Screaming in the Dark (Shadowfang)

[Chamaeleon]

oocI had a whole post typed and loading here but my phone ate it. -.- So this is a whole new post. There isn't a point to this message, I just want to complain about the injustice of a phone eating my replies.

Chamaeleon listened closely as the Zith spoke of his reasons for following her. She only smiled when it came to his name, and felt a stir of envy at the fact that she hadn't given herself such a creative name as Shadowfang when the time came for her to choose one.

"You may call me Chamaeleon, Shadowfang. It's not exactly my real name, but it is the only word name that makes me think most of who I once was." She smiled slowly at the figure of the Zith who towered over her slight body. This difference in height and overall appearance was probably the only reason why the loud woman had shut up. Chamaeleon was small and brittle, her danger to others only in the form of her venom and, if the strength were behind them, her claws.

She followed Shadowfang a moment after his dark warning, so tempted to try and see whatever it was that had alarmed him enough to duck away into sneaking through an alley. She glanced back every so often, trying to use her Symenestra eyes to see when the people who pursued them entered the alley. She could gear them now when she tried.

Once they made it to the end of the alley, she glanced around and tried to get her bearings. Despite the fact she lived here now, she was still uncertain about the layout of the city and was prone to being lost. This was one of those times.

"Do you know of a safe place to hide a spider and a bat, Shadowfang?" She asked him.

[Shadowfang]

As they neared the end of the alleyway he held his hand up, quietly ordering her to stop, and peeked around the corner, looking for any sign of danger. The footsteps were getting closer. It would be hazardous to their health to linger here much longer. He paused for a moment, trying to think of an answer to her question, before continuing on his way again. In truth, he had no idea where they could hide. Not only would his companions not like it if he brought a complete stranger into the Crimson Edge camp (he did not recognize her as a member), it was probably far too dangerous to wander the streets with the Witch Hunt still in progress. 

He examined the area around him, looking for anything or any place that they could use to hide. His calm exterior remained just that, giving off an aura of cool confidence. On the inside, however; he was almost panicking. Even if the mob did not know if they could use magic or not, it was likely that the pair would still be killed just because they were not human. If they were caught there would be no way he could hold many of their presumed attackers off and even flying away would prove to be a difficult task. Given Chamaeleon's petit form, he doubted that she would fare much better. 

The sounds of footsteps were coming from both sides now, growing close by the second. It seemed that they were trapped. A realization hit him and his head turned toward the sky. It was an answer to Chamaeleon's question, one that was so obvious that Shadowfang could not help but mentally kick himself for not thinking of it before. "What better place... than up?" he mumbled quietly, more to himself than to her. Without any further warning, he turned and grabbed the thin Symnestra and jumped, flapping his wings to propel the both of them upward. With some effort, he managed to ascend just above the rooftop of one of the buildings and positioned himself above it, ready to land on their newly found hiding place. 

The instant his foot touched, the weak thatch roof gave way and a very surprised Shadowfang fell to the floor below, the Symnestra still in his arms.

[Chamaeleon]

Chamaeleon gave Shadowfang a look to state she was not happy he decided to wave at her to stop. She didn't disobey however, halting as well.

Chamaeleon followed him, his hulking form bringing some minor form of comfort. She felt she could trust in the fact that he was stronger than her, and much more intimidating than her. She didn't expect what he would do. She couldn't even begin to comprehend the twists and turns of his mind.

So, when Shadowfang grasped Chamaeleon, she gasped at the shock. He had claws too, she noted dimly as he gripped her tightly, flared his wings, and sent them into the sky.

For one moment, one brief and spontaneous action, Chamaeleon was in the air, ascending, and the churn of fear in her stomach that slowly faded as she realised that they were going up. In the dimmest part of her mind, she came to the revelation that Shadowfang could fly her to the sun!

Before she could say something, they were lowering to a roof. She was so short that she couldn't touch the roof, but as he set down like some dainty butterfly, her freshly growing bruises tinged.

With no warning whatsoever, the roof fractured, and they were falling into oblivion. She shouted something, the fear of falling and breaking overwhelming her.

The landing was rough, and Chamaeleon grunted at the force of it even though they landed mainly on Shadowfang. Pain flared along the side that hit the floor, pressed against the furry body of the Zith. Was something broken? She would bite him if something was, but the pain of her body stripped her breath and dazed her mind.

Curses flooded past her lips in Symenos and Common. The Zith was called a filthy, green gut azo more than once, but otherwise she couldnt do much else.

[Shadowfang]

Whump!

They hit the floor. Hard. Shadowfang could not do anything for a while but lie there, coughing and gasping for air. Chamaeleon was babbling at him angrily, but he did not even bother to try and translate what she was saying. Besides, it did not sound like she was speaking Common. He lay there for a while longer, arms instinctively wrapping around the woman, until he could breathe easily. Something had broken his fall. He probably would have had broken wings it he had landed flat on the ground. He reached under his back and pulled out half of a broken rib, part or the ribcage of some long dead creature that had been there to break his fall. He made a quick mental note that the roofs in Sunberth were probably too weak to hold his weight, or at least the weight of two people.

He rolled so that he was laying on his side and the woman was laying in the ground as well, but still on top of his left arm. He was sore, but he did not think he had broken any bones. However, his newfound companion seemed to be in pain. Laying a hand in her ribs, he asked her quietly "Are you hurt?" Footsteps and voices were coming from almost directly outside the little building they had fallen into. He carefully wiggled his arm and wing out from under Chamaeleon and walked to the door as silently as he could, crouching low and rolling his bare feet to try to reduce the noise he made. Luckily, the door was blocked by various items and rubble, as if it was barricaded in order to try keep a small group of people out. Still, it would probably not stop the group outside if they decided to investigate this building. 

He looked back at the Sym and wondered if he should just leave her and run. Then again, there was no exit from the house that did not spit him directly into the mob. Besides, he had come to the decision that the woman was awfully pretty. He shook his head. This was not the time to be thinking about things like that. Right now he had to focus on staying hidden. 

He crept back towards Chamaeleon and, grabbing her and picking her up as gingerly as possible, led her over to a corner in the house. He leaned his back against the corner and hugged the Symnestra close, drawing a throwing dagger in one hand and gently clasping his other hand over her mouth. He wrapped his black wings around both of them, enveloping them in dark fur, trying his best to blend in with the shadows. As far as he knew, this was their only choice; and he was not about to complain about holding her close to him. 

[Chamaeleon]

Arms curved around Chamaeleon's small form, a somewhat cushion in the dark room. She heard Shadowfang grunting and coughing, and then felt the rising and falling of his chest as he caught his breath in this newfound and furry cocoon of hers. He was softer than she thought. She liked that.

Her eyes took a long moment to adjust to the sudden dim all around them, but once they did she could see almost as well as she could when outside, the slanting ray of Leth in the building giving her enough illumination to pick out broken furniture and sevral more dessicsted remains like the one that had softened Shadowfang's fall. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she shifted in his arms, trying to not upset her bruises too much while taking inventory of her aches and pains.

She hissed as she moved her ankle, feeling sharper needles of discomfort than she did in regards to her bruising welts. She had probably sprained it sometime during the descent, but otherwise it seemed that the furry Zith had softened the fall enough that nothing meaningful had been broken on impact. Of course, if it hadn't been for him landing on the roof, or trying to, she wouldnt have been hurt in the first place, but a person could only blame so much on someone else.

"I admit, I could be better, but supposing that I just fell from the sky and landed on a man eating bat, I'm remarkably fine," she said, surprisingly dryly. She chuckled lightly and sat up as he rose. She watched him investigate the door before taking the liberty of searching for windows or holes in the walls. The windows seemed boarded up as well, coated with dust and grime and gods knew what else. There was no sign of life anywhere currently, but that didn't mean that there wasn't a rat digging around somewhere.

Shadowfang returned, and suddenly pulled her to her feet, and she followed easily as he guided her to a corner, although as he covered her mouth and pulled her close, she was seriously concerned he planned to eat her, yet when he showed no signs of it, just curling his wi.cs tightly around them, she took comfort in the dark.

It grew very quiet, and she was able to hear the stomping of feet, excited shouts, and angered words as their pursuers tried to reason out where they had gone. Surely it wouldn't have stumped them that they could have taken to the air, but it didn't seem like it was apparent they were hiding in the house just yet. Someone kicked the door, hard, shaking loose dust and rattling the bones of furniture roughly, but it didnt seem they were inclined to search the house yet. Although, it could only be a matter of time before that occurred to them.

[Shadowfang]

The thump at the door seemed to shake the whole house. Shadowfang was getting nervous. If the group outside were able to force their way in... he was not sure how may of them he could take with him if it came to that. Chimes passed. There was silence. The footsteps and voices were fading away, leaving them alone and unharmed. He heaved a great sigh of relief and unwrapped his wings, letting go of Chamaeleon, and walked over to one of the boarded windows. He put his ear against the rotting wood, listening for any threat outside. He could hear all sorts of noises from all around the city, including the group that had just left but they seemed far enough away now that they could escape.

He gestured at the Symnestra, telling her to come help him, and began pulling away the rubble that blocked the door. Furniture, crates, wardrobes, half broken objects, anything with any weight whatsoever appeared to have been used to block the door. Shadowfang could not help but wonder why. He would have to think about it later, they had removed enough of the debris that they could open the door now. He put a shoulder against it and shoved. Nothing happened. He shoved harder and the door still did not budge. He pulled on it but still it did not move. Someone had put in a very strong lock on it. The lock would need a key to open. That was bad. They did not have time to look around for a key that might not be there.

His brain began to form a dangerous idea. He turned and said to Chamaeleon "Turn around and do not turn back until I... tell you to." and then turned back to the door. He wondered briefly; was it safe to use Voiding again? He had already left signs of magic use all over the city, including voiding half of someone's leg off and part of another's brain away. Still, this might be the only option to get out of the house. He decided to busy the Sym even further to help disguise what he was trying to do. "Actually... look for a key. There is a... lock on this door." As long as she did not see him do this, he might be safe. He raised a hand and hovered it near the lock and began to concentrate on the lock itself. 

About thirty-five seconds of intense concentration passed and the spark formed. He expanded the minuscule portal little by little, trying to keep it as small as he could. Soon the lock was engulfed in the black nothing and, satisfied that he had been able to keep it mostly undetectable, Shadowfang closed the small portal. The lock, as well as part of the door, was gone. She slowly puled on it and it opened. The rusty hinges put up some resistance, but he managed to get it opened far enough to where they could easily slip through. He returned to Chamaeleon and simultaneously grabbed at her wrist with one hand and drew a throwing dagger with the other. "Come... You will lead us." With that he went back to the door and, exiting first to be sure that there was no one still lurking, he stood crouched outside, waiting for Chamaeleon to guide them to wherever she deemed safe.

[Chamaeleon]

A quick nod let the Zith know Chamaeleon had understood his request. With what could be considered an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face, the Ethaefal-turned-Symenestra turned her back to the Zith and made her way to one of many looming piles of rotting debris. Unknown to her, the both of them had the same curiosity to understand what had happened and why the former inhabitants of this place had wanted to seal the door so badly. Had they been in the same predicament as Chamaeleon and Shadowfang were now? It seemed a grim way to die, in the cradle of another man's tomb. She was so busy looking for a key, dirtying her ghostly hands on nameless filth, that she missed the Zith's display of magic. She barely registered the complaints of the hinges when the Zith tried the newly unlocked door, but when she realised what the sound was, she cursed it's stubbornness. The hunting party would hear the sound of the door opening! They would come back! But, they didn't. At least, not right away. It remained quiet outside, something Chamaeleon found a mite unsettling as she came forward to peer out the door, this way and that, to see if the coast was clear. She felt Shadowfang's sharp claws against her skin again, heard his words, and swallowed a knot in her throat that made way for a quick smile. Her ankle sent tingling fingers of pain through her nerves as she walked, trusting the man holding her arm to be the protector while she led them to the only place she could think to hide. Home, a mass of tents, of people with different faces and personalities but who shared at least one common knowledge with eachother. Together, they were stronger than that which was alone. Chamaeleon sought the comfort of numbers now. She didn't know if Shadowfang would be well received, but if anyone was awake to question her for bringing the Zith into the figurative hen house, she could argue that he saved her, and that he owed them for essentially dropping her on her ankle through a roof. Thinking about Shadowfang now, he seemed remarkably tame compared to the stories of other Zith. She likened him to a domesticated dog, in her mind, since addressing this was very likely going to insult him, and then where would her warm, soft, safety go? "Come along, this way," she urged him quietly. She tugged on the arm that gripped her frail wrist, pulling him towards the base camp of the Crimson Edge.