My Precious [Tytonidae]

[Nishaa]

Rationality had been thrown at of the woman.

Every damn *********** in this tree was her enemy. She didn’t care if they were her siblings, her sire - grandsire. Anyone who tried to take this shard away from her was now her enemy. She didn’t want them near her. She held the gun in her hand now. It trembled in her grasp. Her other hand held onto the shard. She looked at it was those dark hues. How could something so small cause such a giant rift between everyone here? Her eyes looked it over fully. It shimmered and radiated something. Lust? Whatever it was - it was weaved it’s spell upon the Necromancer she was at it’s mercy. Greed. Yes, that was what Nishaa was feeling. She was greedy, this shard hadn’t been originally hers. No. It had been Niklaus’s but it had called her name. Told her to steal it.

Yes. That was exactly it.

The next few minutes were a blur. She was tucked within the darkness of the underbelly of the Eyrie - huddled in the shadows of the branches there she didn’t expect anyone to come looking for her there. She didn’t expect Reanna to find her. The way she looked at her twin. Nishaa bared her fangs. Hissing. Territorial of the shard. She would shoot anyone who got within inches of her and the shard.

Reanna’s lupine eyes looked at her directly and she frowned. She snatched the shard from her grasp without hesitation. Forefully taking it away from her. If no one had heard Nishaa wail, they would have then. She let out a wail. Stopping as soon as Reanna threatened to kill her… and Marjani something snapped then. A switch. You never ******* threaten a loved one.

“You ******* *****.” The words snarled from her lips. That ******* ***** was off her christmas list. She made a grab for the shard again and failed. She had failed before Reanna vanished into the shadows. Coward. She was afraid to take Nishaa on, one on one.

“You coward. Can’t take me on, so you have to hide from me.” She said it loud enough so her words carried to Reanna. Oh, Nishaa was livid. She leapt the branch directly above her and vaulted up as quickly as she could following the shadows that Reanna had hidden herself within. A shield of sorts. Nishaa was going to catch her but the woman was summoned away almost instantly. She blinked. Who could have summoned her away. There was only one person she knew who would use that dirty trick.

Every

She was going to steal what was hers.

Perhaps she was going to try and steal the shard for Nishaa.

No. Every wanted it too.

She could play dirty too. Climbing onto the bridge of the third floor. She closed her eyes momentarily. Opening them to find her sire standing in front of her. Good thing she still thought of Nishaa as an ally. She scowled at the woman. Her hand snaking out to snatch the shard from her hand. She lifted her leg up to kick the woman squarly in the chest - it probably didn’t even wind her, she had originally wanted to kick her off the bridge. That would be one less person after her shard!

Yet, her sire didn’t get knocked off.

“You got lucky.” She growled. “Don’t come after me.” She told her, leaping to the branches as she began to descend. She had to get away again. Now that she was once again in possession of the shard. It was hers. They had to know this by now. They had to know that the shard kept coming back to Nishaa, that it was -hers-. They should all just get lost.

You failed in your endeavour. - Steal Shard from Reanna
You succeeded in your endeavour. - Steal Shard from Every
You failed in your endeavour. - Kick Every off bridge

[Every]

She didn’t think fast enough.

Nishaa had been able to summon her.

“That *****.”

Deep down, Every was proud. She was thinking like her sire. The fluttering sensation of a proud sire was extinguished as she felt the shard being taken from her and anger replaced it immediately. Fangs were visible and she hissed like a cat, her body reacting to raise her arms in front of her chest in attempt to block the kick and missed.

A colorful burst of Spanish escaped past her pale lips when her back hit the wooden, twisting her slender form so that once she connected, Every could roll back over and spring to her feet. She coughed, rubbing the spot that had been hit. An eyebrow lifted. She smirked.

“You know better than anyone how well I listen.”

Her dark brown hair fell over her shoulder as she sprinted after her childe, hopping down onto a lower branch before she pushed off it to reach Nishaa faster. One hand snatched the shard back, her full weight hitting the other woman in a tackle to knock them both down – subconsciously adjusting so that Nishaa wouldn’t end up injured before letting go.

Getting back to her feet, Every dropped the remainder of her way to the second floor where the smell of human blood assaulted her. “Who the hell...” She wondered out loud quietly, searching for a place to hide as she looked around. Bullet holes alerted her to the cause and she felt bad about the shop keeps, they turned their head to all the suspicious activity that went around in the tree. Their “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy had been something she appreciated when she’d regularly sell the severed heads of Paladin.

Her hazel eyes glanced towards the elevator and she wondered how Vel was going to react about the repairs that would be needed to be done as she collected a hunting knife from where she usually stashed her bag and held it close, the shard being slipped between the waistband of her jeans and the bare skin of her hip.

Block Nishaa's kick - You failed in your endeavour.
Steal the shard - You succeeded in your endeavour
Tackle Nishaa - You succeeded in your endeavour

[Nishaa]

Why was it that the only two people who were giving her **** right now with the shard was her twin, and her sire. Everyone else was just a nuisance, but these two? They knew her. Was that how they were managing to get under her skin and claiming the shard for their own. She was damn sure of it. **** them and their home turf advantage. Onyx hues zoned in on Every - she could hear the branches snapping and shaking above her. Body Weight was being applied to the branches. She shook her head.

Moving her head back to look at her sire briefly. Sire and childe’s were meant to have a good, well balanced relationship. They weren't supposed to hurt one another. Yet, when it came down to the shard - that perspective was pushed out of the window.

Deep down she loved Every, she would never lash out at her in hate but this shard. This shard fogged her mind. Beads of sweat ran down her chin, and onto her neck. Tickling the pale flesh there. Nishaa was slowing down - it wasn’t noticeable to others, but she could feel it in herself. She had been running for what felt like hours now.

“You are right. You don’t listen, you stubborn *****.” The words slipped through her lips. Her body was pushed against the branches. She was tackled. Unable to get out of the way, she should have known it was coming - she had felt the branches move as her fingers slipped. She could feel Every’s fingers caressing her own hands and then the shard had left the confines of her hands.

God dammit.

“You are going to get yours, white rabbit.” A nickname she hadn’t used in a long time - not since the night of the siring where she had hallucinated that Every was the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Every dropped to the second floor, and Nishaa did the same once she regained some stability within herself. She ignored her own fatigue.

Once her feet hit the wooden floor she was hit with the smell of blood and looked around - it caused a thirst within. It made her scratch at her neck. At a further inspection the shopkeepers were dead. Who would do such a thing? She scowled. Turning her hues to Every. “Was this you?!?!” She didn’t think it was considering she must’ve moved extremely quick to kill them. She went for her then, trying to tackle her she was a thief and perhaps a murderer. True colours were showing now.

She had failed though, and her body fell to the ground, her face planted in the pool of blood. She spat out the cold blood that had made its way to her lips, they had been dead for a while now. Half hour or so? It can’t have been Every. Moving quickly she snaked out her arm, fingers wiggling as she took the shard and vaulted for the elevator. She would descend to the basement via the walls. She would climb down, at least this way if Every was following her she’d have to do it at a much slower pace.

You succeeded in your endeavour. - Steal Shard from Every
You failed in your endeavour. - Tackle Every

[Niklaus]

What was there left to maul and destroy on this damn floor? Niklaus was wondering precisely that as he stalked the second floor for more objects or individuals to take his frustration on, then he heard the violent crash in the room where the elevator was. Did someone just fall down from above? Most likely, yes. He stuffed the severed limb back into his hoodie’s front pocket, he had no clue WHY he was still keeping this thing, maybe it would have some kind of use soon enough, yes that. Crouching in the darkness as he spotted two distinctive figure, Every and Nishaa, Sire and Childe battling it out for the shard.

Niklaus would have joined in but there was just something fascinating and…soothing about watching two women fight. Unsheathing his blade as he hid in shadows again, crawling closer to hear what they were saying. He had to resist snickering when Nishaa confronted Every about the dead shopkeepers “Was this you?!” she asked before once again successfully snatching the shard from her sire and bolted off towards the elevator; she was probably going to slide down the walls, smart girl. She was also definitely the best thief in the house. Niklaus knew that he wasn’t going to get this shard back using stealth, force was the better alternative and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

Then Nishaa was gone and Every was still there. Was he going to stab her? Not yet. Niklaus didn’t know where the basement was, he knew for sure that the tome drop wasn’t on the second floor; that was a disappointment. He also knew that the ground floor was trapped as **** and what better way to find a safe passage to the basement than to stalk and follow someone who was used to the Eyrie?

[Every]

She couldn’t suppress the grin that played across her lips, a snicker escaping a short second later while she ran from her childe. She heard the white rabbit nickname and thought that Nishaa had gone off her rocker again, but slid on the branch carefully. Before she jumped, Every didn’t know what got into her as she had to mimic a rabbit by twitching her nose. At that moment, she couldn’t help but think how fitting that nickname was as she ran and Nishaa chased her.

Hearing her childe as she landed, Every turned and tightened her hold on the knife as she put her guard up. “Oh please, I’m a *****, but I’m not that big of a *****.” She scowled at the accusation, clearly insulted by the idea that she’d kill the shopkeepers. Well, she was, but why would she kill them? “They’ve been here for years in the tree.” Almost as long as some of the faction mates had, really.

When Nishaa ran at her to tackle, she moved and resisted the urge to wince and go help the other up as she crashed to the floor. She’d been up higher in the tree, stepping away from the woman before she began to move. She felt her childes fingertips on her skin, the weight of the shard disappearing from its hiding spot and she huffed. The brunette ran after her childe, pausing as she stood at the top of the elevator and watched her.

She bounced on the balls of her feet once.

Twice.

“Will you just be a good childe and hand over my shard already?”

Annoyance flooded through her and she set the blade between her teeth. An idea hit her as she eyed the walls, spotting a spot not too far below her childe and adjusted to sit down on the edge of the opening before sliding off and beginning to mimic the other woman’s actions. As she lowered herself down, Every paused only to hold tightly to one of the holds and removed her knife, eying the spot and throwing it as hard as she could into the wood below Nishaa. “Probably looks like I missed her.” She thought and continued her climbing as quickly as she could.


Looking down, Every waiting until her childe was just to the knife before silently praying that it would hold her weight as she dropped to catch up the other woman. As she caught hold of the handle with one hand, Every reached out to snag the shard once more and stuck her tongue out childishly before dropping the rest of the way – a fall wouldn’t kill her, but landing a certain way on the wreckage might make it easier to. As she landed with a loud metallic thud on top of the ruined elevator in an uneasy crouch, Every found herself staring down at a piece pointed at her gut and let out a relieved huff.

She looked up and saluted her childe before pulling out the tome and teleporting herself back to the tome drop. Without any hesitation, she headed towards the traps, slipping past exits as she went straight for the ground floor. On the door, she gritted her teeth as she felt bullets rip into her skin and her blood splashed onto the surface of the air, vanishing shortly after, but Every carefully made her way towards the middle of the grounds. She knew where there were traps, where there weren’t. Once in a while, she’d make a grunting noise and looking to where there elevator was before tucking the tome away, she stayed quiet and the hand that held the shard went to her side, pressing into it.

She healed her wound and counted slowly.

You succeeded in your endeavour. – Steal the shard
You succeeded in your endeavour. – jam her knife into the tree
You failed in your endeavour. – Avoid traps

[Niklaus]

Shadows must have so much fun with this, he thought as he watched the exchange between Every and her childe. Cloaked in shadows as he slowly advanced towards the elevator doors which were now permanently open, probably non-functional and short circuited by now. Looking down and feeling a strange sense of achievement when he first spotted the wreckage of the elevator. That’s what you get for your annoying ‘DING!’, *****. Then his eyes locked onto Every, still making the dangerous descent down the elevator shaft and Nishaa even lower beneath her. Bits and pieces of metal were sticking out of the walls, most likely damage sustained from when the elevator dropped down freely.

This was starting to be like some kind of reality show; watching and hearing people while not being seen. He could see their emotions, their frustration, their anger and it was even more entertaining considering they were sire and childe. Fascinating, really. The Killer rested down, flat on the floor while his fingers toyed across the edge of the elevator door. Where were the others? Maybe someone got caught in his little trap but he doubted it, he would have heard something if the bear traps got triggered, there would have been screams too probably.

As much as he wanted to intrude and ruin this sire-childe bonding moment, he still didn’t know what laid below. And either Every or Nishaa was going to take him to that damn basement, he still needed to find out where the tome drop zone was; either on the ground floor or that famous basement. But considering the former was trapped, it would make sense to avoid it as a drop zone, right? Gritting his teeth when he caught sight of that shard again, the glowing shard. It made him angry and greedy, Niklaus knew deep inside that the damn shard was bad news. But maybe he could find a way to neutralize its effects but still KEEP it, preferably far away and hidden in one of his lairs. Then Every snatching the shard shook him out of his thoughts, leaving Nishaa on her own when she tomed away. Crazy Nishaa. He knew she was the craziest, was she going to wail again?! Please. Niklaus liked watching her outbursts!

[Every]

Why couldn't her shard be like a needle in a haystack? The question lingered as the shadow stood still - not daring to even move a muscle as she stood directly beside a toxic gas trap. The last thing that she wanted to be doing while chasing one who took the pretty mysterious piece that she planned to add to her collection of shiny things was to be vomiting blood for the next twenty-four hours. Every still didn't know why her body functioned that way, why she couldn't take on poison like others, but as she stood there, she hoped that the traps would slow others down.

Her fingertips curled around the shard, smooth skin lightly tracing over the surface area slowly in a repetitive pattern with the pad of her thumb and she glanced behind her to make sure that no one was sneaking up on her yet. She counted the amount of anima that she had spent, how much longer could she go on as she waited? It was a question she couldn't think of right that moment. Her mind wanted to keep the shard safe, yes. Too many people wanted the shard and she knew she could keep it safe.

It belonged with her pretties.

Her knives, her other shards, her relics.

They were safe in her lockboxes, in her hut. There were some in her cabin. Her apartment. Her pretties were scattered about in the city. A thief knew how to think like a thief. She knew how people looked, how they searched. It made things easier. Safer for her things. It wasn't easy, but it was something that she did by trade, too. It was how she had gotten another childe, by finding something shiny and collecting it.

Lightly going up on the balls of her toes, Every carefully eased herself around the traps and took note of the way she walked. She wouldn't be following the same path twice, no. That would be a mistake. Someone could be watching her. Her hazel gaze studied the seemingly harmless walkway. She had helped lay the traps. She knew where they were. A grin played across her lips.

She and her shard were safe, weren't they?

[Nishaa]

She didn’t think Every would follow her. She knew the woman had a fear of elevators. She was damn sure that was why the woman was a monkey on a sane day, she could hear the sound of metal grating against metal - the sound of distant cables sparking off illuminating the top of the shaft. Onyx hues looked up towards the mouth of the floor she was just on, hoping to find no one following her. Especially Every, she seemed to be the only one who was giving chase. Everyone else had become MIA. Even her twin. Perhaps she was mortified that the shard was stolen from her then, perhaps she now understand that the shard belonged to her. No one could take it back from her. H E R S.

She had seen the reaction from Every. The way she wiggled her nose at Nishaa, because of her white rabbit nickname. She had acted like a rabbit and it had infuriated the woman further. That damn white rabbit was going to haunt her for the rest of her unlife however long that may be considering the circumstances right now.

Hands grappled at the walls as she lowered herself, this scaling was hard work. She couldn’t judge how far the drop was and what kind of damage it would do to her. So she would wait before she dropped. Just to be safe. Eyes cast to a dagger that flew past her - embedding itself in the bark just below her. Ha. Every was too chicken to climb down the shaft, so now she was chucking kniv-- ****. She saw the woman had began to descend too. ***** has balls.

“No I will not hand you the shard. It’s MINE.” She twisted her head up to look at the *** of her sire, and took a moment to admire it before yes, game face. She had to get away. If it was a fight between Every and Nishaa - who had the most endurance when it came to this - Every would win, Nishaa knew now she was at a disadvantage. So she began to descend quicker. She had too, to get away from her sire.

She could hear stones and gravel dropping into the wreckage below her as she blinked - she just saw Every let go of the wall and drop to the knife - where she grabbed it with one hand. Barely hanging on. Nishaa in that moment wished she would let go, and let her keep the shard. Every was becoming a fly. An annoying fly that needed swatting. Her hand reached out and took the shard from her again. She gritted her teeth together, and ground them out of annoyance. Taking note of her childish mockery, and then dropping into the wreckage below. Her eyes cast down to see where she had landed - she seemed safe. Which means Nishaa could also make that kind of drop.

She looked back up at the entryway of the shaft where she saw Niklaus. Just watching her - and the scene between herself and Every. She scowled. The man had been out of the action for a while now. Did he want to climb down too for her shard. Instinctively she grabbed the knife that was still in the bark. Every’s knife - she angled herself on the wall where she could get a good aim and let the dagger fly. A cruel smirk appeared on her lips as the knife embedded itself within Niklaus’s shoulder. “Stay. The. ****. Away. Asshole.” She warned him. A crazy look to her dirty features.

With that she dropped her whole body onto the wreckage. Her body landed metal of the elevator roof. A soft ‘oof’ escaped her lips. As she rolled - just narrowly avoiding some sharp metals that could potentially hurt her. ALOT. Every had done the same. So she mimicked her actions and followed her to the door that would lead her - them to the ground floor. The ground floor they weren't allowed to set foot on. It was trapped up to the eyeballs with traps.

She opened the door and noticed a few traps had been triggered. She found herself laughing. She was quite the crafter - this should be easy. She could dance in between them all. No problem at all. Or so she thought.

She manouvered her whole body so she could avoid the traps but she did just the opposite when she moved she triggered a sentry. The bullets ripped through her gut and she coughed blood. It was just a flesh wound, that was all. She was going to get through this damn mine field for the shard. The shard was pushing her on. Onyx hues caught sight of her sire standing still. Why would Every be so still?

As Nishaa danced around a bear trap - a proximity mine burned her arm. Nishaa refused to cry out no matter how much pain she was in. She looked at the trap she was beside - noticing the distinguishable signs that it was a toxic gas trap. A cruel smile appeared on her lips. Her sire had a weakness to poison. She made her way over cautiously. Her foot reached out and triggered the trap. She knew she would get hit by it - but it wouldn’t affect her nearly as bad as it would Every. As the gas escaped Nishaa snaked out and grabbed the shard, coughing up her lungs in the process as she moved backwards. Weaving in and out of the traps so she was on the opposite side. She avoided some traps, and some got her. The bleeding wound in her gut had to be healed. Placing the palm of her hand on her gut. She focused - and healed it. One less wound for her. She smelt like charred ferret right now.

You succeeded in your endeavour. - Steal Shard from Every
You succeeded in your endeavour. - Avoid Wreckage
You failed in your endeavour. - Avoid Traps
You succeeded in your endeavour. - Throw knife at Niklaus

[Every]

As she waited, listening, Every wondered who could have ruined the elevator. Nishaa, Reanna, and Blake had been in there – it couldn’t have been them. A distant thought made her wonder how Blake had faired, she had seen her childer already. Nishaa was a persistent pain in her *** and had always been that way. Maybe that should have been her nickname, pain in the ***. Not headache. But, a headache was almost constant, too. Nishaa was chasing her now. Reanna was... somewhere. Dulce had been on the second floor. Trahir, too.

But where had Niklaus been? She had heard the gunshots... It dawned on her that out of everyone, he was the newest and likely didn’t know that it was the only way up or down – without climbing, at least, and she was generally the only one that bothered to climb her way up. Those nights were regular, as it was easier, and didn’t require her dealing with the death trap that had broken. “That ********.” She muttered under her breath. She’d have to check the cameras on the third floor to be sure, but Every was pretty sure that it had been Niklaus and she made the mental note to text Velveteen and Micah about his testicles being stapled to the head pikes on the ground floor as she eyed them nearby.


She thought about the shopkeepers and couldn’t remember if there was any cameras up where the killer could be seen. There had been at one point, though. Maybe.

It was the gunshots that drew her attention back to her childe and Every smirked. Her idea had worked. Nishaa was following her. Where were the others? The distant thought was in the back of her mind while she glanced over her shoulder, trying to figure out the best path to go away from her childe. There were too many ways to go and she decided it would be better to stay, not wanting to trigger anything on accident as she ran away. But, when Nishaa came near and the toxic gas trap triggered, she immediately regretted it as some entered her lungs while the shard went to her childe. She held her breath, not wanting to breathe it all in before she stepped back, following her former steps.

Once she was out of the cloud, Every coughed out the remainder before she spat up a small amount of blood that she’d drank earlier in the evening, the red, metallic liquid coating her lips like a lipstick. She spat it on the ground, coughing a few more times as the taste of blood and poison mixed. There was more coughing as she looked towards the other woman and tried to think. What was the best way to avoid a large amount of traps in a short amount of space? She eyed one of the paths that would lead her to Nishaa and considered it. At least at a run, she could deal with some pain.

Bouncing once, Every sprinted forward and gritted her teeth together as things were tripped. Bits of metal bit into her arms and her legs, bullets ripping her clothes, and once she reached her childe as she healed, Every reached out to snatch the shard out and missed. And as a soft growl of annoyance escaped past her lips, she jumped up, her foot snapping out to kick at the palm that contained the shards to send it amongst the traps.

You succeeded in your endeavour.- avoid breathing in fumes
You failed in your endeavour. – steal the shard
You succeeded in your endeavour. – kick the shard out of Nishaa’s hand
You failed in your endeavour. – avoid traps

[Nishaa]

Nishaa had not seen another soul in a while. Well, besides Every - and the stalking figure of Niklaus. He clung to the shadows like a baby clung to a mother's tit. He was a coward. Nishaa didn’t think he’d be a good addition to Tytonidae. No. He can’t be. Not if he hid all the time. She shook her head as she stood on the opposite side of ground floor of the Eyrie. Looking at Every with an inquisitive stare. She didn’t expect Every to get over the toxic gas. She didn’t cough like she had - she had expect the woman to fall to the ground throwing up mass amounts of blood, like she had in the past. Micah and Every were alike that way.

She could hear the spitting then - it seemed she couldn't avoid the toxic gas. Nishaa found herself grinning like a cheshire cat. There was an underlined victory somewhere in there. A smug look to her features. She had done something right that was for sure. What she didn’t expect was for Every to recover quickly and come at Nishaa quickly.

**** this chick man.

How many lives did she have?

Nine?

She saw her move around the traps. Some got her, some didn’t. It was chance - the way the woman moved. Nishaa canted her head and watched, only to have the woman attempt to steal her shard but she missed. HA! Yet, in retaliation the woman jumped and kicked the shard from her fingertips she grumbled watching what was hers roll to the centre of a bunch of traps.

Oh the ******* joy.

She bared her fangs at her sire before bouncing off towards the shard. She avoided some of the traps, whilst others got her again. She winced in pain as bullets struck her, shards of metal embedded itself into her skin. Burns singed her skin. Nishaa was going to need one hell of a bath after all this was over. She smelt so bad. Dirt etched across her skin as she rubbed at her cheekbones. Bending down and snatching the shard again. She brought it up to inspect it. “Mummy has you again.” She cooed at it.

Before pulling out her tome and reading the words out loud. She was back at the basement. Where she collapsed against the wall - tired. She didn’t think Every would follow her just yet. She would give herself a five minute break before she would make the climb again.

You failed in your endeavour. - Avoid Traps