Alone With the Eagles (~Open~)

[teris]

Senna sighed, making her way through and around trees and underbush. Stepping over a large branch, she found herself stumbling into a clearing which dropped off about 153 feet near straight down. The cliff face was marred by rocks and a few small, yet ancient, clingy cedar trees. Other then that, it was clear right to the bottom, where some was shallow pond and other more flat rock.

Making her way to the edge of teh cliff face, Senna peered over the edge, not exactly afraid of falling off. As a lycan, she had near unwavering balance, however one could never be too careful. Lowering herself to the ground, Senna let her legs dangle over the side of the drop, and took a deep breath.

On the horizon stretched mountains, some rocky, some covered in lush, green trees. The sky itself was gray, but not a dark gray, just light, as if the sun was trying to shine through the thick coverage. The clouds hung low though, and from so up high, Senna was surrounded in the cool, refreshing mist of a wayward cloud, and took in it's damp scent.

She could hear the shrill cry of an eagle, not too far from her. Scanning her eyes through the mist, she noticed the large brown bird of prey form of the eagle that had made it's cry. It perched, on an overhanging branch on the cliff face, just a few feet down from her. It watched her with orange eyes, and then it opened it's brilliant yellow beak, and another cry erupted from it. Senna smiled at it, and it lifted it's wings, giving her a glance before taking off and soaring in the distance, until it was eventually swallowed by the clouds, and disapeared from Senna's sight.

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The scent of cedar always sent Malachi Logos' mind spinning back over the years to Lebanon and it's famous cedars, and here among another set of ancient, hardy cedars he felt a bit nostalgic. But he was always thinking fondly of the past; here, the sounds of birdsong were different and there was no olive-skinned beauty to flit after in the growing twilight, no fleeting giggles or warm embrace. That human's life had long withered and passed away into dust; Chi fancied it was dust as fragrant as she had been when he'd known her, a rich spice full of bergamot and sandalwood. But death was familiar and, as a being of the afterworld, was fine with him. He knew that she'd been lifted up to heaven after her life; perhaps the next time he ventured up there he would visit her, that old flame of so many years ago.

But the angel's mind was free at present from worry or unhappiness. Actually, as he reminisced he was treading the edge of a rocky cliff face, large wings outspread behind him for balance and protected from normal vision as usual. Malachi didn't think much of this flirtation with the edge; he was an angel manifested on earth to walk among sinners and cull from them the unnatural temptations threatening them. Flirtation with danger was the white angel's job and greatest pleasure. And it was a continual honor; he found mortals fascinating, and probably meddled in their lives a little more often than he ought. Free Will, he always said to himself, was a real treat.

And so, hands in pockets, eyes on the line between earth and sky, the angel walked quite obliviously towards the lycan whose privacy he was slowly encroaching upon. He was a divinely handsome thing, as his kind tended to be-- only God's greatest works for his most dutiful servants, after all. At present he was wearing those self-same black Armani leather shoes that he was almost never found without, a pair of khaki slacks and a white dress shirt whose sleeves had been rolled up past his elbows. Malachi's rich brown hair, longer in the front and close-cropped in the back, stirred only slightly in the cross-breeze often found at the lip of such cliff faces as this one, but the wind didn't seem to bother his balance much. Even if he had fallen, it would take only a flap of those long, sturdy white wings to launch him back to where he was in the first place.

At the cry of the eagle so close by, Malachi's trance seemed to break and he noticed the woman before him for the first time only feet from her. Taken off guard on such a cloudy, gloomy sort of day (and in such a strange place!) Chi was really unsure of what to say. "Um...hiya." He paused, an impeccable sense of race taking in that she was a lycan. "Fancy seeing someone else here. It's not really a popular place." He stepped away from the edge and folded his wings, feeling giddily sheepish, an awkward little smile settling on his squarish face.

[teris]

Letting her legs dangle over the side, Senna peered out over the bluffs, her gaze trying to puncture the thickening mist that clung to the top of surrounding mountains and land. It hung like a white/ gray blanket, and even though she couldn't really see the mist around her, she could feel it. Tiny water dropletts suspended in the air, so tiny they were invisiblible to her, even though as they touched her, they grouped, becoming larger drops that held to her skin, cooling it.

She saw no other eagles after the one that had taken off, though she thought she could hear the steady beats in the air as on flew. Soon, the wing beats ended, and a few moments later, Senna was startled by a voice. Turning as she got to her feet, stepping from the edge of the cliff, Senna saw a gorgeous male standing now in front of her. He wasn't human, that was for sure. The large white wings set behind him proclaimed angel on all accounts. He was smiling at her, and, coming out of her tense, defensive position, Senna smiled back, nodding at his remark. "That's why I come here." She chuckled in response. She scratched her neck, hearing the jingling of tags and a small bell on her collar. It made her embarrassed, wearing the thing, but she couldn't actually take it off. Her master had to, and considering she tried to avoid him, she doubted she'd be getting it off anytime soon.

She ducked her head slightly, trying to hide the collar with her chin, blood rushing to her cheeks in a faint blush. She frowned, then smiled over at the angel,

"Who might you be?" She asked, bending one knee and her waist so she was in a sort of curtsey stance. She stayed down, in a lower, lesser stance. It was how she'd been taught to greet higher ranking... beings. As a slave, she'd been beaten into this form of submission until it was etched into her mind. It made her heart sink, free people didn't have to do this. But she was no longer free. Tears came to her eyes as she thought of it, but blinked them back to hide them.

[Deleted]

Malachi watched as this new person's response to him melted from reactionary to normal to strangely subservient. He had shocked her at first, he could see that easily, but as with most good-hearted creatures, the sight of his wings put her at ease. She returned his smile, and that was enough for him to take an instant liking to her. He took an instant liking to most people, but Chi was a sucker for smiling faces; he was a cuddly sort of person in that way. "That's why I come here," she said, and laughed minutely. She liked her time alone then; she was escaping the company of others. To gather her thoughts? To elude something unpleasant? Just to relax? Curiosity was going to be his downfall at some point, of that he was convinced.

And then, as she scratched innocently at her neck for a moment, he could feel with that empathic ability of his her mood plummet into embarrassment and then to regret and submission to an unhappy fate. This caused an immediate knitting of Malachi's eyebrows, especially as she bowed. To who? To him? He stepped towards her, taking one of her hands gently in his and pulling her back upright. "My name is Malachi Eleison Logos, and please, there's no need for that." Really, he was thinking he ought to be bowing to her. Those born on Earth were sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, and the children of God, whereas he was just a tool, a messenger, an employee. "What's your name, beloved of God?"

He used to refer to Abraham as that name when he was but a guardian angel, and it had always put the man's soul at ease. He'd hoped it would do the same for this person, but Abraham had probably only been so calmed by it as a result of his extreme piety. Ah, well. The angel of mercy would do what he could, as ever. "And what has happened to you?"

He didn't recognize that she was enslaved right away, though he spent much of his time when he first came to earth freeing slaves, and the body he used now had once been a slave. She had been hiding her collar, but one glimpse of it would clue the angel in.

[teris]

Rising from her bow with a small blush, Senna looked down, too embarrassed to look at the angel. Kicking at the ground, she looked up, giving a tentative smile. Her blush deppened when he asked her what her name was, and she ended up looking down again, "I'm Senna." She mumbled, her voice high and childish. She didn't think the angel had yet seen her collar, and she was thankful for that, it made her feel lesser, then everything, worse then a stray cat, all covered in fleas and dieing of worms.

Her blush was just dieing down when he asked what happened to her, sparking it back to her cheeks. She didn't want to tell him, she couldn't. How do you tell a person you don't own yourself? That you live, following a person's orders, them owning your body and soul, or at least your body and actions. It made her feel pathetic, as if she didn't run her life. "Nothing." She murmured quietly. She frowned, though because a few strands of hair were draped over her face, she knew the angel wouldn't see it.

[Deleted]

"Oh no, kiddo, I've been around the block a few times. No human-- and no lycan especially, bows like that when nothing has happened to them." He smiled at her, stepping away and letting his hand drop from hers. He found himself a seat on a stump nearby, large wings folding in quite close to his body; it never seemed as though they weren't there, but they at least were less imposing this way. "Nor do most people typically feel so incredibly pathetic and sad when they do bow...I don't like seeing people so unhappy." He looked up at her, his chin in his hand, elbows propped on his knees. Chi's sturdy gaze studied her for a moment, the way she couldn't meet his eyes, the waves of inferiority that his empathic abilities clued him in to. He had a small smile on his face, a curious and compassionate one. He wanted to help this person, now that he could see that something was troubling her. It was his job, after all, and he intended to earn his paycheck.

Not that he really received a paycheck, but the sentiment was the same. Weren't heavenly powers given to one sworn to protect and defend the same as the paycheck given to someone sworn to provide? He wondered whether manipulating her emotions would make her feel better, and then decided that it was important to someone who was convinced she was inferior to have control over her own emotions at least. Malachi wondered again what had happened to the poor thing. She was so shy, kicking gently at the turf, her cheeks red and blushing, her words quiet and mumbled. Perhaps pressing her for something that affected her so deeply would be better for another time. Chi's grasp of human emotions had developed greatly since he had first come to earth, but their hesitancy to speak about bad things still perplexed him. Perhaps it was because there were very few bad things that happened to him individually, or perhaps because his race was essentially a conglomerate and fundamentally less individualistic than people were. It was as though they hoped if they could ignore their monsters long enough, they would go away, despite knowing that things were very much to the contrary. After a pause of some seconds, the angel spoke again.

"Senna...that's an interesting name. From the senna plant? It has beautiful little yellow flowers. Have you seen them?"

[teris]

Senna watched as the gorgeous angel made his way over to a stump. Her heart fluttered. It was impossible being around beings that have been around forever. It was like they were flawless, even Ray was flawless, and he was a demon. Though his and this angel's beauty were different. Malachi's beauty was innocent, happy, more... pure. While Ray's was a slightly darker, fun, enticing, it drew her towards him like a moth to a fire.

Shaking her head, trying to loose the confusion that suddenly washed over her, Senna looked over a the angel, keeping her head down to hide the collar. "It's nothing... really." It made her sad to think that this angel might think less of her if he knew what she was, if he knew that she was a slave, someone to be walked over and bossed around.

When the question arose of the origin of her name, Senna let her shoulders roll in a shrug. "I don't know, my parents never told me." She shrugged. "And no, I've never seen the flower before." She shrugged again, lifting her head. She flushed when her collar flashed in the sun light, hoping he hadn't seen it.

[Deleted]

Malachi listened intently to his empathic sense-- it was necessary for him around people he couldn't understand, like this Senna girl. She was shy and withdrawn and now confused, and the reason for all of these emotions was something he couldn't pinpoint just yet.

"It's nothing...really. And no, I've never seen the flower before."

After a barrage of shrugs, Malachi watched as Senna finally raised her head to look at him. She had a very pretty face, even on such a cloudy, unpleasant day. Why should she hide it? "Well, maybe you--" And then, in a glimpse of sunlight flashing at something on her neck, the angel understood. "Oh, honey." Concern and sympathy washed immediately over his face, a well of empathy framed by a head of warm brown hair. His palms moved to his knees to push him back up from his seat on the stump to a sturdy standing posture. Chi moved forward and extended a hand to gently rest on the lycan's shoulder. His touch was warm, and transferred to her a sense of healing, should any injury or sense of illness be troubling her. "They can chain your body but don't let them change your soul."

He paused for a moment, then let his hand drop, the feathers behind him fluttering idly in the breeze, their somewhat burnished discolorations easy to see out of direct sunlight. "How long have they had you?" Intelligent eyes under a no-nonsense brow studied the collar she wore for a few moments, noting the bell-- so she couldn't sneak away-- and the tags. He couldn't see whether they were engraved with a name, but he hoped if they were that it wasn't the name of anyone terribly cruel. Still, it had to be bad, if this girl had already been so well-trained to submission.

[teris]

Ducking her head at the "Oh honey", Senna flushed again. She didn't need an angel's sympathy, no matter how good it felt to have it. Looking down at the dirt with a heavy heart, Senna concentrated hard on a small green fleck, slowly inching across her shoe as an ant carried it to his queen.

"Since I was 14 and a bit. She mumbled, answering the angel's question as to how long she'd been a slave. His hand was warm on her shoulder, and at his touch, a cool cloud of serenity pooled into Senna's thoughts; though it didn't take away the pain creeping into her heart. She had only cried twice about the whole slave ordeal. The first time being when she was caught, and the second when they had beat her into submission. This would be the third now. She wasn't exactly what had happened, one second she was watching as the ant crawled off her shoe and was hastily scurrying away, and the next she was sobbing that annoying, obnoxious sob of hers, and clinging onto the angel.

Her hands curled like claws, clutching the front of his shirt that her face was buried in, and she cried. The hot tears poured from her eyes and were sucked up by the material, and choking sobs came from her throat.

It took a while for the sobbing to calm down, and after that the sick feeling came. The one where it felt like you would throw up, and she knew she was going to. Pushing herself away from the angel and stumbling her way over to the rock he'd been sitting on, she leaned over it, spilling her stomach's contents onto the grass and dirt. Irrationally, she worried over the state of her hair, making sure not to get any of the vomit onto it. When she was done, she took in a deep breath, gagging again when the fowl scent hit her nose. Pushing against the rock to stand, she took a thick leave from a nearby tree, wiping her mouth, and keeping her back to the angel.

Her eyes felt blood shot and puffy, her head felt stuffed and muddled, and her throat was parched, but she didn't care. The soreness of her eyes and cloudiness in her head made her sleepy, but she wouldn't let the puffed eyes close. She wiped her wet eyes on the sleeve of the long sleeved shirt she was wearing, and sniffled, attempting to clear a path for breathing in her nose.

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Malachi was mildly surprised when the girl fell onto him sobbing, her tears warm on his shirt. Poor little thing! Of course, his arms would encircle her, even if she did make a somewhat annoying crying sound. It was hardly something to mention when the young lycan was draped around his neck, crying her heart out. The tears and what-have-you on his shirt wouldn't bother the angel, either-- he was glad to be a respite for the little slave, a shoulder to cry on when she had obviously been bottling these tears and storing them away for so long. Mortal lives were so full of grief and joy and pain and pleasure, it was overwhelming. They lived passionately and swiftly, like a shooting star or a firework or a kiss goodbye. The angel was infinitely, eternally Jealous-- it was one of the Sins he flirted with often.

But of course, without hesitation, Malachi's arms would embrace the pitiful creature even as her fingers dug into his back, her nails rather uncomfortable. For someone else he might be tempted to tamper with emotions, using his ability to play them like puppets on strings. For Senna, though, he wouldn't dare. Chi was not human, nor mortal, nor had he ever experienced what she was experiencing, but he was at least old enough to know that she needed to cry like she was crying now. Openly, safely, until she'd gotten all her tears out and could face life again. This was the sort of thing Chi was around to help with, and it somehow made him happy, though he could feel her despair like a pressure on his skull. He felt like he was helping, and there was nothing better to him.

After a time of crying, she seemed to slow, and suddenly released him to go retch in the bushes. He turned his gaze politely, recognizing that humans were usually embarrassed to be seen purging their stomachs. It wasn't a graceful act, nor did it smell well. Malachi knew from some experience that it was very unpleasant, and he felt bad for the young lycan. He moved towards her once she stopped, his hand once again falling onto her shoulder with that same healing warmth to settle her stomach and dissipate any ill-feelings. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

[teris]

Senna felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, filling her with that peaceful feeling as like before.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" He asked her. His voice was strong, calm, tender, understanding while not understanding at the same time. She shook her head no, keeping her head low at the same time, not wanting to look up. The only thing to do really would be kill her owner, but even then it wouldn't work. The slave traders would come and simply sell her to another. Perhaps even one worse then Lokia. The only thing would be to buy her. But what would an angel want with a lycan? Besides... Ray already said he'd help her. Relying on this angel would only show that she didn't believe he could.

"No, there's nothing you can really do." She mumbled, looking up with puffy sore eyes at the angel. Wiping her eyes once again, she tried clearing the puffiness. Her hands were cool, which helped against her burning eyes. Her head felt stuffed as well, and the calm nature around her seemed bent on sending her to sleep. She yawned, the yawn stretched out from tiredness. Her nose scrunched up slightly, accenting her freckles for the barest of moments, and for a moment, she swayed, eyes half closed.

Almost falling over, she shook her head, forcing the half closed eyes open and tried to clear the clouds from her head. "I should actually get going back soon." She said, her voice had that finality in it, holding the knowledge that she may never be free. Looking up at the angel, she took in his features. From the cute curve of his hair right down to his somewhat square chin. All flawless, like all of God's creatures, and incredibly handsome. She gave him a small smile. That smile alone spoke volumes of thanks and relief.

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The angel's wings fluttered for a moment behind him as he leaned forward suddenly, in a mildly clumsy attempt to catch the swooning, sleepy lycan. Her eyes were heavy and a lot of crying had worn her out, but she managed to pick herself up before he got to her. She shook her head and yawned, obviously doing her best to banish the sleepiness. Chi had felt like that before, when his tireless angelic soul wanted to continue on but his mortal body wouldn't go any further without rest. It was an odd feeling for a creature that wasn't accustomed to sleeping, like driving a car in a high speed chase that was quickly running out of gas. He supposed she was used to it, though.

"I should actually get going back soon."

He hoped that she wouldn't receive any sort of punishment for being out this long. Malachi found it impressive that she was let out at all. He'd never been when he was a slave, but then...that had been long ago, with a human master, and things had been very different. "Ah, of course. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble." The angel studied her face for a moment, his own face breaking into the sunniest and most uplifting of smiles as he saw her young face smiling back at him. A little nudge of his empathetic power here would do wonders; he had some control over emotions, the ability to take, say, a smidge of happiness and turn it into joy. Malachi did so now, his smile and strange power combining to leave his little lycan friend with a warm happiness to keep her spirits up as she made her way back to whichever master she served.

"Before you go...if you ever need my help, know that you can always call on me, wherever you are, and I'll hear you and help you however I can. Anytime, anywhere." Chi grinned again, though within himself it upset him greatly to have to relinquish this girl back onto some master somewhere. He hoped acutely that her owner wasn't an abusive or tyrannical one, though that was probably more than he could hope for.

[teris]

Senna felt the warmth spread through her, heightening from a small, thankful smile to a full blown grin. A trill of high, child-like laughter bubbled from her mouth as she grinned at the angel. She knew not why she was so happy, but at the same time, she didn't care. This is the best she'd felt since meeting Ray, and she wasn't about to question her new found emotions given the circumstances.

"Before you go...if you ever need my help, know that you can always call on me, wherever you are, and I'll hear you and help you however I can. Anytime, anywhere." He smiled warmly at her, making her feel a thousand times lighter, almost as if she were the one with the wings, and could take off soaring at any given moment.
She nodded at him, her own smile large and sweet. She felt like a child once again, innocent and happy. Everything in life was perfect, she accepted everything and lived in the moment, always needing to do something to keep herself preoccupied. Though underneath her childish thoughts and feelings, the dark cruelness of truth waited, just beneath the thin glass between reality and this feeling she had now.

That glass now shattered, her smile faltered momentarily, but she allowed it to shine once more, forcing herself to enjoy the moment. It wasn't that difficult, considering the joy now coursing through her veins like sunshine refracting from a prism. Walking over to the angel, she wrapped her arms around his torso, letting her head rest against his chest. She closed her eyes for two seconds in the hug as she absorbed his heat radiating from him like an aura. Stepping back, grateful smile taking over the childish one, Senna dipped her head and upper torso in a slight bow, "Thanks" She said, coming out of the small dip and standing straight.

She hovered there a moment, basking in the glow that seems to follow angels around like a second skin, then gave another smile. This one a finality as well, a good bye smile. "Well, I guess this is bye for now then, hm? Hope to see you sometime in the near future." With those words, the lycan turned, her step now more sure, strong, powerful. The step she'd hidden from the rest of the world since become a slave, the pride she'd hidden from the slave drivers and owners, the joy she'd suppressed. Walking from the clearing by the cliffs, Senna disappeared into the surrounding forestry, leaves and twigs rustling her exit.

[Deleted]

Oh, how it lightened his soul to see his new friend so happy.

Even if it was only the result of his empathic ability, and even if he knew it wouldn't last nearly as long as he'd like for it to.

Still, she was feeling very well now, and she would remember how it felt to be happy again after this, and he hoped very much that just the memory of being so happy would help her to be more at ease with her situation. Or...something like that. Her hug was enthusiastic and gladly received, the fatherly angel's arms wrapping naturally around the young lycan. He noted absently that she smelled like something that reminded him of cherries. It was pleasant, and brought a wry smile to his face.

He could see Senna's own smile shifting from joyful to grateful to a farewell, additionally sensing it with that odd emotion-detecting power of his. Her little bow-- less subservient, this time, and more appreciative, was mirrored by his own. Chi had been a slave, too, at one point long ago, but he'd also been a nobleman, and perhaps his bow contained a little bit of both, a servant and master at the same time; humble, but confident.

"Well, I guess this is bye for now then, hm? Hope to see you sometime in the near future." Malachi smiled gently. "For now. Take care'a yourself, little flower." Happier eyes watched as she strode off, more self-confidence and strength in her that when he'd found her looking morosely over the cliff edge. He felt that in their meeting he had helped, if only a little overall, but the idea was a great boon to him. He felt happy-- he felt, for the first time in awhile, the need to stretch his wings. Malachi chuckled softly, turned, and jumped away into the air with a leap and a great whoosh! of his wings.

-fin-