Because really, how could RPG survive without this literary masterpiece?

PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
The BEGINING
I: Jane sat on the bed; a layer of blood soaked into the sheets and stained them red. It ran into her clothes and her hair and gathered in a pool around her apart from the few drops that got though the mattress and dripped onto the floor. The blood was caused by her but the reason behind it was her father, a small pudgy man who was scared of the world and made himself feel big by beating up his daughters and his wife. He did not tell anyone about this however because it was not exactly a thing you bragged about, but it still gave him the satisfaction.

Jane shivered, she felt cold as the blood from her wrists ran out in a plentiful amount but it was not just the loss of blood that made her feel cold. An unnaturally cold bite was in the air, one that belonged to the heart of winter, not the eve of summer as it was. Jane thought it was an important point-if summer didn't come, the plants would die and the bees would not come and if there were no plants and then there would be less oxygen and more Carbon in the air, which would be bad for people as a whole. She laughed softly and then cringed in pain as her wrists protested against the movement by shooting fiery pain all across her body, it was amazing what things she thought of when lying half dead on her bed, but then she had had even more abstract thought patterns.

Tears escaped her deep green eyes, not that she wanted them to; they simply appeared and ran down her face, like small, salty drops of water. Which, thinking about it for a second, was exactly what they were. Not that Jane could think properly right now, she didn't have enough blood to think properly and so things that were meant to be obvious where not really such. She wondered if this sort of thing would happen if she had a Familiar to protect her, but then, with the way Shadow could be, she doubted it.

The reason she had cut her wrists - again, it was a regular thing for her- was a result of her father's actions and Jane knew he was going to punish her for trying to kill herself but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. She was too busy bleeding and worrying about the weather. It annoyed her that no matter how she cut her wrists or how much blood came out she never passed on, there was several times when she bled so much that a normal person would not have a drop left in their body but she still awoke the next day. She would still collapse from blood loss and still feel the great amount of pain that was associated with slashing any part of your body open with a sharp Implement, but never die, a fact that irked her a lot - what was the point of not dying if you were still going to collapse and shiver from the other side effects of slashing your wrists wide open and watching the red river run out onto whatever you happened to be around at the time?

She never knew why she had such a thin frame either, it was not like she was underfed - her father tried but she always got plenty of food to eat, mainly though Eliot's adventures in the kitchen - but no matter how much she ate she always stayed thin and weak, it was like the world was taunting her with a combination of weakness and an inability to die and she did not like being taunted in the slightest, it was one of her peeves, along with her dad's continued existence and broccoli, whoever invented broccoli must have really hated everyone with a taste-bud. But then, Mr Broccoli Inventor might not have had taste buds.

The things the mind thinks of when laid in a pool of blood and nearly in the grasp of unconsciousness are far beyond the control of the person whose mind it is - not that Jane had much control over her mind to begin with. She just had to go along with the ride and hope it was not too bad. This time she thought of her second father - not an official father but one who had adopted the mantle none the less - and his Familiar. She thought of Eliot and Silverfang’s tomfoolery. She thought of times when Eliot cooked a plethora of different foods. She thought of times when she watched a movie, using Silverfang or Eliot as a cushion to lay her head on. She also thought of times when her sisters, Beth and Nehvna, would come round and they would have a party. These were the happy days away from this drab and dreary household. It was better than thinking about where she was. She also remembered - too much lesser delight, not that she had the energy to complain about it right now, being so far into the grip of unconsciousness- days with her mother, they were nice but she had left Jane all alone with her father and for that Jane eternally disliked her mother. Or at least wished to, but she knew if her mother turned up tomorrow, she would throw her arms around her and leave with her.

The blood had managed to get though the mattress in a much larger amount and was now pooling on the ground, despite her strange inability to die she was in no way immune to unconsciousness, something that happened to her in the middle of her memory of happy days.


II: Jane woke the following day, and sat up, her body ached from last night, and her wrists still had ugly slashes on them, but they had stopped bleeding at least. Jane ran her fingers though her hair, matted and marred by blood, sweat and dirt. However, despite the blood she had leaked out earlier, her hair was not as stained as she thought it would be.
"Heh, so I got blood-proof hair now" she muttered to herself, before stripping out of her blood stained clothes. "Good job there's no P.E today" She further commented. Jane then looked over at the wardrobe, and sighed. Another day of school was not necessarily a good thing. Sure it got her away from the house, but the kids at her school where assholes all the same. She did have a few friends there, but they were few and held no sway over the popular kids, and where basically friends to have friends rather than any meshing of personalities. Throughout the course of dressing, Jane wondered how the school day was going to turn out, until she came to the skirt. She always thought that the skirt was far too small to be practical, since it barely covered her ass, and any stray gust of wind made it reveal everything. But then that was probably why her dad had bought it, for that amusing thought. Never the less, it was the only skirt she had, and so she put it on, and finished with a set of socks, and her shoes. All the clothing she had was tatty and ragged, since her dad never replaced anything, even when it was falling apart, and there where holes in it. Jane tried not to think about it, since it was pointless to complain or moan about it. Jane then looped the tie around her muggy white shirt and wondered who thought it was a good idea to tie a noose around their neck for whatever reason. 

Lacking a better option, and without the ability to jump out of the window - something she had thought about, but they were stiff and she couldn't get them open however hard she tried - Jane headed down stairs, and immediately saw her father, Mark. He was all fat and no brain, but that wasn't why Jane hated him. He was dressed smart, as if he was going out to a high class work, or probably just to taunt Jane, which was his favourite pass time. Jane flicked her eyes to the clock, which read just past eight, plenty of time to get to school.
"What are you doing in that getup?" Mark asked, his tone slurred as if he had been drinking already, which would not be surprising.
"I am going to school, dad." She told him, politely and formal, but with a distinct monotone; something that always irritated Mark. Probably because it was how her mother talked to him
"What'tha 'ell you going there for on a Sunday?" He asked, or rather demanded. Mark never asked anything of Jane.
"It's Monday, dad" she replied, in the same tone, picking up her school bag, if the dilapidated mass of fabric she was using could be called that. When she turned back, however, Mark was right in front of her, which made her flinch and then he slapped her, a rough crack across her face.
"Dun ya call me a liar, ya lil bitch" He ordered, before grabbing her chin and dragging it to meet his eyes. "Na ya get 'ome time-like today. Got summat ta do" he slurred, the smell of his breath making Jane want throw up, or at least grimace, but that would just have gotten her into more trouble.

"Yes, dad" she told him, and got slapped again, more roughly this time, the blow leaving a harsh red mark on her face.
"An’ don ya be usin' that tone!" he growled. Jane lowered her head, keeping her eyes to the ground and kept silent, but the drunken Mark took offensive even to that.
"An’ don ya be lookin' so bad!" He exclaimed, raising his hand to slap her, however, it never came, and the only sound that Jane heard was Mark's confused grunt, and then an acknowledging grunt, before waddling back off to the kitchen. Jane looked up, and met the soft smile of Shadow, Mark's Familiar. Somehow, he managed to make that smile look warm, and menacing at the same time. Jane would have preferred to be slapped by Mark all day, than be saved by Shadow. He was wearing his usual black over-coat, frayed at the edges, and looking much in the same condition as Jane's clothing. She wondered if it was Mark's idiocy, or constant inebriation that made Shadow appear, scruffy, but she was too scared to ask, the implication of Shadow being scruffy would not be well received.
"I hate it when he does that to you. Nothing worse that bruised fruit" He muttered. The scar down one eye moved softly as he spoke, and Shadow absently raised a finger to scratch it, before moving to stroke Jane's slapped face.
"Shadow, I...” she started, before the black-clad Familiar placed a finger on her lips.
"Save your words, dear. They are not needed here. Now go to your place of learning, and return as Mark ordered, he is taking you to work again tonight" Shadow told Jane, his tone soft, and his words harsh. Jane knew exactly what he meant, and knew that it entitled, but somehow she just didn't care.
"Ok. I’m going now" she muttered, in her standard tone. There was no reason to use anything else for Shadow.
"Learn well, and save your energy, you know how he hates it when you drop to soon" Shadow told Jane, opening the door for her with that weird smile of his, and then shutting it behind her, not even mentioning her lack of words as she walked down the path to the gate.

It took Jane a good half-hour to get to the school, mainly because of the cold - she always shuffled when it was cold - but also because she was pondering why she didn't see anyone else, walking towards the school. When she arrived, however, the question was answered by the large clock. It read '7:32am' or there about. Analogue hands where hard to read precisely. But it was clear the clocks at her house where set forward an hour, another one of Mark's schemes - Shadow was never so childish and surreptitious, when he did something, it was out in the open - just to get her out of the house. Or even just so she had an hour to wait at school for things to start. Seeing no reason in standing around in the cold, Jane headed inside, and was greeted with the noise of a Buffer, polishing the floors before the children came in, stomping their boots all over the floor. The Caretaker at the helm of the Buffer seemed as if Jane knew him, and not in a 'seen him around school' kind of way. But, Jane could not put a name to the face, before he turned around, letting out a soft sound of surprise.

"Ahh, didn't expect to see anyone else here so soon. You really that eager?" he asked, switching off the Buffer to have a conversation.
"No, my clocks where just set forward an hour, something else my dad thought would be funny, or some such. Never really been able to keep up with him." She replied, causing the man to lean on the buffer. His clothes looked rather expensive -if well worn - for a Caretaker, but she didn't bring it up.
"Sounds like you and your dad don't get along" He commented, a fatherly tone, as if he had raised more than one child in his time. Jane laughed at his comment, and took a breath.
"Well, put it this way. You don't randomly hand out super powers that let me pull peoples arms off, do you?" She asked. The man stroked his chin a few times in a classical thinking pose.
"Hmm, I did. But then I got in trouble for it, and so I am currently suspended from randomly handing out super powers that let people pull off other peoples arms." He told Jane, which made her smile in amusement. "Hehay. A smile, we are getting somewhere" The Caretaker continued, fluidly moving from behind the Buffer and appearing in front of Jane. "So, this odd red mark that is rather out of place with the rest of your cold-flushed cheeks. Did your father think that would be funny?" He asked, his tone suddenly turning icy, and deadly serious. Jane knew there was no point trying to avoid the subject, and so she shook her head.

"No, that was because I told him it was Monday, when he claimed it was Sunday. And then because I sound like my mother. My mum and being told he is wrong are two things that he really doesn't like" Jane told the Caretaker, with a sad, but relegated tone. The Caretaker, who had been listening intently, nodded.
“Right. So, kind of guy you’d wish would fall down the stairs into a pool of acid, with acid-breathing piranhas in it?” he offered, to which Jane laughed, it was a very amusing idea.
“Where are you going to find acid-breathing piranhas?” She asked.
“Hmm, possibly Generia. They have some great tea, and some weird wildlife” He commented.
“Right….So, what’s your name? I feel bad calling you ‘The Caretaker’ all the time.” Jane admitted.
“Ohh, names. Right. I’m Kaban Saal, nice to meet ya” He said, holding out a hand, rather well-manicured, considering he was pushing a Buffer all day.
“Lovely to meet you, Mr Saal. My name is Jane, Jane Everwood” She told Kaben, shaking his hand, before shivering. She hadn’t really noticed the temperature before, but now it was really getting to her. “Do they not switch on the heater or something?” She asked, rubbing her arms.
“Na, they don’t do that till about eight or so. Saves money. If you want, I can show ya a place I like, when the school is being all cold and shit” He told Jane, who contemplated it for a while. It couldn’t exactly be any worse than being in here, so she nodded, and followed Kaben to this ‘place’.

She was led down a few hallways, and took a couple of turns to a part of the school she had never been to before. It was old, there wasn’t any classrooms around, and there was a basic feel of neglect. However, viewable though the window was a beautiful, luscious garden. It was amazing that the garden could florish in such cold, there where even a few tropical trees, where the country never got hot enough to grow. Jane stared at the garden in wonder, and Kaben picked up on this.
"Lovely place, no?" He asked, grinning as they approched the door.
"Yea, it is. How do you even get it like that?" she asked, expecting some sort of greenhouse idea.
"Ahh, i just ask it nicely" he replied, to which Jane scoffed. 
"Yea, like that ever worked" she said skeptically.
"Well, maybe they just didn't ask the right questions" He told her, before opening the door to the garden. It was very warm, warm enough to make Jane forget about the bitting cold of a few seconds ago. "Ok, i'm impressed" She exclaimed, sitting down on a chair, fashioned in the shape of a log stump. It had a high back, enough for Jane to lean back comfortably.
"Yep, it's pretty cool. So, just chill here for a while, I gotta get back to work" He said before waving. "Don't be late for class" He coo'd on the way out.
"Tsk, how could I be late? I got nearly an hour" she muttered, before leaning back. It was very relaxing, and didn't take long for Jane to fall asleep.

Nearly an hour later, Jane was woken by a loud bell echoing though the school. It always rang ten minutes before the start of every class, to give students enough time to get where they where going, but it was still a shock.
"Sleep?" she asked herself, still not quite beleving that she had pulled it off. Most nights took her hours to drift off, and other nights it never happened at all. So, to be taken so quickly, in such a short time, was a miricle. As the sound of the bell died away, Jane could hear...whispers around her. Mostly incoherent muttering, but there was one thing she heard, repeated thoughout the entire garden, by whatever it was that was talking. 'She's here'. Suddenly the garden felt a lot less relaxing and comfortable, taking on a more ominous aura to it, which made Jane very uneasy. Hastily wiping away the drool from her sleep, Jane made a quick departure from the garden, with the whispers following her down the hall, and until she got to the main part of the school. There, she saw people milling about, getting to their classes and groaning about the day ahead. Jane didn't recognize must of them, and some she wished she hadn't made eye-contact with, because that would lead to some problems later on in the day. However, one girl - rather down cast, with her eyes on the floor - did spark a slight smile in Jane, and so she walked over to the down-cast girl.
"Hey Emily! Good to see you" She said, snaffling the girl in a hug before she could react. It let to a sharp 'eep' before Emily relaxed, and returned the hug.
"O..ohh, h-hi Jane" Emily stammered, always being a shy, retiring sort of girl.
"So, crappy weekend?" She asked, to which Emily nodded.
"H-how many?" she asked, a question vague, but Jane got it right away.
"Three" she replied, adding a sad atmosphere to the convosation, before grinning again. "But, can't let that bother us. We got class to get to. So, lets get to it" She exclaimed, Emily gave her a look - that look that wondered if the person was all there, or even there at all - but followed her down the hall way, talking about the girls of today, and how they look as if they put on make-up with a shovel, about guys who have more fingernails than brain-cells, and about general life. Eventually they got to the tutor room, and there they all had an annoying twenty minutes before school actually began to see who was in and who wasn't. Both Jane and Emily had the same opnion of it, and that opnion would have been used to allow the garden Jane was briefly in to grow more than it already had.

Entering the room, Jane saw that her and Emily where the last ones in, the tutor was giving them the look of annoyance, since they where so late - not late exactly, but they where the last - but it was ignored. Jane found her place and Emily sat next to her, prompting the tutor to start blathering about stuff that was suposably important. However, ten minutes into this, when the tutor was realling off up-coming events that no one was going to go to, something clattered into the room. Of course, everyone leant over to see what it was, and where all blinded by the onsuing flash that emmitted from it. There where many cries of suprise, some of pain, and then sight began to clear again, but, there where two men, big and ugly looking in the room as well.
"Glad I got your attention. Now, we are looking for someone. Someone special. Shouldn't be to hard to find her, but I do need your attention here" The man in the front said, before pulling a pistol - with silencer - from his jacket and killing the tutor, spilling her brains all over the wall. The ensuing pandamoniumdid not hider either man, as they grinned and headed though the sea of students, pushing over whoever got it there way, until they made it to Jane's seat. "Well hidden" he muttered, ignoring Jane's look of confusion - her and Emily didn't seem to be running around screaming like the others, just staring -  before pointing the gun at Jane and pulling the trigger, but the gun never fired. "A jam, now?!" He asked generally, but clearly annoyed. The click seemed to bring Jane out of her haze, and so she flipped her desk in the man's direction, who made an inchoerent curse as the desk flew towards him. She then turned to Emily, so they could run together. Emily was the one person in this school Jane wanted to protect, and she would do anything for that oppertunity. However, behind her, there was the muffled sound of two silenced gunshots, and then Emily was covered in blood. Jane's first thought was that Emily had been shot, and this made her extremely angry, but her vision started to gray, and her legs felt so weak. Realization dawned on her, just as she fell foward, into Emily's lap, to die.
 

II: "Going to sleep the day away, or something?" A voice asked, to which Jane slowly opened her eyes, and frowned. She was, in the reception, Silverfang's grinning face looking down at her. All she could do was stare, and mutter 'wha' a lot, so Silverfang took the initative.
"Apparently you and a few of your classmates just suddenly collapsed in Tutor, so they brought you down here, and called the people listed to come get you - of which I am very happy it was me and not him." Silver explained, the last word dripping with venom. "I was at home when the call came in, Eliot had gone to do some Eliot stuff, so I had a free to come get you" he explained, but Jane simply shook her head softly some more.
"But..no..Emily, she.." Jane said, trying to explain what she had just seen. 
"Ohh, Emily is fine, she wasn't one of the ones that took an unplanned nap" Silverfang joked, but Jane was still shaking her head.
"I..died in her lap.." Jane uttered softly, plastering a confused, but rather worried look onto Silverfang's face.
"Sound's like one 'ell of a vivid dream" a man said from behind them, as Jane looked around, she saw it was the Head Teacher, rather exotically named 'Laas Nebak'. A very friendly tone, but also a great disdain for the letter 'h'. She wondered how this man had ever gotten such a high position with his informal tone, but maybe he had a different tone for more important stuff. He was, amazingly, making a prestine suit, perfectly ironed, look scruffy. "But, don't worry, no matter what you saw there, it didn't 'appen" he explained, before looking to Silverfang. "So, your 'er guardian, right?" he asked, to which Silverfang nodded. Silverfang had a look on their face, like He knew him from somewhere, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Well, take 'er 'ome then. Don't do anything to rough for a while. Just, chill" He suggested.
"Ok." Jane replied, still groggy but awake enough to stand. "Right, then lets get back to the house" she exclaimed, slurring a word or two but remaining steady.  Silverfang stayed at her side to keep her stable. Jant still had a strange, confused look plastered on her face, but she managed to keep her thoughts on the road ahead, instead of on her very confused mind.

It took them a lot less than she though to amble back to Eliot's place, but that was probably the cold giving them a great nudge. But then, the cold always gave people nudges when it came to getting somewhere. Once Silverfang had opened the door and escorted Jane to the couch, he then took off into the kitchen to get her a drink. Jane closed her eyes for a second as Silver potted around, she was so sure it had happened, unlike any other dream, it wasn't fading from memory. She could clearly see Emily's face, so terrofied.
"Here you go" Silverfang announced, snapping Jane out of her not-quiter-asleep state. Jane smiled and took the drink, sipping it a few times before placing it on the nearby table.
"Thanks by the way" she said to Silver with a shy smile.
"Thanks for what?" He asked. 
"Bringing me here, being supportive. Helping with my confusion and -you haven't done this one yet, but I hope you will - not telling Eliot the details." She said, reeling off each reason for thanks.
"Ohh, sure, espeically the last one. You can count on me" He told Jane, who smiled and moved in close, planting her lips on Silver's. He seemed a bit shocked at first, but then let himself relax. It was a warm kiss, different from anything she had ever had before. With a hint of dog breath. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest as they locked their lips together. This was one of the best feelings she had ever felt and knew it must be that strange emotion she never thought she would feel. Love.

Howver, it was cut short by a key entering into a lock, which swiftly broke up the kiss.

"Anyone home?" Eliot shouted, opening the door.
"Yea I'm here and I got a carry-on as well" Silverfang told Eliot, who laughed a bit.
"Aren't you meant to be at school?" Eliot asked Jane, keeping the door open for another girl to walk in.
"Ohh, I got this bug thing along with several other people, and so they let me go" She explained, smiling at the new girl. "Morning Beth" she said, waving rather groggily at her.

Eliot stood at an average height with an average build and average length hair. He was very average to look at but it was his heart that set him aside from everyone else, he never turned down anyone who needed help and never hesitated extend his hand to any who needed it. Beth, however, was physically Eliot's opposite; she stood a foot taller than most people in the street and had a wide chest - with equally big breasts - and broader shoulders than most girls had. She seemed to have the physique to handle herself in a fight, but Jane never found out if she had the mentality for a fight either.
"Hello Beth, how are you?" Silver asked, also grinning like a goof. Beth made everyone grin like a good.
"I've been good thanks, work has been rather nice lately as we are fully staffed" She told him, before walking over to were Jane sat and hugging her. As much as Jane tried to hide it Beth always knew how her baby sister was feeling without her ever saying a word and right now there was something seriously bothering her but she decided not to press the point just yet.
"Where are Nehvna and Satyr?" Silverfang asked Beth as they followed Eliot into the kitchen as standby in case something he was cooking blew up, it was not easy cooking for seven people on your own especially when Eliot had a habit of experimenting with the cooking ingredients.

"Nehvna is trying to convince her little angel to come outside when we left, she told us she would catch up but she hasn't yet. Satyr is somewhere else, probably reading a book or something" Beth told Silverfang as Eliot started telling them what he was going to cook and read out the ingredients needed for the dish, he always liked help in the kitchen.

III: "Sorry I was a pain to everyone I really didn't mean to be" Avrion said with a sad face that looked like it was about to cry, but then every face Avrion pulled looked like it was going to cry. That and the fact that her frame was more akin to a stick than an actual person made Avrion look very weedy but that was not the case. For the most part, Nehvna would usually tell Avrion - in several different ways - to stop being so depressive and smile more. Then she would follow it with a compliment about how nice Avrion's smile was and how she would love to see it more often. However, this particular time, she was more interested in - and worried about - Jane's arms, who had gotten up from the couch and was milling around randomly. As luck would have it, Nevhna happened to glance over just as Jane was brushing some hair behind her ear, who had shown off the top part of her wrist, and looked like it carried on a lot longer than just her wrist.
"What the bloody hell happened to your arms?!" Nehvna demanded, nearly screaming as she saw how far they went up her arms, to the elbow.

"Oh nothing to worry about it" Jane said with a nervous smile, Nehvna was always kicking off about every little scrape or bruise so cuts running all the way up her arms would not put her in a good mood.
"That is some cutting Jane, what do you mean there is nothing to worry about?!" she screeched again before grabbing Jane by the hand and dragging her upstairs.
"Ow, that hurts you know" Jane said, being yanked upstairs.

Once upstairs Nehvna sat Jane down on a stool - despite her protests - and simply stared wide-eyed at the cuts for a few seconds before muttering to herself and turning to a box labelled 'Jane's Box'. Something that Eliot had been keeping around since she often came - or was brought by Silver - sporting a myriad of wounds. She picked out some disinfectant and poured it onto a cotton bud, then began to dap at the cut, ignoring Jane's sharp intake of breath that signalled it was hurting. She dapped it all the way up her arm, and then the other arm, and showed no interest in the glares she was getting as the treatment hurt, a lot.

"First I need to get you some clothes while you get a shower" She told Jane, who noticed her school outfit was now rather bloody from her wrists, and messed up with some sort of mud, from when she had leant to far on SIlver without him expecting it, and fallen over. "I have been a bit preoccupied to notice my clothing" she told Nehvna, who shook her head softly.
"Into the shower with you, I'll pick something out" she told Jane, walking into the bathroom and fiddling with the shower before getting it to a good temperature. Emily stripped off to her nude, and pretended not to see Nehvna's look of horror as she saw all the caked blood on her back, but did move more quickly to get into the Shower.

She let the water run on her body for a while before turning to the shampoo. She reached out for the bottle and squeezed some onto her hand before working it into her hair and washing it off, the soap came off a odd red with brown as the water cleaned off the tinges of blood that had soaked into her hair, as well as all the dirt that had come from months of not washing.
It took her a while to actually get some semblance of cleanliness due to her lack of being able to have a shower at her own house; her father didn't like her having any sort of luxuries that might make her life in the slightest bit easier. She repeated the lathering a few more times, cleaning her back in the process, until the water returned to its natural colour, she then grabbed the conditioner from the shelf and began to rub it into her mass of now pink hair.
When she was finished Jane turned the shower off and stepped out, rubbing herself dry with a towel before wrapping one round all the hair she could manage to fit in it. It was a good feeling to be clean and she did not get the feeling very often so every time she did she cherished it because it would be a long time before she got another chance.

Jane then headed into the bedroom to check what Nehvna was pulling out of the wardrobe.
"You are one serious mess" Nehvna said as she took off Jane's towel and began to blow dry her hair, Nehvna was not bothered in the slightest by the total lack of clothes that Jane was currently showing since she had been around her and other naked women a lot so she was comfortable with female nakedness. "Come here, your arms need bandaging" She told Jane, who sat down on a stool - the same stool she had sat down on before -  and waited patiently while Nehvna rubbed a cream into both cuts and all the way up her arm before wrapping the entire length up in bandage once again. Nehvna brooked no arguement when it came to Jane's well-being, and so sometimes used a less than friendly tone on her, but Jane never really took offense to it. When it came to knowing Jane, everyone had a certain amount of skill in First - aid; it was required when you lived around a girl such as her.
After that was done, Nehvna ran a comb though Jane's hair as she dried it, making sure that each part was properly dried and combed before moving onto the next part and working on that.

"You could defiantly be a hair dresser or something to that extent you know" Jane told Nehvna who blushed at the complement.
"I am not that good Jane" She told her, it was not true since Nehvna was amazing with all things hair, Jane's hair was originally brown but it was Nehvna who dyed the whole length of it pink.
It was extremely hard work considering how much there was but Nehvna managed to do it perfectly.
"You are better than good Nehvna, you are amazing" she said as Nehvna finished combing through Jane's hair and switched the blow dryer off, she then picked up two sets of clothes from the bed and held them up so that Jane could see them, Jane picked the plainer set of clothes - a simple t - shirt and jeans - and put them on. Nehvna preferred the brighter, flashier style of clothes and so she always wore a long dress that complimented her tall frame. After Jane had finished putting the new clothes on, being careful of her wrist and - with the help of Nehvna - gotten all her hair out of the back of her t - shirt she and Nehvna headed down the stairs, Jane's layered mass of hair swaying slightly as she walked.

IV. Back at Jane's house, her father was very drunk, and doing his usual drunken blathering about what he was going to do when Jane came home from School. However, one of his many friends/henchmen had called him up to say he had seen Jane leaving the school early with someone else, and that he would have chased her down if he wasn't doing his job at the moment he saw her. Mark let out a few drunken mumblings, before cursing. He then turned to Shadow, and slurred drunkly.
"Were'd ya go 'f you'd leave?" He asked, criptically, but Shadow got it.

"Well you can always try the Library, she seems to frequent that place a lot. Failing that, I don't really know for certain where she could be, there are a lot of places around for her to be. She could even be hiding in one of the houses" He explained, sighing slightly as he spun such a tale that even someone that was not a complete idiot like Mark was might believe him. Mark grumbled for a bit about not having a definite address then headed downstairs to get his coat and shoes. His mind was filled will all the nasty things he would do when he finally got his ungrateful daughter back. He thought them just punishment for running away rather than spiteful - and pointless - violence. Even Shadow was getting bored of it and he loved to fight things. But what Mark did to Jane was not fighting and as such, he was glad that the time had finally come. It had taken a while, but it was here, at last and was well worth the wait.

Shadow nodded as Mark headed out of the door and down the road, waking at a pace that was brisk but not hurried. Shadow then left though the back door and headed down the opposite road, he knew exactly where he was going and his pace was casual. He arrived when he wanted to arrive, even if he did not want to arrive at that time he changed the time he wanted to arrive to the time he had arrived. It was a principle thing and he wouldn't let anyone change it, not even Mark, whose hold over Shadow was a lot more tenuous than what he thought it was. Shadow couldn't help smiling as he walked down the road, he was about to do all the things he enjoyed, all in one day. It was a good day. But then, all days when he got to break into somewhere, beat people up, kidnap someone, break stuff and even bring much needed pain and subsequent death to the obnoxious, nasty dislikeable man he had been forced to spent a good deal of time with was a good day. Little could ruin this day. Except the weather, Shadow's smile disappeared in a grumble and he wished it would hurry up and warm up, all this cold was not something he liked, but then he cheered himself up again by realizing he didn't have to put up with it for much longer. He didn't have to put up with much more here for much longer. Shadow's smile returned as he continued down the street. Today was going to be the best of days.

V. Jane sniffed the air as she walked down the stairs, Eliot had obviously gone to the kitchen and was adding the finishing touches to his cooking as it made the air smell rather nice, this does not mean the actual food was nice however, simply that it smelt good. "What you got cooking Eliot?" Nehvna asked as she walked into the Kitchen, leaving Jane to go to the front room where she quickly snuggled up against Silverfang, feeling very close to him now. She was still a bit embarrassed but tried not to make it show.
"Food. It will be done soon" Eliot said, he never gave a definite answer of what he was cooking before it was done.
"Well I hope you are not going to try that puke flavoured risotto again." Nehvna joked as she got out a collection of glasses and began filling them up with different drinks.
"Don't worry about that, I am making meat this time" he said, throwing a few more herbs in to the pan.

"Ahhhh, it has been a rough today" Jane said, not caring about proper speech as she snuggled into Silverfang who starred at her.
"Rough today? I think you need speaking lessons" Silverfang joked, earning him a punch in the arm from Jane.
"I am allowed to have crappy speaking." She told him as Eliot came into the room with a massive plate piled high with nose - caressing meat.
"Grubs up" he said setting the large plate down and putting some smaller plates next to it.
Everyone attacked the pile of meat and piled their plates high with it before sitting back, despite the large amount everyone had taken there was still a fair bit left. Jane bit into one of the chicken pieces and the flavour exploded in her mouth, the herbs went perfectly with the meat and made the whole thing beautiful.

"This is great Eliot; you really can cook well sometimes can’t you?" Jane announced loudly, backed by agreements from everyone else.
"Well I just got lucky that's all. I threw a load of leftover meat into a pot and chucked in a ton of herbs. The result was not too bad" he said with a big head, popping a piece of beef into his mouth before there was a knock at the door.
"Who are we missing?" Eliot asked himself, heading to the door and opening it. As he opened it, however, he was greeted by the sight of a fist, which quickly connected with Eliot's face, knocking him back from the door and sprawling him out on the carpet. His tattered, pitch black overcoat swaying slightly in the breeze and his one eye - the other had a large scar over it and the eyelid was shut - scanned the room, taking in each person in it calmly. Shadow then shut the door as if he had just entered a room full of friends rather than a room full of people trying to cause him serious harm.

"Hello" He said casually actually greeting the room like he wasn't about to fight half the room's inhabitants as Silverfang growled. He had gotten up from his seat and his fists where clenched, ready to fight. Nehvna, Jane and Beth had all gotten off the couch and backed against the wall, as if it would do anything when Shadow took out the Familiars and walked over as he obviously would.

Silverfang had sprouted fur and his fingers grew into claws, his teeth grew longer and sharper, till they resembled a set of wolf teeth rather than human teeth. "Sit down, pup, I have just come for Jane, you don't need to get involved" He told Silver obviously highly confident of his skills and the inevitable victory he would have if Silver tried to fight him. However, a plate of meat flew at his face and showered the room with bits of food. The plate itself was a problem though, so he battered it away, shattering it into shards as an angry Silver punched Shadow in the kidney.

As Shadow was recovering from the blow, an arrow penetrated Shadow's shoulder and forced him back, reeling in pain from the combine assault. Shadow let out a grunt of pain as Silverfang moved in to take advantage of the long - shafted distraction, dropping another powerful punch into the open side. However, Shadow was not going to let himself get beaten by some half - arsed wolf and a bow wielding whatever Avrion was. He blocked the incoming strike with his left hand - grimacing as the arrow in his shoulder painfully reminded him that it was still there. Then, with his right fist he sunk a vicious punch into Silverfang's gut, and the followed up with a cross to his jaw from the left hand. The arrow was really irritating him now, but from the way Silverfang collapsed onto the floor, it wouldn’t be a problem for much longer.

He then turned to see who had shot an arrow at him as a second arrow - obviously waiting for a clear shot - grazed his cheek. Avrion hastily drew a third arrow but Shadow was no longer there to shoot when she had nocked the arrow. Avrion frowned for a second before Shadow - who had re - appeared behind her - punched her in the side, cracking her ribs. Avrion's face contorted in pain as she collapsed, her bow clattering to the ground, now useless.

With both Familiars out of action Shadow sighed and gripped the arrow shaft, he then pulled it out with something that was a mix between a growl and a cry of pain as he realized the arrow was barbed and had caused more damage coming out than going in.
"Dam, that is sore" he muttered casually, not hurrying since the other two that could do anything against him where on the floor in rather large amounts of pain. He rolled his shoulder a few times and wiped away the blood before stepping over Avrion's body and turning to look at the three girls. Nehvna was looking at Avrion with a look of concern and fear, but she couldn't move with Shadow in front of her. Beth looked distracted, cursing silently for some reason but Shadow didn't bother finding out what. She also appeared to have a small look of fear, as if unsure what Shadow was going to do now, but not nearly as much as Nehvna, who was on the verge of tears. Jane, in contrast to her two sisters, was glaring at Shadow determinedly, as if she could stop his advance with a glare.
"Well, you're coming with me now Jane" Shadow said, equally as casual as he had been since entering the house and fighting the two Familiars. 

"Like hell I am" she growled, swinging a rather inexperienced punch at Shadow who, a lot more experienced that Jane, swatted the punch away and returned one of his own, punching her the same way he had punched Silver. The effects were also similar, as Jane creased up, gasping for air. Shadow did not deliver a second punch though, instead he picked Jane up and there her over his shoulder before heading for the door.
"Good day" He said generally to the house hold as he reached the door, his tone was polite and had no trace of sarcasm in it. Shadow then opened the door and stepped through it; still remaining as casual as the moment he had walked in.

CHAPTER TWO: THE KIDNAPPING
I. Jane thrashed, kicking and punching and screaming as Shadow carried her down the road, Shadow however, was rather bored at the fact that she was still resisting. After several minutes he decided to say something about it, not that what he said was very nice, but then he had just kidnapped her from the house and carried her over his shoulder like a package down the road - the few cars that passed ignored him, which he was grateful for - and that was not very nice, so he was not going to start being nice now.

"Please stop them butterfly farts you call punches, it's getting slightly annoying now." He said, huffing at the effort it required to kidnap one girl. Not that it was a very tactful kidnapping, but then he was not a very tactful person. As he walked down the pavement - Jane did not give up her punches despite how ineffective they were - he saw someone, stood in the middle of the pavement, clearly waiting for Shadow. The most peculiar thing was that he had a sword in his hand, but from this distance he could not make much of the sword's details out. Nor anything about the person, which he did not really like the idea of. He huffed again, wondering who this person was. The man appeared serious however, so he dropped Jane - she let out a short scream before she hit the pavement and was knocked breathless - and dropped down next to her.

"Don't move, I got to deal with this" he said, clipping on some pitch black handcuffs , the same the same colour as his coat, around her wrists. Jane didn't see where they had come from, but then he could have an entire utility vest under his coat for all she could see. Shadow then stood up and faced the man, who was closer now and walking towards him slowly. From this distance Shadow could make out the blade was sheathed, the man had not drawn it yet, which was odd. With a sigh this time rather than a huff, he drew his own sword, its blade so black it stole light from the surroundings and it made his coat seem a much lighter colour in comparison.

The man had significant muscles and his stance showed that he was obviously experienced with the blade despite not drawing it yet, so Shadow adopted his Familiar Form, the tattered overcoat he wore grew darker, till it matched his sword in contrast and the frayed edges of it turned into a pristine, fully buttoned version of itself. His face changed as well, the area where his eye was scared and shut turned skeletal, which made his calm look all the more menacing.
"Such hassle" he muttered to himself, striding towards the man who was completely unfazed by the sudden change and - from what he could see - was wearing a fox mask.



Beth punched the floor in anger, Nehvna was trying to take care of Avrion and had diagnosed that Shadow had broken three ribs with his punch.
"He didn't even switch, Two Familiar in their forms and he took them both out while still in his Human form." She growled, slapping Silverfang to get him to wake up, a method a lot less refined than what Nehvna would have done, but then Beth was a lot less refined than Nehvna when it came to medical stuff. Silverfang woke up with a groan and stood up, stumbling for the door.
"Got….to save…Jane" he said, opening the door and stumbling out of it, despite Nehvna's protests - and Beth's, but less enthusiastically -  which caused Beth to simply sigh and move on, slapping Eliot now rather than Silverfang.
Silverfang stumbled down the road, clutching his side from the pain, his jaw also hurt, but he would have looked rather stupid clutching his jaw and Silver didn't want to look any more stupid. He already did that enough as it was. Silver stumbled down the road, holding onto a garden wall at one point and taking a breather for several seconds, he hadn't been in this much pain for a while, that Shadow really packed a punch, he saw now what Jane meant by he couldn't get past her father's Familiar.

After several minutes of stumbling and leaning on wall to keep himself standing he reached Jane, who was lying in the middle of the road, he quickened his pace from amble to quick stumble, gritting his teeth at the increase in pain. He arrived and got down on his knees next to her. She was shivering from the cold and so he took off his jacket and wrapped around her, hoping to warm her up slightly. With that done, he scouted the surrounding area and found a few, rather interesting things. Half an immensely black blade - so black it made darkness seem light - was laying on the ground, scrap marks leading up to it showed that it had landed at an angle and at some speed as well. Oddly, there was no blood around, but then Jane's whole body shivered quite violently and Silverfang was beginning to feel the bite of the cold as well, so he put the questions to the back of his mind and picked Jane up, immediately putting him down again as his side roared in pain.

He had ignored it before but it had now come back with a vengeance. He clutched it and cursed a few times, then looked down at Jane again. There were some shards scattered around Jane, black as the blade shard but in many, finer pieces. However, Jane herself was more important at the moment. She must have been frozen, the clothing she was wearing was thin enough, made for comfort not warmth and even with Silver's coat it was cold enough out to cut though that with little effort, making Silverfang worried about Jane's health.

He growled in vexation and he was so fixated on Jane and her predicament that he did not notice the man with the Fox mask approach until the man spoke.
"Do you need a hand?" He asked, causing Silverfang to jump, let out a strangled yelp of surprise and then take a sharp intake of breath as pain ran though his body again. The Fox - mask hid the man's features and his emotions, and but that didn't stop Silverfang glaring suspiciously. Masked people didn't simply appear next to a fur lined man standing in front of an unconscious girl and offer to help without so much as a question of the situation.
Things like that just did not happen; the man's sudden arrival was too precise to be Happenstance, or even coincidence. It had to be planned. The man must have read Silverfang's wariness as he offered an explanation.

"I came here at the request of his Sister, it was quite a rush, but I managed to get here on time, however, I could not see to the girl as I had to make sure Shadow was properly gone and not just hiding somewhere close by" He explained, his voice sounded odd, as if the mask had a voice - box in it that changed the tone of his voice. However odd that was and the phrase 'his sister' was also rather odd, but Silverfang was more interested with the fact that the fox - mask man had fought Shadow.
"You fought Shadow? How, he is like, seriously strong" Silver said in disbelief, trying to save his own ego.

"Yes, he is quite a monster in strength, but there is always a bigger fish" the Fox masked man told Silver and though the voice - box distorted it slightly, the tone sounded as casual as when Shadow had broken into the house. "Now, we should see to that side of yours" he said, pulling his scabbard out of its resting place in his belt. For some reason, Silverfang knew he wasn't going to try anything with the sword and so didn't move to stop him. The man then tapped the handle against Silver's side and he suddenly felt an indescribable feeling. After a few seconds he was left with a mild case of pins - and - needles but his side did not feel as if had Shadow caused a large amount of pain there barely half an hour previously, his jaw felt a lot better as well.
"Err, thank…." Silver started, but the fox - masked man was no longer there; Silver frowned but then realized that Jane was shivering and so picked her up and headed back to the house at a much greater speed than he had headed out at.

II: For the second time in so many hours Jane found herself resting in bed, the key difference this time was that everyone was in the room rather than just Silverfang and everyone looked worried. Also, Beth's beautiful, perfectly curvy - bodied Familiar Satyr was also there, looking on with a slightly worried look. Avrion looked as if she was a bit doped and so when she opened her eyes the first thing she asked was if Avrion was feeling alright.
"I’m fine, Shadow broke a few ribs, but Satyr managed to fix me up." Avrion replied rather slowly, but her smile never faded. Jane nodded and then turned to Silverfang, who seemed the most relieved that she had woken up.
"Thank you for finding me Silver" Jane said, blushing slightly as she looked at him. His fur had retracted and his face - and the rest of his body - was now smooth. "I'm sure your all curious as to what happened, so gather round and I will recite it the best I can" Jane said, everyone then moved around, sitting on the bed at different angles so they were in a semi - circle around Jane, who cleared her throat and began.
"As Shadow was carrying me down the road, a guy stood in the way, he was an odd sort of guy, with a strange, fox mask on" She told them before Silverfang piped up.
"I met him, he used a voice box to hide his real voice for some reason and his sword thing was really odd. He tapped my side with the handle and the pain just vanished, I tried to thank him but he had vanished as quickly as the pain did" Silverfang told everyone, before nodding towards Jane, signalling her to continue.

"He was definitely an odd guy. He even made Shadow go into his Familiar form just by standing there with this sheathed sword. Anyway, Shadow dropped me from his shoulder - which really hurt by the way - and then clipped these things on my wrists and as soon as they locked, my arms went dead. All the feeling vanished in that moment and they flopped uselessly. I think I'll call them the Arm - Deadeners" Jane mused, going off on a tangent before Beth coughed, causing Jane to snap back, if slightly slowly.
"What? Ohh yes, Shadow. Anyway, after those Arm-Deadeners got clipped on, Shadow moved towards the Fox - mask guy. I was interested in what was going to happen, so I tried to pull myself into a better position to see. However, it was awkward, and by the time I had, Shadow's sword had been severed and he had a narrow, but long - and clearly deep, from what I could see -  opening caused by a sword on his coat. The odd thing was that despite the wound underneath the coat there was no blood and the fox guy's sword was still sheathed.

Shadow then backed up and fell into the shadow he was casting on the ground - which was amazing by the way, I never knew he could do that - and as he did that the Arm - Deadeners crumbled into tiny shards, which I was grateful for. But, as I moved to get up, I suddenly felt a bit off balance. It was like getting out of a swimming pool after being in there for a good while.

Then, a couple of seconds later I closed my eyes, to see if it would help abate the odd feeling, then I must have fallen unconscious because the next thing I remember was waking up on this bed." Jane finished. Beth - and pretty much anyone who wasn't Satyr - appeared rather enthralled by the story, as if they were getting into it.
Satyr, however, was thinking - as usual, she was always the smartest person of the group and always the thinker - about the story.

"To be able to stand toe to toe with Shadow you would need a Powerful Familiar at the very least, but from Jane's story the man didn't have a Familiar with him, just a sword that remained sheathed for the parts Jane saw. And the time - frame for drawing his sword, severing Shadow's and delivering a blow to his chest, then replacing the sword is not big, only a few seconds at most. Combine that with what seems like a blood - drinking sword and I can think of only one person that would do that. Sean Woodhouse." Satyr said, speaking her thoughts to the group.

"But why the hell would he be around here? Isn't he busy being rich and famous?" Silverfang asked. The town they were in was far away from any kind of famous place so it was not like he was simply going slightly out of his way.
"Why don't we ask him?" Jane said to everyone, smiling at them as if she had not just woken up from being dragged down the road by a far - to - calm familiar for what he was doing then saved by one of the most famous people on the planet, a man with a name no one would not immediately recognize. However, with the looks she was getting Jane quickly continued. "I mean, he has to still be in the area right? So we could contact him" She tried to explain, but Satyr shook her head.

"No, there are only a few Teleporting tricks, known to the stronger, older Familiars but most of them have quite a long range. Shadow's shadow trick is known as one of the shorter ones and even that has a maximum range of 40 miles" Satyr told Jane. Silverfang snapped his fingers as if he had just remembered something.
"The Fox - mask man said that he had come at the request of 'his Sister' not 'my Sister' which means it was someone else's Sister that had called him here, to this exactly spot, at this exact time to rescue Jane." Silverfang told everyone.
"Going off the assumption that the man is Sean Woodhouse - "Satyr started, but Silverfang stopped her.

"No, I don't think it is Sean. For one, he has a reputation for completely lacking any amount of seriousness despite the situation and an obsession with making as many people know that it is him doing the thing in question and not someone else. I don't think Sean would have worn a mask, or kept such a level head. You know, I would not be surprised if the fox - masked man was Balance, he had the build for it and from what I have heard he had the skill as well" Silverfang told Satyr, putting his point across. Satyr looked vexed at being interrupted but took a breath to start again; however before she even got anything out Eliot spoke out.
"Still does not explain why he is here, he is meant to be somewhere else, doing famous things" this caused Satyr to look really rather annoyed. Jane picked up on this mood and moved to get out of the bed.

"Well while you are doing the smart stuff I am hungry" She announced. Silverfang, also picking up on Satyr's vexation and decided that - being one of the reasons - , he would remove himself as well.
"There is some meat left in the kitchen" he said, helping Jane out of the bed and following her downstairs.
When they reached the kitchen Silverfang reached out to the microwave and opened it, a plate of meat was sat in the middle and so he took it out and handing it to Jane, who pouted.

"I can take food out of the microwave you know" she snapped, putting her fists on her hips. Silverfang hated it when girls did that, it made them seem scary.
"I was just trying to help" he told Jane with a half cheeky, half loving smile, holding the plate of meat out for her. Jane laughed and took the plate.
"I know, but I'm stressed, with good reason. Sorry I snapped." She apologized.
"Don't worry about it, if I was in your shoes I'd be stressed as well. And my snapping hurts a lot more, sharp teeth and all" Silver said, gnashing his teeth softly and doing what he did best; making a joke to ease the tension that was building up. His ploy worked and he was rewarded by the soft giggle from Jane.

She and Silverfang stood in the kitchen for the next minute, eat meat and complaining about how it was going to give them bad wind the next day. Then Beth and Satyr came down the stairs and headed straight for the coat rack, pulling on their shoes and coats rather quickly and heading for the door.
"We are going out, we won't be long, just need to pick something up" She said before exiting the house without another word.
"Err, I feel like I missed something" Jane said, Silverfang - who had taken a piece of meat from Jane's plate and was now chewing it - nodded in agreement. Fortunately, Eliot and the two remaining girls came down the stairs at a slower rate. They saw the bemused looks on Silverfang and Jane's faces and decided to explain.

"Satyr and Beth started to talk about a book when you left; we quickly got left begin in the dust. I have no idea where they are going, only that they won't be long" Eliot explained as best he could, not that it was much of an explanation. But then, not many people could explain the winding, Labyrinth - like train of thought that Beth and Satyr followed nearly every day. Jane simply shrugged and returned to get plate of meat.
"Well, if they are not going to be long then maybe we should do what we were planning on doing in the first place." Silverfang suggested, but Avrion yawned, quickly followed by Nehvna, then everyone else caught up in the infectious wave that yawning always brought. It was odd how one yawn could make a whole room yawn, but then - Jane thought abstractly - it was like a smile, if you smiled then chances where someone else would start smiling and that would make another person smile. She liked to share her smile with as many people as she could when her father let her out, which was not often and nearly all the situations that he dragged her to where no places for smiles, most where a place for the complete opposite of smiling, which crashed Jane's happy train of thought. Avrion brought Jane back to reality by speaking to the group, which was a nice distraction.
"I'm tired, I'm going to catch some Zs while they are out, I'll come back down later" She told everyone, Nehvna nodded and sleepily followed her Familiar up the stairs.
"Fair enough, just don't break anything" Eliot told them with a playful smile.