Cein City

(Here is the into starter for my character, looks like I'm alone for now :-) )

Dahlia stood at the end of the street. She was at the end of the street of one of the "lesser neighborhoods" looking at a major street. The people rushed by, late for a meeting, eager to get home, rushing to an event. Sometimes Dahlia liked to just watch the people go by. She was leaning against a lamp post and playing with a coin, flipping it over and over again. It was her way of meditating in a city with not much green space to find center and balance.

Her keen ears told her someone was speaking nearby. She dissapeared back into the shadows, going further into the neighborhood no one goes in, eavesdropping on the two men. "Are you sure?" said a tall, thin elf who had cut his ears to disguise himself. "I'm sure of it, it was one of them" replied an elf who had clearly eaten far too much and was bigger round the most humans. The thin man sighed and rubbed his neck, "Well, what are we going to do? Its been a long while since we've been anything else but mere impostors". The big man nodded, "We have to protect this world, the people. We'll have to get back in shape". The big man smiled and shook his big belly. Dahlia wasn't sure what they were talking about. She knew if she showed herself they would be suspicious and might not tell her anymore, but she wanted to know what brought the looks of worry to their face.

Dahlia came out of the shadows like a figure in the fog and the two men turned, not happy. "Hello Dahlia, what do you want?" the man said her name like a slur. Dahlia ignored it, used to it, "What's going on, what has you two in a fuss?" The thin man scowled, clearly not willing to tell her anything, but the big man smiled, "Oh, just your kind acting up again!" Dahlia gave him a harsh look, "My kind? You are my kind, so elves are rebelling, or are you accusing me of playing on the wrong side again?" The big man smiled, "We all know you're a spy, no elf child is born with the looks of you." The both of them smiled, "If the troubles have started again, perhaps we will finally be allowed to flush you out!" The both laughed harshly and Dahlia turned and walked away quickly.

She hadn't the slightest idea what they were talking about and had only wanted to know so she may protect her own better. She sat in one of the forgotten ally ways and closed her eyes silent for a long time. There were times in her youth where she thought, maybe, the darker creatures would accept her, but she knew it would come at a price she would be unwillingly to pay. She raised her hand and made the shadows of the alleyway dance. Why did they hate her for that? Did they not seek the shade on hot days? Dahlia would do more sneaking to figure out what they were speaking of, but for now she wanted only to be alone.

[OOC | Ok... So, I'm guessing that it should be becoming getting close to sunrise in Cein city. @/ /^/ /@;]


"You're so blood thirsty that you would drink the blood of a Neesha," stated a male vampire with a look of amusement despite the fact that he was in no position to talk. His back was pressed against the wall of a dark alley whilst a black pistol was resting against his temple.

"No, Neesha, I just enjoy making you feel humiliation," Estelle replied with a mischievous grin before sinking her fangs into the creature's neck, freezing him in place. It had been a long night of hunting & rescuing wandering, naive humans, so she figured that she might as well enjoy a reward. What could be better than drinking the blood of her enemy whilst also stripping him of the dignity his ego held so dear? Besides, their blood wasn't at all different.

"Mm ~ Thanks for the meal, sweetheart," Estelle giggled as she licked her blood-stained lips. She took a few steps back, letting his body slide to the ground now that her own body wasn't there to support him against the wall. She pointed her weapon at the forehead of the limp, evilly-tainted vampire that struggled to hang onto the single thread of life he had left.

"Why... didn't you just kill me then?!" He managed to shout as he glared at Estelle.

"Because... it wouldn't of been as enjoyable as this, dearest," she replied with a honey-sweet smile that didn't reach her eyes before pulling the trigger.

Dahlia had eavesdropped a little more after swallowing her feelings and she had felt cold all over. Neesha? She had heard legends of them from the ones who raised her, but never in her life did she think she would be here when they ran rampant again. Dahlia stood alone in the midst of a human part of the city. She felt very cold. Her parents had abandoned her, and the elves barely trusted her, but now that something darker, something lesser was running around, Dahlia was terrified they would turn on her.

Dahlia went to the edge of the city, a part that no one went to anymore. She looked at the world beyond the city, the wind brushing past her like an embrace. It was where she had released the ashes of the one who raised her. She had said she wanted to be free, not pent up in this stone and metal world. Dahlia knew, when the time came, she would find no such kindness. They would probably throw her in a pit and forget her. She stared out for a long time, and began to speak, "Nana, what do I do, they may try to use this against me?" She got no answer, the dead not being able to speak back, and Dahlia closed her eyes. Dahlia decided the best action was to stay seen, but not use magic unless she needed to, she didn't want to give them a reason to suspect.

She walked slowly, taking the longest way home. The sun was long gone and the lights cast many shadows on the city. When the lights hit her skin it illuminated her in a strange silver glow, she truly looked like a creature of shadow. But her face revealed her true nature. She had not heard of any neesha about, nor seen any attacks, but she usually stuck close to home anyways. On her way home she watched as a human child begged her mother for one of the huge lollipops, and her mother picked her up in an embrace and kissed her cheek. Dahlia remembered the elf who was near her time who had raised her. The outside world was cruel, but when she was home the elf had told her she was special, and to never hate the elves for their misguided ways, and she never did. But it still hurt. Not wanting to go home she found a place where no one would notice her, and watched the people go by.

Taking a deep breath, Estelle released it with a soft, long sigh as she walked down one of Cien's many streets. She could now see a few humans wandering around to begin a new day after a night infested with Neesha. Some looked at her & smiled thankfully, knowing her position thanks to the blood on her apron, whilst others shied away. She wondered how they must feel knowing that they could have died that very night if there hadn't been supernatural beings watching over them; she wondered how they must feel after realizing that the beings within their imaginations, folklore & fairytales were actually real, & that they were their only protection; she wondered how the adults must feel after realizing that their children were telling the truth after ranting on & on about how they had seen a fairy or a mermaid in the ocean.

'It must be odd,' Estelle thought as she made her way to the mansion where she continued to live. After a long night, she wanted some rest.

Dahlia eventually got up and went to her home, a one room flat, and slept. She slept hard, not even an explosion would have woken her. When she was awake, the sun was beating in, in its full strength, and the heat of the day caused her to sweat profusely. She began to undress and started the tub. The water flooded in, brown and not perfectly clean, but at least it would clean her. She looked in the mirror. She was tall and slender and had pale skin that looked almost silver. She didn't have the golden palor and hair of the elves. After a lifetime of being told she was a freak, she felt she saw no beauty in her reflection, only a girl the gods had unfairly changed. She looked away and turned off the water, getting into the tub filled with brown water.

The elf leader, who had gone missing, had once told her to go away, go somewhere where no one knew her, pretend to be human, forget she was ever elf. She knew that if she did this, she would have a decent enough life, but there would always be a part of her that could never let go of who and what she is, and what if she left, and something terrible happened? Even though they hated her and mistrusted her, she would never forgive herself. She sighed and cleaned herself, cleaned her midnight black hair, and got out of the tub, putting her old clothes to soak and clean, and put on new and fresh clothes.

When she left the house and stopped somewhere to get food, she noticed all the elves staring at her. She looked down and sighed, so, they were wondering whose side she was on. Even after a lifetime of aiding them, they still expected her to show what they thought was her true colors. Dahlia took the pastry and thanked the man, paying him. The man didn't even acknowledge she was there. After quickly eating it, not even slowing to enjoy the taste, she stalked the back allies of Cein City. She was looking for signs of trouble, signs of something amiss, anything. But Dahlia had only heard legends of Neesha, so she wasn't sure she'd know one if she saw it. Dahlia made sure her sword were easily accessible.

Dahlia had never had any care for guns. It was too easy to miss, too easy for bystanders to get hurt. Plus, she had to admit, she loved the adrenaline rush of close combat. She moved from shadow to shadow as a leaf dances in the wind. She noticed the humans, but they didn't notice her. She said she wasn't going to use magic, but she didn't know the neesha, so she wanted to surprise it so she could observe it before killing it.

{OOC: Combat is my weaker point, so I'm sorry if this isn't that good. I used dice to check myself so its fair combat, I rolled the necessary things at the end for her skill, but she failed con so she passes out :-( }

Dahlia had found what she was looking for, and she was horrified. She watched as a Neesha had its fill of an adolescent teenager. She shook her head, this was worse then any of the legends. Dahlia had to be careful, if one of her kind came here after that thing was dead, they would say that she attacked the teenager. So she waited until it moved on. She would have attacked if she thought the young man to be alive, but he didn't appear to be.

She followed it at a distance, moving from shadow to shadow. Her movement wasn't magic persay, but an ability, but it still sensed it and stopped. Dahlia ducked into the shadows, it looked around for some time, but heard no movement beyond what was normal, and continued again. Dahlia began to stalk closer, and it stopped again, this time growling. "Humans would be very foolish to follow me!". Dahlia couldn't help but be amused, its voice sounded like it sucked in too much helium. She appeared in shadows behind it and said, "I'm not human!" and raised her rapier and slashed it across the chest, very deeply. It wasn't enough to kill it but it would at least leave a scar. The thing growled and lunged at her, digging its fingers into the flesh of her chest and ripped her shirt, ripping her flesh deeply. Dahlia yelled out and brang out her parrying dagger.

In the struggle, neither Neesha nor Dahlia could get at each other. The neesha was thrown off her, and it smiled. As it came at her Dahlia slashed again, nicking its arm, causing it to miss her. Dahlia had enough of this game. She did a skill she never used, in fear of judgment, she ripped her corporeal body, becoming a shadow, reformed behind it, and she managed to impale it, ripping its organs. It would die eventually, she punched it far from her, and Dahlia couldn't stop the blackness from coming. The skill had taken so much strength from her, and there she passed out with her weapons still in hand.

Dahlia woke up with a blinding headache. It felt as if a thousand knives were floating around endlessly in her brain. As her eyes began to clear and she gained the ability to raise her head, she looked up, to see the creature dead. She sat up, which took every ounce of strength, and sat there for a long time staring at it. So, the dark times had come. She wish she had someone she could trust to talk to, to tell her what was going to happen, what to expect. She wanted so badly to lay back down and sleep but she was in a back alley, not far from a dead teenager. She groaned as every muscle screamed in agony as she got up, picking up her sword. Dahlia stood over the creature for a short moment. She would need to train harder if bad times were coming.

She slowly made her way through the back allies, avoiding the main roads and streets as she was covered in blood and dirt, and looked like she had attacked a giant. Her feet shuffled, too tired to stride like she normally did. Dahlia looked like a woman about to collapse, and she felt that way too. The few who noticed her going by stopped and stared, wondering if she was victim, or a murderer.

As she walked down the elven ally, all things stopped. The elves recognized the smell, the smell of neesha . They didn't say anything to her as she walked past them, and she said nothing to them. If they had any doubts, Dahlia was showing them the truth. To ones who could tell the difference between elf blood and neesha blood, it was quite clear Dahlia had not attacked a good creature.

She barely managed to get up the stairs, barely managed to open the door. She fell hard on her mattress of a bed and looked at the last rays of sunlight streaming in. "I think......I think I need help" she managed to stammer out before exhaustion took her over again. Dahlia didn't dream, she couldn't her mind was just simply too exhausted.