The [Wanderings] of the L o s t

[deamon]

Damon led the girl to his library and stood next to three fluffy velvet blue chairs. "Please make yourself comfortable."

He pulled the chair out for her to sit and seated himself behind a mahogony desk. His own chair was black leather that matched his leather pants. Ringing a servant's bell he waited silently till Tamora came with tea for two. She smiled nervously.

"Tamora please go find Nyra, she rushed out with a scared look on her face...and not because i threw something at her, in which i am notibly sorry about." She smiled politely at Ikaina and walked out of the door. Damon turned back to Ikaina.

"So you demanded my attencion... now you have it, speak." He poured tea for ikaina set the cup and saucer in her reach and then got himself a cup.

"Sugar?"

[Ikaina]

Ikaina followed him, taking a seat in the chair that he pulled out for her. She sat there absolutely silent, already thinking about how she was going to ask the question she had had on her mind all day.

She smiled slightly back at Tamora, giving her a small nod, and waited, watching as Damon passed her a small cup of tea. She waved no the sugar, not much liking tea in the first place, but drinking it out of politeness. She raised the cup to her blood red lips, sipping it and setting it back.

"I need to know if you have heard anything about the whereabouts of one named Neoruko." she said bluntly, figuring it was the easiest way to put it. "He is my half-brother, and I have been looking for him for what seems like forever. It is very, very, very important that I find him as soon as I can, and I heard a rumor that he passed through Aquadin." she said, wishing that he would just give her a clear answer so that she could leave.

But somehow, she knew that it wouldn't be that simple.

[deamon]

"Well, Neoruko. Mmmm. What business do you have with him? I'm not going to give whereabouts if your just going to kill him, even if it would be doing me a favor. I'm not that cruel..."

Neo was in Eurika, with Okesha not to far behind... Both, well four, Ikaina, Neo, Okesha, and Usagi, were children of Theonaru. There were one or two more Damon hadn't met yet. Not that he cared really. He was friends and allies with the only one that mattered, Usagi. Empress Of The Fire Kingdom. Which reminded him of the Festival...and the funeral.

"I give you some options. One you can either worm it out of me till I grow bored of you and throw you out in the woods, were you obviously were before, or stay here and wait to see if he comes back. I am also attending The Moonfire Festival in the Fire Kingdom, and a funeral in the Earth Kingdom....you are welcome to come with. If you desire to find him that badly..."

[Ikaina]

Ikaina was silent for a moment, listening to what he said. Ah, another enemy of Neo. "I've already said. He is my half-brother. It is family business. He has something that belonged to my father, and it is very important that I get it back." She lowered her voice, speaking more to herself than to Damon. "He has no right to have it in the first place."

She listened to her options, not very impressed with either one. Ikaina had more important things to do with her time than sit here all day trying to get information out of him. And she definitely wasn't about to sit around and wait to see if he came back, because Ikaina knew that he wouldn't. Not for a very long while at least.

Her eyes flashed red for a split second, showing how angry she was. If the wolf demon had been trying to hide it, she would have been able to keep that stoney gaze. It infuriated her that he was giving her options, like a child who didn't want to go with their parent or a schoolteacher trying to discipline a student. She was above that. Way above that.

"It seems to me that neither option is going to work for me. So what's plan C?" she asked, determined to at least give it her best try to get information. But she already had another plan in mind if this one didn't work. The funeral and the festival. She already had an in at the festival, and she could probably speak with Galadriel to get into the funeral. Why Neo would be at the funeral was escaping her, but she could at least stay a few minutes to see if he was there and then leave when he didn't show.

[deamon]

"There is no c option..."

He looked at her sternly. Like a father trying to get his daughter to do the right thing. He knew she would probably leave and go do what ever she did alone. She was thinking of leaving, it burned in her eyes. He didn't know why he cared so much on making her stay. Something sturred in his mind, from a restless sleep...and it wanted to be noticed...

The red flash in her eyes had no effect on him, but the sudden slam of the heavy oak library doors scared him to death. Tamora burst into the room and bowed sloppishly.

"Lord Damon! Nyra has gone into hystarics!"

Damon stood instantly. The chair fell out behind him and a look of sheer terror was etched in his face. Nyra getting mad and scared was normal teenage stuff, but...crazy?

"What happened?"

"I dont know, I asked if anyone had seen her and they said she ran to the barn... I looked in one of the stalls and there she was, I walked up to her and asked if she was alright...and... and she went balistic! She started screaming! Telling me not to touch her... I asked Karl if he'd help me take her to her room and she tried to scrach his eyes out!"

Damon walked out to the great hall. He was angery, and he was going to kill who ever hurt her.

"Who touched her!"

He yelled at everyone who was down stairs. Trays clattered to the floor, glasses broke, a few plates too. The whole castle stopped and looked at him.

"WHO THE HELL TOUCHED NYRA!"

He slamed his fist into the banister and it fell to the first floor...Someone was going to die...

[Ikaina]

She could tell that he wanted her to stay. And she wasn't sure if she would actually get along with this man under any other situation. It seemed that both of them were stubborn enough to have one of those love slash hate friend relationships going on. She stared back at him, her eyes just as sharp as his were, and did not jump when the door slammed. Ikaina had heard the heavy running footsteps for a few minutes now.

She listened carefully as the woman explained, and wondered what could have happened to suddenly drive the girl into insanity like this. Ikaina wondered if it had anything to do with her not actually being a dog. But how could she hav known? She ran out of the room before she changed. Therefore, it couldn't have been Ikaina's doing at all.

When Damon ran out of the room screaming, Ikaina sat there quietly, sipping her tea. She didn't need to follow him to hear him. Even a normal human wouldn't need to follow him to hear him. His yells echoed in the halls. When Ikaina had sat there for a sufficient amount of time, she stood, brushing a few loose strands of her long dark hair back from her eyes.

Without even stopping to say anything, Ikaina walked through the silence, having heard that Nyra was in the stables, and walked elegantly down the stairs. She walked right past the Lord, not even giving him a glance. She was headed to the stables.

Yes, Ikaina didn't personally know this girl, but she did like her. She seemed like a sweet young child. And even though she had been a dog, Ikaina suspected that she would quite easily be able to calm her down and figure out what was wrong with her. The wolf-demon's negotiation skills were excellent, and her comforting skills were growing better and better every day.

Entering the large stable, Ikaina stopped, raising her nose to the air. She said nothing for a moment; instead just stood there, and then finally called her name. "Nyra?" her voice was sweet and soothing. Somehow, she got the feeling that she wouldnt' even need to explain who she was. She was pretty sure that this girl would put two and two together and figure out that she was the black dog that had followed her home a bit earlier.

Quietly, barely making a sound, she walked to the stall that the girl was in and sat down at the entrance to it. She looked to both stable doors to make sure no one was following her, and then turned her soft teal eyes to Nyra.

"Hello," she started, not sure how to go about this. "Is something bothering you, child?" Her voice was still soft and sweet, barely above a whisper, and a look of patience was captured in her expression as she waited for an answer.

[deamon]

Nyra heard whispers calling her name, but she was lost.... The darkness swirled around her mixed with the pool of blood at her feet... Memory's put themselves together like a puzzle.... And it hurt....She watched them as they poured into her mind... Pain, Love, Family... As more and more of the puzzle came together, the more confused she was, but the picture unfolded.

Nyra had died, but she died in the arms of the one she loved... Damon... His screams could still be heard in the empty darkness.... He killed half of them with his bare hands before the others left... Then his blood imbued hands held her till she died of blood loss... and even after that he still held her till they drugged him to bury her... Nyra was scared of the next few scenes... Damon had gone mad with grief... He burned the city to the ground... to forget... Had he really forgotten? He couldn't have remembered, he would have said something...He wouldn't be with the other women all the time....

She wanted to stay there... she didn't want to go back... They could carry her limp body to bed... She wanted to think and be alone... She didn't want to stay there till she had every last piece in place....The darkness faded and the blood dissapired....

"Where am I?"

[Ikaina]

Ikaina watched as the girl cowered in the corner of the stall, saying nothing. Her eyes were blank, and that was what gave her away. Ikaina knew that look well. She had spent a lot of time with seers and visionaries. Women that had the Sight went by many names, but it all came down to the same thing. She stayed silent until the color came back into her face and she looked about.

"You're in the stables. You ran out of Lord Damon's room in a rush." she commented, wondering what was wrong; wondering what she had seen. Ikaina just sat there, letting it sink in.

"Are you alright?" she asked again, for some reason thinking about why she cared so much at this point. Ikaina was a loner overall, and knew that even though she may gain a friend today, she wouldnt' be able to stay like that for long. For just as soon as she went off on her own, that friendship would fade. It always did.

[deamon]

"N-n-no. I'm not ok... I need to...to...go on a vacation. Get away from here. Clear my head. Something away, far, far away"

Nyra stood and held herself up with the wall. She didn't know how to tell Lord Damon. Ny thought of just leaving with a note, but that didn't seem to fair. Where would she go? She had no family, so that was out of the question. No friends except here... But what about...

The wolf-girl would never let her travel with her. She was a lone wolf and probably just as alone in human form but.... would it hurt to ask?

"Are you staying long?"

Nyra had to ask. She had to get away. and the wolf-girl was the easiest way....

Damon walked out to the stalls slowly. Wondering if she would be ok... Ikaina would hopefully calm the girl...Hopefully anyway... He felt guilty... Like it was his fault. She didn't have much of a life outside the castle. She was sort of a a prisioner... But, He gave her chances to go to town she just never left, or didn't stay long. Tamora and Satra always went home to family... But Nyra had no family, her mother died and her father lost to battle 5 months before she was born... Selvagem and his wife took care of her till she could work for the castle... She slowly became a shadow...

He stopped half way there. To give Ikaina a few more minutes with her and prepare himself for the worst........

[Ikaina]

Ikaina was a bit unsure of what hte girl meant when she started speaking, but when she asked if she was staying long, Ikaina knew for sure what she wanted. She wanted to get out. And it seemed that Ikaina was the best way to do that.

But would taking Nyra with her slow down her hunt? Could she afford to stop for a few weeks? Would her half-brother's trail become lost in time? Even Ikaina's sense wasn't that good. But it couldn't hurt that much.

"I'm staying for only a day or so more...I didn't get the answers I needed. I plan on making my way to the Ice Kingdom to visit with Lady Galadriel and then perhaps to the forests for a short time." she said matter-of-factly. For some reason Ikaina felt like she owed this to Nyra. She knew what it was like to have that horrible feeling of needing to get away, and no matter how cold-hearted she may be, she wouldn't wish that on an innocent young girl such as the one sitting across from her.

She sat up a bit straighter, her eyes turning slightly orange again as her hearing became sharper. Footsteps. Damon's scent. He was here, just oustside the doors. But he was hesitant..and she could smell fear on him.

"You are free to come with me if you think you could keep up. I don't plan on staying anywhere for more than a week at a time. Perhaps in the Ice Kingdom I will stay for a week, but the forest maybe no more than three days. If you wish to come with, I must warn you that it would be lying outside for a majority of the nights, or traveling." She paused. "It will not be like the castle. It will not be like the things you are used to. If you come, I will escort you back here when I am finished in the forest." She wasn't trying to be mean, she was just trying to lay out what it was going to be like. Ikaina didn't want to take someone with and then have to listen to complaining the entire night.

She stood, casting a quick glance towards Damon and nodding in acknowledgement. Looking back at Nyra, she said, "Take some time to think about it. I will be outside when you have decided." And with that she walked towards the doors, casting a quick glance at Damon as if to say it was alright to go to her now.

[deamon]

Damon watched Ikaina leave the stables and was asured by the look in her eyes it was safe to go in. Taking a deep breath he walked to the occupied stall.

"Nyra, are you ok?

She looked calmed down thanks to Ikaina. But the look on her face wasn't good. Damon Got down on the floor and sat next to her. She had been crying. Her face was still puffy and red.

"I'm, fine... I'm leaving tomorrow."

"With Ikaina?"

Nyra didn't know her name but she was smart enough to put two and two together... Nyra nodded her head... We sat in silence... She was waiting for me to tell her not to go i'm sure... But i couldn't think of a reason for her to stay... She has worked hard her her whole life, never complained of the work, just did it. Never once did she go any where but town...She deserved the time away...

"If thats what you truly want Nyra... Have Tamora and Satra pack your things for you wile you and Lady Ikaina eat a good meal and get a good nights sleep..."

"Thank you Lord Damon."

And with that she got up and walked out of the barn...

Nyra walked quickly outside and to the castle. Fresh tears fell from her face. She had never seen Damon so hurt before. Tamora and Satra greeted her at the door and they all walked in silence to the servant's quarters.

"I'm leaving tomorrow. Lord Damon said to have you pack my things but i shall do it now."

"And he was fine with it?" Tamora said wide eyed.

"Yes. I'm leaving with Ikaina. I have to get away. I, well, it dosn't matter right now... I need to get away and think... Ikaina may also let me stay with her too... I don't know..."

"Don't worry child. We will always be here for you. Just you go talk to Lady Ikaina and we will pack your things and have the cook make his finest."

"Thank you."

Nyra left and went to the courtyard to find Lady Ikaina....

[Ikaina]

Ikaina had made her way straight to the courtyard, trying her best to focus on something else. Yet the sounds of Nyra and Damon's voices kept following her. And she couldn't do anything to block them out. "Oh grr." she muttered to herself, walking with her eyes straight ahead, not even wandering to look at the people she passed. Many of them gave her a curious look; after all, it wasn't often that a new person just wandered through the place as if they lived there.

Ikaina settled herself down on a bench next to a rather large fountain and sighed, staring into the water. She knew that Nyra was going to end up coming with her. She knew that Damon wasn't going to put up a fight. She may not know a lot about love, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that both of them had a thing for the other. Even a blind man could see that.

She heard Nyra's footsteps coming towards her and make a turn, walking into the castle. She heard her speak to the other two women and then walk out in her direction, and made no move when she entered the courtyard. "Nyra." she greeted, not moving at all other than the corners of her lips curling into a smile. "So, how did it go?"

[deamon]

"I'm going with you."Nyra stood tall and proud."I promise i wont get in the way or slow you down. I could learn from you."Nyra nodded toward the castle.

"Lord Damon is having the maids prepare a grand meal in the banquet hall. My things are being packed as we speak. Ill be ready to leave when ever you want."

Nyra stood silently waiting for her to tell me i was crazy and i should stay here... She was only nineteen, turning twenty in two or three weeks... but she was a half elf. Half elf, half water nymph. So she could find out the exstent of her magics, if they were limited to visions or something more... She could learn to use a weapon and if she came back she could be a castle guard. The doors of possibilitys all threw themselves open waiting for her...

[Ikaina]

Ikaina nodded. "I know you are." She had known when she first looked at her in the stables that she would go with her if she was given the chance. Somehow, she expected to be followed even if Damon wouldn't have allowed her to go. She finally turned her teal colored eyes towards her and a stern look crossed her face. "You're right, you will learn."

The wolf-demon was looking forward to this in a way. It would be like having her own pup. Something that she had pretty much promised she wouldn't do until after Neoruko was captured. She was going to teach this girl to harness all the power she had possessed within her; to use her cunning, to weild a weapon, and to survive when she needed to using any means necessary. It was going to be a long journey, but it wouldn't be boring.

She thought for a moment. Ikaina hadn't had a proper meal in almost two weeks. A feast sounded like a good idea. "We'll leave first thing in the morning," she said, standing and putting a hand on her sword's hilt out of habit. "Make sure you don't pack too heavy, because whatever you are bringing, you have to carry on your own back." Ikaina began walking away, a graceful sway in her hips, her hair blowing lightly in the breeze. She continued speaking, expecting Nyra to be following as they made their way for the castle. "And be ready to be up and ready a few hours past dawn."

[deamon]

"I will be ready."

Nyra walked behind her on her right. It was a habit of hers. She wondered if Ikaina knew where the banquet hall even was... she probably did...The graceful woman walked with her hand on her sword. It didn't bother her, it was just no one except guards carried weapons, let alone a woman...

But all that would change soon. She was excited to go out in the wilderness. She didn't know why she wasn't scared, but she wasn't.

"Lady Ikaina. Why are we going to the Ice Kingdom and not the Fire kingdom?"