned head away from the smaller female she sucked in a breath measuring and weighing things in her mind.
"So a pet without an Owner," she mused outloud, her tone monotone and banal, "How pitiful really, so weak already without one. Guess he didn't do a very good job at training you," her head snapped back to look down her broken nose at the female with a twist of her lip in contempt.
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Post by Shari'Adune Forestsong on Jan 27, 2018 20:12:52 GMT -5
Zae would have had no different reaction had she hauled off and slapped the druidess, her words blunt and painful. Many times had Shari worried about that very possibility. However she knew one important thing. Had he met his final death, the metal rings adorning her body would have opened, allowing her to remove them herself. The fact they remained in tact meant that his hold over them- over her- was still intact as well. It was a simple truth she clung to desperately. Although the fact he yet still lived despite what the Demon Huntress said, did not entirely console her that he would return. Sometimes the unknown was more powerful than any death.
"So a pet without an Owner," Zaeram mused outloud, her tone monotone and banal, "How pitiful really, so weak already without one. Guess he didn't do a very good job at training you," her head snapped back to look down her broken nose at the female with a twist of her lip in contempt.
Shari had pressed her lips together tightly. She had not been addressed directly to speak, yet this horned woman did not own her so she felt it within her rights to speak. Her voice was as strong as it could be, laced with trepidation before such an intimidating creature, yet backed with the certainty her Shan'do was not yet dead. "You are incorrect in your assumptions, Miss. He yet still lives." the females head tilted slightly to the side, eyes still drawn downward. A curtain of hair slipped to cover half her features from view. "And though i may appear weak to you, compared to you- to your Master, i can assure you, my strength lies in healing others." There was no contempt or unpleasantness to her tone, she spoke softly, and simply.
Whispered within her mind were her friends words, 'You are strong, so very strong.' Her friend had not been talking about her healing skills with that statement, which brought a faint smile to her lips.
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Post by Zaeram on Jan 27, 2018 22:09:40 GMT -5
((Fellen said we can skip him this turn for the sake of continuing the conversation.))
The Red Shark pursed her thin, cracked lips for a moment, "Ah the little pet shows a spine, took it long enough."
Ah, so the female had a way to tell if her Owner was alive or dead it seemed. She wondered mildly how it was done, something to do with her ornate collar and bindings? Or something else? The way she spoke with some conviction though, something told Zaeram it wasn't just wishful thinking on her part.
"Well I hope he wasn't in Cenarion Hold considering it isn't there anymore," she commented blandly, "But if it is as you say then even worse, sounds like your Owner doesn't want you."
Oddly there wasn't a hint of mockery in her tone even though her words made it sound like that there should be. Zaeram wasn't the introspective sort, and with her past she never could be and stay in control of her seed like she did, yet sometimes she wondered if she'd ever lose her Master. Again she banished the thought as soon as it entered her mind before her inner demon seized on it to feed. Still, it was rapidly become less and less amusing to verbally torture the druidess... for now.
"So what will you do now?"
Maybe the Red Shark was curious, maybe there was something else. It was hard to tell with her closed and craggy face.
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