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Shaheen had become a veritable bundle of intense emotions since their return from that entire end of the world business, a journey she remembered only agreeing to go on because for one, she didn't really want to see her second home destroyed and two, she really didn't want to see the human world destroyed at anyone else's hands except her own. Merlin? Now he wasn't such a bad guy, just a little misguided. He'd have made an excellent war horsemen, for all the chaos he could sow, and if it hadn't been for his attempt to tear her birthright away from her she might have actually liked him.

And then there was Death. He who was an almighty ancient and had deemed them all worthy of a vacation for their efforts. He who had taken over charge from Medea, and had decided that humans were no longer theirs to kill. She bared her teeth at the thought of it, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides as she stalked the grounds of the lost clans sanctuary aimlessly, spending far too much time thinking when she felt like she could have been out doing something more useful to better the clans.

Of course, this was all not to mention the accursed lock strapped around her waist and resting against one hip, but she wasn't even going to go there.

Bah. She decided perhaps she aught to just go home and get some sleep, as though she hadn't just been asleep for gods knew how long already. Maybe it would help clear her mind, help her think through things a little more rationally.

The fact that Shaheen thought that she could actually achieve rationality at any point was perhaps the most irrational thing of all.

One hike back across the sanctuary later, Shaheen found herself in the treed area of war, wandering a path she had taken often in recent months, the one that would take her to his..or rather their, abode. It wasn't until she was almost upon it that she spotted Shik, sitting on a stump, holding an instrument in his hands that she had not seen for quite some time. She paused, standing behind him a ways and near the house, eyes lingering on his still form as she debated whether to ignore him and head inside, or to approach.

Actually, throwing a rock at the back of his head and then ignoring him to go inside was a fairly tempting prospect as well....hrmmmmm...

Shaheen narrowed her eyes, shook her head, turned towards the house and made a movement as though to go inside.

And then she sighed, and turned towards him. Something had been...off, since they had gotten back. She knew she had holes in her memories, annoying black spots that she wished didn't exist. But Shik..well, she felt a little bit like maybe he was avoiding her. Or that could have been her paranoia speaking, though the insanity was nice and quiet just now.

Coming up beside him, she flumped down in a most unlady like manner next to the stump, silently. One wing flared out to the side, behind him, and ever so slowly, she leaned towards him and hissed, as though conspiratorially.

"I think you're supposed to blow in it for it to make a sound."

Well, somebody was certainly moody today! Not that Shaheen could really blame him, or be one to talk considering her own considerably less then jovial disposition. Still, she wasn't quite expecting that level of hostility, and inwardly bristled, though outwardly she tried not too get her feathers too ruffled. Something was bothering him, more then usual, and it surprised her that she could actually tell. Perhaps living together had done her some good after all.

"Rude." She stated, rather pointedly, eyes narrowing as she reached up and pointed a finger right at and very near his face. What was eating him, anyways? They were supposed to be on the same side! ......Or something. Ugh, why hadn't she just gone to bed like planned? This was just a fight waiting to happen, and her head was already throbbing hard enough without adding a few hits to the mix.

The way he shifted his wings away from her, did not go unnoticed, and she slowly drew her own back away from behind him, settling it down smoothly behind her, then pushed herself to her feet in one swift motion, more then okay with leaving him there to wallow in whatever misery was making him behave so much more hostile then usual.

And then he spoke, not looking at her though the words were directed towards her.

"I think it's horseshit." She answered, not bothering to mask her anger about it. Though she had though she'd made her opinions on the matter fairly vocal and clear upon re-entry to this world.

The rest of what he had to say, she may have imagined was a bit of a threat, or an open invitation to fight, instead of what it was actually meant to be. She was just so on edge, so sure that he was going to explode on her and push every button she had until her sword was out and first blood was drawn, justifying any further actions he might have towards violence.

Oddly, as normally this might appeal to her....she just wasn't in the mood. Not today. Not when she was already so genuinely pissed off about something other then him.

"What do you want from me, Shik?" The words were blurted out, her confused thoughts spinning out of control around irritating black holes of lost memories, only further irritating her.

His words froze her in her spot, her annoyance and anger faltering, a flicker of something crossing her features, something unsure. Was she always making it about her? Instead of flying straight to the defensive, she actually paused to think about it, considering whether or not it was true. She knew she often craved attention, that in her continual efforts to make certain people proud of her without effective or positive result, she had lost a part of herself along the way, something that no matter how hard she tried to ignore, continued to haunt her.

What he said, as far as she could discern, was true. It was always about her. Her problems, her insanity, her erratic behaviour, her that needed him to....to something. To save her? To dote on her? To show her some kind of sincerity in his affections, or following that strain of thought, any amount of affection of all?

She paused, and she didn't know quite what to say, because it would have a been an outright lie if she told him it was because she was more important then him, no matter how tempting it was to say it.

So she focused on the rest of what he said, after he dropped the flute, after he growled at her in frustration.

She shrugged, her wings rising and falling with the motion. "Nothing. Nothing except not telling me what's wrong, for choosing to avoid me instead, for verbally attacking me when I get too close. Nothing except that you are obviously looking for a fight."

She narrowed his eyes at him again, more studious now, her annoyance and anger ebbing as she found this new peculiarity to focus on, her thoughts for once, while a bit confused and holey, in this particular situation oddly clear.

"Do you wish to fight with me?"

Shik growled, and snorted, and looked as though he might actually just jump up and throttle her rather then answer, but Shaheen merely rolled her eyes in response, fighting the urge to sigh, throw her arms in the air, and scream "I GIVE UP!" to the heavens. She had been really trying this time, really at least attempting to see things from his point of view, even though some of what he'd said she may have decided to tune out, or to just plain not respond to. Her jaw actually twitched with the effort it took not to just snarl back at him, though she knew how utterly ridiculous that would make them both look.

.....Though she could just go mount form and it wouldn't look ridiculous at all. Now that was an option!

But again she found herself....almost disinterested in where that might lead. Another fight, more slashing away at each other in a continual battle for domination over the other, more clashing of mights.

And she just didn't want it. She wanted instead to direct that energy elsewhere, towards something more...useful for a change. He was angry with her, and she just felt angry in return but was actually some how able to contain it.

Who really knew how long that could last.

His glare was met with a look that likely couldn't have been any more unimpressed, her lips pursed, one eyebrow raised. A look that plainly said "are you quite finished." without needing to say it at all.

Again his words took her by surprise, but this time she worked harder on not letting it show. This time she took steps towards him, almost experimentally, cautious as though he was a wild animal that might lash out, something completely untamed, and nowhere near a man. It was quite possibly a very apt response to take with him.

"A little heat is not such a bad thing." Wait, was she being too cryptic? Gods she hated it when she accidentally spoke like that, more like her father then herself. She shook her head as though to be rid of it, then continued. "Pointed in the right direction at least." Closer now, was he going to pull away from her yet again?

What had happened to him in that world?

"Shik..." She almost sighed his name. "Sometimes a war can be won with words."

Ugh, she was doing it again! Well, whatever, she might as well roll with it this time. "Maybe, just this once, words are what you need. I have known you for a long time." Her eyes drew down to his lock, one not unlike her own but with its own unique features she was sure.

"Talk to me. Did...." She stopped, unsure if it was really her place to pry, but then decided you know what ******** it because she lived with him and that meant she should get to know some things some times damnit. "Did something happen in that other world? To you or...did I do something?"

Yes she was bringing it back to her. ******** you, Shik, deal with it. She didn't like having gaping holes in her memories either.

Maybe she forgot how to fight, Shik.

She was going to take the fact that Shik didn't make any attempt to get away from her as a good sign, and the fact that he was actually going to try and talk to her as she suggested as another, albeit incredibly surprising, one. Actually, the fact that she even suggested talking was surprising enough in itself.

Clearly, this was just another alternate universe that would implode at any moment and send them spiraling back into normality.

She nodded, once she was just a few short feet away but nowhere near as close to him as she was from the start, and crouched down on the ground to rest her chin on her knees, her lock making a soft clinking sound against it's chain, her wings curling around her shoulders just slightly. Children? Mirror images? She definitely felt as though she had missed something that had happened in that tower, and it made something twist in side of her to see him seemingly so distraught, in a way that was so unlike his usual anger.

She blinked at his question, not exactly expecting it, and definitely not expecting what he said next.

"No---no I did not." She was suddenly on her feet again, hands in fists at her sides, frowning at him, her words lilted with a soft edge of confusion even if she seemed quite adamant in her declaration. "No. I would not have. That's...." She frowned more, because there was something, a feeling, a thought, a word that was just out of reach. "I would never..." She seemed at a loss, and she took a step back, panic rising as she realized that she might have. She might have told him. What if she'd told him? What if that was one of the memories she had given up?

In the tower he wouldn't talk to her. Before that their interactions had been during battles. Growly man, that's what she had called him. And then a**, and then once she knew, knew who he was, he was Shikoba....She had approached him in that small encampment where they were able to rest and she had known him for who he was, somebody that she was close to, somebody that she lov----

It turned black after that. She didn't know what had happened. But she couldn't have told him! If she had then...

then....

She took another step back. Another. She turned.

She needed to get away from him.

Did she actually think she could get away? Maybe. Shik hadn't exactly been the most receptive towards her advances prior to this, and looked as though he would have been more then happy for her absence. Maybe she had just hoped he would let her leave, because this...she could talk about anything, but she could not talk about this. Not about her feelings. Not with him. Certainly not to his face.

She cringed when he first spoke, knowing he wasn't going to let her go easily, her wings half spread behind her. She was fast, she knew she had a chance to get away but.........

COWARD?

She stopped, feeling her face begin to flush red, and not just from embarrassment. She had been called many things in her life, from him, from others, from her parents most of all, but that was one word nobody had ever used against her. There was never a reason to use it against her. She had never given anybody a reason.

Until now, apparently.

She turned back around, her teeth bared. He'd insulted her, and she might have let that slide, maybe, but then he had to go and insult her friends as well. Lifen, Lan, Zhi.....was he calling her inferior in some way because of who she chose to spend time with?

She would show him how inferior she was.

Her right hand was held out to her side, and her short sword was suddenly in it. She hadn't wanted a fight, he had said he didn't want to fight but...

Fighting was what she knew. Fighting was comfortable, more comfortable then words. Something she hadn't been willing to do before, she was willing to do now. It was the length she would go to ignore what he had told her, to not have to deal with it, to not have to confront this new issue. She had been foolish to deny herself the pleasure of this right from the beginning.

It was better this way. Fighting was what they were both comfortable with, more fluent and eloquent than clumsy and ill-chosen words. A weapon was a weapon, and skill was skill. It was simpler here.

Shik tensed as if to lunge, but the original heat of his anger was faded--replaced by a stoic look, the one a warrior might wear in the middle of a long gauntlet of fights. The one who didn't know when it would end, but knowing that another one was coming at him.

He had every impulse to, and yet Shik did not attack. Rather, he flipped his dagger once to show he was at the ready and stared Shaheen down, slowly losing the emotion on the outside.

"Well?" Even the word was flat.

HP: 50
Defense: 1