Star Light at Night (Muse)

Well that wasn't the cheesiest line she had ever heard, psyche. While, admittedly, that was probably one of the most flattering things she had ever heard. It, surprisingly, wasn't the first flattering thing she had ever heard. She got hit on a lot by random drunken bums, which was more annoying than anything. Every once in a while she did tend to catch onto someone who thought she was an actual angel and would proceed to try and stalk her and shower her with gifts. Less annoying, but still bothersome, depending on the gifts.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, art. Stars. Bull. Lets get on with IiiiieEEEH!" Gilda said, her usual steady self losing composure as she was nearly cleaved in two. He was slower this time, and from right in front of her, but it was more surprising than last time. She used her wings to cut to the side, but her outspread wings were still a good target, just not as easy to cleave into. The very end of the sword slashed in the fore part of her right wing, severing muscle cords and setting off nerves, not to mention clipping the bone.

Gilda was hurt. But her immediate reaction was rage. He dared hurt her wings!?! She swung her mace to the side as hard as she could while jumping into the air, still able to fly, though one wing was near limp. The purpose of that strike was to hopefully keep the sword away, though he was incredibly stronger than her. She refused to believe anything she did was a useless gesture. She then brought her mace down hard in a similar manner to the strike he had just used on her, her mace sparked brightly as she found herself excited at the thought of cleaving a man in two....with a mace. Might take longer but she was sure it would be much. more. satisfying.

Immediately afterwards reality struck though. Her wing was hurt. She would be grounded for a day or two. It hurt. She struck out again with her mace then turned so that her left was facing him, folded her good wing and extended it in a wide sweeping motion to throw him away from her. Her wings would be strong enough to throw him as long as he didn't expect it to be an attack and retaliate. These attacks were less like an enthralled brawler and more like an injured animal. Which was an accurate way to describe her mind-set. She wasn't confident enough to take flight for long without a sling for her wing, and certainly wasn't going to turn her back on this man. She snarled at him before getting into a more defensive stance.

Dar felt the satisfaction of cutting into Gilda's wing. He couldn't help but enjoy the poetry of the moment. "You've flown too close to the sun," he said. Of course, instead of an actual sun, it had been Dar. Gilda had challenged a warrior too powerful even for her. Now his blade had cut her wings as the sun's fire had burned Icarus.

He blocked Gilda's attack. Her fury was able to knock his sword to the side, leaving him open.

Gilda brought her mace down at his face, and Dar slid to the side to avoid it. Gilda wasn't messing around. She was trying to kill him with each of these hits. The pain she was going through had unlocked some primal rage within her. She seemed almost like an animal now.

Dar liked it. It made him feel like a hunter.

Gilda attacked her again. Dar managed to block her mace, but then her wings hit him. Dar was genuinely surprised. She had attacked him with her wings? Her injured wings? He was impressed, but he was also flying across the room.

After slamming into the far wall, Dar looked up to see Gilda snarl at him. He smiled, although his back was hurting a little. Gilda was waiting for him to attack, so he would not disappoint her.

Dar rushed forward, but stopped just out of reach from Gilda. He took a wide, powerful stance and raised his sword high. He locked eyes with Gilda, daring her to try to block this attack. In a single motion, he dashed forward the remaining distance and brought his claymore crashing down with 50 tons of force. He didn't know what her mace was made of, but he planned to cut it in half if she tried to block, along with her body and about a foot of the cement beneath her feet.

Gilda was already beginning to feel blood on her. Those wings were full of veins to supply the needed energy to those muscles. Her wing darkened with blood as time went by and her body started to go into a form of panic, her heart racing and pumping more blood. This, ironically, only worsened her situation. It wasn't a deadly amount thanks to her general low oxygen needs, but it was enough to affect her.

She felt tired and the primal rage that had filled her, moments ago, subsided enough for her to regain control of herself. In the moment that Dar paused in front of her, he may have realized the miscalculation he made. If he had assumed his form would be intimidating to Gilda, even in her normal psyche, he was wrong. It was even more so at the moment though.

Her lack of energy made her complacent, but her warrior's instinct made her fight one. So while he may think that she was going to pause in the face of an enemy whose body language said 'I win!" and have her own body change to try and increase her chances of blocking the strike or managing a quick cross counter, he would instead find his enemy's body and her piercing amber eyes giving the message 'That's fine, but not yet.'

Gilda turned her back to him suddenly, in a surprising display of confidence. Hopefully it would cause him to hesitate just a moment longer. She then suddenly flung herself back. If he had hesitated, even a moment, longer thanks to her turn she would have saved herself from her other wing being sliced, though not nearly as deep as the other one.

Now, with her back against his chest, she then took her mace and swung it up at his face. It was a surprisingly light blow and without even a hint sparks. She then swung it down, between her legs...and his, now much stronger and glowing violently. Directly afterwards the mace would fall from her hands and she would slump to her knees. Her wings would take only a few days to heal. Her pride? Months, assuming she survived the next few moments. "Who could resist the warmth of the sun anyways? The sky is where I belong. The sun will be my home one day." she said, her words lazy and dreamy.

Gilda seemed surprisingly confident in the face of her demise. Dar couldn't help but hesitate when she turned her back on him. Had she simply accepted her death? If so, why wasn't she facing it head-on? Dar realized too late that she hadn't given up. She was attacking.

Gilda threw her body into him, startling him. She brought her mace up at his face. He brought his sword down and blocked that attack with ease. The sheathe on his sword even protected him from the electricity. Dar almost laughed. Her final, desperate attack had come to an end, as had her life.

Then Gilda hit him between the legs.

Granted, with rage empowering his body, the physical brunt of the attack wasn't that bad. He felt it, but the force itself did no real damage. The electricity, on the other hand, sent a shock directly into his groin. Dar sucked in a sudden, big breath. Gilda fell to her knees and dropped her mace, but Dar just stood there, seemingly frozen as she spoke. She said that she belonged in the sky, and that the sun would eventually be her home. Nobody, she reasoned, could resist the warmth of the sun.

"It is tempting," Dar said at last, still recovering from the pulsating pain. In spite of his agony, he had managed to remain standing over his foe.

He had every right to kill her. She had attacked him, and he had defended himself. According to Dar's personal code of honor, he was supposed to now slay this opponent. It would be an honorable death for her.

But he didn't want to, not yet. "Such beauty should not be allowed to go to waste, but I understand the warrior's need for an honorable death. I shall be the one to take your life, but it will not be tonight." He lay down next to her and looked up at the stars. "Tonight, the stars are beautiful. Tonight, we will gaze upon their splendor. Examine your place in the universe, for when morning comes I will kill you." Dar smiled. "Every good story needs a moment between the climax and the ending. For the story of your life, that time is right now. I hope you enjoy it. I know I will."

He let her live. Cool. He was planning on killing her in the morning. Not so cool. She would have to figure out how to deal with that when she woke up. Right now she was feeling SO sleepy. In the morning her wings wouldn't be fully healed, but they'd be healed enough for her to hold them up and not be slowed down by them...she also wouldn't be sped up by them though. She vaguely thought that she would be able to be fast enough to fly away before he could do anything impressive.

Her dreams weren't peaceful. She was fine with Dar winning their fight. She wasn't fine with dying, she had things to do first.

Gilda woke with a start, jumping to her feet with an eerie grace that only could come to her thanks to the Nth metal's gravity altering properties. She, almost, immediately remembered Dar's departing words, before she had fallen asleep. She reached for her mace quickly, just to feel it in her hand and quickly looked around the room for Dar, twirling on the spot while gaining a speedy five feet of altitude. "So, sleep well?" she said with a dry smile. Her eyes clearly not full of the momentary acceptance she had held just hours ago.

"How about instead of more fighting...a deal? My knife is a weapon that you would never be able to find on earth without someone like me looking for it!" she said proudly and then continued without giving Dar a chance to refuse or accept, " You probably won't be able to make it spark like I would...but it's still harder than steel and can protect you from magic." she said haughtily. She was more than a little proud of her Nth metal items...but only her mace was worth her life. The knife was low quality, but unique. More than anything, it's crafting was a sight to see. It had ancient Egyptian designs on it and it's basic design made it double edged, a neat addition to any arsenal.

At the very least he had earned it. She would be dead if it wasn't for his mercy.  She had her eyes on a new prize anyways. She would soon have something that she hoped would easily replace that knife...even if she had grown attached to it. It would be going to a decent owner...assuming he accepted. "Come on, generous offer...but to sweeten the deal. I can put you in contact with some high brow people. Whaddya say?"

Dar slept well. He let the night hours remove the strange sensations that the electricity had given him. As he rested, he wondered why he had decided to show mercy to Gilda. He had said that he would allow her to live until morning, which was far more than he had given most of his opponents. Was it because she was female? Dar lived his life by his own code of honor, but he hadn't considered this question before. Gilda had fought well, wielding her mace as well as any man. Did that mean that Dar should treat her as he would a defeated male opponent? The idea seemed wrong to him, somehow.

Perhaps he would see if she had any way to bargain for her life. That was the only chance he could give her. If she couldn't offer him anything, then honor demanded he end this fight like all the others: in death.

Dar was still lying on his back looking at the sky when Gilda woke up. She grabbed her mace and took to the sky. Her eyes were sharp and focused, but she didn't seem ready to fight or flee. She was making him a deal. Gilda offered her dagger as a gift to Dar, as long as he let her escape. The blade was nearly unbreakable and would apparently protect Dar from magic.

Of course, Dar could just kill her and take the dagger. However, she was offering him more than that. She was willingly giving him the dagger as a symbol of respect. The symbolism behind the gift was worth more than the dagger itself, at least in Dar's eyes.

And he really did think she was pretty.

Dar stood up and held a hand out to accept the dagger. His powers were not active now. The bloodlust that fueled his abilities made it nearly impossible to resist fighting, so it was better to be human most of the time. "I accept both of your offers. I will enjoy adding this dagger to my arsenal, as long as it carries your blessing. Now, about these people you could introduce me to, who might they be? Would they happen to be the HIVE?" Dar grinned. "Because I've been looking for them for quite some time."

Gilda honestly didn't think that would work...but it had! She smiled, lowering her guard. She had a feeling that she could trust this guy. If he had really wanted to kill her, it would have been done, or she'd at least be tied up when she woke up. She didn't give her trust easily though and showed her trust even less often. So for now she would at least act like she was still wary of him. It wasn't a total act though. There was always a voice in the back of her mind saying that he could beat her.

After her offer was accepted she relaxed a good bit though. He could be reasoned with. Good. As much as she wanted to prove that she could beat him, she would need a plan if she was going to have a chance against Dar's strength.

Dar's words surprised her. She flinched slightly as he mentioned Hive. He shouldn't have known about that. She knew she didn't say anything about it. Maybe she wouldn't get in trouble for inviting this guy after all. If he already knew about Hive she could spin it to sound like she was trying to keep the base a secret by bringing him there.

This could all work out well for her!

"Yeah. I'm a member of Hive actually. I'm practically the second in command really." she said proudly. It was true, in her eyes. It wasn't like there was much to be second in command of anyways. There were only a few other members. But it was always sure that she only did anything if she wanted to do it. "I can tell you where to go to meet them, but you're a bit big for me to transport comfortably."

Gilda actually was from the HIVE. Dar smiled. It had been merely wishful thinking on his part. Now he had an actual contact with that organization.

He doubted that she was actually the second in command. She had said 'practically,' which Dar took to mean that she was nobody of importance. After all, if this was the second-best the HIVE had to offer, then the organization was not worthy of Dar's attention.

It made sense that she couldn't reveal the HIVE's headquarters, even at the point of death. A meeting place would do quite nicely.

"Very well then. Tell me the meeting time and place and I will be there. I trust I can hold you to your word as a warrior." If nothing else, Dar could trust himself to kill her if she did not hold up her end of the bargain. "I require one more thing: your name. I understand that it might be secret, and I will tell nobody else if that is your wish. I am Dar, the Ghost."

"Meet my at the docks in a week. I'll be there around noon." she said with a smile. "I might be late, clipped wings and all." she half-barked at him. She was pretty sure she would be fully healed by then, but being half an hour late would make sure that he was sure that he wanted to join the club and wasn't just looking for it. It also gave her time to tell everyone about him and make a plan to take him out, if needed.

"My name is Grizelda Luliaceae" she said with a bit of regret. She hated her full name. It was so...long, way too fancy. She much preferred "Everyone calls me Gilda though. Codename Harpy. Also known as the Amazing Winged Girl if you've been to some circuses." Gilda said floating into the air and doing slow flip onto one of the beams in the ceiling, with a wince. Her wings being hurt would keep her from anything fancier than flips and turns for a few days.

"Goodbye for now Dar." she said, looking outside, "You should try aiming for the sun some time, you might be surprised by how much it helps you out!" she said before lifting into the air and flying off through the air.

"I will be there, Gilda." Grizelda Luliaceae, huh? It was a pretty name, Dar thought. For now, though, he would call her by the name she preferred.

One week? It was a long time to wait, but Dar would be patient. He understood that secretive organizations couldn't rush these things.

Dar watched Gilda fly off, admiring her beauty. She called back to him, saying that he should try aiming for the sun. It might help him out. Dar grinned as she left. He walked out the door and faced the sun. It was too bright for him to even look at directly. What mortal could hope to obtain the sun?

As alluring as the sun was, Dar was content to simply take the earth, the whole earth. With the planet in his iron grip, he would be happy.

OOC: Good thread!