Disclaimer: This is for my personal records purposes only. It may or may not be continued depending on my mood and the state of my laziness. Hehe!
This story is a narration of the game I had with friends in the World of Exalted (v1). Teomenava One Voice Shatter's name is borrowed from a Yu Yu Hakusho fanfic (not sure of the title, sorry) circa 1994. All the other characters are mine.
World Of The Exalted
2nd day of the Resplendent Air
Finally, I have found some fellow Exalted after a worthy cause. Save the world and all... There's Noshada and Celine,my old friend Nadia, course my brother Anuis is here as well, there's solar-turned-lunar Exalted Kenji (it still boggles my mind to think that hulk of a man IS kenji!) and Aileya, the new King Kenta, Queen Adara, there's also my koi Lt. Achilles Hawkfire (achilles' name was punctuated with hearts), oh and many others. Although, of course none of them knew about the OTHER goal I am after. And I think with luck, I can achieve it in a few months' time. So close…
The last words were hastily scrawled as a foreign sound alerted Shini from her nightly vigil on top of the trees.
At the far end of the village a commotion was heard. It might have been just an animal being preyed upon by a larger animal but Shini knew otherwise. Hurriedly she jumps back into her bedchamber and quietly dons her clothes lest she wakes her slumbering lover. 'I will be back, koi. just stay asleep.' With that, Shini summoned the wings of her wingscythe and flew towards the edge of the town.
The scene that greeted her in town was hauntingly familiar. One particular establishment caught the young sorceress's attention. The local tavern called The Black Swan had a corpse added to its decoration. Shini cautiously approached the bar, sword at the ready. Shini stepped over the corpse at the entrance of the bar. Once inside, Shini couched beside a body sprawled on the floor of the tavern with fingers extended towards the neck of the fallen soldier, checking for pulse. Having found none, the young mage sighed and turned towards the other bodies lying in the same state on the floor, some even slumped on the table, their eyes reflecting astonishment with the quick turn of events. A sobbing voice was heard behind the bar. Seeing a young bargirl with red hair flowing around her shoulders cowering under the bar, Shini silently approached the sobbing figure, calmly resheathing her sword.
"Hey, it's alright. They're gone." the girl looked at Shini with terror-filled eyes.
"Can you tell me who did this? What happened here?" the girl shook her head.
The horror-stricken eyes of the bargirl was all Shini needed to warn her that something was wrong. "I-I, BEHIND YOU!" Shini instinctively dodged to the side as much as she could given the limited space, trying to avoid the attack while unsheathing the Solar Flare at the same time. Luckily, the bar was narrow enough to lodge the great hammer her attacker wields on the side of the bar top. Shini quickly sent a flurry of obsidian butterflies towards her assailant to lend herself some time. Her enemy shrieked in pain as he backed away from the source of the assault, great hammer swinging wildly to keep the deadly butterflies away from his person. Shini took advantage of his distraction and struck out, the wicked blade of the Solar Flare slicing at her opponent's unguarded mid-section. The enemy caught a glimpse of the sorceress's deadly movement however, and blocked to the left with his blade and swung his hammer towards Shini, forcing her to retreat a few steps back. Shini quietly summoned the invulnerable skin of bronze for additional protection.
"Who sent you?!" Shini growled at the dragon blooded. The soldier smiled unpleasantly and attacked.
"Who sent you?!" Shini growled at her attacker. From the way he fought, and from what her feelings were telling her, the enemy was Dragon-blooded. But the only Dragon-blooded in Caladan were loyal members of the Royal Army... and no Dynast in their right mind would travel all this way to the stronghold of their "enemies"...
The soldier swung his great hammer sideways at the young mage, which she gracefully dodged to the right. This proved to be a near mistake as Shini felt the air inches above her head being sliced by the short daiklave the soldier had on his left hand followed by the inward swing of the hammer that shattered the remaining tables to smithereens. Soulsteel! Shini screamed in her head as she leapt away from the assault. There were many questions that needed to be answered, but not now... not in the heat of battle.
Finding some high ground in the bar, the sorceress sent a flurry of shuriken towards the soldier's pressure points. He blocked three of the star-shaped throwing blades with a mighty swing of his hammer. The dragon-blooded soldier winced as the last one went past his defensive pose, hitting his upper right shoulder. Shini saw her chance aftet sending another wave of obsidian butterflies against her opponent, clearly pinning him where he stood and charged toward him with a mighty swing of her solar flare, neatly decapitating the dragon blooded soldier and cutting the arm with the great hammer with it. The young sorceress was gasping for breath after the strenuous exercise, eyes wildly looking around for enemies.
"Cyclone get your godsbedamned butt in here and help me out. Damn damn damn damn! What a mess."
Whoosh "How many times do i--what the hell happened here?" Cyclone growled in astonishment as he finally got to look around the carnage. "And what, exactly are you doing here this time of night, little one? Have you no thought of the danger?"
"Now is not the time for twenty questions, Psyche." Shini said as she held out here haand to help the bargirl up. "I felt there are more coming. We'd better get the hell out of here or we're as good as dead!"
"Too late for that, I'm afraid." The voice came from the bar girl Shini rescued. Shini stared at her. "You die here, Shinigami!" With that, the bar girl's mouth opens and a blackooze poured forth and a horrible amorphous creature of liquid shadow comes into being. Shini bare managed to leap to the other side of the room to avoid being hit by the offending substance.
"Kisama!" Shini stared at the redhead in shock. The figure slowly changed from a simple bar girl to the tall, breath-taking woman clad in gold. "Show your true self, Shinigami. Stop hiding." Teomenava leaned back on the bar lazily, smirk gracing her face.
"What are you.." Shini stopped in mid-sentence, swaying dizzily and then suddenly stood gracefully up from her defensive position. Then Shini's eyes looked straight into her eyes mockingly. "Teomenava One Voice Shatter. You were behind the ambushes, behind the murder of my foster parents. I knew you'll show your ugly self soon. It's time to die, bitch!" Shinigami's Solar Flare glinted silver in the moonlight as she raised it in preparation of the final battle that was to commence. Both women are still, watching; unwilling to to make the first move.
flashback
Lady Emiko went on her knees clasped her hands together and closed her eyes... her Caste mark, a solid golden disc, began to glow as did the air all around her. Her aura began to coalesce into the image of an armoured woman, arrayed in the same pose.
"Lord Sun... grant me the power to smite all my foes down..."
The air around the Dragon-blooded soldiers was enveloped in a warm haze... when suddenly, enemy soldiers and their equipment burst into flame. Emiko uttered a prayer of thanksgiving and stood up.
"Let's go!"
The company of Rathess troops ran from the hall and headed towards the passage to the underways. Emiko was in the lead as they rounded a blind corner. She felt a sharp pain in her chest and looked down... at the spear which pierced her heart. Looking down the shaft of the weapon, she saw another Exalt, a colleague at the High Temple of the Sun... Emiko stared in shock as her murderer drove her to the ground with the spear.
"You always liked to call yourself 'Little Death'... ever tasted what it was really like?"
"Sh-shadow Goddess... why?"
"Simple Princess... I don't like you."
Emiko saw the other soldier around her. The loyal Dragon Kings were murdered in the same instant, leaving only the Exalted troops... which drew ever closer. She looked again at Goddess of Light and Shadows.
"Finish her," she commanded the soldiers.
Vision blurred as she felt more blades enter her body. Emiko was gasping for breath it was getting so hard to...
end flashback
The Princess of Rathess gave Teomoneva One Song Shatter a look that promised slow and painful death; quite a contrast from the look of mischief always gracing the young sorceress' face. Seeing that Shinigami remembered the tragic fate of those she held dear, the reincarnation of the Shadow Goddess smirked at her contemptuously.
"Well? Are you just going to stand there gawking at me like an idiot all night?" Shinigami raised an eyebrow at her, taunting her.
"Why you..!" Teomenava's face went red with anger. Teomenava muttered the last phrase of the spell and the creature she created began to advance towards the sorceress.
"I have no time for your cheap parlor tricks, Shadow Goddess. They're useless at most, irritating at best." Shinigami's caste began to glow as she summoned the Impenetrable Frost barrier AROUND the summoned monster, trapping it inside. Shinigami swung her sword making a horizontal-eight figure while charging forward. Still busy trying to defend herself from the obsidian butterfiles, Teomenava barely escaped with her head still intact. For the next few minutes, the Shadoew Goddess was forced to defend herself against the deadly dance of sword and butterflies. Too late when Teomenava saw what looked like a hammer flying to her right making her crash to the ground.
Shinigami stopped her furious attack on the fallen Abyssal Exalted, smirking. "You were no match for me then, you're no match for me now, Shadow Goddess." Shinigami crouched at the helpless figure of Teomenava, touching her softly on her cheek. "Time to die." Teomenava started to convulse as the Blood of Boiling Oil affects her body.
"Oh hey, I forgot to leave this gift to you," Shinigami thrust the sword into the Shadow Godess's midsection, neatly impaling her. "That's for my sisters and servants."
"This..." Shinigami twisted the sword and Teomenava screamed in pain. "Is for me."
Shinigami stood, using her sword as leverage impaling it deeper into the fallen Abyssal's body. The sorceress pulled the sword. "Goodbye, Shadow Goddess."
Shinigami looked at the monster trapped inside the Frost Barrier. Shinigami touched the barrier to make it disappear. The creature immediately lunges at her throat. Shinigami expected such a move so she moved to the side and touched the creature with her hand, inflicting Blood of Boiling Oil at it. Then she let loose a barrage of obsidian butterflies to take care of the pitiful creature.
"There! All done."
"Damn! What a mess." Shinigami brushed the dirt off her palms. "Oh, well, it's not my fault anyways. Shini'll take care of it for me," Silence.
"Shini..." Still nothing. "Oh, come on! Stop cowering inside your own head! Well, shit! The hell am I supposed to explain this to Achilles? Oh well, hopefully he still sleeps when I get back."
"You coming or not? T'ien Long?"
Shinigami summoned Stormwind Rider to fly back to the castle.