|M|y |D|eath [chels]

[{Curare}]

I tried to kill the pain,
but only brought more.
So much more.

[/i]

Feet pound on the slick snow and ice, never once faltering in their quiet pounding of earth. Curare's yellow/black eyes were wild with fear, and she constantly turned her head to glance over her shoulder. Her long gray-black hair whipped back and forth and constantly struck her pointed ears with its constant sway. She was being chased. Chased by her master. Her master, and her pack.

I lay dying,
and I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal.
I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming
Am I too lost to be saved?
Am I too lost?

Suddenly her foot slipped from the unrelenting ground and she fell down hard, tearing her already revealing slave uniform. Pulling her cloak around her she stood up quickly, doing so in such a way that she ended up just falling right back down. She stood up again, this time more slowly, and once she was up she continued her fruitless run. It's not like she needed the exercise. She was plenty fit. Maybe even a little too skinny.

My God my tourniquet;
Return to me salvation!
My God my tourniquet;
Return to me salvation.

Avia heard a roar behind her and she sped up, pumping her arms and running quickly. Her master was a Chiita hybrid. A beast made to run, and run fast. Her cheetah master and her pack had decided that they weren't pleased with her constant service, and they wanted to make her pay. They wanted to run. They wanted to hunt. They wanted to kill, and do you want to know who they wanted to kill? Well, isn't it obvious, they wanted their little slave-ling, Curare Avia Misani.

Do you remember me?
Lost for so long.
Will you be on the other side
or will you forget me?
I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming
Am I too lost to be saved?
Am I too lost?

Breathing rapidly she looked back once more, and her eyes widened in terror, calling forth a gasp from her bow shaped lips. She was only seeing things however, and nothing was truly there, which she found out after another agonizingly long moment of terror. Sighing in relief she ran around a large snow covered ice mountain, and hid in the shadows there for a moment so she could catch her breath. Moments later she was running full speed again down the icy tundra.

My God my tourniquet;
Return to me salvation!
My God my tourniquet;
Return to me salvation.

[/i]

Not too long she was so far into the ice filled landscape that all around all she could see was white. White for miles, and nothing else. No mountain. No glacier. Nothing. Nothing but a white atmosphere, bearing down on her. Tears came to her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away before they had the chance to become frozen tear-cicles. Falling to her knees she pulled her ragged cloak tighter around her, trying to block out the freezing cold that was seeping into her very soul, and freezing even the hardest to reach places.

I want to die!!!

God! Why have you abandoned me! Am I too lost in the this new world to be saved! she cried soundlessly in her mind for none but her to hear. She wanted out. Curare wanted to be saved. At the moment even a quick death seemed better than a slow and painful one brought on by frostbite or the savage claws and fangs of a pack of ravenous and unjust cheetahs. Her whole body quivered with fear, pain, betrayal, and cold.

My God my tourniquet;
Return to me salvation!
My God my tourniquet;
Return to me salvation.

Pretty soon the harsh snow began to pile around her, already forming her icy casket. Her snowy grave. Seeing this, Curare Avia tried to stand up, but her legs had become numb from the cold, and she could not bid them to obey her. "SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!!" she screamed, fear making her yell out despite the fact that it would probably draw the starving cheetahs to her. By now she was terrified.

My wounds cry for the grave,
my soul cries for deliverance.
Will I be denied?
Christ, tourniquet my suicide.

"Someone!!! ANYONE!!!" she cried. Tears flowed from her slowly dulling eyes. She didn't even care if her tears froze anymore. She was going to die, and no one was going to ever find her. No, soon she would be covered completely by the snow anyway, and the only one who would find her would be one of her master's pack, after sniffing her out. Sobbing, her body shook, and she looked up at the whited-out sky, praying for a miracle. Praying for someone to save her.

Lyrics from - Tourniquet by Evanescence

Word Count - 878
[/size][/blockquote]

[Kikio Valyntine]

Boots crunched rather loudly as Aiko walked over the snow in the Karatan Tundra. A heavy, deer skin trench coat surrounded his body, and the hood hid his handsome face. Blinking his eyes against the cold, he pushed on. The scent of a different pack coming near made him stop. Turning his head, he saw cheetahs trotting up to him. Nodding his head in greeting, they looked up at his tall, six foot figure. "Have you seen a girl?" they questioned, a wild look in their eyes. "No." Akio spit, and they glared at him. Seeing that he was not lying, they turned and loped off, probably trying to catch her scent.

The snow was pouring down roughly now, making his vision cloudy, but not dulling his senses, and a small voice in the back of his mind told him that something was about to happen, and it was gonna be a big change to his life. As if on cue, a muffled scream tore through his thoughs. Akio couldn't make out the words, but he could tell that it was the voice of a girl, and she was scared, and in pain. Deciding to see if he could help, he shifted into the small, Turkish Angora that he was, and loped in the direction of where the sound came from.

Stopping when he lost direction of where the scream had come from, Akio narrowed his eyes. Come on... Yell... he thought, looking around. As if by magic, his sky blue eyes caught a small footprint that was quickly being covered up by the falling snow. Looking to see if there were more, he blinked and broke into a run, following them. It was about when he was fifty of the girls paces in, the rest became covered up. Dam.n it. he snarled in his head. Akio was a wonderful tracker, but tracking in the snow wasn't simple. At all. Sitting back on his haunces, Akio racked his brain for anything that could help.

Suddenly, another scream ripped through his mind, this time close. Extremly close. Shifting back to his human form, he sprinted towards the sound, eyes narrowed and his mind set on completing this task that he set himself on. As he kept running, he saw a small figure being buried deeply in snow and he slowed to a walk. Walking up close to her, he knelt down on one knee. "I won't hurt you." he reassured her in his strong, trusting voice. "You just have to trust me. My name is Akio, I'm going to help you." he said. Pushing his arms through the snow, he picked her up in one easy motion and held her bridal style and pulled her tightly against his warmth. "Just hold on. You'll be safe. I promise."

[{Curare}]

About five minutes after Curare screamed the last time, she heard the sound of boots crunching in the snow, and her heartbeat picked up, fluttering in fear. Had her masters changed back to humans? What was going on? Had someone actually heard her scream. For a minute or two if sounded like the footsteps started to receide and she wanted to call out, to tell that person, whoever it was, that she was over here, but she had no strength left. Already she could hardly pull in enough air to keep her frozen lungs moving, her icy heart pumping, it was actually starting to get painful. A whimper broke through her snowy white lips at the thought of being stuck her forever. Would someone find her body a thousand years from now? A million?

Suddenly the footsteps grew loud in the annoyingly quite place and she felt the fear grip her, but she shoved it away thinking, What use is it to be afraid. It's slow death or quick. Then a miracle happened though. The figure - his features invisible to her - knelt beside her and she heard the words that would save her life. Save it, and change it. I won't hurt you. You just have to trust me. My name is Aiko, I'm going to help you. Just hold on. You'll be safe. I promise. Her eyes, blinded by the cold and dulled to a pale gray, looked around wildly for the source of the voice, but she couldn't see, it all looked the same to her. White...black...gray...White..black....gray..

Suddenly she felt the world move around her and she found herself amazingly up in the air. For a moment the cold became even worse, pressed up against whatever was holding her in the air. The heat was so warm from the body that it had turned icy on her already freezing - ghost like - skin. A shuddering hiss escaped her lips, but after another few minutes warmth began to spread through her body and she knew that the impossible had happened. Someone had heard her cries and she was going to be okay. This person was going to save her.

As the heat battle with the cold, she felt suddenly tired, and she let herself slip, knowning that she would be okay. For once...everything was going to be okay. Then slowly as she slipped into the darkness, she opened her arms wide, greeting it happily, letting herself slip into oblivion. At least it was warm there.

[Kikio Valyntine]

Akio looked down at the girl and narrowed his eyes. Someone had hurt her, and she had probably done nothing to deserve it. She seemed so innocent, so young, and so frail that he wondered why anyone would even want to hurt her. Holding her up with one arm, he reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone and called his home. He asked for a helicopter. Akio gave his location and in no time, the loud thudding of the helicopter wings filled the air and then it decended until it landed. Akio ran towards it and handed her up into the flying vehicle, before he himself climbed in.

Once they arrived back at his manor, he had her sent to the healers and gave them strict orders for when she woke up, not to let her leave the home. It had been a while since Akio had felt this way about helping someone, and it aggrivated him. He spent most of his time in his office, wondering who could have done this to her whenever the group of cheetahs popped into his mind. They had been looking for a girl. Could it be the same girl? Most likely.

As soon as she woke up and was well, he would ask her who she belonged to, and why they did what they did to her.

[{Curare}]

Curare found that she was truely enjoying being in the darkness, she wondered why she hadn't given into it before, when she was dying. Then she knew why. That was exactly why, because this time she wasn't dying. She felt herself smile but then she frowned, a bright light appeared through the darkness, and she knew that she couldn't stay there any longer. She was needed in the world of the living. Shaking her head from side to side to wake herself up she blinked open her still rather dull gray eyes. They hadn't gotten a chance to warm up yet. Her body had, and she could see well again, but her eyes were still cold, probably from having all that snow hit them. Oh well, they would be back to normal again in a few minutes, now that she was awake...and apparently in someone's home because it was way to hot for her to still be out in the snow. Sitting up slowly she stretched and then shuddered, rubbing her side. "Ow.." she complained. How did I hurt my side...I don't- then she stopped as realization hit her, she'd forgotten that she had fallen on that rock...that really sharp rock. "Ouch. I guess that's not gonna go away for a while." she murmured shaking her head.

Looking around she saw a few healers who when they noticed she was awake and moving swarmed around her. Cringing back into herself she shuddered and shook. She whimpered once afraid they were going to hurt her and then a second later she realized that no one was touching her and she opened her dull eyes to look up at soft faces. She smiled timidly back at their kind faces and the answering smiles were huge. She blinked and then whispered in a soft wind-chime voice, " Um.....are you the ones who saved me?" They shook their hads and one, obviously the boss man said, "No, that would be our master, Aiko. He wanted to see you up in his office when you woke. Would you like to go now? I'd be happy to lead you there." he answered in a kind voice. I nodded slowly and stretched my long legs, slowly getting up, wincing once when I jostled my side. They noticed and one started to say something but I held up my hand, "I'm fine." I said simply. They shut up and the one lead me towards the master's office.

When we were there the doctor knocked on the door and said, "She's awake. She's here. I'm sending her in." Then he turned and left Curare all by herself in front of the large doors. Slowly she shoved against the doors, opening them. She walked in slowly, it was obvious by how she moved - cautiously ready to run if she sensed danger - that she was still afraid. After all she hadn't seen the man who had saved her....why had he saved her? What was his reason for doing so? She was so tired of being a slave.

[Kikio Valyntine]

Aiko sat in complete silence until someone knocked on the two, large doors that closed his office off. Hearing that the girl was awake, he rose an eyebrow. When the doors opened, he turned in his swirly chair and looked at her from behind a window of ivory locks. "Please. Sit down." he said softly, standing up on his long legs and motioning towards one of the large chairs before him. Blinking his dark eyes, he watched her, wondering what she would do.

"I'm Aiko. Whats your name?" he questioned, looking directly into her eyes. Setting his lips in an unmoving line, he probably seemed like a cold hearted stone that looked to hate all life. A small, crooked grin tugged at the edge of his lips, and he returned to sitting. "I'm sorry if I might have startled you on the tundra." he said quickly, because he knew she was probably wondering why he saved her in the first place.

[{Curare}]

The first thing Curare did when he told her to sit, was she sat in the chair he had motioned to. When he tried to hold her gaze she quickly cast hers down. She had learned from years of slavery that staring into your - or someone else's masters - eyes always caused trouble. It was like a challenge to them, and she did not want to do that ever again. From under a few locks of her interesting hair she watched his movements, making sure they weren't hostile or anything like that and saw that she liked how he looked. He didn't look like most other masters...her masters. Looking up just for a moment so he could look in her dull eyes she replied softly, like the wind, "I'm Curare, sir." Then she dropped her head again. "You didn't startle me, sir. I couldn't really see you at all anyway." she replied a moment later in answer to his ... odd statement. He was sorry..? Masters were never sorry. It was a rule of thumb.

Knowing that this was probably a freakishly bad idea, Curare found that she couldn't stop herself - she had to ask. "Um...sir..why did you save me in the first place...?" she asked hesitantly. Hey, if he did decide to kill her, it was a good thing that she was on peaceful terms with the darkness now..

[Kikio Valyntine]

Aiko watched her as she sat and then he seated himself. "Nice to meet you Curare." he said, pondering over her interesting name. Curare... Hm... he thought, his eyes narrowed slightly in thought. Grabbing a pen off of his desk, he twisted it between his fingers, it kept him busy. He got fidgety if he sat for to long and didn't do anything. "Good. I'm glad that I didn't." Aiko said, nodding his head. Running his tongue gently over his lips to moisten them, he looked at her from beneath his lashes.

Sitting back as a first reaction to her question, he blinked a few times, mixing up an explanation. "Well. I just don't like seeing people in pain, and you were in a... a pile of it. "Now, what I wanted to ask you." he began, leaning foreward slightly. "Who are your master slash masters?" he questioned, a cold tone entering his voice, remembering how she was so crumpled up in the snow, and so in pain, and so scared. Aiko would find, and he would make them pay for her pain.

[{Curare}]

She nodded politely. "Nice to meet you too, Master Aiko." she replied gently, keeping her eyes fixed on a patch of carpeting on the ground. She nodded once more, but her eyes narrowed just slightly. He was glad that he hadn't frightened her..? What master thought like that? From under her bangs she watched him moisten his lips, and she felt a strange tingling in her gut, but she quickly disgarded it and looked back to the patch of carpet on the floor.

Nodding her head stiffly at his answer to her question she pondered over his strange words again. To her ears it sounded almost like he was speaking a different language. It was quite possible in reality, she was an elf, and he was an animal, but she understood his words...they just sounded strange coming from a master. She blinked in surprise as she realized that he didn't know what she was yet. Her hair covered her pointed ears insaneely well. He didn't know what breed she was. Curare's eyes narrowed again. Why wasn't he curious?

Her eyes hardened just a fraction. Here it comes. she thought. What kind of question could he possibly have for her? What she heard come from his mouth next stunned her. She hadn't been thinking in that direction at all. She had been thinking something more along the lines, Why'd you run from your masters? Why didn't you let them catch you? You should have felt honoured. That was what she had been expecting. The last time, and the time before that one, those were the questions she had been asked.

Surprisingly, she shook her head and pressed her lips together in a tight line. She wasn't going to tell him. They were her masters. She couldn't out them. They'd kill her when she went back. They would have anyway, but she couldn't disobey them like that. She couldn't do that. Plus, she was just far to kind for her own good.

[Kikio Valyntine]

Aiko sighed in slight annoyance that he didn't answer her. "Well. I guess I can understand why you won't answer me. I guess. Don't worry though, I promise you they won't come for you, and if they set foot on my land... Well lets just say they won't be returning home." he explained, standing. "Of course you may return though... If you'd like. Or, you could stay here as my guest, shower, and come down to the dining room and enjoy the delicious banquet my cooks are preparing as we speak." he said, looking at her. That was probably the longest speech he had ever made. Literally. Furrowing his brows, he saw a light bump in her hair.

Taking a few steps closer, he reached out gently. "I won't hurt you." he promised. Moving her hair away, he noticed the pointed tips. "Hm... Well. I was never planning on meeting an elf." he said, no sign of anger in his voice. Stepping back to his desk, he turned and smiled gently at her. "Well? What do you plan on doing Curare?"

[{Curare}]

Curare Aviani felt herself relax when he gave it up. She couldn't tell him who her masters were. It was actually in her binding. The binding that made her the property of her owners. It was a rare case, normally masters didn't do that to there slaves, they just expected them to be good little pets and toys, but her masters were just down right cruel, and they were suspicious of everyone and this whole mess. This whole Okami thing. They were still trying to figure out what the catch was.

When they had bought her from that horrid slave market, they had blindfolded her and took her directly to her quarters at the palace. Then they had unblinded her and they recited the binding spell, but they added in a part that she herself had never heard before. It made it so that it was impossible for her to tell on her masters. You know, tell other masters who her masters were, tell someone where her owner's palace was, that kind of thing. Of course, she would have been one of the good little puppets. She wouldn't have told even if she could, but it didn't help that she now couldn't. If she even tried the enchantment would fatal wound her. She'd had it done once before, when she had been so terrified by another master that she had tried to tell him. Let's just say she was never ever going to try that again. No matter what.

That wasn't the only part they had added to the binding though. They had also put in a spell like leash. Basically if she wound up somewhere, she would find her binding pulling and pushing her towards home. If she stayed in one place too long without answering the call it would start to mark her. Not permanentally, but it would hurt. Badly. Although, at the moment her masters probably thought she was dead, but soon they would realize that she was not, and then the tugging would begin.

However, the thought of a warm shower and actual food was too enticing. She found herself nodding. "I-I'll stay." she said, stunned by her own words. What had she just gotten into? When he started walking towards her she cringed against the chair and her eyes squeezed shut, but then his words broke through to her and she slowly relaxed her stiffened muscles, however, she kept her eyes closed. Oh. So he just hadn't noticed, that was why he hadn't been curious about what she was, but now he knew. She was staying now though.....how was that going to work. It was only a matter of minutes, possibly hours, before her real owners found out she was alive before the pain came..

[Kikio Valyntine]

Aiko rocked back on his heels and then relaxed his stance. Turning his head to look out the large window to his right, his ivory tresses fell over his dark eyes, giving him a mysterious appearance. Swallowing, he blinked before looking back at the elf before him. Aiko moved back around his desk and and picked up a pen. He was trying to keep himself occupied while she thought of an answer and while she dwelled with something else in her mind. When she finally answered, he smiled gently at her. "Excellent." Blinking his eyes, the door opened easily and two rather beautiful women walked in and smiled at Aiko. "Yes?" they both said at the same time. "Please, accompany our guest to our facilities. Keep her happy, and if she doesn't like what you are giving her, such as a horrid outfit, let her pick what she would like." the two girls nodded their heads and took Curare by the hand, and led her upstairs.

Just as he was leaving through the double doors, the head healer stopped him, a worried look in his eyes. "We did a blood test on her. There is something in it, its... well weird. It seems that as long as she is alive, her masters have a way of returning her to them, without leaving their dwelling. I have a cure for it, but I need your permission to use it." Aiko narrowed his eyes. "Can it be put into beverages?" he asked. The healer nodded. "Good, I want it put into her drink. I don't want her harmed anymore than she already is." The healer nodded and disappeared down the hall.

[{Curare}]

Curare looked at the two girls with worried eyes, but Master Aiko had appointed them to this job, so supposidly she could trust them not to hurt her. She allowed them to drag her along to....well where ever they were taking her to. Soon they were in a large, expansive room with a closet that took up basically half of the room. I guess this must be the...guest facilities.... she thought in shock. Even her masters didn't have something this exquisite for guests. Definitally not for slaves, and since they never had guest slaves, this kind of stuff never happened. A moment later the twin girls showed her an outfit and asked if it was to her liking. She shook her head shyly, it was way to expensive, nothing a simple girl like her should ever own or for that matter wear.

"C-can...I have something...more..simple?" she stuttered, unuse to asking for things. It wasn't like a slave to do something like that. She bowed her head, waiting for a strike or something, but it never came. She raised her head and saw a perfect outfit right in front of her nose. It was a pair of low-cut jeans and a silver t-shirt with black swirly designs on it. It was the most normal outfit in the whole closet. "That's good. Shoes?" she dared to ask. They pointed and in front of her feet were a simple pair of tennis shoes. "Thank you." she said with a smile. Quickly she stripped and put on the fresh clothes. It felt so good on her sore skin to be in clothes that actually fit her, and amazingly even with the simplicity of it, it looked amazing on her.

Next the two beautiful girls guided the elf to the dining hall. The motioned for her to sit next to Master Aiko's place, and her eyes widened. She was a guest, that was true, but she was also a slave...she couldn't. She was about to turn away to go sit at the servant table, but the two girls practically shoved her into the chair. She blinked but finally she sat in the chair, although she shifted uncomfortably.

A moment or two later a glass with something to drink in it was put before her. Curare Aviani was about to take a drink when a flag went up in her mind. A terrible, painful flag. One meant to be a warning. There was something in that beverage that was not suppose to be there. The reason that it was a painful warning though, was that what had sensed it was her binding, not her powers. Whatever was in that drink would break part of her binding. Standing up suddenly, her chair flipped over behind her, and her hand shot out, knocking the drink away from her. Her eyes were wild with fear. Two different kinds, one of the pain that was sure to come from her binding spell in any minute, and the other from whatever punishment she was about to get. Tears flooded down her eyes, and a second later, her whole body went ridgid and straight, and she screamed as an invisible giant hand grabbed her whole body in its grasp and squeezed. Her ribs protested and a few snapped in two, while the invisble force crushed her leg along with other damages. All of that just from the possiblity of the binding being broken, the real pain hadn't even started. A second later, the force vanished, and she fell from the place where she had risen a few feet in the air, and landed, hard, in a collapsed sobbing heap on the ground.