Island of Ancients: Feather Territory (Open to The Phantom Thief)

Lucian crouched low, observing the tiny creatures as they crept across the moist earth. Some in single file, and some straying apart from the main colony. The ants, of course, were comfortably relishing this warm world of theirs. Minute creatures they were! They truly fascinated him.

He would never transform into one, though. Yep, he liked being big.

In this rare moment of utter calm and simplicity, the boy leaned against the bark of a tree and closed his eyes. Azami was ... somewhere without him. He missed his mate dearly and couldn't help but feel kind of left out without company. Like a child, he puffed his cheeks and glared at the ground. A stray squirrel scurried to perch on his shoulder, its course fur brushing his cheek.

"You're lonely too aren't you?" he inquired, eyes a little wide. "It's all right. We have each other. We can build a little den together and collect nuts. How does that sound?"

The squirrel leapt off his shoulder and disappeared into the undergrowth.

Lucian pouted. "Well, forget you too."

He sat in silence for a while, before finally registering a close presence. "Who's there?" he asked mildly, turning to peer over his shoulder.

Spoiler:

Shetani had been wandering around for some time. She had never been to Feather Territory, and hoped she was heading in the right direction. "What are you doing Shetani?" she whispered to herself. "Going to Lucian for help? Advice? This is crazy, but he's the only one who'll keep a secret." She stumbled along the forest path, which obviously hadn't been clearing in a very long time. Roots and brambles over ran it, and she cursed as a thorn made a small cut in her jacket cloak. She couldn't understand why people chose to live in these areas, but herself, being from the barren Demon Clan, didn't understand much about "normal" people. Shetani went over her question that she was to ask Lucian again. He was very much in love with Azami, so she hoped he could help. Hey, Lucian, I know it's weird that I'm here but I need to ask you something. Or, Lucian, I need some advice from you. Or, hey, I need to ask you a question. All of them sounded bad in her mind, but she chose the second one.

Finally fed up with the forest, she put a small gravity shield around her, which caused some of the bushes to uproot and fly away from her. She dropped the shield as she heard Lucian's voice. "Well, forget you too." She spied him through an opening in the bushes, and counted herself lucky that she didn't have to enter that far into Feather Territory. Shetani found herself at a loss of words, she couldn't believe she was going to Lucian for help and almost turned back. She stood int eh bushes for quite awhile, a battle raging in her mind. "Who's there?" Lucian finally asked. Shetani took a deep breath and stepped out of the bushes. "Hey, Lucian." Her smile was strained. "I know it's weird for me to come here, but I need some advice from you." Stupid! Stupid! That's not what I wanted to say! She held her breath and waited for his reaction.

Lucian smirked, standing. His face was almost infuriatingly smug as he brushed an imaginary leaf off his shoulder."See? I knew this day would come. The demoness is finally on her knees!" He clapped gleefully, almost twirling over to Shetani so they could stand eye-to-eye. "And on Feather Territory as well? It's not healthy for you, 'Tani."

Shetani's eye twitched as he sang about her being on her knees and twirled over to her. She was tempted to hit him, but wouldn't now because she had come to him. "And on Feather Territory as well? It's not healthy for you, 'Tani." She flinched at the nickname. "I'm pretty sure you're not healthy for me." Taking a deep breath she sat down on the ground, and observed a colony of ants, resisting the urge to kill them. "Yeah yeah, I know I'm here, but I need to ask you a question. You.... Well.... You know a lot about love don't you?"

Lucian's gold eyes widened in surprise, his lips curving into a smirk. "What is this?" he cried. "The Siren has come to me? I am honored. Why, with Kishui's unhealthy attraction to you, I would believe you'd know plenty."

He gave a kind of all-knowing look, suddenly serious. "Love. Nature's sweet illusion," he mused. "And yet, it something both delicate and powerful. Healing and painful. Forever and brief. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and you may not always notice that it's there." He sighed contentedly.

"With us Ancients, companionship has been grafted into us from the beginning. It is impossible for us to truly hate our partners. And although you may want to sometimes slit Kishui's throat, it just can't happen."

Shetani stared at Lucian. What in the world was he talking about? She heard his words but didn't quite understand. "I'm not sure I understand what you are saying.... But yes, I suppose as much as I might hate Kishiu at some points, I won't kill him." Shetani sighed and placed her head in her hands. Her red hair fell over her face, and she suddenly felt like crying. So much had happened in the past few days, and for once she had done something she had regretted. She had done something horrible to her partner in a fit of anger, and had hurt him. He had left her. She hadn't seem him since. "Love. Nature's sweet illusion," he mused. "And yet, it something both delicate and powerful. Healing and painful. Forever and brief. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and you may not always notice that it's there."

"Lucian," she started, surprised that her voice wavered. "I did something terrible to Kishiu, and I wish I could take it back now. I'm afraid that he hates me." Tears fell from her face, and she let out a small gasp. She was openly crying, in front of Lucian of all people, her "enemy". She hated herself for it.

Lucian's smug expression evaporated instantly at the sight of Shetani's tears, replaced by a mask of confusion. Slowly, slowly, as horror fell upon him, he realized that it was all his fault. He had played games with Shetani's emotions, casually referencing her aggression towards Kishui without realizing that it would cut her fresh wounds.

Drats ... he moaned mentally, drawing closer to her. He considered an embrace but figured she would hate something like that. Instead he softened his voice, eyes narrowing a bit.

"What happened?" he asked, motioning to a very flat stone that seemed to have emerged from nowhere. "Here, sit. Explain. And no matter what you say, I can bet my life that Kishui doesn't hate you because of it." His eyes seemed to be a paler shade of gold then, all mischief gone.

"What happened?" he asked, motioning to a very flat stone that seemed to have emerged from nowhere. "Here, sit. Explain. And no matter what you say, I can bet my life that Kishui doesn't hate you because of it." His eyes seemed to be a paler shade of gold then, all mischief gone.

Shetani took a deep breath and scooted over the stone and sat down next to Lucian. She wasn't sure where to start, or how much to tell him, but it all came out of her mouth in a rush. "Kishiu came home and he had brought me a gift. But it reminded me of...painful things so I destroyed at and said some perfectly horrible things to him, and then...." She trailed off and she remembered her spastic rage that happened next. "I broke both his arms. And six of his ribs. And might of possible punctured some of his vital organs. I was so angry, and then he left, and the next day I felt absolutely horrible about it. I don't think he knew what that gift meant to me. But he hasn't come back. I haven't seen him. That was four days ago...."

Shetani gave in and let this be a one time thing. She closed her eyes and leaned against Lucian, looking for some comfort, maybe, for her demonic nature. She turned her head into his shoulder and cried. Please let me stop crying, let me pull myself together, she thought to herself.

Lucian, against his better judgment, placed a cautious hand on her shoulder. "I won't ask what it was that made you attack him," he said. "But Shetani ... I can scout for Kishui. There's a high chance I'd find him. And then I can prove to you that he doesn't hate you."

Lucian, knowing that crying was the best therapy in these situations, simply sat and waited out her tears. "Shetani ... " he began uncertainly after some time. "You are like a midnight storm. Loud. Dangerous. Many people are afraid. They hide from you and simply wait until you pass by ... but it only takes a special kind of person to see your beauty. To bathe in your fiery droplets. And that person is Kishui. No matter what, he'll whether the storm Shetani. You must believe that."

The words coming out of his mouth flowed naturally, but yet they were alien to him somehow. He supposed it was because it was such a rare moment between them. Often he teased the demoness, and to speak of her on a serious, charming note was sweetly unfamiliar to him.

((OOC: That wasn't confusing that all. That was bizarrely romantic.))

Shetani looked up at Lucian and wiped away her tears. She could feel her eyes start to get puffy, and was sure that they were already red. What he said made no sense what so ever, but she could feel that he was being sincere to her. She managed to understand the message however, that Kishiu loved her and would withstand her abuse. A smile spread across her face after his little advice. She remembered that Lucian had offered to look for Kishiu, but Shetani felt like that was her job. "Thank you, Lucian. I appreciate it, I really do." She stood up and wiped her face again. "I probably look like a mess," she laughed nervously. "And thanks for the offer, but I think need to do that." Shetani paused suddenly, and looked at Lucian again. "That is the right thing to do, right? Apologize? And take what's coming to me?" She had never apologized once in her life, and was sketchy on the idea, and didn't know if it was the right thing to even do in a situation like this.