Post by ShadaAntoinette on Jan 26, 2011 19:51:06 GMT -5
The heat was unbearable as she crossed back over into Rayflo' time, which was unusual for the place she had appeared. Not to mention there was a scent in the air putrid, making her want to gag. She placed both hands over her muzzle, trying not to vomit as she looked around.
Trees were bare, their leaves stripped; their bark was stripped and sickly looking in places and the ground below was cracked and broken, and no grass grew at all, which was also unusual for this place.
"What happened here?" She asked aloud, not that anyone could answer her. Something big had happened here, and she had to know if everyone was okay.
She started to Trace, but stopped when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. As soon as she turned to look at it, she'd wished she hadn't. There, not thirty feet from her was what looked like to be a bear, but something was wrong. It's flesh was torn and bleeding, missing in patches. But what stopped her, was the head of it. Not only was it gruesome in appearance, it looked like it was dead. "Oh... no. Oh, no. Fuck, dammnit!" She took off at a dead sprint, hearing the creature lumbering after her. Whatever had happened in her absense was bad enough to kill everything on this plane, and corrupt the creatures that lived there. She hoped that her friends were alive, but after seeing the creature, she wasn't so sure that they were.
The creature roared from behind her, and she made a desperate move. In mid-run, she Traced without a destination, which was dangerous. One could be lost between, which was worse than death itself. Luckily, a fleeting thought saved her, and she ended up many miles away from the creature, but not anywhere close to Amoro manor. But she didn't want to waste anymore energy, since there wasn't any available food source around that she knew of. So she started walking. She'd made it in town, the far end of town at that, but in town nonetheless. But it was a long walk to the manor.
An hour passed and she hadn't even made it to downtown yet. Mostly because she was too busy looking at the damage around her. Buildings were blown away, pieces laying around in random piles. Items from within shops lay broken or incinerated on the ground. She frowned, lifting a broken table leg from the ground.
"I have to find out what happened here..." She said to herself. Throwing the wood away from her, she continued on her way, sadness overtaking her. She hoped to find them alive and well... but she didn't know. She never realized how much they'd meant to her, until now. It was sad to think that way, but... how else was she supposed to feel? They could all be dead and she'd left with no word, other than to Rayflo. She bit her lip as she walked, thinking back to what had transpired between them. If she had been him in that situation, she would have been livid, and there would be no way that she would have forgive her for what she'd said and done. But, she wasn't him, and she had no idea if he would be happy to see her.
She spent the night inside the shell of one of the shops, out of sight of the outside world, at least what was left of it. If there were any survivors, she didn't want to find out if they were healthy or not. The world had become Hell's wasteland....well, minus the unbearable heat and fire everywhere. But whatever, the point was the entire plane had become a hole. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, rolling over so that her back was to what was left of the wall. She had a long way to go tomorrow, and she wanted to be up when the sun rose in the sky.
By the time noon hit, Shada had walked through town, and was heading back toward where she remembered Rayflo's manor to be. It had been a while, but she was pretty confident that she was going the right way, even though the landscape had changed because of whatever disaster.
She was beginning to feel sick to her stomach, and her head was throbbing in time with her heartbeat. She vomited a couple of times as she went, and wondered if it wasn't the first sign of heat poisoning. She groaned piteously and sank into the dirt, clutching her stomach. This place was harsher now.... and she wasn't so sure she would be able to survive here. It had been a mistake to come back here, she could see that now. She started to Trace, feeling the familiar tingling feeling in her hands and feet but then nausea would over take her, forcing her to stop. Something was wrong with her, and she didn't know what it was. She was far too preoccupied by the fact that her friends could be dead to care about her own well-being. There would be time for that later, whenever she found all of them...or what was left of them.
Okay, so she didn't make it to Amoro Manor until the next night because she'd taken a wrong turn. The landscape was a lot different than what she remembered and she'd gotten turned around. But as the sickly sky turned dark, Shada found herself standing in front of the remains of the once great Amoro Manor.
A frown creased her lips and tears immediately sprang to her eyes. She'd never gotten to tell.... She turned away from the ruins, until she heard a stirring coming from the rubble. For some reason she couldn't seem to smell what it was, and that bothered her. She was weak from vomiting the blood she'd had before she'd come back to this plane, and the stink in the air was getting to her. So, instead of relying on her senses, she turned fully back to the rubble then, her sharp claws extended. Her fangs pressed against her lower lip as she waited to see what would happen.
"State your busi....Shada?!" The voice.... ALISTOR!
"Oh, Gods, you're alive!" Tail wagging, she rushed over to him, sweeping the shorter man into a bear hug. "What the Hell happened here? I leave for a few years and all Hell breaks loose!" She heard him weezing and let go quickly, stepping back to give him some air.
"The humans dropped an A-bomb to try to wipe us all out." He answered, clearly confused to see her, which did not make her feel good. "Where did you go?" She frowned, lowering her ears.
"Home. I had to get away..... Where is everyone? Did they survive?" Now it was Alistor's turn to look away.
"I don't know, everyone left after Master did. I stayed here at the Manor, thank god Master was crazy enough to put in a panic room down in the cellar." They were both silent for a moment.
"I'm so happy you're alive, Alistor, after seeing what the rest of this Plane looked like, I thought I'd lost all of you." She frowned and laid a paw on his shoulder, seeing that the usually pale Nos male was even more pale. "Are you all right?"
"....Not exactly I..." Before he could finish, Shada heard a sound from behind her. Before she saw what was coming, she smelled a faint feline scent.
"No... it couldn't be...." She murmured.
"Sira?" Alistor called, stepping up beside Shada. A yowl and then the sound of light feet on dirt. There was a silver blur against the darkness, before Alistor ended up on his back on the ground. Shada grit her teeth, feeling the familiar jealous rise to choke her before turning away from the two. Besides that fact, the sound of lips smacking was making her nauseous. Not really, she was just jealous.
"I'll leave you two alone." She said, not that they could hear her. With a inward shake of her head, Shada walked away. She should have waited until daylight, but eh, what was the point? There didn't seem to be any danger around, not that she would be able to smell it before it attacked her. She raked a paw through her tangled mass of red hair and kept walking, hoping to happen upon some of her other friends, now that she had hope that they were still alive. A slight smile bloomed on her lips. Everyone had to be alive... Alistor and Sira were still alive. She was still alive, and she knew that nothing as petty as an atomic bomb would kill Gamma. It may have injured him some, but she knew, the dragon was, at least, alive.
She walked through the night, knowing that she wouldn't stop until she found one of the others. It had become her mission and she didn't care how long it took. She would either find them alive, or find where they had died. Either way, until she found the rest of them, she wasn't going to rest. She was Immortal, sleep wasn't a necessity, it was a luxury and she would gladly give up anything to have them all be alive and well. Anything.
Noon. The sun was high in the air and she had trekked a long way from the Manor. The heat was making her irritable. So that, coupled with the emptiness of her stomach and the dry, fuzzy feeling of her tongue was not helping her. What she wouldn't have given to have something to drink and some shade! But no, in this barren wasteland there was little shade and nothing to drink. Even if there was, she doubted she would have drunk any. Who knew what contaminants could have infested the water?
She stopped walking, going to her knees in the dirt. She ripped the skirt of the dress she'd been wearing off at the top of her knees and wiped her brow. "This is NOT the time to have fur....oi..." She growled to herself. She couldn't change forms either, unless she wanted to be naked, and this was not the time to get sunburn either. So she was frozen in this form for a while. Then again, she doubted she could use her magick anyway. Tracing wasn't working at the moment, and there was no telling what else was wrong with her.
A few minutes later, she was up and walking again, delirious with the heat since she was covered in thick fur. Most people said that white reflected heat. Shada would indignantly beg to differ in this instance. She tripped over a rock and fell to the ground with a yelp but before she could get back up, there was a blade pressed to her throat. Immediately her fangs were out and her eyes were black.
"Don't even think about it." She rasped, her voice rough. "If you behead me, you won't live to regret it."
"Don't tempt me, creature." Came the reply in a female voice. Shada's blackened eyes met the other female's and a growl boiled from her throat. In a second, Shada had punched the girl in the stomach, which blew her away from the angry Xurenae. The knife dropped to the ground between them. Standing, Shada lifted her chin, peering down at the girl.
"Now. I'm far too busy to deal with the likes of you. Tell me why you saw fit to attack me while I was down and maybe I'll spare you." The girl snarled at her but answered.
"You shouldn't be out here."
"Good point. But neither should you."
"I'm looking for survivors, I thought you might be a turned wild animal."
"Good excuse, but not good enough, I know I may look like a wolf, but I am in no way an abomination like that." Okay so that wasn't true. She was an abomination, but she'd stopped thinking like that a long time ago. Now, she was content with herself. Just not with with girl before her.
"Fair enough. What are you doing out here?"
"Same as you are. Looking for survivors." Shada answered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you always attack when you see something different than your used to?" The girl offered a snort in response. "Interesting." Shada said, turning to face the girl squarely. "A bit of advice for you, don't ever sneak up on something bigger and stronger than you. You might just earn yourself an early grave. Be grateful I'm not in the mood to fight today." Shada watched a massive shadow cross the ground and immediately looked up, catching a bright red flash against the sickly sky. ".....No... it couldn't be...." She said to herself. "It couldn't be that easy, could it?" She took a step in the direction, her Immortal speed overtaking her. "GAMMA!" She shouted, racing after the shadow. There was no way.... But yes, it was the massive scarlet dragon. She skidded to a stop as he touched down, a cloud of dust showering her from both her movements and his hitting the ground. "Oh thank the Goddess, it IS you!" As she drew closer, the eight foot Golithan jumped down off of the dragons back. "And Remus, too! Lucifer's Horns, you guys are alive!" She practically tackled the huge Wolf, a feat since he was so big.
"Urrah... Shada, you've come back." His massive arms curled around her so she wouldn't fall. She hugged him tightly, as if she expected the both of them to have been a mirage created from her broken mind.
"Where have you two been? I leave for a few years, and this world has been destroyed, I thought you were dead!" Gamma turned his gigantic neck to peer at the smaller creatures and exhaled, ruffling their fur.
"We had some pressing matters to attend to. It is good to see you, Shada." Shada grinned at him, releasing her hold on Remus somewhat.
"I'm so glad to see you two, you have no idea." She returned, dipping her head respectfully.
"Have you been to the Manor? Were there anymore survivors?" Remus asked her, his violet eyes watching her closely. She nodded, biting the inside of her cheek.
"Aye, Sira and Alistor are alive as well. I haven't seen Rayflo though, I don't know if he's alive or not." A small sound came from behind her and without looking, she knew the girl had followed her. "Oh... this is...uh, what IS your name?"
"Heru." The girl supplied.
"Right, right. Well, anyway, she kinda found me when I was out looking for everyone." Shada said. Her green eyes were turning a bright scarlet, her pupils dialated. The strain was bothering her now, but she had better things to worry about than feeding.
"You're a bit light, Shada." She gave her friend a scathing look. "I'm not being rude, I'm serious. When was the last time you've fed?"
"Oh that.... well, I fed far before I came back here, but since time flows a bit differently there, I would say... a week? A month? I don't know. When I came back here, I think some of the radiation here got to me. I lost nearly all of it." Remus' eyes gleamed and she waited for him to scold her. Reckless? Indeed.
"Well, I can spare some, and I know you need it." She stared at him. She'd never fed from him before; he was a friend, it just wasn't okay to feed off your friends. "I'm not suggesting it, Shada." She blinked.
"U-uh.... okay...."
"I don't like to be bitten, so be gentle, okay?"
"S-sure." Her mind was telling her not to do it, but Liir insisted she do so.
"You may never get the chance to feed again, Shada and we need the nourishment. Just do as he says. Hell, I would hate to anger him." The Xurenae cracked a grin but nodded to Remus. Leaning forward, she licked the side of his neck lightly, preparing the spot for her fangs, which lengthened eagerly for the taste of his blood.
She bit down as gently as she could, her claws pressing into his flesh lightly. The instant her fangs entered his flesh, and she got the first taste it felt like electricity had shocked her. Everything sharpened, her body became alert and the aches and pains she'd felt melted away like butter.
She pulled away a moment later, and licked his flesh to seal her bite, shivering.
"Better?" She nodded dumbly, her eyes glazed over.
"Oh... much. Thank you, Remus...." She licked her lips as he set her down on her own two feet.
"Right. Now, I think we should go back to the Manor, or what's left of it. If we all stay together, we stand a better chance of surviving. You're welcome to come too, Heru." Remus said. Again, Shada nodded dumbly, caught up in blood lust. It was going to take a few minutes until she came down off her euphoric feeling. She'd never had Goliathan blood before, and she had to admit... it was good.....
"Hey! We're going to leave without you!" Heru's voice startled her and she jerked her head, seeing the other two walking away.
"Shit." She took off running, catching up to them. "Hopefully we all survived." She said, shaking her head. "And you, what happened after I left? I know you knew I left, Remus." She gave him a pointed look.
"....Nothing, really. Rayflo holed himself in his room until it was time for him to go. Gamma and I got news that needed to be taken care of reguarding the orb, so we left. After that, your guess is as good as mine." Shada frowned but didn't ask anymore questions. "And you? Why did you leave?"
"Had to. It was time to go home. My kingdom has been falling apart when I came here, and I wanted to get everything back in order." Wasn't a lie. But it wasn't the truth either. And she was going to stick with that story until she died.
"Hurrr. Well, your reasoning is your own, I suppose." Damn.
"There's nothing that gets past you, is there?" She smirked up at him. He grinned back at her.
"Nope." He patted her head and chuckled. The group walked in silence for a while, until the place where the Manor once stood came into view.
"There." Shada said, pointing. "That's all that's left." They would be upon the rubble soon, and Remus could see for himself that Sira and Alistor were alive and....well? She didn't know about well. She knew Alistor looked bad, and Sira she hadn't had a chance to look at closely. Soo... that one was up in the air at the moment.
When they arrived, the sounds of their arrival had Alistor and Sira scurrying from what was left of the basement, both with the look as if they had been caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing. Sira looked rumpled and Alistor? Well, his fangs were out, and had he been anything other than a Nos, Shada would have sworn he was feral.
"Oh hey Shada, you found some other survivors." Alistor said.
"I did." Shada replied, nodding slightly. She was studying Sira, seeing how worse for wear she was. She appeared to be tired, but that was all that Shada could tell. From experience she knew that the werecat was very good at hiding what she felt. Which was just so to Shada. She didn't care much for the girl in the first place. "Have you seen your father around here?" She asked. Alistor shook his head.
"No. I haven't. I told you that."
"I've also been gone for a bit, so I thought he might have shown up. Or were you held up." Barely hidden malice shown in dark green eyes. Alistor bristled slightly, but a loud thud coming from the other side of what was left of the house, followed by a curse had all of them running.
"Master, you're alive!" A wrench came flying in the younger man's direction, which he almost didn't dodge.
"Dammit, Alistor, didn't I tell you not to sneak up on me like that?!" Shada could barely hide the amused laugh that boiled from her throat. Same old, same old.
"I thought you'd died, you bastard and that's all you can say?"
"Oh, because I would let some A-bomb kill me." Rayflo stood up, wiping sweat from his forehead and actually turning to look at his son, blinking in surprise as he noticed the rest of them standing there. "....Uh, okay we all survived. Good." Shada glowered at him for a moment before rolling her eyes.
"Good to see you too, you old bastard." She snapped, turning away and crossing her arms over her chest with a smirk.
"....Well that was uncalled for. What did I do?"
"Nevermind that, what are you doing?" Alistor asked.
"Fixing up the Oldie. I was going to use it to look for survivors, but since you all seemed to find me, I guess we can use it for something else."
"That piece of shit? I thought it didn't run anymore."
"Very observant. Why the hell do you think I'm trying to fix it?"
"Okay, enough you two. We find out we all survived and all you two want to do is bitch? Now is not the time for that. We need to find out what we're going to do." Shada said, walking over to stand between the two men.
"Commando Shada, never thought I'd see that side of you again." She turned her head to fix him with a cold stare. Rayflo cleared his throat. "Yea, well, he started it."
"Enough."
"Gamma and I saw a gas station not far from here." Remus said.
"That's good. Because we can't stay here, we'll be sitting ducks for whatever else survived this mess." If ever there was a time that Shada was grateful for her body, it would be now. All of the blood drained from her face.
"You mean there could be....zombies?" She said quietly. "Like, real ones?"
"Maybe."
"Oh, we gotta go." She stepped aside, pacing the dirt anxiously.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of zombies, Shada." Alistor said. She growled at him and kept pacing.
"You should have seen her back in the day. She used to kill everything in her path. My, how the mighty have fallen." Rayflo snickered.
"Rayflo, darling. Would you like to keep your entrail in tact?" She glowered at him.
"Why, yes I would."
"Then stop it about the zombies. And it's your fault Alistor for watching all those zombie movies." She huffed and walked away. Their laughter followed her, ringing in her ears.
"Okay, so I think I got it." It had been three hours since Rayflo had gotten back to work on the RV and now, as he slammed the hood down and wiped his hands, everyone seemed to have relaxed some.
"Great, so let's get out of here."
"Not so fast, Alistor. Go get the keys. And I'm taking the lambo."
"What? No, I'm not driving the RV!"
"You're right, you aren't. Shada's driving the RV."
"Wait... what?" Shada chimed in. "How did I get roped into this?"
"Look at it this way, Alistor is in no shape to drive it, and I know Remus is too big to fit in the driver's seat. Uh, Heru, right? Yea, Heru looks too young and Sira..."
"Can't drive." The were cat finished.
"So that leaves you." Shada sighed and held her paw out for the keys.
"Fine. But I'm not going to like this, I want you to know this." He patted her shoulder.
"Duely noted. Now, Alistor, Heru. You're riding with Shada. Sira, you're with me."
"Why does Sira have to ride with you?" Alistor demanded.
"Because I want to talk to her about something. Don't worry about it. Do as I say." Alistor looked like he was going to argue but changed his mind. Probably a good idea.
"I am going to ride Gamma since he's far too big to ride in the RV." Remus said, walking over to the dragon. Damn. Shada was going to have to ride with someone she didn't know and a weak, whiny Alistor. Could this day get any worse?
When Alistor handed her the keys, Shada headed for the RV and opened the driver's door before sliding inside and slamming the door after her. After a bit of coaxing, she managed to get the window down so she would have some air. It was going to be an interesting ride, indeed. She just hoped she would be able to keep her composure.
"Be careful with my baby, Shada. I don't even want a scratch on her!" Rayflo called with a grin before getting into the car. Shada lifted her lip and gave him the finger before turning the key in the ignition, pressing her foot to the brake pedal. She sat there for a second, wondering what was missing. A frown creased her brow.
"Oh! I know!" She pressed a paw into her cleavage and pulled out a dented pack of cigarettes, and a lighter after that. Lighting one, she settled into the seat and turned to look at the other two. "All right, seat belts children.... Hahaha... Who am I kidding?" She grinned and shook her head. "Oh, and Heru, if he gets too annoying, punch his lights out, okay?"
"O-okay..."
"Hey!"
"Don't hey me, Alistor." Shada barked. "Just sit down and shut it." She watched Rayflo drive off before she poked her head out of her window, looking back at Remus and Gamma. Giving them a slight wave, she put the RV in gear and pealed out of the driveway, following the red car. A loud roar told her that Gamma was airborne and so the entire group was off.
Ten minutes later, the fireworks began. Alistor had come up to sit with her in the passenger's seat.
"So, you want to tell me why you told her to hit me?"
"Nope." Shada answered, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Why do you always snap at me, Shada? What did I ever do to you?" Oh... a loaded question. Great. She took a deep breath, even as her eyes began to darken and her fangs began to itch in her mouth.
"You want to know, Alistor? Do you really want to know?"
"I asked, didn't I?"
"Do you realize what you've just asked me?"
"...No..."
"You want to know what you did to me? All right, I'll tell you. How about you ignore me everytime Sira's around? How about..." She didn't want to say it but he'd asked. "I had feelings for you once, and yet..." She stopped. She was growing angry now.
"And what?"
"Nothing, Alistor, just go away." He sighed heavily but didn't move. "No, I want an answer.'
"No. Trust me, you don't." She glanced at him for a split second.
"Dammit, answer me, Shada! I want to know why you've acted like I don't exist since you came here in the first place!" Shada's ears flickered, hearing Heru make some sort of noise from the back of the RV.
"Why should I give a damn about you when you clearly don't give a damn about me? Goddess, Alistor, I had a crush on you, and you acted like you didn't care. I don't know how blatant I could be!" She growled at him. He was silent for a long time, which fueled her fire. "You want to know why I distanced myself from you? Do you want to know why I stopped caring about you? Sira came home and you were so far up her ass that I didn't know where she stopped and you began!" She was fired up now. "I was so angry with you, you don't understand how angry I was when we came home that night. I heard you two, Rayflo heard you two. We aren't stupid." Her grip tightened on the wheel. "So again, I ask you. Why should I give a damn about you when you clearly don't give a damn about me?" He took a deep breath and began.
"I don't ignore you whenever Sira's around. She's my girlfriend and I spend time with her. As for you're having had feelings for me, as in past tense, if you would have told me things would have been different."
"No, they wouldn't have. We would still be in this same situation."
"But you don't know that. Now, it seems to me that you're jealous. Does Master know how you feel? Or was it because you couldn't have me that you started dating him?" His tone of voice was pissing her off. A thud on the roof of the RV startled her, but she corrected the RV on the road as Remus slid in through the sliding window on the side. "You realize that that makes you a pathetic bitch, don't you?" Just as he said this, Remus spoke.
"Shada, I know you've got a cigarette. Could I have one?"
"Sure, hun. Here." She glanced down and pulled four from the pack and handed them back to him. She glowered at Alistor. "Really, name calling? And if I remember correctly, and I do, you and Rayflo bet that he couldn't ask me out and get a yes."
"So what, you accepted so I would get jealous? That's low, even for you." Her knuckles whitened on the steering wheel and she stomped on the gas pedal, getting up close to Rayflo's bumper. If Alistor didn't stop, she was going to lose it.
"I did not. I did it to prove a point. Not my fault that Rayflo and I became close. Not that you care." She snarled back.
"Seriously, this entire conversation is sad. You hate me because I wanted to be with Sira and not you, that's pretty much what this boils down to, isn't it?"
"No." Yes. "I don't give a damn about that." Yes you do.
"Shada, calm down." Remus said. He sounded like he was uncomfortable, and when she glanced back at him, she could see it written on his face. Okay... she was going to try at least.
"See, I think that's exactly the problem. You're jealous of Sira. Just admit it to yourself."
"Please, now you're just being a child."
"That's because you know I'm right, don't you, bitch? The mutt can't handle the truth, can she? Hey Remus, better stay away from this one, she'll use you too, just like she's used Master." Okay, that was the last straw. She took her eyes off the road and punched Alistor straight in the face. With a growl, she Traced, not giving a damn about the RV or it's occupants for the moment. She sat down on the curb and dug her claws in, crushing the cement in her paws.
Rayflo had been talking to Sira about Alistor and how she was going to have to get him to feed from her if she wanted him to survive. He'd glanced back when he'd noticed the RV coming up on his ass fairly quickly. Alistor was in the front seat next to Shada, and they both looked like they were shouting. The next time he looked up, Shada was gone from the front seat and the RV was seconds away from.... A loud crashing sound signaled that the RV had indeed smashed into the telephone pole it had been heading toward.
"Oh, what the FUCK?!" He slammed on the brakes and stuck the lambo in park before rushing over to the now totaled RV. "Is everyone okay?" The engine was smoking and Alistor was hanging partially outside of the vehicle, bleeding from his head. A huge shiner was beginning to form around his left eye. "Dammit, Al, what did you say to her?" Between his strength and Sira's, they dragged Alistor and Heru from the wreckage. Remus, on the other hand, was fine on the outside. The RV had crumpled around him. But on the inside he had been shaken.
"First she was there, and then Poof, she was gone. Hahahaha...." His eyes were glowing, so he was clearly not right at the moment.
"Where did she go? Shada!" Rayflo called. Walking around the side of the RV, he saw her about three yards away, sitting on the side of the road in the dirt. "Sira, take care of Alistor and Heru." He said, heading in Shada's direction. She'd wrecked his RV. He was going to find out why.
Satisfaction colored her right eye a deep silver, while the other was still black as pitch. He'd gotten under her skin. And she'd been reckless. Chalk one up to Alistor. She could sense Rayflo coming toward her and he was pissed, that was clear to her. She sighed and pressed her palms into her eyes, awaiting for the shouting match that was sure to erupt.
"Whatever he said to you really set you off, didn't it?"
".....Hn."
"What did he say?"
"Nothing."
"I know better. What did he say?"
"Don't worry about it, Rayflo. It's over with. Next time, he won't be so lucky." Rayflo pinched the bridge of his nose for patience.
"Look, it doesn't matter what he said to you. You wrecked my RV and we aren't all going to fit in the car."
"Gamma's saddle will hold the stragglers. But I suggest you keep Alistor with you." Remus came up beside Rayflo before kneeling beside Shada, who leaned on him slightly. He was not okay yet, the experience had shaken him, but she was clearly upset by what little he did hear Alistor had said to her. "We don't want anymore crashes." Shada looked up at her tall friend and frowned.
"I'm really sorry. I lost control. I didn't mean to hurt any of you guys." Not true. She wanted to hurt Alistor, but that she just wasn't going to say.
"You're fine. We all make mistakes." Remus hugged her, which she returned, not feeling any better about the situation than before. "We need to get out of here before night falls. Who knows what's out here." He made a great point. Rayflo, Shada and Remus made their way over to where the others waited. Shada noted, with a small smirk, that Alistor looked disoriented.
"Change of plans. Sira, Alistor is going to ride with us now. Everyone else is going to ride on Gamma's back." The only argument was between Alistor and the elder Nos Vampire about the way the seats were arranged in the car. After that, they were moving again.
Shada yawned so hard her jaw cracked and she turned bleary eyes on Remus. "Hey... do you mind if I rest against you? I'm so tired." She asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Not at all." He shifted slightly so that she could do just that. She smiled at him and slid over in the huge saddle.
"Thanks." She rested her head against his ribs and closed her eyes, her tail relaxing against the bottom of the saddle. She was soon sound asleep, snoring lightly. The Goliathan chuckled and shook his head, but he too soon nodded off, using Shada's body to prop his own up.
The next thing she knew, she had awakened on the hard linoleum floor of the gas station. With a slight groan, she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Where am I?" She asked, blinking.
"We made it to the gas station." Rayflo said, not looking up from whatever it was he was looking at. Shada nodded and stood up, brushing herself off.
"That's good. We didn't find any survivors, did we?"
"Not exactly."
"What's that mean?"
"Well....we found this guy named Markus...."
"And?"
"See for yourself." Rayflo gestered outside, where Shada noticed that a strange guy she'd never seen before was standing with Sira and Alistor, talking.
"He looks like he's talking to Al and Sira. I don't get what you meant by 'not really'. You seemed to have found a legit survivor instead of a horrible abomination."
"Like a zombie?"
"Don't start with me about the zombie thing." She snapped. He chuckled triumphantly.
"Mhm." She watched as the three of them started running for the store suddenly.
"What the Hell?" Rayflo came to stand beside her.
"Shit!" He ran over to the door and opened it for the others. Just before Markus entered the building, what sounded like a loud bang rang out and Rayflo was covered in blood. "A shotgun? How original. Hell I was expecting like a Beretta or something like that. But a shotgun?"
"Not so funny when it's being aimed at you." Sira yowled.
"Move, Rayflo." Remus crouched to get out of the smaller glass down. Shada followed after him, wanting to see for herself where the bullets had come from. From her vantage point at the window inside, she'd seen nothing at all.
"You there! Put down the gun, we aren't going to hurt you." Remus called out. Apparently he could see the person now as well. Shada moved to his other side just in time to see a male, a human male at that, reload the gun in his hands.
"I don't care what you will or won't do! You and your bitch there come any closer and I'll blow your brains out like I did that other freak!" He was older, and the sickly sky was reflecting off the bald spot at the crest of his head. He was dressed in tattered, dirty old over alls and missing a shoe. Dried blood was smeared across his chest, matted in the ample amount of chest hair that covered his flesh. More to the point, he was out of his mind, clearly. She knew that she could withstand a bullet, but healing after the wound would be hard on her. She grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes at the man.
Remus, on the other hand, edged toward the frightened man, making sure to cover his movements. He was going to take this man out before he actually hurt one of them, Markus excluded of course. Bullets would merely tickle him, but it could possibly kill the others and he couldn't have that. Before the man could finish reloaded, Remus had grabbed him and snapped his neck, killing him.
She blinked in surprise, not because Remus had killed the man; she, herself had killed many over her lifespan, but because he had done so so effortlessly.
"Heh, remind me not to meet YOU in a back alley." She chuckled and shook her head, heading back inside.
"Get him?"
"Remus got him. Snapped his neck."
"Eh." Shada rolled her eyes and headed over to see what was left to eat in this dump. Probably wasn't much but, hey it would be something to occupy her time while they decided what to do.
Sometime later, after Shada had downed a bottle of beer and some jerky, she heard the glass entrance of the door open. Alistor's voice sounded angry and Sira's, who sounded far away, also sounded that way. Uh-oh, trouble in paradise. Heh. She set the bottle of beer down and stood up, walking around the backside of the counter to see if there was anything interesting to read. Instead she found a rack full of dirty magazines.
"Seriously?" She murmured, throwing one after the other to the other side of the counter.
"Ow, what the Hell?" Nailed him. Score one for the Xurenae. "Shada, what are you doing?"
"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm looking for something to do." She replied, not looking up.
"...Right." She heard his footsteps retreating from her and stood up again, digging around in the cabinets where the cigarette cartons were held.
"Oh, score!" She started pulling cartons of her favorite cigarettes down off the shelf.
"Hey, they got any Marlboro?" Rayflo asked.
"Uh... what kind?"
"Reds?" She rummaged around for a moment.
"Smooth, L&Ms, uh.....lights.... Oh, Reds. Here you go." She pulled it down and handed it to Rayflo. "That'll be $100 dollars, American."
"A hundred? Damn, Shada, remind me not to try to buy anything from you!"
"I'm kidding. What the Hell would I do with money out here?" She winked at him and pulled a lighter from the rack on the counter. "The currency system is sooo fucked now anyway."
"Shada, we have to talk." He said, seriously, ignoring what she said.
"Um.... okay...." She lit a cigarette and watched him closely, her eyes narrowing a bit. She didn't know if she was going to like this little talk.
"Realistically we're going to have to find somewhere else to go. There isn't a lot of food here to last us all that long and without it none of us are going to survive."
"I know that, Rayflo. But what are we going to do about it?"
"Well I was going to go look for somewhere...."
"Nope. This is not the time for you to play Hero, this is real life, serious shit. This time you're going to work with the rest of us, all right?"
"Shada...."
"I'm serious, Rayflo. We're all going to work together, or not at all."
"Whatever. Nice talking to you." She growled at him and grabbed his arm.
"I mean it. We have to stick together. Promise me you aren't going to do this alone." He stared at her for a long time before he offered a brief nod.
"Good." Shada went back to stockpiling cigarettes.
Remus was sick. Well, it seemed like it anyway. His body felt strange, almost as if it were heavier or something.
"Remus..." James, the Devil of the Grave spoke to him, using his mouth as his own. "It seems the radiation here has changed us."
"I noticed. What the Hell did you do?"
"You'll see." The pain began then, and it felt like a piece of him ripped from his body. He growled with the pain, trying not to wake the others who slept inside. Whatever James was doing to him ended shortly, leaving him feeling weaker than before, as if a piece of his very soul was missing, which was kind of the truth. Gasping for air, Remus toppled over, laying on his side in the dust, only to see a form, one bigger than his own stagger to it's feet.
"Ah... much better." James, the Devil of the Grave, had been freed of Remus' body, to stand before him of flesh, bone and blood. "It feels good to finally be out of your body." Remus watched with a jaundiced eye, knowing that this could not be a good thing. James had always said he was going to take over this world and make it his.... well, since he had his own body now, there really was nothing stopping him from doing so, which meant that there was something else their merry little band would have to worry about. Great. Fantastic. Fuck. A stirring inside told him that some of the others were awake now and any moment now, they would emerge from the building and see James. In his own body. Urrah....
"Oh, what is this?" Rayflo was the first one to come outside. James grinned at him, a purely sadistic smile on his face.
"What? Aren't happy to see me?"
"Not if you're outside of Remus I'm not."
"Hehehe...that's a double standard now isn't it?" Sira emerged next, stopping short when she saw James standing there. Her tail flicked in confusion.
"...Did I miss something?"
"Nope, this is pretty much what I came out here to see." Rayflo said. Sira nodded slowly, eying James for a moment.
Shada walked out, rubbing her eyes. She yawned, her jaw cracking. "What's going on out --" Before she could get the rest of her sentence out, Liir was awake again. She grit her teeth against Liir's rush of words that threathened to spill from her mouth.
"Shada. Shada! Shada!! You have to let me out!"
"No." Shada growled back.
"But I haven't done anything stupid to you in so many centuries. Why won't you give me this?"
"Because, with the world in this state, it's not wise for me to let you out. Besides, being that we're the only survivors that we've come across, means that if you fed you would have to feed on our friends." She'd fed from Rayflo before when she had been stuck in Liir's body and she did NOT want any of them to have to go through that.
"...I want my own body, Shada."
"No. If you and I separate, we'll die, remember?"
"Well...."
"What do you mean, well?"
"Exactly what I said!" Shada tuned her out for a moment so that she could make her way away from the group, turning gold eyes upon James for a moment before Shada hurried away.
When they were what Shada deemed a safe distance away, Shada cast a flimsy illusion so that she and Liir could have a conversation.
"Now, what do you mean well?"
"I'm not at liberty to tell you."
"And why is that?"
"Your father forbid me to do so, just as he forbid Mother from telling you about me, and about him and Lilith." Shada bared her fangs at her Soul sister.
"You know, I'm growing tired of being left in the dark about my own life."
"Not my fault." Liir replied. "But I want my own body. James has his..." Shada growled at the whine that could be heard in Liir's voice.
"You mean to tell me that we won't die if we split up?"
"Only one way to find out, huh?" Shada rubbed her face with a paw and sighed.
"Right. All right, Liir. You want your own body so badly, I'll give it to you. And when you figure out that this world isn't your playground, don't expect me to allow you to come back." Liir gave her a look that said 'Seriously? You think I'm going back in there?!' "Fine. Let me get my book." Shada Traced away, coming back a second later with a old looking, thick leather bound book. It was black, and in gold on the front cover, was her name, her human name, in Demonish.
"Page forty-seven." Liir said.
"Do I even want to know how you know what page the spell is on?"
"Mm... I may have looked it up once when you were dormant..." She shrugged ethereal shoulders and grinned. "I figured that it couldn't hurt." Shada gave her a scathing look.
"I'll just bet." She opened the book, flipping to the correct page number. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Of course I do." Shada opened her free hand, absorbing Liir again.
"...All right, if you're sure." She began to read the incantion, feeling sick to her stomach for some reason. She frowned slightly, but kept reading, letting whatever happened, happen. On the ground in front of her, violet energy of her magick swirled together, growing into a shape similar to Shada's more human looking form. Flesh and bone meshed together before her eyes, as the entire body became whole and tangible, instead of transparent.
Shada felt nauseous watching this to completion. Finally, she felt the rise of bile in her throat, though it was Liir's soul struggling to get out. Drawing deep within herself, she shoved Liir, quite viciously, from her body, severing the knot that held their souls together. Shada gasped as she felt her mind close off completely for a split second, before opening again with a stunning clarity she had not felt in some time. When the dust cleared and she was able to see, Shada saw the completed form of Angheliiratiaa standing before her, studying her body parts to make sure they all worked.
"I'm.... free." She said quietly. "I'm... finally..... free. I have my own body once more." A huge, creepy looking smile slid across the Succubus' lips.
"Oh, this is bad... Liir, I don't like that look in your eye.... You had better not do anything to make me regret this..."
"Tsk, Shada. You know me better than that."
"No, you're the type to do the opposite of what I ask of you." Shada sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I'm already regretting this..." Liir giggled maliciously and turned away, stretching her wings out.
"Well, I'm off to make trouble... I mean, make friends. Later." Liir sped off, leaving Shada to stare after her, already irritated.
Trees were bare, their leaves stripped; their bark was stripped and sickly looking in places and the ground below was cracked and broken, and no grass grew at all, which was also unusual for this place.
"What happened here?" She asked aloud, not that anyone could answer her. Something big had happened here, and she had to know if everyone was okay.
She started to Trace, but stopped when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. As soon as she turned to look at it, she'd wished she hadn't. There, not thirty feet from her was what looked like to be a bear, but something was wrong. It's flesh was torn and bleeding, missing in patches. But what stopped her, was the head of it. Not only was it gruesome in appearance, it looked like it was dead. "Oh... no. Oh, no. Fuck, dammnit!" She took off at a dead sprint, hearing the creature lumbering after her. Whatever had happened in her absense was bad enough to kill everything on this plane, and corrupt the creatures that lived there. She hoped that her friends were alive, but after seeing the creature, she wasn't so sure that they were.
The creature roared from behind her, and she made a desperate move. In mid-run, she Traced without a destination, which was dangerous. One could be lost between, which was worse than death itself. Luckily, a fleeting thought saved her, and she ended up many miles away from the creature, but not anywhere close to Amoro manor. But she didn't want to waste anymore energy, since there wasn't any available food source around that she knew of. So she started walking. She'd made it in town, the far end of town at that, but in town nonetheless. But it was a long walk to the manor.
An hour passed and she hadn't even made it to downtown yet. Mostly because she was too busy looking at the damage around her. Buildings were blown away, pieces laying around in random piles. Items from within shops lay broken or incinerated on the ground. She frowned, lifting a broken table leg from the ground.
"I have to find out what happened here..." She said to herself. Throwing the wood away from her, she continued on her way, sadness overtaking her. She hoped to find them alive and well... but she didn't know. She never realized how much they'd meant to her, until now. It was sad to think that way, but... how else was she supposed to feel? They could all be dead and she'd left with no word, other than to Rayflo. She bit her lip as she walked, thinking back to what had transpired between them. If she had been him in that situation, she would have been livid, and there would be no way that she would have forgive her for what she'd said and done. But, she wasn't him, and she had no idea if he would be happy to see her.
She spent the night inside the shell of one of the shops, out of sight of the outside world, at least what was left of it. If there were any survivors, she didn't want to find out if they were healthy or not. The world had become Hell's wasteland....well, minus the unbearable heat and fire everywhere. But whatever, the point was the entire plane had become a hole. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, rolling over so that her back was to what was left of the wall. She had a long way to go tomorrow, and she wanted to be up when the sun rose in the sky.
By the time noon hit, Shada had walked through town, and was heading back toward where she remembered Rayflo's manor to be. It had been a while, but she was pretty confident that she was going the right way, even though the landscape had changed because of whatever disaster.
She was beginning to feel sick to her stomach, and her head was throbbing in time with her heartbeat. She vomited a couple of times as she went, and wondered if it wasn't the first sign of heat poisoning. She groaned piteously and sank into the dirt, clutching her stomach. This place was harsher now.... and she wasn't so sure she would be able to survive here. It had been a mistake to come back here, she could see that now. She started to Trace, feeling the familiar tingling feeling in her hands and feet but then nausea would over take her, forcing her to stop. Something was wrong with her, and she didn't know what it was. She was far too preoccupied by the fact that her friends could be dead to care about her own well-being. There would be time for that later, whenever she found all of them...or what was left of them.
Okay, so she didn't make it to Amoro Manor until the next night because she'd taken a wrong turn. The landscape was a lot different than what she remembered and she'd gotten turned around. But as the sickly sky turned dark, Shada found herself standing in front of the remains of the once great Amoro Manor.
A frown creased her lips and tears immediately sprang to her eyes. She'd never gotten to tell.... She turned away from the ruins, until she heard a stirring coming from the rubble. For some reason she couldn't seem to smell what it was, and that bothered her. She was weak from vomiting the blood she'd had before she'd come back to this plane, and the stink in the air was getting to her. So, instead of relying on her senses, she turned fully back to the rubble then, her sharp claws extended. Her fangs pressed against her lower lip as she waited to see what would happen.
"State your busi....Shada?!" The voice.... ALISTOR!
"Oh, Gods, you're alive!" Tail wagging, she rushed over to him, sweeping the shorter man into a bear hug. "What the Hell happened here? I leave for a few years and all Hell breaks loose!" She heard him weezing and let go quickly, stepping back to give him some air.
"The humans dropped an A-bomb to try to wipe us all out." He answered, clearly confused to see her, which did not make her feel good. "Where did you go?" She frowned, lowering her ears.
"Home. I had to get away..... Where is everyone? Did they survive?" Now it was Alistor's turn to look away.
"I don't know, everyone left after Master did. I stayed here at the Manor, thank god Master was crazy enough to put in a panic room down in the cellar." They were both silent for a moment.
"I'm so happy you're alive, Alistor, after seeing what the rest of this Plane looked like, I thought I'd lost all of you." She frowned and laid a paw on his shoulder, seeing that the usually pale Nos male was even more pale. "Are you all right?"
"....Not exactly I..." Before he could finish, Shada heard a sound from behind her. Before she saw what was coming, she smelled a faint feline scent.
"No... it couldn't be...." She murmured.
"Sira?" Alistor called, stepping up beside Shada. A yowl and then the sound of light feet on dirt. There was a silver blur against the darkness, before Alistor ended up on his back on the ground. Shada grit her teeth, feeling the familiar jealous rise to choke her before turning away from the two. Besides that fact, the sound of lips smacking was making her nauseous. Not really, she was just jealous.
"I'll leave you two alone." She said, not that they could hear her. With a inward shake of her head, Shada walked away. She should have waited until daylight, but eh, what was the point? There didn't seem to be any danger around, not that she would be able to smell it before it attacked her. She raked a paw through her tangled mass of red hair and kept walking, hoping to happen upon some of her other friends, now that she had hope that they were still alive. A slight smile bloomed on her lips. Everyone had to be alive... Alistor and Sira were still alive. She was still alive, and she knew that nothing as petty as an atomic bomb would kill Gamma. It may have injured him some, but she knew, the dragon was, at least, alive.
She walked through the night, knowing that she wouldn't stop until she found one of the others. It had become her mission and she didn't care how long it took. She would either find them alive, or find where they had died. Either way, until she found the rest of them, she wasn't going to rest. She was Immortal, sleep wasn't a necessity, it was a luxury and she would gladly give up anything to have them all be alive and well. Anything.
Noon. The sun was high in the air and she had trekked a long way from the Manor. The heat was making her irritable. So that, coupled with the emptiness of her stomach and the dry, fuzzy feeling of her tongue was not helping her. What she wouldn't have given to have something to drink and some shade! But no, in this barren wasteland there was little shade and nothing to drink. Even if there was, she doubted she would have drunk any. Who knew what contaminants could have infested the water?
She stopped walking, going to her knees in the dirt. She ripped the skirt of the dress she'd been wearing off at the top of her knees and wiped her brow. "This is NOT the time to have fur....oi..." She growled to herself. She couldn't change forms either, unless she wanted to be naked, and this was not the time to get sunburn either. So she was frozen in this form for a while. Then again, she doubted she could use her magick anyway. Tracing wasn't working at the moment, and there was no telling what else was wrong with her.
A few minutes later, she was up and walking again, delirious with the heat since she was covered in thick fur. Most people said that white reflected heat. Shada would indignantly beg to differ in this instance. She tripped over a rock and fell to the ground with a yelp but before she could get back up, there was a blade pressed to her throat. Immediately her fangs were out and her eyes were black.
"Don't even think about it." She rasped, her voice rough. "If you behead me, you won't live to regret it."
"Don't tempt me, creature." Came the reply in a female voice. Shada's blackened eyes met the other female's and a growl boiled from her throat. In a second, Shada had punched the girl in the stomach, which blew her away from the angry Xurenae. The knife dropped to the ground between them. Standing, Shada lifted her chin, peering down at the girl.
"Now. I'm far too busy to deal with the likes of you. Tell me why you saw fit to attack me while I was down and maybe I'll spare you." The girl snarled at her but answered.
"You shouldn't be out here."
"Good point. But neither should you."
"I'm looking for survivors, I thought you might be a turned wild animal."
"Good excuse, but not good enough, I know I may look like a wolf, but I am in no way an abomination like that." Okay so that wasn't true. She was an abomination, but she'd stopped thinking like that a long time ago. Now, she was content with herself. Just not with with girl before her.
"Fair enough. What are you doing out here?"
"Same as you are. Looking for survivors." Shada answered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you always attack when you see something different than your used to?" The girl offered a snort in response. "Interesting." Shada said, turning to face the girl squarely. "A bit of advice for you, don't ever sneak up on something bigger and stronger than you. You might just earn yourself an early grave. Be grateful I'm not in the mood to fight today." Shada watched a massive shadow cross the ground and immediately looked up, catching a bright red flash against the sickly sky. ".....No... it couldn't be...." She said to herself. "It couldn't be that easy, could it?" She took a step in the direction, her Immortal speed overtaking her. "GAMMA!" She shouted, racing after the shadow. There was no way.... But yes, it was the massive scarlet dragon. She skidded to a stop as he touched down, a cloud of dust showering her from both her movements and his hitting the ground. "Oh thank the Goddess, it IS you!" As she drew closer, the eight foot Golithan jumped down off of the dragons back. "And Remus, too! Lucifer's Horns, you guys are alive!" She practically tackled the huge Wolf, a feat since he was so big.
"Urrah... Shada, you've come back." His massive arms curled around her so she wouldn't fall. She hugged him tightly, as if she expected the both of them to have been a mirage created from her broken mind.
"Where have you two been? I leave for a few years, and this world has been destroyed, I thought you were dead!" Gamma turned his gigantic neck to peer at the smaller creatures and exhaled, ruffling their fur.
"We had some pressing matters to attend to. It is good to see you, Shada." Shada grinned at him, releasing her hold on Remus somewhat.
"I'm so glad to see you two, you have no idea." She returned, dipping her head respectfully.
"Have you been to the Manor? Were there anymore survivors?" Remus asked her, his violet eyes watching her closely. She nodded, biting the inside of her cheek.
"Aye, Sira and Alistor are alive as well. I haven't seen Rayflo though, I don't know if he's alive or not." A small sound came from behind her and without looking, she knew the girl had followed her. "Oh... this is...uh, what IS your name?"
"Heru." The girl supplied.
"Right, right. Well, anyway, she kinda found me when I was out looking for everyone." Shada said. Her green eyes were turning a bright scarlet, her pupils dialated. The strain was bothering her now, but she had better things to worry about than feeding.
"You're a bit light, Shada." She gave her friend a scathing look. "I'm not being rude, I'm serious. When was the last time you've fed?"
"Oh that.... well, I fed far before I came back here, but since time flows a bit differently there, I would say... a week? A month? I don't know. When I came back here, I think some of the radiation here got to me. I lost nearly all of it." Remus' eyes gleamed and she waited for him to scold her. Reckless? Indeed.
"Well, I can spare some, and I know you need it." She stared at him. She'd never fed from him before; he was a friend, it just wasn't okay to feed off your friends. "I'm not suggesting it, Shada." She blinked.
"U-uh.... okay...."
"I don't like to be bitten, so be gentle, okay?"
"S-sure." Her mind was telling her not to do it, but Liir insisted she do so.
"You may never get the chance to feed again, Shada and we need the nourishment. Just do as he says. Hell, I would hate to anger him." The Xurenae cracked a grin but nodded to Remus. Leaning forward, she licked the side of his neck lightly, preparing the spot for her fangs, which lengthened eagerly for the taste of his blood.
She bit down as gently as she could, her claws pressing into his flesh lightly. The instant her fangs entered his flesh, and she got the first taste it felt like electricity had shocked her. Everything sharpened, her body became alert and the aches and pains she'd felt melted away like butter.
She pulled away a moment later, and licked his flesh to seal her bite, shivering.
"Better?" She nodded dumbly, her eyes glazed over.
"Oh... much. Thank you, Remus...." She licked her lips as he set her down on her own two feet.
"Right. Now, I think we should go back to the Manor, or what's left of it. If we all stay together, we stand a better chance of surviving. You're welcome to come too, Heru." Remus said. Again, Shada nodded dumbly, caught up in blood lust. It was going to take a few minutes until she came down off her euphoric feeling. She'd never had Goliathan blood before, and she had to admit... it was good.....
"Hey! We're going to leave without you!" Heru's voice startled her and she jerked her head, seeing the other two walking away.
"Shit." She took off running, catching up to them. "Hopefully we all survived." She said, shaking her head. "And you, what happened after I left? I know you knew I left, Remus." She gave him a pointed look.
"....Nothing, really. Rayflo holed himself in his room until it was time for him to go. Gamma and I got news that needed to be taken care of reguarding the orb, so we left. After that, your guess is as good as mine." Shada frowned but didn't ask anymore questions. "And you? Why did you leave?"
"Had to. It was time to go home. My kingdom has been falling apart when I came here, and I wanted to get everything back in order." Wasn't a lie. But it wasn't the truth either. And she was going to stick with that story until she died.
"Hurrr. Well, your reasoning is your own, I suppose." Damn.
"There's nothing that gets past you, is there?" She smirked up at him. He grinned back at her.
"Nope." He patted her head and chuckled. The group walked in silence for a while, until the place where the Manor once stood came into view.
"There." Shada said, pointing. "That's all that's left." They would be upon the rubble soon, and Remus could see for himself that Sira and Alistor were alive and....well? She didn't know about well. She knew Alistor looked bad, and Sira she hadn't had a chance to look at closely. Soo... that one was up in the air at the moment.
When they arrived, the sounds of their arrival had Alistor and Sira scurrying from what was left of the basement, both with the look as if they had been caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing. Sira looked rumpled and Alistor? Well, his fangs were out, and had he been anything other than a Nos, Shada would have sworn he was feral.
"Oh hey Shada, you found some other survivors." Alistor said.
"I did." Shada replied, nodding slightly. She was studying Sira, seeing how worse for wear she was. She appeared to be tired, but that was all that Shada could tell. From experience she knew that the werecat was very good at hiding what she felt. Which was just so to Shada. She didn't care much for the girl in the first place. "Have you seen your father around here?" She asked. Alistor shook his head.
"No. I haven't. I told you that."
"I've also been gone for a bit, so I thought he might have shown up. Or were you held up." Barely hidden malice shown in dark green eyes. Alistor bristled slightly, but a loud thud coming from the other side of what was left of the house, followed by a curse had all of them running.
"Master, you're alive!" A wrench came flying in the younger man's direction, which he almost didn't dodge.
"Dammit, Alistor, didn't I tell you not to sneak up on me like that?!" Shada could barely hide the amused laugh that boiled from her throat. Same old, same old.
"I thought you'd died, you bastard and that's all you can say?"
"Oh, because I would let some A-bomb kill me." Rayflo stood up, wiping sweat from his forehead and actually turning to look at his son, blinking in surprise as he noticed the rest of them standing there. "....Uh, okay we all survived. Good." Shada glowered at him for a moment before rolling her eyes.
"Good to see you too, you old bastard." She snapped, turning away and crossing her arms over her chest with a smirk.
"....Well that was uncalled for. What did I do?"
"Nevermind that, what are you doing?" Alistor asked.
"Fixing up the Oldie. I was going to use it to look for survivors, but since you all seemed to find me, I guess we can use it for something else."
"That piece of shit? I thought it didn't run anymore."
"Very observant. Why the hell do you think I'm trying to fix it?"
"Okay, enough you two. We find out we all survived and all you two want to do is bitch? Now is not the time for that. We need to find out what we're going to do." Shada said, walking over to stand between the two men.
"Commando Shada, never thought I'd see that side of you again." She turned her head to fix him with a cold stare. Rayflo cleared his throat. "Yea, well, he started it."
"Enough."
"Gamma and I saw a gas station not far from here." Remus said.
"That's good. Because we can't stay here, we'll be sitting ducks for whatever else survived this mess." If ever there was a time that Shada was grateful for her body, it would be now. All of the blood drained from her face.
"You mean there could be....zombies?" She said quietly. "Like, real ones?"
"Maybe."
"Oh, we gotta go." She stepped aside, pacing the dirt anxiously.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of zombies, Shada." Alistor said. She growled at him and kept pacing.
"You should have seen her back in the day. She used to kill everything in her path. My, how the mighty have fallen." Rayflo snickered.
"Rayflo, darling. Would you like to keep your entrail in tact?" She glowered at him.
"Why, yes I would."
"Then stop it about the zombies. And it's your fault Alistor for watching all those zombie movies." She huffed and walked away. Their laughter followed her, ringing in her ears.
"Okay, so I think I got it." It had been three hours since Rayflo had gotten back to work on the RV and now, as he slammed the hood down and wiped his hands, everyone seemed to have relaxed some.
"Great, so let's get out of here."
"Not so fast, Alistor. Go get the keys. And I'm taking the lambo."
"What? No, I'm not driving the RV!"
"You're right, you aren't. Shada's driving the RV."
"Wait... what?" Shada chimed in. "How did I get roped into this?"
"Look at it this way, Alistor is in no shape to drive it, and I know Remus is too big to fit in the driver's seat. Uh, Heru, right? Yea, Heru looks too young and Sira..."
"Can't drive." The were cat finished.
"So that leaves you." Shada sighed and held her paw out for the keys.
"Fine. But I'm not going to like this, I want you to know this." He patted her shoulder.
"Duely noted. Now, Alistor, Heru. You're riding with Shada. Sira, you're with me."
"Why does Sira have to ride with you?" Alistor demanded.
"Because I want to talk to her about something. Don't worry about it. Do as I say." Alistor looked like he was going to argue but changed his mind. Probably a good idea.
"I am going to ride Gamma since he's far too big to ride in the RV." Remus said, walking over to the dragon. Damn. Shada was going to have to ride with someone she didn't know and a weak, whiny Alistor. Could this day get any worse?
When Alistor handed her the keys, Shada headed for the RV and opened the driver's door before sliding inside and slamming the door after her. After a bit of coaxing, she managed to get the window down so she would have some air. It was going to be an interesting ride, indeed. She just hoped she would be able to keep her composure.
"Be careful with my baby, Shada. I don't even want a scratch on her!" Rayflo called with a grin before getting into the car. Shada lifted her lip and gave him the finger before turning the key in the ignition, pressing her foot to the brake pedal. She sat there for a second, wondering what was missing. A frown creased her brow.
"Oh! I know!" She pressed a paw into her cleavage and pulled out a dented pack of cigarettes, and a lighter after that. Lighting one, she settled into the seat and turned to look at the other two. "All right, seat belts children.... Hahaha... Who am I kidding?" She grinned and shook her head. "Oh, and Heru, if he gets too annoying, punch his lights out, okay?"
"O-okay..."
"Hey!"
"Don't hey me, Alistor." Shada barked. "Just sit down and shut it." She watched Rayflo drive off before she poked her head out of her window, looking back at Remus and Gamma. Giving them a slight wave, she put the RV in gear and pealed out of the driveway, following the red car. A loud roar told her that Gamma was airborne and so the entire group was off.
Ten minutes later, the fireworks began. Alistor had come up to sit with her in the passenger's seat.
"So, you want to tell me why you told her to hit me?"
"Nope." Shada answered, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Why do you always snap at me, Shada? What did I ever do to you?" Oh... a loaded question. Great. She took a deep breath, even as her eyes began to darken and her fangs began to itch in her mouth.
"You want to know, Alistor? Do you really want to know?"
"I asked, didn't I?"
"Do you realize what you've just asked me?"
"...No..."
"You want to know what you did to me? All right, I'll tell you. How about you ignore me everytime Sira's around? How about..." She didn't want to say it but he'd asked. "I had feelings for you once, and yet..." She stopped. She was growing angry now.
"And what?"
"Nothing, Alistor, just go away." He sighed heavily but didn't move. "No, I want an answer.'
"No. Trust me, you don't." She glanced at him for a split second.
"Dammit, answer me, Shada! I want to know why you've acted like I don't exist since you came here in the first place!" Shada's ears flickered, hearing Heru make some sort of noise from the back of the RV.
"Why should I give a damn about you when you clearly don't give a damn about me? Goddess, Alistor, I had a crush on you, and you acted like you didn't care. I don't know how blatant I could be!" She growled at him. He was silent for a long time, which fueled her fire. "You want to know why I distanced myself from you? Do you want to know why I stopped caring about you? Sira came home and you were so far up her ass that I didn't know where she stopped and you began!" She was fired up now. "I was so angry with you, you don't understand how angry I was when we came home that night. I heard you two, Rayflo heard you two. We aren't stupid." Her grip tightened on the wheel. "So again, I ask you. Why should I give a damn about you when you clearly don't give a damn about me?" He took a deep breath and began.
"I don't ignore you whenever Sira's around. She's my girlfriend and I spend time with her. As for you're having had feelings for me, as in past tense, if you would have told me things would have been different."
"No, they wouldn't have. We would still be in this same situation."
"But you don't know that. Now, it seems to me that you're jealous. Does Master know how you feel? Or was it because you couldn't have me that you started dating him?" His tone of voice was pissing her off. A thud on the roof of the RV startled her, but she corrected the RV on the road as Remus slid in through the sliding window on the side. "You realize that that makes you a pathetic bitch, don't you?" Just as he said this, Remus spoke.
"Shada, I know you've got a cigarette. Could I have one?"
"Sure, hun. Here." She glanced down and pulled four from the pack and handed them back to him. She glowered at Alistor. "Really, name calling? And if I remember correctly, and I do, you and Rayflo bet that he couldn't ask me out and get a yes."
"So what, you accepted so I would get jealous? That's low, even for you." Her knuckles whitened on the steering wheel and she stomped on the gas pedal, getting up close to Rayflo's bumper. If Alistor didn't stop, she was going to lose it.
"I did not. I did it to prove a point. Not my fault that Rayflo and I became close. Not that you care." She snarled back.
"Seriously, this entire conversation is sad. You hate me because I wanted to be with Sira and not you, that's pretty much what this boils down to, isn't it?"
"No." Yes. "I don't give a damn about that." Yes you do.
"Shada, calm down." Remus said. He sounded like he was uncomfortable, and when she glanced back at him, she could see it written on his face. Okay... she was going to try at least.
"See, I think that's exactly the problem. You're jealous of Sira. Just admit it to yourself."
"Please, now you're just being a child."
"That's because you know I'm right, don't you, bitch? The mutt can't handle the truth, can she? Hey Remus, better stay away from this one, she'll use you too, just like she's used Master." Okay, that was the last straw. She took her eyes off the road and punched Alistor straight in the face. With a growl, she Traced, not giving a damn about the RV or it's occupants for the moment. She sat down on the curb and dug her claws in, crushing the cement in her paws.
Rayflo had been talking to Sira about Alistor and how she was going to have to get him to feed from her if she wanted him to survive. He'd glanced back when he'd noticed the RV coming up on his ass fairly quickly. Alistor was in the front seat next to Shada, and they both looked like they were shouting. The next time he looked up, Shada was gone from the front seat and the RV was seconds away from.... A loud crashing sound signaled that the RV had indeed smashed into the telephone pole it had been heading toward.
"Oh, what the FUCK?!" He slammed on the brakes and stuck the lambo in park before rushing over to the now totaled RV. "Is everyone okay?" The engine was smoking and Alistor was hanging partially outside of the vehicle, bleeding from his head. A huge shiner was beginning to form around his left eye. "Dammit, Al, what did you say to her?" Between his strength and Sira's, they dragged Alistor and Heru from the wreckage. Remus, on the other hand, was fine on the outside. The RV had crumpled around him. But on the inside he had been shaken.
"First she was there, and then Poof, she was gone. Hahahaha...." His eyes were glowing, so he was clearly not right at the moment.
"Where did she go? Shada!" Rayflo called. Walking around the side of the RV, he saw her about three yards away, sitting on the side of the road in the dirt. "Sira, take care of Alistor and Heru." He said, heading in Shada's direction. She'd wrecked his RV. He was going to find out why.
Satisfaction colored her right eye a deep silver, while the other was still black as pitch. He'd gotten under her skin. And she'd been reckless. Chalk one up to Alistor. She could sense Rayflo coming toward her and he was pissed, that was clear to her. She sighed and pressed her palms into her eyes, awaiting for the shouting match that was sure to erupt.
"Whatever he said to you really set you off, didn't it?"
".....Hn."
"What did he say?"
"Nothing."
"I know better. What did he say?"
"Don't worry about it, Rayflo. It's over with. Next time, he won't be so lucky." Rayflo pinched the bridge of his nose for patience.
"Look, it doesn't matter what he said to you. You wrecked my RV and we aren't all going to fit in the car."
"Gamma's saddle will hold the stragglers. But I suggest you keep Alistor with you." Remus came up beside Rayflo before kneeling beside Shada, who leaned on him slightly. He was not okay yet, the experience had shaken him, but she was clearly upset by what little he did hear Alistor had said to her. "We don't want anymore crashes." Shada looked up at her tall friend and frowned.
"I'm really sorry. I lost control. I didn't mean to hurt any of you guys." Not true. She wanted to hurt Alistor, but that she just wasn't going to say.
"You're fine. We all make mistakes." Remus hugged her, which she returned, not feeling any better about the situation than before. "We need to get out of here before night falls. Who knows what's out here." He made a great point. Rayflo, Shada and Remus made their way over to where the others waited. Shada noted, with a small smirk, that Alistor looked disoriented.
"Change of plans. Sira, Alistor is going to ride with us now. Everyone else is going to ride on Gamma's back." The only argument was between Alistor and the elder Nos Vampire about the way the seats were arranged in the car. After that, they were moving again.
Shada yawned so hard her jaw cracked and she turned bleary eyes on Remus. "Hey... do you mind if I rest against you? I'm so tired." She asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Not at all." He shifted slightly so that she could do just that. She smiled at him and slid over in the huge saddle.
"Thanks." She rested her head against his ribs and closed her eyes, her tail relaxing against the bottom of the saddle. She was soon sound asleep, snoring lightly. The Goliathan chuckled and shook his head, but he too soon nodded off, using Shada's body to prop his own up.
The next thing she knew, she had awakened on the hard linoleum floor of the gas station. With a slight groan, she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Where am I?" She asked, blinking.
"We made it to the gas station." Rayflo said, not looking up from whatever it was he was looking at. Shada nodded and stood up, brushing herself off.
"That's good. We didn't find any survivors, did we?"
"Not exactly."
"What's that mean?"
"Well....we found this guy named Markus...."
"And?"
"See for yourself." Rayflo gestered outside, where Shada noticed that a strange guy she'd never seen before was standing with Sira and Alistor, talking.
"He looks like he's talking to Al and Sira. I don't get what you meant by 'not really'. You seemed to have found a legit survivor instead of a horrible abomination."
"Like a zombie?"
"Don't start with me about the zombie thing." She snapped. He chuckled triumphantly.
"Mhm." She watched as the three of them started running for the store suddenly.
"What the Hell?" Rayflo came to stand beside her.
"Shit!" He ran over to the door and opened it for the others. Just before Markus entered the building, what sounded like a loud bang rang out and Rayflo was covered in blood. "A shotgun? How original. Hell I was expecting like a Beretta or something like that. But a shotgun?"
"Not so funny when it's being aimed at you." Sira yowled.
"Move, Rayflo." Remus crouched to get out of the smaller glass down. Shada followed after him, wanting to see for herself where the bullets had come from. From her vantage point at the window inside, she'd seen nothing at all.
"You there! Put down the gun, we aren't going to hurt you." Remus called out. Apparently he could see the person now as well. Shada moved to his other side just in time to see a male, a human male at that, reload the gun in his hands.
"I don't care what you will or won't do! You and your bitch there come any closer and I'll blow your brains out like I did that other freak!" He was older, and the sickly sky was reflecting off the bald spot at the crest of his head. He was dressed in tattered, dirty old over alls and missing a shoe. Dried blood was smeared across his chest, matted in the ample amount of chest hair that covered his flesh. More to the point, he was out of his mind, clearly. She knew that she could withstand a bullet, but healing after the wound would be hard on her. She grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes at the man.
Remus, on the other hand, edged toward the frightened man, making sure to cover his movements. He was going to take this man out before he actually hurt one of them, Markus excluded of course. Bullets would merely tickle him, but it could possibly kill the others and he couldn't have that. Before the man could finish reloaded, Remus had grabbed him and snapped his neck, killing him.
She blinked in surprise, not because Remus had killed the man; she, herself had killed many over her lifespan, but because he had done so so effortlessly.
"Heh, remind me not to meet YOU in a back alley." She chuckled and shook her head, heading back inside.
"Get him?"
"Remus got him. Snapped his neck."
"Eh." Shada rolled her eyes and headed over to see what was left to eat in this dump. Probably wasn't much but, hey it would be something to occupy her time while they decided what to do.
Sometime later, after Shada had downed a bottle of beer and some jerky, she heard the glass entrance of the door open. Alistor's voice sounded angry and Sira's, who sounded far away, also sounded that way. Uh-oh, trouble in paradise. Heh. She set the bottle of beer down and stood up, walking around the backside of the counter to see if there was anything interesting to read. Instead she found a rack full of dirty magazines.
"Seriously?" She murmured, throwing one after the other to the other side of the counter.
"Ow, what the Hell?" Nailed him. Score one for the Xurenae. "Shada, what are you doing?"
"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm looking for something to do." She replied, not looking up.
"...Right." She heard his footsteps retreating from her and stood up again, digging around in the cabinets where the cigarette cartons were held.
"Oh, score!" She started pulling cartons of her favorite cigarettes down off the shelf.
"Hey, they got any Marlboro?" Rayflo asked.
"Uh... what kind?"
"Reds?" She rummaged around for a moment.
"Smooth, L&Ms, uh.....lights.... Oh, Reds. Here you go." She pulled it down and handed it to Rayflo. "That'll be $100 dollars, American."
"A hundred? Damn, Shada, remind me not to try to buy anything from you!"
"I'm kidding. What the Hell would I do with money out here?" She winked at him and pulled a lighter from the rack on the counter. "The currency system is sooo fucked now anyway."
"Shada, we have to talk." He said, seriously, ignoring what she said.
"Um.... okay...." She lit a cigarette and watched him closely, her eyes narrowing a bit. She didn't know if she was going to like this little talk.
"Realistically we're going to have to find somewhere else to go. There isn't a lot of food here to last us all that long and without it none of us are going to survive."
"I know that, Rayflo. But what are we going to do about it?"
"Well I was going to go look for somewhere...."
"Nope. This is not the time for you to play Hero, this is real life, serious shit. This time you're going to work with the rest of us, all right?"
"Shada...."
"I'm serious, Rayflo. We're all going to work together, or not at all."
"Whatever. Nice talking to you." She growled at him and grabbed his arm.
"I mean it. We have to stick together. Promise me you aren't going to do this alone." He stared at her for a long time before he offered a brief nod.
"Good." Shada went back to stockpiling cigarettes.
Remus was sick. Well, it seemed like it anyway. His body felt strange, almost as if it were heavier or something.
"Remus..." James, the Devil of the Grave spoke to him, using his mouth as his own. "It seems the radiation here has changed us."
"I noticed. What the Hell did you do?"
"You'll see." The pain began then, and it felt like a piece of him ripped from his body. He growled with the pain, trying not to wake the others who slept inside. Whatever James was doing to him ended shortly, leaving him feeling weaker than before, as if a piece of his very soul was missing, which was kind of the truth. Gasping for air, Remus toppled over, laying on his side in the dust, only to see a form, one bigger than his own stagger to it's feet.
"Ah... much better." James, the Devil of the Grave, had been freed of Remus' body, to stand before him of flesh, bone and blood. "It feels good to finally be out of your body." Remus watched with a jaundiced eye, knowing that this could not be a good thing. James had always said he was going to take over this world and make it his.... well, since he had his own body now, there really was nothing stopping him from doing so, which meant that there was something else their merry little band would have to worry about. Great. Fantastic. Fuck. A stirring inside told him that some of the others were awake now and any moment now, they would emerge from the building and see James. In his own body. Urrah....
"Oh, what is this?" Rayflo was the first one to come outside. James grinned at him, a purely sadistic smile on his face.
"What? Aren't happy to see me?"
"Not if you're outside of Remus I'm not."
"Hehehe...that's a double standard now isn't it?" Sira emerged next, stopping short when she saw James standing there. Her tail flicked in confusion.
"...Did I miss something?"
"Nope, this is pretty much what I came out here to see." Rayflo said. Sira nodded slowly, eying James for a moment.
Shada walked out, rubbing her eyes. She yawned, her jaw cracking. "What's going on out --" Before she could get the rest of her sentence out, Liir was awake again. She grit her teeth against Liir's rush of words that threathened to spill from her mouth.
"Shada. Shada! Shada!! You have to let me out!"
"No." Shada growled back.
"But I haven't done anything stupid to you in so many centuries. Why won't you give me this?"
"Because, with the world in this state, it's not wise for me to let you out. Besides, being that we're the only survivors that we've come across, means that if you fed you would have to feed on our friends." She'd fed from Rayflo before when she had been stuck in Liir's body and she did NOT want any of them to have to go through that.
"...I want my own body, Shada."
"No. If you and I separate, we'll die, remember?"
"Well...."
"What do you mean, well?"
"Exactly what I said!" Shada tuned her out for a moment so that she could make her way away from the group, turning gold eyes upon James for a moment before Shada hurried away.
When they were what Shada deemed a safe distance away, Shada cast a flimsy illusion so that she and Liir could have a conversation.
"Now, what do you mean well?"
"I'm not at liberty to tell you."
"And why is that?"
"Your father forbid me to do so, just as he forbid Mother from telling you about me, and about him and Lilith." Shada bared her fangs at her Soul sister.
"You know, I'm growing tired of being left in the dark about my own life."
"Not my fault." Liir replied. "But I want my own body. James has his..." Shada growled at the whine that could be heard in Liir's voice.
"You mean to tell me that we won't die if we split up?"
"Only one way to find out, huh?" Shada rubbed her face with a paw and sighed.
"Right. All right, Liir. You want your own body so badly, I'll give it to you. And when you figure out that this world isn't your playground, don't expect me to allow you to come back." Liir gave her a look that said 'Seriously? You think I'm going back in there?!' "Fine. Let me get my book." Shada Traced away, coming back a second later with a old looking, thick leather bound book. It was black, and in gold on the front cover, was her name, her human name, in Demonish.
"Page forty-seven." Liir said.
"Do I even want to know how you know what page the spell is on?"
"Mm... I may have looked it up once when you were dormant..." She shrugged ethereal shoulders and grinned. "I figured that it couldn't hurt." Shada gave her a scathing look.
"I'll just bet." She opened the book, flipping to the correct page number. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Of course I do." Shada opened her free hand, absorbing Liir again.
"...All right, if you're sure." She began to read the incantion, feeling sick to her stomach for some reason. She frowned slightly, but kept reading, letting whatever happened, happen. On the ground in front of her, violet energy of her magick swirled together, growing into a shape similar to Shada's more human looking form. Flesh and bone meshed together before her eyes, as the entire body became whole and tangible, instead of transparent.
Shada felt nauseous watching this to completion. Finally, she felt the rise of bile in her throat, though it was Liir's soul struggling to get out. Drawing deep within herself, she shoved Liir, quite viciously, from her body, severing the knot that held their souls together. Shada gasped as she felt her mind close off completely for a split second, before opening again with a stunning clarity she had not felt in some time. When the dust cleared and she was able to see, Shada saw the completed form of Angheliiratiaa standing before her, studying her body parts to make sure they all worked.
"I'm.... free." She said quietly. "I'm... finally..... free. I have my own body once more." A huge, creepy looking smile slid across the Succubus' lips.
"Oh, this is bad... Liir, I don't like that look in your eye.... You had better not do anything to make me regret this..."
"Tsk, Shada. You know me better than that."
"No, you're the type to do the opposite of what I ask of you." Shada sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I'm already regretting this..." Liir giggled maliciously and turned away, stretching her wings out.
"Well, I'm off to make trouble... I mean, make friends. Later." Liir sped off, leaving Shada to stare after her, already irritated.
