The Assassin

Sira looked up from the campfire as Elanna came into sight again, a small deer slung over her shoulder. They were resting in the northern forest of Nazas, after two weeks of travel; Elanna had only explained that she was helping the girl.

She had quickly learned that the half-blood wasn't talkative when on the move, and conversation usually died. It was a little frustrating, but Sira kept the annoyance to herself; she was still thankful for the Assassin's help.

Elanna set to work about skinning the deer, deftly cutting into the animal's body. Sira watched in silence, her eyes settling on Elanna instead of the animal under her fingers. She was an attractive woman, mysterious from her clothing and with a sense of feral grace to her movements. But there was also a feeling of pain, even as she hid it so well, Sira could see the hurt in Elanna's gaze, behind whatever emotion she decided to mask it with.

There were plenty of rumours to go around about the infamous Assassin. That her youth was spent learning her skills from pureblood demons, or that she used to be the personal servant of a powerful and corrupt lord in the far off lands of Baldava. Known for their no-mans-land status.

Others circled around her creation, a wayward Warlock giving into the demons she controlled? Or a helpless victim allowed to live after being raped by the malevolent beasts? Half-bloods tended to be sired by the demon, and birthed by a mortal mother, instead of the other way around. If it did happen the other way around, they never looked anything like the father species.

So Elanna's mother must have been mortal, because on the surface, she certainly didn't look demonic. Apart from whenever her eyes turned red.

"Stop doing that."

Elanna's voice snapped her out of thought, making her jump. She hadn't even looked up from the deer. Sira shifted uncomfortably, running a hand through her hair.

"Doing what?" she tilted her head. "Stop trying to figure me out," was the blunt reply, just as the last of the deer's skin came free. "I hate it." She got to her feet, turning away and stretching the hide with the branches of a near by tree. Once satisfied it was secure, she turned back to the camp fire and went about cutting up the deer's flesh.

Sira frowned, confused. "Why?" Elanna didn't look up again when she answered, "it's irritating. Misinformation is the only thing you have to analyze, and none of it is accurate. So stop trying before I start to twitch every time you look at me," Elanna turned to her side, picking up a short and sharpened length of wood, spearing the meat she'd cut and placing it over the fire.

The girl tilted her head, "well, why don't you tell me about yourself then?" she was honestly curious. The Assassin was supposed to be evil, heartless. She still didn't understand why Elanna was helping her.

Elanna looked up, her icy blue eyes piercing in the darkness of her hood; they seemed to glow ever so slightly in the dark it would seem. "I don't want to." Sira frowned, trying to curb her frustration, "why not?" the tenseness in her voice gave her away. A faint smirk curled Elanna's lips, "I don't care what others think of me. I certainly don't care what you think of me. I don't need to be understood by anyone, lesser races aren't worth the effort of playing nice with. I simply exist to either silence morons, steal life; and in this instance, help someone."

Sira glared angrily, "help how?! Why are you helping me if you think so little of me, 'a lesser race'?!"

Elanna's smirk faded, she suddenly became very serious. "Because you share a common value of existence to mine, hardly as extreme, but still along the same lines."

Sira got to her feet, still annoyed. "I share nothing with the likes of you! I'm a noble! I'm kind; I want to help people! I don't want to kill anyone! I'm nothing like you! You're just a monster!"

Elanna moved faster than she expected, and she found herself pressed up against a tree with the Assassin almost completely enveloping her. Sira swallowed, shivering in fear as Elanna's cold eyes stared down at her. She pushed her hands against Elanna's shoulders, but she was unyielding to the girl's lesser strength.

She was suddenly very aware that Elanna could kill her in a heartbeat; even more chilling that she could use many ways to make her suffer before finally ending it. Sira tried to struggle, tried to squirm away, but Elanna grabbed her by the wrists in one hand, pinning them above her head as she pressed closer.

Leaning her head down, her lips brushed Sira's ear, making her shiver again. "You're just like everyone else who came before in my life," her voice was low and deadly, like a poison laced itself over every syllable that passed her lips. "Why shouldn't I just have my way and be done with you? No little sheep of the mortal races ever takes a moment to think..." she was muttering more to herself now, bowing her head into Sira's shoulder. She still held her pinned though, hands wrapped tightly around her upper arms. "Perhaps their life was so terrible they cannot bare mentioning it, hmm? All of you despise me, my kind, we bastard sons and daughters of darkness and corruption. How do you think we grow, hmm? Certainly not the way you do. No where near it..."

Sira swallowed hard, trembling lightly in fear. She had stopped trying to get away, knowing it was useless. Elanna was too strong, and she would only end up getting herself killed faster. However, she started to listen to Elanna's words. "You cannot imagine how cruel your species is, little one. How cruel they are to a mere child, simply because of the blood that runs in her veins. They treat her with hatred and contempt, with no explanation of why she is loathed. Why she is an outcast. Why she is pushed out even by the other children of the village. Why she is forced to take care of herself before she even reaches the age of ten," Elanna's voice had slowly become a mumble, the memories flickering through her mind putting her in a sedated mood of depression. These were not memories she enjoyed. "So many cold eyes, so emotionless, so hateful. Every day those gazes would fall on...her, as if to remind her that she was unwelcome, as if willing the child to die right then and there; and she never understood why." She laughed lowly, the sound sorrowful and cold. "And they seemed so surprised why she finally snapped," a cold smile tilted her lips. "And slaughtered every single one of them down to the last infant crying in their cot."

Sira's eyes widened, and she paled. She knew Elanna was talking of herself, but this was far too painful for her to actually acknowledge it was she who went through whatever hellish childhood she had. Well, she did ask the half-blood about herself; on some level, she should have expected something horrid.

Elanna turned her head slightly, "do you think that child deserved to be treated like that? Before she even had a chance to show her colours. I rather think the lesser races' treatment of her forced, and broke her, into what she became...don't you?"

Then she pulled away, allowing Sira to fall to her knees as she moved sluggishly back to her side of the camp fire. She took out one of her daggers, poking idly at the half-cooked meat as if nothing had happened, settling down on the ground.

Sira stared quietly at the half-blood, feeling hollow, stupid, and more than anything, she felt sick. She looked away resolutely, and slumped back against the tree Elanna had pinned her to before. She was suddenly unwilling to trust her own voice.

It would take a while for her to repair what she did...