Nightmare.

[love]

The girl was suddenly swallowed up by darkness. Nothing but darkness. Running, screaming through the darkness. She kept running, tripping over her bare feet as she did so. But they kept getting closer. The demons, with bright red eyes and sharp teeth. Claws at least seven inches long. Suddenly, there was a tiny light, and she realised she was at the end of a tunnel. Just around a half a mile, and she'd be free. She kept running, a smile plotting on her lips. She was fast than the demons. She was bolder. But the light kept getting smaller. "No!" She screamed, as it disappeared. "Please, no!" The demons were getting closer, closer...

Ginger woke up, sucking in breath tightly. Her chest heaved up and down and her forehead glistened with sweat. It was still early, the sun was just rising and barely seeping in through the curtains in her quarters. She calmed herself down, wiping away the tears that streamed down her face. She pulled on a dark green silky dress and looked into the mirror. Her red hair fell in tangles over her shoulders, and her emerald eyes were still watery from the dream. As they usually were in the mornings. She often had nightmares like this. Pretty much every night. She pulled a brush through her hair, and tried to smile. Her lips failed, as did her spirits. What was there to smile about? It was just another day. Just another second in her miserable life. She remembered being with Declan, her twin brother. Those memories, so faded, so fuzzy, so lost. She wiped her eyes one more time and tossed her silky red hair back over her shoulder. Just another day...

She stepped out of her small room and into the dining room. Ginger often liked to serve meals. Well, she didn't like it, it just served as a more...entertaining job. She began to prepare breakfast with some of the other cooks. Nobody had told her she could cook, but nobody had told her she couldn't. Basically, she did something productive until someone told her otherwise. That must be why the king liked her so much, it seemed. Or at least tolerated her. The sun began to rise above the horizon, and sunlight poured out of the windows. She began to set the great table, keeping her head down, as usual.

[/size]

[Jotari]

Kasheem

He had not slept, the undead have no need to sleep and rest like living souls. He had spent the night standing in a hallway, not moving. Massive arms folded across his chest, the tall fellow clad in leather plates had scared off anyone ho had come near him. His build was not the problem, the thing of fear. What scared them was that he had no normal head. Merely a skull suspended in green fire served as his head. But as imposing as this fellow was, he was very confused, like a child.

He saw a face, a pretty face. The eyes were keen and often changing colors with her moods. He knew that beutiful soft ebony tresses framed that pretty face. He also knew that she had a white scar above her right eye, from some accident perhaps. Kasheem, the silent giant, also knew that her build with slim and feminine. But he also knew that this charming figure in his mind was not to be underestimated. He knew she was Black Star, leader of the Grellon outlaws. But he also knew that he had to kill her. That was why he existed, to kill Black Star. That was why Araxes, the dark god, had brought him from death as a gift to Magrej.

But, though Kasheem had no memory of his life, his real life, he did have the sense to question these demands and urges. Unknown to the poor undead fellow, Black Star was once nearly his wife and queen. For Kasheem was indeed, Prince of Kai. But he needed answers. He did not have them, and no one would even speak to him. This confused him.

This is what brought Kasheem lumbering in a zombie fashion into the Dining room. He did not need to eat, but he was looking for someone to at least talk to. He wanted to kill Black Star, but otherwise he was as simple as a child. He truly did not mean anything or anyone harm. The fellow neatly jumped out of his undead skin when he accidentally bumped into Ginger. He backed away apologetically and knocked into a rolling cart piled with dishes. This made him and the dishes fall backward, crashing to the ground. "Sorry! Sorry!" He muttered over and over again. Great, this would never get him any friends. He was just to clumsy.

[/color]

[love]

Ginger was not clumsy, in any way possible. She was gracefull and smooth in all of her movements, hardly ever tripping or breaking things. She blinked several times as this...beast of some kind knocked into her and her cart. She immediately bent over and said in a small voice, "It's my fault. I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have been watching. I'm so sorry." She half whispered, not looking at him. A lot of things scared her, but she had been through so much, little surprised her. She had seen this undead creature before, and he did little to frighten her. He reminded her of those little fairy tales she used to here when she was little, about those big friendly giants? She'd never talked to him, and he didn't seem friendly, but he still reminded her of exactly that. She glanced up at him, her emerald eyes showing fear mixed with curiosity, and the usual sadness and pain. She picked up the shards with delicate hands, sitting on her knees and working quickly. She didn't get payed much, mostly with just her room and the right to some food. But this couldn't be good. Her cheeks flooded with bloody embarrassment and she apologized again in a small voice. "I'm sorry, sir."

[Jotari]

Kasheem
This lady was pretty, he liked her red hair. He was tempted to reach out and touch it, but restrained himself. That was not the way to make friends. He did however help her clean up. Albeit, he did so by scooping up the dishes roughly and heaving them unto the arms of a nearby guard. "Go put those up for the nice lady." The guard looked a bit frightened but he lugged off his armful of dishes to the kitchen. Kasheem turned and a smile crossed the skull face. He walked back over and helped finish the cleanup. Kasheem noticed something though. " Your eyes, they have little fear in them. That is rather strange to me. Why are you not afraid of the undead?" It confused him.

She should be screaming, throwing things at his glowing head, having seizures on the floor, the normal things people did when they saw undead creatures, monsters of Araxes. But she did not do any of these things. Kasheem rather liked that and so after he cleaned up things for her, his hollow eye sockets seemed to look in her direction, " I like you. My name is Kasheem, who are you?" Maybe she could be his friend. He had no desire to kill this red-headed pretty lady. Maybe that meant that she could be someone who would talk to him.

Kasheem heard footsteps and got suddenly nervous. He had to do something fast or the pretty lady would go away and he would never ever have a friend. He reached out suddenly and grabbed her around the waist, picking her up gently. " Be still, I will not hurt, but I must have someone who does not fear me actually here to speak with me." Kasheem really hoped that she would not scream her head off. He took a few running steps and leaped out of the window, placing a hand over her mouth to still any screams. Landing deftly on the roof he ran until reentering the castle, into a abandoned and forgotten old room. Kasheem set her down and waited for screams, getting hit, things of that nature. He realised that his panicked movements of the last two minutes were a horrible idea. Oh well, so much for having friends.

[love]

Ginger didn't look at him as he spoke, she simply stared at the floor and cleaned. She looked up at him, "I am Ginger." The slave spoke softly to him, "I have seen so much in my time, you are not any different to my emotions than any other crature on this planet." She only spoke when spoken to, never out of turn.
It thoroughly surprised her when he snatched her off the ground. She sucked in a short breath, and tried not to scream. When they came into the room, she pressed her back against the wall, as far away as humanly possible from this...beast. Her eyes widened, "Are you crazy?" She half whispered, eyeing him in an odd way. "I...you...I could get in so much trouble, please, put me back." She took a few steady breathes to calm herself down. She hated heights, "If somebody catches me down here..." Her voice caught as she thought of the things they might do to her. Or to him. But he was already dead, so there wasn't really much left to hurt. She stared at him, well...what was left of him. She became afraid and sank to the floor, her lip trembling, not because of him. Because of everything. She closed her eyes, shaking all over, her breathes short and shaky. She triedto calm herself down, but failed. Her mouth opened as if she was going to say something, but closed again. "W-w-what d-do you w-want..." She said, opening her eyes and leaning her head against the wall to stare up at him.

[/size]

[Jotari]

Kasheem

Kasheem backed away slowly to give her room. So far she wasn't throwing things at least. He tried to make himself look smaller by slowly sitting down. His voice was calm and clear, though rough from being from an undead man. Please, calm down Ginger. His voice pleaded gently, and he was now sitting down against the opposite wall of the tiny room. I should not have done that, I guess I panicked. Look, I was brought back from the dead by the god of death as a gift to Magrej. Trust me, no one will hurt either of us. But I don't remember anything of my real life except my name, Kasheem. Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of people have that name. But please, I just need someone to talk to me without having a heart attack. My only goal, the entire reason I exist, is to hunt down and..... delete, an outlaw leader named Black Star. Other then that, I have no purpose and I feel like a child. I know nothing anymore. Please Ginger, you had no fear...." His voice trailed off and he stood suddenly, opening the door. He then stood back and went to sit down again. She could run any time. He would not stop her. They were in an older, little-used tower room. Not at the top, but they were still high up. He suddenly had a thought, what is she threw herself out the window? That would be horrible. Kasheem decided to cover all the bases, just in case. " There, the door is open, I will not stop you from running screaming down the halls. But...erm....please do not jump out the window or anything like that. I would not like to see you hurt." He remained still and watched her, awaiting her response. Maybe he could have a friend? Squashing that glimmer of hope immediately, he watched for her true reaction.

[love]

The small dark room made her claustrophobic. Again, Ginger was deathly afraid of heights. Anything to do with them made her sick. She wrapped her arms aroung her knees and eyed him softly. She was the kind of girl that always wanted to help, that always wanted to comfort someone. He was no different. The young women cleared her throat, "We're one in the same." She said, thinking about her own circumstances here. In a way, she had been a gift to the king. A slave with no intentions to revolt, that wasn't something you got every day.

"Kasheem," she repeated, "My brother used to speak of a Kasheem often, and very fondly. You do not remember anything of your past life?" She asked, curiosity taking it's form in her once more. "I have no fear of you, and I certainly will not throw myself out the window." Her eyes fell back to the floor, "Excuse me for being nosey, but...what was it like...being dead? Do not answer if you do not want to. I've just....considered things." Like killing herself. Could death rally be worse than this hell hole? Probably not. Maybe it would be the better option. For one crazy second, she considered the door.

Then, she suddenly jumped up, closing the open door and leaning against it. "I prefer it not to be open." She muttered, then looked at him again, offering a hint of a sad smile. "It must be horrible, to have everyone fear you. Excuse me, again, but I do not know who this 'Black Star' is." She blinked once and shifted uncomfortabely, "Not that anybody ever tells me anything anymore. I'm nothing more than a lowly slave."

[/size]

[Jotari]

Kasheem

The giant fellow watched her as she shut the door and concern filled his mind. It was pretty clear that she didn’t like it here. But she said he had heard something about a Kasheem. But he decided to answer her comment about Black Star first, “All I remember about this Black Star is that she is rather pretty. I know she is an outlaw leader of a group called the Grellon. They have irritated Magrej or something, I’m not sure. I don’t even know why they want me to kill her.” He sighed, something about that outlaw was special but he could not remember what! “I know her name, her real name, it is…..J….Ja….I can’t remember!” He was exasperated with his stupid memory loss. He knew it started with a “Ja” but there were millions of names that started with Ja!

He shook his head and it looked kinda funny to see a skull just sorta wave back and forth. It also frustrated him that he was rather hard to kill. But now he choose to answer her other comment, the one about death. Kasheem sighed, “It wasn’t very fun, most of the time it is just like a big sleep I think, but it was different for me. I must have done something to really make Araxes angry, because I was tortured until he brought me back. It is why I cannot remember anything; my mind was basically washed….” His voice trailed off. Kasheem knew he had been tortured but did not even remember the actual tortures, only the pain. Kasheem looked up suddenly, “I should offer, do you want to go and talk somewhere…safer? I don’t have any fear for my own self, but it would be quite unfortunate if you were harmed. And I must ask, I long for freedom from Araxes, do you desire freedom from Magrej?” He had remained seated, not daring to go toward her for fear that she would jump up and run. He really liked talking to someone and did not want to ruin these precious moments. Kasheem took care to keep his tone very kind and gentle as possible, though it was raspy from being rather….dead.

[love]

Ginger nodded slowly as he spoke, and she heard the pitter-patter of rain against the side of the tower. She heard voices of frenzy down below, and the sound of wind whisping past the door. Her eyes flashed, showing something that belonged in the catigory of fear. But it wasn't on behalf of him. "There is a storm coming. I can feel it. We should get out of this tower before it becomes to strong." She yet again opened the door. Leaves and rain mixed with a powerful wind whipped against her face. The rain stung her eyes and she looked to the sky. It was a dark, sickening green. It wasn't a huge drop from the part of the tower they were in, but enough to kill or seriously injure a human. Well, a live one at least. Suddenly the door was ripped out of her hands and slammed against the side of the building with a loud bang.

The young women turned back, her bright red hair whipping against the side of her face. "And as for your last question, I wish for freedom every day I wake up in this horrible place. I didn't volunteer to become some lowly slave, I didn't ask for this. You tell me, Kasheem, would you rather go back to being dead than serve as a slave to this Araxes you speak of?" The wind seemed to pick up every second, becoming stronger, bolder. "We will speak later, now we must get out of here before the hurricane gets stronger." She turned around, squinting through the powerful wind. She'd never in her life been in such a storm before. But, there was a first time for everything.

[/size]

[Jotari]

Kasheem


Kasheem nodded and stood quickly to his feet. He would not be killed if the tower collapsed, she on the other hand would die. The leather-clad skeleton moved to go to the door but he could feel the tower begin to sway back and forth. Something about it was not right; the structure was simply too old. Kasheem stumbled as the tower actually shook. There was no way they were going to get all the way back into the main castle before this entire place collapsed. Ginger would die; he would lose something more precious, a friend. Not to mention the pain of a ton of rock pressing on him, crushing and breaking him, was not something on his current to-do list. Kasheem had to do something and do it quickly.

Once again, he reached out and forcefully grabbed the girl. “Sorry, but survival is outside, not downstairs, feel free to scream.” He whipped around and charged at the window that they had come in through minutes before. He leaped, landing hard on a roof outside. Bracing his feet, Kasheem regained his balance. Using his large frame to protect her frame he charged over the roofs, getting battered by the rain and wind. Several times he slipped but the skeleton managed to stay alive and not drop Ginger. Finally, as they got lower, they reached the stables. The building was made up of sturdy stone, reinforced. Inside it would be warm and safe. With a final massive lunge, dripping Kasheem was able to set Ginger down in safety. The giant fellow heaved a massive sigh and collapsed in a pile of warm straw, panting. Even the undead had their limits, fighting a hurricane while carrying someone over roofs of a massive castle seemed to actually be difficult for the boney fellow. Kasheem was silent and soaking wet, but they were safe.

[Erech]

The stables were a peaceful, calming place. Although, Titan didn't much enjoy the company of the horses. Jabaar's task had been given to him a few hours before hand and he was to place the newly forged shoes onto the many horses of the Murate Castle. He was one of the very few slaves that could actually shoe the horses at a quick pace. He sheer strength was the major advantage he held over the other Muratians. His large frame was built for strength. He was clumsy with his feet, but his hands were more coordinated. He sat in the large stables, the creeking wooden panels and the decaying stones that made up the place actually brought peace and quiet to the large space. The horses were kept in rooms, divided up by wooden panels. Jabaar sat upon one of the many stable rooms. Titan, his trusty over-sized salamander lay outside the room, upon an old wooden chair. He disliked the horses and would rather relax than run around scaring horses.

Jabaar sat upon a small, reinforced wooden stool. He had a horse propped up and leaning upon his shoulder. The horses were rather lazy when it came to being shoed and often placed all their weight onto Jabaar's shoulders. Although, it wasn't much to him anyway. He pulled off the horse with his bare hands, before reaching down and grabbing one of the newly forged ones from a metallic bucket, holding the new, curved metal structures. He held the shoe in place and reach down for a small hammer and a collection of nails. Placing the nails in the designated spaces, Jabaar hammered them in, lightly in comparison to his full exhertion of strength. The horse shook as each nail was hammered into it's foot. It was in no pain, but the sheer force in which the shoe and the hammer made contact was enough to sent ripples down the horses body. Jabaar would repeat this action, on all four shoes and on all the horses. It only took him a few minutes to completely shoe each horse. Therefore, it only took a few hours for him to shoe the entire collection of horses.

The wind whipped outside, the sound of the rain thundering against the stables could be heard. Jabaar was nearly finished with his task as he heard the sudden eruption of a storm. Titan still perched upon the chair, was disrupted from his sleep. Startled the Salamander made a slithering dast towards Jabaar, crawling up his arm and perching on his other shoulder, as a horses hind was other sat upon Titan usual shoulder. The salamander had slithered his way into a comfortable position upon Jabaar's large, metallic shoulder guard. It was then that Jabaar heard an enormous thud. Someone had approached the stables, someone big, not as big as Jabaar but still rather close in comparison to any other human. The Muratian Desert Beast shrugged the horse from it's lean on his shoulder as he stood. The stables was one of the few rooms he could properly stand up in, except the castle hallways and Magrej's chambers. Titan slithered across to his usual shoulder and position as Jabaar walked from the horses room. He was confronted by none other than Kasheem and another slave. Jabaar made his way over, he could see similarities between himself and Kasheem and had always wanted to make friends.

"H..H...He...Hallo. M...My N...N...Naames Jabaar. W..W..Why are... y... you heer."

It would be hard to fully understand Jabaar due to his strong Arido accent and obvious speech problems, due to his over growth it had affected his jaw, causing him to be incapable of correctly pronouncing his words. Although, Jabaar did have a low IQ and struggled with language anyways, he enjoyed communicating. Hoping the slave would stay and talk, he knew Kasheem was not scared of his sheer size and fear inducing attire.

[love]

Ginger didn't scream, she just sucked in a sharp breath of salty air and braced herself for the worst. She was sick of being picked up and kidnapped and carried away. It annoyed her more than anything to feel so helpless and small. She shivered and squinted as they landed in the stable. "Thanks for the warning." She muttered, squeezing the water out of her wet hair. Her eyes fell onto the giant in front of her. She backed up a few steps. Why did everyone in Murate seem over sized or dead? She shook her head. "I'm Ginger. And you can ask him." She gestured towards Kasheem, who seemed exhausted. He was the whole reason she was in this mess. She should be up in the castle doing something productive, but no, she was here with two giant men in a hurricane. What could possibly go wrong?

Ginger leaned against a stall and sighed, her eyes falling to the floor. This would be the perfect time to escape, if there wasn't a damn hurricane outside. The wind whipped through the doors and the horses stirred. She wrapped her arms around her waist and took a deep breath. A bay horse nudged her from inside his stall. She touched his nose gently and rubbed his neck. She could here the wind rushing around the whole stables, and the sound of wood cracking and breaking outside. Good thing they were in a sturdy building, but then again it didn't sound like it wanted to hold up against the hurricane that long. She closed her eyes briefly, wondering if she could just wish the storm away. Wondering if she was just dreaming. The sound of shattering glass and horses screams told her she wasn't.

[/size]

[Jotari]

Kasheem

The skeleton remained still even as Jabaar approached. Kasheem knew very well that Jabaar was big and powerful, undead eyes could see that as well as living eyes. Kasheem had not yet made this giant's acquaintance, but no harm in trying. He was currently keeping his distance from Ginger, she was probably scared and irritated. So he remained, lounging in the pile of thin-stemmed hay. " Hello, I am Kasheem. The girl is named Ginger. We are trying to evade the hurricane outside and it seems the stable is rather secure and steady." Kasheem flinched as he heard glass shatter. A window had broken from the wind's force and also flying debris. The leather-clad skeleton merely settled deeper in the pile of hay. He couldn't feel much, couldn't sense much of anything really, but in a way the hay was still comforting.

Kasheem refocused his hollow eyes on Jabaar. Jabaar was not afraid of this tall skeleton with green fire surrounding his floating skull. Kasheem decided to try and get the fellow to chat a bit. " Your accent is unfamiliar to me, though I admit I do not remember much from my life. Tell me Jabaar, what is it you do here?" He wasn't sure what else to say. Kasheem wished to stay here and speak with these two, but even though there was a deadly storm raging outside he had the urge to leave. Kasheem needed to go kill Black Star. But still, he did not know why he had to kill her. She annoyed him, he had little desire to enjoy anything without wanting to kill her. Of course, this was why Araxes had given him back from the land of the dead, to kill this outlaw. But something about Black Star made him stop and think. Kasheem wondered if he had known the mysterious outlaw queen in his life. He wondered what hr real name was, a name starting with "Ja" as he remembered. So many questions still.

[/color]

[Erech]

Jabaar stood and his eyes watched from behind his thick steel helment. The Undead Kasheem and a mere slave, Jabaar was confused, he was sure they had duties just as he did, so why were they not working? Jabaar listened to the two speak as he listened the sound of shattering glass echoed through his ear, but the large beast of a man did not flinch. He was the Beast of Murate, he feared nothing and nothing could bring him harm. He was renowned for being undefeated in battle, and being slashed many times but he has yet to even fall upon his knees.

"W... Why are you nut in zi c...castle?"

Jabaar spoke out just before he Kasheem spoke again, he asked of his role in the castle. Jabaar had no specific role, he jsut completed whatever task was given to him. Jabaar peered through the holes in his steel mask, they were enough for him to see out of, but not enough for anyone to peer inside. Jabaar's face has never been shown inside Murate, to anyone except Magrej himself. His face is actually handsome yet he is known to be a horrible looking monster of the deserts.

"I surve.. Mmazter Magrej."

Jabaar replied to Kasheems question, his eyes flicked from Kasheem, seated within a pile of hay, and the female slave. Titan had calmed from the first sight of the two and was now perked comfortably on the shoulder of Jabaar, resting. Jabaar simply stood and waiting for Kasheem and Ginger to make conversation, he wasn't very sociable and he struggled to speak with anyone due to his heavy desert accent and speak problem. Jabaar grunted as a shard of glass flew and impaled his arm, he reached around and grabbed the shard forcefully, his rough skin was enough to guard his hand from being sliced by the shard. He pulled it from his arm and as the blood poured he did nothing. Jabaar didn't feel the pain, this wound was nothing.

[love]

Ginger turned away from the glass as it blew in through the windows, smacking against her arms and back. She brushed it off and stared at Jabaar, her mouth slightly ajar. The blood that poured out of his arm sickened her. She didn't mind pain, or blood for that matter, but the fact that he felt no pain and had no care for the pile of dark red liquid gathering at his feet made the floating head of the skeleton seem normal. "I should be in the castle, but you see, Kasheem seems to be set on kidnapping me. Not that I completely mind, but they will have noticed I am gone and I must be getting back soon." She said softly, turning her last statement towards Kasheem. She heard nervous wickers of horses as the water sprayed in. The ground was damp and was beginning to flood, it was up to her ankles already. She didn't know if the stable would hold up long enough to withstand the hurricane, but she needed to go to the castle. She walked to what used to be the window and squinted through the water. Trees were bending over back wards, debris flew around everywhere, smashing through windows, toppling over buildings. She saw a couple dead bodies and panicking people. The castle looked sturdy, but the flooding was only getting worse. She ducked as what looked like a chair came crashing into the stable doors. Maybe it was best to stay in the stables. She walked back toward the two beasts and sighed, squeezing the water out of her hair. Now all they could to was wait and hope this building could withstand through the storm. Joy.

[/size]