Two shadows passing (Complete)

[Lord Vali]

Whispers had spread quickly throughout the city. Bodies had been found, drained of blood and left to rot. Most of the reports had been filed nearby the cemetary, and locals had gone, for the most part, ignored by local authorities. The thought of a 'Vampire' was absurd, and no self respecting officer of the law would dare touch the case.

After awhile, a mob assembled nearby the cemetary. They had attributed the deaths to a woman who had recently arrived. No one had seen her during the day, or even at night really, so the automatic assumption was that she couldn't survive in daylight.

People could be so superstitious.....

This night, the mob, armed with torches and crucifixs (since the holonet movies said blasters didnt phase the undead) decides to start a search, and hopefully smoke out this creature of the night.

During the search, one of the citizens caught a shadow moving out of the corner of his eye and broke off from the group down a long alley to investigate...

[Razielle Shadana]

Being female did tend to make Razielle adore getting attention when it was provided, but this was getting a tad out of hand. She hadn't really thought that a couple street punk-would be hero kids would have gone missing with so much cause for concern. Which could mean one of two things. Either the elusive Miss De'Ville had set her up or Razielle had carelessly started a panic that would be bothersome for future feedings.

Presently she crouched at the top of a building that was used as some sort of holy place. So still was she that the mob, that was currently out looking to remove her head, ran right past her. She swung down from the buildings elaborately carved ornamentation and climbed along the side of the structure. She paused as another search party ran through the alley. Were they actually carrying crosses? How very... archaic. The concept that ideology or fire would end her immortal life was nothing short of absurd. Burns would harm her, but nothing she couldn't recover from with a bit of sustenance.

The thought of feeding brought a smile to her face. If they wanted to kill a Vampyre, she would give them a Vampyre. All she needed now was for a puppet to present itself for her macabre stage to be set. She would drain some unfortunate soul to the point of emaciated weakness and then feed him just enough of her Blood that he would have the perverse desire to attack anything that would seek to harm him. The mob would have their Vampyre this night.

Plan in mind, she climbed lower down the side of the wall. Not enough to be seen directly unless one was looking. She allowed her movements to be less fluid and more clumsy until she attracted attention. Soon enough she had what she wanted, she had been spotted. Now let him come.

[Lord Vali]

Nothing was more amusing than a lynch mob. Watching the ignorant congregate in itself was hilarious. But toss in a side of fear, hatred, and of course an extra helping of stupid, and you have a lynch mob, in all its glory.

The lower alleys were the perfect enviroment for Vali. The shadows cast from a jumble of sources, along with the low rooftops made this a predator's playground. And Vali was very much a predator.

Sticking to the rooftops and shadows, Vali kept his distance from the mob, but kept them in view none-the-less. After awhile of stalking the mob, Vali seemed to feel as though he wasn't the only one 'there'.

There was someone else playing his game.

It didnt take long, and one of the men of the group caught a shadow out of the corner of his eye and went to investigate. As soon as the man had gotten completely out of his groups sight, Vali dropped down to ground level and slowly made his way toward the man, keeping himself well hidden so not to lose the crucial element of surprise.

[Razielle Shadana]

One of Razielle's more developed Gifts was her ability to mesmerize her prey. Handy trick when her food wasn't at once taken in with her Vampyric charm and decided to struggle. As the man approached her he held aloft his torch to better adjust his eyes to the dimly lit alley. Caught in the soft glow, Razielle locked her gaze upon the poor fool and allowed herself to slide down the wall to her feet.

Easily controling his mind she bade the man to lower the torch as she slowly approached him. Removing the light from his hand without removing her gaze proved easy enough. She slid the torch into a crevice in the wall as sort of a make-shift sconce. Bidding him to close his eyes she walked around behind him, so as not to impede her view of the alley's entrance.

Second's before she would have sent this Oh-so-riteous hero to his maker, Razielle caught the scent of another actor gracing her stage. She wasn't too sure she liked the idea of an interloper in her little presentation. No longer in her thrall, the man began to struggle. She silenced his pitiful protest efficiently by digging her clawed fingertips into his throat cutting of his airway.

Full attention locked onto where she felt the newcomer she smiled her befanged grin. Just as well, her "Vamp" would need some prey for it to be real. She began to think of the newly arrived presence as nothing more than a prop for her little play. It did strike her though that this person could carress the night almost as well as the Undead could. Oh well.. Wrong place, wrong time, right?

"Oh please don't be shy.. "

[Lord Vali]

As Razielle looked on, she could see what appeared to be a shadow within a shadow. The closer Vali got, the more defined he became. He was fairly large, and a crimson cloak enshrouded him.

He kept a comfortable amount of distance between himself, Razielle, and the now silenced mob member. He looked on without a word, curious to see what Razielle would do with her prey...

[Razielle Shadana]

This was getting better by the minute. If it were not for her enhanced vision she doubted if she would have seen him at all. As it was, at the moment, he was still a tad on the hazy and undefinable side. For a moment she began to rethink her stagtegy of killing him. He didn't appear to be some avenging angel come to stop the evil fiend from another innocent slaying. So then, what was he? She decided the best way to figure it out was to continue on with her plans, as scheduled.

"I don't often allow front row seats , sir. But in your case I'll make an exception. Just don't do anything heroic."

Razielle's attention returned to the man in her arms. She removed her fingers from his windpipe but sadly his scream never came. Having bitten directly into his jugular, his life ebbed away quickly. Then, with her gaze locked onto where her shadowy watcher remained, she bit into her own finger and ran just a small drop across the lips of the newly deceased. It wouldn't animate him long, but he would be quite strong by mortal standards.. It should, at any rate, give the mob what they wanted.

"I do apologize for the inconvinience, but I am afraid I am going to have to let our friend here go now and... You do appear to be the most likely choice he'll come after. Sorry. But do console yourself knowing you will die for a good cause, sort of..."

Razielle gave the shadows her most charming smile and released her newly created monster. She did not stay to watch however and at once dug her nails into the wall and climbed straight up.

[Lord Vali]

Vali turned his head slightly to the side, allowing himself to show an ounce of curiousity. A few different scenario's played over in his mind, and he quickly decided his next move. As Razielle began scaling the wall, Vali reached out with the force and gave her a hard tug, bringing her flying back toward the ground.

The next order of business was the 'zombie' that was storming toward Vali. The sound of sliding metal was heard, following by the plop of a head hitting the ground, followed by the thud of a body hitting the ground. As strong as the guy was, Vali's claws still worked just nicely....

"Clean up your mess...."

[Razielle Shadana]

The surprising feel of her body being yanked back down to the alley, via the force, came as something of a shock to Razielle. Okay, so the guy wasn't your average idiot. She landed with feline grace and turned to glare at him as he removed the head from her victim. The lifeless eyes stared up at her as the head rolled to a stop at her feet. Well, at least he had also severed the marks from her bite. One less murder they could pin on her.

"My mess..? I do believe the headless corpse would be thanks to you. He might have wandered out of town, as I had left him."

She was still uncertain what to make of this guy. He was obviously adept with the force and not using the skills for any friendly, do-gooding means. Razielle narrowed her eyes and focused on his hazy outline, getting a better feel for his size and position. She decided this could get quite nasty, but refrained from arming herself as yet.

[Lord Vali]

"I didn't tell you to argue, I told you to clean up your mess."

The three claws extending from Vali's right arm shot back into their guard. He stayed still, not offering her any free clues to what his next move could or would be. Instead, he kept his icy glare directly on her.

"This is my home, I dont appreciate you dragging trash in here."

[Razielle Shadana]

Razielle at once took in their immediate surroundings. She glanced somewhat distastefully at the dirt and litter strewn alleyway. Kicking a bit of random scum off her gleaming boot she tried to keep the mockery out of her voice but failed.

"You live in this alley....? Charming. Well, I do regret to inform you, but I don't do cleaning, sorry. But I'll make it up to you..."

She extended her hand and retrieved the torch from its niche in the wall. After kicking the disembodied head back towards the rest of its remains, she threw the torch ontop of it and smiled in the blaze that followed. Soon enough it would be nothing more than ashes, surely the alley wouldn't bear anymore filth then, than it did now.

"Now, if you are done with your commands....?"

[Lord Vali]

"Not entirely. You missed a spot...."

As the flame started kicking up, the body lifted from the ground and was flung at Razielle, flames and all. Vali's claws, which had just been retracted, quickly extended again, as Vali began walking toward the Vampyre, this time with a bit of haste.

Hopefully, Razielle would spring out of the way, so Vali wouldn't have to cut through a flaming corpse to get to her.

[Razielle Shadana]

There were not many options open to her, at this point. Razielle did the only thing she could do, to avoid having the rather nasty corpse hit her with its burning stench. Removing her katana from its sheath slung across her back, she slid the blade cleanly through the corpse, bisecting it. Its already rotting flesh was craving more Vampyric blood that would never come, accounting for its state of decomposition and the ease with which it was cleaved in two.

The flaming halves spun away from her and down each side of the alley. Katana still clasped tightly in her right hand, she was prepared for the oncoming claws and met their blow knocking them up and away from her person. She snapped the blade back up before her, at the ready, as her feet gracefully side stepped giving her a better defensive stance against the attacking madman.

"Definately not the chivalrous type, are we? I can tolerate quite a bit, but rudeness is most annoying."

Silver blade still before her she removed her crimson single bladed saber from her belt, smiling as it hissed to life in her left hand. She gave another melodic little laugh as she waited to see if he was done or if he had the audacity to continue.

[Lord Vali]

The claws slid back into their guards with a shlink once again. They were strong, but a saber would cut through them like butter. Vali fell out of his offensive stance and took a step back, giving himself some healthly distance. He straightened up and crossed his arms underneath his cloak.

"I hope you know what you're doing. It would be a shame to damage such a pretty face."

[Razielle Shadana]

Razielle held his gaze, the red light of her saber now the only source of illumination in the dark alley. Somehow she had the feeling that his night vision was nearly as good, if not as good, as hers though, so there should be no problem in continuing their little chat . She couldn't help but notice that he sheathed his claws simultaneously with the arrival of her saber. One could be thankful for the small things, like them not being made of some kind of resistant metal. If they didn't wind up killing each other she might mention that fact to him at some later event.

Weapons both still before her in defense, Razielle grinned at her opponent and offered him an easy out which of course he would decline, but she would try any ways.

"I do know what I am doing. But for fear of damaging little me, you could always take option two and desist in your quest to make me obey and clean up."

She was sure her offer would be met with some sort of bloody and damaging retaliation, so she gritted her teeth and prepared for the worst. He was, after all, nothing if not persistant.

[Lord Vali]

Vali let the standstill continue for a few more moments, opting to let any doubts that may have been lurking in Razielle's mind lurk to the surface before he made his next move. She didn't seem like the type to shake easily, but one could never tell. The moments passed, and Razielle hadnt broken down and done anything cute, like attack or beg for mercy, so Vali decided it was time to continue on.

"I'm gonna enjoy this..."

The two small metallic skulls at the top of Vali's chest made a small clink, and the cloak that was secured to them was released, allowing it to drop to the ground behind him. In his right hand it was revealed that he was holding a lightsaber hilt, from which a single crimson blade of his own sprang forward.

Vali held his saber forward a bit and slowly began to circle Razielle. He kept his feet positioned so that he could turn easily to parry, and allowed Razielle the opportunity to make the first move.

[Razielle Shadana]

Well, well.. He had a splendid taylor at least. Razielle made a quick mental note to inquire after the creator of his cloak, pending one of the two of them was still around after all this. The more she thought about it, the more she found to admire. Not only was he well dressed, the set came complete with an Oh-so-well-equipped saber as well. She would get to see if he knew what he was doing. Of her own skills, she knew she wasn't lacking, though she was glad to actually be facing off against a real opponent again.

Apparently he did know somewhat how to be a gentleman she thought, as he circled her awaiting her first move. She would not dissapoint. The alley was now quite well lit by the bloody red glow of both weapons, her smaller form was easily tracked as she moved. Slinging her katana back into its sheath to save the blade, she spun her crimson saber before her and advanced, easily tossing the weapon into her dominant right hand. She tested the so-called waters by a few quick slices and thrusts all of which were, as to be expected, easily blocked.

"Not quite the imbecile I originally took you for. My apologies."

She made a little mocking bow just before once again moving in to swing upward across his midsection as she took the offensive, eager to get on with it.

[Lord Vali]

Vali angled his body to square up with Razielle's swing as he brought his own saber up to block. It was surprising how sabers could even up a battle. At the moment, he was keeping defensive, prefering to guage Razielle's own skills before revealing his.

His block opened her stance up a slight bit, but Vali stepped back instead of trying to capitalize. He kept his right side slightly farther back than his left, with his saber in his right hand. His stance was meant for stronger deflections, since bringing a saber strike from behind his body offensively would make it easier for Razielle to guard against.

[Razielle Shadana]

She wondered how long it would go on this way, one moving the other stepping back. For several minutes it was a game of advance and retreat as they both gauged how the other would move. She tired of the game quickly.

"Oh, by all means, don't be easy on me."

She twisted her body to the right and backward, out of reach of his weapon, only for a moment. Above them and along the side of the building was metal piping of some sort. It also higher up formed a walkway between the two buildings lining the alley. She reached up with the force and pulled the bulk of the apparatus down upon them. Her smaller size made her quite fast and agile. She managed to evade the falling beams and climb up on top of them with a leap.

At the very least this would make things more challenging, with the jagged edges of metal surrounding them. Perhap she was even lucky enough he had been skewered already? She hoped not. She was rather enoying herself.

[Lord Vali]

Flattened against the side of the alley, Vali held still, letting an illusion hide him. The commotion caused by the crash had torn Razielle's attention away from him long enough for him to disengage his saber and hide. From what he could tell, her night vision was flawless, so right now, it was just like hiding in plain daylight for Vali.

He could do it, but it took pretty intense concentration.

The illusion itself wouldnt last too long, but it would give Vali the opportunity to gauge the new playing field a bit, and maybe work up a loose strategy. He'd managed to end up on her peripheral during the crash, which came as a slight advantage. Dropping the illusion, Vali made a force boosted leap toward Razielle, engaging his saber on the way and poised himself to make a landing strike. If all went right, he would land close to her, not right on top of her, which left room for him to block, just in case she managed to toss an attack his way.

[Razielle Shadana]

When all had settled, the alley still resonated with the metalic ringing of the fallen rigging. When she realized she appeared to be alone she felt a small twinge of remorse. She hadn't really meant to kill the guy, not yet anyways. Then again, she recalled how he had appeared when she first spotted him, blending in with the nights shadows.

It was then, when the ringing finally stopped she felt it. He was still here, unharmed and watching her. Less than a minute later he sprang into the offense again. He was almost already on top of her as she likewise reacted to his attack. Slamming the heel of her boot down into a fallen pipe, forced a wall of jagged metal to spring up and surround her. He would have to decide what was more important, avoiding impalement or getting a piece of her.

He wasn't going to get the chance this time, whatever he chose, she was ready to intercept his hit, should it come. Her legs were braced in a defensive stance and her saber was raised to fend off the blow.

[Lord Vali]

Almost too quickly for him to react, Vali quickly threw a foot out to rebound off the jagged metal in front of him. This caused him to fall backward, instead of land on his feet. Instead of trying to stop the fall, he moved with it, and landed on the top of his back. He let his momentum carry him on over, causing him to land facing her in a crouch. As he stood, he realized that a piece of metal had caught his costume. It was only a grazing cut, and had barely broken the skin of his leg. It had also tore his a bit of his costume, revealing tanned white skin underneath.

Slowly he walked toward her. A swipe of his saber cleared the path between them. Grasping his saber now with two hands, Vali stepped in and made a light swing, aiming to take her head off. The swing itself wasnt expected to land, but to more or less get the duel rolling again.

[Razielle Shadana]

Blood.. It was barely more than a few drops. It was more than enough for Razielle to catch the scent of, on the night wind. It was far more than enough for her to desire to prevail here. A predator was always provoked and tempted with that scent.

He stalked toward her and she watched him with rapt interest. What would he do now that she had claimed the honor of first blood? Would it anger him and make his movements eradic and sloppy, thus giving her mellow demeanor the advantage? Or would it simply harden his resolve to best her...?

While she pondered the possibilities, her opponent took a swing at her head. It was of course easily avoided as she ducked under it, then swung her own blade up to catch his. Her intent was not to overthrow him with strength, but to take him by surprise. While his saber was locked above their heads, Razielle rammed her armored knee straight into his abdomen, then shoved his weapon away from her with a laugh.

[Lord Vali]

Vali reeled back, but only slightly, from the knee to his gut. He answered her laugh with a series of harder strikes, using his longer reach to get inside of Razielle's defense a bit to back her up. At the end of the series, his strike put him in slightly too close, which negated him from pressing her back further, so he retreated backward. As he did, he struck a girder beside, slicing through it at upward angle to send it falling toward Razielle.

As it fell, he set his stance to strike again, but waited to see if his distraction would pay off.

[Razielle Shadana]

Split second choice, defend against his saber or evade the falling girder that would most likely pin her to the ground, making it that much easier for him to remove her head. Though retreat was not in her nature, a change of scenery was in order. Razielle ignored him for the moment, he was still a few feet away, and made a leap boosted by the force onto the top of the girder as it was falling.

Not able to stay on it for long, she braced her legs and found her balance as the girder continued to tip. She jumped off of it and landed atop the rooftop of whatever holy place this was. The girder crashed below, once again sending the fallen metal into a cacophony of scraping and ringing. Razielle was sure that she would be joined shortly and if his habbit was to be of any indication, he would be hidden from her sight somehow.

While she waited, Razielle looked into the distance and spotted the cemetary. The dotted lights of the torch weilding citizens were heading back this way. If they hadn't heard the first crash of metal they definately heard the second and were coming to inspect.

Apparently they were in for some company.

[Lord Vali]

Atop the rooftop, Razielle found herself alone, at least it seemed as much. She seemed to be waiting for Vali to pop out out of nowhere, as he had before. She picked up on things quickly, flowing with the situation rather than letting it confuse her. Confusion was one of Vali's handiest weapons. He'd applaud her later. For the moment though, he'd simply keep her 'entertained'. As she anticipated his attack, Vali took a different path than she had. Retreating back to the middle of the alley, he recovered his cloak.

As the mob rounded the corner, Vali stood waiting, holding the decapitated body by the back of its shirt collar in one hand, and holding the head by the hair in his other.

"Its him! The phantom! He's the vampire!"

It seemed the Razielle wasnt the only one with a bit of a reputation, and apparently she had just lost hers. The mob seemed to be getting a bit unnerved at this point as Vali slowly started toward them. With a grunt, he tossed the body at them, followed shortly by the head...

"I wont tell you twice...."

"Stay outta my alley."

[Razielle Shadana]

Razielle was genuninely amused. He couldn't possibly be yelling from down there up at her to "Stay outa his alley.." She peeked over the side to watch him fling the head and body of her victim at the mob. They reacted as most mindless fools would. Some scattered like chickens with a wolf in their pen, some simply held aloft their weapons ready to meet Death head on. But even those who would have made a stand, scattered when they realized they no longer had the strength of numbers.

It seemed her little performance worked out after all, her intentions were met at least. They no longer suspected her of the murders. But they hadn't killed who they refered to as the "Phantom", which meant she still had him to deal with. Backing away from the ledge so he couldn't yank her back down to his level a second time, Razielle called down to him.

"A Phantom are you...? I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that phantoms were of a non-corporeal nature. You bleed just fine for a ghost..."

[Lord Vali]

She could talk trash, he'd give her that. Reminded him of someone he knew pretty well. In a way, he wished he'd brought one of his blasters with him, but that tended to ruin the fun even more. After a quick jog down the alley, Vali scaled the fallen girders by leaps and bounds, quickly finding his way on the rooftop with Razielle.

"Shall we continue?"

[Razielle Shadana]

Somewhat suprised that he hadn't just popped out of thin air with intent to behead her, Razielle grinned and offered a little bow. Her left hand was perched on her hip, her right hand still held her saber, although it was silent and dark for the moment.

"By all means.. Since you've been injured, I'll give you a headstart."

He was just going to love that she was sure. It was too bad they had to go on this way, but alas.. With a grin she crooked a finger at him and raised her weapon, aglow with crimson once more.

[Lord Vali]

Her saber technique thus far seemed similiar to his own, block and counter. Getting through her saber defense without taking an attack was difficult due to her speed, so Vali would need to take a seperate approach.

Instead of advancing on her, Vali held his ground, locking eyes with her through his helmet. He tilted his head slightly to the side, as if curious.

Without any further warning, it felt as if an invisible hand had grasped Razielle by the throat. Still glaring at her as he tightened down the force choke, Vali sent a few jibes of his own her way.

"A headstart sounds nice, tell me when you want me to go."

[Razielle Shadana]

He could hold her there all night and watch the sun burn her, perhaps? If he knew what she was, and she suspected he did, smart guy that he was, he might do just that. But Razielle seemed to think that he was actually trying to choke the life from her. His claws would rust in the elements before that would happen. He was causing her no slight amount of pain though, in fact it hurt like hell. Just because her trachea would heal itself in time didn't mean that having it crushed in a vice-like grip was comfortable.

"A headstart sounds nice, tell me when you want me to go."

He was actually going to taunt her? How intriguing, she would have grinned, had she been able to just then. Rather than respond she slowly inched her left hand up her chest towards her throat, allowing him to believe she was weakening due to loss of air. When her hand was close enough to her neck, she quickly reached into her pulled up tresses and dislodged the dagger like pin. Infuriated that she allowed herself into this position and now beginning to suffer a bit from the pain, Razielle let fly the dagger, straight into his already injured thigh.

Shaking her long hair out of her face and out of her way, she glared and struggled forward. The pain had sent enough anger through her, that her connection with the Darkness was bolstered. Feeding off of its icy, yet compelling touch she advanced, even through her pain.

[Lord Vali]

The choke stopped as Vali looked down at the dagger in his thigh. Anger surged inside of him, augmented by the lancing pain felt in his leg. The padding of his costume kept the dagger from doing any real damage, the pain was still there though. Underneath his helmet, Vali grit his teeth while he pulled the dagger out of his leg and tossed it aside.

As Razielle approached, Vali unleashed his anger in a telekinetic blast. The blast wasnt as focused as a push or choke would be, as it was more of a reflex, but it did succeed in causing her to stumble backward. He took this opportunity to attack, gripping his saber with both hands and lashing into her with powerful strikes. He didnt expect to land any hits, but more or less keep her off balance, until a better opportunity arose.

[Razielle Shadana]

Witty comebacks be damned she was tired of toying with this guy, the mob had dissipated and the dawn was coming soon. She had no time to play with him anymore. She was already struggling to walk, due to the amount of pain she was in. The blow caught her offguard. But she did not fall. Had she not already had her saber at the ready, he may have actually got in a hit to her exposed body. The thought infuriated her further, she was being careless.

Illuminating the night sky once again with the clash of their weapons, Razielle focused all her efforts on defense. The lethargy of the dawn was quickly ebbing whatever added strength her anger had granted her. Razielle would be satisfied right now with just getting him away from her. She would have plenty of time during her stay on Onderon to settle the score with him. All she had was time.

Striking while his saber was coming straight down at her, Razielle deflected the blow and sent him back, towards the side of the building, with a hard kick to the gut. Not bothering to let him recover she summoned what was left of her anger and hit him with everything she had. Her one motive now was send the Phantom over the side and get away from the predawn light.

[Lord Vali]

Vali took the kick to his gut with a growl. As he readied himself to spring back at her, she hit him with force blast of her own that sent him reeling over the edge of the building. Instead of hearing a thud a few moments later, the sound of glass shattering echoed down through the alley.

His first thought was too charge back up to the roof, but she was most likely be long gone by the time he got there. Even then, if they kept at it, one of them would end up dead. Very few people knew that Vali was a part of the circle also so killing her would be pointless. He'd accomplished his objectives for the night. For now he was content to find his way to the first aid room and patch up his leg.

[Razielle Shadana]

She didn't waste time checking on the sound of splintering glass. Razielle needed to get inside, now. With enhanced speed she ran to the opposite side of the rooftop and dove over the side. Landing on her feet, agile as a feline, she resumed her frantic run through the streets. The run would have been impossible if she had needed the air to breathe, her throat still being majorly sore from being crushed.

She entered the palace by the same way she had exited. To keep her comings and goings as unnoticed as possible she had explored the servants entrances and corridors. Returning to her room just as the first rays of dawn hit the sky with toxic light, she shut her door and half stumbled for her bed. Razielle blessed that coverings over her windows keeping the light from finding her and didn't bother to undress. She was too damned weary.

As the lethargy came over her, Razielle wondered how the dear Phantom was faring? Between the piping, girders and glass he may want to think about relocating his lodgings. With a grin, she considered going to help the poor guy clean up when night came. On the other hand, she would probably never see him again anyways..

Yawning and rolling onto her stomach, she drifted off to sleep.