The Call (Katia/Tisha)

Katia came to the end of the marked path, looking up at the sky to see that it was beginning to get too dark for comfort. She was confident that she would have no problem in finding her way out, but it was not recommended to actively go seeking trouble in The Blackened Forest. She was trying to be as inconspicious as possible, not showing off her ability to get about on her own. She needed to be careful on the borderline of paranoid.

There was no one as prepared as someone who had covered all their stops.

She pulled the hood of her cloak down, assuming that for this particular mission letting her guard down and appearing as trusting as possible would be the best route to go on. Of course, she had been wrong before, a rare occurance that it was. She always went with her gut however.

Katia headed off the path, no particular direction in mind, her face cold and expressionless as if set in stone. She imagined the best bet of finding the one she sought would be to let them come to her. She was powerful enough and confident enough that she would be able to hold off attacks.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she spotted a woman in the forest, wondering if it was her lucky day. The fates were on her side, apparantly.

"I'm looking for someone," she said, announcing her presence. "Perhaps you can help me?"

It was about to get dark.

She used to go to the forest at any time of the day, but night, it was something else. The dark energy of that place called her, made her feel powerful, lived in her a bit.

Yes, she liked it, and planned to enjoy any moment she could get.

One of the biggest tree was her new home. With her magical part, she made a proper room out of it, comfy, big. Everything she needed was there, stolen from someone and brought to her by people who envied her, servant, nobodys. It was like her little kingdom, like back home with her grandma, only it didn't make her happy now, for she didn't feel like she would be a good ruler.

That's why she felt, well, not happy, but releafed when she heard that a new person arrived to bring everything back to it's place. A winner, someone strong, ruthless, intelligent and fearless.

A dark lady.

Someone told her before that she needs to expect an important visit in the future. Years passed from this, but Tisha could never forget the words spoken by an old seer, only moments before she killed her with her bare hands.

A weird smile was on her face.

"Perhaps I can", she replied, a cold note in her voice, but her eyes hid the real interest.

Katia was pleasantly surprised to see the woman so calm about her approach. From the stories she'd heard, she was expecting someone much more...neurotic. And quick to pounce. Though as she thought about it, she wasn't sure this was a good thing or not.

Stepping forward, she headed closer towards the large tree, surverying the woman she was approaching, standing tall and raising her chin. There was a smile on her face, despite the cold tone to her voice, and if Katia had to she would guess the look in the woman's eyes was...expectant? Or perhaps curious. It was incredibly hard to tell, and very little in the woman's body movements was giving her away.

Perfect.

"I'm looking for a woman, rumoured to be half demon, amongst other things," Katia explained, sure that this was who she was looking for. Her eyes danced with excitement, though for the most part her face remained passive, smile threatening to break through. "I believe she can help me. And that I can help her."

As the woman was approaching her and her home, she couldn't help but to frown. Either she's really stupid, or she has nothing to fear, she concluded. Either way, I win.

She stood on her position, not moving at all, waiting, her hands ready to unleash the fury if it's needed, or to shake hands if she's the one. The frowning stopped, as a smile replaced it.

"A half demon?", she repeated, laughing and playing the role of a civilized forest demon. "And why do you want to find that, half demon woman?"

Katia's eyes flickered to the woman's brow as a frown appeared, lips pulling up into a slight smile. Possessive about the tree, one would assume it was where she lived then. Didn't like people getting close to it. Katia stopped, standing closer to her, but stopping quickly enough to take away any danger on her. Though she didn't really imagine there was much danger. The woman had reacted to Katia's presence a lot better than she thought she would've.

"I want to find her because I have a request to give her," Katia explained, glancing around the surroundings. It was getting very dark now, and she was finding herself short on time. She wasn't sure how long she had to play games with this woman, dodging round questions and dancing round their words. As entertaining as it was, she was pressed for time.

"I am assuming you are her," the dark haired woman said simply, turning her attention back to the woman, traces of any smile wiped off her now smooth, cold face, eyes piercing. "And I am assuming if you are not, you will be smart enough to pass on a message to her. I am looking for someone I can trust. I need someone who is familiar with death," she practically spat the word, resisting the urge to call it murder. "To help me in creating a new world. Which, from what I hear, we both are eager to have."

She glanced upwards at the swiftly darkening sky for a moment before returning to the woman. "Will you join me?" Katia questioned, wanting an answer before she gave anything away regarding her plans.

So she realizes that this is my home, Tisha thought. Good, we're one step ahead now. With a slight lift and strong handwork, she climbed on one of the branches, sitting on it like a lady, kicking the tree with her legs, barefoot and dirty from the grass, like a child that is playing innocently. "A request?", the woman repeated.

"I see. Yes, it happens to be that I am her, and I'm also very interested in creating a new world. I was waiting for you for a long time, and was starting to get bored." Her eyes were wild while talking and her cheeks became red. "I think of my self, like I'm some kind of a visionary. I clean the world from vermin, but inside me lives a fury that makes it hard for me to control my self. I get too bloodthirsty..."

Yes, a child, that's what she was, even though she looked like a grownup, inside she was a lethal baby that played with her victims, along with everyone else.

Katia watched, slightly fascinated, as the woman in front of her spoke, face turning into an excited almost child-like look, despite the words she spoke. The dark haired woman allowed a smile to grace her face once again, feeling pleasure swell. She was even better than Katia could imagine.

"I agree, that something needs to be done about it. This world is not big enough for us all, and I believe I know how to clean it. We need to purge the world of vermin," she explained. "I can help you control your fury. I can give you victims to satisfy your thirst."

But then the first part of the woman's words sunk in, and she raised a brow curiously. "You have been waiting for me?" she asked. "For how long have you been expecting me?"

There was no need to assume the woman was expecting her. Perhaps she was just expecting someone to come and right the world of its wrongs. It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask.

She raised an eyebrow, her childlike face smiling. "You are her. The stars were also right. Yes, we must clean this beautiful world, ruin them, feed on their fear, I am ready to stand behind you..."

"Once, many, many years ago, there lived an old seer that tried to curse me.", she started telling her story. "I shall skip to the important part. Before she could finish it, I felt it and came to her. The old witch had a premonition about this moment, and told me about it unintentionally. Then I killed her with my hands, and I think that's when the fury started to live in me."

Katia listened to the woman talk, surprised that the seer had given the woman a premonition about this moment, but pleased about it too. It only gave her more confidence in the task at hand.

She smiled as the woman finished and gestured to the woman as she spoke. "I am very lucky to have found you. Such a fury, we can put it to good use. So what will I call you, I assume you have a name?" Katia asked, a hint of friendly teasing in her voice. "I wish to learn more about you, and your origin. It's not every day I meet a half-demon," she said.

In fact, Katia wasn't sure she'd ever met one.

With her childlike manners, she jumped from her tree to the ground, landing on her toes perfectly, like a ballerina or a gymnast. Nodding her head in approval, she agreed on everything the woman said. "I'm sure we can, my Lady", she said to her, coldly. "Do you like the sound of it?"

"The woman who was my mother gave the name Tisha Mebarak to me, which I genuinely dislike. My grandfather added Jade (Ha-Day), to it and since my birth, people were calling me that. Actually, they called me a lady, even though I wasn't one by nature, until I made them stop and regret it. You are free to call me as it pleases you, my Lady. I don't know your name also.", she told her, again smiling like a naughty child.

"It is a long story...mysterious to me also."

Katia was pleased when the woman jumped down the the tree, taking it as a good sign of sorts. "I do like the sound of it. Thank you for waiting for this meeting so long."

She listened carefully to the woman explain her names. Katia wasn't sure if woman was a good way to describe her, after seeing how childlike she was, despite her age. It was certainly not something she'd come across in the people she usually delt with, though everyone could still be childish when they let their guard down.

"It sounds like Jade is the name you like the most," she said, tipping her head down slightly as she spoke again. "I am Katia, though you may call me Lady Zmey, or continue calling me my Lady. The two are very similar."

At the idea of the story being a long one, Katia folded her hands together in front of her and glanced up at the sky, noting that it was now complete darkness above the canopy, signalling nightfall. She turned back to Jade with a small smile. "A story for another time then, perhaps? Unless you are comfortable sharing it now. I have heard it is not wise to stay in these woods after dark," though she couldn't imagine she would have a problem. Katia was aware that she didn't want to upset the creatures who lived here.

"Lady Zmey, I like that too. Maybe it's better like that", she concluded, looking in the distance and becoming more serious by the moment. "Inside me, there are two beasts my lady. I am aware of both, but I control my temper when I want to. It is not that hard for me, cause I've been living with them my whole life", her story started.

"I know you're not afraid of the woods, lady Zmey, but if you're searching for something more comfortable, my home is up there", she said, pointing towards her tree home.

Katia absorbed what Jade said, but couldn't help smile at her suggestion of using her home to be more comfortable. "You're right, I'm not afraid of the woods. I would like to be more comfortable," she said, stepping closer to the woman, curious as to what tree home was like. "I'm under the impression you don't usually have visitors, however. Are you willing to make an exception for myself?"

She wanted to know about the 'two beasts' inside of Jade. She was intrigued by the woman's history, and the way her mind worked. "So is it true?" she questioned carefully. "Are the things I've heard of you being a half demon correct?" though the more time she spent with the other woman, the more she could see it. "I assume that's what these two beasts inside of you refer to?"

It was almost completely dark now and an unnatural mist appeared around them. "We're not alone, Katia, Lady Zmey." the woman spoke, looking around, not fearing anything. "I think we should go up. Do you trust me enough to give me your hand? I kill with those hands, but will never hurt you with them, from this day on."

"You'll see/hear everything Lady Zmey", Jade told her, offering her a hand.

Trusting unknown people was not something Katia made a habit out of. Faking trust, perhaps, but not openly trusting them. Despite this, she gave an ambiguous smile and took the hand offered, stepping forward and placing herself in hands of a stranger.

It was a good thing she believed she was powerful enough to fight off betrayal.

"Lead the way, Jade," Katia said, eyes never leaving the woman next to her. "I am eager to hear and see everything."

She would never lie to someone who she respected the way she now respected her new boss. The woman was like a hammer without a master, she needed someone to lead her, comfort her, she was strong but weak in the same time, killing was in her blood and her passion but her two monsters took too much from her. That's why she waited for Lady Zmey, knowing she'll be the one to 'save' her.

Whispering gently to her tree, she let it suck both of them inside it. Moments later they were home.

"This is it, my lady."