If For Infinity (Blades)

[Lady Knives]

Light and Darkness often collide, but it is a rarity for Light and Darkness to coincide.

Such is the case for the ruler of The Divine. The Guardian of Angels, Raesis. For many years he had been seeking to bring an end to the ruling of Raenef, Overlord of the Abyss; to smite each and every rotten infidel upon that vile plane. But what brought his plotting to a violent stop was the discovery that the Heiress to the Abyssal Throne, daughter to Raenef, and last full-blooded successor had been exiled from her homeland. She was not under the wing of that foolish advisor, Eclipse, any longer. It was in his hopes that she would be like any other, vengeful and bitter toward her people, who clearly betrayed her. And indeed she was, wishing death upon every single tainted mind, and revenge upon her Father.

"I must find her..." The fair-haired man mumbled under his breath. He sat upon his golden throne, eyes closed, and thin brows furrowed in concentration. "But where to start?" His caramel-hued eyes fluttered open, gazing blankly before him. Honeyed, silken locks of hair cascaded over his armored shoulders, a soft, drawn-out sigh escaping the Guardian's lips. "Sending out scouts would be a good idea, but to which realm? Where would she be? She could be eons away by now." He slammed a fist down onto the solid armrest, a snarl twisting his pale lips. "Blast him! Why did the news have to come so late?" He growled as he shook his head, regaining his composure.

"Aylius!" He snapped. "Someone fetch him, please and thank you!"

A few servants who stood around the room scurried out of the throne room in direction of the Barracks, where Aylius usually was. At this point in time he was giving the Soldiers their usual Break-of-Day inspection, but was interrupted by a servant pipping up, "Our Lord requests your presence, sir!"

The sergeant nodded to a nearby assistant and he immediately understood, taking up his superior's place temporarily. Aylius was lead back to the throne room by the servants, greeted by a grave, moody-looking Raesis. "I have called you here to inform you that you are to organize a mission. I am looking for the recently banished Heiress, Knives Eclipses. Gather up your troops, and search in every realm, excluding the Abyss. Find her, but do nothing else. You are then to give me the news, and keep your eye on her. Watch her every waking moment." Raesis spoke in a low, smooth tone. His eyes were trained upon Eylius, and smiled smugly at his nod and response. "As you wish, my Lord." The general answered.

"You are dismissed." The Angelic Guardian sounded, closing his eyes and leaning back into the cool metal of his throne.

-
A cool, warm summer breeze blew through a tall field of lemongrass, causing the young woman who slept buried within it to stir. Turning over on her stomach, the young woman ran a hand down her forearm, arching her body in a waking stretch. It was the first time she had gotten rest in a long while, for she spent every night and day before traveling through this realm. From snowy peaks, to scorching deserts, cool, dry forests and many flat, dull-green planes which rolled on for miles and miles. Her oxygenated-blood colored eyes drowsily opened, still heavy with sleep. With one last stretch the young woman picked herself up, then stood and lifted her arms above her head.

Knives reached down to pick up Kaokitsu, fastening it to her sash and resting her hand on the hilt. "How strange..." She murmured softly. The morning was silent, other than the periodic chatter of little birds and the rustle of the waist-high grass which surrounded her. The pleasant feeling of just waking up still clung to her body, making it feel good to be alive. She felt energized and serene, almost as if she held the innocence of being an adolescent yet again. The heiress didn't let her mind wander, and instead gazed up into the clear blue sky, her eyes following a few of the Blue Jays which soared toward the scenic horizon.

'I could do with some training.' She mused, shrugging a bit, then unsheathing her sword. The young woman reached into her cloak, grabbing out a wooden doll. It had a rounded head, and an ovular body, with a single, ebony strand of hair wrapped around it. A Kugutsu. Letting it rest in the palm of her hand, the young woman closed her eyes, focusing, and then opening them up. With a small flash of black energy the doll was thrown in front of her, a medium, human-sized cloud of black miasma rising from the carved wooden doll. When the miasma cleared, in its place stood an exact replica of Knives, with sword in hand. "You are of free will, attack me." She spoke softly, her tone low, but commanding.

Switching to a fencing stance, the young woman watched the Puppet leap forward, letting her sword clash with the other's as she stood there, stalk still. She then rotated her wrist in a circle, playing around with the replica's sword before hitting it up into the air. The puppet did a back-hand spring, and then grabbed the sword in one smooth, liquid movement. Knives bowed her head, then kicked off from the ground, lashing out at the puppet. Their swords clashed once more, the metallic grind horrible enough to make any other normal being wince.

This continued for another thirty minutes until she got frustrated and chopped off the puppet's head, clenching her teeth a little and kicking the pile of dirt that the replica had turned into. 'No wonder people get irritated with me when I fight...' She smirked mischeviously and sheathed Kaokitsu. After drawing the back of her hand across her forehead in relief, she felt the cold, moist feeling of sweat upon her skin. 'Time for a bath, I suppose.' With that she headed back in the direction of the hotspring she had passed in the forest on the way there.

[Kitsuné]

"Darkness. Sometimes even the purest of lights can't illuminate true shadow. Light is a righteous bastion of good. Shadow is evil, twisted and impure." Then what am I? Kraton recited the verse over and over, trying to make sense of it. This saying was common among angels and daemons alike, but it meant nothing to the outcast. For he didn't truly know what he was.

"Hell's reject... Heaven's outcast... is their any place that will accept me?" Kraton whispered, but he didn't know why. Their was nobody to hear him, but he still spoke in a silent wispy voice, as smooth as the wind. Only when human skin covered his body did he feel vaguely normal.

Kraton sighed. He knew when his life had taken a turn for the worse. It was Hades' fault, he had tempted Kraton with power, but it had cost the outcast dearly. It had cost him his life. Well, everything but his life actually.

He was sitting cross legged in a forest, just enjoying his small slice of humanity. The birds chirping in the trees, the winds whistling throughout the wood, the river washing impurities out of the forest. Am I an impurity? Or a purity? "He he..." Kraton chuckled slightly at the repetition of his own thoughts.

The outcast rose slowly, before wandering of in a random direction, letting his feet take him anywhere. Before long, he reached a river. It shone spectacularly in the declining sun. But that was not what caught Kraton's eye first.

A naked beauty swam in the lake, her eyes closed and a tender smile spread across her perfect face. "Is this... a dream?" Kraton's eyes remained glued to the woman in the lake, with the words that escaped his mouth barely even recognizable as speech.

It was many minutes before Kraton said anything more, he was simply admiring her from afar. He could have stopped but he felt like he needed to keep watching her, like it gave him his humanity. But then something happened that Kraton certainly had not expected.

The women's eyes snapped to Kraton. She stared at him dangerously, almost warning him to leave. But Kraton couldn't move, something in his mind told him to stay put. The lady licked her lips and shot yet another deadly look at him. After the same result, she began to swim towards her clothes.

[Lady Knives]

A compromising silence gripped the air as the young woman froze, her eyes traveling in a single blink to focus on the strange, monkish man. He recieved a dangerous, irritated glance, but immediately cut it off as she quickly moved toward the shoreline and her clothing. Sliding behind a large boulder, the young woman began to dress herself. As she slipped into her clothes, she began to wonder about the strange man, and whether she should run away or confront him. Surely he wanted something with her, for he had made it his buisness to make a full-on stop and greedily take in her nude body.

With swift movements, the young woman tred lightly, gazing out around the large boulder only for her eyes to land upon the young man once more. A quick analyzation of his aura confirmed that he most certainly was not human. There were powers of both light and dark swirling dormantly within him, yearning to burst free. 'So he is able to contain his powers and take on the form of a mortal...Interesting.' Dark eyes traveled over his body, taking in each and every inch of skin and clothing.

He reminded her of the Humans in the realm of Tiute, a world far diverse than any in which she had traveled. As she turned her head to the side a bit more, her earring jingled, causing her to wince and slide down the side of the huge chunk of rock. She had probably just revealed her position to the man, but it didn't really matter. As far as she could tell, she could beat him with one arm tied behind her back, whether he was in this mortal form or in any monstrous form.

As soon as she had forced herself farther behind the boulder, the strange, humanoid man set his gaze upon the boulder. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration, as if he felt she was there; or knew she was there.

[Kitsuné]

Kraton let his mouth turn crescent. The girl still hid herself behind the small boulder. "Perhaps she is scared? Pfff.. no." He suppressed a snort at his thought. Fear hadn't emitted with her stare... no, that certainly wasn't terror.

Though maybe he himself had a reason to be concerned? He had no idea what she was. Just as he was hiding behind a mortal form, she could be too. Without giving the thought consideration, Kraton forced himself away from the boulder.

"Seen enough of me then?" The voice was quieter than the outcast had expected, though without much anything fighting for volume, her words were clear.

"I am sorry miss, I didn't mean to intrude." He didn't turn back to the boulder, but he could have guessed she had appeared from it's shelter.

With her silence, Kraton slowly turned to her.

Her long hair brushed over her shoulders flawlessly, gently writhing in the breeze. Her trousers were baggy, but not so much that her outline was obscured. But her true beauty was her face: Her thin lips didn't reveal her teeth; though Kraton would have guessed they would reflect her other aspects. Her blood red eyes were nicely framed with her unusually long eyelashes. Here eyebrows followed suit, meandering with the outskirts of her eyes.

When Kraton recovered, he braced himself for her retort.