Once In Light

Silo looke down at Gerrin, expressionless. She hasn't noticed Lilleth approach earlier. "I am a hunter of game- I don't kill anything that is smart enough to talk. When I said finish him off, I meant make him pass out. It is pretty much done, and even if it weren't and you ha only wounded him, I still wouldn't have considering that I would want a hard-earned battle. Thank you," she cast Lilleth an annoyed glance.

He'd interrupted a fight it had seemed. One of them anyways. At this point however it was likely they were all really just part of a larger conflict. Not that he cared. But He did agree with the one that had spoken.

"She is right. Killing needlessly is pointless. It is best to only kill when it is required and no more. Mindless killing only leads down a path of darkness that most do not recover. "

"Yes. We've had some of our few companions go down that path. A few times we've had to stop them ourselves. It's a sad thing when you have to put down a friend."

Kader watched Gerrin, who had mostly recovered, and was laying indignantly on the ground, restrained by Lillith. He had to admit, it was amusing. But despite all that had happened, he shook his head. He was a thief sometimes, but he was no killer. He finally released the lightning in his hand, though he kept his knife at the ready.

Finally, the smaller feline spoke. Her voice, while quiet, rang through the forest with an odd sort of clean quality that Kader couldn't quite place. What he could tell, though, was that she knew something, and she wanted Lillith gone.

"What does it matter to you?" she hissed, "you have what you want, don't you?"

Aikido smiled and nodded her head at Kerben, as accomplishing a bow while holding so much stuff was near impossible without spilling a few items. "Thank you," she grinned before looking back to check on Terran. She seemed uncomfortable, but okay. That's good. It was then the feline heroine- who Aiko found, in fact, to already hold respect for as she had helped save them, as any rescuee would feel for the rescuer. It obviously didnt like Lillith- her voice came out as a hiss at Lillith, A voice that Aiko could picture bathed in animosity.

"Why exactly did she come here?" Aiko questioned the feline heroine, suddenly curious.

Luci sat in the background with her head tilted. She was slightly intrigued with why someone would want to imprison her. She didn't know what use she would be to the captors. The young drake then noticed a lack of a harness on her chest. "The jewels!" She thought. That mass of gems she had were worth a hefty amount of gold.

It seemed that he was right in his belief that he'd fallen amongst odd yet powerful people. He mused on this a moment to himself.

What odd people.

Everyone is odd. They each have there own oddities that make them unbearable after awhile.

Yes, but that's what makes them fun.

Either way the threatening one has left. It seems she cares not for others.

Sadly some folks are just that way.

A somber tone from you? I laugh.

I'm as much a realist as you are a pessimist, I just prefer to keep a light toned view of the world. Besides. A laugh from you. That's odd!

Eh true.

And you giving up a point? Are you okay?

Yes, now Focus!

He spoke up yet again. Left head.

" I give an enemy one chance to surrender. If they choose not then I shall take and end there lives and hope that it was the right choice."

Kader had been staring at the small feline for a while, watching her every move.  He had seen her somewhere, maybe many places before.  He wasn't sure he'd ever met her but he had definitely seen her.  Then it hit him.  That snarl, he knew it, and he knew where he'd seen it.  Descriptions, pictures, stories even he had told, wanted posters.  He growled, a deep sound fitting his name, thunder.  He cut off anything she had been about to say as he whirled around, rage in his yellow eyes, and roared.  He barely noticed the shimmer of static run down his cloak, a side effect of having lightning magic, some of the most unpredictable.

"YOU."

She shied back, which was the reaction he had hoped for, if not expected.  He advanced, his face lit under his hood by a growing orb of lightning in his hand.  She stopped backing away and stood straight, a small flare of light coming off her.  Her face was almost calm, as if nothing had happened.  He noticed that the brightness of her glow seemed to reflect her confidence, at least sometimes.

"Yes," she said, "me.  I thought you would recognize me," she smirked slightly, "you were staring."

Kader didn't stop growling, "drop the act," he snarled, "I have just enough authority to arrest you, give me one reason not to."  He didn't expect anyone to be able to give him one that would suffice, considering what she had done.  "And it had better be good.  You're a traitor and a murderer, and if you can't answer me, I can kill you on the spot," he finished.  He looked around himself, at all the others, waiting for an answer.  He knew he had likely become the center of attention after that, and quite honestly he didn't mind.  He did have a bit of a flair for the dramatic, after all.

Aiko looked from Kader to the feline, whom she had been considering a heroine until just now. When Kader accused it of being a murderer and traitor, she winced. Why would it have saved them, then? "Woah, woah, woah- this just confused me. First," Aiko stepped between Kader and the feline, turning to Kader. "Tell me who this is. Then," she turned to the cat, "tell me why you saved us." her right ear twitched with annoyance. She didn't like being a peacekeeper- It makes one seem gentle, in Aiko's opinion, and she didn't like being called gentle. She knew, however, that there may be pointless bloodshed if she didn'r speak up.

The small feline stepped forward bravely before Kader had a chance to speak, "perhaps I should introduce myself?" She said, not looking at him.  Kader growled under his breath, but let her continue. "I am Sasha," she said with a smile, "the only currently living feline light creature, and witness to the Dark Siege.  Many will say I carved a path of death through the Golden City," and here she frowned, "and even more will say I killed Ishcar, general of the army who finally banished Shallno from this world."

She sat down, as if what she said wasn't likely to cause those around her to become hostile.  Her tail curled around her, and she looked around, especially at Kader.  She wanted to gauge his reaction to what she was about to say.  How much had he already heard?  "What you most likely do not know, however," she continued, "is that what they say is false."

Kader looked at her skeptically, but let her answer Aiko's question first.  He wondered that himself.  Why would someone such as her save them?  Someone known for killing indescriminately, even the ones she had called her friends since childhood.  Surely, if all that was false, he would have at least heard a rumor of it somewhere?

"I saved you for several reasons," Sasha continued.  "First, why shouldn't I?  I don't know exactly where they were taking you, but I do know the pattern of kidnappings so far.  Few return."  She looked down slightly, though not enough that she couldn't see those around her.  She almost seemed ashamed of something.  "The second reason is a bit more complicated, I need your help."

Terran had rejoined her place beside Aiko, listening to this mysterious feline. Terran's ears pivoted forward, enhancing her hearing of what the cat girl was saying. Terran thought they should trust her, seeing how she had saved them for no reason other then it was the right thing to do. But the part about needing help perplexed the faun. What kind of help could the ragtag group of kidnappies provide for their savior? "I think we all owe you one, but how can we help you?" Terran said in an almost too small voice. If the feline was telling the truth, then the entire group could have gone missing, or killed, either or.

She needed help? That was a take he was willing to go for. If it wasn't malevolent in nature that is.

"I pray thee. Tell us what it is you need. Myself am willing to help, provided it is a worthy enterprise."

Kader was still very agitated, but apparently no one else was.  Didn't they know who she was?  He grumbled, but stepped back.  He would definitely be keeping an eye on Sasha, though, in case she was up to something.

Sasha seemed to appreciate that, looking up at Kader calmly for a moment.  She looked back at the rest of the group around her, and began speaking.  "There is a town not far down the road from here that is due for another kidnapping in a few days," she said.  "I could most likely rescue anyone taken, much as I have with you, but what I would really like to do is cut all of this off before it can get worse."  She shook her head, "I'm not entirely sure what they want, but there has to be a reason they are taking so many people.  Surely you would want to help?"

Kader narrowed his eyes, "first, I have no way to know you aren't lying.  Besides that, there are plenty of other people who can help.  What's to stop me from just going home?"

Sasha gulped, "well... That... Would be the other thing..."

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The wyvern looked up with a start, focusing drab olive eyes on the visitor who had somehow gotten very close to him. He fought back a gasp, instead stuttering out, "Oh, h-hello. I, uh, haven't seen you around before..." he shuffled some papers into place on his desk and stepped back, giving her his full attention. "Are you new?"

Aiko winced, as Kader didn't seem to appreciate Sasha, still. She trusted the feline... mostly. She was a bit curious for why they needed to be kidnapped, also. "I'm in on this whole thing. It's probably the perfect excuse to get me to blow some steam," she grinned, her tail swaying from side to side.

Terran looked back at Aiko from the corner of her eye. She was nervous. It was crazy watching her friend fight, what if she was to be injured? Terran herself wasn't much of a fighter, more likely just to get in the way or get hurt. In the end all Terran wanted to do was move on from the crazy town and play some music. But something the feline Sasha said caught Terran's attention. "Wait...what do you mean by the other thing?"

"Well you see... Last night..."  Sasha gulped, looking solemnly at Kader, "last night Springvale burned down."

Kader stared at Sasha, completely shocked.  No.  Springvale couldn't just burn down, there were people living there!  People who would have put out the fires if- if they hadn't all been in a magical sleep.  He blinked.  "Who did it?" he asked, his voice strangely calm.

Sasha shook her head, "I'm not sure, but these three were all asleep when the fires started."  She was sympathetic.  The loss of a home was, unfortunately, something she had endured.  She still missed her family, of course, but they would be dead at this point anyway.  She had been given some small form of immortality, and they had not.

Kader, on the other hand, was not willing to take that answer.  If the one who had started the fire was unknown, then he would settle for the next best thing.  He rounded on Lessya, who was still unconcious, and snarled.  It was her fault, after all.  She had cast the spell on the village, and someone had taken that opportunity to kill almost everyone Kader had ever known.  He gripped his dagger, roaring, "And if it hadn't been for you, they would have survived!"

Suddenly Sasha leapt forward.  She wrested the dagger from Kader's hand in one fluid motion before landing in front of him.  She spat the dagger out at her feet.  She looked up at him, her pale blue eyes almost seemed to be begging him.  "Don't," she said, clearly pained, "don't go down that path.  I've- I've seen it before..."

Kader was breathing hard, fighting to keep a lightning storm from going off around him.  Sasha's words took several seconds to sink in, his eyes widened.  He couldn't just kill a defenseless person- he would prefer not to kill at all.  What was he doing?  He should be looking for survivors, not causing more casualties!  He picked up his knife, then checked the air for the smell of smoke.  He had noticed it that morning, but attributed it to the food cooking.  Now he knew that wasn't the case.  After a moment, he picked up the scent, and figured out its origin.  Without a word, he stalked off towards the remains of Springvale, leaving Sasha standing quietly behind him.

Aiko's face turned red when she heard of the village. Normally, people think she's angry when such a thing happens, but this is only part of the case. Her face turns red whenever she feels like crying yet is desprately holding back tears. "There were innocent living beings there," was all she could mumble as she looked at the ground, fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white and hair covering her face so no one could see the tears threatening to escape her eyes. Crying is a weakness. She hadn't been in the town long, but she had seen children there... and merchants and parents and grandparents... all of them were dead? "I am going to help you, and no one is going to get away with killing innocent people," she turned to Kader, who was obviously heartbroken, in her opinion, but was acting in anger. "I will help you find out who did this, if you want," she offered.

Kader had intended to walk away without looking back, but long before he could get out of sight he stopped abruptly.  It wasn't because of anything Aiko had said.  He had heard her, of course, he just didn't really care at the moment.  No, it was because of the being he was about to walk into.  An equine, dark gray, wearing impossible chains around her.  He looked up at her, startled and cursing himself for not seeing her before.  He was more aware than that most of the time!

After a moment he realized that he was staring at her, and took a step back.  He figured he would have to greet her, though he would much prefer to walk on by.  "...Hello," he muttered, clearly unenthused.

Kader did his best to hide his surprise at the mare's form of communication. He grunted quietly before speaking simply, "home."

He closed his eyes, fighting back the tears he wasn't yet ready to show, "what's left of it."

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The wyvern was clearly uncomfortable with this news, and wasn't doing a very good job hiding it. He glanced down at his papers for a moment, muttering something about a schedule, before he caught himself and looked back up at his visitor. "I'm afraid I am not the one you need to inform of... Unforeseen circumstances."

He walked around the table, passing Lillith without a second glance. "Follow me," he said as commandingly as he could for one so perpetually nervous, "the general will want to hear of this."