So much had changed since the first day that I had laid eyes upon the man who was not just my brother, but also my twin. The other half that explained why there had been something missing every time that I looked into the mirror. Granted that wasn’t a lot or often, as I wasn’t the most typical of females and found that I often hated what it showed to me. Not the looks, as those were passable but the hollowness that had come to be the constant companion in a gaze that otherwise might have been exquisite. Depending on who you talked to, some might say that the amber pools had been all the more captivating because of it, though those were likely the ones who worked the same field as I did.
None the less, I couldn’t help but be distracted from such melancholy thoughts by what surrounded me. I stood atop a towering waterfall, the violent force of the spray crashing far below me, shattering upon the rocks until there were fragments of crystal liquid being reflected back up to layer my skin like a fine coat. Once stark white hair, still straight as a razor’s kiss had begun to gain color as of late. Dependent upon the shade of the light, it now ranged from a soft, honeyed silk to something darker, more resembling the tawny shade of my twin’s eyes. It hung now, unfettered by its usual solitary braid to brush just passed the curve of my ass, strands of it feathering to and fro around my body to shade my breasts from the eyes of any who might have chosen to peek in upon my self imposed moments of quiet. Eyes were quiet, still holding their own brand of fire, though their cat like pupils shimmered differently here, the almost reflective, scale look to their coloration dancing with streams of shadow rather than of light.
Feet came together, bare toes clinging and conforming to my slippery perch before strength coursed up through my limbs, the surge sending me up and into the air. Arms would reach overhead, clasping together as my body seemed to orchestrate a graceful symphony of twists and flips before hitting the water with nary a drop sent awry. Using my gathered momentum to reach nigh onto the very depths of the pool, I relished the cool, clear liquid sluicing along my body as I moved with quiet grace along the darkened bottom. Finally after countless heartbeats of time, I angled my form and turned towards the night sky. It was there somewhere above me, waiting to embrace me if I would only let it.
Embrace.
It was so strange a term. Or rather once it had been. The very term in fact that had saved my life when things had gone all pear shaped at the old Haven in Russia. I don’t know that I could ever forget that moment when I had woken to the eyes that had somehow haunted me for longer than I could remember. Much as Rayos had come to hold a place within me that would shatter me were something to part us, it was this Vampire. This veritable Shadow that had possessed me since my birth and even before as it would so seem. One of the two Father’s to the Daughter that I had only dreamed of, but never dared hope for, things between he and I had not started easily. From what I had been told, he had been the first to come out after me in Russia when finally the waiting had grown to be too much to bear. A stranger to me, both literally and figuratively, he had been the last I would have expected to come out and try to drag my ass back out of the fire. I had more expected Destine, or perhaps even my own twin…Anyone other than the male who held eyes that had managed to perfectly capture crystal blue fire.
My head broke the surface of the water then and I rose slowly. It licked at my skin, each its own tawny lash as toes sought and found the sandy bottom. The concern over my lack of clothing was a thing of long ago past, the beasts sheltered within me, both vampire and shifter demanding the invisible caress of the night air. Perhaps there was more to it, perhaps not. I knew no shame in my body, each inch of flesh one that I could respect and hold appreciation for, even those that now bore scars which I would never lose. They were marks that I was a survivor. Proof that I was a warrior born and bred, they were what marked me as a killer. Feet carried me to a stretch of grass that even beneath the shadowed fall of night was a vibrant green. A thanks filled thought was sent up to whoever was willing to listen that we had managed to free ourselves from what would have otherwise brought about a new ice age. The sprigs were fresh and flourishing with life beneath me as I shifted to stretch out over them.
They were a silent whisper along my back, each blade noticed separately, one from the other. Their scent was spring. Rebirth and renewal as my weight upon them had their juices trickling and dancing along my spine before being absorbed into the ground once more. Hair was splayed out beneath my head, a fan of silken knifes that contrasted vibrantly to the eyes of night. There was no specific angle to my body, no direct sense of purpose other than to relax. I knew that the others were likely off, though God’s only knew what each was doing. I had slipped away, unnoticed, that much I knew as there had been no other presence to interrupt my interlude. Since Dia’s arrival, I had thankfully been given a reprieve from being one of the main focuses for the other’s eyes and while I could empathize with what my Daughter must be going through now, I had needed the break desperately.
The smile on my lips was a wry one as my own eyes passed down and over my body. Where once I had been as slender as the blade’s edge itself, I had managed to surprisingly put on a few pounds here and there. While there was a time where I would have argued each and every one their new home upon me, I knew now that it was needed. Abomination though I may be, there was still a part of me that was brilliantly alive. The very part that needed the extra fuel that had brought about the faint beginning of curves where before there had been none. Right hand would reach across to left shoulder before beginning the slow, almost exploratory search downwards. Eyes came to find closure, pads of fingertips taking the time to learn each new dip, every unknown hollow before sealing it away to memory. A soft breath escaped my lips, the touch of my own digits, as well as that of the faintest breeze sending a chill racing along my spine that had nothing to do with fear.
