Borrowing Back Taken Magic

[Talion]

He kept his mouth shut, there was no further reason to anger the Master or his mistress. He knew that by speaking up that he would receive a verbal lashing but he had been expecting it more from the Master then by this new demon that seemed to be taking his place. Who was she that she was able to usurp his power? Did this make him less of a master now? Was she a more powerful being then Master? Maybe she is the master of Master, if there even is such a being.

Countless questions without answers flowed through his head. They left his mind searching for some sort of clue as to what to do, who to trust and what was going to happen to him. "I will always be your Master, nobody will take that from me." As reassuring as it was, it didn't help to answer his many questions but he was afraid to press his luck by speaking up again.

Even though he knew he shouldn't get involved, still a part of him felt for the guy who had been humiliating bound and drenched in the middle of the alley. Why had Master allowed her to strip him of all sense of dignity, was this a part of some greater plan? but what? why? Instead of raising his voice again, he offered up his cloak instead. It wasn't much with its many little holes and thin patches from where the sun had sought burn through the garment but it was something dry.

"I know it smells of blood and vomit but it's better then walking through the streets in wet clothes."

[Anther]

Anther, who was much less impressive disarmed and soaked (not that he'd been much to look at before), gave a befuddled stare to Tsai, whose name washed over his brain without much impact. In fact, most of it did. He looked between the three companions, eyes wide, and it occurred to him that he was in some deep shit. And maybe. . .maybe she was worse than Leeger. Or Leeger's goons.

"I-I-I'm fair 'nough. Thievin'. Haven' got caught. 'Til now. I can be. . .useful."

He didn't want to die. That was the top priority in his sodden brain, though even one as slow as he started to speculate the hows and whys of the three. Did they belong to some underground magical cabal? Would they use him for their magical misdeeds, to finger and filch great tools of destruction? He didn't care about the last part, but being used was unappealing in most ways that mattered. There was a reason his den continued to hold out against the larger packs of street brats.

"But, there's maybe, huh, maybe someth'n. Yeah. Someone better. I can help ya find someone better." He reached for the proffered cloak without thinking, and clutched it to himself with the unconscious pride of street thieves. Until then, the smell did reach his nose, and he held it a little bit away from himself. He draped it over his back, where the smell would not be as strong.

He avoided looking any of them directly in the eyes. He didn't want to be ensorcelled like the stories said was possible.

[Tsaikatlaua]

Tsaikatlaua cast one supremely disdainful glance at Talion at his giving over of the cloak, but didn't pick a fight. To her thinking, she knew that she was much more powerful and she didn't need to prove that to herself, or anyone. Plus, she thought with a leonine smile, everyone knew it anyway.

As her new thief spoke she looked at him, and the first phrase that came into her mind was 'bedraggled, wet rat.' No stabs of pity arced through her as they apparently had with Talion, and the haughty looked reappeared on her face. "If you have not been caught that is all I require. Should you become caught on my task for you... well, that turns into your problem, doesn't it?"

Tsaikatlaua tried to fight it down, but the showing of her fangs to intimidate was becoming slightly addictive. She smiled widely at her new thief, growing her incisors to a dangerous and highly unhuman length. Then she flicked out her tongue like a snake testing the air, the forked tongue creating a slight hiss as she drew in the scents of the mildly rancid alleyway, and she drew in the ambrosia of fear coming from her captive. So this was how the priests felt when they were given the ultimate power, and the filling of their gods drove them onward. Tsaikatlaua was quickly becoming accustomed to the idea of humbling those beneath her, and she privately hoped that her powers would not be taken away when she returned home, as she had served the god so well.

She blinked once and returned to the situation at hand. "I require a book to be taken back, but I have not the knowledge needed to slip around the guards and wards. You, as a thief, do. Perhaps if you bring back a friend with more skills you will take the easier of the jobs when it comes to the actual break-in and stealing, perhaps not. Do you have any recommendations for me? But I must warn you... if too many people know about this plan I may be forced to take steps to eliminate the spares."

[Yyan]

From his place at Tsaikatlaua’s side, Yyan was forced to reconsider some of his impressions of their sickly companion. His own clothes were moth-eaten and disheveled, yet his willingness to offer comfort to another bedraggled soul… it bespoke of an empathy that Yyan had not expected to encounter. Perhaps there was a limit to the madness fogging those slanted eyes…

His focused shifted back to the exchange taking place between his mistress and their thief. Tsaikatlaua made a point of displaying her animalistic qualities, a sight that sent shivers—fear mixed with awe—down Yyan’s spine. But he worried about the effect such a sight would have on their conscript. To be caught in the midst of a bold risk by three unknown assailants was enough to alarm anyone. But now this young man was faced with a being far more powerful than anything he had likely known, a being intent on having her way no matter who said otherwise… The thief had mentioned others. He knew people around the city. If his calm broke and he shouted out their presence, life could become difficult very quickly, even for a woman as powerful as Tsai.

Besides, Yyan had already witnessed one thief murdered before his eyes. He didn’t readily welcome a second experience.

With calm, deliberate movements, he skirted around Tsaikatlaua and approached the thief. He rested a hand on one of the young man’s thin shoulders, using the contact as a focus for his mental voice: only the thief would hear him. Our purpose is not to harm you, he quickly asserted. If you cooperate with us, you will have nothing to fear.

Yyan’s lips never moved, but his voice would be as clear as if he whispered in the thief’s ear. He gave the shoulder a slight, reassuring squeeze, then stepped back to Tsaikatlaua’s side, hoping that he had not just overstepped himself in her eyes.

[Anther]

Anther was agitated. That was the mild way of expressing the emotion that was slowly strangling his stomach, and then his throat, and then his mind. He might have stared at Tsai forever -- demon woman, monstrous thing or just some stray devil from an unknown world -- when he was jolted out of his shock in an unexpected way.

There was physical contact on his shoulder -- which wasn't so bad -- and then an unexpected voice sounded so very close to his ear, though no breath whispered along his skin. Almost as though he'd been contacted by a ghost. Which, all told, was more of an acceptable freak occurance than some fanged weird lady that'd escaped from the freak show.

So he did the only thing a respectable street brat could do: he yelped and bent his knees into a fighting stance, fists bunched and cocked for action.

"W-who's there? I won't be toleratin' no funny business! Hear? I ain't no heebie-jeebie cockle-doodle freak-summoning magic user, 'n I ain't gonna be keepin' company with no demons'r any other folk keepin' with them sort of things. That's not my style, n' I don't spect to be leadin' no sideshow of death t' any one o' my mates! 'Snot right t'do an' I won't do it! Hear me?! Jes' what's goin' on with you people?!"

He wasn't speaking or even yelling so much as babbling; words stringing together into sentances that were almost incomprehensible. His voice had risen into a range that was usually best heard from females, and his eyes darted over and around the three companions as though searching for any hidden spooks that might jump out and terrorize him further.

[Tsaikatlaua]

Tsaikatlaua raised an eyebrow at this sudden tirade. She nodded at Yyan as he moved back to her side, though it wasn't a horribly friendly nod. But she added onto that with a murmured, "At least you tried."

She snapped her attention back to the now-posturing drenched man. "There are no ghosts here, foolish human. We are in an alleyway, albeit not as brightly lit as it could be. That presence you sensed was Yyan, he speaks mentally because he cannot do so verbally. So stop your squawking and listen reasonably. There are no demons, there are no ghosts. There is only me, and I want you to help me steal back a book from a very secure location. Will you help me, yes or no? I asked you this once, and it is not a complicated question!"

[Yyan]

Back at his place beside Tsaikatlaua, Yyan sneered a little at the thief’s reaction and tried to decide who he was more annoyed with, the thief or himself. Hyalith had drilled into him the need for caution when it came to talking to people. A part of him had always believed it was to protect him from their master’s suspicious nature. Apparently it was a rarer talent, and therefore more distrusted, than he had expected.

It, like the necklace he wore, had been Hyalith’s gift to him, and to see it evoke such a hostile reaction offended him.

Yyan did not speak again, not wishing to interfere further with Tsaikatlaua’s questioning, but he stared at their new thief with a stonier expression than before.

[Talion]

Though it might not have been the most opportune moment to do so, Talion couldn't help but to let out a small chuckle at the paranoid ramblings of their latest companion. He had nearly forgotten just how ignorant these Easterners were. In a way these humans were quite possibly more xenophobic then his own people. Where those of Darleone at least understood magic and knew why they feared the dwellers of the astral plane, these humans of Thar Shaddin feared demons and magic users simply because they didn't know any better.

Talion had half a mind to demonstrate some of his power to this ignorant boy just to teach him a thing or two. A little disappearing act couldn't hurt could it?

"Do it! Why don't you just go get yourself locked up while you are at it too?"

Master was mocking him, judging him, testing him. "You don't think I could do it?" Backing up into the wall, Talion drew on what little amount of shadows that somehow managed to avoid the morning light. To those not keeping a keen eye on him, they would not notice the subtle change as he wrap himself in darkness and vanished from sight.

[Anther]

Though possessing what was in effect a simple mind, Anther still had the wits to know when he was outmaneuvered. "'Kay." He mumbled, though he still looked at Tsai as though she were a devil personified -- and as dangerous. He didn't really notice the immediate reaction Yyan had to Anther's outburst, but his continued furtive glances between the three soon had him realize that Yyan's expression was not in the least friendly. Not that Anther had expected bosom buddies out of the strange encounter, but neither had he expected any of the dangerous, simmering distaste that could become hostility. But he wouldn't be around long enough for that to happen, right?

"Yeah, I'll help ya. Figger there's not much choice inna matter. Jes keep yer heebie jeebies a--"

That's when his glance landed on the space where Talion had been, and where Talion most definitely was not any longer. The result being and outflung hand and a digit pointed directly at that same spot, and a sudden rise in the volume of his voice. "Where'd 'e go now? That! That's what I'm meanin'! You people aren't normal!"

[Tsaikatlaua]

Tsaikatlaua's eyes snapped over when Talion vanished. Her mouth dropped open a little, then curled into that feline smile. She was pleased with his trick. Very pleased. Who'd have thought that the constantly-high one could do such magic? Granted, should could taste it on him using her snake senses, but she couldn't tell quite what he could do before he'd showed her. "Excellent, Talion. Now come back, if you please--you're startling our new friend."

She turned back to Anther. "Normal, no. Shall I show you what I can do?" She debated for a moment, then thought of something else. "Should you shout and draw attention, I may be forced to silence you. Like Yyan here, you might not need a voice to communicate. Yyan gets his points across very well. And I would not like to hurt you, though it may please the gods..."

Tsaikatlaua shook her head briefly. No. Killing people wantonly here was frowned upon. It was just hard to break old habits. She'd been very devoted in her service to the gods back home, and they had rewarded her for it. With that in mind, she glanced around to ensure the alley was still clear and then shifted forms into the sleekly dappled jaguar of the jungle. Leaping with a silent snarl, she pinned Anther by the shoulders to the wall, much as she had done the previous night with Yyan. Baring her fangs in a hiss in his face, she dropped back and shifted once again, clothes reappearing on human limbs.

"No, we are not normal," she continued conversationally. "When you accept that not everything is what it seems, you will get along much better in the world. Mistaking me for a helpless human girl is misguided. Now, final answer. Help or be sacrificed to honor the glory of my gods."

[Yyan]

Focused on their new thief as he was, Yyan had also initially missed the fact that Talion was… no longer where he had been standing. He blinked in surprise, then narrowed his eyes in concentration. Yes… the aura was still there, but it felt strangely muted. Actually, Yyan felt a bit more comfortable being around the sickly young man this way. He opened himself up and only felt a small shiver run down his spine at brushing that poisoned darkness. That is a very nice trick, he told Talion. If you are willing, I might ask you to show me how it’s done later.

Then he felt a surge of primal power in the air. Tsaikatlaua was doing something new. Yyan quickly stepped aside, closer to where he judged Talion to be hiding, and watched their mistress shift into the body of a powerfully built cat. In this form she was beautifully terrifying, and Yyan pressed himself against the wall, his breath heavy with a mixture of fear and awe.

[Talion]

Though the others might not have been able to see it, Talion felt the need to smile. He felt proud of himself. Their reactions boosted his confidence and helped to lift him out of his state of paranoia just a bit.

"You're going to get yourself killed if you keep doing stuff like that. Do you not remember the warning you received yesterday? Do you not remember what those suspicious guards said to you when you entered the city? No magic, not in public, not here."

He mumbled a disgruntled response to Master as he dismissed the shadows to retreat back to their hidden crevices between the bricks that made up the wall, the secret little place below the backdoor to whatever shop they leaned against and what other little dark places that were able to hide from the sun under the canopy of the outdoor market.

When he was sure that the others could clearly see him again, he turned to face the cloaked demon, his mistress and the thief once again. Master had asked of him a question, in his new voice and he wasn't really sure what to think of it.

"Master, I thought you already knew how to come and go as you pleased? I can show you again but we may need a place that won't be consumed in sunlight quite so quickly."

Sunlight wasn't the only problem, he kept getting the feeling that he was being watched. The drugs seemed to be helping to calm him down a bit but he couldn't complete forget about the nearness of so many strangers and how they seemed to stop and stare in his direction every few moments. They were watching him, waiting for him to do something they didn't like and then they would make their move.

"We should find another place. There are too many people here, too many eyes watching."

[Anther]

Anther felt his breath leave his body for one terrifying moment, and voided himself in fear as the demon-woman turned into a cat and then pinned him to the wall. If nothing else, it was firmly embedded in his head that he was no longer in control. Yes, he understood that now.

The demon-woman turned back into a woman, and the shadow man turned visible again. Anther got the feeling that they were waiting solely on him, and that if he continued to delay them their purpose he might not live long enough to regret it. Or he'd live too long to regret it. He lowered his eyes to the ground, uncomfortable with the sick fear that clutched his stomach and the blending wetness that drenched him.

"What ya have me do?" He mumbled, head bowed in defeat.

[Tsaikatlaua]

Finally. "Excellent. I don't believe I ever caught your name, thief. Since we are now working towards a mutual profit, I think it would be rude of me to keep referring to you as thief. Your name."

She looked at the rest of her group, debating whether or not to offer more of the drugs to Talion. Happy that she had managed to scare the thief into submission, she went ahead and offered them. "Talion, I have more of the plants if you need them." She reached into a pocket and pulled out the leaves and flowers, holding out a slender hand to the man.

Looking down the alleyway, she decided here was as good as any to play out her rough idea. "Thief, this is where any input you have would be most appreciated. There is a book that was stolen from my people and I need it back. My gods would retrieve it themselves but they have no power in this heathen land. The book resides in the government-controlled Library, and I am planning to steal it tonight, with help from these people. Have you any ideas on how to get into the building? I can... deal with any guards there."

Supreme confidence was brimming off her. She was confident she was the most powerful being around this region, even though her powers didn't let her know the power signatures of anyone else. Once she had the book... she smiled. That book was the key to repaying these heathen easterners for taking and hiding it, and how... how fitting would that be, to scour them clean in a giant flood that would wash them all the way to the sea.

[Yyan]

“Master, I thought you already knew how to come and go as you pleased?” Talion asked, and Yyan faintly cringed. Why was he keeping on with the ‘master’? “I can show you again but we may need a place that won't be consumed in sunlight quite so quickly.”

Then we shall wait until night, Yyan replied and firmly fixed his gaze away from the pale young man, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. Though he felt pity for Talion, such feelings did not extend so far that he was willing to open himself to that writhing darkness for any longer than necessary.

It seemed his ploy worked; Talion seemed to lose interest in the current line of conversation, instead gazing to and fro with a hunted look in his eyes. “We should find another place. There are too many people here, too many eyes watching.”

While there were no eyes that he could detect, Yyan silently agreed that it might be dangerous to linger in one place for long.

Their newfound thief had at last acquiesced to Tsaikatlaua. That was good, Yyan thought with a wry sniff. Their conscript would have had to be incredibly stupid not to submit to their mistress’s demands, and having a stupid thief around would only likely get them all killed.

Or worse...

A chill came unbidden to Yyan’s skin when Tsaikatlaua mentioned a “government-controlled Library”, and he shivered. A... feeling, like a wisp of a dream or a forgotten memory, teased at the edge of his thought. It wasn’t anything that he could put into words, and that unnerved him more than anything. Suddenly he shared Talion’s paranoid suspicion that they were being watched, and he wanted nothing more than to be gone from this place.

Waiting until Tsaikatlaua had finished laying down the rough outline of their plan to the thief, Yyan stepped forward and rested a hand lightly on her shoulder. Mistress, perhaps we should find a place less out in the open to discuss the details of your plot. Yyan’s gaze shifted over to their newest companion; he was still annoyed by the thief’s previous behaviour, but at present he was inclined to be indifferent rather than hostile. A thief surely knows of hidden places more suited to this type of discussion?