Shyke Flinging Fun (Evalin)

[Ignotus Everto]

24th of Fall, 512AV
Two bells after midnight.

It was curious how quickly one could accomplish amazing feats with nothing but a little determination and elbow grease. For instance, a Nuit traveling with the Syliran caravan decided he needed a little extra protection, and but a few weeks later had behind him a beaked battalion of over one hundred little dead pigeons. And he was on the prowl for more.

Ignotus Everto was not a man of chance. A man of risk, certainly, but never more than necessary. For instance, going to Sahova was necessary if he wanted to reap any rewards out of a dead God's remains. Going to Sahova unarmed, however, was not. Sadly, an army was so difficult to recruit on short notice. So he made his own.

To that end, the undead was doing a bit of animal recruiting, whistling a little nursery rhyme to get his flock nice and sleepy. Strangulation soon followed. Naturally, Sunberthans would take great umbrage to a man who could put birds to sleep with the power of Mother Goose, so this "recruiting" had to be restricted to nighttime. Animation could be performed behind closed doors.

Ignotus certainly didn't dream that his whistling might be overheard by someone sentient, or that his collecting would be interrupted at this hour. After all, who was awake and walking about at two in the morning, in Sunberth?

[Evalin]

Time... Time was that all consuming concept of reality which barred those mortals from seeing the world as it truly was. The tick of the clock, the fall and rise of the sun and moon, the ever changing seasons. All of these things held sway on the minds that floated through the river, but they held nothing on those that stood upon the rivers shore. This was a reality, a fact of being that one Immortal held firmly in mind as she walked the empty streets. In her hand was that staff which had traveled as far as she, and at her side floated a soul linked to her own.

Looking up at the night sky Evalin whispered softly, "The ticking clock continues on just as it always does, yet still I feel not its passage into each tick of every chime of every bell of every day. Tis this a curse my dear Tsenrika?"

From the floating orb there came a chilled voice, faint and cold, "Be it curse or blessing it matter not, for nothing may be changed for you now."

Evalin nodded, letting her eyes fall to the path once more as her small, child limbs carried her deeper into the night, "Yes. Yes I would agree with you, but even if I did not neither would it matter nor hold any sway on what must now be done." Raising a hand the familiar floated to rest upon her palm, and Evalin raised a finger to touch his reflective surface, "We must collect the children now, mustn't we?"

Upon the breeze there did echo a soft call, the sound of a tune so out of place in the night that Evalin grew still to listen. Turning this way and that she sought from where this noise might come, and finally its direction she found. Lowering her hand so that Tsenrika floated at her side once more Evalin's eyes narrowed, "Well now, what be this? Something disturbs the night... Something breaks upon my domain." A grin broke upon pale lips, "I cannot have that."

Eyes of red flashed as the Immortal trapped within a child's body moved, faster than one might think possible, powered by the might of the mark of Uldr. Leaving small puffs of dust in her wake Evalin dashed through the streets, searching, searching for the source of the whistle, for the one who would walk in her domain. Her staff she held to her side, careful to keep it from knocking upon the ground as she traveled, never slowing for need of rest or breath, until finally... Finally she found it. At the end of a long dark alley, a figure that stood with a pigeon in hand. Slowing to a walk Evalin would make her way into the darkness, infolding herself in the absence of light as she stepped as lightly as she could, stopping just at the edge of where the light of the moon could reach.

Be you wary of those cloaked in shadows light.

[bEver more Tsenrika, forever more does that hold true.[/b]

Stepping partially into the light Evalin leaned upon her staff, a child cloaked and hooded, yet still those eyes... those eyes of red that shown like freshly spilt blood could just be seen. Speaking softly, cold as an open tomb, Evalin spoke to the man, "Well then... Who be this that does such things in the darkness of night? Never before have I seen one whistle so casually." She paused, and smiled, "Or perhaps you were calling me? If so I would be more than happy to end your existence now, if that is your wish."

Would he recognize her? Her body was different, but that feeling... That strange sense of unease that clung to all that held the mark of Uldr. That and those burning red eyes, and that ancient staff. All of these things were just as they had been when they had last met so many years ago.

[Ignotus Everto]

Ignotus tensed as if struck by a lightning bolt. He had been spotted. While normally, that wouldn't be too much of a worry, three things had set alarm bells ringing.

One, she had mentioned "calling her." That would suggest that she knew what the true purpose of his whistling was. That, or he was just paranoid. Better safe than sorry.

Two, the rather un-subtle threat to his life. Unlife? That did not have much to analyze.

Three, while less grounded in reason than the others, still existed. An odd feeling that something was not right with the world. A sense of the perverse coming off of the little girl before him. However, Evalin was not the only one who could project dread. In the thirty years that had passed since their last meeting, Ignotus had gotten more powerful. Much, much more powerful.

While a moist, dead eye rolling in its socket to lock onto the figure in the corner of its vision wasn't as intimidating as dual crimson orbs staring out of darkness, fear was a concept at the end of the day, and like all other concepts, could be manipulated.

"Silence." Ignotus' voice snapped, a shiver passing through the air as Djed surged over the street. Rats fled from the surprise, and sparrows and crows took flight. It wasn't because they were affected- They simply knew when something was wrong, and the laws of perception being casually, albeit temporarily, rewritten was definitely wrong. As for Evalin, the bottom fell out of her stomach. For the briefest of moments, Ignotus was the scariest creature on the face of Mizahar. In the blink of an eye, however, it was gone. Power came with a price, and a split second was all the Hypnotist could afford.

Ignotus took his sweet time turning to face the witch, a smug smirk on his face. "Now what do we have here, hm? A youngling thinking herself a hero?"
The wizard's head cocked to the side. "I think not. Your words hold sophistication above a child's. So that leaves two options... Which is it? Morpher? Nuit? Either will kill you in Sunberth."

The undead started stepping towards Evalin. One of his pigeons touched down on the roof beside him. Azure fluid began to leak out of Ignotus' sleeves and trickle down his arms, a small, pencil-thin ring forming around his knees. "Assuming, of course, that I don't first."

The ring burst into flame.

It was a coincidence that the light of the crackling fire fell upon the witch's staff, and fair fortune that Ignotus remembered it even now. Why would he forget it? It nearly killed him once. While he wasn't so foolish as to let his Res dissipate, he did let the flames extinguish themselves. The ring broke and snaked its way into his cloak, ready to be deployed again in the event of an emergency.

A laugh came from the younger Nuit. Not a derisive or taunting one, but a laugh of someone blessed with a good turn in life. "Evalin, Evalin, Evalin... It's been far too long."

Ignotus was lazy, and perhaps a bit reckless, so instead of explaining who he was, he took control of Evalin's eyes for a moment- Just a brief moment- and showed her. A tick was all it took. An aging man surrounded by books, with dirty blonde hair and vibrant green irises. The same grin that stretched across the corpse's face. The same fire burning in his eyes.

"Tell me, how many years has it been? How many decades..."
Ignotus didn't know how to explain it, but he felt... theatrical.
While he was every bit as asexual as, well, a cadaver, it never hurt to pay a woman the respect she was due. Even if she was dead. That, and there was another, less wholesome motivation for touching her.

The wizard no longer needed to use voice or eye contact to influence others, and a simple lean and outstretched hand was enough to imply that she was meant to give him hers. Unless Evalin distrusted the Nuit before her, the instant they made contact, the sigil over Ignotus' heart would awaken.

While the wizard kissed the back of her hand, that was for appearances. And a fair bit of respect, of course. While he released Evalin's hand and took a step back, a little bit of him was left on her. Or, to be more precise, a little bit of Sagallius. To be even more precise, ten glowing green strings attached to her body. It wasn't anything against her, of course. Just a bit of insurance. Not that the gnosis was much use in combat, but he never knew when he might want to use it, and wasn't it better to be safe? Besides, Evalin couldn't see them. There really wasn't any harm in it at all.

"But I grow sentimental. You simply must tell me what you've been up to these past thirty years." Ignotus said emphatically. "Fair wind that we should see each other once more!"

[Evalin]

For an instant, a mere fraction of a moment there was a feeling, a darkness consuming and full that wrapped itself about Evalin's heard, plunging her into the depths of fear and agony. Her mind paused, her body stilled, her eyes widened and if she were still of the living a cold sweat would have broken forth, but as quick as it had come it was gone and Evalin was left as empty as she was before. Though... Quick to fill the place was bubbling anger, hatred of being pushed to the brink and wrath welling and threatening to burst.

Upon the site of flames the girl would step back, pushing her staff before her and letting a his escape her lips. In the cover of darkness res would pour forth from every pour, cling to her hair and her back just an instant away from igniting, yet a voice of familiarity paused her strike. Raising an eyebrow Evalin would look over the figure, a strange sense of nostalgia forming in her mind. Then it was, there in the darknes a face bubbled up.

A small smile broke upon lips of cold undeath and Evalin whispered, "My my, if it were not that man from the library. Ignotus was it not?"

His identity revealed did nothing to erase the girl's suspicious nor her cautiousness, but she did allow her hand to be taken and gently kissed. While he talked Evalin would call the res she had created to slip back beneath her own cloak, hidden away for future use were it necessary. When the man paused in his speech Evalin looked up to meet his eyes, still unchanged after so many years, "I see that fire still rages with little constraint. A pity. Perhaps time shall never change the man I met that night." She paused, resting her staff against her shoulder, "Though I cannot say I disprove of what you have become."

Absently Evalin wondered of the glyphs she had placed upon the man that night. Had they taken affect as she had hoped? A small shred of respect, perhaps endearment toward her for her "kindness" bestowed at that time. Would they have lasted this far into his existence?

With a mental shrug Evalin cast these thoughts from her mind, focusing more upon the present. Ignotus stood before her, and at long last she had a chance to do as she had wished back when they had first met. Evalin would move quick, faster than he could see and slap him across one cheek. Pulling her hand back she would move to the side, more than an arms length away to lean on her staff. The smile still in place she replied, "And what sort of man steels a kiss from a woman so suddenly? I should kill you for your audacity, yet..." she looked the man up and down, "Perhaps, just this once, I might allow it for you have turned out far greater than I would have expected."

The Immortal remembered how quick to anger he had been before while still living, and thus her guard held strong, ready in case he made a move to retaliate. In truth she did not expect him to, yet she more than anyone knew not to trust anything suspected of this man. Instantly she began to check her thoughts, her emotions, her musings for anything that might have been out of the ordinary. She searched her mind for any tampering, and the res held hidden stirred as she prepared for anything that might come. Yet her face and her demeanor showed none of this as she spoke, "I am certain my years are far less interesting than yours my dear Immortal." she emphasized the word 'immortal', being certain he noticed the change from the past when she would always call him 'mortal', "No, I would much prefer to hear of you. Tell me then, what have you done with your eternity?"

[Ignotus Everto]

Ignotus had to hand it to her, Evalin had one hell of a poker face. It wouldn't have crossed his pompous little mind that she might find him revolting, or wicked. Indeed, he would have been left none the wiser, if the Cordas strings didn't fall off of Evalin like strands of wet spaghetti and evaporate the instant Ignotus laid them.

Sure, he was striving to appear frightening just a moment ago, and when he strove to appear a certain way, he often succeeded, but that was beside the point! Sadly, one angry thought led to another as Evalin's hand struck a burning brand across Ignotus' cheek, jerking his head to one side. His inferior reflexes displayed themselves once more, as it took almost a tick for him to react to the blow by rubbing the spot the witch had struck. Perhaps she had a point. Yet Ignotus was hardly a man, nor a Nuit, to admit his wrongs and beg forgiveness.

So instead, he smirked and retorted playfully, "Ah, but you enjoyed it, no?"

When inquired about his exploits, the Nuit shrugged. "Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that..." he said vaguely, stepping lazily around Evalin, idly examining the buildings around them. "I took another short trip to Syliras, honed my craft, learned a few new ones, had a little family reunion, did a little birdkeeping, survived an assassination attempt, and stole some incredibly powerful magical artifacts. Oh, and did battle with a God." he added with a faint chuckle, almost as an afterthought. "All quite boring, really."

He wasn't lying really when he said he did battle with a God. After all, he did shoot a lightning bolt at Sagallius. Sure, he didn't know it was a God he had attacked, but it didn't change the fact that the thing happened, didn't it?

Ignotus paused behind Evalin, a faint furrow in his brow. "Though this may be slightly past, you speak of a burning flame as a bad thing."
The corner of his mouth twitched upward, "You of all people should know how very important it is to enjoy yourself!"

Evidently, the old corpse hadn't lost his apparent lack of personal space, as he threw an arm around Evalin's rather diminutive shoulders and gestured broadly to the pitch black horizon. "We alone have time to sample all of life's riches! The world's our oyster, and the only we won't get our pearl is if we stop bothering." A somewhat silly grin was plastered across Ignotus' face now, and he said as he released the witch, "Come, I'll show you what I mean."

[Evalin]

Evalin raised an eyebrow, "What I enjoy would not include the brief amusement won from a maiden's lips." Though she said this, secretly Evalin had found the experience... enlightening. Had she felt the kiss of a man before that time? Well it mattered not, for what was could not be overturned, and thus her eyes fell to the topic at hand, "My my it does seem that you have been busy. A few moments of interest in an endless existence. Perhaps my gift was not wasted upon you."

What good tidings this is, for this idiot of a man has proven much more promising that ever I had hoped. If she were not determined to mask every hint of her pleasure, nay pride, in Ignotus, Evalin might have smiled, Yes, as it can be seen my choice was surely of the beast quality. Then again, perhaps it was in herself that she was pleased, not Ignotus.

Of pride you speak, yet you hold no trust for your own creation.

Evalin passed a finger over the icy gem about her kneck, Of course my dear Tsenrika. None are to be trusted except oneself, and often the mind plays tricks upon the senses. Thus nothing may be trusted at all. To this Tsenrika would reply, Words born of fear of all things, are they not?

There would be the slightest flinch as Evalin's eyes looked down at the sealed familiar, but quickly this was masked as she turned her full attention upon Ignotus once more, "Oh? What then would you show me?"

OOCEvalin will follow Ignotus

[Ignotus Everto]

There was little to show. At least, not in the visual sense. Ignotus wasn't the sort of fellow to spend a very long time staring at something. No, Ignotus was a doer. So instead of pointing out some landmark and making some sort of philosophical speech, he turned his head to the sky and said, "Ala."

There was a flurry of feathers as over one hundred fifty Animated pigeons fluttered to follow his order. Ignotus had said "up", and up was where they were taking the two Nuit. Ten, twenty birds at a time raising a collective one hundred seventy pounds above roofs, clotheslines, above torches and beggars and dogs. It was one thing to claim to be above the common crowd. It was another to live it literally. With a cry of "Sultra!" the pigeons shifted from dragging them up by their clothes to providing a sort of winged, feathery carpet. Of course, a rug of Res beneath the birds providing a steady updraft never hurt either.

Most would find such an experience rather harrowing, but Ignotus was quite beside himself. Partially because he knew he would survive the fall, and partially because it was just plain entertaining! "Do you not feel alive now, Evalin?" the wizard laughed, shifting himself to sit cross-legged on an avian floor.

[Evalin]

Evalin's brows furrowed in confusion as she watched Ignotus, tilting her head she would ask, "What are you--" But the sounds of hundreds of flapping wings would quickly drown out what ever questions she might have had. She could only manage a curse as she was suddenly being lifted, waving her staff and kicking her legs in a rather comical fashion as she watched the streets below disappear beneath her.

Be damned, has that cursed Dira gained the aid of winged rats to do her bidding!? Her mind rolled in desperation as she clung to something, anything in her mind that could explain what was happening, then suddenly her view shifted and she was no longer being held, but supported from beneath by a feathery mat of feathers. Becoming as still as death itself, Evalin did not move for fear of disrupting the sudden calm that had descended. Around her the sky moved, and the sounds of disturbed air and rustling feathers was maddening.

It would appear to be pigeons. Such unsightly creatures they are, and dimmer than most other of the lesser creatures of this world.

Shaking her head Evalin looked at Ignotus as he spoke, and a fast growing sense of annoyance encompassed her mind, "Whether it be in air or on ground I believe my sense of life would be unchanged, though I would much rather this lack of change occur upon the ground."

As calm and collected as ever on the outside, Evalin quickly tried to banish the tremors from her mind at the sudden change. This immortal witch was now faced with a situation that she did not care for, a situation in which she held not even the smallest semblance of control, and that, perhaps more than anything else, frightened her.

Crossing her legs and laying her staff across her knees, Evalin closed her eyes, fixing her features into the stony mask that she wore when dealing with such wild and fantastic events, "Well then, how is it that you could have done such things as you described, and yet all you wish to show me is your new found skill in pigeon training?"

[Ignotus Everto]

While Evalin's admonitions were amusing to Ignotus, he chose not to respond to them. After all, if she wasn't joking, it would just make for awkward conversation. In all, a bad show. The comment on the pigeons and the battle, on the other hand... Those he could debunk.

"Well, they're not trained, per say." Ignotus remarked, languidly pointing a finger at one of the birds with a smirk. While they were still in relatively good condition, close examination would reveal that the pigeon was, in fact, deceased. "More... Resurrected with new purpose."

Pointing also answered the question of the "battle" with Sagallius. This time at a patch of scorched woods. While the God's power extinguished the blaze Ignotus had started as easily as one would snuff out a candle, it still left a large swath of trees with blackened trunks and bare branches. "There's the sight of the clash, if you look closely."

the wizard rolled his shoulders and stretched, "And what of you? Have you had any encounters with the divine?"

[Evalin]

Evalin's eyebrow raised as she examined the pigeons more closely. Tilting her head she pushed back a few feathers, noting the beginnings of rot starting to show in small patches on a few of them, "Perhaps my words were hasty. What a most... curious method of using ones eternity, though perhaps not the most ridiculous that I have seen."

What be in madness is but a step from genius. Though often the two are nearly indistinguishable.

Be that ever so my dear Tsenrika. Be that ever so.

Evalin's eyes then graced over the battle ground mentioned once by Ignotus, and in truth Evalin could not be certain if this were a jest or if he were speaking truth. Thus Evalin eyed Ignotus with a leveled gaze, speaking slowly as she turned her eyes to the sky, "My dear immortal, you ask such curious questions to which you certainly know the answer." She smiled and looked at Ignotus with her blood red eyes, so unlike most nuits, "Though I will say I have had an interesting encounter with a servant of Dira only recently. One which, I regret to say, I spent the majority of my time fleeing." Waving a hand to brush off ridiculous questions she would continue, "But then my crimes against that Goddess of death are now three fold, and thus it would be for the betterment of my health to avoid contact with either her or those associated with her."

Falling silent for a moment Evalin would absently roll her staff in her hand, "Though now I grow curious, with whom did you clash in that now barren spot?"