Suri did not look at him as she closed her eyes. "Your loss." She then gripped her mask, the urge overwheling and she had no other choise. She dug her thumbs under the small lip under her chin and wrenched forward, screaming in pain as blood dripped down her hands and she dropped to her knees.

Suri, what an interesting name, Shale thought. He remained where he had been sitting against the wall of the cave and listened to the words of the evil thing.

Shale watched in horror as Suri ripped off the mask from her face and immediately rushed to her side, catching her as she dropped to her knees. Though scarred by blood, her features were clear and sharp. More time for that later Shale pushed away at the thought. He pulled out a cloth and started gently wiping the blood away, once again cleaning her wounds, this time mentally as well as physically.

Hovering down and lifting up the mask as it dissolved in his hands, "What a shame..." He said as he looked at her, "Very painful..." He boasted with a serious face. "Like to see someone else do that. Never seen that before." Recollecting his thoughts. "Very gross. Never thought a mask would be like that either. Maybe I should kill myself." Thinking it over slowly with a nod and grunt. "Well have your fun I suppose. Your mask belongs to me now seeing you don't need it."

It was not long before the wounds on her face healed themselves. Had she waited her mask would have broekn in time, but she had been forced into being what she was and being that way angered her. When she had tried before it had only caused her a lot of pain and made her bleed. Her new odd feelings for this human had allowed her to remove it, but the way in which she had done so would cause problems later. Though her mask was gone, she was not fully free from the grasp of the magic that held her.

Looking at the girl, leaning downward as he smirked, "Stupid, silly little Neanderthal." He commented as he touched her face, "That really had to hurt like hell. You, boy." Picking him up by his shirt. "Listen well, take care of my little mask. Seems she has changed for the better. Hen leaving the coop." Acting like he was sad, wiping a fake tear away.

Shale shook the grip off and returned to Suri. He wiped away the last drops of blood and stared shocked. Her face glowed a pearly white, almost luminescent in the darkness of the cave. Her lips had a slight pout, as if she were deep in thought. He cradled her head in his lap and stroked her hair, watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest, completely oblivious to the still present monster who made her into this.

[http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v513/Ravenhunter/?action=view&current=display_1713173.jpg]

Suri lay there, still and silent, but breathing and still alive. The pain had been a sudden shock to her mind and her body had forced her into a temporary coma in order to protect her from the pain. She would wake soo, now no longer wearing a mask on her face.

Shale held Suri protectively. He watched as she fluttered back to consciousness and realized that he was falling in love with her. Everything from her fiery attitude to her magnificent looks attracted him to her. He couldn't resist looking back to make sure that he wasn't dreaming and that she really was still there. It was amazing how some of the ugliest things in the world could conceal the most wonderful and amazing. Shale marveled over Suri.

(OOC: That's all for me tonight. I gotta crash. See you in the morning. )

Suri slowly opened her bright green eyes, blinking a few times as he felt that she was in someone's arms. She shifted a bit and looked into the man's face, then gasped and put her hands to her face, a blinding pain shooting threw her skull. She had not had anything but mask on her face for years, and now even the light brush of wind hurt. She sat there for a bit with her hands there, able to move her hands a bit after when her magic healed her skin to allow it to be touched with out pain.

Etch traveled over the hillside exhausted.
The city is near, he thought.
He didn't actually have a great sense of direction, it was just that the ground told him he was near.
He left the small town he was living in to come to the City in search of others like him. A Mask on the side of Good. No one else in his town had been embraced by the magic.
His current excursion had not been a short one, and he had passed though many towns and heard that the City had embraced by Masks, both Good and Evil. Feeling like his new abilities were going to waste, he decided it might be time he look for others like him and start a new life.

The sun was setting now, so Etch decided to rest up.
He reached into his leather pouch, pulling out a handful of seeds. He selected three and put the others back.
He dropped the largest of the three onto the ground and stood back. Within seconds, the seed transformed into sprout, and then into a sapling. After a few short minutes, the seed became a wide and short tree. This would be his shelter, and the other two seeds would provide him food and drink. He climbed into the cradling branches of the tree and relaxed. The ground beneath him would alert him to anyone, or anything approaching.
Tomorrow would be his first time in the City.

(OOC: I did borrow the idea of the seed pouch from the Xanth books, if anyone has an issue with this, I will remove the concept)

As Etch entered the City he was overwhelmed. He had never been surrounded by so much concrete and steel before.
The lack of natural things around left him feeling alone and vulnerable.
The urge to turn back pulled at his mind. He knew he couldn't though. He was desperate to find others like him.
As he ventured further into the city, he eyes raced from left to right, looking for any signs of life.
After several minutes his gaze landed on an abandoned shop.
Through the thick dirt on the window Etch could make out the name of the shop.
"Astoria's Botanicals" the words escaped Etch's lips with excitement as he ran to the shop's door.
Locked of course he thought as he tugged at the handle.
As he pondered how to get into the shop, a voice carried over the wind and into his ears. It sounded female.
Etch quickly turned around.