Dancing Shadows (Complete)

[Lord Vali]

Daria had recieved the summons earlier that day. She was to meet someone at Valentine's club for reasons that were most important. The meeting however, had been short. The man she met, a thin fellow with a long goatee, simply told her to be at the front steps of the palace a week from then at sunset. He then bought her a drink and left before it arrived.

The night was cool. The sky was clear and the moon shone bright, lighting the city in an eerie glow, with the surrounding buildings cast inky shadows. Shadows that almost felt.......alive.

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria didn't touch the drink – she left. Out into the cold, into the unfamiliar. This concrete jungle reminded her of Coruscant. She felt out of place and uncomfortable in it. She didn't know the setting, the flat of the land, and was therefore unsure of herself. Weaponry here was modern and her leather armor would not protect against it – it almost seemed like the opposition was cheating. Silus seemed to have faith in her, though, so she managed to carry herself with something with a semblance of confidence.

As she walked down one quiet street she couldn't help but feel a little unnerved, however. It felt as though she was being watched…

[Lord Vali]

The distinct sound of a cloak whipping through the air was heard behind Daria, but when she turned, nothing was there. As she passed by a few taller buildings, she came into a clearing of sorts. The moon was bright behind her, and it casted her shadow in front of her, stretching far out in front of her.

[Daria Nytherciria]

She didn't just think there was someone there – there was someone there. The great shadow stretching out in front of her was only more proof of this. For some reason, however, she was determined not to bow to her fear of the games which someone was playing with her, and continued to walk, pacing through the shadow itself.

[Lord Vali]

As she walked, her shadow seemed to move slightly unnaturally. It began to get bigger, as if someone were walking behind her, but no one was. Finally the shadow seemed to form upward and take shape. It was taller than Daria, broader, and had a cloak whipping behind it.

"......Going somewhere?"

[Daria Nytherciria]

Enemy. Large build. Unknown species. Casing for weaponry, inventory unknown. Possible threat? Major. Advised course of action: arm and avoid. Two little daggers found themselves neatly in Daria's hands as she looked up into the almost shapeless form. It towered at almost twice her height, it seemed. It was almost insulting to belittle it with the description of 'daunting'.

"Yes. Home. Now if you'll excuse me…" she ducked to the side, intent on simply stepping around the figure.

[Lord Vali]

As Daria walked around, the shadowy figure was slowly fading into a more visible form, as Vali slowy lowered the illusion to make himself a little bit more presentable. Black turned to crimson as Vali turned, shrouded in his cloak, to face Daria. A gloved arm reached out of the cloak and grasped Daria's shoulder...

"What's your hurry"

[Daria Nytherciria]

Hand on your shoulder. Natural reaction? Panic. Over-ride. Don't panic. Lie. Daria inhaled a ragged breath as quietly as she could. The little fight or flight mechanism in her head was just dying to force her out of there, or to break into mindfrell mode.

"I need to get some rest. I have work in the morning."

[Lord Vali]

"I dont think you'll be making it to work in the morning..."

[Daria Nytherciria]

If there ever was a sure sign of hostility, that was it. "And why is that?" she asked, still reluctant to force herself into close-combat when she was so heavily out-matched.

[Lord Vali]

Vali removed his hand and slowly began to pace around her.

"Because you dont have a job, Daria."

Vali stopped in front of her. He was standing so the she was to his left, and he was looking over to her. The glowing green eyes of his mask started to dim somewhat....

"Why would you lie to me?"

[Daria Nytherciria]

Because I didn't expect the Sekotoan inquisition, she thought to herself. Because twenty questions isn't something you usually play with tall dark strangers in the dead of night.

"Perhaps I'll tell you, when you tell me why you would be following me."

[Lord Vali]

"You arent in a position to bargain. Let that tone slip out a again, and we'll find out just how sharp that tongue of yours is."

As he spoke, he clenched his fist slightly. She wasnt going anywhere anytime soon. He was beginning to become curious about how she would truly react. She was still trying to access the situation. Would she run? Would she attack?

[Daria Nytherciria]

"Try my patience any longer and I'll introduce you to something far sharper than my tongue, sir," she hissed, apparently not holding back her frustration any longer.

[Lord Vali]

As she hissed out the last of her threat, she felt her throat tightening up, slowly, but steadily cutting off her flow of air. Vali turned to face her.

"I warned you..."

[Daria Nytherciria]

It sounded like she tried to say something like 'bastard', but it didn't come out right. Eyes squeezing shut, she tried to blow out the pain, or at least profit on it as she knew Naj did. There was no stopping the instinct reaction now – it took control of itself, attempt to disorientate Vali to allow Daria an escape. In spite of this, she still tried to thrash out at him, raking the air with both blades.

[Lord Vali]

"gggrrrrrrAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH"

As he felt her presence entering his mind, he released her from his grip and fell to one knee, clutching at his head.

[Daria Nytherciria]

The success of the tactic was infinitely surprisingly. Daria didn't take a moment to savor it however, instead turning and bolting right past Vali for the shadows ahead of her – either to eventually find her domicile, or temporary respite in hiding.

[Lord Vali]

Underneath his mask, Vali smiled. She hadnt taken the bait. Instead of bolting after her, he calmly walked in the direction she ran. He opened his senses up a little, focusing more on tracking her than chasing her.

[Daria Nytherciria]

It seemed, somewhere along the line, she'd taken a wrong turn. Daria stood sandwiched between two buildings, looking up into the sky. Her weapons were back in her sheaths as her hands traced across the bricks that made up the wall in front of her. It would be impossible to climb this, so there was no chance of using the old method of escaping to high ground. Doubling back on herself was a no go for the moment – at least until day break. And so she kept on walking, past dumpsters and trash cans and the odd sleeping hobo, until she came to something of use.

On the side of the wall was a metal stairwell. It was a fire escape, but the ladder wasn't dropped. It didn't make much difference however. With a little shuffling about, she got a trashcan beneath it and spring boarded up onto the lowest rung, hauling herself onto the grate platform and shrinking back against the stairs out of sight. She got the feeling that her attacker was still around, and from here she would have a good vantage point to spy him from should he re-appear. It reminded her of days as a child, hunting in the forest.

[Lord Vali]

Vali calmly wandered through the alleys, guided by his senses, and the occasional hobo who would point him in the right direction. As he turned and found his way down another alley, making no attempt to hide his presence.

With a sudden tug at the back of his mind, he stopped and looked around. A trashcan had been yanked out...

Vali glanced up...

[Daria Nytherciria]

Trust the bastard to notice that one minute detail, Daria thought, as she looked down directly into his luminous eyes. Nature had given her a small build and she was thankful, especially in situations as these where she could comfortably hide herself. She was confident she had not been seen, but silently wished she had some telekinetic abilities to knock a can or some such up ahead, to distract Vali.

I'm not here… I'm not here…

[Lord Vali]

With a sudden jerk from Vali's mind, the can flew straight up, banging against the bottom of the fire escape before falling back to the ground. Vali continued to stare.

[Daria Nytherciria]

Calm, she simply watched Vali in silence – frozen, but not in fear. It was hard to not jump, or to let her fear grow inside of her, but Daria managed to avoid both. She tried to project her want for him to leave onto his mind, in the hope that somehow it might cause him to move on to look elsewhere.

[Lord Vali]

Underneath his mask, Vali smiled a bit and walked off, turning the corner and stepping into the shadows between the two buildings.

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria watched the figure disappear, with a sly smile. It appeared as though his attention span had been outlasted, and he had given up! Once he was entirely out of sight, she moved to the edge of the platform and swung herself down to the ground, landing in a crouch. As a trained member of the Kuto, she had been taught to land silently, and executed this perfectly. A quick puff of air and she began to walk back towards the bar – she'd get directions from there, hopefully.

[Lord Vali]

As Daria passed by the same hobo's from before, they eased away slowly, knowing that whatever was following her wasnt something they wanted to deal with. This increasing fear, along with the vague sense Vali had of her, gave him a pretty good beacon to follow her movements.

He stayed to the shadows, content to play the same game he had before. Making a quick right, he started down a path that would cut her current one off. From there, it was a waiting game.

[Daria Nytherciria]

Sure enough, Daria walked right into the trap. A moment too late, she realized. Frelnik.

"Right. Let's get this over with then shall we? What do you want from me?"

[Lord Vali]

"Hopefully not more than you can give."

Vali slowly started pacing from side to side...

"Tell me, what do you want from me?"

[Daria Nytherciria]

"I want you to leave me alone!" she snapped, "I am Daria Nytherciria, pride of the Kuto, heir to all Doz'rah. I didn't come here to be stalked by freaks in masks."

[Lord Vali]

"You dont know just how disappointed you're going to be..."

With a thought, Daria went flying backward into the nearest wall. Vali stretched his arms out from under his cloak, to his sides, palms outward. Three steel blades shot from the top of both his wrists. With his claws out, Vali began slowly stalking toward the Doz'rah.

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria hit the wall – gasped – and slid down onto her feet. Her back stung like frell. Without looking away from her attacker, she pulled her daggers from their sheaths and gripped them tightly. She raised both hands, defensively, almost as though she was expecting to punch Vali, not stab him – although the knife blades were pointing outwards so would be able to pierce with struck outwards. He was a Force user, she knew this now, yet still she was trying to scramble his thoughts.

[Lord Vali]

Vali stopped about ten feet from Daria and slowly began pacing back and forth in front of her. He could feel the intrusion into his mind, and it took a conscious effort on his part to resist her mental powers. If it werent for his own training, she probably would have had him on the ground in tears by this point.

Instead of moving in to attack while she was down, Vali simply decided to let her get up...Maybe she would rush him this time...

[Daria Nytherciria]

She rose to her knees, in a crouch, and lowered her head slightly. Then, with all the poise and prowess of a feline, sprung at Vali. The two daggers were meant for his chest. Her knees rose, in the hopes that on impact, he would fall.

[Lord Vali]

Instead of sending a claw straight for her throat, Vali retracted his claws completely as she pounced. As she flew into him, Vali grabbed caught her wrists and let himself fall with her momentum. He tensed up as he hit the ground and brought his own knees up, letting her momentum carry them on over.

He was poised to land on top of her, still holding her arms down, so that he would have her pinned. However, her mind scramble, combined with the fall, had been enough to make him loosen his grip. Instead of pinning her, he tumbled off of her, landing flat on his back in front of her...

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria, though shaken, could not pass up a chance like this. She had meant to land on his chest, but instead her knee fell on top of his neck – just as good, if not better! With one hand hovering above his forehead, to keep the link, she tried to easy herself over him, to straddle his collarbone entirely, her free hand meant to replace her knee on his throat.

"Blex yz glatco zeb?!"

[Lord Vali]

As she reached to choke him with her hands, Vali shook off the mental strain she was putting on him to regain his focus. His arms were free, though it was too awkward for him to throw a punch. His first instinct was to try to push her off of him, but he would be pushing upward with half his strength against her pushing downward with all of her strength. He could have tried to break her grip off his neck, but if her grip was too tight, it could end up hurting him more. His third option seemed much more favorable..

With her pushing down, he decided to use her strength against her. He reached up and grabbed her at her elbow joint, jabbing his thumb into the tender spot on the inside of her arm. He pulled to the side, bending her elbow with his strength, and her downward force. This caused her to fall into him, and with some strain off his throat, he met her midway with a headbutt to the bridge of her nose...

[Daria Nytherciria]

She let out a yelp, instinctively flinching back and clamping her hand over her nose, feeling a little warm trickle of blood on her fingers. She said something behind her hand and although it was muffled, it was quite obvious that it was a curse from the malice behind the tone. Still cupping her face, she half fell to the side and made an arguably feeble attempt to sock Vali with an uppercut with her free hand.

[Lord Vali]

Instead of trying to avoid the sloppy punch, Vali let it connect with the right side of his lower jaw. Trying to throw a punch while holding her face didnt allow her much room for power, and Vali pretty much shrugged off the blow then answered with a hard left hook aimed for her temple.

[Daria Nytherciria]

Her guard was falling. Daria had a limited arsenal when it came to unarmed close combat. She was a hit and run girl. In and out. No mess. This just wasn't her arena. The punch to her temple hit dead on and she snapped backwards, bringing both hands up to cradle her head.

"Alright, alright!"

[Lord Vali]

"Alright what?"

Vali asked with a certain discust.

"You give? You'll die quietly? What kind of fun is that?"

The sound of metal sliding against metal was heard, as Vali extended his right claw.

[Daria Nytherciria]

"Yes. You have bested me. I have failed to take your life, and therefore deserve to die," she said, dead-pan.

[Lord Vali]

"On second thought, maybe you aren't worth killing."

Vali took a few moments to take in her attitude, then retracted his claw. Anger boiled from within, begging him to unleash, the better part of him, however, screamed of potential, and demanded control. Slowly, Vali turned around, and began to simply walk off, muttering slightly under his breath...

"Pride of the Kuto...."

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria smiled to herself. He was retreating – she'd though as much would be the case. Standing up and wiping some blood from her upper lip, she made finally towards her resting place for the evening, after this long delay.