(Flashback) Cold Winter Nights (Adder)

[Blythe]

82 Winter, 498 AV

Blythe was walking through the streets of Sunberth, shivering now that she had let J'kar keep her mother's brown cloak. He was bound to need it far more than she ever would, and she was sure if she explained what had happened to her mother, she wouldn't mind too much.

Blythe kept her arms close to her chest, her hands in a fist that covered her mouth, her elbows touching. Her teeth were chattering, and the sky was dark and filled with clouds that seemed to threaten her with snow.

Night had already fallen a few hours before, but if you didn't know any better, you would probably mistake the time for day, the moon having been hidden by the dark ominous clouds hours before, along with every possible star in the sky. Blythe sighed, letting out a steam of breath, that swirled icily around her mouth. She would have to find shelter for the night, pretty soon, and worried that she would find nothing.

Blythe took a few more steps forward, her breath continually forming icy wisps by her mouth. "So cold..." she whispered into the wind as her teeth chattered, and she looked wildly around her, thinking that she had just heard footsteps off in the distance.

[Adder]

Adder Rayne, a young mixed blood of a Dhani and a Sunberthian hooker, was making his way homeward. Luckily his body was being warmed by the respectable amount of alcohol he had consumed in the Pig's Foot. If he hadn't, Adder would have most likely refrained from entering the chilly streets as his Dhani blood made him stiff and dislike the cold.
Wrapping his cloak around closely he turned a street. At this hour they should all be empty but this one wasn't. Someone was standing there, all curled up. Though the moon wasn't out due to the dark clouds, Rayne could clearly make out light blonde hair.
He had to pass her by anyway as is home was just behind this small alley.

He grasped the hilt of his dirk, perhaps this one some kind of trick from one of the gangs. Slowly he crossed the distance and eyed the woman suspiciously.
"What are you doing out here in the cold?" his breath came out in puffs of white smoke "Lady if this is some kind of trick, it is not going to work. I'm a born Sunberthian." Adder moved his head from right to left and watched the alleyways ending up in the one they were in. He sounded a bit more rude than he'd liked but that's what this town did to people.

[Blythe]

"What are you doing out here in the cold?" Blythe heard, as she turned on her heels and locked eyes with that of a rather tall man with reptilian eyes. His irises were a golden color, which sent a chill up Blythe's spine. "I could ask you the same question," she replied through chattering teeth, holding her arms closer to her body, hoping to lock in some more heat, but achieving absolutely nothing.

"Lady if this is some kind of trick, it is not going to work. I'm a born Sunberthian," he said, seeming to take a step closer to her, Blythe taking a small step back, wondering why he seemed so close. Why his body seemed to waver in the darkness, a lack of light which her eyes struggled to adjust to.

Blythe's breath grew shallow, a clump growing in her throat, her breath forming little white wisps by the tip of her lips every few seconds. Blythe shivered again, as she turned to look behind her, feeling as though someone or something were watching, as if she and this man weren't the only ones around.

"Thh...ere..sss... no... ooo... tr..iiiii...ccc....kkkkk," Blythe said through her chattering teeth, not truly knowing where this man had gotten the idea, but then remembering she wasn't at home in Mura anymore, she was in Sunberth, and in Sunberth, there were no rules; or if their were, it didn't seem like anyone bothered to follow or to enforce them.

[Adder]

"Thh...ere..sss... no... ooo... tr..iiiii...ccc....kkkkk" she struggled to get the words out and shivered heavily. Adder could hear sounds of domestic violence not too far from here.
Rayne squinted his reptillian eyes at her, she might still be lying. But then again, was didn't she have a cloak or some fur to keep her warm? Going outside like that was suicide, homeless often froze to death in Sunberth's winter. However, she was too pretty to be a bum. Perhaps she was simply lost?

"Lady you don't look too..." he said while studying the young woman, but was interupted because she collapsed on the snowy ground. She spasmed and her eyes began to turn away. She must have been more cold than he had initially thought!
Letting out a curse that sailors and whores alike would be jealous off he threw of his cloak and wrapped it around the girl. Adder picked her up with ease and carried her off in both arms. "Damn she's light" - he thought as he raced through the two streets to his humble home.

He slung the young woman over his shoulder and produced the key from his pocket. Unlocking the door and entering the room he quickly ran to his bed, tossed away the sheets and deposited the now limp hypothermia suffering girl. Rapidly he closed the door, locked it with the beam and ran back to the blonde woman.

Adder desperatly rubbed the stranger in an effort to get her warm. He noticed how pale she was and was afraid she had already blown out her last breath. No time to light a fire! his thoughts shouted as he removed his clothes and hers.
Her soft skin felt cold as Adder embraced her, pressing his body against hers so he could warm her with his bodyheat. He pulled the sheets over them so they would contain the warmth. Rayne felt scales on the lower part of her body but discarded all questions regarding that matter for now. Scales! Maybe she's something like me!?

The half Dhani rubbed his strange 'guest' excessivly and hoped she'd wake up. Unharmed.

[Blythe]

"Lady you don't look too..." the man said as Blythe clutched her head, she was starting to feel dizzy, the world growing even darker all around her. It was almost pitch black. She couldn't make out anything around her, and her head felt like it was spinning, even though she were certain that it wasn't moving.

Blythe shook her head, hoping it would dissipate the haze that seemed to surround her, but her actions solved nothing, and if anything, it made her feel even worse.

Then, all of a sudden, Blythe's chest began to feel tight. It felt like someone had reached into her chest and taken hold of her heart, and was squeezing it and squeezing it, and maybe shaking it about a bit. Blythe reached for her heart before her body grew light, like she was floating. Like she was weightless.

And then everything went black, and when she opened her eyes again, she didn't know where she was, because she wasn't on the cold wintery streets of Sunberth anymore. She was inside, and the strange reptilian man was standing over her. "Whhaa..." she whispered, but the man didn't seem to hear. Blythe looked down, she saw a blanket draped over the area where her legs should be, they were a blobby mass beneath the deep red blanket.

Blythe didn't understand, where was she? she wondered, as she looked around, not seeing much other than the man, who seemed worried, small crow's feet etched into the sides of his eyes, and his brow furrowed, he was biting his bottom lip as he looked down at her. Besides that, there seemed to be little other than the bed she was sitting on.

Wait? Sitting on? Blythe looked down, she did appear to be sitting on the bed, under the covers, but she didn't FEEL as though she were sitting on anything, she simply felt like she were floating. She imagined it must feel like a bird, suspended in mid-air, nothing to lean on, and nothing to weigh them down. Blythe looked down again, she was definitely sitting on this bed, but why couldn't she feel it.

"What's happening?" she asked the man, whose reptilian eyes never seemed to leave her. But he didn't seem to hear, either that or he was simply ignoring her. Blythe waved her right hand at him, "hello?" she called, but still nothing, he didn't even bat an eyelid, didn't respond. What the heck is going on? she wondered, as she looked down at the bumpy mass beneath the covers, presumably her legs and her feet.

Blythe tried to wiggle her toes, but nothing happened. What. The. Heck? she thought, as she tried again, but failed to make the sheets so much as ripple, she couldn't even feel her toes. Blythe's eyes grew wide, this was certainly very strange, and rather scary.

Blythe sat up straighter, and looked over her shoulder, there was a pillow behind her, she was leaning up against it, but just like the bed beneath her, and the blankets that lay across her body, she didn't feel it either. In fact, she didn't feel the warmth the blanket should have been providing either, how strange she thought, as she realized she neither felt hold nor cold.

Blythe raised her hands, and stifled a gasp. They were translucent, and glowing a pale pink. She lifted her hands closer to her face, turning them back and forth so that she could see both the palm and the back portion of them. She couldn't see the usual cracked skin she got in the winter, or the small wrinkles about her knuckles. How very very strange she thought, as she dropped her hands, and looked up at the man.

His dark brown hair had curled into his eyes, but he didn't seem to care, he was too intent on something. Blythe looked down, he had been rubbing her skin, but she didn't feel that either. "You can stop," she said, trying to get his attention, but not getting anywhere. Blythe sighed, this was both confusing, scary, and just plain ridiculous.

Blythe sat up some more, and got on all fours, she crawled to the edge of the bed, and hopped down, hoping the man would finally stop what she was doing, if she got out of the way.

When Blythe's feet hit the floor, they didn't make a sound. Blythe gasped, rapidly bringing her right hand to her mouth, to cover it as it hung open in surprise, this cannot be happening she thought, usually, no matter how hard she tried, she always wound up making noise.

Blythe looked over her shoulder, and her jaw dropped. She moved her hand from her mouth, and let her arms hang limp at her sides. Her eyes grew wide again, the man was standing over her body, and she was connected to it only by a long silver chord, that was shimmering and glinting as though it were water reflecting the light of the sun. The chord was attached to her navel, on both ends.

Blythe was essentially, looking at herself, without the use of a reflective surface. But she didn't look so good- she was ghastly pale, and her lips shone the palest of pinks. Her eyes were shut, but not so tight that creases appeared over them; she merely looked like she were resting peacefully. Her bottom half was buried in blankets, and the man was still furiously rubbing her body, looking as though he were starting to break a sweat.

WHAT IS GOING ON? Blythe wondered, as she looked up at the ceiling, directly into a small crack, before whispering, "Avalis please help me, I think I've finally lost it."

Blythe then walked over to the man and stood behind him, peering over his shoulder at her own body. She hadn't made any noise on the way over, at least as far as she could tell, because the man still hadn't moved.

Was she dead? Blythe wondered, as she looked down at her body from behind the man's right shoulder, standing on her tippy-toes to get a better look.

Blythe thought about it for a moment, before realizing that she couldn't be, could she? There was a strange silver chord tying her to her body after all. Phew she thought, before thinking, 'wait a moment, if I'm not dead, then what am I?'

Blythe sat down on the side of the bed, on top of where her other body's legs appeared to be, wishing that her body would squish them, or sink into the bed; something. Blythe sighed, before poking the man's shoulder, and still receiving no response, it seemed as though she could see and hear him, and see her other body, but she couldn't actually moved her other body, and he couldn't see, hear, or feel her, just like she couldn't feel anything. This is so not good, she thought to herself.

OOCA few things: First off, I checked in with Tarot, and he said it should be ok for me to have an out of body experience since I'm also experiencing a near death experience. Essentially, my spiritual body is attached to my physical body through the large silver chord I described. I can see and hear everything that is going on, but you can't see or hear me, (since you're not mediumistic or anything). If I go with the typical OBE cycle, I'll want to go back to my body... eventually, since it's not my time to die. Also, sorry for the long and obnoxious, slightly repetitious post. >.<

[Adder]

OOCThe post was fine Ariel. I was like WTFFFF!? So what happens now? You just fumble around my home unseen and unheard, while Adder thinks he has a dead body lying in his bed? lol, straaange creatures these konti[/quote]

The girl didn't respond and Adder was growing desperate. What would his neighbours say if they saw him carrying out a dead body? He gripped his hair and tugged it. She looked so serene and calm!
He leaned in and held his head just above her chest and mouth. Was she even still breathing? Maybe faintly...
"Did I... Did I kill her?" he asked himself whispering. No, he couldn't have. But still... He'd never seen anyone die so quickly from hypothermia.

Adder Rayne erected himself and ran to his small fireplace. His hands were trembling so it took a while for him to get the fire going, well his trembling hands and the wet firewood. Why do these things always happen to me?
Inwardly he cursed himself; he should've left her out there, now he'd get into trouble again...
The heat of the flames began to spread through the small room and he quickly pulled on some breeches. Next, he walked over to the bed again and picked her up gently. The girl was still clad in his red woolen sheets as he carried her in front of the hearth. The reflection of the crackling flames danced sadly around her delicate white face. She was so young, he realised.

With the courage of despair he grabbed the bottle of herbal gin from his shoddy table, uncorked it and put it to the girl's mouth. At least a part of it went down her throat. The rest of the brown liquid slid down her neck and soiled his sheets. "Come on" he grunted and shook her a bit "Come on!" The half Dhani held her in his arms and pulled her as close to the fire as he dared, careful not to burn her soft skin.

Adder Rayne never had been a religious man but now he prayed to the gods to save this girl.

[Blythe]

Blythe watched as the man grabbed large clumps of his hair and started to tug on it. Was it out of fear? Frustration? Something else entirely? she wondered, as he leaned into her other body, holding his head just above her mouth and chest, as though he were trying to listen to her other body breath.

The man was dangerously close to her current form, and Blythe held her breath as he dangled over and next to both of her bodies, and when Blythe reached her right hand up, as if to comfort or reassure the man, by placing her hand on his shoulder, her hand passed right through his body, as though he weren't there, and once again, Blythe's mouth hung slightly open, still amazed at the notion that he couldn't even FEEL her presence in the room, and that she couldn't communicate her presence to him either, not unless she found her way back into her other body, but even that may not work, who's to say that she would definitely regain control of her body even if she tried to regain access to it? Even if she did manage to get back into it?

"Did I... Did I kill her?" the man whispered into the thick air that must be hanging in the room, with what Blythe now realized, was his deep feeling of fear. The words were nearly inaudible, even though Blythe couldn't have been sitting more than three feet from his ear, even if her hearing wasn't as good as it once was in her youth.

The man stood up, and started to walk away, not knowing what else to do, she followed the man. He walked over to a small fireplace that Blythe hadn't noticed before. He was shaking like a leaf, and Blythe felt sad for him, she didn't like to see people so visibly worried or uncomfortable.

Slowly, shakily, the man lit a fire, and it began to grow, and crackle, spitting tiny sparks from time to time. Blythe wished she could feel its head, simply seeing its red-hot flames, the way it danced in the fireplace wasn't enough to satisfy her hunger.

Blythe hadn't even realized that the man had gone back to her bed to retrieve her other body, she had been too intent on watching the flames, always having been mesmerized by the simple beauty of such things.

The man's arms were trembling as he brought her other body to a rest by the fire. Was it simply his fear, or was she that heavy? Blythe wondered, as she bit her bottom lip and continued to watch the scene unfold.

Her other body was still wrapped in the red blanket's from the man's bed, and she looked much as she had before- pale skin, practically glowing, pale pink lips, tinged with blue at the edges, eyes shut tight, but in a peaceful manner. She really did look dead, Blythe thought to herself, as the man practically hovered over her body, before grabbing a bottle with some strange brown liquid in it from a shoddy table.

He uncorked the bottle, and attempted to pour whatever it was into her mouth, delicately cupping her face, well as delicately as a man with trembling hands could, in his right hand, his thumb resting on her chin, his other fingers on her cheek. Her mouth had opened only slightly, exposing a line of white teeth, and a pale pink tongue, that was edged with white lines. Whatever the mixture was, and to her, it looked like a mess of lumpy and dead herbs, the man managed to get about half of it into her mouth, the rest dribbled down her cheek and neck, and onto the sheets.

Well, that's unfortunate, Blythe thought as she stood over the man, watching him work. "Come on" he grunted and shook Blythe's other body a bit "Come on!" Her head rolled back and forth a bit with the force, but other than that, not much changed. The man moved her closer to the fire, and Blythe held up her right hand's curled fingers to her mouth, wishing she could cry, she felt so bad for this man, who seemed to be going to such great lengths to revive her, and was accomplishing nothing, because another version of herself was standing just over his crumpled body, still trying to discern, just what exactly was going on, and how she could be both here where she was standing, and lying on the floor, cradled in this man's arms.

Blythe had to find a way to get into her other body. But how? Could she simply walk into it, and have everything be ok? she wondered, as she stepped over to her body, so she was standing on top of its stomach, nothing happened, Blythe lay down on the floor, aligning her body, to the best of her ability, with the one this man was holding, having it shake and tremble, and move constantly in his arms. She found it difficult to keep up, but after a few moments of taking deep breaths, and a few tears trickling down her face, tears she couldn't even feel, Blythe found herself slowly opening her eyes, feeling the warmth of the fire on her face, and the trembling of the man who was cradling her body in his arms.

Blythe's eyes felt heavy, as though a lead weight had been weighing them down, and they felt a little sticky. "Whh...aaa.. where am I?" she asked, as she looked up into the man's strange serpentine eyes, before looking about the room, being unable to see anything other than him, the roaring flame, and the walls. There was no silver chord, no other body, and she wasn't looking down upon the scene like a third party bystander anymore, it had worked! Blythe was back in her body.

Blythe shivered, both because she was cold, and because she was unnerved by what had happened; but she didn't want to mention the other part to this mysterious stranger just yet.

[Adder]

The gin didn't seem to have any effect and Adder let his shoulders hang down in a beaten fashion. He was about to abandon all hope and took a big sip from the bottle to ease his worries. This is ridiculous! The liquid burned down his throat and he absent mindedly put down the bottle on the wooden floor.

How will I get rid of this bod... his mischievous thoughts were interupted by the faint voice of the girl asking about her whereabouts. Adder almost jumped up from suprise. Having no idea what had transpired the only sensation he had for the moment was happiness he didn't have to despose of a corpse.
"You're alive!" he almost shouted out of relief. Adder hugged her disregarding the fact she was a total stranger. He smiled.

"We're at my home in Sunset Quarters. You have no recollection on how you got here?" he looked a bit concerned but little by little his mask returned. He needed to guard his distance. Gently he put her short blond hair behind her ears and was pleased to see a bit colour return to her cheeks. She was still looking paler than any normal human, but then again she also had scales.
Adder Rayne released her from his grip and gestured to the bottle. "It might not be after your taste but it'll get your insides warmed up faster than the fire can." Taking a few step backwards he studied the girl. She seemed to have not only scales on her lower body, but also on her forehead and on the back of her arms. They reflected the limelight of the flames and Adder was wondering how she had gotten them, what species she was.

Rubbing his arms a bit he turned around and pulled over a chair. Adder sat down on with his muscled arms resting on his knees and bending over a little he studied his 'guest' more closely. "Take your time, girl. I think you've been closer to death's abyss than we think." he tried to smile assuringly but quickly shut his mouth because of his prolonged canines. "I'm Adder by the way..." he added after a pause.

[Blythe]

"You're alive!" the man shouted as soon as he had heard her faint, and weak-sounding voice. Or maybe it was simply the confusion?

The man hugged her closer to him, and her shoulder met with his chest, and his shoulder,with the bottom of her face and neck. "Um... yo...uu.. are... choking... me..." Blythe whispered as the man released her, pulling back a little, but still holding her, he was smiling down at her. Exposing his teeth again, they frightened Blythe a little, but she wasn't sure as to exactly why this was.

"We're at my home in Sunset Quarters. You have no recollection on how you got here?" the man looked down at her, tucking a few blonde strands behind her ears with one of this hands, the other and what she assumed to be his knee, still supporting her body.

Blythe thought about it for a moment, not remembering anything other than it being cold outside, and her walking the streets of Sunberth, and then appearing in a bed with red covers, and somehow having two bodies, but only one now. "No," she replied simply, as she reached a hand up to hold her head, it hurt a bit, but she wasn't sure why, it wasn't like she had hit it or anything, not from what she could remember.

The man released her, placing her gently on the floor. "It might not be after your taste but it'll get your insides warmed up faster than the fire can," the man said as he gestured toward the bottle of that strange dark liquid that Blythe had seen him pour down her throat a few moments before. Blythe just eyed it warily, she didn't taste anything, and all she felt was a clump in her throat, and the heat of the fire beside her.

The man got up, taking a few steps back, and began eyeing her, glancing up and down, studying her. She felt like a bug under a magnifying glass. What was he looking at at any given moment she wondered? And was she truly that interesting a sight to behold?

Rubbing his arms a bit the man turned around and pulled over a chair. He then took a seat, peering down at her. Blythe started to feel smaller and smaller, he was towering over her body, as she lay on the floor. He seemed to smile, slyly, mischievously down at her.

"Take your time, girl. I think you've been closer to death's abyss than we think," he said, as Blythe's lavender eyes looked up at him, starting to wonder just who he was, and why she was here, and why he had tried so darn hard to revive a total stranger, especially in Sunberth where there seemed to be no rules.

The man started to smile again, exposing some of his teeth, but he quickly shut his mouth. How strange, Blythe thought, was he self-conscious? she wondered or... did he have something to hide? When the thought crossed her mind, her eyes grew wide, and she pulled the blanket up closer around her chin, she could feign being cold, couldn't she?

"I'm Adder by the way..." he added after a pause, seeming to look down at her thoughtfully. "Blythe," she replied simply.

[Adder]

"Blythe" her name was the first word to come out of her mouth since she had lost consciousness. At first he thought it was a swear and chuckled. Raising an eyebrow and pushing himself upright. She had pulled the blanket up to her chin. Out of humility, fear, chill or the fact she didn't want him to see her, Adder Rayne didn't know.

She couldn't really be much older than sixteen, seventeen at the most. She wasn't human that was sure and appeared far to innocent to be roaming around Sunberth. "Where are you from?" he blurted out askingly. His curiosity had gotten the better of him. "And what the hell are you doing in Sunberth? All by yourself even? If anyone else would've found you you'd most likely have ended up a slave..." he shrugged his head and realised he was still shirtless.

Instead of pulling on his shirt or jacket he left it be, not that he wanted to 'show off' his physique but that way the girl, Blythe, would see he bolstered scales too. "But where are my manners... Are you hungry?" he asked leaning back and retreating from her personal space.