LYCIRE SWAN

Our walk through the city proved to be uneventful from then on. Nil, for all she was strange, and considering she didn't have a clue where she was or what was going on, was very well composed and calm. Well… calm in relation to fear and anger… She gaped at everything new that passed her. But she no longer hissed at people, and walked normally, instead of alert and wary. To her credit, she adapted well.

She did, however, continue to pester me about where we were headed. I just kept the remarks coming, revealing nothing more than necessary. Honestly, I didn't actually know where we were going, all I knew, was that every instinct was telling me that I had to get myself and the girl away from where we were.

I was thinking maybe a couple of suburbs over, break into an empty run down house. Given the community in these areas, we may even find a cold crime scene to hole up in. Surely Nil would not question a dead body on the floor…
Usually i would just camp out up a tree, or something similar, but until i knew more about Nil, i decided to keep my habits more human. So i would have to break into a house.

Then I had another problem. What did she eat? Food, was obvious, but what kind? I knew nothing about the girl, or where she came from, so I could not even form a decent guess. Unfortunately I would have to ask.

"For future reference… what would you like to eat?"
I saw her eyes flicker. I knew that look well. It was the look someone got when they had a smart-ass answer prepared to try and get back at me. She did not disappoint.
"Food, would be nice…"
Well I had one for her.
"Good, so you can look after yourself?"
This stumped her. They never learnt, did they?
"Uh…"
I laughed at her, openly enjoying the colour that flooded to her cheeks and out of her hair simultaneously, leaving it a pallid pink.
We had reached an ideal street. I could tell by the overflow of rubbish in the bins, the vandalism of the fronts of the houses, and the stale smell of blood spilt in recent weeks, oozing from more than one house. Nil seemed to pick up on the smell too. Odd. WHAT was she?

At the end of the street, there was a house that smelt... clean.... Clean of dead humans or too much waste. We went around to the side window, but by this time i was entirely sure that no-one had lived here for a while, and by the lack of care toward the house, wouldn't be for some time. So instead, i led her around to the back door, climbing over a dismantled lawnmower, that Nil almost stuck her hand in in curiosity. The gleaming blade was still in place, and no longer stable.
"Do you like your hand, Nillian?"
This caused her to pause, momentarily, her hand still a comparatively safe distance from the blades.
"Yes..." Panic lit her face
"Where are you going with this?"
I smirked. How had a small question like that alarmed her so much?
"Because if you stick it into that thing any further, you'll lose it."
She yanked it out, Cradling it to her chest. She hissed at me. I nodded back to her, aloofly. -( Yes, Aloofly is a word!)
Her disdain bounced right off me. It was a common reaction i got.
I studied the window beside the door. The seal was already rotting out, so half my work was done.
"What are you doing?" Nil's voice was back to it's friendly curiosity.
"Getting in."
Nil sighed. I turned to her confused. There was a fear and regret in her eyes, her hair fluttering on the edge of a shade of lilac. she sighed again, seeming resigned to something.
"This would be so much easier..." She waved her left hand in the direction of the window, accenting the swirl on her ring finger. A pale blue ribbon of light emerged from her now glowing fingertip and darted, gracefully over to the window. It stretched out along the seal, and wriggled in. The seal disappeared into thin air and the pane of glass seemed about to fall, when it was guided down to the ground, without so much as a clink.
I turned back to Nil.
Something clicked. Somehow or another, it had just clicked now. I don't know how Nil's power could have possibly tipped me off, but it did.
Sebastian.
Elf.
I finally saw the connection- The pointed ears (which had been my real tip-off, the way she carried herself, the way she was. Nil finally made a small ounce of sense.
She was an Elf.
I turned back to her, remaining calm.
"That could really come in handy."