Dark Cheshire smirked as he approached the black water that formed this dank place in the Hills of Mist. He had heard the legends of the terrible monster that plagued these waters, destroying those who dare get close and within its territory. Cheshire was still a ways off, and far from the creature’s territory in his opinion, and he just glared at the water. However, he could not see deep into the water, for it was pitch black. It was not dark and murky, just black, as if it was meant to be that way; it seemed supernatural rather than natural.

Cheshire continued to stare out into the darkness of the night and the darkness of the water while the cat that he had grown so fond of appeared from the darkness. Its light gray, tattooed body seemed out of place in such a dark place as the Lake of Darkness. Strangely enough, even though he himself did not seem to be in place, his mood as well as his owner’s, Cheshire’s, fit this darkness perfectly. Both were fond of the darkness and had a strange interest in it. He looked at the cat as it stared back at him. Cheshire had used this cat many times to prove his power of illusions with sound and he had almost given the cat its own sense of personality. His goal was actually to give the creature the ability to speak. Cheshire had given it a personality; perhaps the creature had one of its own.

He would cast the illusion on himself and anyone in the general vicinity that he was speaking with the cat. Whenever Cheshire cast these illusions, especially ones that deal with sound, he made sure he could actually hear it; it was a safeguard. The cat spoke, in a deep voice, drawing each word out so that each word sunk in and left its mark. “The darkness is thick here…” He let the words traveled off into the night, and Cheshire smirked from behind his mask, giving the response, “Perfect for chaos and mischief is out tonight and we are here to catch wind of it.”

Cheshire waited for mischief to come to him, for hunting mischief resulted in death many times, and Cheshire was far from wanting death. His gaze went to the water again and the cat whispered, loud enough for him to hear, but no one else, almost like it was in Cheshire’s head, “Yes… perfect…”

The darkness was not only a favorite of this Cheshire…He had allies in the darkness. This was not one of them. This female had no allies. She was alone. She was by herself in the darkness that seemed to swallow her up, only to be rescued by the light inside of her that she despised with a passion. If it was not one of her core values over flame, then she would have long decided to destroy this element, but this was important to her magic. And if she was to accept this power, then she would be destructive in her own manner, accepting the light as her primary element, but, of course….the darkness inside of her, the darkness she followed…that would never be allowed, and Rae would be one to insure this. She could not accept either path in fear of angering one being or another, and if she does not wish to know the end of her own existence, she did not accept either…

Lánilmathién. The bringing of Chaos. The beginner of mischief. The end of Relief. The Crimson Tied. The Scarlet Maiden. The Blood Mistress. Cut throat Cathy. She was under many aliases, but her name was complex in its very own manner – Lánilmathién. She was herself. No one told her who she was, she decided it. She was whoever she wanted to be, changing her name often when she traveled so no one knew who she was. Of course, she did not often meet someone she did not want to kill –With the exception of Meera and Rae, of course…But they were more like minor exceptions then anything…The thought struck the complex mind of the female that she had no male friends…And she doubted that would change.

She thought of men the same way they thought of woman –she needed them only for her very own pleasure. Her dream, at the moment, though not known publicly, was to make Imythess fall under the rule of the Female. She had read quite some bits of information on the subject of a strange island where the woman ruled everything…And that was what she wanted. Woman in charge. Woman making the decisions and destroying the men with a single thought of their own –A single flick of their wrist and they died. She would complete this dream –one day. What day still eluded the female, but she would never forget…She would choose a date when she had the power, and then she would step on everyone to get what she wanted. She was not a fool. She was a being of some strange ability, and she was one of the darkness. One mixed in contradiction and paradox so far that if she refused either line of heritage, she would be denying herself.

As she moved around the lake’s edge, sticking to the shadows the best she could, she removed the hood of her cloak, embracing the silence of the night. The moons radiating, pale light seemed to hit her pallid flesh perfectly, her black tendrils cascading down her back in a smooth recession, the strange, questioning eyes looking over anything and everything in her path. She did not question anything –she just knew. Everything was her own idea, everything her own suggestion. She had been here before, and had spent some time actually shaping the earth with her weapons and her Magicks. Her slender fingers tapped on the hilt of her flame scimitar, her other hand tapping in the same motion as she gently grasped the edge of the crimson, free flowing sleeves of her blouse. A leather bodice was strapped around her stomach and tied outward on her blouse, leather riding pants fitting in comfortably behind a pair of riding boots. She moved with ease and grace, her eyes ever scanning the area as she did so. Not once did she see this strange man and his pet, but she heard the sound, and with that cue of her own, she moved closer, leaning in to hear while she cloaked herself in the natural shadow of the night.

Cheshire was completely unaware of his surroundings at this point, simply mesmerized by the Lake of Darkness. His gaze set in the center of the dark water, stationary as though his eyes were permanently fixed upon the water. The cat seemed to just stare in the same way, but not at the water, but at his master. The cat’s words broke the awkward silence; Cheshire assumed that the cat was trying to add a bit of emotion to the apathetic night. The cat’s words proved that he was more ‘in tune’ with the nearby area than Cheshire; then again, a cat’s hearing and eyesight in the dark was much better than that of Cheshire’s. The cat purposely spoke loud than normal; his deep growl of a voice became louder in volume yet remaining at the same pitch. The reasoning behind this was simple, to allow the person who was in hiding, or spying, to know that he and his master knew, that they were there; a simple way to either cause them to come out of hiding, or give them a reason to stay hiding.

“My master, I believe we have company, somewhere in our vicinity,” the cat let his words go off into the distance and Cheshire acted as though he ignored the animal. Of course, he had heard every word the creature spoke, for he had created the illusion that the animal had spoke. Oddly enough, had it not been for the cat’s actual reaction, not the illusion cat’s reaction, he would not have known that anyone was here. Cheshire smirked from behind the mask at the fact that someone was here; everywhere he had been in Imythess, he was able to see someone he had not met before and mess with them. Would this be the same way, or would this person be the one that would cause Cheshire’s dangerous game of scaring people to end? Either way, Cheshire would keep his hand concealed until the time was right; until this person had revealed themselves from the darkness.

Cheshire remembered the past times that he had met people in Imythess, there were only a few instances, but they were still good memories. Once with a man that had no clue about normality, one that hated him and wanted him dead, and another that was on the same playing field as his own. His eyes slid from the water into the shadows, his gleaming red eyes seemed to pierce the darkness, however they could see no further than any other normal human. Cheshire chuckled at the thought; he was definitely far from normal in the vaguest definition of the word. Cheshire continued to watch the darkness as his cat spoke again, at the same deep growl, but loud enough for anyone nearby to hear, “What do you plan to do about this master?” He looked up as his query was presented to Cheshire and the hidden newcomer.

Cheshire thought about the question for a moment before he started to answer. There was only a slight pause, enough for him to think of the words even though he was sure that the answer was quite clear; as clear as the water in the Lake of Darkness, “We are going to wait for them to make the first move, and when they do, we shall respond and things will, of course, go downhill from there… they always do.” Dark thoughts past through Cheshire’s mind as he waited for the newcomer to make the next move; and from behind his grinning white mask a devilish grin matched that of the mask itself.