The Shadow Begins...

[Zekk Brinewater]

Zekk walked calmly among the people of Turgus, hands in pocket and as nonchalant and discreet as possible. Ederra now had him running everywhere, this time the Captain of the Guard wanted a personal score settled with some guy who did him wrong somehow. He didn't need to know the details. All he needed to know is what the guy looked like, and how much he was being paid.

He stopped at a stall and bought a mango. He loved fruit, almost as much as meat. He'd probably have eaten nothing else but fruit if he wasn't the shifter that he was. He continued on his way as he bit into the sweet fruit. He scowled as someone once again bumped into him. Why was this forsaken place so crowded?

He hated this place. He hated everything about it. It was way too crowded to move right, and any attempt at pursuit when he found his target would be futile. And the worst part about it was that it was entirely and completely landlocked. He felt like a fish out of water (pun intended). The beast within rumbled with proest, craving the salty sea air of Ederra. Even a river would be preferred to this, or a stale pond even.

He decided to drop into a bar to get a drink and ask around for information on his next victim. It was called the Stray Tavern, on the dirtiest side of the city. The perfect place to fish for information, if you can survive it. But Zekk had no doubts about that as he strode in quietly and sat at a dark table off to the side as he watched the brutes drink merrily and the minstrel in the corner singing. It was cliché he knew, but it was as close as he felt to home.

[( eris )]

and from the shambles of a man
arose a god

Ah, Turgus. Such a stunningly human city. Eris pranced among the crowds in the marketplace with an out of place smile, her thick red hair moving with the warm land breezes that came across the ground. Of course, Eris didn't see this place for what it was. And she knew that. But she wouldn't let anything take it away from her. Not for the world. The world was such a horrificly ugly place when her usually deep psychosis lifted and she saw everything in the drab greys and mild sepias that the world truly was.

Ugh! And yet another human, bumping into her rudely. The expression on her face went from a vacant smile to a threatening snarl, and her fists balled at her sides, and she eyed the other person down with her blue-green eyes. A quick mumble to herself and she was off. "Fucking humans." After stomping away, the vacant smile returned to her face. The world was so much more colorful in her mind than what it really was. She knew this, and she didn't want it to end.

Her wandering led her to the edge of town, into the bad parts that were even more ugly than the regular world. But she didn't notice, as she walked into an open bar and smiled a hello at everyone who turned to look at her. Her appearance would strike one as elven, except that she wasn't exactly tall. Her five-foot-six stature would look tiny compared to normal elves. Oh well, she was a shifter. She couldn't really care less.

As she made her way to the back of the place where the bar actually was, she was greeted by a man with a crooked smile. Hello, pretty lady. he said to her, winking his wrinkled eye. She looked at him at first with her smile. But then, she noticed something, and her smile faltered. He didn't fit her world. He was ugly, old, and slightly overweight. He was painstakingly human. He was imperfect, unlike everything else in her psychosis. Gradually, she slipped out of it, and saw the dim colors of the tavern one by one.

Eris looked in horror around her, and then let out a shrill scream, which drew the attention of most everyone in the tavern, and down right startled the man in front of her. The ugly, imperfect man. Her terror shifted to rage when she saw him again. She snarled. "You can't take that away from me!" she screamed, and of course, no one would know what she was talking about except herself. Before anyone could anticipate her actions, she had swung one of the barstools into his face.

That's when things started to go downhill. The man who had felt the full brunt of her violence was unconscious on the floor, while a few others were on their feet and heading toward her. "You're all imperfect humans! You're all ugly!" she screeched, reaching around and slashing the bartender across the face, then skittering away toward the back of the tavern. A small mob followed her, shouting.

Being cornered, her face again turned to one of horror. "I'll teach you, vermin!" And then, all resemblance of a humanoid creature that her body had fell away, and her true form was revealed: a snarling, growling tiger. Before the mob around her could react, she lunged at one of them, wrapping her large jaws around their arm and shredding. Then she stood in front of them, menacing, with nothing else to do. The world was still ugly and imperfect.

[Zekk Brinewater]

Zekk hadn't even had a chance to order a drink when a stunning young woman walked in, strutting as if this were a palace and she owned it. And of course he wasn't the only guy to notice her. Who couldn't? The biggest of the brutes stood up and walked his way towards her, with rape probably on the mind. That disgusted him. Humans could be so despicable..

Next thing he knew, this lady was screaming nonsense about how ugly he was and knocked him out with a barstool! Zekk's eyebrows raised as he was sitting back surveying the scene as everyone else stood up in protest and made their way to the unconscious comrade and her. He resented being associated with these goons by her, as human and ugly. But then again, she probably didn't see him.

He stood up calmly and made his way out the door after everybody else had cornered this crazy woman. This was just too interesting to stay where he was. He still held his mango in his hand and took one last big bite before dropping it on the table. The bartender was still busy screaming and clutching his face. He made his way around the table and towards the spectacle.

Then something marvelous happened: the psychopath morphed into a beautiful tigress, which just as a cornered animal would do she struck with desperate ferocity. She shredded an arm and stood there, searching for a way out no doubt. Zekk pushed his way through the crowd to make his appearance to her, gazing strait into her wild eyes with his sea blue ones. The term 'calm as the sea' usually applied to this as he used to calm the children of slain parents with them, not always his victims.

He turned around and pushed everyone surrounding him back, to which they howled in protest. "Let me handle this!" he shouted above them, staring them down into submission. He turned back around to her, trying to figure out how to effectively calm her down.

[Sky*]

Sky was in Turgus searching for new recruits to join Zekk and him in The Shadow. The city was extremely crowded, he figured the chances of him finding a shifter to join them would most likely be doubled here compared to any of the other human cities. Along with that, it seemed it would also be twice as dangerous for a shifter to get caught here.

Sky flew above the city, an eagle in the sky. He searched the many faces crowding the roads to see if he could find anyone who looked interesting enough to be a shifter. Humans were too boring - living there lives doing the same thing their father or mother did just to die and, in the end, only leave a child or two behind. Sky wanted more than that. He wanted to educate the world about those who come into this life with no choice, but to be a shifter and eliminate the humans who were too arrogant or foolish to listen. Although, he did not wish to be human or, by any means, was ashamed of what he was. He just wanted to change the world - was that too much to ask?

As Sky searched the sea of people, he would often watch those that broke away from the crowd to see if he could find anyone shifting - to no avail. Still, he searched. Then he saw a shifter, though this one he already knew; it was Zekk. The leader of the cause, himself, with a fruit in hand. Sky did not know Zekk was here; he figured the man would still be in Ederra with jobs of assassination. Perhaps, he had come here to find Sky or maybe, he was here on a job. Either way, it would be good to discuss further ways to recruit more shifter.

Sky flew overhead Zekk and watched him enter a bar in a shady part of town. This was probably a sign that he was on a job and not here to meet with Sky. Thinking he would have to wait, Sky landed on the roof of the bar. Talons keeping him steady as he both searched the crowd for recruits and waited for Zekk to emerge from the bar. After a few moments of hearing the always roaring crowd, he heard yelling and all sorts of noises coming from inside the bar. This did not seem like a good sign, but he knew Zekk could take care of himself. If needed, he would fly above Zekk, once he was out of the bar, and lead him the quickest and safest route, for a shifter, out of town.

[( eris )]

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[atrb=background,http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab164/SyndromeSyd/eristable2.png] In the midst of all the shouting and chanting and anger that was going on between the tigress and the small mob of people in the tavern, there was one voice that rose above all the others. One that ran sweetly into Eris's ears, despite the manner in which it was shouted. The strawberry-colored tiger's eyes lifted to the face of one man, who pushed all of the others back, and for the first time in a long time, was pleasant to her eyes. There weren't a lot of things in the real world that Eris liked. Which is why she created such a deep psychosis for herself. Among the things that she did enjoy were flowers, bright colors, and beautiful people. This man, this one that was brave enough to face the tiger, did not fall below Eris's standards of being beautiful. The growl sunk in the tigress's throat and her ears, that had been pinned against her head, perked up. Her light colored face dropped its snarl, and she was more or less calm. This man... He didn't appear elven, which most beautiful people were. Eris absolutely despised humans. They were indeed the ugliest race. But this one just... didn't fit. Yes, that was the right phrase. And then a thought ran through her head that seemed to make sense. Perhaps he was like her. Yes, that made perfect sense! Finally, something perfect in a very imperfect world! This had to be a first for Eris in her experiences with what people called "reality". She gave one last snarl at an ugly man to the rough left of her before shifting back into the beautiful red-headed girl that was her mask. She walked up to the beautiful man in a gait that could only be called a stride; for it was smooth and easy. She paid no attention to the mob of unattractive people around her, all watching with anticipation. Around her, the drab colors of the dusty tavern began to boost into the bright and vibrant colors of Eris's fantasy world. She was coming back out of it, and she was happy once again. Not everyone around her seemed happy at what she had done, but she couldn't care less now that she was once again insane. Those bouts of temporary sanity that she had were absolutely terrible. Eris gave her best smile at the man, charming and bright, showing off her rather large canines. In the midst of the silent mob, someone broke the silence with a rather annoying and profane phrase aimed at the redhead. She merely hissed at them in return, and focused once again on the handsome male in front of her. "Shall we get out of this incessantly ugly place?" And with that, she turned toward the door and started to walk away. The mob of people wouldn't have this, however, and instantly tried to grab onto the now humanoid-looking girl, as she looked a lot weaker when she wasn't a snarling tiger with rippling muscle. She shrieked and hissed, slashing and kicking to get away from them. She bolted out the door as soon as she could, not waiting for the other shifter to come out of the tavern before she tore off down the narrow alleys. If he was truly interested in her, he would follow.

[Zekk Brinewater]

Zekk smiled sweetly at this beautiful, delusional girl as she became calm again and turned back into a human. He wasn't sure whether it was a compliment to his physical traits as to why she didn't categorize him as one of the "ugly people," or simply because she sensed he was a shifter as well. Maybe both. But she wouldn't know WHAT he shifted into until they got to water. Hopefully that wouldn't scare her.

As she moved to leave and people started grabbing at he ragain, Zekk pushed off those that he could and placed his hand on her lower back to help push her out of the mob and out the door, being sure not to pit too mich pressure before sye started attacking him as well. Zekk was right behind her running, wondering if he should take the lead as she didn't seem like the kind of person who always knew where they were going.

He looked up and saw a familiar hawk circling the sky, and recognized him as his second-in-command Sky. No doubt he would lead them to the quickest way out of this city and see their probable imminent danger due to their breakneck pace, so he sprinted a little ahead of this woman to get the lead.

"This way!" he said to her as he took a right, praying to whatever gods that were listening that she would follow. "Trust me! I'll explain once we get out of here!" He followed Sky's lead and through the shortcuts of the city until they got to the gates and burst through. Once he got to the outside, only then did he stop a small distance away and turn to see if she followed him, as well as for Sky to drop amd find out what hapened.

[Sky*]

Sky saw a girl come running out of the bar, along with Zekk and men shouting angrily at them. He was right, they would need him to lead them out of the city. He flew up in the air and circled above them, screeching to get Zekk's attention. Once Zekk looked up, Sky bolted forward, feathers ruffling in the wind.

He lead them down a few side alleys to knock off any men who were following. Then, he had them go out the gates to the city. As Zekk came out of the gates, Sky flew down towards the ground. Hoping the wall to the city would hide him shifting, he shifted back into human form. He disliked being in human form and on the ground when a chase was happening, it made him feel like he was trapped with nowhere to go. In the sky, he had no limits and could, undoubtedly, get away from anyone chasing him. On the ground - not so much...

He quickly jogged up to Zekk, arm and chest muscles flexing with adrenaline. "What's going on? What happened? he asked the leader of The Shadow. Although he had assumed something had gone down in the bar, he was curious about this girl who had ran out of the bar with Zekk. Perhaps, she was a shifter who wanted to join the group and one of the humans in the bar had overheard them talking about it - but Sky knew Zekk was not careless when it came to secrecy. After all, the man was an assassin.

He looked Zekk over. The shark shifter did not have any wounds or marks on him that would denote a heavy struggle. And, he knew Zekk would not shift in the bar... No large body of water. After weighing all options in his mind, it seems the most logical explanation for the two needing an escape from the city came down to her; the girl.

[( eris )]

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[atrb=background,http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab164/SyndromeSyd/eristable2.png] Eris was good at running, if she did say so herself. Naturally as a tiger, she was Queen of the Jungle, and nothing could stand in her path. Her bluish-green eyes narrowed in her determination, as she could clearly hear the clamor of feet behind her. She knew that she and this other man that had helped her were being pursued, but they were obviously faster than the humans. They were animals. The tiger shifter was slightly startled when the other shifter came up beside her to take his place in front of her. At first she was confused, but then he told her to follow him. He would explain once they got to safety. Well, this man better have a good plan, because Eris was good at getting herself into things; bad at getting herself out. She obediently followed the man as they turned into another alley. But then, she heard the sharp call of an eagle above, and she looked up when the man in front of her did as well. Sure enough, there was the large bird in the sky, leading them to safety. This was just fantastic! Eris had finally found a couple like her that would do her the biggest favor they could: not be ugly. To her, all shifters were beautiful in their own way, as they were all natural, all connected. And Eris sure felt connected. In and out of alleyways this eagle led them, obviously trying to rid them of the mob. And little by little, the group of humans in hot pursuit of the two shifters dwindled, until the last of them gave up, and they were free to get out of the bounds of the city. By this time, Eris’s heart was beating loudly in her chest and in her ears, and each of her breaths came with a sharp pain in her lungs like burning. This was sure a workout. But soon, it was over, and the eagle dropped down from his guiding place in the sky, putting his mask back on as a human. And my, was he a very lovely human to Eris’s eyes. She panted lightly with the heat of the chase, and listened to the eagle’s queries about what happened. “I suspect that it is my fault.” Eris stated lightly. She would take all the blame, yes, but she was far too happy about it. “And I also should thank you beautiful people for bailing me out of that sticky situation.” She said with a giggle. “My name is Eris, what are your names?” She figured that she should get introductions out of the way, and then they could get down to business with the explaining part. For all she knew, they could just be a club of gorgeous people just like her, and recognize that she was truly a sight for sore eyes in an ugly world. That would be the perfect place for her!

[Zekk Brinewater]

Zekk merely pointed his thumb at the beautiful woman that followed him outnwhen Sky asked what happened. He was in really good shape and enjoyed runnijg, so he wasn't too out of breath. But running through an entire city as big as Turgus could take a little wind out of anybody.

And she politely took the blame for it. As Sky probably knew, because Zekk liked a big show. When he wasn't discreet, he'd have the whole city after him, not just a tavern. Nothing else would suffice for him, the man of show. "Yes, of course it was your bad!" Zekk replied, not in a harsh but pleasant tone, smiling at her.

Eris, she said her name was. Like heiress, almlst. And damn, did she look like one! "My name is Zekk, and this is Sky. We were glad to help you get out of a bad situation. What else are shifters for, right?" he asked, still smiling and trying to be as friendly as can be. There was no telling how truly unstabke she was.

Now, to get to the explaining part. "Well, my beautiful Eris, don't get me wrong but I'm not one to help too many people. But not only are you just too pretty too let you be around despicable humans," he added, winking, "but I can sense your dislike of them. And I llead a group devoted to be against the... Uglies, or anyone who tries to put their hands on you that you don't want to. And we'd like for you to join."

[Sky*]

Sky saw Zekk point over his shoulder with his thumb and followed the line of his point. It lead straight into the eyes of beauty - for that's what they were. Then he noticed her flowing red hair that were like a waterfall of brilliant color.

He heard her speak though only processed some of the words. Beautiful people? Who talks like that? he thought to himself as the words after were just a blur. It was a good thing Zekk introduced him because he was only slowly gaining back his ability to speak, which ability only came back to his tongue just as Zekk ended.

He walked right past Zekk without even realizing it. "Damn beautiful Eris, if I didn't pray to Avira, goddess of the sky, you would surely be my goddess," Sky spoke as smoothly as something like that could be said. Although he was usually a level headed guy, this woman had caught him off guard.

"Join me, Eris. Join me as whichever beautiful creature you shift into and we will fight all our days together!" Sky said as he reached out for her hands, hoping to hold them close to his heart. He left all caution aside as he approached this shifter he had just met. If she shifted into a big creature, she could probably take his head off before he could even react. Little did he know, she could shift into a big creature...