Back to the Roots of Her Birth

[Avi]

Back to the Roots of Her Birth

She slowed, still dressed in her soft gray dress from the wedding. It was now unrecognizable- tattered and torn from thorns, it had been reduced by much. But it seved as an excellent camoflauge, and she blended into the mountain rocks, only her black hair a smudge against the stone...
She knew she was getting close to the Colletive, and stopped a moment to rest, Oyam the dagger silent from her sheath. But she couldn't stp long, or she would begin to regret her decision...Naja rose tothe tip[ of her mind, and gold eyes began to burn with acid tears. She'd had to leave him- they woudl for sure have tortured him for information, and the stallion wasn't used to pain. Even the Collective knew when training you didn't abuse an animal; you had to earn their trust first. The tears began to travel the length of er cheeks before splashing on the ground, but after a couple of moments she gave a final sniffle before wiping her eyes dry.
It would do her no good to come into the Collective crying.
Tessa cleared her face of no emotion before settingo ut on her hike, the immense power of evil tasting bitter on her tongue. She was close...a small fire lit in the palm of her hand to signal she was there.

[Avi]

A Talk with Eris

She sat on her bed, knees drawn up to her chin. Eyes were glazed over, but it was hard to tell from what. Fear? Indecision? Pain? Sleep, or lack of? But the topaz chips were dull, although the rest of her looked alive, but tired, like a newly-made rag doll tossed to the floor.
With effort, she strained for a pen and paper, uncurling from her position. She set the ink to the paper, but after a couple moments of thought she put it back, easily growing frustrated. Eyes burned with rage and unshed tears tears, and she curled back into a ball, head resting on a thin pillow which barely supported it.
In truth, she was beginning to doubt her previous decision of coming back to the Collective. She wasn't evil- it had been for hr own reasons. Other than just helping Eris with her work. And involuntary shudder overtook her; Eris had, if possible, become more evil in Tessa's two years at the Guild. Before she had had a hint of compassion -or had it been trickery to get them to side with her?- but now she was completely cruel to her expeiriments. Tessa was in the clear from this, being her 'assistant', and Tessa regretted things she had done, and wished to banish horrific images now lodged in her brain....

[Avi]

Que Sera, Sera

She woke on her own bed the next morning, and stared at the cieling for a couple of minutes. Her mind was a blur, Tessa couldn't remember what was going on. Then she sat up with a jolt as the events of the night before became clear to her, and realized she didn't feel any different...there were no aches, no more of the hideous pain...Tessa hopped to the cold floor, bare feet softly hitting it as she walked to the mirror.
She didn't look any different.
Hope welled up in her. Maybe it had all just been a nightmare, and obscene dream...yes, that was it. It had to be.
But Tessa looked closer, and then was suddenly unsure. Was she a little thinner, or was it her imagination? Had her eyes always been that yellow, that bright? Was her hair really that black, that silky? But she dashed those thoughts; now she was just being too critical of herself.
Tessa shivered, it was awfully cold in her room. She felt the need to get out, to talk to someone...someone besides Eris, someone who was not insane. And someone who she had met before, and was a slightest bit scared of.
She'd call upon Casrina.
Pulling on warm clothes and heavy shoes, Tessa started out slowly but walked faster once the cold really hit her. A large amount of snow had fallen overnight and was soaking her to the bone. She longed to get indoors, where she could call upon some fire to warm herself. Already the cottage where Casrina lived came into view, and the pace of the girl's quickened.
Suddely, her eyes caught the movement of a flock of crows to her left.
Her stomach roared in hunger.
The thought popped into her head about how juicy and plump the crows looked.
Before she could assert herself, new instincts took over, and a sixteen foot long cobra rippled on the snow.
Bite....killlllll....
The head swayed up, and tongue flicked out uncertainly as fmailiar gold eyes surveyed the flock.
Striiiiiiike...
Fangs pierced the flesh of the bird, and it was dead as soon as it was bit. The jaw unhinged as the bird was swallowed whole, and the rest of the flock took off shrieking terror.
Only after the bird had completely moved down did Tessa realize what she had done. With a cry of deseration that came out as a sorrowful hiss, she fought herself to Change back.
And just as suddenly she did.
So much for it all being a bad dream.
Tessa glanced moodily at her clothes just meters away. Clearly shaken, she was grateful no one was around as she pulled on the icy clothes. She was scared of herself, of what might happen...trembling, she trudged back towards Casrina's house again, passing through the dormant garden out front without seeing anything but the door to the inside. Thankfully she was human...
But the pupils of her eyes remained slits, although no other hints of her Change remained.
The doorbell to the cottage was rang.

[Avi]

Foot steps raced through the snow, into Eris' compund. The door slammed shut as she continued the break neck pace back to her room, black hair coming out of her neat braid.
Ragged gasps, choking gasps stuck in her throat as she fumbled to take off the heavy woolen winter coat and boots. Tessa threw them aside as they came off, and used a random burst of magic to start a fire in the fireplace. Finally, she locked the door, and turned to prepare herself some coffee.
Fingers shook as she used some strange machine that Eris had soemhow created to brew the coffeee. This was a bid deal to her- coffee, and caffiene in general, had always worked more like a drug n her. She suspected it was because of Eris' earlier experiments, with the resistance to poison, but had no way to prove it...
Shivering, she picked up the small mug of the coffee and moved to her bed, setting it on a side table. Tessa curled up, and started to slide into more of a half-form before catching herself. Slowly she unfurled, and sat up, now-slitted yellow eyes wide in fear. Trembling hands reached for the boiling liquiquid, and she took a gulp...
Immediately a bout of loopiness began to work upon her, but it realeased her tension and let troubled ideas fall forth. What if Khe hated her for being so rude? Why couldn't she accept herself the way she was? Correction, who she was becoming? Why couldn't she just give up her fear of being serpentine? She had at Casrina's, but not quite on purpose....Was she travelling in the right direction with her life?
But another long sip made all these worried thoughts disappear as her mind became more muddled, and them ug of coffee was set aside.

[Avi]

Love, Tessa

Written on plain white paper and folded over, the note sat inocently on a chair in Khe's room. Adressed to him in penmanship that was more all over the place than neat, but completely decipherable. The words within were as follows:

Hey Khe!

Even though I've now been given back my freedom by Eris, I'm going to disappear again. I tired to come here to say so, but since you weren't here, I wrote this note instead- please pardon my handwriting.
To get to the point, as I'm beginning to ramble off subject....
Apparently Salem and all those other high and mighty souls who head the Collective decided to take advantage of the fact that I'm one of Eris' little pets, and want me to go fetch papers from the Guild. Which is utterly /lovely/...I can't think of anything better to do with my time than go steal papers from them. And I really don't get how there can be anything important in Aeos' desk with him being...well, him. But the powers that be said, and I'm not going to question them. I'd very much prefer to live another day.
Oh, and please don't tell anyone of this note. Burn it, if you'd like, but I wasn't techinically supposed to tell anyone I was having to do this....Although I didn't see why I shouldn't tell you.
I've no clue if you've heard this or not, but Eris has a new experiment. Yeah. His name's Navek, and he's a horse. He annoys me slightly, as he can't get a grip on himself....But what I find kind of fun is the fact that Thistlen seems to like him. Or maybe it's just my imagination. I hope not, as I think he'd be good for her. Seeing as she's only got Eris and i to talk to, and she doesn't talk to me. I suppose she's afraid I'm going to eat her or something....
Well, I need to leave. See you once I get back!

Love,
Tessa

[Avi]

Disorganiztaion

The past couple of days had not been fun.
All Tessa wanted to do was be out of the Guild and back to the Collective as fast as possible. Unfortunately, she had no way of getting into the Throne Room until today. She would have snuck under the crack of the door, but a strong magic sealant had been applied and she had heard some man -probably Aeos- calling a woman -probably Jeni (FINALLY!)- many mushy and lovey-dovey names....
So she'd wait, been screamed at by people who didn't like reptiles, ate some mice, been thwacked with a broom by some maid, poked by a Fairy, hid from some little evil girl with dynamite, and much, much more.
But now finally no one was in there. Soon she would have the papers, and then she'd get to go back (and, invariably, see Khe) so it was good. Carefully tasting the air with her tongue, Tessa was satisfied that no one was really there, and slipped in.
It was nice, too. Not only was the sealant gone, but the actual door was wide open.
All the easier!
She made her way around to what seemed to be a set of two offices, with desks. The first was immaculate, with some books casually tossed as if they were being read, and classy furniture and finishings. Although no one was there, a soft lighting was on, adding to the dignified atmosphere.
The second was a complete mess, covered in what could be presumed as exploding bacon stains, a table with a blankie and stuffed animal under it, quite a few books on how to deal with relationships, a couple of sheets of what looked like failed poetry adressed to Jeni, random piles of paperwork, a to-do list with things dated from five years ago, an open notebook that had random doodles of stick figures killing each other and the words 'BWAHAHA! Take that, Collective!' scrawled across the top, some recent editions of 'Guns for Dummies' and 'A Guide to your Girlfriend's Mind', a book on the dangers of the pointy sides of swords, a cot in the corner which was actually clean and seemed to be Zangetsu's, muddy footprints were on the floor and amazingly traveled up the wall and ceiling, broken pieces of glass, and a mysterious spot which looked suspiciously like ketchup. Or something close.
Yep.
Definitely Aeos'.
Sighing, and wondering how she was ever going to find 'the papers' she moved around or over most of the clutter to the desk, and began to riffle through soem of the papers, looking for some written on pink paper with blue ink.
Which was what she'd been asked to get.
And Tessa didn't see anything.
This stunk.
But wait- there was a corner of pink...
Lunging for it in a way she would prey, and grasping it firmly in her fangs, she found that it was indeed what she had been sent for.
Hallelujah.