Closed Forever in the Shadows [Shalita]

[Nickolai Marin]

25th Day of Summer, 514 AV

Of the many souls that had impacted his childhood, there were very seldom that Nickolai truly missed. Having long since departed his home, the young larcenist thought that day would be the final time he saw those few that he called friend. Amongst those he cherished was a young woman by the name Shalita. For as long as he could remember, the two of them ran up and down the streets of Zeltiva getting into all sorts of mischeif. While she was much better off than he, their difference in economic prosperity mattered very little; for Shalita had no problem swiping a loaf of bread for them to share...even if it was from her own dinner table. However, as they grew, a slight distance formed between them. As Shalita grew into the young woman her family expected, Nickolai became much more than a common thief.

He began to hone his craft into a way of life. No longer was he a starving boy in Zeltiva, but a budding larcenist.

Knowing full well the risks of this trade, Nickolai boldly went on venture after venture. Soon, his pockets were full in addition to his stomach...but that's when he got sloppy. Discovered in the act, the young larcenist had to do what was necessary to evade capture and his due consequence. This consisted of departing from his beloved home, supposedly never to return. It was difficult for Nickolai to make this choice, for there were so many he was leaving behind. His family, his Cecilia, and especially Shalita. However, there was no other option...and in his absense, his childhood friend was robbed of her freedom and her life. Ignorant of this fact, the young larcenist continued to survive in the wild world of Mizahar, until ultimately fate crossed the living with the dead in Kenash.

Now reunited, Nickolai sought to make the best of this rather uncanny situation; for it was not everyday that one had a ghost for a best friend. To the young larcenist, this consisted of exploring the positives in unlife; although the negatives were far too many to fathom. As such, he invited Shalita to join him in a relatively simple venture a few days following their reunion: the casing of a home. This residence was located within the Terraces and was only a few doors down from his own domicle. However, it was close enough in view that he could take a gander at it from the adjacent treeline. Of course, simply looking at a home from a distance was not enough to plan a successful heist; and Nickolai was determined to show Shalita how to make it happen.

However, the first step consisted of patience. As such, the young larcenist awaited the arrival of his otherworldly friend whilst leaning upon one of the nearest trees. Like normal, his attire matched the hue of night and his mask was already in place. Through this, he was free to move about the shadows; confident that he would not be easily seen.
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[Shalita Farlay]

Shalita was never really known for her being on time to things, in fact, ever since she had become a ghost and began to mourn her human existence that habit had gotten much more worse. She would linger in areas for hours upon hours as she stared at something that she used to enjoy in her human life, the main thing being the warmth of the sun. Upon this day, she had lingered on the edges of the city, her hand out stretched as she tried to will it to feel the warmth. Instead, she only felt the familiar cold that plagued her very existence and a sigh had fallen upon her lips as her deep blue eyes watched the fall of the sun. Its last light disappeared over the horizon and the dark blanket of the moon rose steadily over-head. It was a strange thing, the sun and the moon, it was almost as if they were in sync with each, even though they were mostly on the opposite ends of the sky. She angled her head as she thought about this for a moment, the hand that had been stretched out was then by her side as she pondered such thoughts.

However it was the thought as to whether they may be lovers made her realize that she had to meet up with her old childhood friend, Nickolas and she turned to gently drift in the direction of the Terraces. She could have blinked, but that required effort and she wanted to preserve her energy for when she started to help him case a home. The ghost didn’t know much in the ways of casing a home, in fact, the only larceny she had done was in her childhood years with her childhood friend Nick and she hadn’t been very good at it. Her own mother knew when she was stealing food off the table and she didn’t even need to watch her do it. A faint smile curved at this memory as she remembered her mother’s voice as she snatched the half loaf off the table just after lunch had finished. ’While you’re in the habit of stealing food off of our table, you might as well give your friend the last of the cheese, I will be getting some more later this afternoon when I do a food shop.’ Shalita giggled at the memory, indeed her mother did not mind terribly that they were also feeding another mouth, for she did not begrudge those that were in need of food.

Upon reaching the site that Nick had instructed them to meet, she paused for a moment as she swiped back her black locks to search for the male’s form, or at least an outline. She remembered the night that they had caught up, he had been wearing a black outfit and she doubt that he would have changed that. She realized that for him, this would be just another job and a different night, the only difference was that she was joining in on it. It was then that she spotted his dark figure, just barely outlined as it was leaned against a tree and she made her way towards him before silently calling out to him. ”Hey Nick, sorry I’m a bit late…” She paused as she was just about to say, because time really doesn’t matter much to me anymore, I don’t really keep track of it. She didn’t want to think about that too often, but her ghostly form was a constant reminder to her that she did have all the time in the world. She managed a smile before she continued, ”I lost track of time, like usual.”
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[Nickolai Marin]

What alerted the young larcenist to the presence of his friend was not the symphony of footsteps upon the ground. Instead, it was the chill which spontaneously began to sink into his bones. Despite it being the height of summer, the cold was as bitter as winter...and as sudden as a strike of lightning. From this sensation, Nickolai knew that his Shalita had arrived; a fact which caused a light smile to form upon his lips. It had been the definition of difficult to come to terms with her death over the past few days; and this was due to the fact that he was beginning to blame himself. Thinking back to the days past, the young larcenist berated himself for not being there to protect his dearest friend...and that tore him up inside. However, he made absolutely certain that this internal turmoil did not manifest upon his face; for Shalita was going through enough as it was.

As such, whilst turning to face his departed friend, Nickolai lowered the mask which obscured his features. In its wake was a warm smile: the very same that he had always greeted her with since the days of their youth. "Honestly, I'm not surprised. You've never been the punctual type Shal." he said, with a light chuckle. Stepping forward, he took a moment to replace his mask before continuing. "I'm glad you came...despite breaking and entering not being your cup of tea." Reaching out, the young larcenist then "placed" a hand upon her shoulder whilst motioning to the Terraces with his offhand. "Behold our target...we'll be casing the house only six doors down from my own."

"Now, the key in casing any establishment is, above all else, anonymity. You must be as discreet as possible if you are to succeed in gaining the information you seek. To this end, we'll be making use of this tree to get a vantage point. From this view, we'll be able to learn key facts about the target without drawing undue attention to ourselves by drawing near." When he had finished speaking, the young larcenist retracted his hand and turned around. Aside from climbing trees when he was a child, there was not much expertise within the young larcenist about scaling anything. However, he figured it couldn't have been much more difficult now than it was then. "So, let's get up the tree and start scouting the target." he added, before taking a jogging start at the trunk.

He leaped and planted both feet upon the base of the trunk. His arms flailed up, desperately attempting to grap the nearest limb...but missed their mark terribly. Gravity then reminded Nickolai of its existence quite harshly by immediately tugging him to the earth, flat on his back. Immediately, a combination of pain and embarrasment caused crimson to claim the totality of his face; and all he could say for himself was a simple: "Ow."
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[Shalita Farlay]

A gentle smile curved her lips as the male lowered the mask and the moonlight briefly outlined her friend’s facial features. He was quite handsome and basically as she remembered him, other than the fact that he had aged a little bit. Sometimes she wondered as to what happened when they departed upon that faithful day, the day that he had told her that she had more to live for. Angling her head, she took note of the fact he seemed to give her a smile, like he had when they were younger. Thinking back, she couldn’t help but think just how much the roles had reversed, it was he that had so much to live for now and she? Not so much, she would be stuck in this ghostly form, never growing old, she was basically timeless. The moment that he mentioned that she was never the punctual type, she ducked her head at this. Her own mother had gotten annoyed with how late she had turned up back at the house, unfortunately for her, it was her lateness that led to her death at the hands of the Symenestra. One would think that she had learned by now, but perhaps she had not. What did it matter anymore? She was dead now, so it wasn’t as if her situation could get much worse than it already was.

He turned to view a set of buildings and she could help but questioned the fact that he had said that this was where he live. Then again, she couldn't talk, she basically lived at the Blacksugar Distillery with two other ghost. She continued to listen to him as her gaze drifted back to view Nick beside her as he spoke about the key to casing any establishment is anonymity. How was she supposed to remain anonymous? Whenever she walked into a room the temperature dropped and the scent of blood would drift through the room, it was for that exactly reason as to why she didn’t linger inside of buildings, preferring to remain outside of them so then she didn’t learn as to what could hurt a ghost. While she didn’t know if anything could truly hurt her, she didn’t exactly want to know by pissing off the population of Kenash. While he continued to talk, she was silently amazed however, that Nick had taken to acting as if she just simply wasn’t a ghost and it gave her a feeling of gratitude. Although it had been a shock to him and he had taken to the news of her death rather badly, he really did seem to be trying to make things easier for her and it was something that she appreciated, for he had been the first one to do such a thing.

It was at that point where he spoke about climbing the tree and she watched as he leaped up and planted both feet upon the base of the tree and basically flailed as he tried to grab a hold of something. Eventually gravity took hold and he fell to the ground with a thump and she couldn’t help but giggle at this. Slowly she drifted to the ground and placed her feet upon the ground, she would then focus upon her soulmist, drawing on it to materialize so then her form acquired some semblance of a solid shape. However, the edges of her form still appeared worn and it also flickered a little as she approached him, holding out her hand towards him. ”Somehow, I imagined that to be a little more graceful, at least a little more graceful than when we were kids.” She giggled at this statement continuing to hold out her offered hand. Should he grasp a hold of it, he would feel a pricking sensation.
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[Nickolai Marin]

Unlike in the days of his youth, where he could simply play off a monumental blunder as having "meant to do that", Nickolai simply would not get away with such these days. The fact was, he had supremely embarrassed himself...but was glad that there was no one around to see his fall. What's more, the peals of laughter which escaped his departed friend made the pain upon his posterior worth it. Seeing her smile brought back fond memories of the "good ol'days", where they would wander about the streets of Zeltiva with not a care in the world. Near constantly, the two of them would share laugh after laugh and spent their days with smiles perpetually plasted upon their faces. To see that smile again brought untold sums of joy to Nickolai's heart...

...But at the same time, the icy pang of guilt continued to plague his mind...

It nagged at him, whispering the most deplorable words. Much like the slaves which toiled away in the Plantations, Nickolai felt as though a monumental weight had been loosed upon his shoulders. The weight of his guilt was enormous, so much so that it threatened to "crush" him. However, before he could allow his self-blame to get the better of him, Shalita offered her hand to him. Upon looking up, the young larcenist noted that he form seemed to be...a little bit more human; as if he could actually touch her and feel something. "I haven't had to climb in years. Not since the last time I snuck up to your window, in fact." he said, giving her the most playful of winks. He then sat up a small sum before reaching out with his dominant hand.

Although apprehensive, there was no hesitation as his fingers wrapped about her ghastly flesh...yet as opposed to being met with the warmth of life, Nickolai felt only cold. What's more, the totality of his hand felt...odd...as if hundreds of needles were gently, yet rapidly, prickling upon his skin. It was not the most enjoyable of sensations, yet it was better than passing through at every turn. Placing his offhand flat upon the ground, the young larcenist then relied upon his own strength primarily as he hoisted himself off of the ground. Once on his feet, he gave her hand the gentlest of squeezes whilst maintaining the grin that she loved. "Thank you for the hand, m'lady." he said in the most flamboyently "cordial" manner he could.

Turning, his eyes then graced the form of the tree once more...and a hint of reluctance fell upon his shoulders. His posterior still throbbed from the earlier impact; but he had to do what he had to do. "Second time's the charm." he began, gently allowing his grasp to loosen. Once his fingers fell free of her hand, he rolled his shoulders before taking a few additional steps back. Pushing off, he then ran full speed at the tree and tried again. Bending his knees, he pushed off against the earth with as much might as he could muster before his feet made contact with the trunk. This time, he had managed to leap high enough that reaching his arms up as high as he could allowed his hands to coil about the solid branch in question.

When the momentum was lost, gravity decided to remind Nickolai that he had weight to account for...and straightway a pronounced grunt escaped his lips. His legs, now dangling free underneath him, flailed in order to give his arms a boost. The young larcenist clenched his teeth whilst he clawed his way up; managing first to get his dominant arm wrapped fully about the branch. Awkwardly, Nickolai then extended his right leg and placed it upon the trunk; pushing off in order to allow his left arm to wrap about as well. Now it was "simply" a matter of pushing himself upright. Placing his hands flat upon the branch, Nickolai began the process of hoisting his form up. His muscles screamed in protest to this action, for they were not trained nor anticipating a nocturnal climb this evening.

Regardless, despite the pronounced burning in his limbs, Nickolai managed to swing his left leg over and planted his foot down. He then pushed himself up to a standing position and exhaled; taking a moment to mop the sweat which beaded from his brow. However, this stance did not last for long, as there was the matter of bringing Shalita up to the branch. As such, whilst careful to maintain his footing and balanced, the young larcenist lowered himself to a crouch. He then dangled his dominant hand over, indicating that he would help her up. "Let's see if you're as graceful as when we were children, shall we?"
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[Shalita Farlay]

Shalita had almost ducked her head as Nick spoke about not having to climb since the last time that he had climbed up to her window. She could remember that memory as clear as day and it was a memory that she enjoyed to revisit, sometimes she wished that she could live inside the memory, feel the emotions and the sense of touch all over again. The young ghost would have revisited the memory right then and there, had Nick not grasped a hold of her hand. It was a strange sense really, for she couldn’t feel the warmth that she knew his hand would have, but she could feel the grasp that tightened around her hand. It was a relief in a way, to know that not all of her senses was dead, but she leaned her weight slightly backwards as Nickolai used some of her strength, but not a great deal to help himself up from the ground. She felt him squeeze her hand and he kept the grin that she loved so much upon his lips. It was easy to get wrapped up into his charm and she had to turn her head away as she felt the familiar feelings that she had once held so close to her, begin to rise.

Silently, she watched as he turned back to the tree and mentioned that second time was a charm, ”Well, I may be dead, but I think the saying goes, ‘Third time’s a charm.’” She giggled as he slowly let go of her hand and he took a step back. Reflects told her that she too should take a step back out of his way and she did, although all she really had to do was unmaterialize, but she really wanted to stay in this form for a bit longer, however, she knew that she would only be able to maintain it for a few chimes. Slowly she would unmaterialize her form losing its solid look and she became translucent, her soulmist returning to swirl around her form like thin white smoke. By that time Nick had managed to swing his left leg up and over onto the branch, watching with silent blue eyes as he then moved to stand up. A smirk fell into place upon her lips as she noted sweat forming onto his forehead, it probably was hard to climb the tree and required some effort seeing as he hadn’t climbed since she had been alive.

However, as he moved to lower himself into a crouch and held his hand out to her, she flinched slightly and she turned her head away for a moment. As much as she would love to stay in a materialized form, she knew that if she continued using it fairly often, she would feel very tired and so she looked back up at him and managed a small smile. ”The perks of being a ghost is that, I don’t really have to be a burden upon you, I can just float right up.” She hesitated in doing so though and she glanced towards the supposed house that they were supposed to case, this little adventure was already dredging up old feelings and memories. She shook her head as she pushed it to the back of her mind, she would linger upon them later after the casing was done and she was alone. Slowly, her feet would leave the ground as he form began to drift upwards towards Nick upon the branch, once she did reach his level she hovered there for a moment, her gaze glancing around pretending as if nothing was different. ”So, what house are we looking at?”
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