Plight of The Angel (Spartan/Invite Only)

[amanae]

The silver haired angel groaned as he lay crumpled on the ground. Slowly his red eyes fluttered open only to be greeted by darkness. Had he been sleeping? Or was he dead? The angel groaned again and held his head in his hands. He did not know what had befallen him. All that he knew was that he was here in this place and obviously alone.

The newly fallen angel shook his head slightly, pushing himself into a sitting position. His body felt numb and his muscles were rather stiff. That was not about to stop him however. The angel was a sitting duck in his current state and he scrambled to his feet.

Red eyes quickly scanned the area around him, finding it completely vacant. He took a few steps, almost tripping over a large sword that lay on the ground. The angel leaned over, picking up the heavy blade with his right hand. It felt so natural in his grip, as if it belonged there, which it did.

His eyes proceeded to look the blade over. It had a very odd looking half circle at the very tip and wave like divots carved out of the body of the blade. Along the handle was carved a name...Zecirael...his name.

"Zecirael," he whispered, the name sounding almost other worldly to him as it rolled off of his tongue. So this is who he must be, he concluded. After all, the blade had been extremely close to where he had awoken. There was no way that it could just be a coincidence.

The angel felt around his lower back, his hand finding a series of leather straps. Perfect for holding a sword of that size in place. No, the blade being there had definitely not been coincidental.

Now that he knew who he was, his next goal would be to find out where he was. The angel stretched his single wing, placing the blade in its proper place, and proceeded forward through the darkened streets before him.

[Spartan 999]

The entity known as Rakurai walked through the darkened streets of the city, black cloak and hood covering and concealing his body and features. It was already twilight, which meant all the humans had battened down the hatches, so to speak. All kinds of supernatural creatures roamed at dark, most attempting to find ways inside human dwellings when not fighting amongst themselves. Indeed, a coven of vampires were attacking a slightly smaller pack of werewolves in an alley he passed. He ignored them, as always, for he had business here with an...associate.

His senses, which extended far beyond the five common ones known by humans, seemed to tingle with excitement. He looked to the south, and saw a pillar of fire descend into the city. No one else reacted, but why would they? Only those with true sight could witness, undoubtedly, an angel falling.

Intrigued, he started making his way in that direction; the informant could wait a couple hours. As he walked, a particularly bold and stupid vampire attempted to waylay him. As Rakurai was not in his true form, he was shorter than the admittedly tall bloodsucker.

"Well ain't you a dumb one?" The vampire chuckled, two of his allies moving up to either side of the shrouded man. "You didn't think we'd attack a human in a cape?"

"I have no quarrel with you." Rakurai said neutrally. "Move aside or perish--it makes no difference to me."

When the lead child of the night stepped forward, evidently about to reply with his fangs, Rakurai moved. The next thing the vampire knew, the cloaked man had rolled behind him and cleanly snapped his neck. His associates pounced, but they were both bisected with a massive sword that seemed to appear from nowhere underneath the cloak.

Rakurai looked around at the shocked onlookers. He sheathed the sword--which again seemed to vanish--then continued walking.

None dared approach him.

[amanae]

The angel's head was throbbing, waves of pain shooting down his spine as it did. Zecirael compared the experience to being similar to having one's head split in two. Perhaps the pain derived from hitting the ground. Or it could have been from his memory being erased, maybe both. Either way, Zecirael tried his best to ignore it, difficult as it was.

He stumbled about in the dark, not going anywhere in particular. He was trying to sort out his new surroundings, which would have been a simple task in the light of the day. Maybe he should find a place to rest and wait until morning. A sensation in the pit of his stomach warned him against doing so. It told him that there was danger lurking and he should keep on alert even though there was no visible sign of a threat.

Zecirael felt the back of his neck prickle. Was there someone watching him? Or was he just being paranoid? He spun in a full circle, eyeing the area around him with suspicion. Zecirael shrugged his shoulders and pressed onward again, the prickling never going away.

As Zecirael walked, he encountered no one. The only thing that gave away the presence of another life form was a mournful howl far off in the distance. The sound cut through the chilly night air and sent a shiver down his spine, the hair on his neck and arms standing on end.

So he was not alone in this place after all. Normally that would have been a source of comfort and peace of mind for the angel, but in the darkness of an unfamiliar world, no one was to be trusted and everyone was an enemy until proven otherwise.

The prickling at the back of his neck grew stronger. Someone was approaching him, he could feel it. Someone powerful...

Zecirael drew his sword, proceeding with caution, knowing not who he was about to encounter...

[Spartan 999]

Rakurai halted as he found the place the angel had fallen. To any ordinary person, it would just look like an unremarkable, empty space behind apartment complexes, but to him, golden concentric energy spiraled through the air, gradually dissipating. He reached out a hand to grab one of the bright tendrils, which was somehow corporeal despite its appearance.

"My my...an Archangel." He muttered under his breath. He willed magic to coalesce around him, which revealed the footsteps of the fallen heavenly creature. The cloak swished around him as he stepped into a deep patch of shadow.

The hooded man materialized out of the shadows several blocks away and on the other side of the block as the archangel, but kept steadily but quietly stalking towards his goal as though nothing unusual had happened.

[amanae]

The feeling in the pit of Zecirael's stomach grew stronger the longer he walked. There was a slight disturbance in the aura of the place, leaving it eerily calm and quiet. The feel that the Archangel had for the city was uncomfortable. He was out of his element and he would need to adapt to things quickly if he planned on living amongst the beasts and mortals.

A soft aura rolled off of the angel, his muscles rippling as he moved through the streets. Out of no where a dull ache overtook his right shoulder blade. Zecirael was missing a wing, though the wound was healed he was left forever marked as a fallen, unable to return to the heavens as a servant of the divine ones. Aside from the scar, there were no other marks apparent on his body. No sign of having engaged in numerous battles and holy wars.

Zecirael tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, his unease growing. He was sure now that someone or something was bearing down upon him, stalking him like a cat hunts a mouse. Whatever was coming for him, he had to be ready for any sort of confrontation, be it good or bad.

[Spartan 999]

Rakurai waited at the end of the block, the shadows enveloping him so as to conceal him. Soon enough, the fallen angel walked out, wary eyes surveying his surroundings. He could tell why the denizens of the city hadn't confronted the newcomer yet: he was an unknown, had one wing, and a massive sword strapped to his back.

Deciding to reveal his presence to the other, he let the shadows fall off like water as he rose from a pool. He was behind the archangel, but he knew by the way the other powerful being tensed and slowed that he felt Rakurai's presence.

"So, you are the fallen one." He rumbled. "Welcome to the City of the Damned, though it would be a lie if I said I'm glad to see you again."