Things are Never What They Seem...(Mirage)

[Mirage]

A child sprints down a rocky mountain path and turns her head momentarily to view some unseen pursuers, panic streaked across her youthful face. During her haste, she trips over a gnarled root and crashes to the floor, yelping in pain as her left leg becomes unnaturally twisted. Her attempt to regain her footing fails miserably as her leg refuses to cooperate or support her. Finally she attempts to crawl, but such a pace is unable to evade her pursuers who have now caught up to their prey and surrounded her.

Her pursuers are all men, each wearing cowled cloaks of deep shades of sable and silver. The largest of the group rips a coin purse from the hapless victim with a snarl, spilling many of the silver coins about the ground in the process due to his haste. Wordlessly, the group then begins to mercilessly beat their quarry with feet and fists. Relentlessly bloodied fists continue to pummel the now misshapen features of the child. Just as it seems the child will expire over the beating it ceases. The leader of the group then pulls out a vial from his belt pouch, uncaps its stopper and slips it through the split lips of the miserable form. Its contents emptied, he tosses the vial to the side. A hiss like voice passes the man's lips as he hovers over the small child as a strong hand placed under her jaw, forcing her head to cock back and mouth closed. Forced to swallow..

Gasping  she jerked from her slumber, her eyes snapping about as the recollection of her present situation sank in. Surrounded by trees and the very things of nature, she found herself in the campsite outside of a large city. Her hand rose, fingers tenderly drawing across her brow to remove the cold sweat that had formed during the nightmare. Nightmare..no more like a memory from ages long ago. Softly her head shook and she sighed, her eyes catching sight of the dying fire. Shifting out of her bedroll she crawled towards the dying fire, sitting down when she was close enough to toss a few more dead branches into it's heart. Her dual colored eyes reflected the flames as they danced and lapped at the fuel.

"Well atleast I am far enough from the city that if I cried noone heard.."

But then again travelers where not accounted for. Her hands lifted to draw her lavish hair back from her face, weaving the soft locks into a loose braid. Her hands however paused in mid-action when she noticed her hands where shaking. She stared at her left palm, watching the vibration of muscle until it calmed. Her body even reacted to the horrible dream. A heart-felt sigh was given as her hands flopped into her lap.

Trying to leave the past behind physically and yet her mind refused it.

It would take time...like all things.

[Mirage]

(Days Later - Was suppose to post these on different days but forgot)

Silhouetted against the star-dotted sky are the forms of a couple, their embrace close and full of undeniable warmth. The taller figure leaned down to nuzzle the shorter, more diminutive form of the woman, his long dark locks intermingling with her own platinum-blond tendrils.

He opened his mouth to speak in a soft whisper, "I must see you again, my love... I cannot bear to be without you."

The woman looked up toward her taller love, her lips tenderly touch his own briefly before she speaks, "It pains me when we must say goodbye... but you know my master will have none of it..."

A single tear sparkled in the moonlight as the man ran a finger softly through her hair, wiping her tear away in one gentle stroke.  "You are a stronger woman than you give yourself credit for, my sweet.  Talk to him, tell him the truth of us... let us not skulk in the night like thieves any longer, let us know the light of day.  Let us be together for every waking moment and be free."

As the man turns to stare into her eyes, the moonbeams cause a gentle sparkle to alight in his own, "Let us be free... to be wed."

A short, shocked gasp, then an immense sigh is given as the woman hugs him tightly.  Rainning  kisses down upon him as she murmurs, "Yes, yes... I... will m-marry you.  And... I'll tell him.  He can't deny us any longer, I know he won't... as long as I have you beside me..."

The man smiles deeply as she lowers her head on his shoulder...

*****

The lingering aroma of blood filled the expansive room -- angry shouts ringing through the large structure.  The argument pressed on, and the scene pulls back to reveal the two -- the woman standing near a bed, idly toying with a jewel-encrusted mirror, as if the distraction would make the conflict go away.  The tall figure of a man with blood-stained hair standing defiantly near the doorway, his arms crossed and his face stern.  Between them both an open balcony, its silk curtains billowing listlessly with every faint gust of wind.

The man snarled as he approached closer, the steps causing the woman to tense, "How dare you even think I would allow you to fall in love, let alone with someone other then me.." His large hand lunged forward, grabbing into the woman's shoulder and forcing her around to face him.

In the action the mirror was lost to the bed's surface. The woman's mismatched eyes looked up to the man with a pleading gaze, her voice a shaken whisper, "Please Master. I've been forced to do so much. Just grant me th-"

A firm slap resounds in the room as the man's hand back slapped the woman's cheek, leaving a red print on her pale flesh. A gasp befell her lips as she staggered back and fell to sit upon the bed. She had endured much worst before but the connection of his hand lead her to know..things where going to get worst. And she was right. The man's hand lashed out, grabbing her throat so that his thumb presses against the column.

A cruel smile was painted on the man's face as he pulls her close enough to speak, his breath washing over her face, "Do you truly love this boy..?"

The woman's dual colored eyes darted at the man's face, the question the woman knew was a trick question. "Y...yes.."

A deep thunderous laughter boomed from the man, his thumb pressing harder against the woman's throat, causing her to choke. "Good. Then you shall do your job."

The woman's eyes went wide and her hands grasped at the man's wrist. "N-NO! Please Master don't make me!"

"Silence, pet. You will do as you are told.." The pain was incredible and eventually the woman's vison went dark, her body collasping. Her lithe body was tossed onto the bed by the man and left there, his steps echoing as he left the room.

****

The forest was alive with the sound of night, the silhouetted figure of the man waited in the grove that he waited in every night for his other half. Light steps sounded and the man turned around to see the familiar sight of his hearts desire as she approached. Garbbed in a billowing cloak of dark shades, he was nearly able to decipher her from nature's darkness. He moved to embrace her but slowed as he noted there was something different about the woman. Darkness seemed to seep onto her skin, like shadowy tattoos against her pallid flesh that swirled and marked every which way.

His eyes examined the woman before him, his brows lowered in concern. "My love, what has he done to you?"

The silent figure of the woman continued closer to the man, and he made no attempt to step back. In fact a hand reached out to touch her cheek which left him open for what happened next. The sound of tearing flesh and crunching bone shattered the night air as the woman's sword slashed forward, crossing a slash across the man's throat before digging the blade deep into his chest. His violet eyes rounded as he stared at the woman in disbelief. He fell forward, dragging the woman along with him. Skewered on the woman's sword he hovered above her, betrayal in his eyes as his blood rained down upon her.

Her eyes jerked open as her delicate hands lashed upward, a scream of horror passing her lips. Only to find it wasn't blood that fell upon her face but water droplets of rain. Rolling over onto her hands and knees, drawing her knees close to her chest and angling her elbows so that her face buried in her hands. She sobbed under the comfort of her bedroll, the rain gently pelting against her as it had while she slept. Slowly she unrolled from her position, tears staining her delicate features and she raised her head to the sky so that the rain could wash away the tears. Standing she lowered her head, a deep heave pushing past her lips as she tried to calm herself.

Pulling her blanket out from the bedroll she scooted under a tree, pulling the blanket over her head to add additional protection from the weather. She stared forward blankly as the dream began to fade but the pain of remembrance remained.

Was she truly that damned?

To where the darkness would forever remind her of her past..?

Was it going to reclaim her..?

[Mirage]

(Many days later!)

The air thick with screams, screams that where cut off as quickly as they had been produced. The night sky painted with shades of flame and blood mixed with the dirt, forming a crimson mud within the courtyard of the a mighty crystal-structured castle. Creatures created of shadow, tall and slender in structure, where quickly to dispatch any people they came across. Common folk or military.

Slinking through the shadows a lone figure made way through the many hallways, silently dispatching any that it came across. A guard paced back and forth of the room that the figure needed entrance. As the guard turned to pace in opposite direction he found himself face to face with the cloaked figure. He didn't have enough time to shout for reinforcements. He was silenced by a quick jab of a blade to the throat which quickly turned into dragging completely down to the groin. A sickening sound of bone and flesh tearing and the splatter of internal organs as the man slumped to the ground at the figures feet. Attention turned, the doors where parted just enough for the slender figure to slip inward.

The room before the figure was that of a king, large and spacious, furnished with comfort in mind. At the window, the target. A large man who was watching the ongoings in the courtyard without a flinch. He knew he wasn't alone but stood there as the figure inched closer and closer. Then suddenly stopped, stooping low somewhat as if in great pain.

Indeed pain soared through the figures as the darkness went wild and uncontrolable, sure sign that T'rali had been killed. The figure's cloaked body shook and struggled to finish the mission, the tall man turning and using the pain to his advantage, soon had the figure pinned. With dagger in hand at a angle to kill, the man continued to approach. He paused for a moment, knowing he had the figure pinned but there was something that stopped him. From the depth shadows of the hood he could make out the figures eyes. Jewels of different shades. Not everyone had those. The man's pause gave a window to strike and the figure went to slash forward. Too sluggish and slow from the pain, the man's hand shot out, grabbing the wrist of the figure. The other hand moved to yank down the hood, platinum-blonde hair quickly flowed forward to frame the pale face of a young woman. To the man, it was like looking in a mirror, except the young woman's eyes. Eyes of different color that held such rage and yet..where empty at the same time. As if the rage had been planted.

The woman's lips drew back in a sneer and she growled outward, yanking back to reclaim her hand only to find the man's grip was stronger then she expected. He kept her close, staring in utter confusion. But things needed to be done to calm her. The hand that had drawn down the hood drew into fist and a quick jab was made to her temple, not enough to break bone but enough to cause her to stumble. A second hit was made towards her torso, causing the woman to collaspe in full, passed out over the arm as the fist remained in place.

Flashes came afterwards. The man's face constant in her life. She was kept in a room, decore she was hardly use to, slowly the man working off the rage that the woman's heart held. No. Not just a man..Her twin. Her other half. Her brother. That bond was never broken, just forgotten by force. But the man struggled and never gave up, trying his hardest to bring his sister to him.

Forest groves..many trees and lush grass. Laughter fell from her lips as she enjoyed a outing with her sibling. A happiness that her heart had longed for...

Laughter rang in her ears as she woke. A peaceful slumber..she hadn't had one those for a while. It was a nice change. Sitting up in her bed of her newly finished home, her hands rose so that her  fingers combed  through her hair to straighten it out somewhat. She missed Byron, her brother, but he choose his own path and she choose hers. Slipping out of her bedroll she moved to stuff her feet into her boots, preparing for a new day. As she slipped on her gloves, her eyes rose to wall. Why was she in such ease this morning?

After finishing preparing  she headed out for what was becoming a daily schedule.