Wishful Stray

Demon Daydreams and Schemes

@GenkaiDone~!

Sayuki unfortunately is only good at Music, anything else she attempts to do usually has unexpected outcomes.

Demon Daydreams and Schemes

I'll have something up later today. ^^

---

Saki

Casual

Name:
Sayuki "*Saki" Takeda

Age:
22

Major:
Music Education & Music Performance

Part Time Job:
Music Tutor.
**$30/Hr, 3 Sessions/Day, Twice a Week.

Money:
Cash: $50 Usually.
Savings: ~$600

Residence:
Campus Living. 4 Bedroom Suite.

Family:
×Natsuko Takeda. Mother. 45. Bookstore Clerk.
×Shiro Takeda. Father. 51. Bookstore Owner.
×Daishi Takeda. Brother. 13. Middle School Student.

Hobbies:
~Reading: Being the daughter of a bookstore owner, Sayuki grew up around books and easily developed a love for them. She likes to spend time reading the older books; the ones turning yellow with age, tattered spines threatening to break, torn corners and fading words. She often turns to books when there's little else to do, or if she need a break from playing her violin.

~Music: Music is the one thing Saki is naturally talented at and enjoys thoroughly, so much so that she's often recruited by directors to fill in for missing performers from time to time. Originally it was something she did just because she could; it wasn't until she came across a small boy struggling awkwardly to balance the violin and work the bow that she found she could easily explain just as well as she could play. While she prefers the violin, her talents aren't restricted to it. With a little practice she could become adequate on several more instruments.

~Occult: Around the age of 5 Saki stumbled across a little black book shoved deep in a forgotten corner of her parents store, the cover bore no inscriptions or designs on either side but inside it spoke of necromancy and voodoo. Fascinated she eagerly flew through the book becoming more enthralled with the idea of there being a veil in life, and if one could shift it they could see the unknown. Years past and her curiosity faded, she kept her collection of books and paraphernalia but has turned her attention to make strange charms and harmless babbles to push off on to her friends. Her current favorite is a cookbook titled Yokai Treats! Better These Than You! by Haruki Masumono, though she's had little luck in producing desired results she still enjoys feeding them to her young students and brother. No ill side effects have shown yet.

Aspirations:
Watching her parents struggle happily for years to manage their shop has instilled in Saki the drive to never give up on what she wants, and while she strives to pursue her dreams in music, hoping to one day get a job as a teacher in the university, she often wonders if she should take over the store instead not wanting to see her parents dreams die with them. She's currently trying to save enough money to help pay the house bills for the next couple of months to help take the strain of her family.

Fears:
While she has a strong drive and passion, Sayuki, like most aspiring musicians, fears not being impressive enough to be able to capitalize on her own talents. Worried that that alone won't be enough to see her through the rest of her classes; she often over focuses on those thoughts, wondering if she should just go for a safer life goal and resign herself to merely teaching music lessons out of the bookstore's spare room.

4 Positive Traits and 1 Negative Trait:
+Affable: Having grown out of her awkward childhood, Saki can often be seen blending in with a group of friends, or talking with a junior about an upcoming piece. She has a sense of ease, and subtle grace about her that makes her approachable. A happy smile can be found upon her face for most of the day unless she's in math, than it's replaced by a rather amusing look of anguish and distaste.

+Creative: Often times Saki's notebooks are scribbled on with short bars of music, or note sequences writing music instead of taking proper notes about the class subject. Often times she can be found tapping out a short rhythm on her desk, or daydreaming about when the next time she could slip away to go practice in the music room would be. This same desire spills out into other activities allowing her to come up with new solutions or strange foods when she does try her hand at cooking, it doesn't end well usually.

+Eccentric: Given her odd taste in interest and showing off her never ending side dabbles into the occult, however the outcome, has branded the young woman as an oddball among the more popular students. Sayuki doesn't mind, even when her own friends call her strange she just laughs it off and continues on to the next thing humming one new tune or another seemingly without a care in the world.

+Loyal: Growing up Saki wasn't the most outgoing kid, so what little friends she managed to make and keep are very important to her; adding her small family to the mix and she has a small little niche of people that she trusts and would do anything to make happy.

-Absent Minded: When it comes to anything besides music and books, Saki often finds herself at a loss or regarding it with little interest. As such her others grades seem to suffer greatly at times, it's only by others nagging that she puts in enough effort to keep from failing. This extends to remembering to bring things or remembering meeting times.

---

*When she was smaller she couldn't pronounce her first name; so she called herself Saki and it's stuck ever since.

**Average cost my mother paid for my piano lessons.

---

Writing Sample

'A streak of red followed Annaliese as she ran through back alleys and side streets, the loud clanking of the guard's boots soon turned to mere echoes as they gave up the chase having little luck catching up to the young pickpocket. A short laugh filled with a triumphant smile as the redhead scrambled up a falling wall slipping back into her small hideaway. The contents of her latest conquest spilled out on to her sleeping pallet, little more than a few coins and small bobbles, the coins quickly found themselves ushered into a tin that was quickly shoved into a small hole in the floor. The bobbles placed on a small shelf with other bright pieces of glass and broken trinkets. Her prized collection of sorts. Broken shards of jewels from the shaping of raw stones, wax seals bearing different crest, tattered strips of silk, useless trash to the higher class.

Flopping back on to her bed she grinned happily staring up at the endless sky, the roof on the condemned building long gone, as she remembered how easy it was to separate that drunk knight from his purse.

Loud berating soon made its way up to the small girls hideout, it sounded like a woman accosting her servant for not paying better attention to where they were going.

Lost rich people were Nali's favorite as she carefully made her way to the building's edge, spotting a woman decked in bright fabrics and heavily adorned with jeweled pieces, an easy mark if she had ever seen one doubting the woman would notice if a few of her smaller pieces seemed to walk off. A short jump and a few steps found the girl in a corner hovering behind the pair, a dull knife glinting in the light as she snuck closer towards the woman, adrenaline coursing through her small body almost giddy on the high from it while she make quick work of the cord holding a small chain of Citrine stones linked as a belt before dashing off again not foolish enough to return home so quickly. She could waste time loitering around the local tavern or in the slum courtyard with the rest of the cut purses in the city.

A cold hand circled around her wrist snatching her back into a shadow, as she shivered slightly, it seemed like the cold was traveling and coursing through her rendering her motionless as a dark laugh echoed behind her. Soundless words filled her mind, a soft rhyme and rhythm to them, speaking of gems and hunger, of anger and pride, strange phrases and words the young girl would come to understand later, but for now she stood staring wide eyed at the woman from early gone was her rich garb switched in place for a dark cloak hiding her face and the dark green dress peaking out from under it before the woman easily cast the young girl out into the street a cruel smile on her face as she walked away towards the palace.'

Speckles of green danced around the woman's blue eyes as the emerald rolled around in her slender fingers catching the dying light from her fire, long forgotten as her mind drifted back from distant memories, back from the beginning. A sharp shake of her head drew her back to the present as the redhead swiftly moved to stock the fire once more, breathing life back into the dying embers as the hunger started to creep up the back of her throat clawing in displeasure at the long wait for its food, her eyes slowly loosing their blue hue in exchange for a deep amber, it had been several days since Annaliese had been able to secure the food she needed, outskirt towns held little in the ways of high end jewels and gems. The higher the quality the less frequent she needed to eat. A bittersweet sigh left her as the gem disappeared with a quick flick, popping it into her mouth as it slowly started to melt and trickle down her throat.

The roaring hunger and anger quelling slightly at the newest offering.

---

According to her map the nearest city wasn't far, though she had little hope that there would be any easy targets; her infamy had started to proceed her and it was getting harder and harder to tell a trap from a genuine mark. A short chuckle left her lips, perhaps she shouldn't have stolen the Lord Regent's Sapphire Brooch, but the hunger had called for it, her smile dropping as memories took over once again.

'Blood trickled down her lip as she fought to sate the hunger gnawing at her insides demanding to be feed. The young girl was naive in thinking if she ignore it it would go away, she had no way of getting any gems in such a rural town and had tried silver and what little fools gold she could find; it had only seemed to enhance the anger boiling inside her as dark thoughts and whispers of blood and flesh started creeping into her mind. Frightened she fled to the outskirts tripping over a root sending the slender girl flying across the ground scrapping up her knee letting out a sharp hiss and whimper of pain, the hunger seething in pleasure at the punishment of her disobedience.

A returning fisherman found the young girl passed out on the ground, her face and hair smudged with dirt and blood, her breath escaping her in short rasps and whimpers more so from the swirling storm inside than her superficial wounds. Picking her up he carried the girl back into the village marveling at how thin and frail she seemed; surely her parents wouldn't have let her waste away like this, or perhaps her parents were long gone and the small girl in his arms was left to her own devices and had to fend for herself. His heart ached as he thought of something so small having to bare such hardships. Setting her down on his bed he made short work of bandaging her cuts before setting about make her something for dinner resolving himself to take in the girl.

A small bright green pebble falling onto the bed from his pocket, a strange stone he had found while fishing.

Nali's hand snaked out just as quickly as it fell shoving the small piece of jade in her mouth, vaguely conscious of her actions as the smooth cold liquid pooled in the bottom of her stomach taking the edge of her hunger, not enough to sate it.

Unfortunately it bought her enough time to betray her instances to run, instead she choose to believe in the man who took her in finding herself enjoying living a simple life with him instead of working to survive and keep the hunger at bay. She stubbornly ignored the signs of the hunger building, purposefully misinterpreting the outburst of angers as a young girl's fluctuating emotions. She worked hard to blend in with the village for them to accept her as one of their own, making friends with the other children her age; wistfully hoping that there was no downside to ignoring her curse, that she was just letting her imagination run wild.

The happy charade lasted a month at most before the hunger won over turning the raging anger inside her on her new found friends and family.

It was a bright morning as she ran home with an armful of flowers, happily expecting praise from her father at how good she was doing and how much better she looked. The gleam of his knife as it slide through the fish, gutting and cleaning it for breakfast had her entranced as the flowers scattered to the floor; before she realized it the knife was in her hand stained red as her adopted father clutched his throat his eyes wide with shock and hurt staring glassy eyed back at her while the blood poured out onto the floor. The blade slide across her tongue as she licked it clean, her eyes glowing a deep yellow.

When she came to the rest of village was slaughtered and her light blue dress stained red with blood, the bodies of her friends littered around her, a foreign metallic taste clinging to her mouth and tongue as she stood there in disbelief a sharp clatter as the knife fell from her hands. Hot tears started to well in her eyes, as she kept muttering to herself that this was nothing but a bad dream, she would wake up soon.'

Three times she had tried to disobey the hunger, three times she had woken up covered in blood, corpses littering the ground around her, organs missing, the hunger purring happily within her as she fruitlessly tried to empty the contents of her stomach nothing but hot tears and acid hitting the blood stained ground before crawling away to the nearest building or home to clean herself up.

The first time she wasn't so quick in getting away chased out by villagers and assaulted by guards, the young woman nearly lost her life that night.

The sharp crack of the log splitting from the heat made the woman jump, her left hand shooting out towards the pair of daggers propped up next to her as she surveyed the area. The woods were no place to stop for rest, but she had little money and little choice. Reaching up she pulled the thin cloak around her, a unknown parting gift from a dimwitted villager, yet she was thankful to have it as the night slowly got colder. With her craving controlled she stood up grabbing her weapons before scaling the nearest tree to tie herself in for the night, tomorrow she would head into the city.

A girl has to eat after all.

---

The large gates loomed as Nali blended in with the crowd slipping her way into the city, her contact had breathed word about a large cache of gems being delivered to the local goldsmith to craft a new ceremonial crown for the new prince's coronation. A starved look flickered across her eyes at the thought of having that trove of jewels tinkling in the near empty pouch tucked away under her belt, she wasn't naive enough to leave it hanging out in a city overrun with cut purses and pickpockets. After all that's what started all of this, cutting the wrong woman's purse for a couple of coins barely enough to afford a hot meal and a warm bed. Pulling the hood up around her face covering it so only the long tendrils of her red hair spilled out she quickly slipped down a side street narrowly missing two guards on patrol neither of them bothered or payed enough to worry about another thief roaming the city.

---

A sharp curse and growl left her lips as she realized too late that she had just walked into a trap, the empty chest at her feet only fueled her displeasure as the loud echo of boots and shouting informed her that she was surrounded. She entertained the brief notion of ending it before they could reach her but shook her head, one day she would find the woman who cursed her and cut her beating heart out in front of her before then she swore she wouldn't die.

Prison could be no worse than this.

That was until she realized they would be sending her to the Stone, she never counted on them connecting the slaughters to her as well.

---

---

Demon Daydreamin'

Works for me~ ^^

Unquiet

Nali

---

Annaliese Warren

22. Female. 5'6". Jewel Thief.

---

---

"What Value is a Gem on a Shelf? They'd be Better Off in Me, I think."

---

'A streak of red followed Annaliese as she ran through back alleys and side streets, the loud clanking of the guard's boots soon turned to mere echoes as they gave up the chase having little luck catching up to the young pickpocket. A short laugh filled with a triumphant smile as the redhead scrambled up a falling wall slipping back into her small hideaway. The contents of her latest conquest spilled out on to her sleeping pallet, little more than a few coins and small bobbles, the coins quickly found themselves ushered into a tin that was quickly shoved into a small hole in the floor. The bobbles placed on a small shelf with other bright pieces of glass and broken trinkets. Her prized collection of sorts. Broken shards of jewels from the shaping of raw stones, wax seals bearing different crest, tattered strips of silk, useless trash to the higher class.

Flopping back on to her bed she grinned happily staring up at the endless sky, the roof on the condemned building long gone, as she remembered how easy it was to separate that drunk knight from his purse.

Loud berating soon made its way up to the small girls hideout, it sounded like a woman accosting her servant for not paying better attention to where they were going.

Lost rich people were Nali's favorite as she carefully made her way to the building's edge, spotting a woman decked in bright fabrics and heavily adorned with jeweled pieces, an easy mark if she had ever seen one doubting the woman would notice if a few of her smaller pieces seemed to walk off. A short jump and a few steps found the girl in a corner hovering behind the pair, a dull knife glinting in the light as she snuck closer towards the woman, adrenaline coursing through her small body almost giddy on the high from it while she make quick work of the cord holding a small chain of Citrine stones linked as a belt before dashing off again not foolish enough to return home so quickly. She could waste time loitering around the local tavern or in the slum courtyard with the rest of the cut purses in the city.

A cold hand circled around her wrist snatching her back into a shadow, as she shivered slightly, it seemed like the cold was traveling and coursing through her rendering her motionless as a dark laugh echoed behind her. Soundless words filled her mind, a soft rhyme and rhythm to them, speaking of gems and hunger, of anger and pride, strange phrases and words the young girl would come to understand later, but for now she stood staring wide eyed at the woman from early gone was her rich garb switched in place for a dark cloak hiding her face and the dark green dress peaking out from under it before the woman easily cast the young girl out into the street a cruel smile on her face as she walked away towards the palace.'

Speckles of green danced around the woman's blue eyes as the emerald rolled around in her slender fingers catching the dying light from her fire, long forgotten as her mind drifted back from distant memories, back from the beginning. A sharp shake of her head drew her back to the present as the redhead swiftly moved to stock the fire once more, breathing life back into the dying embers as the hunger started to creep up the back of her throat clawing in displeasure at the long wait for its food, her eyes slowly loosing their blue hue in exchange for a deep amber, it had been several days since Annaliese had been able to secure the food she needed, outskirt towns held little in the ways of high end jewels and gems. The higher the quality the less frequent she needed to eat. A bittersweet sigh left her as the gem disappeared with a quick flick, popping it into her mouth as it slowly started to melt and trickle down her throat.

The roaring hunger and anger quelling slightly at the newest offering.

---

According to her map the nearest city wasn't far, though she had little hope that there would be any easy targets; her infamy had started to proceed her and it was getting harder and harder to tell a trap from a genuine mark. A short chuckle left her lips, perhaps she shouldn't have stolen the Lord Regent's Sapphire Brooch, but the hunger had called for it, her smile dropping as memories took over once again.

'Blood trickled down her lip as she fought to sate the hunger gnawing at her insides demanding to be feed. The young girl was naive in thinking if she ignore it it would go away, she had no way of getting any gems in such a rural town and had tried silver and what little fools gold she could find; it had only seemed to enhance the anger boiling inside her as dark thoughts and whispers of blood and flesh started creeping into her mind. Frightened she fled to the outskirts tripping over a root sending the slender girl flying across the ground scrapping up her knee letting out a sharp hiss and whimper of pain, the hunger seething in pleasure at the punishment of her disobedience.

A returning fisherman found the young girl passed out on the ground, her face and hair smudged with dirt and blood, her breath escaping her in short rasps and whimpers more so from the swirling storm inside than her superficial wounds. Picking her up he carried the girl back into the village marveling at how thin and frail she seemed; surely her parents wouldn't have let her waste away like this, or perhaps her parents were long gone and the small girl in his arms was left to her own devices and had to fend for herself. His heart ached as he thought of something so small having to bare such hardships. Setting her down on his bed he made short work of bandaging her cuts before setting about make her something for dinner resolving himself to take in the girl.

A small bright green pebble falling onto the bed from his pocket, a strange stone he had found while fishing.

Nali's hand snaked out just as quickly as it fell shoving the small piece of jade in her mouth, vaguely conscious of her actions as the smooth cold liquid pooled in the bottom of her stomach taking the edge of her hunger, not enough to sate it.

Unfortunately it bought her enough time to betray her instances to run, instead she choose to believe in the man who took her in finding herself enjoying living a simple life with him instead of working to survive and keep the hunger at bay. She stubbornly ignored the signs of the hunger building, purposefully misinterpreting the outburst of angers as a young girl's fluctuating emotions. She worked hard to blend in with the village for them to accept her as one of their own, making friends with the other children her age; wistfully hoping that there was no downside to ignoring her curse, that she was just letting her imagination run wild.

The happy charade lasted a month at most before the hunger won over turning the raging anger inside her on her new found friends and family.

It was a bright morning as she ran home with an armful of flowers, happily expecting praise from her father at how good she was doing and how much better she looked. The gleam of his knife as it slide through the fish, gutting and cleaning it for breakfast had her entranced as the flowers scattered to the floor; before she realized it the knife was in her hand stained red as her adopted father clutched his throat his eyes wide with shock and hurt staring glassy eyed back at her while the blood poured out onto the floor. The blade slide across her tongue as she licked it clean, her eyes glowing a deep yellow.

When she came to the rest of village was slaughtered and her light blue dress stained red with blood, the bodies of her friends littered around her, a foreign metallic taste clinging to her mouth and tongue as she stood there in disbelief a sharp clatter as the knife fell from her hands. Hot tears started to well in her eyes, as she kept muttering to herself that this was nothing but a bad dream, she would wake up soon.'

Three times she had tried to disobey the hunger, three times she had woken up covered in blood, corpses littering the ground around her, organs missing, the hunger purring happily within her as she fruitlessly tried to empty the contents of her stomach nothing but hot tears and acid hitting the blood stained ground before crawling away to the nearest building or home to clean herself up.

The first time she wasn't so quick in getting away chased out by villagers and assaulted by guards, the young woman nearly lost her life that night.

The sharp crack of the log splitting from the heat made the woman jump, her left hand shooting out towards the pair of daggers propped up next to her as she surveyed the area. The woods were no place to stop for rest, but she had little money and little choice. Reaching up she pulled the thin cloak around her, a unknown parting gift from a dimwitted villager, yet she was thankful to have it as the night slowly got colder. With her craving controlled she stood up grabbing her weapons before scaling the nearest tree to tie herself in for the night, tomorrow she would head into the city.

A girl has to eat after all.

---

The large gates loomed as Nali blended in with the crowd slipping her way into the city, her contact had breathed word about a large cache of gems being delivered to the local goldsmith to craft a new ceremonial crown for the new prince's coronation. A starved look flickered across her eyes at the thought of having that trove of jewels tinkling in the near empty pouch tucked away under her belt, she wasn't naive enough to leave it hanging out in a city overrun with cut purses and pickpockets. After all that's what started all of this, cutting the wrong woman's purse for a couple of coins barely enough to afford a hot meal and a warm bed. Pulling the hood up around her face covering it so only the long tendrils of her red hair spilled out she quickly slipped down a side street narrowly missing two guards on patrol neither of them bothered or payed enough to worry about another thief roaming the city.

---

A sharp curse and growl left her lips as she realized too late that she had just walked into a trap, the empty chest at her feet only fueled her displeasure as the loud echo of boots and shouting informed her that she was surrounded. She entertained the brief notion of ending it before they could reach her but shook her head, one day she would find the woman who cursed her and cut her beating heart out in front of her before then she swore she wouldn't die.

Prison could be no worse than this.

That was until she realized they would be sending her to the Stone, she never counted on them connecting the slaughters to her as well.

---

Unquiet

A low rumble and a sharp crack shattered her dark crypt, dust and gravel rushing in and out of the air around her as her lungs rasped back into life gasping out short dry coughs. Nali reached out weakly grasping at the nearest opening, something to pull herself free from her grave, the hunger slowly bubbling up once more inside her, violent and angry at having been denied and confined for so long.

She managed to stumble a few steps forward as the rumbling grew until the back wall of her small pigeonhole crumbled destroying the small box she had woken from.

The shock and wind from the collapse surged behind her clawing to get past her and out to free air, stealing her breath as it shoved her out of the alcove tossing her to the ground like a mere rag doll as it swirled and spiraled up and out in a billowing cloud.

Groaning she curled up in a small ball, cradling her left side laying motionless for a few moments before the words of others made their way up to her plateau. Curious she rolled over crawling to look down over the edge where it looked like a woman and two men had gathered, it was short work to identify them as occupants of the coffins littering the walls, well at least some of them.

Nali's eyes widened as a snare child appeared, before chiding herself at being taken unaware, it was after all how she got in this mess. Their posture and tones gave no signs of animosity or hostility, instead it gave off a vibe of comradery with faint indication of distrust.

Pursing her lips together, she sat up stretching slowly working life back into her limbs wincing as cramps and discomfort soon followed. Being stagnant in a box for years did little wonders for the body, but at least she bore no signs of aging or any other calamity. Her blue eyes rested briefly back on the small group debating on making her way down there before continuing the observation of the remaining Stone, cautious and wary. Surely something catastrophic had to have happen to render such a monument to noting but a decrepit skeleton of its former glory.

Another shake of her head drew her out of her thoughts as a wave of nausea and pain hit her drawing a sharp hiss from the redhead as she desperately clawed at her belt praying to which ever God was listening that her small stash of jewels still existed on her person. With each movement the pain grew causing the young women to double over as she finally wrapped her hand around the bags drawstring pulling it out. Shaking fingers pulled at the knot as her blue eyes slowly started to shift to yellow, a faint aura of blood lust slowly exuding from her.

A soft clinking echoed of the ground as bright lights of red, yellow, green, white, and blue glittered happily in the sun. A pile of small gems spilled out onto the ground, barely enough to sate the hunger raging but enough that she could manage to keep it tamed for a week at most.

Annaliese sighed quickly snatching up a small Topaz popping it into her mouth not even bothering to wait for it to melt before swallowing it, the relief was brief but enough to dissipate the desire for blood and change her eyes back to normal. Flopping back onto her back she lazily scooped the rest back into the bag stowing it away once more.

'Seems I owe someone an offering after all...'

The sarcastic thought rolled around in her mind before being replaced back with the original inquiry as to if she should join the small gathering down below her. Draping an arm over her eyes, she enjoyed the reprieve from the light, a thief by trade she dallied little with the day time preferring to move by night, but that was before the world became an unknown.

"Looks like we'll become fast friends, you and I."

Another sarcastic remark aimed up at the cheerful ball of yellow shinning happily up in the sky, as she sighed once more sitting back up mentally cursing the guards who didn't allow her to keep her cloak. Her pale skin wasn't us to the hot rays of the sun and had already started to gather a pink tint; a quick scramble and a few steps found her resting against a wall in the shade with a good view of those below.

"Well aren't you all a cheery bunch."

It was easy enough work to raise her voice so that it echoed off the remaining walls and make it's way down to the others, yet Nali made no move to join them.

Unquiet

@Wishful Stray that's pretty damn epic. Approved. :)

I wonder if any of the pc witches here might be able to help with that curse!

@Mokley

Yayy~~ ^^

I'll get started on an intro post then~

Edit: Posted ^^

Demon Daydreamin'

Interested as well. ^^

Unquiet

Nali

---

Annaliese Warren

22. Female. 5'6". Jewel Thief.

---

---

"What Value is a Gem on a Shelf? They'd be Better Off in Me, I think."

---

'A streak of red followed Annaliese as she ran through back alleys and side streets, the loud clanking of the guard's boots soon turned to mere echoes as they gave up the chase having little luck catching up to the young pickpocket. A short laugh filled with a triumphant smile as the redhead scrambled up a falling wall slipping back into her small hideaway. The contents of her latest conquest spilled out on to her sleeping pallet, little more than a few coins and small bobbles, the coins quickly found themselves ushered into a tin that was quickly shoved into a small hole in the floor. The bobbles placed on a small shelf with other bright pieces of glass and broken trinkets. Her prized collection of sorts. Broken shards of jewels from the shaping of raw stones, wax seals bearing different crest, tattered strips of silk, useless trash to the higher class.

Flopping back on to her bed she grinned happily staring up at the endless sky, the roof on the condemned building long gone, as she remembered how easy it was to separate that drunk knight from his purse.

Loud berating soon made its way up to the small girls hideout, it sounded like a woman accosting her servant for not paying better attention to where they were going.

Lost rich people were Nali's favorite as she carefully made her way to the building's edge, spotting a woman decked in bright fabrics and heavily adorned with jeweled pieces, an easy mark if she had ever seen one doubting the woman would notice if a few of her smaller pieces seemed to walk off. A short jump and a few steps found the girl in a corner hovering behind the pair, a dull knife glinting in the light as she snuck closer towards the woman, adrenaline coursing through her small body almost giddy on the high from it while she make quick work of the cord holding a small chain of Citrine stones linked as a belt before dashing off again not foolish enough to return home so quickly. She could waste time loitering around the local tavern or in the slum courtyard with the rest of the cut purses in the city.

A cold hand circled around her wrist snatching her back into a shadow, as she shivered slightly, it seemed like the cold was traveling and coursing through her rendering her motionless as a dark laugh echoed behind her. Soundless words filled her mind, a soft rhyme and rhythm to them, speaking of gems and hunger, of anger and pride, strange phrases and words the young girl would come to understand later, but for now she stood staring wide eyed at the woman from early gone was her rich garb switched in place for a dark cloak hiding her face and the dark green dress peaking out from under it before the woman easily cast the young girl out into the street a cruel smile on her face as she walked away towards the palace.'

Speckles of green danced around the woman's blue eyes as the emerald rolled around in her slender fingers catching the dying light from her fire, long forgotten as her mind drifted back from distant memories, back from the beginning. A sharp shake of her head drew her back to the present as the redhead swiftly moved to stock the fire once more, breathing life back into the dying embers as the hunger started to creep up the back of her throat clawing in displeasure at the long wait for its food, her eyes slowly loosing their blue hue in exchange for a deep amber, it had been several days since Annaliese had been able to secure the food she needed, outskirt towns held little in the ways of high end jewels and gems. The higher the quality the less frequent she needed to eat. A bittersweet sigh left her as the gem disappeared with a quick flick, popping it into her mouth as it slowly started to melt and trickle down her throat.

The roaring hunger and anger quelling slightly at the newest offering.

---

According to her map the nearest city wasn't far, though she had little hope that there would be any easy targets; her infamy had started to proceed her and it was getting harder and harder to tell a trap from a genuine mark. A short chuckle left her lips, perhaps she shouldn't have stolen the Lord Regent's Sapphire Brooch, but the hunger had called for it, her smile dropping as memories took over once again.

'Blood trickled down her lip as she fought to sate the hunger gnawing at her insides demanding to be feed. The young girl was naive in thinking if she ignore it it would go away, she had no way of getting any gems in such a rural town and had tried silver and what little fools gold she could find; it had only seemed to enhance the anger boiling inside her as dark thoughts and whispers of blood and flesh started creeping into her mind. Frightened she fled to the outskirts tripping over a root sending the slender girl flying across the ground scrapping up her knee letting out a sharp hiss and whimper of pain, the hunger seething in pleasure at the punishment of her disobedience.

A returning fisherman found the young girl passed out on the ground, her face and hair smudged with dirt and blood, her breath escaping her in short rasps and whimpers more so from the swirling storm inside than her superficial wounds. Picking her up he carried the girl back into the village marveling at how thin and frail she seemed; surely her parents wouldn't have let her waste away like this, or perhaps her parents were long gone and the small girl in his arms was left to her own devices and had to fend for herself. His heart ached as he thought of something so small having to bare such hardships. Setting her down on his bed he made short work of bandaging her cuts before setting about make her something for dinner resolving himself to take in the girl.

A small bright green pebble falling onto the bed from his pocket, a strange stone he had found while fishing.

Nali's hand snaked out just as quickly as it fell shoving the small piece of jade in her mouth, vaguely conscious of her actions as the smooth cold liquid pooled in the bottom of her stomach taking the edge of her hunger, not enough to sate it.

Unfortunately it bought her enough time to betray her instances to run, instead she choose to believe in the man who took her in finding herself enjoying living a simple life with him instead of working to survive and keep the hunger at bay. She stubbornly ignored the signs of the hunger building, purposefully misinterpreting the outburst of angers as a young girl's fluctuating emotions. She worked hard to blend in with the village for them to accept her as one of their own, making friends with the other children her age; wistfully hoping that there was no downside to ignoring her curse, that she was just letting her imagination run wild.

The happy charade lasted a month at most before the hunger won over turning the raging anger inside her on her new found friends and family.

It was a bright morning as she ran home with an armful of flowers, happily expecting praise from her father at how good she was doing and how much better she looked. The gleam of his knife as it slide through the fish, gutting and cleaning it for breakfast had her entranced as the flowers scattered to the floor; before she realized it the knife was in her hand stained red as her adopted father clutched his throat his eyes wide with shock and hurt staring glassy eyed back at her while the blood poured out onto the floor. The blade slide across her tongue as she licked it clean, her eyes glowing a deep yellow.

When she came to the rest of village was slaughtered and her light blue dress stained red with blood, the bodies of her friends littered around her, a foreign metallic taste clinging to her mouth and tongue as she stood there in disbelief a sharp clatter as the knife fell from her hands. Hot tears started to well in her eyes, as she kept muttering to herself that this was nothing but a bad dream, she would wake up soon.'

Three times she had tried to disobey the hunger, three times she had woken up covered in blood, corpses littering the ground around her, organs missing, the hunger purring happily within her as she fruitlessly tried to empty the contents of her stomach nothing but hot tears and acid hitting the blood stained ground before crawling away to the nearest building or home to clean herself up.

The first time she wasn't so quick in getting away chased out by villagers and assaulted by guards, the young woman nearly lost her life that night.

The sharp crack of the log splitting from the heat made the woman jump, her left hand shooting out towards the pair of daggers propped up next to her as she surveyed the area. The woods were no place to stop for rest, but she had little money and little choice. Reaching up she pulled the thin cloak around her, a unknown parting gift from a dimwitted villager, yet she was thankful to have it as the night slowly got colder. With her craving controlled she stood up grabbing her weapons before scaling the nearest tree to tie herself in for the night, tomorrow she would head into the city.

A girl has to eat after all.

---

The large gates loomed as Nali blended in with the crowd slipping her way into the city, her contact had breathed word about a large cache of gems being delivered to the local goldsmith to craft a new ceremonial crown for the new prince's coronation. A starved look flickered across her eyes at the thought of having that trove of jewels tinkling in the near empty pouch tucked away under her belt, she wasn't naive enough to leave it hanging out in a city overrun with cut purses and pickpockets. After all that's what started all of this, cutting the wrong woman's purse for a couple of coins barely enough to afford a hot meal and a warm bed. Pulling the hood up around her face covering it so only the long tendrils of her red hair spilled out she quickly slipped down a side street narrowly missing two guards on patrol neither of them bothered or payed enough to worry about another thief roaming the city.

---

A sharp curse and growl left her lips as she realized too late that she had just walked into a trap, the empty chest at her feet only fueled her displeasure as the loud echo of boots and shouting informed her that she was surrounded. She entertained the brief notion of ending it before they could reach her but shook her head, one day she would find the woman who cursed her and cut her beating heart out in front of her before then she swore she wouldn't die.

Prison could be no worse than this.

That was until she realized they would be sending her to the Stone, she never counted on them connecting the slaughters to her as well.

---

Unquiet

I'll have a CS up before the night is out then. ^^

Unquiet

Any room for one more? ^^