A Pleasant Walk

Rasei

The little town Leosival was full of the most shady characters. Rasei found this very refreshing, from most cities where most expected her to glide around with the 'peace' and 'serenity' of an angel. Rasei preferred to call this 'high-nosed idiocy'. There was nothing wrong with enjoying one's self, just because one has wings and a halo. The wings and halo weren't all they were presumed to be anyway. They didn't bestow unlimited wisdom, just a rather amusing perk of being able to fly. And the side-effect of occasionally glowing, which was irritating if you were trying to sneak up on someone.

Rasei felt her wings lying flat against her back, tickling the base of her neck, but invisible to those around her, the perfectly legitimate looking men and women who gave themselves away with side-glances and nervous gestures, and the more flamboyant ones who took every stereotype of 'criminal' to the extreme. Some of those stared-she thought it no arrogance to admit her beauty, but to dissuade those who were a little too interested, she patted her sword hilt. The blade was good steel, but it was plain, without any the foppish tendencies of her kindred.

Not that she really needed it. The infamous nobleman, or ex-nobleman to be precise, Zusahw Schalver walked beside her, his hard, handsome face scanning the 'rabble' with the detachment of a bodyguard, blonde hair cropped short and dyed red with henna in a weak disguise. But everyone knew who Schalver was and walked past him quickly. Zusahw wasn't really a bad man, just fond of young women with powerful fathers. And if a man set his guards on you, of course you were going to draw your blade and try to make good your escape. the result was a large bounty on Schalver's head.

Her other companions were the only ones out of her group of 'knaves' as she affectionately called them she had allowed to accompany her. They were Jistn and Lyr Baciri, the tall hulking men, servants of Schalver who served her with the same awe they served him, were uncomplicated men. Rasei loved their sort. It was so very easy to manipulate them.

"Unicorn horns for sale!" Rasei looked at the fellow's goods and immediately decided they were in fact carved ivory, with some disgust at the thought of chopping off a unicorn's horn.

"Rasei," Zusahw's fingers drifted toward her back, stopping when they met the unseen obstruction of her wings, "There's something not right."

Rasei felt it too, a warning prickle along the hollow bones of her wings, but she distracted him with a flippant reply.

She had foreseen this development.

Laerilla Nessiel

The slender assassin crept her way though the towering buildings, stepping over the dirt and rubbish of the Black Market. She was on a hunt, nothing different from every other day, this one was just slightly larger then the rest of the unimportant royalty around.

A slight swish of her black locks, she peered into the falling darkness though already knowing no one was following. She didn't appear any different from the other illegals here, she knew the ways of the killer and the ways to stalk without being caught. It was important that her prey, this time above many, was not alerted of her approaching death. The angel, Rasei, was know for both her erratic ways and her ability to frustrate Mother Death.

Green orbs locked on her target, the white wings standing out between all the other misfits around. Being one of the Antianara kind, she could piece the ways of illusions, even the strongest of angels could not foll her. Continuing forth, a hand slid between her robe and rested upon the hilt of her favourite weapon. A small dagger, jagged edges, razor sharp.

All she had to wait until Schalver and his cronies left Rasei. The angel was unpredictable, but she wasn't fond of nursemaids, according to her spies.

Zusahw and the Baciri twins were crowding her, and Rasei temper was fraying. She hated the theft of independence, even if it was in her head (it was, she knew, her weakness), and the feeling of something was making the tips of her wings flutter with nervous anticipation.

Whatever was coming, she didn't need three human louts to protect her from it. They would slow her down, get in her way. Her talent was using the curious combat methods of angels to full advantage, something she couldn't do if there were humans untrained in the way of fighting with angels around.

So she ordered them back to the camp of her knaves and went to calm herself.

She stood, staring down into the falls of never-aging on the edge of the town, where few came. Most found that drop, that lack of firm earth frightening. Rasei found it exhilarating. The taste of freedom.

Laerilla Nessiel

The even paced stride continued forth, green orbs trained upon her very target. Everything else around them was a blur, yet she still knew that the person three houses over just cut her finger off. That the lady cowering behind her stall was attempting to sell troll eyes, saying that they were magic.
Laerilla muttered under her breath about the idiots of the day and how nothing even changed with the numb headed misfits.

The dagger slowly shifted from where it rested, still hidden from view but now ready to attack. She was all but touching Rasei now, her arm slowly pulling back, ready to make the final move. But she could not help but pause, orbs trained upon the angel.

Her dark skin shining with perfection under the setting light of the suns rays. Black orbs staring over the falls of never-aging, yet to have noticed her approaching death. Laerilla breathed deeply, frozen where she stood and wondered why she had stopped. This had never happened before, she was after all a killer from birth. so why was one womans beauty affecting her so?

Growling to herself, she forced herself to look away and move from the final blow.

Rasei

Rasei felt a presence at her back, but her body seemed sluggish, slow to respond as she whirled.

The assassin stood there, dressed not unlike the grubby crowds, with a serrated dagger in one hand, but the point was tilted away from the optimum strike and there was blatant confusion pressed upon those golden features. Rasei didn't stop to wonder why an Antianara, for only they could have sneaked up on her like that, had make such a mistake. She lunged, flaring her wings to had extra force to her leap, and grabbed in both hands her would-be killer's knife hand. She could feel the power in the muscles under her fingers and had the grim realization that she was stronger than Rasei but most certainly more agile than a man.

But she most certainly wasn't going to die, not like this.

Laerilla Nessiel

Laerilla blinked in shock as Rasei grabbed her hand, leaping into the air with a flicker of wing beats. But, despite this extra, it was clear that she was much stronger then the slender built angel.
Yanking her hand free, she quickly snaked her arms around her waist and pulled her back down to the earth.

Somehow, those of the market were yet to notice the odd battle between assassin and angel. Gritting her teeth as she pinned the woman, she could not help but love the feel of the soft feathers brushing against her cheek. Or the way that her slim waist fit perfectly into her arms.

"Stop struggling!" she hissed, still holding her in place with ease "It will be quick!"

Rasei

Rasei laughed hoarsely, "If you were going to do it quickly, you would have done it while I was still unaware of you. Rather silly mistake for you to make." She squirmed, trying to find a weakness in the implacable grip holding her to the ground. Her instincts were wild with the need to escape, fly away, but she could hardly fly without her wings free. "I'd do the normal begging for mercy routine but it's not really my cup of tea, to be quite honest. And neither is dying. So if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to." She was astonished to find that she would have been enjoying this...err...embrace if the woman hadn't been trying to kill her, but Rasei thought it rather bad form to think an enemy was most attractive.

She threw all of her strength suddenly in an attempt to break free, lashing out and attempting to flare her wings.

Laerilla Nessiel

The arms still wrapped tightly around her, the struggling continued. But as Rasei tried to force herself away, Laerilla just tightened her grip. She wasn't going to give up easily.
"Just stop!" she grunted against the hard thrust of her wings "and I would of..."
She halted herself there, still unsure why she hadn't been able to make the final blow.
"Can you just sit still so I can!" she said still struggling o hold her completely still. But in doing so, her grip loosened slightly.

OOC: ickky...soz...

Rasei

"And you'll what?" Rasei demanded, trying to twist free still. It was only when she moved that the assassin tightened her grip, but hell, was she meant to just stand there with an assassin practically hugging her? She loosened all the tension in her body and then tried to free herself, but she suspected the assassin was expecting such a move and the grip never loosened up. "Oh come on, what do you want? My recipe for blueberry muffins? Just let go or kill me already. The suspense is getting to me, and that's something, m'dear assassin."