By the Moon's Light (Safer)

The sound of swooshing and lapping waves fluttered calmly through the mid summer darkness. Salt from the vast sea found itself caught in the soul of the wind passing over the calm waters. In the creeping darkness of night, the pale glimmer of the moon’s rays boldly colored a strip of the salted sea. The light breeze that protected the water itself with it gentle glare purred almost motionlessly through the trees of the nearby forest. The moonlit sand seemingly all that seemed to be separating the lapping waters of the sea and the shelter of trees in the green forest.

As the partially silent voice of the wind soared over the forest, a man sat waiting in a tree. Although barely touched by the pale rays of the moon, the man’s skin was oddly white, but not entirely pale. He stood on a thick, rough branch, his legs bent against his thighs with one hand in between his legs on the branch for balance. His black hair swung gently in the breeze, falling to around where his neck ended.

As he sat there in darkness, the streams of light seeping through the leaves of the sheltering tree seemed to be the only source of light to himself. The man, roughly twenty in age, seemed to be waiting for someone. Not someone in particular, just anyone. He gently pushed his grey vest aside to unfold a ripple in his tattered, black shirt.

The man sighed suddenly, and effortlessly hopped down from the ten foot tall branch, landing as if he had merely jumped off of a low step. He sighed and straightened out his black pair of jeans. His long, pointed ears twitched almost naturally as he listened and focused intently to hear anything, any sign of nearby life, but to no avail.

Well isn’t this perfect? he thought to himself as he started strolling quietly towards the water. If I don’t get some money soon, it could be weeks until I eat at a restaurant again, his stomach growled and he yearned silently for well cooked food, something other than apples or strawberries. He moved slowly towards the water.

His black shoes hit the sand of the beach and sunk slightly under the man’s weight. He smiled despite his hunger. “I’m sure Khana’s shopping right now.” he chuckled lightly under the wind. “She hates it when I leave her alone, even when there are malls in the area.” he sighed and then his face stiffened. “She’d never forgive me if she knew why I had to leave her so often. Even if I only take from petty thieves, she just doesn’t understand.”

He came to the edge of the sand and sat down slowly. The cold sand calmed him as he sat in it, simply watching the moons elongated reflection on the water’s surface. He sighed lightly. Karaza, how did you end up in such a screwed up situation? he asked himself silently, not really sure of the answer. He continued to stroke the top of the water with his white, index finger. His black leather glove turned dark as it got wet, and the contrast between Karaza’s fingers and his fingerless gloves grew even more vast.

“Why does it even matter?” he pondered aloud. “I shouldn’t even be here. I should have lost the will to live long ago. I guess I have her to thank that I’m still breathing.” a large wave came up to Karaza’s feet and hit his feet, and then, as if it had been a stealthy attacker, slithered back into the sea.

An owl hooted deep into the darkness and it bounded into Karaza’s ears, and he noticed that he had ceased focusing on all the sounds around him. The swish of the water had absorbed him, had pulled him away from his consciousness, made him forget. Forget his worries, forget his fear, forget his problems. But he hadn’t been able to let go of Khana, her face appeared constantly in a corner of his mind whenever he found himself separated from her.

Karaza sighed again and raised an outstretched finger towards the water. As if by magic, a long, streaming flow of water soared majestically out of the water. Watching intently, Karaza moved his finger to the motion of the water as it did the same.

The water fell suddenly as Karaza’s ears perked up, causing a splashing noise to ring through the area. He had heard something, a very faint, patter. Footsteps. He rose quickly but almost completely silently and raced towards the trees. As he approached the forest he jumped swiftly and landed in a tree. Form there he jumped silently through the trees, his controlled movement making almost no noise on the branches under his feet.

He stopped instantaneously as he arrived on what he assumed to be the tree closest to the noise. He listened for a moment, and then worried that he might have been discovered. Damn it, it’s so much easier to steal from them when they don’t know I’m here. he cursed to himself. He paused, being extra careful not to emit any kind of sound. He tried to see through the leaves to where whatever had been making the noises was located, but trees from an overhead branch compromised his view.

“Come out.” a man’s voice rang through the trees and Karaza cussed in his head. He had been heard, but it occurred to him that perhaps he had not yet been found. He remained silent, hoping that this man would not find him. Another few seconds passed and a there was a whizzing sound. Karaza realized that it was moving towards him, and so he started accelerating. He was moving quickly enough to see the large rock pass through the leaves of the trees and hit the trunk of the tree. Realizing he had been found, and angered from the assault, he dropped from his tree.

He landed with a light thud to see a man slightly down the path. The man, who appeared slightly older than Karaza, was wearing a short sleeved shirt with a sleeveless vest, more than likely to conceal some sort of armor. He guessed instantly that the man was a warrior, for he had two sword sheaths on his back. The man drew one of his two, finely crafted swords and got into a battles stance.

“A demon, I presume?” the man spoke, his voice deep and powerful, yet somewhat weakened by a light stammering sound. “My name is Raxael Bloodwing,” he paused and lifted his sword slightly higher. “And I, shall be your demise.” he jumped backwards slightly, even though he was quite a distance away from Karaza, and drew his second sword.

Karaza frowned and extended his claws slightly. “Your arrogance precedes you, sir Raxael. I am most certainly not a demon. However, I do not enjoy being called so, I also don’t appreciate having rocks thrown at my head.” he himself moved back slowly, as to indirectly defend himself against this man’s blades.

The man named Raxael paced slowly forward, still holding both his blades. “Why should I believe you, you’ve done nothing toearn my trust.” he stopped and started slowly swinging his swords. “Besides, demon or not, weren’t you the one trying to steal from me?” Karaza raised an eyebrow and Raxael cut him off before he could speak. “Or perhaps, you just like spying on others. Despicable.”

“No reasoning with you, then?” Karaza sarcastically asked. “Alright, I have the night off anyway. I might as well just knock you out and take your money anyhow.” he spoke, his voice ablaze with amusement. He hadn’t had any type of serious physical exercise in the past month. He drew his claws further out of his fingers as Raxael moved closer.

“As I thought. Wether or not you are a demon, you are a petty thief, I shall teach you not to prey on the innocent as demons do.” he suddenly ran towards Karaza, seemingly enraged by his resemblance to a demon. Karaza raised his arms in a defensive stance, prepared to test his foe’s strength.

OoC: There we go, I believe that will suffice. Oh, and if you read through Karaza's profile, I just want to let you know that he can no longer phase, which is his ability to pass through objects. I'll remove that next revision.