Chapter 1
Partna'
She was balanced on the thin stone ledge of the balcony. If not for the gentle breeze that caressed the blunt black bangs framing her partially masked face, the figure perched, so effortlessly, on her hind legs could have passed for any awkwardly placed statue.
The cosmic blue sky stretched behind her, a dozen eyes gleaming as they watched.
Her moon nowhere in sight.
She stretched out a slender leg from her guarded position, taut and pointed like a ballerina. The tips of her toes touched the cold stone floor and she felt a weight in her stomach with the gentle contact. Her breathing remained constant as her other leg followed, the audience behind her watching in anticipation for what was to come.
Then, with the sleuth agility of a predator, she crossed the entrance of the open balcony, passing the royal blue drapes. Inside, her topaz eyes glowed dangerously in the darkness of the grand room. Pupils dilating to sharpen the outline of every piece of polished furniture and gold decorum. Her eyes scoured over every intricately carved column, every five-foot-vase, from the teardrop shaped chandelier on the ceiling that sparkled like broken glass down to the foreign rug that collapsed like cotton candy under her shoes.
The sheer, unashamed, richness struck as something peculiar to her wolffish eyes. Yet it barely compared to the luxurious mess of a bed stacked against the centre wall across from her. She could feel it before her eyes landed on it. Like a play building up to a climax you knew was coming but just couldn't figure out. The thing had a presence.
Standing at a good twelve feet tall, the bed was a series of mattresses stacked on top of each other reaching for, but not touching, the concave arch of the domed ceiling. The figure clad in black lowered her gaze, focusing the muscles and tendons in her legs and feet. Crouching down like a spring before it uncoiled, she propelled herself off the bare floor as her eyes trailed the height of the mattresses once again.
Gravity failed to hold her down. The wind rushed past her and whispered in her ears, heart strumming noticeably as the blood rushed giddily through her veins. She soared. Higher than the top of the mountain of mattresses. Then she slowed to a point of no motion, crossing her arms as the figure on the bed exposed its bare back to her, and watched as his position changed from beneath her gaze, to directly across from it, to above her once again; disappearing behind the rectangular folds stacked on top of each other like drawers. Gravity pushed faster and faster and she slipped lower and lower until the ground caught up to her. The figure unfolded her arms, the hairs on her flesh standing alert as she focused every pulsing muscle in her very core. Then, silently, she made contact with the ground like a feather, or as light as one. Her heart beat noticeably in her chest; it always took more control to be quiet, and she felt like a child who couldn't risk getting caught creeping around the house after bedtime.
She straightened her knees once she landed, repeating the process and launching off her feet once again. She'd measured the distance and found a landing spot. This time as she neared the top of the mountain her agile body tucked into itself and softly landed in a crouch in an unoccupied corner of the large mattress. It cowered the smallest bit under her weight, but the man on the bed did not stir. She straightened out her body and glanced at him with eyes half-lidded. Her heart strummed at a steady pace as she approached him, breathing calmly as she pinned her legs on either side of his body and unveiled a small dagger from her pocket.
Clasping the wooden handle with both hands she stretched her arms out, the tip of the dagger almost glinting in the pale light of the moon as she positioned it at the man beneath her. The air was dry and quiet. Cerise gazed down at the figure without really seeing him. Instead her pale eyes looked past him.
A calm, twisted smile playing at her lips as she found a dark sense of humour in how different her life had been just a month ago.
It was hot. The kind of hot where you could see the air moving.
"Apricots! Fresh apricots from the White Kingdom!"
"Highest bid gets a chance at this magnificent pearl necklace said to be worn by Queen Lizzie herself!"
"I've got sunscreen. Don't forget ya' sunscreen."
People of all sorts erupted from all around in excited chatter attempting to attract customers to their stalls. Merchants and entrepreneurs alike vied for the attention of citizens and travelers, nomads and workers, parents and children as they passed by, pausing here and there and everywhere as the stalls piqued their attention. A man wearing a drenched, yellowing undershirt explained excitedly as a customer asked him of the quality of his rugs. A half naked woman sitting under the shade of an umbrella perched over her stall fanned at herself with cropped, dirty fingernails. She gazed out at the sea of bodies with unintrigued eyes as the figures passed by her stall. Not too far away a man beside a portable, rechargeable fan seated in a folding lawn chair shook his head no at a customer, claiming if he lowered his price any more than he already had he'd be losing money. The woman beside his stall, one that sold headscarves to protect from heat stroke and sun damage, was an enthusiastic ball of energy clad in all white, trying to sell everything from 'UV protection' robes to brand name watches.
Amidst the chaos a figure cloaked in black watched the chaos unfold. Eyes framed with long, dark set lashes absorbed it all in silence. Her eyes scoured either side of the pathway moulded from years of being used. On one side stood the temporary stalls that were set up every morning, mismatched and misaligned in twisted perfection. On the other stood colourful stone buildings with flat rooves and gated doorways. In between every few buildings there would be an alley that would lead into the outer part of town. The shopping district was set up just about in the centre. Inns and hostels and on occasion homes that belonged to the natives living there were built around the district itself. It had once been a merchant spot in the middle of the desert, it's only appealing factor that it had a small oasis nearby that provided water to the merchants. As people came from all over to buy and sell goods, inns were made to provide a place of rest before the long trek back to whichever kingdom one had come from. Eventually the market became a town for travelers, it's oasis providing water for merchants and residents who even if returned, rarely stayed.
The cloaked figure continued forward amidst the throng of people, her eyes darting downward to watch two children pop out of an alleyway as they chased one another, flitting past a red-cloaked lump lying on the ground at the foot of a building. She froze in her tracks. A little ways across from her a stall had caught her eye. She wiggled through bodies and approached the merchant with as much excitement as her obsidian veil could expose.
"How much for a pair of goat eyes?"
The desert sky had turned the colour of liquid gold.
The woman in black watched it with upturned eyes. Something about the contrast of the orphan blue building against the gold sky as a backdrop caught her attention. She had turned into an alleyway in an attempt to find the shopping district once again. On the other side of the narrow pathway she could see the outlines of more scattered buildings. Directly above her was a series of clotheslines, some with the garments washed that morning still hanging to dry. Lining the two sides of the alley were torn bags of garbage with old scraps of food oozing out among newspaper remains and plastic bottles. There were a couple cardboard boxes ahead, a single metal garbage can amidst the mess against the corner of the wall. It was as she was about to reach the middle of the short narrow path that shadowed figures appeared on the opposing side.
There were three of them. Each as noisy as the other while they conversed. It wasn't until they were a couple steps away that they took notice of her and paused. The one on the left suddenly grinning. He stepped forward, crossing the distance between them within seconds. He leaned in, grinning the same as before.
"Well what do we have here, can't say I've seen you around here before." He looked her up and down lazily, as if mildly amused by the thought of seeing the face behind the veil.
She had no reply for him; and he seemed to take the lack of response as a challenge.
He grabbed her by the wrist, refusing to break his gaze.
"Let's take a l-"
It sounded like someone had been shot. The loud bang echoed as it bounced off the walls and diminished. It had brought each of them to a halt, the boys twitching their heads to what was behind them with a start.
The lid of the dirty silver garbage can had slipped off and dropped to the floor. The metal body now rocked back and forth as the figures watched it, perplexed. Suddenly a blob of red poked its little head out, facing away from them all. It seemed to squirm in its spot before shooting a quick look behind it. Topaz eyes immediately narrowed, yellowing teeth tearing at the small lump of meat leftover on a dry old chicken bone as she whirled her covered little head back around, back to what really mattered.
"What are you doing?" The boy with a hold on the cloaked figure's wrist muttered, his head facing the two from before.
"Get her out of here." He whirled back around on the woman, who watched him as he did so.
"I think it's a little girl," one of his friends called out, at which the boy rolled his eyes not even bothering to turn around.
The grin then returned, "like I was saying-"
"Yo!"
"What?" The boy whipped his head away from her.
Behind him his boys stood awkwardly closing in on the garbage can as the girl inside growled at them, her body trembling as if she were about to burst. One of the boys swiped at her then, yanking on the wet bone in her mouth only to have her pull back on it with her bared teeth.
"She's like a dog," one of them commented in annoyance.
"Just handle it already!" His eyes were narrowed furiously when he turned back around, but the figure was not watching him this time, her eyes looked past him at the commotion ahead.
He grabbed her chin harshly with his other hand, the veil melting into the outline of her small face. Her eyes flickered to him for a moment and he grinned with his teeth showing, but then they drifted away once again, settling on the scene behind him with piqued interest.
The figure watched as the taller one of the boys, not the one who had struggled with the bone, approached the girl agitatedly. He sent a swift kick at the metal can. A noise similar to a whine erupted from the object as it shook with the impact, jolting the girl with it.
A shrill scream pierced the air commanding the attention of the boy in the cloaked figure's face, but not before he shot a quick glance at the heavens.
However, as he gazed upon the scene behind him his dirty hands recoiled away from the woman so abruptly it caused her to spare him a glance. He was still turned halfway, unable to turn away from the other woman - turns out she wasn't that little - standing on all fours over his comrade's dead body, blood and saliva trickling down bruised lips into the leaky open gash in his throat.
The remaining boy, the one who had screamed before, made a beeline across the alley toward his remaining friend. The woman lunged for him, snarling as she caught his leg between her sharp teeth and peeled a chunk out of it. The boy fell to the floor, reaching up for the remaining boy of the group, screaming until his throat was raw.
The dog-woman's eyes glinted as she tore into his mangled leg, swiping at his throat with sharp claws when she got tired of his screams.
The last boy standing stared down at the limp body. His lips trembled, mouth in an O-shape, and just like that he darted out of the opening on the opposite side, unable to utter a single sound.
The dog-woman jerked, taking a moment of pause from devouring her victim's leg to watch the his friend's retreating back. Her topaz eyes shifted from the figure to meet the woman in black face-to-face, her eyes narrowing suddenly as if she'd just recalled her presence.
The woman stared back quietly from under her hood. Topaz clashed with a pale shade of violet; and they remained that way as moments passed. Suddenly, the dog-woman scowled and returned to her corpse.
The other woman started forward, the skirt of her obsidian cloak fluttering softly as she walked past the the dead bodies. The dog-woman paid her no attention. The gentle pats of her feet against the ground minimized in volume as the woman disappeared from the alley that smelled of blood.
Under the vast desert sky stood a sleeping town amidst a sea of black sand.
A soft noise escaped from under the watchful gaze of the midnight blue sky.
Just next to the mouth of an alleyway, over by a small stack of wooden crates, a small pair of wolf ears twitched under the cover of a shadowed red cloak. The lump underneath the cloak lazily stretched out a slender arm as it uncoiled from its balled form. Her warm body shook off the grains of sand that had embedded themselves into her skin. Her ears twitched once again just as she was about to let out a mewl of a yawn.
Someone was breathing quickly.
The noises came out faster and faster until they spilled into heavy pants.
Cerise's head glanced to the dark alley on the right of her as she slowly rose to her feet. The rhythmic slapping and thudding causing heat to creep up in places she didn't wish to acknowledge. Just as her head was about to peek over the sharp corridor in her line of vision a sudden moan spilled out of the darkness before her.
The sound sent a strong shiver down her front, and her ears stood erect under their red cover, poking into it.
She hesitantly peeked over the stone edge. Her eyes naturally focused, shifting through the darkness to catch a man throwing a wad of cash at a woman bent over leaning on a barrel. He stalked away, Cerise observed silently, without sparing the woman a glance. Her eyes drifted down to the woman as she picked up the paper notes with her back to her. Her heel clicked suddenly and her upper body churned, staring back into the darkness with a narrow gaze.
"Who's there?"
The woman in black sauntered through the empty streets, a large furry beast trailing behind her. The camel had a large black saddle on its back, a black sheet placed over and and falling over on either side like a tablecloth. The reigns spilled into the woman's hand as she led the way.
The air had turned cool. It left her skin in mild goosebumps, concealed by the black fabric hugging her naked body. Their footsteps collapsed into the sea of sand beneath their feet. The night was void of sound; not a single breeze nor cicada to interrupt the silence.
The woman's eyes drifted across the sky taking it in like a still picture. It had darkened, fading to a colour that was neither blue nor black. From the corner of her eye a motion caused a ripple in the painting. Her attention shifted onto the figure racing across the roof of the pale yellow building beside her. Toned, caramel-coloured legs leaped off the rooftop and down into the black abyss between the two buildings, bloody red cape slicing through the blue-black sky.
"Don't let her get away!" A rumble of footsteps came from behind the camel.
The woman's eyes watched a blur float down into the alley and bolt through the opposing opening before they came to rest on the loud male enforcer and his uniformed followers as they charged past and into the alley the dog-woman had used to escape.
Without a word she continued to trek forward down the once again, empty, street. She pat the camel's fur as the two of them made it to the outskirts of the town. The horizon was endless, a blurred mesh of black and even darker black that appeared ass endless as the cosmos.
The woman hoisted herself up onto the camel, her hood falling off in the process. She smoothed the fur on the beast's neck. Then she hoisted the ropes into her slender hands, looking out at the barren world before her.
She parted her lips to give a command when a scuffling noise caught her attention. The woman's neck elegantly craned behind her to catch sight of none other than the dog-woman.
The female in question was standing on the edge of a stone building staring out into the desert, apparently unaware of her audience. Her topaz eyes seemed to glower under the moonlight as they narrowed into a fiercely pointed gaze. Her bloody red cape and cropped black hair shook about her as she glanced back at something.
"She went this way!" A distant voice shouted, earning an angry scowl from the dog-woman. It's then that she took notice of the presence looking up at her with still plum-coloured eyes. Her head was no longer covered, and she faintly acknowledged it to be such a strange shade of black it illuminated a violet glow under the frosty light of the moon.
Her lips mumbled something behind the veil so softly she was unable to catch it. The dog-woman stared down at her, her eyes unreadable.
The woman lifted an open palm into the air, peeling of the veil with the nimble fingers on her other hand.
"Come join me." She spoke firmly.
The woman above heard her loud and clear this time, her voice more bold than she would have presumed it to be. Her eyebrows abruptly shot up in an incredulous expression. Her lips parted in a half-grimace; but before she had the chance to tell her to cut the crap the noise from the street below brought her to a halt.
The strange woman still had her hand outstretched but she, too, held her eyes on the group of men in uniform wielding guns and tasers.
The two met one another's gaze simultaneously.
With a noise similar to a hiss slipping from between her clenched teeth the dog-woman leaped into the air and and shouted as she smacked the camel's side and landed on the saddle with a thud.
"Go!" Her voice so strong it seemed to stretch across the desert.
And off they went into the black night.
A/N
Pairings for this story are still generally undetermined, if you'd like you could vote on the poll on my page to help decide what direction to take things in. If not I'll just focus on my faves so no worries. :)
I realize the summary ain't shit so I truly appreciate those of you that decided to click on this story and gave it a chance. There's still a lot of explaining to do so fave, comment, alert and/or review if you'd like to find out. :$