Twas a Dark and Stormy Night (Chapiko)

[Shadowfang]

6th of Spring 512AV

Lightning struck, ripping a white tear in the midnight sky. Seconds later thunder clapped, then rolled, rumbling sluggishly through the air. The forceful wind and heavy rain slashed at the young Zith as he struggled to fly through the storm, tossing him about like a dead animal being shaken by a murderous dog. More lighting came, followed again by loud thunder. The angry storm would not easily give him a rest. Why was he trying to fly through the damned thing? He had not expected the storm to be so violent, or to even arrive at all but it had, and he was caught in the thick of it.

Shadowfangs' powerful wings pushed as hard as they could, fighting against the rain and wind that seemed determined to ground him. It was no use. He would surely be brought down by the weight of the rain if he did not find a place to take shelter soon. He squinted through the blinding rain. He could not hear much of anything besides the pattering of the rain and the roar of the wind. Finally, he noticed it.

Salvation!

A darkened window, part of one of the few buildings that had been mostly spared on the first of Spring. Darkened windows meant one of two things: either the room's inhabitant was asleep, or there was no inhabitant. Shadowfang desperately hoped that it was the latter. Lightning struck again and thunder followed in its wake. Another wave of heavy rain caused Shadowfang to lose altitude, before quickly readjusting himself. He had no choice. He would have to land here. Perhaps, if he entered the window quietly...

He had no time to finish that thought. Lightning struck once more, closer than any of the others. It lit up the sky, blinding Shadowfang for a brief moment. At the same time the wind changed directions, hurling him in whatever direction it pleased. Shadowfang was completely at the mercy of the storm's fury.

He burst through the window with a crash and bounced off the stone floor. His momentum carried him another few feet before he slid to a stop, face down, supporting himself on his forearms and knees. He sat there, breathing heavily, then forced himself to his feet. Shaking off some of the water that matted his fur he stretched his wings behind him, similar to how one would stretch their arms after a nap. He had gained access to the room, that much was good news.

[Chapiko]

Sleep was almost achieved, so close to being done. Lightning blinked and flickered through the sky, illuminating the room every so often. Thunder was always soon to follow, cracking through the night with noisy electrical booms. Rain pounded the window, roof, anything that happened to be outside, and Chapiko was happy to hear the music of Makutsi, be it of rage or not. The angry storm's sound almost arranged itself, along with the whispers, to form a chorus of an almost-soothing sort. This managed to lull her to sleep, ever so slowly, until she was on the brink of slumber. Until someone, or something, came hurtling through the window. It was a large object, and for the first few moments, she was absolutely still. She could hear it breathing, very heavily and very loudly. Movements were heard as well, and by now she could tell the thing was standing up. She heard water droplets ring on the floor, if only because of the rain now pouring into the room through the broken window. She allowed herself to breath now, very quietly, as if she feared alerting the thing to her presence. Allowing herself a tentative peek at whatever stood beyond, she peered through the tangle of hair covering her face and saw a male figure...with wings? And seemingly long fur hanging from his elbows and knees, from what she could tell. Even through a hazy mind of one just woken up from sleep, she knew what this was. But she wasn't quite sure if he was what she thought he was. She sat up, stifling a yawn, and pushed strands of hair out of her face so she could see clearly. There, standing at the foot of the bed with wings outstretched, was a Zith. He was shown more brightly every few ticks by the lightning, but even in the dark she could tell what it was. Her terror caused her to completely ignore the cold air and rain pouring into the room, and her gaze was fixated on him. She screamed, a scream full of fear and horror. Will he kill me? Enslave me? What about my sister? Oh dear Eywaat, dear Makutsi, please don't let him hurt me... her mind raced with everything, and she felt the tug of primal instincts. To run, jump, flee any way she could. But it was cold and rainy outside, and she couldn't run around in underwear. These small bits of common sense were perhaps the only things that kept her seated as she screamed.

[Shadowfang]

Still half blinded and half deafened by the storm, he did not notice the girl who's room he had invaded until she sat bolt upright in her bed and began screaming. The fear-filled scream drowned out all other noise and took Shadowfang completely unawares. He jumped in shock and surprise, almost accidentally hurling himself back out the shattered window. His entire body convulsed and he could feel his heart driving out against his chest. To be perfectly honest, the girl had scared him just as much as he had scared her.

He hastily recovered and lept forward, flinging himself on the bed. One hand was clasped over the girl's mouth and the other was held in front of her face, showing his claws. Sitting on top of the girl, he growled at her. His claws gleamed in the dim light. He had not spoken, but his message was clear; if the girl made any more noise, he would kill her without a second thought.

Lightning struck once more, lighting up the room and the girl's face. Now that he could better see her he noticed that she seemed... familiar. He stared hard. Where had he seen the girl before? It had not been any time in recent history. A memory slowly made its way into his mind, creeping in like water through a leaky roof. Xy. He had seen this face before in Xy. No. That was impossible. He was certain that the face had belonged to a slave who worked in his den but that slave was still in Xy. She had to be. There was no escape from that place.

[Chapiko]

PetchPetchPetchPetchPetchPetchPetchPetchPetchPetch... was all that came to mind at the moment. She was terrified out of her wits, and the fact she was being sat on by her worst fear only added to it. The only upside to this situation was that she wasn't dead yet...and she didn't want to change that. Being killed wasn't really her cup of tea, yet she was surprised that she wasn't already dead. He looked as if he were about to kill her, and that scared Chapiko. Very much. But he hadn't killed her yet... She thought about her ways of escaping from under this Zith. It was almost too hard to think clearly in a situation like this, and most of her thoughts were crowded with wondering what she did to deserve this. He appeared from out of the rain, so she assumed that Makutsi must have sent him somehow as punishment. Dear Makutsi, mother of rain, whatever I did to deserve this...I am so incredibly sorry. I swear if you get rid of him I'll even buy a gold symbol of you... and with that out of the way, her mind was able to slightly focus on the goal of getting rid of him. She didn't think though, she just did. Fear and hatred took over for a second, and it didn't leave anything to chance. Next thing she knew, she tasted the Zith's blood in her mouth and on her teeth. This sent a new wave of horror through her body; what would he do to her now? She just bit him, and common sense knew that wouldn't go lightly. She braced herself for death, and even though she didn't want to die, she knew that the Zith didn't care what she wanted. Not at all.

[Shadowfang]

The feeling of having a living creature completely at his mercy filled Shadowfang once more. To say the least, it was enjoyable. To say the most, it was violent, lustful bliss. He could almost smell, almost feel the fear emanating from the girl he was holding down. Unwillingly, a savage smile spread across his face. He leaned in closer, forgetting about the familiarity if her face and reveling in the feral feeling of a hunter capturing his prey. Sure, killing her now would be easy, safe, and extremely enjoyable, but he decided against it. Killing her would just be a waste.

A sharp pain shot through his hand like a bolt of lightning trough the storm outside. Part stinging, part burning, all excruciating, he yelled in anger and pain and yanked his hand away, possibly leaving a piece of himself behind. His momentum forced him off of the bed and he fell, hitting the back of his head against the cold hard floor below. He clutched his hand for a second, gritting his teeth. Sheer rage filled Shadowfang as he quickly rose and took a short step closer to the bed, closer to the girl. He brought his unhurt hand high over his head and swung downwards, aiming to claw the girl diagonally across the face. He was not going to let her get away with that without returning the favor himself.

[Chapiko]

Claws across her face. It stung, it bled, and it was painful. Something like this would leave a scar, for sure. Before that, he had fallen off the bed, long enough for Chapiko to momentarily gain her bearings. "Who are you?" She hissed, staring in the face of a possible death. She had caused him pain. He had caused her pain. But for what? Logic rammed through her mind past emotion and terror. He was a Zith. A disgusting, foul, terrible creature that was the reason she had left her beautiful tribe in Eyktol, and made her way to this disgusting city. It wasn't his direct fault, but she blamed it on him. She spat out blood and clutched her face. She was scared, sure. Terror coursed through her veins. Would he take her, too? He had just rammed through the window. Rain was now pouring in, pouring over Chapiko and the Zith. It was cold and windy, and shards of glass littered the floor. Her adrenaline rush was still going strong, but at least she could recognize that she was soaked and freezing. She started crying.

[Shadowfang]

Shadowfang could feel his claws rip through the woman's flesh. He felt the blood run down his claws and soak into the fur on his fingers. It felt so good! In the brief pause that followed while she stared at him in horror, he brought his blood covered hand to his face and licked his claws, letting the salty sweet liquid run on his tongue. The rain slashed his back, soaking him to the bone, but he dis not care. He was having fun. He took little notice of her hissed question, glaring at her with a mixture of rage and hunger. Then she started crying. Why couldn't she just shut up?

He leapt forward once again, stretching an open hand of towards her throat. If he got ahold of her he would throw her in the bead and squeeze, choking her and hopefully cutting off her sobs. "Quiet!" he hissed at her. He could hear people walking; in other rooms, in the hallways. The rain slamming against the wooden floor and roof was almost deafening to him. Surly no one would think twice about someone screaming and crying in Sunberth, but Shadowfang wanted to be careful. 

If anyone decided to check in on her they would see him, a winged beast threatening a woman. It was a chance he did not want to take. He briefly wondered if he should hide and risk her screaming, or stay here and risk someone coming in the room. Directing his attention to her face, he smiled menacingly. He was truly enjoying the sight of her tears, the jerky movements of her chest as she sobbed, the look of sheer terror in her face, it was almost too much. Had he not been so frustrated with how loud she was, he would have laughed.

OOCSorry it's so short.