Renewed Energy, Replacing what was lost (Second)

[Ariana]

Ariana had only returned recently to the place that she had once called home. She still did but there was so much going on that she had missed in her time away that she almost felt as though she needed to find her place again amongst the others. Either way a few knew she was back and that was enough for her. If the leaders needed her they would be able to find her with little trouble. She had still taken to her old hunting grounds. However now instead of hunting she was far to consumed in creating a new bow for herself. The temporary long bow that she had created . But it was just that. Temporary. In her time away she had managed to go home and get to the tree that Hatori had been made out of.

She was now crouched over a fallen tree working on creating a brand new bow. There were shards of wood all around her as she worked by what little moonlight there was. A peregrine falcon was in the tree resting and a small fox was out wondering around, probably in search of food. Ariana's long hair was in a messy braid. Many tendrils of hair had fallen and were now concealing her face the way the weeping willow branches hang down. Pointed ears twitched with ever sound that was not made by her. A snap of a branch there; a deer walking through the woods rubbing his antlers on a fresh sapling. She was exposed by the lake but it gave her the space she needed to work.

[KnOT Death.]

The tree's and plant life darkened as life around him quickly died away, the shadows emerged from the earth, quickly giving form to what was the new area known as Caliph Lake. Standing upright at a full six foot, the hooded figure tilted his head from side to side, letting the joints in his vertebrae crack loudly under dead corrupted flesh. He released a cold exhale, blowing steam in the midst of the usual climate of the land, the visage he held about himself showing little but death and an almost soul-less aura spanning out around him in the form of the shadows, acidic and venomous tendrils licking seductively at all the life in the earth around him. His every step whispered only spiteful words on what quickly became forsaken ground.

"Still he is out of my reach...Yet you have lead me here..." he spat coldly, glancing to the tendrils weaving off from his form, expectantly, "What interest to me, could this place bring...".

[Ariana]

A snap and her ears twitch. Again. Then a third time. Now she lifted her head to see what in the world would have made such a sound. It was not the typical snap of a branch from a deer. No this was something different. Something that should have otherwise sent chills up her spine. Honey amber eyes narrowed in thought as she looked around the darkness. Then the patter of feet made her look down at the small red fox who cowered behind her legs.

Mandre still asleep on the branch of a tree nearby. "Typical.." With a whisper of words and a shake of her head, she looked off in the direction of where the popping was emitted from. Then there was a voice that was so dark and chilling that it gave her goosebumps. She reached for the temporary bow that she had made and readied it. Arrow tip pointed at the ground with the string drawn slightly. With her speed and reflexes it would not take much to send an arrow into an enemy if need be. Hopefully it was just someone who'd lost their way.

[KnOT Death.]

Stepping out into the clearing, he neared the female, Ariana, making no attempts to keep himself hidden from sight, the flash of a spark followed by the dull glow of a lit cigarette caught the air in small wisps of smoke as the figure inhaled slowly from the cancer stick, watching her in thought. The shadows writhed up and around him in a frenzy of activity though he gave no heed to their lust for blood, they were feeding off of his own demeanor however, he knew nothing of this creature and her scent did not speak of any true blooded humans calling to him.

"She is the reason you talked me into coming here..." He shot the tendrils snaking around his torso a questioning glance before turning to look back at the female in disbelief, "What possible use would I have for her...".

[Ariana]

A tssk and then the sizzle of something burning nearby caused her left ear to twitched. A mili-second later she was facing the male with the bow and arrow raised, aiming towards his chest. It was not that she was looking for a fight, rather the contrary, she was looking to protect herself and these lands that she had grown fond of.

"Perhaps instead of speaking about 'her' to yourself you could approach and introduce yourself." She spoke quietly to see if he would be able to hear her. Her sensitive ears had so clearly heard his voice and what he was saying to what appeared to be himself. It was too dark for her to see the black tendrils moving around at his feet. Honey amber eyes lit up like the morning sun, casting a pink glow down upon her cheeks.

[KnOT Death.]

"How about you lower your bow before you end up hurting yourself...Or forcing my hand".

He stayed put a moment as he watched her, soon deciding to send the shadows out into the night separating himself from them as they begun to span out across the grass floor and circle ever so subtly around behind the female, keeping a good ten feet away from her and not moving further.
He snickered slightly, the thick plume of cigarette smoke exhaling with every word as he began to make his way closer towards her.

"You're doing yourself no favors by drawing such a primitive weapon like that to harm one such as myself".

|Sorry, short post. It's early and I've just woken up...Still adjusting.|

[Ariana]

She huffed and only lowered the weapon enough to where if she needed it it would be there for her. The arrow tip would be pointed towards the ground. "Sometimes it is the simple weapon that can cause the most damage. Even to an elder like yourself.." She removed the arrow from the bow and returned it to the quiver with the rest of the arrows that, like the bow she was working on, were hand made.

Ariana tossed coffee color locks away from her face as she kept her amber eyes on the man. "What is your name, stranger?" No one was ever what they seemed. For all she knew this dark hooded man was in fact the proverbial teddy bear beneath the hard exterior. There was a hiss behind her from the peregrine falcon. Something had caught his attention but she could not bring herself to look away from this man.

[KnOT Death.]

As her bow lowered, he did not withdraw the Shadows back to him though they remained in place, not inching further despite the fact that he could sense their eagerness to kill her, a mind of their own, they did not used to be so sadistic, yet he knew in his mind it was upon him, the blame for their taint, as equally so as it was their taint upon him.

She asked of his name, his eyes narrowed some, he knew it was not yet time to speak of truths so close to home, his sister knew of his presence but he did not think his brother had yet come to realize his being in the land, rumors could ruin everything at this point and so, slightly uncomfortably, he gave his fathers name in his stead.

"Marcus Nathaniel Crane...".

His eyes did not leave her.

"You would not know of me".

[Ariana]

She was suspicious of him and her eyes showed it as they narrowed to look at him once more. Taking in each and every visible feature from head to toe. "I was not asking your name to see if I knew you. It was what some might call 'courtesy'" Ariana spoke back to him with a cool level headed tone. Her mind was, of course, thinking of others things. Yet she had no reason to speak of him to the others in the estate. Learning that she was meant to be on the outside in the woods away from the others.

"Besides, I'd rather know the person for who they are now and not their past. Hiding in the shadows does not scare me.." She turned her back to him then and took the few steps back towards her work space. She turned her body enough so that she could keep an eye on this new comer and dust the trimmings off the new bow she was creating. "My name is Ariana Miriel.." she tilted her head and looked at him with a smirk playing at her lips. "You would not know of me."

[KnOT Death.]

The figure snickered under his breath at her remark, nodding slightly and raising a hand briefly to gesture the Shadows to return to the abyss they came from, his eyes traveled the female's figure a moment and quickly decided she'd be no threat to him, he didn't let his guard down though he did close in the distance between the two, approaching to look down upon the Bow she was working on, watching for a time in silence before finally speaking to her once more.

"The almost silent weapon of a Hunter..." He glanced back to Ariana and nodded in conclusion, she did seem much the sort from what he could tell."Slower than a firearm though much more subtle, lighter and easier to cover ground with...Interesting. You'd not see such weapons back in my home land...Once upon a time, perhaps but no more. Firearms and other crude weapons seem to be the preference amongst Mortals I've crossed lately...Though..You're no Mortal are you, Ariana".

[Ariana]

It had to be absolutely perfect. So the fact that in the silence that was left between the two was spent on running her fingers along the parts of the wood that still needed to be trimmed down. Amber eyes caught the movement of something dark to the other side of her but she figured it was simply the shadows playing tricks on her. Not knowing how close to the truth she actually was. As he approached she set the heavy bow down to look at him. "Firearms. Guns. Weapons that require little training to use. Flip a switch, tap the trigger, and your done."

Ariana looked back down at the bow. "This is the weapon that I was taught how to hunt and protect on." She had yet to respond to his final statement of her not being a mortal. If it was not obvious enough than she did not know what else to do. "You know I am far from being a mortal, or a human as you may be thinking. Much like yourself we are.." she paused and a quick smile flashed across her features before they loss any sign of emotion."Unique."

[KnOT Death.]

"An interesting remark though you don't know enough about me to say such things, there are very few here that are anything like me and 'Unique' ? That has to be one of the nicer things I've been called in the time I've been here though my presence does not warrant any manners on your part kid, I'm not what your kind would call 'A good Soul', if you know what I mean...".

He stood in silence for a time more, watching her work on the bow before glancing around their surroundings casually, eventually turning to begin to walk away from her, clearing more than enough distance for him to need to shout or raise his voice loud enough to call back to the woman across the clearing.

"Why don't you show me what you're capable of with that Bow...", his eyes narrowed slightly though he was only smirking in both amusement and confidence, addmittedly, he was more curious than anything. "Try to hit me...".

[Ariana]

She lifted her head and watched him after placing the unfinished bow down. "As much as I would love to obliged you, and trust me I long to test out this bow even on someone willing." Ariana placed the bow back down along with the knife she was using to sheer away the wood bit by bit. The wood shaving littered the ground all around her work space. "When this bow is finished I'll have to find a way to tell you. I'm sure I'll find someway to alarm the man cloaked in the shadows that I am ready for his challenge. You will just have to understand that this needs to be perfect if it is going to work for my abnormal abilities that an average bow.." she paused and pointed to a smaller bow that she had gotten from a human shop. "..does not provide."

She gave a small smile at the thought of being able to use her new bow on the man. It meant he was confident in his abilities but so was she. If he was afraid that she would actually hit him she doubted it meant any real harm. "What gives you such confidence as to give me the chance to even test my bow out on you anyway?" Ariana questioned, actually intrigued by this stranger. Though she had a name he was still, unknown to her.

[KnOT Death.]

"I have existed amongst the realm of the living for a great many decades, long enough to perfect the skills I have and acquire those I do not. There is few that can rival me in combat and Marksmenship is ironically, one of my talents. Though you wouldn't believe it having these..."

He drew the shadows fourth out of the concealment of darkness, passed Ariana of which they had circled around her and remained hidden until now, and back to his form.

"Shadow Inquisitor, I have been called, a title given to my by the shadows, ironically. They speak to me, they feed off of my emotions, my anger especially. Should I be eliminated without passing them on, they too will die out...They come and go as they please though they dare not ignore my commands...This is of course, one reason why I am confident. In time, maybe you will discover the other reasons on your own".

[Ariana]

Ariana listened to all that he had to say. A few questions popping into her mind as he spoke and she took a mental note to ask him once he finished speaking. He had a lot to say that she needed to take it. A few things brought up his past and a few things brought up his present.

Shadows slipped passed her almost unseen had the moonlight not been so bright this evening. It was more than enough for her to see them. Why she had not before was unknown to her and she could not figure out why she had not seen the darkness around her moving.

"Are the shadows that follow you an entity all in themselves of are they a part of you until the end of your days?" She took a step closer to get a better look at these shadows. Ensuring not to over step her boundaries with this strange wanderer. "I believe that anyone can be a true marksman even with a little something extra at your disposal.." She glanced over to Mandre, but she would never believe that the falcon was disposable, nor the fox that took to hiding in a bush.