Shade
Shade is a plane-touched little hin with blue hair so long it touches the ground and an affinity for the shadows she cannot explain. She woke up walking one day and before she knew it, she had arrived in Nesmé and her search for her roots and her God began.
Swallowed, Part One
Swallowed, Part Two
Swallowed, Part Three
Swallowed, Part Four
Swallowed, Part Five
Swallowed, Part One
Fat, thick snowflakes floated delicately from the gray sky and Shade smiled sadly, holding one small hand out to catch them. Meria was so looking forward to the first snows, she thought watching the crystal dissolve upon her warm skin. She was seated, as usual, on a platform in the southern end of town, short legs dangling over the edge. Despite the chill, her feet were bare and though she wrapped herself tightly in her new cloak, the small hin was cold.
“You shouldn’t be out in this weather, little one!” Henry Goodfellow called as he stomped through the fallen snow, a brightly colored scarf around his neck, obscuring the lower half of his face. Shade smiled back at him, pleased to see that he was wearing the gift she’d given him. “Come, let me buy you a drink! Or at the very least, find you a seat by the fire, you must be freezing.”
“No, I’m not cold,” she replied with a shy smile, but climbed quickly to her feet and made her way down the icy ramp. “But I hear Narma brews some delicious mulled wine! And that sounds delicious on a night like tonight.”
Henry nodded, pulling the scarf back up to cover his mouth and offered the young woman, short even for her kind, his arm. She had to stretch to reach his forearm, and he stooped over a bit, but the odd pair made their way toward the center of town. Henry had been very kind to her, and he and his wife had invited her to eat with them several times since she’d arrived in Nesmé - has it already been half a year?
The Inn was crowded this night, and several people nodded politely to her as she waited on a bench near the fireplace for Henry to return with a mug of mulled wine. Marinanna, with her unnaturally pristine white gown (she looks like a snow princess come to life... she thought flashing a brief smile at the woman) and her handsome fiancé were deep in discussion in one corner. Cornelius passed through bruskly, but acknowledged her with a smile, and Shade laughed outloud as a female bard told a raunchy story at a nearby table.
Henry plopped into a chair beside her, kicking his muddy boots onto an empty stool, and handed her a steaming mug. Between the warm drink and the heat from the roaring fire, Shade began to feel drowsy, and before she knew it, a pair of strong arms lifted her like she weighed no more than a feather, and carried her upstairs. She was vaguely aware of a whispered wish of sweet dreams and through blurry eyes, she watched the lantern on the table flicker dimly until her eyes closed and at last she slept.
W-where...?
She blinked once, squeezing her eyes tight, then opening them again trying to focus on her surroundings. The light was blindingly bright and she lifted one arm to shield her eyes as she sat up. The lumpy mattress of the Inn was gone and Shade found herself sitting upon a hard wooden bench. She winced, rubbing her bum as she slid off the edge, a splinter impaling her through her clothes. With a start, she glanced down. Instead of the nubby woolen traveling clothes she’d been wearing, Shade found herself swathed in a silky soft material. The sleeves of her blouse billowed and the legs were wrapped in an unusual fashion, leaving her feet bare. It was the very sort of outfit she might have made for herself, if she could have afforded such expensive cloth.
“Shade.” A finger tapped her on the shoulder.
The young hin, whirling at the sound of the voice, found no one behind her.
“H-hello?” Her voice trembled a bit and she cursed inwardly to show such weakness. “Who’s there?”
There was a mischievious giggle, and she turned again toward the source. Still, she saw nothing. Something brushed past her ear, and as she whirled, frusterated, one of the needles was pulled from her hair. Shade stomped one foot, eyes scanning the room quickly.
“I said, who’s there?!”
The other needle slid from her hair and dark blue hair spilled over her shoulders, dragging behind her as she paced the small space.
Shade...
She froze, mid-step. She hadn’t heard the voice so much as felt it. Glancing slowly from the left to the right, Shade sucked in a shallow breath and bit her lower lip. The room was non-descript; plain, white-washed walls, rough wooden floors. She couldn’t see the ceiling, there was just an overwhelmingly bright light above.
Shade... And the giggle tickled her ear again, this time she felt hot breath on her ear and she leapt away, confused.
“What?! What do you want?”
The light shifted, and she became acutely aware of the shadow cast by the bench. Her eyes widened, the pupils dilating as she stared into the black shadow at her feet. Like fingers of smoke, it began to creep toward her, licking at her ankles and dancing around her legs. She was fascinated, terrified. It crawled, alternatively warm and comforting, then icy and forboding, up to her thighs, swallowing her.
The darkness embraced her tiny form, and when she opened her mouth intent on screaming, all she managed was a strangled moan.
“Ouch!”
She rubbed her forehead vigorously, having smacked it against the bunk above when she sat bolt upright. For a moment, she was disoriented. Then the familiar, somewhat unpleasant smelling mattress and well-worn furniture came into focus and she felt her brow furrow.
“What a weird dream...” Shade sighed, turning and dangling her feet off the edge of the bed. She climbed out of bed and reminded herself not to partake of Narma’s wickedly strong brew on an empty stomach next time. The dimly lit corridor was empty as she padded silently toward the stairs. Suddenly, a familiar man appeared from one of the other doors and Shade lifted her arm to greet him.
He stalked past her, as if he hadn’t seen her and she muttered to herself in her native tongue. Rude tall-kin. And he was always so nice, too. She moved further down the hall, passing a mirrored washbasin and stopped suddenly.
Slowly, Shade turned and faced the mirror. The plant behind her was perfectly visible. She, however, was not. She glanced down, panicking, and noticed with a start that she wore a beautifully crafted outfit of blue and black silk.
Her eyes shifted anxiously to the left and the right, almost guiltily, and she pinched herself to make certain she was awake.
Shade. A voice echoed in her mind again, and a patch of mottled flesh on her thigh began to radiate.Daughter...sister... friend. The voice chuckled, and was distinctly male.
Blinking, she whirled, and tumbled - quite literally - out of the shadows.
“What in the world...?” she murmured.
But after a moment of awkward silence, with no answer forthcoming, the petite halfing shrugged good-naturedly and headed down the stairs, tucking a few loose strands of hair back into the tightly coiled buns at the back of her head.
Swallowed, Part Two
"C'mon, Suppi! Let's go watch!" she cried, grabbing the gnome's hand and pulling him along the road south.They chased after the small group of tall-kin, and Shade was excited at the propsect of seeing Diallo wielding his knives again. He was poetry-in-motion with them, as far as she was concerned.
"I bet you twenty gold pieces Diallo wins!" Shade stopped, turning to the funny little druid, her bare feet covered in the dust from the road.
"Oh no, I shouldn't like to bet on such a thing," he replied, continuing past her. Shade smiled inwardly, following him. She was certain he only said that because he knew, as well as she did, that Diallo would emerge from the duel victorious.
She and Suppi hid behind the pillar at the southern entrance to Nesmé; she watched with eager anticipation, he with nervous dread. The battle was mercifully quick, Diallo's quick movements knocked the man - Khan, he introduced himself as - onto his back and within moments, had him incapacitated.
With no fear for her self, Shade leapt from behind the pillar, racing to the fallen man. She hit her knees beside him, checking for a pulse. Relieved, she took note of the nasty knock he'd taken to the head and deftly treated his wounds. The woman, she heard Diallo call her Anna, and a strange half-naked man both joined in the dueling.
Shade watched each battle with rapt fascination, as the group dueled most of the afternoon. She was astounded by their quick, dance-like skills and as the foreign-looking man parried blow after blow her mouth fell open in admiration. Not solely of his skills. Her cheeks flushed when she noticed his rather shapely posterior.
The thought disturbed her and she blushed when Khan, who was standing beside the rock on which she had perched herself, made a comment that indicated not only had she whispered her thought aloud, but that he was going to tell the man that she admired his... form.
Embarassed, but still enthralled, Shade continued to watch from her post until dusk fell. Diallo built a fire, right there by the side of the road, and the group assembled around it. Khan's ghost story chilled her to the bone and she found herself watching the flickering flames with an unidentifable weariness.
Suddenly, as Anna and Diallo shared quick-witted words, Shade's eyes grew wide as the dancing flame's shadows crept toward her barefeet. Slowly they crept up her legs and she found herself frozen with terror. She tried to run, to hide, but to no avail. Before she could voice her protest, the shadows swallowed her whole and darkness enveloped her...
Swallowed, Part Three
She sat, grateful for the cooling shade of the tent's awning, in the Oasis of Tears. A bolt of heavy cloth was spread across her lap and on the sand around her, and she could almost feel the spell glimmering inside of it. It was her second attempt, actually, but she hadn't been satisfied with the first. Not that it wasn't good enough, just- she smiled inwardly, he deserved something truly special for all his help. She looked down at the cloth, fingers moving delicately along the pattern, tracing it. He would like it, she was sure of that.
Her small, deft fingers began to move automatically and her mind drifted. Her lips curled into a small smile, a blush settling across her pale cheeks as she recalled their discussion in the desert, sitting around the campfire and talking deep into the night. Even then, he had said he would protect her.
... I never needed protection before. I never needed anyone, really. She hesitated, her fingers falling still. Then she glanced down and, with her small white teeth, cut the heavy thread and began to knot it. ...but he knows things I don't. And just as much as I watch out for him, he... he watches out for me.
Catching her lower lip between her teeth, Shade sighed and turned the cloth over in her hands. It was coming along very well, she had been working on them since that night in the Oasis. When the campfire embers had died long before the conversation had. She closed her eyes briefly, recalling the day spent swimming and splashing in Griffon's Peak - well, he had swam and she had floated awkwardly trying to learn to swim.
I'll protect you Shade. You an' me, we're a good team. We stick together and big things'll happen. You'll see.
His spirit was bigger than his body, and she found herself smiling as she worked, hardly able to keep still with anticipation. Not just the look on his face when she presented him with his presents, she glanced down again at the project, but when she showed him...
She closed her eyes, a moment clearing her mind as Rem had told her, and then opened them again concentrating on a strong, black shadow cast by the fire. Her fingers dropped the needle and cloth, wriggling a bit as she sought and found the hidden part of her mind that could touch the shadows. Slowly, with much effort, she coaxed a now familiar shape out, pulling it from the shadowplane.
"Mnetyz-pya, hold this."
"Yessss... missstresssss..." the shadowy figured hissed, sliding over the sand and obediantly dropping to the spot she indicated, taking an intangible hold of the cloth. She tugged at the cloth and folded an edge over, stitching quickly.
I wonder if Rem'd be upset... she glanced at Mnetyz-pya with a slight frown but the being just sat billowing lightly in the desert breeze as he held the fabric for her. I promised him I'd practice, but... maybe I'm abusing the Shadows?
There was a pair of glowing, reddish eyes set into what was, she supposed, the shadow's head and they disturbed her - but she tried not to think about it. There was something fiendish about the creature she pulled from the shadowplane and it frightened her to think that the same darkness might be a part of her... inside her.
Rubbing the mark on her thigh, which always seemed to burn when her thoughts turned to the shadows, her frown deepened. They had come for her again, and even with her new-found confidence and the things Rem had taught her about controlling the shadows, she had been helpless to fend them off.
She remembered struggling, like trying to walk through a vat of Narma's thick mushroom chowder, to escape them. Screaming at that voice. Begging him to release her. But... little else. She had called for Merem. She had called for Rem. She had even called for Snowhare. There was no one in the darkness but the voice. No one. Nothing but the darkness.
Sand had been digging into her face when she awoke, laying in the desert near the entrance of a vast rocky canyon. She heard wings flapping and the low rumble of lions, but she did not dare press forward. A word echoed in her mind as she trudged away, the familiar pulling inside guiding her back toward Nesmé...
yhesc... yhesc... yhesc...
Shade looked up suddenly, realizing that the sun had set, the fire had died, and she had run out of material to stitch while her mind wandered. Yhesc... she thought, dismissing Mnetyz-pya and moving to relight the fire. Why... why would he say that?
What does that mean, anyway... oracle...
Swallowed, Part Four
There was a certain amount of hero-worship in her eyes as she watched him slaughtering stingers left and right. Greenish gore splattered her own little hands as she sunk her twin blades up to their hilts in the torso of a chanting beast. It crumpled to its knees, hissing and writhing, but the spell died with its last breath and Shade spit at the corpse. She leapt over a trembling, nearly dead stinger, its own dire mace choking the life from him as he lay there, bleeding from wounds caused by the woman's arrows.
The woman herself lay face down on the cold stone floor, her arm laying at an unnatural angle and her breathing so shallow and soft Shade was afraid for a moment that she'd died. She reached down, and with a grunt, yanked on the woman's shoulder. Fumbling at her belt, fingers found a small vial. She pulled out the cork with her teeth, spitting it across the cavern and slid her free hand under her neck, lifting her chin. The woman's lips parted and Shade spilled the contents of the bottle into her mouth then clamped her mouth shut and watched her nearly choke on it. Her eyes fluttered a moment, then she climbed to her feet as if nothing had happened and staggered along behind the others as they advanced through the caverns.
Her small, bare feet made almost no sound on the cave floor as she trailed along behind the man. He was younger than she'd originally thought too, with his tall, strong body and those horns he seemed so...unusual and worldly. Not to mention his skills with the knives! Merem, he's good. But you- You're like poetry in motion, only...with blood! She giggled at the memory, the three of them standing in the Oasis; and Diallo had found the remark humurous and Iza had not quite seemed to get it and Shade herself, she had just been speaking earnestly. Hey! That's what I want on my tombstone. Here Lies Diallo Songblade, he was like poetry in motion only with blood! "Hold here," he whispered, and turned back to the girls. "This is the room - their holy place - and its better guarded than the rest of this place. I'll lure them out to us a couple at a time."
Nodding, Shade slipped backward, letting the shadows conceal her but not yet stepping into them as Rem had tried to teach her to do. At first, the fight was going alright, Iza shooting her arrows and Shade flinging her acid-tipped darts, but suddenly Diallo went still. The stingers kept beating on him but he didn't fight back, as it he were dazed. With one quick movement, she slipped the darts into her belt and withdrew her blades, rushing forward to his rescue. When the heat of the battle had ended and they were surrounded by the mutiliated corpses of twenty-five stinger guards and priests, he turned to her with a rueful, rogueish smile and muttering something about her skill having improved.
And suddenly she realized she on on sacred ground, and her playful chatter stopped. With cautious, almost gentle steps, Shade sheathed her blades and made her way up the make-shift slope, tearing off her hood. She stood before the ancient pole, decorated with skulls - some bleached white by time or the sun, others still fresh enough to retain their yellowish hue - and various bones, and stared at it. She circled it, reaching one hand tentatively toward the barbaric shrine, but couldn't quite bring herself to touch it.
They were talking, Iza and Diallo, and Shade bit back the urge to yell at them to shut up. Chewing her lower lip thoughtfully, she stepped closer and closed her eyes. Extending her fingers toward the pole, breathless with anticipation and a bit of fear, Shade finally grabbed it, wrapping her fingers around it for a moment.
She opened her eyes briefly, peeking to the left, then to the right.
With a despondant shake of her head, Shade let go of the pillar and deftly tucked a stray curl back into place. Nothing. Not even here.
Not that she'd really wanted to feel a Stinger God's touch, but she was beginning to feel a little desperate. Torm, Shandakul, Waukeen, Tyr... she had visited shrines to each of them and felt nothing. Rem had found her groping the altar of Sharess in the Temple of the Cats, crestfallen that there was no epiphany to be found there. After Merem had said that he thought her blades bore the symbol of a God, and gone North to find more information, Shade had begun travelling to as many holy places as she could find. The shrine of Selune in the center of the Lake of Moonlight, the druid's grove with spots dedicated to the gentle worship of various nature gods, the shrine of Elistraee' among the spider nests in the Mouth of Song, the altar of Tempus just beyond the north gates of Nesmé and even the small shrine to Lathander on the road to Silverymoon.
Her feet, accustomed to the road after the years of walking, had begun to ache as she left each holy place with the empty spot in her heart just a little bit larger. Shade wondered inwardly if it wasn't so much her feet, but her heart, that ached.
Merem had gone weeks ago, and she worried about him constantly. Everytime she took the hilts of those blades into her hands, she thought of him. I'll protect you Shade. You 'n me, we gotta stick together. Sometimes, she sat by a fire in the Oasis, with Mnetyz-Pya at her side because even a shadow's presence was better than being alone, and imagined that the two of them were like her blades. Strong and sharp and useful on their own, but as a pair - they were deadly. They were matched and ready to take on anything.
She chuckled inwardly as the trio finally arrived at their original destination - Nar'wannan - and moved to part company. It wasn't like her to imagine things like that, to romanticize anything. And yet, as she came to sit in the Silver Oasis Inn, laughing at Diallo (no, Bob) drinking his wine with a straw through his ridiculous mask, Shade allowed her mind to wander, meandering through the short, but winding passages of her memory. The nights spent talking in the Oasis while the fire burned low. And the day in the river near Griffon's Peak when he taught her to swim. And when she was thrown from the shadows in the middle of the Sundered Shield and he'd come to her rescue like a great knight and promised keep the shadows at bay...
With a great sigh, she shook her head and concentrated on the story Diallo was telling about his family. He would come, back, she was sure. And maybe he'd know more about the symbols on her swords. And maybe he would know why the voice had mentioned an oracle. And maybe... she thought, brushing her fingers against her lips, cheeks flushing slightly.
Maybe one day...
Swallowed, Part Five
She flipped absently through the display of scrolls, squinting at the sometimes blurry or nearly illegible script, a frown locked upon her lips. Wail of the what? Who's black huh? Shaking her head, Shade heaved a sigh and climbed to her feet, a small pile of useful spells bundled in one arm. She began doling out her gold and stacking it neatly on a bench for the merchant to count.
"Why the long face, little one?"
Shade winced at the nickname, recoiling involuntarily from the blast of foul air from Famir's mouth as he addressed her. He had been drinking - not that that was unusual, she'd found in her frequent visits to Nar'wannan - and plopped down beside her in the sand as if his legs just would not support him any longer. She liked Famir well enough, but she got the feeling he knew more than he would tell her. He had been the one to sell her the blades, matched and marked, and he had insisted she take them though at the time she doubted they were any better than the swords in her belt. They just look like they were made for you, miss Shade. I bin holdin' 'em for you. Here, just hold 'em, you'll see. They're perfect, he had insisted, shoving the hilts into her hands. Wrapped in black enamel with a silver blob in the heart of each quillion, they seemed weighted precisely for her tiny hands, balanced and sharpened perfectly for her style of attack. Her hands sought the pommels of her swords absently, thumbs rubbing over the strange markings. They might have been footprints, embossed in silver against the enameled steel, but she couldn't imagine why anyone would decorate weapons with hin footprints and assumed they were cryptic symbols of something else entirely.
"I said, miss Shade, why the long face?" Famir hiccuped, leaning back on his hands in the sand and watching her with swimming, bloodshot eyes. "What's troublin' ya?"
Chewing on her lower lip, Shade shrugged. "I don't know who to thank."
"Thank? Why you just thank good ol' Famir here, then." He guffawed, pulling a flask from his vest pocket and swigging from it. "Hells, what're ya so worried about thanking anyone for anyway?"
There was a long pause while she hesitated, but he was drunk and would probably not even recall seeing her today, so what harm could it do? She looked up at him with a half-smile. "For my life."
The old, fat desert rat's eyes widened a bit and a small, odiferous belch escaped his lips. "What'dya mean, little one?"
"For my life. I want to know who to thank for bringing air back into my lungs when I was killed in that cave. I want to know who gave me life. Why I don't remember anything before three years ago, even though I must've lived, I must've come from somewhere! I want to know who thank for Merem and Rem and Meria and Diallo and- and all my friends in Nesmé, and I want to know- " Tears of rage streamed down her cheeks and she lifted her chin indignantly, ashamed of her weakness but too proud to admit it. "I have to know, Famir. That's all."
He blinked once, twice then stuttered a question about Tyr, and had she ever spoken to Father Omar. Or had she visited the Temple of the Cats? Or maybe-
"Yes, yes. I've seen them all. All the shrines in and around Nesmé - except the ones Diallo tried to show me... because I could not enter there. I went to the Grove and I went to the Lake of Moonlight and I saw the shrine of Lathander and Torm and Tempus and Shandakul and damn it, I even went to the sacred place of the Stingers... but I felt nothing there either."
"Have you searched the western desert, little one?" Famir asked quietly and she shook her head. "I don't think its the shrine you seek, miss Shade but there is a temple under the sands, to the west of the Oasis. Maybe..." He trailed off, taking another long drink from the rapidly emptying flask.
The western desert? Her lips curled into a frown as she recalled all she knew of the desert geography. She and Merem had explored, but not extensively. "Thank you, Famir!" She flashed a bright smile at him and leapt to her feet, digging into the bag slung over one shoulder. "This is for you! There isn't much use for it, out here, I suppose, but maybe if you ever come to Nesmé in the winter..."
He looked down at the carefully knitted scarf with incredulous expression as she pressed it into his hands. It was yellow and pink and more suited to a follower of the Morning Lord than an old drunken merchant. A small grin crossed his lips and he bent, kissing the top of her head deciding that it would make a perfect gift for that lovely young cleric, Kamira, who served Lathander and had been in town recently trying to see the Lady Smythe about some endeavor or another. She had been unable to keep warm, he remembered overhearing, even in the full sunlight since those brigands had robbed and murdered her in broad daylight. Barun hadn't seen the perpetrators, or so he claimed, but Famir smiled inwardly, knowing that the young lady would indeed appreciate such a gift. Luscious young thing, he thought, glancing toward the Silver Oasis while Shade darted off, tucking scrolls into her bag. And I bet she's in there now, trying to keep warm and just waiting for a studly older man to shower her with gifts...
She was off like a streak of lightening across the barren wastelands, careening through the caynons and passages. Her mind was running in circles, trying to recall every detail she could about the western desert but she had made the trek to Nar'wannan and back to the Oasis so frequently she felt she could navigate blind-folded.
At least, she thought that until the moment she hurlted across the treacherous, narrow stone path that bridged a deep chasm to the west of the Oasis. Somehow she lost her footing and, skidding upon the slippery, rain-soaked stone, toppled off the edge. She didn't even have a chance to scream or panic, though as she clung to a small, sharp rock outcropping - barefeet dangling in the wind - Shade certain her heart stopped beating for a moment. For a split second it crossed her mind that if her grip failed, and she fell to her death in the deep pit, she might finally get to find out who had claimed her.
"You look a bit stuck there. Give me your hand, I'll give you a boost."
A small hand was thrust down toward her, hanging precariously, and she looked up into the handsome, smiling face of a hin man.
"Ya think?!" she cried, exasperated, nails bleeding as they dug into the sandstone outcropping.
He smirked and reached for her hand. "No need ta be rude, now. I could just leave you to hang there for the buzzards."
Shade closed her eyes tightly and grabbed roughly for the proffered hand, grunting with exertion. Gravel tinkled down as she kicked at the wall to help propel herself back over the side.
"S-Sorry!" She gasped, dropping to her knees immediately and throwing off her helm, kissing the ground grateful for its solidity beneath her. "Holy Hells! Thank you!"
The little man smiled jovially down at her and chuckled. "Hi."
"... um, Hi." She wiped her forehead, leaving a trail of dust and blood behind.
"Looks like I came just in the nick of time, eh? I guess this is a story for the books."
Nodding, Shade smiled ruefully. "Just in time, yeah. Er...what books?"
"Your books." He paused a moment. "C'mon, your life's gotta be at least exciting enough for one book."
"I- I don't have any books." She stood, brushing herself off.
"Then my friend," he smiled again, and she couldn't help but notice how charming he was; all white teeth and friendly, gleaming eyes."You'll simply have to work on that. Where were you headed?"
Still a bit confused, she looked around. "... There's a temple out here somewhere. Famir told me about it."
"Oh yeah? What kind of temple? Care for a bit of company?"
She shrugged, glancing down. "A sacred one, I guess. And sure, I guess so. What's your name? I should thank you properly, for saving my life and all."
"Everyone calls me Nimbles." He held out his hand.
She looked at it a second, somewhat skeptical, then shook it firmly. "They call me Shade."
"Shade, huh? Like the shadows. Very nice."
"I like it." Her pale cheeks flushed a bit, embarassed.
"Soooo... a sacred quest, eh? If that's not book-worthy I dunno what is."
"No, its not a quest, really. I just want to know- you know...see the temple."
Nimbles nodded quirking a smile at her. "I wouldn't mind some sight seeing around here. C'mon I'll make sure you get there safe."
Shade hestitated a moment, biting her lower lip, then nodded and bent to retrieve her discared helm and dropped blades. The moment they sat again in her palms she began to breathe easier.
The pair of halflings made their way across the stone bridge and headed north into a flat, barren region that Shade had never seen before. A heavy gate crafted from the sun-bleached bones of a huge animal blocked their path, but each climbed nimbly over and leapt into the sands, eyes scanning the area cautiously. Without warning the sand beneath their barefeet was shrouded in a thick, viscious black fluid and she cursed, drawing her blades for battle.
It was a whirlwind battle. Shade lost focus on her own attacks, watching Nimbles in awe. He was like Diallo - so quick it was nearly a blur as he danced across the sand with his pair of blades. Each stroke seemed to find the vital spot and when all the foes were twitching their last twitches in the dirt, she simply stared and shook her head. Then she bent and wiped her blades upon the dirty loincloth of one of her victims.
"Oh wow. I'm gonna have to remember this place."
"Why?" she chuckled, glancing around at the green-tinged blood seeping into the soil. It didn't seem particularily memorable to her.
"'Cause its an adventure! Maybe I'm gonna write a book one day."
Shade parted her lips to reply with a skeptical 'maybe', but was interrupted as a second wave of Asabi warriors came at them, hissing and spitting their rage at having their encampment violated. Together they fought and as they moved through the tents and make-shift houses more and more angry Asabi attacked them. Shade kept one eye on the man while she defended herself, slicing through the lizards with skill and precision she was blind to. She was not, however, blind to Nimbles' fighting prowess. In fact, she frowned slightly as she yanked her blade from the gullet of a lizard and was splattered by its spilling innards, he seemed to be enjoying it. Each movement was graceful and acrobatic and she could have sworn she heard him giggling as they made their way through the camp.
Daintily, she stepped away from a growing puddle of murky blood and peered over the ledge of a cliff, nodding to the black hole in the side of the wall that appeared to be an entrance. "I think that's it."
"Well, let's give it a look, eh?" He smiled at her. "I do not go adventuring enough!"
She cast an odd look at him, chuckling. "...adventuring."
A primative-looking but keenly sharpened axe flew past her head as he opened his mouth to answer and Shade let out a feral scream, chasing the fleeing Asabi down. She leapt onto his back and, with one swift movement, yanked her blade across his throat. His spells died in his throat and spilled from the gaping wound.
"You see?" Nimbles laughed, barely avoiding a blow to the head from another warrior who had snuck around from behind a half-built fortress. "Adventure!" He plunged his knife into the lizardman's chest.
She looked up at him from her knees. "If you say so, Nimbles."
"Well, what do you call it then?"
The small halfling pursed her lips a moment,"I never really thought about it. I just...walk."
"Aww, life's more fun than just walking!"
"Well, I don't walk for fun, exactly." She shrugged, shuffling her feet as they entered the dark cavern's mouth.
Before he could reply, a screaming throng of Asabi sprang from the darkness at them and it was a barrage of throwing axes and twin halfing blades ringing out as they clashed. Shade found herself, breathing heavily as the last foe fell. She turned to him, intent on asking a question when he suddenly dropped to his knees, tumbling head over heels and flung a dagger. It whizzed past her cheek and she whirled just in time to see a heavy scimitar drop from the Asabi's lifeless hands, Nimbles' knife embedded deeply in its throat.
"You're good with those," he nodded to her swords.
Blinking, she nodded, still shaken. "T-Thank you. You're better." She slapped at a mosquito as it buzzed around her arms, splattered with rapidly drying blood. "This place doesn't look holy to me."
"Then why are we here again?"
"...the shrine."
"What's at the shrine?"
A group of patrolling guards came upon them as they moved slowly up the corridor and Shade grunted, answering between vicious swings. "I...dunno..maybe...nothing."
"Ooooh! Is it treasure?" Nimbles asked nearly decapitating a lizard man.
Shade shook her head, sliding gracefully between the legs of a huge Asabi and leaping to her feet, her blades finding rest between his ribs. "No."
"Oh. Okay."
By the time the last warrior drew his final breath, Shade had sheathed her blades and yanked off her helm, which she tucked under one arm, gaping at the enormous altar. It had been heavily guarded, and now that she saw it, Shade understood why. Jutting out from the wall was an enormous serpant's head, mouth splayed open, huge stone fangs bursting from both the top of the mouth and the floor. The altar itself, located in the center of what would be the opening to the snake's throat, was caked in blood; some was still fresh enough to be red, some was so old it had turned nearly black. There were bones, gnawed and broken, strewn across the site and markings in a bizzare language decorated every available surface. Many of them were painted in blood and some were recent enough to dribble down the wall.
"I- I think I sorta hope there's nothing here." She whispered, pulling off one gauntlet and closing her eyes. Reaching out, she placed her palm flat against the altar, waiting.
His eyes directed up at the stone teeth, Nimbles approached her slowly. "What exactly are you looking for, anyway?"
With a sigh, Shade dropped her hand and opened her eyes slowly.
"Shade?" his hand landed gently on her shoulder.
"Huh?"
"What are you looking for?"
There was a brief, pregnant pause and the girl rubbed the back of her neck, staring down. "God."
Suddenly she dropped to the cold stone floor, holding her stomach as she laughed. Cocking his head to one side, Nimbles looked down at her. "You're looking for God so you came to an altar like this?"
Making a face at the gory scene, she shrugged. "Maybe. I think I've looked everywhere else."
He smiled a bit, rubbing one of the fangs that sprang from the floor. "I wouldn't give up just yet. But I don't think something like this is the answer."
Her hand slid absently across her thigh and she climbed to her feet. "No, not just yet. I just...I had to try, ya know?"
They stood in silence for a few seconds then with a wry grin, Nimbles pressed himself flat against the wall, whispering. "C'mon, let's see if we can swipe something off these guys without getting caught. It'll be a challege, and it'll be fun! C'mon!"
Nimbles set off down the hallway toward a clutch of Asabi milling around, his eyes glittering with hope and mischief. Shade shook her head, watching him, then spit in each palm, laced her fingers together and turned her palms away from her body, cracking the joints.
"Alright."
The man's face split into a bright grin and he ducked down, creeping along the wall. She followed closely, sticking to the shadowy crevasses where the walls met the floor. Communicating silently, he motioned for her to hold while he snuck closer and slipped something from a loitering guard's belt. With a grin, Shade followed suit and rejoined him behind a large rock in the passage.
Their voices were scarcely audible as they huddled and compared their finds. He had plucked eleven coins, she counted fourteen.
"Hah! You beat me. I know, let's see if we can play a trick on them!"
Nimbles peeked around the side of the rock, made his way stealthily to the largest warrior and flips the fastener on his belt. He caught it as it fell and held a moment, waiting for the man to notice. When he didn't, Nimbles slid the belt across the floor and locked it back around the Asabi's waist. He dove back behind the rock, somersaulting, and landed on his rear holding his belly as he rocked with silent laughter.
Not to be outdone, Shade took a deep breath and slipped quietly along the bottom of the wall toward a bored-looking shaman. Her tiny, deft fingers - so quick with her needles as she knit - plucked at the strings holding his bizarre loincloth on, loosening them. Then she crept back, flattening herself against the wall, and gave the twine one last pull. The cloth slipped off and floated to the floor.
She didn't see his expression of rage and embarassment as he reached for his garment. Slinking back quickly, Shade lept over the rock and flailed her hands at him.
"Shush!" She hissed as he rolled over, laughing out loud.
Suddenly the Asabi were on top of them, screeching and swinging their weapons. They halflings exchanged a glance and, with a laugh, beat a hasty retreat, bursting out of the cavern and onto the rocky steps.
Nimbles pointed at her, still laughing. "That was the best!"
She looked at him a moment, gasping for breath, then began to laugh wiping blood from her cheek.
"That was great." He plopped down, dangling his feet over the ledge.
She nodded, still giggling. "That one can go in your book."
"Yeah, well thanks for bringing me with you."
"Oh." Shade blushed slightly, "No. Thank you for...er, saving my life."
The little man leaned forward, dropping a little rock over the edge to test the depths of the pit. "It was my pleasure."
The pair fell silent. He hocked a bit spit over the edge, peering down after it and she twirled her blade, digging the point into the ground. Suddenly he jumped up and offered her his hand.
"C'mon, let's get you home."
"Home?"
Nimbles smiled warmly at her, helping her to her feet. "This is no place for a nice girl like you to try to find God."
"...no, I guess not. There was nothing there."
"And I wouldn't worry about it. I mean, I showed up just in time today, right? So I suppose that means some God is looking out for you."
"...Yeah, someone is. I just- " She looked at him, a half-smile curling one side of her mouth. "I just want to know who..."
"I'm sure you'll figure out." He chuckled, heading back across the dead encampment. "Besides, what fun would life be if you always knew the answers to stuff, right?"
With a nod, she trailed after him as he left the Asabi territory and quickly crossed the slippery stone bridge. "So where do you live, anyway?"
"Around I guess. I stay in the Oasis sometimes, and in Nesmé. Whereever I like, I guess. I...walk a lot, Nimbles." She smiled, turning east. "Why? Where do you live?"
He stopped mid-syllable and hesitated, pointing west. "I'm just passing through, actually. And I'm heading this way. I guess this is where we parth paths, huh? We had some fun adventure, though, right?"
"I guess so." She smiled, glancing down, then back up at him. "It was nice to meet you and- you know, thanks again."
Shade frowned slightly as he doubled over, holding his guts as he laughed again. "Something for the book, right?"
Nodding, she forced an awkward smile. "Yeah, one for the book, Nimbles."
"You know," he said suddenly. "I really don't like going by Nimbles so much."
"Oh." She tilted her head to one side. "What should I call you then?"
"I usually go by Brandobaris." He smiled, waving at her. "See ya around sometime. I'm sure we'll meet again."
"I like that name." She called, waving back at him. "Until then!"
Chuckling inwardly, Shade turned back to the west and crossed the Oasis, bound once again for Nar'wannan. The passages were clear and she let her mind wander again, not even drawing her blades as she slipped through the canyon.
Familiar with the strange little blue-haired woman, the guards opened the gates readily and greeted her by name as she entered the desert city. Shade approached Famir's cart, bursting with excitement about her journey and desperate to tell somebody all about it. The old man was snoring, passed out on a nearby bench and Shade sighed, fumbling in a pouch at her waist for the pungent herbs Barun had given her last time she needed to wake him.
"What the-?" she murmured, her fingers brushing against a cool metallic object. She pulled it out slowly, the thin silver chain dangling over her fingers. Shade brushed her index finger over the tiny silver pendant, a halfing footprint in the center of it, and glanced around suspiciously. Gingerly, she turned the medallion over and squinted at the small, precise script.
Shade turned in a slow circle, not sure exactly what she sought. Chewing on the inside of her cheek she slipped the cool metal around her neck and admired it a moment. What a funny little man, she thought, wondering how he'd managed to slip into her things without her noticing. I wonder what this means...she rubbed her thumbnail over the engraving.
May you never forget me.