Cassandra stared in awe as James was replaced by Sekah. The big black wings fascinated her and the runes covering him spoke to her. She was simultaneously overwhelmed by the urge to run away from him and never look back and the urge to run into his arms and beg to be held safe in the embrace of those blackened wings.
"Sekah..." she spoke, dazed and unable to do much more. Though she had seen a number of Angels awaken, and she herself "grew" wings often enough, he was different somehow.
"You... you're safe here, Sekah... until you can regain your human form..." she found herself speaking slowly and grasping for words. "I know this is probably terribly confusing... You still probably don't remember much... You, you're an Angel... one of my kind."
With that, Cassandra took off her jacket and allowed her own wings to rip through her back. She had done this countless times and yet it still hurt just as much as the first. Her bright red hair grew out and lightened to a color more strawberry than blond and her skin lightened to a flawless porcelain.
Saeraphena reached out towards Sekah with a soft smile.
"If you trust me, I can show you how to keep safe here, Sekah. I am Saeraphena."

David woke up in agony. So many things going on... His thoughts raced. The woman in his dream spoke of pain... people dying. As he climbed out of his hammock bed he brushed it all off. F*ck it... people die all the time. Who the hell cares.

As he stumbled across his small apartment, tripping over everything he had left out from the night before he began to whistle and hum his nightmare away. David stopped sharply when he reached his mirror outside his impossibly small bathroom to see a large black mark on his back. Further examination revealed it to be a tattoo. A huge black tattoo. He recognized the symbol instantly... it was on his Runestones. It was Kenaz, Fire. Why was the fire symbol on his back? How much DID I have last night? He looked around his apartment now fully awake to find almost ever one of his blades was off the wall and scattered about. the throwing weapons lodged here and there... and his larger axes were embedded deeper. "Sh*t, landlords gonna have my ass" He threw a shirt on and glanced at the clock. 3:35... not a bad time to start the day. He had class in half an hour and still needed food... god knew nothing was here so he snatched up his books and his laptop, threw them in his Saiyuki bag and ran out the door, praying his landlord wouldnt stop in.

Still focused on the girl who left him standing there, Aki hardly noticed Skye walk up, so when she bumped into him, he was thrown off balance in more ways than one.
He looked her over as she apologized and was even more surprised to see another woman who caught his attention.
Two in one day? he thought.
She was gorgeous and what's more, she smelled like Blood. He wasn't sure if she was one of his kind, or if she just should be, but he wanted her, both her body and Blood.
Aki was ready to put on the charm but not soon enough as she began to walk away. She was heading in the opposite direction of his class, but he didn't care. He wasn't going to have two failures today.
He quickly caught up to her and put on an eased smile. "Now, that's no way to treat a new friend."
He laughed warmly, assuring that he was teasing. "My name's Takai, but my friends call me Kai. What's your name? Where're you headed?" he asked, continuing to follow her. It was the first day of the semester, so he could easily enough fake being in the same class, and would. Besides, going to a class now would get him out in time for that photography club the other girl invited him to.

Skye had her head bowed, eyes once again on the sidewalk path through the school's lawn as she made her way toward the science building. It would appear, however, that she was not alone. Shortly after the brief interruption in her trek, the young man she'd nearly slammed into was at her side once more. This time of his own accord.

Glancing up at him, her tricolored eyes caught the light, seeming to glitter, even to glow as if some unknown power coursed through her petite body. She didn't seem to notice, however, despite the fact that anyone sensitive enough to the power of those around them would be able to see, if not feel, a slight pulsating aura around her, deep purple, almost black in color.

"Skye," she introduced herself, though her voice was soft, tinged with the Irish accent her family blessed her with. "I'm going to Oceanography," the announcement was short, softly spoken, but direct and to the point, leaving little room for the thought that she could have made an error in reading her schedule.

Sekah looked at her and remembered her from the dream James had had that night. "I...I remember you" he said staring at her, his mind searching for any memories of her, but he couldn't remember anything. "I think I can trust you, what do you know about me?, who am I?" his voice carried a hint of confusion.

Oceanography? he thought and for a moment second-guessed his plan. But no, he would not fail a second time.
"Well isn't that lucky. Me too." he put on a smile, "I hear the teacher's a real bore, so we can keep each other awake!"
You're going to have to keep me awake in a class like oceanography... he thought.
In the meantime, he felt her putting off more and more energy. Kai recognized this display as someone who either was unaware of their true nature or was immaturely trying to show off. Not pegging her as the cocky type, he assumed that Skye just wasn't aware of what she was yet.
For a moment, he had to question just what she was also, though as Kai smelled something else besides the Blood. Initially, he just assumed she was a Vampire, but this smell was different, even if it was just as dark. He tried to identify the scent, but the Blood was too strong for him to pick it out the other.
He shrugged it off for the time being and continued walking with Skye to the science building. Kai figured that he would have plenty of time later to get to know her better, all of her.

Skye glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, almost as if she could sense that there was something not quite right about him. Despite it though, she shoved the feeling aside and focused on making it to class on time. Hopefully the class would be boring... boring enough that she could get by with an easy enough A, and be able to focus on her other class work during the period.

"Lets hope he is..." she spoke softly, voice lilting with that same accent that just wouldn't go away. Even during those times that she'd tried to train it out of her voice, it hadn't worked... almost as if something wouldn't LET her sound like a normal American kid.

"What's your major?" she asked after a while, glancing at him again, this time removing the sunglasses, as they were under the relatively dense cover of trees that lead up to the building. The light here was bright enough not to hurt her overly sensitive eyes, to make her strain to be able to see over the glare. Coincidentally, it was also the first time she was able to get a clear look at the young man walking with her.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she felt some part of her drawn to him despite herself. Biting her lower lip, she blushed and looked down again, running her fingers through her loose red hair. What on earth was the matter with her?

((erm- the woman in the dreams wasn't her actually, but Sekah would still recognize Saeraphena, so it'[s all good ^_^))

Saeraphena ran a hand down his cheek, stroking gently and then extended her wings, stretching them as it was always uncomfortable to keep them tucked away inside this human body.
"I know some about you, Sekah, but you must remember your true self on your own. Part of the awakening is the memories and you must completely awaken if you are to be ready." she spoke in a voice that danced like sunlight through a cloudy sky, giving bits of hope to the earth below.
"I will be here to help you, however, to ease the process as much as possible. Just as I protected you today by hiding your transformation, I will do my best to keep you safe. Humans are not ready to know about us and there are many dangers waiting for us. It will be a struggle just to get out alive and I cannot lie, there will be much pain and suffering, but..." she paused, letting the hope in that word linger a moment, "...the reward, should we succeed will be well worth it all."
She stopped at that and allowed him to absorb all she had said. She gave this speech more times than she could count already but each time it reminded her of their purpose and left her faith renewed. She savored it, as there was much in this world to try her faith and test her character. Moments like these were precious.

Aki noticed Skye blushing, biting her lip and otherwise showing the nervousness he often imposed on those he showed interest in. This pleased him.
That other girl was just a fluke. I've still got the presence of a Vampire. he thought to himself.
He laughed invitingly and responded, "Having a major would require picking just one thing to focus on. I'm a Libra and there's no way I could be that decisive. This is my third year here and I still haven't settled on a major. I figure I'll just take a little bit of everything until my mom stops paying for me to go here."
"Besides," he continued, "... this way I've been able to meet all sorts of people and know a little bit of everything. Makes me useful."
Aki then put his arm around her shoulder casually, knowing from how she already reacted to him, this would only cause her to blush more.
"And what about you? What are you interested in?" he asked.

((Sorry, my mistake))

He waited a few moment's absorbing the words..blushed a little then replied with "So...what kind of other dangers are there aside from humans? Cause I feel as if i need to be prepared" he thaught about what he had said, his body felt different now, faster, stronger. Sekah flexed an arm feeling the obvious difference in strength. Then he stared into Saeraphena's eyes trying to remember her.

David came across the quad at his usual pace, a bag of Taco Bell in his hand. He climbed up into his favorite tree and began to enjoy his meal. He could get away with missing his first class. Rumor had it the prof was gonna blather on about angels or something. Like he even had a clue. David reached into his bag and pulled out his runestones. he tossed them into his lap and began to study them, ready to see what they had to reveal to him. The layout was disjointed... it didnt flow like it normally does. David realized he wasnt staring at a riddle but symbols and glyphs. they were staggered but in order. Kenaz was first, followed by Hagalaz, the great weapon of war. Than came Isa, Ice, and it continued thusly. David grunted and threw them back into his bag. All they were telling him was that he should quit being lazy and ge himself to his next class. He hopped down from his tree and slung his bag across his shoulder as he walked away to his next class. He wasnt a huge philosophy fan, but he loved his Ancient history class...

He arrived in class just in time, as usual, and climbed back to his usual chair. David liked things to stay the same... changes complicate things. He flipped open his laptop and began recording the profs lecture when his arm started burning terribly. He scratched at it and rubbed fiercely until he tore the buttons off his overshirt and revealed another marking appearing on his body. He stared in horror as Hagalaz appeared on his arm. Fire... and the weapon of the gods... this cant be good. He slammed his laptop and threw it in his bag as he ran out of the room. The professor shot him an odd look and before he spoke, david countered with "I... I have a... a thing...now...bye" and tore out of the classroom.

That arm around her shoulder would aparently be all it took to snap Skye out of her thoughts, though her reaction was much more akin to something one might expect of someone with a... more noble standing. She straightened, bringing her back to a straight angle while at the same time giving a casual shrug of her shoulders, causing his arm to slip away.

Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she felt the blush return almost instantly and just as quickly as the change in her demeanor had come, she seemed to revert back to how she had been acting mere moments before.

"I'm majoring in literature... the oceanography is just a required science course." Tucking another lock of hair behind her tiny seashell ear, she looked up and pushed the door to the building open, making her way down the hall. She really didn't want to go to the class, but figured she might as well be there for the first day of the semester... At least this way she could get her syllabus and other such things from the teacher. Perhaps he'd be boring enough to make all of the assignments ones that you had to write about.

She could read and write convincing papers... could BS her way through most things... it was paying attention that made things difficult, made it hard to retain knowledge.

"Everything." Saeraphena said, her voice still comforting but the words she spoke were alarming as the smile ran away form her face, "Anything you could imagine, Sekah, you will find is not so imaginary.
"Demons are here just as we are and monsters, Werewolves and Vampires. All sorts of creatures have been born into this world just like you and I and there are none with concrete loyalties to the Angels. While you may be lucky, like myself, and find other species that will befriend you, most the Angels who I've come to know here have not been able to manage such.
"I am Fallen, though and this gives some the ability to be comfortable with my Angelic nature."
She gave another warm smile and her words became soft and reassuring again, "But for now, at least, you will be safe with me. Those who are my friends will reserve judgment on you until you set out on your own. We'll help you find your way, Sekah."

David tore across the quad and into a side entrance if the science building. There has GOT to be a logical explanation for this... something I ate or drank last night. someone will know. He stopped suddenly and jumped into a room he thought was empty and screamed. He screamed and ripped at his arm. The pain was beyond blinding and burning. Davids eyes teared up and went black as he blacked out.

Tal was sick of waiting... this kid was gonna hafta get out of the way one way or another. He emerged to consciousness and halted the burning immediately. The body was unable to contain his shadowspells for the ammount of time he had been asleep. He got careless. Tal stood and flexed his arm as he released Hagalaz. Tal opened his eyes to see two people staring at him as this 7 foor hammer exploded from he arm. So much for being less careless. Tal resealed the hammer and retracted back into solitude... let the kid deal with it.

David resumed consciousness to see two people in front of him and NO clue what they were staring at...


... atleast his arm wasnt burning.

"I thank you for your help"he said with a smile, and bowed briefly in thanks. he wondered to himself what kind of new creatures of myth he would meet, or battle in the near future. While he stood there he felt an unimaginal pull to the skies, but he subdued the idea of flying at the moment..at least untill he remembered how to fly. Sekah's mind now drifted to the idea of how do I get back to my human form?. "This is so unreal, it's like a dream or something?, yet so familiar at the same time."

For a moment, the other scent Skye carried overpowered the Blood and left Aki too curious to care that he'd been shrugged off. He knew the scent from somewhere but just could not figure out where. Once more, he decided that he would figure it out later and he returned his focus to their conversation.
Literature, eh? he thought, So she's a writer? This could be interesting.
"Don't you just hate the required science and math? It's like my friend Mala; she's an art major and they made her take calculus. When is she going to need to know how to find pi r squared while painting a portrait?" Aki laughed as he said this as Mala had said the very same thing to him once and would be incensed that he quoted her while hitting on some girl.
"But don't worry. At least with a friend in the class, it'll be interesting and I bet you're a real interesting book to read too." With this last bit, Aki smiled letting his fangs show and his eyes flicker red only momentarily.
Before having a chance to react, however, David had stormed into the room and put on a bit of a display.
Aki was infuriated. Why now?! Why wasn't he given time to ease Skye into the life before this asshole went and ruined the surprise?
He instantly tried to assess Skye, ignoring the semi-conscious David.
"Skye, are you alright?!"

Skye had just been about to answer Takai, to come up with some clever way to brush off his shameless flirting, when the boy burst into the room. He ran right past them, bumping and brushing into her nearly hard enough to make her drop her bag.

Scrambling not to let it hit the ground, she nearly missed the transformation the screaming youth underwent at first. His eyes went black, he stopped screaming, and fell to the ground, a large symbol on his arm. Her own eyes, tricolored as they were, went wide with shock. She was going to instinctively go to be sure he was OK when the changes continued.

His eyes opened again, and he stood, a massive hammer ripping from his arm. Her breathing quickened, bag slipping from her hands as she backed away, eyes locked on the boy who blacked out once again. She heard the loud thud of her laptop hitting the floor, but didn't seem to notice as she backed herself against a wall, unable to look away despite the urge to run for her life.

First she had dreams of strange people in her bedroom... whispering to her... calling her a different name... and now while at school, in broad daylight... some nut case bursts into the room they'd accidentally entered while searching for the oceanography room and ripped a hammer from his arm.

Takai asked if she was alright, almost sounding panicked, but she didn't seem to hear him, only stared at the young man on the floor, eyes wide and skin pale with shock, a tremble running through her body. What was happening to her? Had she really seen what she thought she'd just seen?

Saeraphena let out a laugh like raindrops dancing on the ground.
"It does seem that way at first, doesn't it? I hardly remember a time when my true self seemed so unreal, and with time, it will be the same for you. Eventually, your human life will come to feel like the dream."
Saeraphena reached towards Sekah and took his hand. Light began to emanate from her palm and her mismatched eyes glazed over as she began to chant in a language unknown and yet all too familiar. The light spread over Sekah's body and wings, warm and comforting.
"Take of my strength, Sekah. With it, you will be able to conceal your true self until you learn to contain your wings on your own."

David had no idea what had happened. He just knew something had changed. These people weren't gonna help him, and the girl was just gonna try and see if he was alright...no time. David slammed to the ground and as soon as he had his hands on his bag he ripped out of the room and ran home as fast has he could. He needed painkillers and sleep. After he woke up he would call his therapist.

Tal watched as he ran home. Coward. Why was he forced to be here? Once he boy fell asleep they would have to have a chat. A nice long chat... just the two of them.

The light filled Sekah, and his body began to change..his the runes faded off his body, his hair seemed to receed back into his head, and his wings pushed themselves back into his body. James stood there trying to make sense of everything "So let me get this straight, your a fallen angel, and i'm an angel, and there are other angels and demons and monsters out there who either want to be my friend or want to kill me...oh and let's not leave out if any normal person discovers our little secret we may be hunted down?...." he stood there almost entitrely confused, yet he seemed to have found a sort of purpose to his existance.

Packing her bags up, Sasha headed out from her class. Her mind was still racing yet she had come to pass it as a back thought, a riddiculous dream, and nothing more. She wandered down the art halls, stopping periodically to admire some random students art posted up in the halls. Envying some... mocking others as she glanced down the halls. Stopping just short of the life drawing classroom. There in front of the classroom was pin ups of people's sketches of how they represented themselves.

One of which caught her attention, that of a young woman with huge wings.
She stood there studying it, engulfed by the usage of color and representation. As Sasha, had always loved the arts.

Shifting her own body back into human form, Cassandra laughed. Her laughter, in comparison to Saeraphena's sounded childish, and her smile looked young also.
"That's about the gist of it, I'm afraid. Life for our kind is tough, but it's better than what's in store for humanity, if you ask me."
She took James' hand and led him out of the room, noticing the clock. She reassessed her surroundings and realized how far she was from her class that had already started.
"Ah shit!" she cursed, "I hate to just leave you here after something like that, Sekah but if I don't get going, I'm going to miss my class."
She quickly jotted a phone number and an e-mail address on a page in her notebook, ripped it out and handed it to him.
"If you need anything, call me or e-mail, okay? You can also find me in the photography, anime, creative writing and art clubs, almost all the time. Bye!" With that, Cassandra ran off towards class, dropping something but in too much a hurry to notice.
The crystal that fell from her bag was attached to a strange silver chain. It was amethyst and seemed to glow as if from a light all it's own.

James stood in the hall holding his torn shirt in one hand and the paper in the other"Bye" he said standing there, then he noticed she had droped something so he quickly went over and picked it up. Assuming he would see her again soon he decided he would hold onto it for the time being. Then he looked around to see if anyone else was there, since he was kinda shy about showing off his body.

Knowing that Skye must feel like she's going insane, Aki tried to comfort her. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "It's alright, Skye. You're safe. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."
He was surprised at his own words, as they were a bit unlike him, but they came so naturally, he didn't question it too much.
He considered forcing her awake now, so she would be better able to deal with this event, but decided against it. Awakening was supposed to happen on its own, in its own time. People forced awake often ended up losing it anyways and being spirited of by gods only knew what made their kind disappear.
He continued to hold her and comfort her when, without a conscious effort, he began to shift himself. His hair lengthened and whitened and his eyes went blood red. His black wings seemed to appear out of nowhere, strangely not ripping through his skin or his clothing. The wings wrapped around Skye before Malkav realized what he had done.
Uncertain what to do now, he went with the only thing that felt right, and promised again, to protect her.

David slammed up the stairs and crashed through his front door as he ran out of breath... heavilly panting he grabbed for a bottle of pills and slammed a few back with a shot of Jameson, climbed into bed and closed his eyes. Nothing happened. There was no incident. Whoever those people were they certainly were gonna keep to themselves... who would believe them... whatever it was. He smashed into his bed and drifted quickly into his sweet induced release.

Tal placed David in a confortable seat and began his work.

"WAKE UP BOY!" The words rang though David's ears as we stood up in complete darkness. Where was he? Was he dreaming? His dreams didn't feel like this...

"You aren't lucky enough to be dreaming. Understand me and listen with more than your ears. I am Talna'xel, and you and I have been sharing this body for awhile. No, I do not know why I am here, nor how to get out . You are stuck with me.as I am stuck with you. I am capable of far greater than you in every capacity. That being considered... I ask you now to simply step aside and allow me to locate a way to get out of this body. ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION!"

David looked up and grinned "Oh... are you done? cool. let's take a closer look at things here. You are here... without permission and without your will. That means you arent capable of FORCING me to do anything. So drop the shithead routine. You wanna find a way... maybe we'll do it together. First things first... you are responsible for the marks on me right?"

"Yes, and by the time you wake the rest of them will have appeared without incident. I have the ability to make them dissapear"

"good, you're gonna show me"


"You are taking this really well... perhaps you have greater potential than I first realized"

"I read alot. Trust me... you're good... but you got nothin on the creative minds of this plane... So where do we go from here? I will work with you... but ground rules are a must. What did I slash you do in front of those people?"

"I came front and summoned Hgalaz to stop the spell from disrupting"

"Time out... two things... A. HAGALAZ! The weapon of the gods? you just happen to have one lying around"

Tal shifted and the massive hammer came hurling out seemingly from his arm. He was capable of wielding it single handedly... he must be immensely powerful...

"... neat. And B. Disrupting?"

"Yes. During the body shift the spell became unstable. Each one of the markings is called a shadowspell. The rune attatches to the body to create a physical manifestation to call the spell to. It's really quite simple... it just requres alot of focus to maintain fore than 2 or 3. In my full form I have 189 shadowspells"

"Arrogant bastard aren't you? Here's the plan: We go to sleep and tommorow hope that the town wont be at my door with pitchforks and shit tommorow. LAST thing I need is a witchhunt."

"agreed... though Grant me a few moments so I may clean the mess I made on your walls and floor... those weapons are to be taken care of"


"THAT WAS YOU! I THOUGHT I WAS DRUNK!"

"nothing so simple... now let me front"

David drifted to sleep and with a wave of his arm, Tal had fixed the room... including the blades he hadnt mentioned he broke. He lay his head down and allowed sleep to swallow him. Things were going to get interesting from here.