Annajae swiftly made her way towards the lake, the sun had just disappeared, and the moon was shining brightly. She reached the clearing and it revealed a lake. The moons reflection shined brightly on the lake. It was quiet, and she was sure nobody was around. Walking towards the edge, she reached it and sat down. It was alone time for her, a time when she could be herself, something she had trouble doing.

Memories of when she was a human flashed through her mind, and she looked down, trying her best to think of something else. It didn't work though, and she found herself crawling towards the edge even more. She was hesitant to look into the lake, she wanted to see her reflection.

But she tried to look anyways, and no reflection appeared. She stared into the lake still, not moving, perfectly still. She knew it was a bad idea, and she felt a sudden urge to cry, so she closed her eyes, refusing for tears to come out. Instead, she hit the water, splashing it everywhere and she got up, walking farther away from the lake.

Instead, she found a big tree to sit under, and she stared at the moon, deep into thought. The memory of when she was still normal - still human came to her. She hated what she had become, all it caused was for everyone to fear her. The night went on, and she thought of who that person was that bit her that night, and she started to get angry.

So, she found herself getting up again and walking away from the tree, to go somewhere else. The silence was driving her crazy, it caused her to think too much. She continued to walk around the lake.

((OOC: sorry, it's a bit short... :( ))

Aether Draka had decided, on a whim, to backtrack a little bit in order to try and understand how she had ended up where she was in her life. There had to be some sort of sense to it, some reason...

So she had been walking through the forest, moving very quietly and trying to remember the path she had taken. She was unable to recall it though and after getting frustrated about it, simply decided to shadow jump to the next place she did rectal. That was just by the Norwood Lake. She saw the lake then, and was reminded of the first time she had been her.

AD slipped out of the woods and over to the water. It wasn't until then that she noticed, there was someone else here... She turned her head in the direction of the sound and saw a woman. Her green eyes narrowed as she tried to decided if she should greet this stranger or simply vanish again... but no. She had to fly from here to back trace correctly. She needed to summon and there simply wasn't room in the forest to summon a roc.

Annajae sensed that someone else was her, and it made her suddenly stop in her tracks. She looked around, trying to see if she could see anyone. That was when she saw another woman there, and it made Annajae moved behind the tree that was a few steps away. She had surprised her, and then she started to wonder why she was hiding. So, she gained her composure back, then stepped away from the tree, revealing herself.

Her feet took her towards the girl, and she smiled sweetly at the stranger. When she reached the stranger, she nodded at her. "Hello." Her voice was soft, almost soothing to the soul. She giggled slightly and looked up at the moon. "It's pretty!" She pointed towards the moon for a few moments, then looked back at the woman. "May I ask what brings you here, miss?" She asked, beginning to study the woman, and honestly didn't care what she had to say.

All she was focusing on was her, and maybe even her blood. But she would only do that if she absolutely had to, and she had a meal not too long ago, so she had no sudden thirst for her blood - at least for now. The woman appeared to be slightly taller, slightly fatter, and slightly older, if it was human years.

She then turned her attention back to what she would answer, so that her herself would know what to say. Even though Annajae disliked strangers, she found this as an opportunity to stop thinking for at least a little bit, and she enjoyed that feeling, she enjoyed not thinking of the past. The past gave her both good and bad memories, but it was the bad memories that stuck to her so clearly, and the good memories that were blury. And everyday, the good memories got blurrier and blurrier.

The stranger seemed to be trying to avoid her at first. For a moment AD thought this other woman might leave. Instead she made the decision to approach Aether Draka and offer small talk, and perhaps the start of the game of questions. AD really didn’t feel like playing that game right now though. She was thinking of too much and it would turn sour too quickly. She felt the shadows stir at her feet as they drew in closer to her. Their voices whispering in not quite words or thoughts, but in feelings. They were warning her of something, but she didn’t know of what or even why.

AD looked up at the moon when the stranger pointed it out to her, then her gaze went to the moon’s reflection on the lake. She didn’t want to go into some long-winded explanation that would basically explain her life story. That was what she was here doing after all. Why should she even answer the question? Perhaps she could apologies and explain that she was busy, but to be so rude like that was not part of her nature. It was her own fault for interrupting whatever it was that this woman was here for. An interruption for an interruption. Seemed fair to her, not that she had to like it. So that meant finding a shorter answer to the question. Well, what had brought her here? Her best friend had brought her here the very first time. She had found herself alone after that, because… well, because she hadn’t been powerful enough or fast enough or smart enough, she had not been able to do anything… She had done nothing. Even if it was because she couldn’t do anything she still should have tried…

“A friend of mine died here.” She finally said as she looked out over the lake.

“A friend of mine died here.”

Annajae was taken by surprise as always, and she felt sad for the girl. She felt sad because someone close to her died. Sighing, she looked down. "I'm sorry." Then, after a few moments, she put her head back up, looking at the woman before her. She smiled then, but she smiled evily this time, not as sweet as she was just moments ago. "Was it bloody?" She asked. Her eyes twinkled in the moonlight at this question. Blood tasted good right now. And now that was all she could think and talk about. "How bloody? Was it a woman or a man? Did he or she suffer?" She spat the questions out, wanting to get an answer. "Did your friend smell as good as you..?" She grinned evily, taking a few more steps towards her.

Her hands reached for her dagger, and she pulled it out. It had dry blood on it. Her tounge traced along the blade. She kept her dark eyes on her, not daring to look away, she focused on her, then she focused on her neck. The other noises in the night didn't phase her concentration. She was ready to attack at any moment.

((OOC: Sorry, its really short))

AD wasn’t as surprised by the questions as she should have been. She kept looking out at the surface of the lake for a bit. “It was a he, and something in the lake got him while he was fishing. I think he was showing off a bit. It was foolish, and it got him killed. I have no idea what happened to him really. He’s never told me.”

It was then that the shadows agitation grew stronger and without her even calling on it, an unholy aura stirred to life around her. But when she looked back at Annajae she didn’t seen at all worried by the look on Annejae’s face or the blade in her hand. She seemed very calm actually. It wasn’t as if she thought of anyone a threat at night. She considered herself a shadow, and the night belonged to the shadows. “Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know how I smell at all, but he had told me I smell different. He came back though. He’s the Demonic Vampire in charge of the guild in the Abyss I’m part of now.” AD shrugged, as if it wasn’t important news. For her, it wasn’t. It was simply fact, along with him still being one of her best friends in all of Imythess.

Aether Draka then looked at the blade and frowned. “You know, you shouldn’t leave blood on your blade. It will make it rust and rust will make your blade brittle.” In the back of her mind though, she was ready to activate her sanctuary if that blade or its owner came any closer to her.

Annajae released her blade as soon as she started to think about what she was doing. She couldn't kill this woman, she had found herself going soft lately. She found herself resisting to kill a lot. Annajae was changing. That's when she started to step backwards, and she shook her head. "Get away from me." She warned her, and she tried her best to not attack. But the smell of her blood made her want her.

She dropped to her knees and looked up at the woman. She whispered softly. "I'm dangerous, I don't want to kill you..." The words came out in desperation. But without warning, she was on her feet again, taking a few steps forward, her hands reaching for her whip. The temptation was driving her insane. Blood was what she thirsted for.

She bent down to grab the dagger she was holding earlier, and she smiled at her. "I want your blood." Then, she started to run towards her. She raised her dagger as she got closer and closer. When she closed in, she lunged at her, aiming for the heart. But then in her mind, she could hear the screams of a man. It startled her, and she found herself almost losing balance.

((OOC: Gah!! Short post!))

AD didn't seem to hear. No matter what this woman said or feared, AD just didn't see her as any sort of threat. She had spent time among angels and she lived in the Abyss among demons and the damned. This woman wasn't like them, not really. Annajae might be loosing her mind or be cursed or perhaps she was something else. But AD had no way to fix that and she wasn't about to try. If she got a hold of herself before AD left, she could point the stranger to some healers perhaps.

So when the woman lunged at her, Sanctuary wrapped around her. All attacks were automatically deflected. Then the shadows at her feet lunged up, seeming to swallow her whole. The shadows dissipated and the spot was left completely empty. Be hind her attacker, near the tree line, Aether Draka reappeared and started to walk away along the side of the lake. There was a log ahead that she recognized. It reached out into the lake. There should be a clearing there big enough for her roc to be summoned.

"Turin." She said. A thin metallic and tiny creature, followed by a fluffy black one, emerged from the backpack on AD’s back and both took to the air above her. The metallic one was much faster then the small fluffy black one.