Description
Name: Lilliana Silka
Alias(es): Lily. Lil
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Appearance: Standing tall at 5â9ââ, Lily possesses a curvy, feminine figure but is also muscular. She is quite strong, healthy, and generally in good physical condition. She has long, dark brown hair that offsets her pretty, almond-shaped green eyes. Her emerald eyes are further accentuated by her long, dark eyelashes and the spattering of small freckles across her nose. Born to a full-blooded Southern-Italian family, she bears the olive skin, full lips, high cheekbones, and long neck of her ancestry, along with a conversational fluency in Italian. She lets her long, straight hair fall free, but keeps a portion of it back with a small, heirloom angel-wing clip her mother gave her when she was very young. Her face is very active, and easy to read. She always seems to have something up her sleeve, with an ever-present smirk upon her lips and a small twinkle in her eye.
-Height: 5'9''
-Weight: 145
-Eye Color: Green (sightless)
-Hair Color: Dark Brown
Clothing: Lily generally wears hip-hugging jeans and knee high boots, with a simple tank top. She always has her elbow-height wrist bracers on, along with a pack of arrows slung on her hip. (She can't wear it behind her as most archers, due to her wings). Her wings, while handy, are cumbersome and she's actually quite embarrassed of them, so she always pulls them as tight to her body as she can with some ribbons that criss-cross with a quick-releasing knot at the front of her body. She then wears a simple, black, long coat to help hide them more.
Powers/Skills:
~ Flight (Skill): It took her a little time and a lot of trial and error, but eventually Lily was able to figure out how to use her massive new wings to pull her into the sky. She's still a little rocky, and slightly terrified of heights, but she challenges herself daily and becomes more comfortable with each voyage on the air.
~ Telescopic Vision(Power/Skill): Lily was also granted the ability to magnify and extend her vision to various levels, making it much easier for her to hit a target with her bow and arrow, which she had dabbled in previous to the demons' arrival. Unfortunately, this came with a price: unless she's choosing to tap into her sight, she has been rendered completely blind. Although it won't "run out" she must always choose when and how to use this power wisely, because it will weaken.
~ Ecological Empathy(Power): Luckily, Lily is able to 'sense' her surroundings. She's not completely sure how it works, but she always knows where she is and is able to keep her wits about her. She is able to sense the overall conditions of her immediate environment due to a form of psychic sensitivity. She has no clue how to harness this power, she's just grateful for it. She refers to it as her "Awareness."
Personality
Very bright and witty, Lily constantly deflects with humor. She's quick to smile, faster to laugh, but very slow to trust. She is friendly, and compassionate, but she won't turn her back to someone who might be a threat in any way. Slightly more cautious than before the loss of her sight, she is also very attuned to her surroundings. Lily will be the first to talk in many situations, a "take-charge" spirit thrives within her, but she knows when to 'watch' and listen. Logical and analytic, she likes to look at problems from all angles before making a decision. That being said, she's free-spirited when she wants to be, and definitely knows how to have fun and enjoys herself when she lets go. Once she finally letâs some-one in past her defenses, they are in for life, whether they like it or not. Loyal to a fault, Lily will do anything and everything to protect the people she loves. She has an extremely strong will, is very resilient and refuses to back down. She strongly believes that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Equipment
A simple bow she found in an abandoned hunting cabin, along with a small sheath of arrows.
History
âMamma! Mamma!?â Lillianaâs voice came out in a strangled whisper, her accent thick as the tears flowed down her face. She looked at her motherâs green eyes, the ones that matched her own, staring off into the nothingness beyond. The blood trickled from her motherâs lips as, slowly, painfully, her eyes focused on Lillianaâs. âLily, mio caro,â her motherâs hand weakly moved toward Lilyâs hair.
âSi, mamma?â Lily leaned forward, letting her motherâs fingers trickle through her hair for a moment, pulling the family heirloom from it. Lily looked at the heirloom, once a beautiful ivory, now tarnished with drops of blood from her motherâs fingers. Her mother gasped and Lily choked back a sob, knowing that there wasnât much time left.
âWear this, siempre. Mi senti? Siempre.â Lilliana watched as her motherâs eyes unfocused again, slowly. Desperately trying to keep her mother with her, Lily clasped the hand holding her hair clip to her chest.
âMamma! Mamma! Why? Why âalways?ââ She searched her motherâs face for a response, âWhy always?â She whispered, as the only response from her mother came in the form of a last, rattling breath escaping from her mouth. Lily sat, in shock and silence, staring at her mother. She couldnât move, couldnât cry, couldnât think. What had happened? Where had these demoni come from and why, why had they taken all that Lily had ever cared about from her. Her little sister, Johanna, ripped from her arms by some flying beast with claws on that first day of their appearance as Jo and Lily had run screaming toward their large colonial house. Lily had then watched as her best friend and next-door neighbor, Christy, was snapped in half as she made a mad dash for her own home by a behemoth of a being. A few days later her father, Sergio, left their boarded up home, to search for other survivors, never to be heard from again. And now this, her mother, her namesake, somehow had let that small terror in and it had shot something through her stomach in matter of seconds.
Lily slowly turned to wear the demon lay twitching, itâs smiling head cut off by the butcher knife still held tightly in her other hand. Suddenly, anger coursed through her and she leapt up, dashing toward it. She began to hack at it, itâs blood spattering everywhere. She kept beating down on it, slash after slash until all that was left were small chopped bits of it on the floor and her clothes. Vaguely, she became aware of the dampness of her face. Assuming it was blood, she took her motherâs handkerchief to wipe her face. As it came away wet but clear of blood, Lily realized that she was weeping. Giving in to the agony, she crawled over to her motherâs lifeless body and held it to her, her hand dropping the knife and retrieving the hair clip, she wept until she couldnât feel any more.
Some hours later, she closed her motherâs eyes, said a heartfelt prayer for her motherâs safe journey into heaven and sluggishly, deliberately, she rose, crossed the room, and stood, staring at the door. Beyond lie terror most unspeakable, and Lily wasnât sure she was prepared to face it. Numbed by the loss of all that she cared about, she unwittingly put the angel-wing clip in her hair, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Staggering forward, vision blurry, she moved into the night air.
1 Day Later
Something buzzed and clicked somewhere to Lilyâs left. A clock. She tried to focus, tried to move, but her head was throbbing and her back ached. Becoming aware that she was lying on her stomach, she willed her arms to move forward, to push herself off the ground. Painstakingly, she was able to come to her knees. She blinked, blinked again, and again and again. âDio mio!â she gasped, âmy eyes!!â She fell back on her heels, thrown by her lack of ability to see. What had happened? Where had her eyesight gone!? She rolled her shoulders, the ache becoming hard to ignore. Her sharpened ears picked up the fluttering of wings and before she was aware she felt a floating sensation. Screaming, she froze, and hit something, hard. Panting, she waited. This is it, Lily thought, Iâm done for, just like mamma. But no pain came, no sharp death, no blood. Calm down, she commanded herself, think. What happened?
âI have chosen you, you have chosen me. Take my blessing, and take back what is yours." A voice, benign and gentle, found itâs way through her head and she was instantly calmed and nurtured. A warmth spread around her and while she knew that the figure that sat on the edges of her memory was not there, she felt as though she was being held, cradled. She knew that all would be well, and that it was time to find out what had changed about her. She couldnât begin to fathom the âhowâ or the âwhyâ but the âwhatâ she was determined to figure out and to control.
2 Weeks Later
âAlright, here goes!â Lily runs and jumps from the building, the adrenaline pouring through her as her senses began to fill and inform her that, while she canât see it, the hard, cold earth is swiftly approaching. She yips quietly as she unfurls her wings, the not-quite-comfortable sensation of them catching wind and pulling on her back to bear her body upward surprising her. She barely has enough time to begin to enjoy the sensation when a prickling along her spine informs her sheâs being followed. Turning a little clumsily, she cocks and arrow in her bow and luffs her wings, keeping her in one place in the air. She takes in a breath, and slowly lets it out as she feels the now-familiar rush of blood to her eyes. She closes them, then opens them as she lets out her breath and immediately focuses on the 6â3ââ creature patting after her on foot. Itâs body is patterned with the decaying blood of the hundreds it has murdered and itâs sharp teeth are stained with blood. âPronto!â She calls to it, her Italian accent thick as she mocks it.
Before Lily has the time to grasp itâs speed, though, it jumps and easily grabs her right foot, the extra weight creating a tearing sensation between her shoulders as the strength of her wings gives momentarily, allowing both creature and woman to plummet the 10 or so feet back down to earth. She cries out a little in terror and a little in pain. The creature lets go and rears back to drive itâs claws into her. A move sheâs seen before, she seizes her moment and beats her wings, hard. Moving backward quickly, she watches the demonioâs eyes widen momentarily, surprised by her speed.
Shaking her head, Lilyâs trade-mark smirk falls into place as she focuses her eyes to itâs forehead and letâs the arrow go. It flies true and hitâs the creature square between the eyes, just as it begins to rise. Immediately releasing her eyesight. She walks blindly but gingerly over to the demonâs body, pulling the arrow from itâs skull with a sickening squish-crunch that she has become used to. She puts the arrow back in her hip holder and sighs. Even though she canât see it, her head turns toward the building sheâs just jumped off, and she pouts slightly. âI really didnât want to have to climb those stairs again.â She murmurs under her voice, then begins the walk back to the building to begin her self-imposed âflight-trainingâ again.
So begins...
The sun slanted across Lilliana's eyes, making her groan quietly as the heat began to emanate around the room. Her head was throbbing again. She sat up slowly, rubbing her temples. Had she really used the Vision that much yesterday? She'd have to work blind more today. Smiling to herself, she pushed off the ground to a standing position. She needed to get used to it anyway, and save the Vision for the times when it was most crucial. She sighed, then stretched her arms up and over her head, leaning back a tiny bit, and was knocked off balance by her wings. "Merda!" she muttered, stumbling backwards a step, then letting her wings unfurl and flapping daintily to keep from falling over. Her smile turned into a grin as she realized that her wings were becoming a much more natural attribute.
Lily stood calm for a moment then, wanting to spread and stretch her wings but having a hard time remembering how big the room she was in was. She remembered climbing in through a large window the night before, exhausted after a long fight with a pack of bloodbirds and covered in blood, Well... that explains that putrid smell she mused to herself, she remembered collapsing to the floor, and then waking up. "Bastardi fastidiosi!" She spat out under her breath, remembering how the swarm had just just kept coming and coming. How many of those things can there be?
Cracking her neck, she braced, then let her body radiate within the room. Feeling outward with her Awareness she could essentially see the room in her mind. It was full of boxes, one quite near her to the right, there were pictures on the walls, one of a handsome man smiling with his arms around a little girl with the same eyes. Dimly she became aware of two doors, one to her front and one to her left. The one before her was closed, the one to the left was more of a doorway that led down a hall. Behind her, the window she'd crawled through, beneath it her coat and ribbons. A couch, a tv, a chair, a man, a... "Wait, what?" She focused hard on the man sitting in the chair. "Cavolo?" she hissed, and cursed herself for not being more careful. Climbing into a random home! Who knew how she had survived the night? She cocked her bow and aimed at the man. Her left arm tingling when her body was aware that she was aiming true. She waited there, bated breath. The man didn't move, he just sat there, staring at her. Or... no, he wasn't staring at her at all. He had no eyes. She let the breath out that she'd been holding and relaxed her bow and arrow down to her side. Focusing once again, she felt out with her mind. He was dead, certainly, and most likely where the putrid smell had come from. Lilliana became aware with a start of his brain matter covering the wall behind him.
"Aiutati che Dio t'aiuta, I guess. May Dio accept you in his kingdom." As Lilliana's short prayer escaped her lips a prickling in her temple, different than the pain in her head, prompted her to turn to her left. Something was not right still. A small black ball lay in the doorway. It hadn't been there before, but she was still getting used to catching the small details of her surroundings with the Awareness. The prickling grew stronger between her eyes and suddenly a strong pulsing was washing over her. "Nope! That means it's time to go!" She backed slowly towards the window and was impressed with her instincts as the ball began to roll towards her. Slowly she replaced her arrow and hooked her bow over her arm, planning to make a run for it. The ball was beginning to roll faster and the pulsing was getting stronger, whatever it was, it was hungry. She turned to make a dash for it. As she let go of all of her Awareness save the pile of her belongings by the window and the window itself, the world around her vanished, leaving behind a straight shot to freedom.
Her body cried out as the ball somehow leaped into the air and she instinctively countered to the left, the ball missing her shoulder by bare inches. Her breath caught, it was much faster than she'd anticipated. The black ball about the size of a basketball lay before her and her escape route, she'd have to fight. "Well, fine then! Determined little bastard, aren't you?" she asked the ball, with a smirk. It began rolling towards her again, and she cocked an arrow, with ease. Aiming as quickly as she was comfortable, she felt the familiar tingle in her left arm telling her she aimed true, and just as the pulsing began to strengthen again, she released the arrow. The pulse ceased immediately but no sound came from the contact of the arrow into the blob. "Are you dead?" she asked the circle with an arrow sticking out of it. Not wanting to find out the hard way, she made her decision quickly and, running past it, grabbed her stuff to jump out of the window. Mourning the loss of the arrow would have to wait for later, she'd never encountered that type of demon before and she was unsure as to it's demise.
Jumping from the window, possessions in hand, she was startled to feel a falling sensation. "Merda!" She hand't remembered that the window she'd crawled into was a few stories up, which must have been why she had felt it safe to collapse onto the floor without first checking the apartment. The ground was coming up fast, so unfurling her wings she soared upward. The wrench of muscles in her back was really starting to ease up the more she flew, and this time it was only a dull crack in her back that told her she wasn't 100% ready to fly yet. She focused her Awareness around her and found an abandoned alleyway to land in. Slowly, gliding, she came to rest in the center of it. She dropped her belongings and cocked an arrow just in case. Holding it relaxed to her side, she breathed in deep, held the breath a second, then set the bow and arrow on the ground, letting her breath go. Today was going to be long, but she was ready for it. Stretching her wings to either side, she leaned her forehead on the cool wall in front of her.
"Time to go!" She stretched one last time, then looped her black ribbons over her wings, pulling them in tight, wincing a tiny bit when she pulled a feather or two. She had yet to get the finesse of bonding them down under control, but she was doing well enough. She tied the quick-release knot her father had taught her with their horses in the front of the ribbons, then shrugged on her long coat. Picking up her weapon, she searched out with Awareness and moved down the alley.
Large, something large was charging right toward her alley-way. Lily froze momentarily as she waited for the Awareness to guide her aim. How had she not noticed it before? She'd been so startled from the fall that she must have turned her attention to not dying more than paying attention to her surroundings. Stupido! she chided herself, grimacing. She picked up the pace and lightly jogged out of the alleyway, ducking around the corner and dropping to a knee. Cocking the bow and arrow back, she slowly leaned around the corner. She was still waiting for her Awareness to guide her, but her arm wouldn't tingle. She knit her brow in frustration, "Now is not the time, body!" she whispered to herself. She waited there, as the already deafening thumps grew louder and closer. Terrified, her body began to hum as her heart rate sped up and she began to perspire. She knew the alley-way was long, the dumpsters, the boxes, a crate up and to the left, a couple of escape stairs hanging down. Nothing moved. But that thumping! Breathing in deep she waited as the thumping came into the alleyway.
"Che diavolo?" She murmured as the figure of a man ran into the alleyway. His footfalls seemed to match up with the demon's terribly heavy footfalls. Whatever it was, it was big, and this poor man was obviously running for his life. She could feel the desperation rolling off of him. Poor thing... he must be so fright- her thoughts were cut short as the man's frustrated voice called out, "I know you're here angel-messenger-thing! Come out! I have some questions damnit!" Lily's mouth dropped open and she nearly fell over. She would have laughed if her body wasn't still coursing with adrenaline 'Angel-messenger-thing'? What the...? Her world went completely dark as disbelief caused her to let go of her Awareness.
She could hear the man's breathing as her mind went into overdrive. Is he talking to me? How do I know he's not one of those male demons? Those footfalls... it's impossible that he's human... then again, I have wings now, so... He was about the height of those brutish demoni, then again, he didn't really look like them... did he? Chi lo sa! Her heart still pounding, the lack of sight, and the glitch in the Awareness were confusing her. Taking a deep breath, she knew she needed to make a decision: Alert this being of her presence, or undo her tie and fly as quickly as she could from this place. Okay Lil, what are the possibilities? Prima: he's a whole new kind of demonio who's quite possibly stronger than any you've ever encountered and the minute you say hi you'll die... or... secondo... secondo what? He doesn't have wings so there's no way he's like me... but my arms wouldn't aim, the Awareness wasn't kicking in so I couldn't have been in complete danger. Okay then, terzo: play it safe and confront the thing but be ready to fly in a moment's notice. Bene... bene. Here goes... something! Lilliana adjusted her coat so that it wasn't on but simply draped over her shoulders, successfully camouflaging her wings, took a deep breath and tapped into the Awareness. Giving her a sense of where the man stood again, she aimed her arrow at his forehead, but ready to grab her quick-release knot if needed, she stood and stepped forward, keeping the man in her aim. "Piacere, signore!" Lily called out, "You look like you're having a great day." She smirked sarcastically as she braced herself for the worst.
