Lánilmathién was not far from hunting to keep this creature, nor would she keep it. She wanted to see it. The truth was, since she heard the rumors in a tavern, she had wanted to see the Umbra as soon as she could. Three nights later, on the night of the quarter moon, she found herself carefully and skillfully stalking through the forest. She did not see an umbra, but she expected them to be further in.

She wore the basic black ninja garbs that draped loosely on her body, and a pair of tight boots and bracers on her feet and wrists. A brown ranger’s cloak was twirling with the force of the wind as she walked, and she did not stop. She continued to move, no matter what the cost. A Sword was belted at her waist, the golden hilt shining brightly with the little moonlight it could absorb. This was a blade of flame, and if she would have unsheathed it, and activated its magic, a single word could burn down this whole wood. Of course, she would not do that. The magic could also light everything up…But she enjoyed the dark, and therefore she continued her trek.

Three hours later, she rested quietly in a tree, a smirk on her pale face as she threw the two black braids over her shoulder once more. She had saw an Umbra, and an Umbra hunter, and she had killed her…She ran, of course, for the Umbra began to…Drink the blood…She would never wish to see one again, but she could hear them running and crunching the leaves already…They were coming to drink her dry next.

((T.T finally found it))

Xion had heard rumors in the local town’s tavern about the woods he had to pass through, and these rumors made the forest sound like a bad place for a mission, but Xion couldn’t be picky. After trying his hardest, he had found a young boy to be his guide through the forest in trade for a weapon of some sort. The buy perspired to be some sort of hero, but oh, if only he knew. After only an hour of walking through the forest a loud crackling in the brush sent Xion darting through the woods listening to his guide’s screams of fear and pain, but he had one person in mind now, himself. Whistling loudly, he called for his gray owl Boris to fly to his side, and he did, then with one quick whisper in a foreign tongue the bird shot off ahead. He had told him to find a clearing, and the bird’s squawk signified he had. He picked up the pace.

Xion leapt through the bushes and gasped for air as he stared wide-eyed at a girl before him dressed to kill. She had looked like she was running as well, and right now Xion could use an ally, or at least someone who knew this forest. “What, the, Hell where those things?! They ate my guide! Merciful mother of god!” Xion gasped for air in between breaths until he got enough to support himself against a tree. Still breathing heavily, he leaned against the tree and waited for a reply, Boris waddling around on the forest floor picking up the small bugs crawling around the tree roots.

Shain stood over the skull of a overly large canine. He was in a clearing, one he had been in before the last time he was in these blasted woods. He had come in search of these so called umbra this time. They were slippery creature, he had yet to see one. Looking around, he remanised about his last adventure here. He and another, Ethstar, had met these two beasts and were attacked. He swept his Shoulder length black hair out of his face. His white eyes seemed to glow. He had receveid the massive scars on his back as a result. His head jurked up at the sound of fast footfalls. Somaone was running this way. Leaping up, Sain grabbed a low hanging branche and hoisted himself up. Climbing higher to the next branche, he reached into his energy and called out a cloak of darkness. He was virtually invisible exept to those with the keenest eyesight. He watched as a woman entered the clearing, gasping for breath. From the sounds that issued far from the forest behind her, she had been chased. An owl hooted to his right. Looking toward that direction, he saw a familiar face enter the clearing; Xion. He was a rash, quick to anger person, ussualy seen with a lovely woman named Trinity. That was the only person whom Xion's anger did not extend to.

Shain watched as he also gasped for breath. Looks as if they found an umbra and weren't to happy. Xion called out to the other woman, asking about what had chased him and ate his guide. Shain lade back and readeid himself to listen to the conversation. He may join in after a while, when it neede perking up again.

The appearance of one man was a surprise to the female, and she stood as quickly as she could. Her words did not come out as easily as she could. Her eyes became similar to slants as she looked at the man in a cold and cruel gaze. She was not one to take allies, nor was she one to admit that she was cowering here temporarily, but now was not the time to think too much about what she normally did.

Carefully, cautiously, she stood erect and looked at the man in a kinder gaze. These creatures were a species called Umbra, and it is not rare for them to easily kill or search for some to kill. I cannot say I was running, nor can I say if I was not, but I may clearly state that you and I are…Fighting a common enemy, and it is only right if we teamed up to fight against it…Good with you?

She did not give him her name, and she knew she needed to give him one, so she carefully ran over the list of alias’ she used when in positions like this, or when performing a ‘job.’ It was not rare to find the female staring silently as she thought of a name, but her general quiet demeanor was something several people knew well in…Her kind…The Silver Elves.

Names Jenna…

Xion studied the girl as she leapt up and tried to act as though she were not afraid, but the stench was well-recognized with him, and she could not mask that with the strongest perfume, nevermind this acting. "Look, lady, if you don't want me to know your name, that is fine, but you were running, and you are right about this common enemy." a slight glimmer caught his eye, causing Xion to realize the feeling of being watched. "Shut-up for a moment, and stay low" was all he said before snapping his fingers at Boris and dashing into the complete dark. Focusing as hard as he could and placing himself into his void, he remained motionless as he approach a tree. Confident in his sense of smell, he grinned.

"Shain, sneaky bugger, get over here..." He sighed before turning and reapproaching the women, he made himself comfortable against a tree. "They aren't coming, or aren't near yet. Explain what you are doing while our peeping-tom shows himself." Xion took out a flask and took a swig of swig.

What she was doing? Hah! That was what she would do, she would tell a complete stranger why she was here in these woods, and why she was upset at the moment. She did not know if she was being watched -she had the feeling, but she cared little anyway, and so she sighed and looked away from the man -and the tree. She was not one to make friends easily, or alliance with anyone, and that was something she definetly needed to work on. If not know, then when? Now would be the perfect opprotunity for her to act and become parteners with this man to team up to fight this common enemy.

I am in these woods... She muttered, turning back to the man as he took a sip from something -which seemed like it might be alchol. ...Because I was trying to see an umbra. Their beauty, their existance would look beautiful, and all I could do was see one -I don't want to buy one unless I know what they are. When I was there, I saw something I definetly did not wish to see, and that was when they attacked my guide, slaughtered him and then killed them. And then turned on me. So...yeah, I ran. I am always good in battle, but this child was slaughtered for no reason, and he was undeserving...I kill, and I kill children if I must, but this child was...much stranger then I even assumed...

She would not mention his aura. She would not mention the magic she could detect in him. A thin smile came on her face as she wiped back a single strand of black hair that had become plastered to her forehead with use of sweat. She turned to the man, and opened her cloak slightly, revealing the scimitar of flame. I would love to fight along side of you, if you so wish...And My name isJenna...

[Meep...Crappy post...]

Shain sighed. Stupid flaming Xion, giving him away. Dropping from the tree, he looked between the two people. Looking toward Jenna, if that was her name, he addressed her. "My name is Shain. I do not know what in Nine Hells an umbra is. I came looking for them, yet found none." unsheathing his two fighting knives, he began to twirl them until they reached a low hum. "Are they coming this way?" In all honesty, he hoped they were. he wanted to see one before he bought one. he flet like buying a familiar, one who could help him with his job. Of course, he would be spending a lot of time trying to train it.

Looking toward Xion, he scowled. "Peeping tom, eh? I'm no such thing." Shain was an assassin, thank you very much. Of course, he wasn't going to voice that allowed right now. "So both of your guides were eaten. Bad luck."

Xion scowled at Shain's comment. "Bad luck my quarter-demon ass. That was pure bad choice in guides, for me at least. As it is, though, you are correct, they ate my flamin' guide, and the girl's, and from the smell of things that small group is either growing or making themselves smell worse. They are two the west, not moving fast, perhaps eating something or someone, but they know well enough where we are, to them we are simply toys, and I am assuming they knew where you were if my knowledge of their senses proves true. These are not beasts we should face upfront, but sneaking around them is going to be damned near impossible, and our best chances lay in changing our scents completely to blend, and they are smart enough to follow the changed scents, so sneaking up on them is therefore impossible. Even you could not sneak up to us with your thick scent, and I imagine theirs is at least a touch stronger then mine. I can move silently, which helps a bit if they aren't paying attention to our scent, therefore I deduct that we should send some rancid, dead smelling article or carcass silently over to the furthest west, then while they sniff out the person carrying this rotten hunk of stench we come up behind them and fight. I can kill something easily enough, and making it smell can't be so bad. Plus, I can get Boris here to fly it around by them while we come up behind them." Xion glanced at the girl to his right who called herself Jenna. "I'm assuming you can move silently as well..." He asked as he took another swig from his whiskey.

His throat was dry, but not from any amount of talking. This was going to hurt something, which he knew.

"Well, what do you guys think?"

((OOC: I colored his talking because there's a lot of it... :) )) (((OOC: PS: Stop calling Xion stupid, it may come back to bite you! >;P)))

((Sorry for the late reply))

Lánilmathién was no fool. The presence of another man was extremely suprising to her, but she knew more then anything to hide her emotion through her expression as to not show what she was thinking. A scowl stretched upon her pale lips as the Moon Elf spoke aloud to the two men who were looking dead at her, one posing a question. Could she moe silently? Yes. She was an assassin, and few assassins did not know how to move silently, of course, she was not skilled in it, though. Her skills extended beyond that, and she smiled before she answered, reminding herself quietly that her name should be Jenna.

Yes. I can. She muttered, moving her cloak back carefully to expose the beautiful crimson sheath with silver rose petals running along its edges, the sketches of vines and throny stems trailing shortly after. The magic that eminated from the hilt of this blade was carefully hidden at the command of its owner. The hilt was composed of a black leather wrapped around tightly several times, the cross-hilt a beutiful gold with a single word etched across the cross-hilt. Killian...

This beautiful blade was adorned with magic, washed over and enchanted thousands of times over to be a blade of flame. She did not touch the hilt, yet, but rested her hands on her hips as she calmly closed her eyes and concentrated. She could not necessarily test the wide and strange magic of the Umbra, that she could not track, but she swiftly sent out her power to search for anything Undead. The magic itself would only find the living undead, if that was true, and she swiftly searched for any dead creature who seemed to be walking. She found the undead skeleton of a boar that seemed to be slowly treking through the area. She smiled. She did truly love the dark arts of Necromancy.

A dead boar is coming this way...Don't ask how I know, just trust me. The boar is a skeleton with several pieces of meat on his body, which can be used to draw tehm to its body while we-- She paused, ehr eyes carefully scanning the darkness as she ran her black eyes over the trees and their large branches. It was clear now what their next step should be. --Hide in those trees. The branchs seem like they will be thick enough to stand on without hurting ourselves, and low enough to make it to the ground without issue.

Shain nodded as well that he could move silently. He was an assassin after all. He thought of trying to find out how far these umbra were from them, but decided against it. He would not be able to get close enough and back again in time. probably couldn't even get close enough all together. He turned to look at the self proclaimed Jenna when he spotted movement from her. She had just rearanged her cloak to show a very ornnate hilt of some sort of sword. Shain didn't know the reasoning, but it truly didn't matter right now. he had one trick that would help to hide him from the umbra; his cloak of darkness. Preparring to cast it, he halted as jenna began to speak. His look of confusion crossed his face when she mentioned a dead boar carcass comming toward them. How could she tell. Shain didn't ask, however, for she had said not to. And this was not the time for petty questions.

Following her instructions, Shain lept up to grab a branch from the tree he had been sitting in. Hoitsting himself up, he reached into his innner self and summoned his cloak of darkness around himself. to others around, he wincked out of sight suddenly. to the sharpest eyes, or magicaly aided, he could be seen with a shroud of shadows around him. Thinking a minute, he called out to Xion and Jenna. "Do eather of you want protection from the creatures sight?" If they had been paying attention, they should know what he was talking about.

Xion frowned and sighed at the girtls comment towards the dead boar approaching. He had never believed in necromancy himself, butr he guessed it could be usefull to detect the undead, but he had never felt a need to revive the things he found dead mostly due to the fact that he killed most of them. Even with the strange magic, there was something about this one that made Xion curious. " Well, Shain, them not seeing you won't help you, and with those tiny eyes that they do have I doubt they can even see anyways. Just as I do, they use scent. Therefore your best chance is to wait until the wind is blowing against you from their direction, and if thast happens move swift because if they catch scent of you away from this area I doubt they will relent in hunting you and then us all. Their numbers have doubled since I last located them, so they are taking no chances."

Xion looked over at the "Jenna" girl and tingled as the hilt of some strange bladed weapon was made apparent. It seemed to be glowing with some strange magic, buthe could not care less. As of right now all he had to worry about was keeping Shain from getting them all killed. "Sain, if you want to hunt that's fine with me, but if you are going to do it while they can smell you then you had best wait for us to be ready."

She herself needed little pets, and this owl slightly unnerved her. She hated owls in a sense. They were too loud, always yelling and squaking about something, an their beaks never shut. They lived in the night, though, and for that she loved them with an unown passion for some strange sensation she felt from them as they hovered above her as she stalked her own schedule, the moon radiating through her hair. She was rarely running from anything, but when she was, she used the hoots of the owl to find her way through the forest, finding each nest and then listening for the next hoot, tracking it to another. It was much easier to find the owl's homes then the exit of any place, and the female knew all to well that each owl had a special place they considered a home of sorts -most were outside the forest.

Lánilmathién smiled slyly, a single laugh escaping her lips as protection was offered to her -she did not need protection at this time. She needed one thing at this point, and that was the specific tree branch, hidin carefully behind the shrubs as she gestured below her and scanned for the enemy. She was always on to wait, and a patient person at that. She found a notch in the branch, and unbuckled the enchanted flame scimitar from her belt, placing it next to her in a balanced position, and then removed the unenchanted scimitar from her belt as well, leaning the scabbard against the trunk. SHe gently wrapped the enchanted scimitar in her cloak, which she had long removed, and then stashed it in a owl's abandoned home. A single smile returned and she looked down her attire. Tight, black leather clothing fit her frame perfectly, the crimson blouse, free-flowing around her arms, and tight against her as the bodice covered the outside underneath her breasts. Truthfully, she was comfortable in thia attire, which was what made it such perfect fighting equipment.

The flame scimitar could nto be used for now. She was not entirely sure if an enchanted weapon could be used against these creatures -they could probably smell it anyway. For now the scimitar of normal would have to work, although she scowled slightly in anger, the truth of the matter being simple: The blade was struggling in a change. She was a Silver Elf, one of her main elements being Frost, and the scimitar was struggling to frost over with her presence, fighting all urges and attempts from the female to make it stop [She knew it wouldn't]. By the end of this night, maybe by the end of the hour, she would be in possession of a scimitar of Frost. Excitement filled her eyes with gleam, but then the thought still struggled with their current situation and she could only want to yell out in anger. It picked the dumbest time to change.

Stupid....Stupid stupid stupid... She muttered to herself as she scanned the darkness once more, drawing the black strands of thin and straight hair to her head and twisted it together with a single set of black wooden sticks, crimson spiraling around it.

Shain decided to keep the cloak to himself after hearing their comments. True, it would not do good against the umbras hearing and smel, but Shain had fought creatures similar to them before in this very forest. It had saved his life using the cloak of darkness, and he was going to use it. He shook his unseen head, and crouched in the branches of the tree. "I'm not going to hunt these creatures, Xion. No matter how well I do my normal job, these are born with gut instinct and know the forest better than I. Though it would be nice to know where they are.' He thought for a minute. He did need a way to find them. Reaching into his innner powers, he thought for a moment, then bega......

Shain was floating above his body. It was lumped against thwe tree he had been sitting in at the moment he had reached to cast a spell. Looking around, he cuaght the forest around him, everything as it had been. He could see Xion and Jenna getting in their trees, waiting for the umbra to come. But there was something odd. He had no appendages. He moved by sheer will of the mind. And everything had an odd look to it. It all seemed more misty, yet everything was in sharper focus at the same time. Smells, sound, sight, and hearing were all enhanced. Everything but touch. 'Must be in some sort of form detached from my body' he thought. ' A soul.' Suddenly it entered his mind that he might have died somehow. On inspection of his body, however, proved that t was still breathing, but extremley slower than normal.

'Well, I can look around now." Shain took off through the trees, strait through the trees. He slid through them as if they were air. He had decided to head toward the direction he had heard the earlier roars. As he sped along, Shain found an exhileration in this form. Nothing stood against him, he was totaly free like this. if he had been able to smile, he would have. A motion cuaght the corner of his non existant eye. Turnin, he didn't know how, just one moment he was headed in a certain direction and the next he was facing another, he saw a pack of umbra headed toward the place where his body and the two others were. There were five. How could they handle five umb....

Shain' eyes snapped open. He gasped as his sense were once more muted, and touch returned. After his shock, he turned his all but invisible body toward Xion and Jenna. "There are five umbra headed this way. Don't ask how I know. Just be glad enough you know." Thinking back, he added," And they're not comming strait around. They looked as if they were heading to the opposite side of their direction. They are going to attack us from behind, where their roars were not heard."

Xion growled to himself and cracked his neck around. "Why the hell does everyone always has to come up an say: "Don't ask how..." Like everyone else really cares. I do like the information, but I could care less how you got it." He puffed out a breath of air as he let himself calm down before he began tripping around his wording. Trying to retain a spark of serenity, he formed a large ball of fire mere inches from the palm of his hand and stood at the ready. As far as he could tell "Jenna" had not moved, but swift ones liker her managed to move in three locations while you thought they were at one, so Xion assured himself that she was prepared.

"Shain, I want you to be prepared to hurl some knives at the damned things, and be sure not to hit us." Xion commented moments before a dark figure lunged from the bushes 40 paces off to the south and roared as it moved in. This was not good. Standing solid, he hurled the ball of flame at the on-coming beast, knocking it back a few feet and charring the left side of it's face, just hurting enough to really make it angry. here it goes.

The scimitar had fully iced over now, and as the female cursed, she slammed it back into its beautiful sheath, a scowl upon her pale and thin lips as she did so. Why? Why now, one of the times she needed it for battle? Swiftly, her hands traced along the crimson blouse as she removed her cloak, her scowl running still and calm now, her emotions in full check as the free flowing sleeves of the crimson blouse fit her beautifully, accenting her pale body into an ethereal type form. Swiftly, her pale, thin fingers ran up the side of the leather riding boots she wore, adorning over her leather pants, and grabbed two hidden sickles form sheaths at their ends. The black leather hilts were smooth and warm to the touch, heated by the female's warmth, and she swiftly hooked them around a tree with a smile. As she moved to her left on the branch, she had to manuvuer herself so the spike on her boots would be more easily adjusted. These riding boots were ones from her home land, a land where it was not strange for a woman to wear heeled boots as riding boots, though they were never worn other then in this manner. Swiftly, her glacier blue eyes flecked with gold and silver scanning the area, the darkness, muttering something under her breath as one of the men said something about five umbra coming this way. She was well aware of this. When one escaped from the shadows, one man used a ball of flame, and knocked the umbra back a few paces.

Lánilmathién was not as nice as this man. She cared little about whether this forest lived or died, and if she had to set the whole thing on fire, she damn well would. Her slender, pale fingers worked as a blur, moving swiftly through the air as she forged her own magic. The orb of flame send out flickers of sparks that seemed to lick her fingers, caressing them gently, and softly, as though she was a child. These flames seemed to be in her own control, and swiftly, she threw the ball away with ease, letting it slame into another Umbra without care of what was happening. Now, her fingers moved differently, making a different pattern, but the Sun Elf side of her was dominant in her spell casting, so like all sun elves, she cast swiftly and strongly. Few could face her magic, for she cast it quite swiftly anytime, her fingers always nothing but a blur as she did so.

The flame magic she forged now was far from an orb of fire, but as she unraveled her fingers, tendrils of flame began to flow smoothly from her fingers, threading together as though she was sewing a beautiful tapestry and could make no mistakes. The threads formed a beautiful, majestic braid of flame magic, flowing them together in smooth recession as she tied the magic with her fingers, gripping one end with a sense of familiarity about it. Moving quickly, she jumped form the low branch in a smooth and easy motion. The whip of flame moved easily in her hands, flames flickering from its sides and attempting to break free from her hold, though it could not because its master had commanded that it did not. The flames lashed out as she did, using it as she was weilding any ordinary whip. The flames struggled for a moment and gave into their mistress as she spiraled the whip in her hand, splashing it against the creatures in front of her without consequence. Some embers caught on the branchs and leaves around her, and they began to set a flame whole trees at once, but she cared little, and continued cracking the whip towards the umbra, who seemed to get lashed several times and back away obidiently, to find the rest of his pack...This was going to be an interesting day.

[Meep X_X]

Shain was about to respond to Xion before the umbras burst into the clearung. he grabbed two daggers from his sleaves and was prepared to throw them. that was, until Both Xion and jenna hurled firey spells at the beasts. Shain had no such spells in his store. Most of them were for hiding and sneaking up on the enemy. He could. however, throw a dagger and hit his mark. taking his eyes from jenna and her flaming whip, teh daggers flashed from his hands. And hit two of the beasts strait in the neck. They fell to the ground, twitching ansd thrashing about. Shain ripped his two fighting knives form their sheaths and leapt out to finish the job. Only to find that they had been killed instantly by the daggers.

"Damnit," he mutered to himself. He walked over to the two he had slain and reached for the knives. And halted an inch away as roars broke out on all sides of the threesome. Ripping the daggers out, he peared around into the surounding forest, searching for an sign of the beasts. Some had been extremely close. Without looking at the other two, Shain remarked in a bored voice, "Ibelieve now would be a good time to leave. Unless of course you want to face the rest of those bloody bastards." He himself was knealing down and cleaning his daggers on the coats of the two umbra they had killed. Resheathing them, he looked around the forest one last time.... then ripped his fighting knives.

[

(((Perhaps Shain could possibly prolong the fight, seeing as how lani hasnt killed any yet and niether has Xion... ^.^)))