[Flashback] Step with me into the Shadows (Dhatzu)

[Cailet]

Timestamp: 50th of Summer, 507 AV The Day After: The Encounter Where: Lhavit Who: Dhatzu "She's alseep, be quiet." "She needs to wake up, so we can meet her." Cailet stirred in her sleep, rolling over until the blankets were twisted around her legs. Still, the young woman didn't seem to care; she had been up all night and had only fallen into an exhausted sleep a few hours before. The sun was starting to peek in through her uncovered window, the beginning rays of morning tickling at her forehead and threatening to shine into her eyes. That was normally how Cailet woke, by the sunshine, while the rest of Lhavit slept. But this morning, an early wake-up call would be most unwelcome. Luck would have it that her restless turnings eventually faced her to the wall, where the shadows gathered and the sun could not reach. No it's true. It was Akajia. Believe me! "Mmmm...Stopit.. I'm tryin t'practice.. mm.." Unaware that she talked in her sleep on a regular basis, Cailet was deep within her dreams. There, she exercised with her favorite staff, going through the dances she used to perfect her technique. In her dreams, she was plagued by a little girl, Amanda. How she knew the girls name was truly Amanda and not something she had just made up in dream land, Cailet couldn't explain. Nor could she explain why she thought of the girl as something other than just a dream. The girl had always seemed familiar to her, but she could never place from where; her mind had blocked out the tragic incident in which Cailet and Amanda had really met. Amanda was forever by Cailet's side, though sometimes unseen by the woman herself as well as the rest of the population. But she was always present in Cailet's dreams.Amanda liked to discuss the days activities, critique actions and even try and give advice (as well as a child could), and the young woman was at first unsettled by this. However, it was easier to explain the little girl away, making herself believe that she was merely an over active subconscious, which in turn affected her dreams. Cailet did her best to ignore the child and usually failed in doing so, since the newly risen Shinya had even taken to occasionally talking in the plural, though she wasn't aware of it. No it really was! The woman was a goddess and you told her everything! "Shutup...practicing..." "Who is she talking to?" "I don't know, lets ask her. Hey! Hey you!" "Yeah, she's asleep and she doesn't know we're here, so that's a brilliant idea. Why don't you throw something at her next." Why won't you believe me! It's not fair! Amanda walked over and kicked Cailet in the shin in her dream, before storming out and slamming the door behind her. As the door slammed Cailet's eyes snapped open. Suddenly and despite her exhaustion she was fully awake, but couldn't explain why. The young woman rolled over and shielded her eyes from the sun that now flooded her room while reaching down with the other hand to rub at her leg. Her shin stung, but she didn't remembering injuring herself the day before. Ignorant to the 'dream' she had had only seconds before Cailet rose and quickly got dressed. She was used to letting such inconsistencies go, if she didn't she knew she would quickly go insane. The Shinya was quick to ready in the morning; she never did anything to embellish her wardrobe, hair or face. She simply washed herself daily, cleaned her clothes and kept her hair neat and pulled away from her face. Tying her hair back with an irritated flick of her wrist, Cailet sighed to herself as she then slipped on her shoes, left the room and strode down the corridor. It had not started out as a good day; her leg randomly hurt, she had hardly gotten any sleep and there was just so many people talking all night that she had it in mind to complain to the next superior she came across. Cailet didn't realize the whispers were in her very room, not in the adjacent ones that she was laying the blame on. While she had gotten dressed, all was silent. But the moment that Cailet left, her room erupted in whispers. "She seems angry." "You would be too if you were haunted, tormented and then woken up early." "I don't sleep, though." "You're so insensitive. Act like that, and she might not like you." "But she doesn't even know me!" "I wish I didn't know you" As the light continued to fill the room, the whispers got quieter and the bickering stopped. Cailet heard none of it, however, as she was on her way to the kitchens. Every once and a while, she would hear whispering behind her. When she turned to find out who it was, there was no one there. After the fourth or fifth time of this, Cailet's frustration level rose even higher. "Amanda, cut it out." She grunted as she continued down a flight of stairs, even though her gut told her it wasn't Amanda, not this time. Thankfully there was quiet the rest of her journey. Cailet filled her breakfast plate, found a place to sit and began to fill her stomach before a thought even occurred to her. The whole ordeal, hearing voices when there wasn't anything there was very reminiscent of her Mysterious friend. That brought a smile to the young woman's face as she dug back into her food. It was alright then, if that was the case. She had finished her stories with the woman last night; it was what had kept her up so late. In return, the woman had told Cailet that she was going to appreciate the darkness more when she was awoken by the sun. This had made no sense to Cailet, and she told the woman so. But the Mystery woman had only laughed and gently patted her arm, telling her that she would understand. That there would be others to show her the way. "But how will they find me?" Cailet had asked. "Don't be afraid, child. They will. And it will all be okay. Now go to sleep, you have a big day ahead of you." And the woman draped in shadows had risen from the end of Cailet's bed and disappeared through her door. Curious now as to whether the whisperers were the "they" Cailet had been told of, chocolaty brown eyes swept over the other individuals surrounding her, also eating breakfast. It could be any of them. Perhaps she should be careful to watch for any sign of acknowledgement. It was an odd feeling, paying attention to those around her; Cailet was used to being alone, avoided by her colleagues as often as she avoided them. To be searching out their company, but not knowing whose company made Cailet feel uneasy. It must have been evident in the way she held herself while she waited; extra stiff and jumpy, turning and staring at each passer by. There was a larger space around the Shinya then normal, her brothers and sisters giving her an extra wide berth. But still she sat and waited. Let them come to you. Amanda whispered. Cailet nodded.

[Dhatzu]

Dhatzu had awoken from Dawn Rest and joined the other acolytes for morning meal. By joining, he meant eating in the same room. His fellow Shinya students had been steering clear of him the past season or so. It had been difficult to hide his recent-gifted affinity for shadowy things. Always a child who lingered on the fringe, his apparent conversations with nothing and his strange darting glances into darkness spurred all kinds of rumors, as teenagers were quick to proliferate. Several had seen the dark triangle tattoo that seemed to suddenly appear on his back, between his shoulder blades. If any had known what the mark was, none had confronted Dhatzu about it. So The teenager strolled the tables, avoiding the occasional stare, looking for a space big enough to accompany him and the buffer of space most gave him. As he walked, a strange sensation tugged at him. Its location too diffuse to identify, something that was seemed to suffuse his whole body. He spotted the girl called Cailet, another acolyte about his age, with her own barrier of emptiness around her. Cailet had been singled out as a sort of freak herself. The girl had virtually no social skills, and seemed to talk to herself more than anyone else. She was cute, but a bit...weird. Dhaztu laughed to himself. Now that was the pot calling the kettle black. Amongst the clamor of the morning meal, the Night Stalker heard the murmuring whispers in Maketh. Their tone was expectant, almost giddy. Dhatzu strained to hear the conversations. "Look, Look!" He heard one anxious shadow quip. "Will he know, will he know what it is?" Dhatzu almost ran into a short blonde boy as he tried to focus on the shadowy conversation. The strange feeling had grown stronger, and he knew. He knew it had something to do with Akajia, and the mark. His heart raced. Was she near? He had not seen nor heard from the Goddess since she visited him in the secret cave a couple seasons back. Akajia had opened a new world to him, and he was still just getting to understand it, and what it meant for him. His pace continued until the feeling inside him almost snapped. Then it became clear what it was. Another Night Stalker. Somehow he knew that was it. Slowly he turned to look who sat at the table where he stopped. Cailet. His stomach tightened. Someone else had met Akajia, had bore her mark. Caliet would know what it was like, to see in the shadows where others could not, to speak with the shade in a language no one knew. Dhatzu suddenly felt anticipation. But he could not just plop down and say, "hey, did the goddess of night appear to you and make you a shadow talking freak of nature?" With a clearing of his throat, Dhatzu sat down in one of the obvious empty spaces next to the girl. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, not sure what he was looking for. The senstation still rang strong in his system, and it drove him to speak. "Cailet, right?" Then Dhatzu switched to Makath. "I think we need to talk."

[Cailet]

Cailet didn't even notice at first when Dhatzu sat down at her table; she was too busy looking over her shoulder, searching for exactly him. Like Dhatzu, Cailet had felt the pull the moment he entered the room and also like Dhatzu, she had no idea where or what the pull was. It was as if someone was trying to force feed her brain information by just shoving it into her skull. There was a pressure right behind her eyes that practically dragged her head around on it's own, towards the acolyte as he sat. And so that was how she faced Dhatzu now, with eyes as big as dinner plates, her back stiff and her shoulders perpendicular to him as she had turned only her head toward the sound of his voice. All in all, it was completely awkward, just like Cailet. "Uh... okay. How do you know my name?" That was a stupid question. Everyone knew her name. She was the weird girl who talked to herself. So she rephrased the question. "Uh... How do I know you?" Still a stupid question, she didn't know him. She didn't know anyone. One last try.."Who are you, then?" Well, that was as good as it was going to get. Somewhere in the back of her head, Amanda snickered; Cailet scowled. Poor Dhatzu, now it looked like the socially inept woman was giving him the stink eye. "She doesn't even realize how he's talking to her." Came a quiet whisper to the left of Dhatzu "Shhhhh.. let them figure it out..." This time it was to the right. Did he have small people in his pocket? Was this a game? A trick? Cailets scowl deepened and she immediately began throwing up her mental and emotional walls. They were never far away, even when she did let them fall. But those times were rare. She was almost always guarded. The last thing she needed was to be laughed at in front of a large group of people. "Don't think I don't know what you're up too. I'd think twice before you try anything funny." Those brown eyes hardened, the whole expression making the young woman look much older than she was. It was a shame, there was so much potential in those pretty features. She would be beautiful. Don't be a baby. He can hear things too. Amanda sounded amused, like she just watched someone step in a cow pat. "Wait, you..." As unobservant and defensive as she may be, Cailet wasn't stupid. "....That wasn't common? How... did I understand you?" "See! She's getting it!" "Ahh, I can't wait till she can really see us." "And who is talking?!" Pushing her food away in anger and knocking her chair over with the force of how quickly she stood, Cailet glared down at Dhatzu. Never once during the whole ordeal did the thought even cross her mind that being polite and welcoming would get her more information than being difficult and closed off. Nor did she realize that with her reputation, just how ridiculous her final question was.

[Dhatzu]

There was a nervous thrill in Dhatzu's gut. He did not understand the pull to Cailet, well that was not entirely true. He knew, somehow, what it meant. Just not why it was happening. In his heart he knew the strange tugging meant that Cailet and he shared something divine. They had both been in the presence of the Goddess of Night. The realization was astonishing. He had never met anyone who had encountered Akajia in person, foolishly thinking maybe he had been the only one, only one in Lhavit at least. Now this strange girl, looking at him strangely, apparently shared the most peculiar and special aspect of his life. Or so he strongly believed, which is why he had to talk to her. Cailet came off a bit affronted by Dhatzu's address, taking several swipes and trying to phrase her question. He did not want to spook her, though the girl had a reputation for being a bit spooky herself. What most startled the teenage boy was not her words as much as the language. Makath. She was a Night Stalker. A chill ran up his spine and his hands started to sweat. "I am Dhatzu, um, we don't have any classes together." Cailet was a better student then Dhatzu, so she was sent to more advanced lessons. The young acolyte had attributed it to the fact that she started before him, but in reality he had no idea if that was true. The shadows continued to blabber, as they often did, as if the humans could not hear them. Well, both heard them now. But Cailet was having none of it, a wave of stone washed over her features, and Dhaztu saw her set her jaw, her gaze hardening. She did not understand, she believed he was teasing her. "Cailet, I am not trying anything, let me explain...." Now he was confused. She spoke in Makath, yet did not recognize the shadows speaking, or even seem to comprehend the mark she bore somewhere on her body. The girl's angst blossomed, until she burst to her feet, sending her chair flying and drawing the attention of the acolytes dining around them. Dhatzu stood up and stared her in the eyes. "I can explain it to you, if you let me. But not here," his voice was hushed but firm, "...not in front of the others."

[Cailet]

Cailet had no idea that she had switched from common into flawless Makath, unable to pick up the sound of the strange language that she had apparently learned overnight, nor could the words feel any different on her tongue. Then again, with her sheltered background, Cailet talked a little funny anyway; she was always stumbling over her tongue, putting the wrong emphasis on certain words and with an overall strange, musical lilt to her voice that was reminiscent of a lisp. The distrust was plain in her eyes. The boy seemed overly nervous; his hands were sweating and he was keen to get out from under the gaze of their brothers and sisters. Was he ashamed to be seen with her? Of course, that was it. He had been asked to play a joke on her, maybe to befriend her and then trick her, but didn't want to do it where everyone could see. "I know someplace." Well if that was the case, he was going to learn this lesson the hard way, somewhere where no one would interrupt. In her anger, Cailet had blocked out the whispering shadows as well as her little invisible friend. Her back was pin straight as she stormed away from the table, not waiting for Dhatzu to follow. In her anger and confusion, Cailet was missing all the signals that Dhatzu was receiving; she had no idea how unique the two of them were and what a special occasion this was. The fact alone that she was able to block out her newly found shadows was saying enough about her state of mind. Never caring about her personal beauty or whether her clothes were fashionable, never doing her own hair in anything other than it's bun, Cailet had no use for mirrors. She never looked at herself in one, nor did she stand there and study her naked form. There was no reason for her to randomly look between her shoulder blades that particular morning and see the triangle now imprinted on her skin. Maybe if she was a bit more vain, her life would be easier...well, at least for this day. Instead, Cailet was going to be blind sided. Stomp, stomp, stomp down the hallways and up a set of stairs, Cailet stormed her way towards her living quarters. She had no intention of bringing Dhatzu there, but instead to the unused training room on the same floor; she was the only one she knew of that used the space, and it would serve both of the teenagers purposes of being left alone and unseen. A minimalist, Cailet hardly used her powers of projection. She preferred to do things by hand, finding it much more satisfying; but all the acolytes had to learn, because when on duty it would come in handy. Now Cailet was angry and a little bit scared, thrown off her game if you will. As the pair strode along, Cailet felt the energy awaken inside of her, unbidden, building and building until she couldn't stand it anymore. A dozen feet away from the room, the door threw itself wide so that it banged against the wall. Cailet had slammed her metaphysical palm against the door with much more force than she had intended. The sound was ominous as it echoed off the bare walls, even more so because the door had opened of it's own accord. The effect would have been stronger if Dhaztu wasn't aware of her Projection ability, but the girl wasn't going for effect so it made no difference; it was just the magical equivalent of kicking open a door in anger. Cailet strode to the middle of the room before she pivoted on her heel to face Dhatzu, immediately falling into the first position of her dance, the one she practiced every morning should she need to protect herself physically. She was on guard. "Alright, lets get this over with. You can try and punch me, but I'll just punch you back. You may be stronger than me, but a knee to the right place and that won't even matter." Though she had never experienced the male anatomy first hand, Cailet knew where it was supposed to hurt the very most, at least. "But... if you just leave me alone you can go back and tell your friends that you beat up the girl who talks to herself, like a big boy. I'll even go along with it, if it makes the lie easier to swallow." There was a definite tone of mocking that nearly overpowered the pretty lilt of her words. She spoke Common now, though still unaware that she had switched back. "What baffles me is that I get...picked on for something that no one else can understand, making me stupid and weird. Yet it is very simple. I should be the one picking on all of you." Had Dhaztu known Cailet better, he would have understood that the girl was talking more to him in her anger than she had to anyone else in a very long time. The new voices and the boys random approach had left her feeling thrown off course, alone and yes, very scared. It was always easier to hide behind anger, and this was no exception. But there was one more emotion, buried deep down behind the fear and anger, though it shone brightly in her eyes. Hurt. Cailet had been promised an explanation by the Mysterious woman, and now this boy, but... somehow she had allowed herself to hope that she was going to gain some companionship. The hope had been small, Cailet unaware of it's existence until she was hurt by it as she jumped to her angry conclusion about Dhatzu. The hurt was greater than the hope had been, and burned like an angry fire in her belly.

[Dhatzu]

Dhatzu looked up at the angry teen. She was looking back, her brown eyes were probing, suspicious. The boy thought she was going to bolt, or strike, neither one desired at the moment. Maybe he should have waited. He never spoke to the girl, no one did really. She was distant. She did not seem to care what she looked like, though Dhatzu thought that, if she tried, she would look nice. She spoke weird, acted weird. But again, since Akajia's visit, so did he. Dhatzu did not expect her to react so dramatically. To his surprise, Cailet, in essence, agreed to talk to him. Or so he inferred by her backwards invitation. She did not wait for him, and he abandoned his meal and launched from his seat to follow the girl, extending his stride to fall in step behind her. Dhatzu followed the girl in silence. There was no use breaching the subject in the hall, as he hurried to keep pace. Cailet, he guessed, did not understand. Did she not feel what he felt when they got close? Maybe she was upset that he brought it up in public. He had brushed past the girl in the past. Training, meals, hallways. Yet he had not felt that...connection until today. He wondered about her mark, if she had one. He guessed she must for her to elicit such a telling sensation within him. The boy would have to proceed carefully. If Cailet was a night stalker too, he did not want to alienate the only person with which he could relate. The training room door burst open and Cailet strode through as if on a mission. Dhatzu had to halt abruptly as she spun on her heels and made her firm stand. He stood slack jaw as the girl unleashed her verbal barrage. She did not understand. She thought he only wanted to humiliate and mock her. It was something he had witness before, how others teased the eccentric teenager. Dhatzu himself had never participated, nor was he ever invited to join in her taunting. The boy took a deep cleansing breath, biting back a sharp retort. "Cailet, how long have you heard those voices?" He asked calmly. "Because I hear them too. Actually, I speak with them. They are the shadows." He placed his hands on his hips, glancing around the room at the shadows that surely hung on the night stalkers' words. "I am not here to pick on you. What we discuss no one needs to know. I can tell you about those voices. But if you think, you surely know why...you must have had a rather extraordinary visitor recently."

[Cailet]

"I... how did you...Shadows? PFft, shadows can't talk. Are you sure you're not the crazy one?" The illogicality of the statement made Cailet scoff at his words, her arms crossing over her chest while her face twisted into a mask of condescension. No. Stop. Think. Came that little whisper in her mind. Listening to the incorporeal voice for once, Cailet snapped her mouth shut. You have to listen with your ears sometimes, really. And try to use your big girl words. Stung, Cailet had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from responding out loud. Instead, brown eyes slid closed and her chest inflated with a long, deep breath that was held for a heartbeat or two before it was released just as slowly. "I don't think we're hearing the same things." She said finally, as her gaze slid to her side, where she always imagined Amanda would be. But how was she to explain this...this girl that haunted her to this boy. He was a stranger. "Mine is...more than a shadow. And she's been here for awhile." The novelty of talking to someone other than Amanda had Cailet revealing more than she felt comfortable with. Agitation shifted the girl from foot to foot as she avoided Dhatzu's gaze; He said he wasn't going to hurt her, and he had plenty of time to do so if his statement was false. However, there he was across the room, making no attempt to come at her. Maybe...he was telling the truth. And there was the mental road block. On one side, Cailet could continue to hunker down in defense and learn nothing. On the other side, She could open up and trust...just for a moment... this boy, and perhaps learn what this was all about; the woman, the whispers, this whole confrontation. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Cailet wavered between the two options, clearly unable to weigh the pros against the cons. She continued to chew on her lip while her eyes darted back and forth. In reality, she looked like a deer ready to bolt, though she thought she still looked determined and intimidating. You told her you liked secrets, you liar. You told her you'd use them. The child's voice was a cold sneer that made Cailet's lips twitch into a frown. He had mentioned a strange visitor, had he not? Could it be the same one? Lifting her dark brown gaze once more to Dhatzu, the girl considered him once again. His stance was still relaxed and open; none of his muscles were bunched to spring but he looked nervous. This almost made Cailet laugh out loud, her frown twisting into a small smile. Of course he looked nervous, she was crazy after all. But still she stood quietly, watching him and only vaguely aware of how uncomfortable this silence that stretched for minutes could have been making Dhatzu. It wasn't until she heard a faint, very faint, whispering from the corner of the room that she spoke. "Yes, I had a visitor." She finally said, deciding that for now, this boy could be trusted. She wanted answers, and though she wouldn't admit it to Dhatzu and tried to hide it from Amanda... she was scared. Though he didn't realize it, Dhatzu was witnessing Cailet emotionally progress by leaps and bounds. "She came to me in the night. Many nights. Made me promise...secrets. I told her my secrets!" She blurted, anxious now. If this boy had met the Shadowed woman too...Did she tell him? Did he know?! "What is your name?" The question was sudden, eyes narrowed until he answered. "Dhatzu.." She tried the name, seemingly rolling it off her tongue in that strange cadence of hers. "...Just tell me what is going on. What are these "shadows" really? And why can I hear them all now? Why not before?" Shaking her head and raising a hand to rub at her brow, Cailet sighed. "Don't tell me. The Shadow woman was magical and cursed me or something?" She said it as if she was joking, having picked the most ridiculous situation she could think of, unaware of how close to the truth she really was.

[Dhatzu]

Though Cailet tried to smugly brush off the explanation for the new voices she heard, Dhatzu saw a progression of emotions pass across her dark eyes, as if embroiled in a mental debate with herself. Resolution finally settled into her young face as she sighe, offering her own opinion. The boy's brows furrowed in confusion as Cailet spoke about the voice she heard, one that had been with her for a while. His heart was pounding, the prospect that the strange girl was somehow like him keeping his nerves on end. He was gauging who Cailet really was, what had happened to her, and why she behaved so strangely, without aggravating or pushing the girl away. The two youths faced-off across the room. Dhatzu anxious to hear Cailet's answer, the girl grinning at his obvious anticipation. The smile faded, an moments later, she spoke again. The boy listened with a slack jaw as the girl finally spilled her secret to him, the woman that had visited her, the woman that knew her secrets. A flutter stirred in his stomach...she had certainly met Akajia. Dhatzu took several slow steps towards Cailet. HIs gaze was intent upon her, a more reverent attitude towards the his fellow teenager, she may very likely had been marked for attention by a goddess, just like himself. What was it about this eccentric girl that would pique the attention of Akajia? "Cailet..." He started deliberately, "That woman..." Dhatzu shuddered as he recalled the presence of Akajia, the palpable sensation of her divinity, it made him long for it again, "did not curse you." How do you tell someone they had met a goddess? "She is not magic either....she is....divine." The subject of their mistress excited the shadows, who began to chitter in hushed whispers , which were silenced with a harsh glare from the male night stalker. "You are special, Cailet, for some reason. You have been marked, pointed out to be watched by the Mistress of the Night. It was Akajia that visited you." He paused, allowing the truth to sink in. "She has gifted you. The voices you hear, they are the voices of her shadows. Without knowing it you speak in their language." She must know secrets, or maybe she is a hunter of secrets. There was more to tell her...but Dhatzu did not want to overwhelm her.

[Cailet]

"Special. Humph." She couldn't help but loose the derisive snort, interrupting Dhatzu as he spoke. She'd been marked. By a Goddess. In her room. She'd let a Goddess in her room, and didn't even know it. You've always been a little slow was the childish snicker, If you had asked me I would have told you. "Don't even pretend that you knew. Can you even hear them?" Her question was met with a sullen silence that was all the answer she needed. Whispering low enough that Dhaztu wouldn't be able to make out the words, Cailet continued to battle with her inner demons as well as this new information. Never had she ever been "special". Abandoned by her mother, taunted by her peers, Cailet was hardly anything other than reclusive. But this encounter with Dhatzu, as well as the Mystery woman..Akajia... had awoken a need for human contact...friends... within her. Not that she would admit it, not now. "Marked how?" Seemed like the only logical question in this jumble of ridiculousness, but "Special how?" quickly followed. It was as if Cailet hadn't meant to ask the second question, and she pressed her lips together tightly as if to prevent anything else slipping out. Divine. She had been stalked and visited by Divine. It was... inconceivable. As Cailet started to feel a bit of excitement well up in her chest, making it hard to breathe, her self-protecting instincts kicked back in, locking down all her emotions once more. Dhatzu was fixed with the same skeptical stare as she waited for his response and fought with her own instincts, unsure of whether or not to let herself enjoy this moment, or push it away as foolishness. It was the shadows that pushed her over the edge. Somehow they knew exactly what Cailet was thinking; either they were used to the newly marked balking upon discovery of their situation, or they could read her mind. Which ever it was, now that she knew what the voices were, her mouth hung open. "We're really here, Cailet. To help, to aid, to assist." Chirped the first voice, making her jump. It sounded like it was right below her ear. This voice she recognized from earlier, when she had thought the whispering was her fellow Shinya in the hall. "Yes, we like you. Don't be scared, we don't bite." Came a second, somewhere along the wall. "Dhaztu, tell her more." The last was over by the boy. Cailet saw his eyes flicker towards the voice. He could hear them! I don't know why you think everyone is lying to you... Amanda was right. Something clicked within the woman. It was the wall she had thrown up this morning, defensive and ready to protect herself, crumbling in the face of the truth. Exciment spilled forth and nearly choked her as she moved for the first time in their discussion, taking a single step towards Dhaztu. "You're telling the truth." Her voice was awed and shaking. She sounded young, much younger than her seventeen years. She sounded like the seven year old that had first stumbled across the city, devoid of any kind of childhood and thrown almost immediately into the rigidity of the Shinya training. Ahahaha! came the delightful laugh, but not in her head. Amanda was beside her, her little face round with childlike excitement. You're back. Come play with me! She reached up a hand and slipped it into Cailet's own, still grinning. Dhaztu couldn't see Amanda, but he would see Cailets hand close around nothing as she seemingly smiled at the floor. Still awkward, stunted emotionally and very much alone, Cailet nontheless made the leap to believe and accept this...divine...change in her life at that moment. It was another step, just one, but there would be many more before the girl could ever be considered...normal. "Hello, my friends." It was the first time she addressed the shadows directly, the strange dark language that they spoke slithering off her tongue like a weighted peice of silk as if she had been speaking it her whole life. And the shadows rejoiced, the uproar forcing her to clap her hands over her ears. The smile that twitched her lips looked odd, as if her face wasn't meant for smiling. "You are marked also?" Another step towards Dhatzu, and then a third, forth fifth...and she was by his side, closer than he probably would have preferred but she had no concept of personal space. She was used to the wide birth everyone gave her, and unaware that in a personal conversation one didn't stand practically on top of the other person. "What is your secret, then?" "We're going to have to teach her some finesse, it seems." "It won't do if she scares them all away. Won't learn anything, that way..." "Ignore them.." It seemed her friend was still there, hidden back where the knot of her hair cast a shadow upon her back. She found she liked this quiet one; it made her smile. "Tell me....please?" She tried again. "A little better...but yes...we do have our work set out for us..." The piggybacked whispering shadow sounded amused, while the ones gathered around Dhatzu's feet giggled. Cailet tossed the boy another crooked smile. Progress or not, she was still completely out of her league, that much was obvious.

[Dhatzu]

Dhatzu watched as Cailet tried to process the revelation he had exposed. The girl appeared to be engaged in a vehement internal debate that spilled over into muttered words that seemed directed at nobody. It was said that Cailet talked to herself a lot, certainly one reason why she was ostracized by the others. That and the fact that she did not seem to care about what she looked like. Cailet was a few years older than Dhatzu, and had the eccentric girl put a little effort into her personal appearance, the younger boy may have looked up to her, maybe even crushed on her. But as it was, the older teen stood there in a struggle against denial, talking to an invisible midget next to her. Finally Cailet brought Dhatzu into her little realm of anxiety, blurting out desperate questions. No sooner had the words left her mouth, than the younger acolyte saw the stubborn resolve return to her eyes. She was fighting the truth, but the stiff-necked young woman was outnumbered. The male shadow stalker heard the shades whispering to Cailet. Relief came to his nervous soul as he saw the skepticism in the girl's eyes wash away, leaving her awestruck. She got it. He turned as a small shadow near him urged him to answer her questions, to explain it all to the newcomer. But he held his silence. Her shock was apparent, would anything he said sink in at this moment? Contrary to her typical behavior, Cailet drew closer. She obeyed the urge to speak in the tongue she had been gifted, and Makath rolled from her lips as if she where a shadow herself. An excitement thrilled in Dhatzu's belly to hear another human speak the language forbidden from the races of the world. The stubborn, strong-willed woman now approached him as a timid girl, overwhelmed and needing explanation. Cailet stopped surprisingly close to him, increasing his own nervousness. Her brown eyes were bereft of their usual haughtiness, now pleading for help. One of her hands balled into a strange, loose fist at her side. "Well...I will tell you, they are a lot nicer to you than they are to me, don't count them friends just yet." He replied, motioning to the various dark spots in the room. Dhatzu drew in a deep breath, then exhaled, trying to calm his own nerves. "Cailet, Akajia has, for some reason, taken notice of us. Me because I sought out, found, and kept a pretty big secret. I assume you too have a secret that interests her. Well...apparently, just like others like her, they put a mark on one's they watch." He loosened his belt, shrugging the robe from his shoulders to expose his back. The acolyte turned towards Cailet, who could now see the black triangle divinely etched into the skin between his shoulder blades. "This is what she gave me...I wonder if you have one too. There are ...gifts that come along with the mark."