What would it take to give up on life completely?

Loss of family? Loss of your soulmate? Utter destruction?

It was a question that often stuck to the forefront of her mind but not as much as it had in the past. If anything she was resilient and it spoke in the way she held herself proudly. In the vast skies of blues, pinks, and purples with the fading sun in the distance, she soared high. Her wings of crystal spanned greatly reflecting the sun’s sleepy rays. Her arm was a deep blue crystal from head to toe and covering her face was a silver mask. It was hard to tell the gender of the angel-like warrior or even what race she truly was.

In her hand was a long Lacriamium glaive with a crystal blade fashioned at the top. There were spells flying back and forth from the warrior to something on the ground. Maybe a lot of something. The wind cried and whipped like a great wave towards the foes on the ground.

Swooping down she managed to kill some of her foes before a few arrows hit her left wing. There was no cry as blood dripped down the glass like feathers. She reached and she pulled them out once she had distracted the ground foes. She was outnumbered and the only advantage she had was that she happened to be airborne.

More magic was lobbed at her and a volley of arrows followed. She skillfully went high to avoid but one of the magic users had been ready for her as she was struck with a fiery blast. It looked like she was falling from the sky as smoke came off her armor. Her wings looked limp and there was what sounded like celebratory screams.

His Matriach had sent him out on patrol, which was perfectly fine by him, whatever Uial asked of him, Lancer would follow his orders. Many of the Jiyu remained skeptical of the woman’s ability to truly lead their Clan, but for him things were pretty clear cut - the Dragon chose the stronger twin, and so far Uial had stepped up to the plate time and time again, he could not fault her for the orders she had sent out or the actions she had so far taken as leader of their people. They were still alive were they not? If not prospering? So what right did any of them have to criticise her or her decisions? 

None. Not as far as he was concerned at least. Her union to the outsider was… interesting, to say the least, but in a way it was also nice to see the woman happy, why shouldn’t she be? There was nothing official, as of yet, of course, but to those with an observant eye it was fairly obvious that Uial had feelings towards the Archangel. And why not? So long as the man knew his place in their Village, then he had no qualms about the man taking Uial’s heart for his own.

As he strode across the Plains, a glint on the horizon caught his eye. The man raised a hand, shielding his eyes from the light as he scowled at the form, and the source of that shimmering light. The spells were easy enough to spot, and it took but a moment for Lancer to realise that, whoever it was, was engaged in a fight with some enemy or other on the ground. His natural reaction was to lend a hand, calling upon the Demon within himself, Lancer bent low, toes digging into the ground as he gathered the wind and strength of Pazuzu to him before bounding forwards, leased like a coiled spring and taking great strides, so wide, it was almost as though the man were flying, inches above the ground.

As he neared, the glinting warrior was felled, or at least grounded, and his heart soared with rage, desperate to reach them in time. Without hesitation, the man unslung his bow, from his shoulder, knocked an arrow to the string and let loose an arrow, hoping to kill one of the foes or at least distract enough to aid the warrior in their plight.

The made-angel was falling at a quick descent as her wings folded inward just a hard. It was probably too late for the creatures to notice that she had fallen on purpose by the time she reached the group. They already thought they won so they had gotten cocky enough not to overkill so they could see what was behind the mask. She had put enough magic force into her that she laid on the ground. The mask fell off and to their shock, it was a woman who had been giving them that many problems.

That was when the lightning and the wind started. Down came such a storm that they about left her but the valkyrie was quick on her feet as she slew all of them with her glaive in lightning-fast speed. The lightning had even managed to hit some of the men.

Her ears moved slightly at the sound of someone else coming. With that, she disappeared, especially since one of there’s was being married to the clan around here… They didn’t need to see her being the one doing the killing, not right now.

Quick for a bath and to treat her wounds Kalei had found that the Rosenites were being held in a temporary camp just before the Jiyu clan. “You look like it was one hell of a fight?” It was her queen. Kalei didn’t bother moving her head as she couldn’t see to begin with.

“They hit me good but they were no match for the powers of our court.” Kalei rubbed the back of her neck. She heard the familiar sound of bandages as Cathrine came over to patch her up in certain places. “We have healers you know.”

“I am aware but they are all busy with making sure the food and everything stay fresh on the journey. You are strong enough, you can last til we reach the Jiyu village.”

There was a smirk on her lips. “Very well… My queen.”

The travel the next day was short as they reached the hidden village. All of them had changed into more appropriate clothing. For Kalei, it was her traditional silver dress wear. It was a cropped shimmery silver top that had a sweetheart neckline. The sleeves were long and billowing but the shirt itself was cropped up to fall just barely below her breasts. It swooped low in the back to give her wings air to breathe but also showed off her tattoo. The skirt of the same fabric sat on the top of hips with a slit high on her right side that fell to the top of her thigh. Her long white hair had been kept in a braid for the flight.

Cathrine and herself had volunteered to fly ahead to let the Jiyu know they were arriving in full force. The two angel-like women landed with forces who knew they were coming. “Greetings, I am Nymphaea’s aunt Cathrine and this is my second Kalei. Our people will be arriving soon. I will leave Kalei with you all since she was injured in battle on the way here.” Kalei held a shocked look on her face but she did not say no. “Please take care of her.” Cathrine bowed before she took off again.

So the whole thing was a ruse to get her treatment. Ugh. Kalei took a sigh and bowed to the Jiyu in front of her. Her eyes seemed to look nowhere but from the bandages on her, it did look bad. “Please take care of me in my lady’s stead.”

Keen eyes saw the mask fall away, to reveal the face of the beautiful woman underneath it. Lancer as not surprised the warrior was a woman, many of the Jiyu’s best Hunters were women, so why would he be remotely shocked at the fact that this fighter, too, was female? 
Given his natural affinity with the wind, thanks to the Demon Pazuzu, Lancer felt the rising current of air, and the quickening of the wind around them. It seemed that the woman was kin to him in that sense, element wise at least. He stopped in his movements, fascinated as he watched the woman react instinctually. She was quick, he could respect that, since that was what he too was known for amongst his Clan, and she moved with such grace that she reminded him of a dancer.

Suddenly the woman vanished, leaving behind a few of her foe… though not many. Lancer dispatched of the remaining assailants with his bow, his dagger and his swift feet, before he too returned home, ready to report the attack to his superiors, and ensure that the wedding between Cole and Nymph ran smoothly… that was… once her retrieved the warrior woman’s mask. 

Her fair face plagued the man’s mind after that, the image of how she rode the wind and commanded the lightning… it fascinated him, and he could not help but wonder who, and what, the woman was. Dressed in his formal, blue and silver attire, blood red glaive resting upon one shoulder as he stood guard, the man looked ruggedly handsome, his clean shaven face, and newly plaited braid, fresh and clean and woven with red ribbon. He’d made an effort for the day, he had to represent the Clan after all, and it was a wedding. 
The wedding guests were a mixture, but all were intriguing to watch as they came to join the celebrations. He was waiting for other guests to arrive, so as he felt the stirring of the wind, he could not help but be somewhat surprised to find his mysterious warrior woman before him. A small smile crossed his face, but he quickly dismissed it, bowing to the two women. ”Greetings and welcome to the Jiyu Village, has no fear Lady Catherine, your second will be in good hands, enjoy the wedding, and rest assured that our best healers will attend her wounds,” he replied, his voice deep and husky.

”You fought beautifully yesterday, I believe I have something that belongs to you,” he stated softly, reaching to his belt and removing the mask from where he had kept it,

Kalei was still not amused with Cathrine’s antics. It would seem that she would spend time away from her queen on this outing. It was dangerous but in Sularia the queens were fighters too. Kalei held a straight face for the most part after the greeting but then a familiar feeling hit her. She was trying to place where she had sensed this presence before when he held something out for her. Holding up her hands she found her way to the mask.

Her fingers nimbly moved over every crevice and a small smile came to her face. “So you were the intruder yesterday.” It was obvious that intruder wasn’t being used as an offending word. She had ended the battle before including an outside person.

She took a step forward and moved her hands up to his face. “Please excuse my intrusion.” She wanted to see him as she moved her fingers across his face. Her flesh was cold, unusually so, but looking at her wings it would make sense in a way. They were almost like ice.

After she was done she took the mask and it vanished in a flash of magic. It probably went back to where all of her other gear was. “I will have to ask that you excuse my sudden leaving. With the wedding, we did not want to cause too many issues. It would appear that I am noticeable even outside of my armor.”

Her hands went to her bandages. “May we get these healed now? They do hurt but I’ve been sucking it up for Cathrine’s sake. If she demands I heal than I will do so without complaint.”

It was clear, as soon as her hands searched the air, that the woman was blind. Immediately Lancer’s admiration for her fight, the previous day, increased tenfold. For anyone to fight so proficiently, without the use of their sight, was quite something, and marked them as an amazing fighter. Anyone from the Jiyu could appreciate such prowess. 

”Apologies for the interference, it’s a natural instinct for me to lend a hand, especially when someone is being attacked on Jiyu territory,” he replied, his voice soft and full of amusement, to show he felt no offense. He was sorry she had been injured, but she had clearly been more than capable of taking care of herself. 

He smiled, reaching up to touch her fingers, as she traced his face. ”It’s alright, I understand. Like what you see?” He grinned, teasing slightly, but clearly in a good hearted manner. He took the opportunity to truly look at the woman, noting how cold her flesh was against his own, though in truth thanks to Puzuzu he too was fairly icy to the touch. His gaze flickered to her wings, his hand reaching out for a moment, inches away from touching the bizarre feathers, ”Your wings are beautiful, I’ve never seen wings such as yours before.” 

”No apology necessary. You had done the majority of the work, I merely finished off the stragglers. I can understand wanting to return to your group before arriving, and with wings like your my Lady you’re hard to miss, not to mention you were quite impressive. As one associate with the element of air myself, I was impressed watching your moves,” he smiled, before slowly, and carefully, placing his hand to her arm. ”Come with my my Lady, we have some of the best healers available, they will see to your injuries.”

She could hear the sincerity in his voice as he apologized. It got an innocent head tilt from her as she listened closely to how it came from his lips. While she could not see she could read a person rather well if she paid attention close enough. “I suppose if it is natural there is no reason for why I should be upset. If I had known you were from Jiyu perhaps I would have let you help after all,” it wasn’t often she would admit she was wrong but he would be an ally soon enough. The clan and Rose family were to be one after all.

Kalei’s fingers were studious and gentle as she learned the man’s face. She felt his fingers on her own which were warm and somewhat welcomed. His words got an amused chuckle from her but it was barely audible as she tried to contain herself. “Perhaps, maybe I will tell you one day~” There was amusement in her words. “My wings?” She closed her eyes for a moment deciding on how much she would divulge but she merely smiled. “It was an accident but I can’t say I am too upset about it.”

His words of flattery weren’t new to her but she rarely heard such things in such a casual setting. Her face was rather hard to read as she barely reacted to his words but on the inside, she did feel like it was nice. “As second in command, I must always strive to be at my best for if I falter my queen could as well.” For life or for death, she must do things at her best.

Once they arrived in the healer’s quarters she was not shy as she disrobed in front of the man once asked. “He doesn’t need to leave. I care not to sees.” There were many brutal scars on her body. There were cloud tattoos across her back where her wings were not. Some of her skin on her hips looked crystallized almost like her wings were.

For a minute the healer that he had brought her to had actually gasped and Kalei closed her eyes. “What do you need to know?”

“Before we get to the healing… I’m going to have to ask for a medical background.” It was the responsible thing to do.

It looks like he would learn either way. “I was tortured with a hot poker from the fireplace some hundred years ago,” her words left her lips with little emotion as her hands moved along the wounds. “I have birthed two children but that was a long time ago now if it matters. The crystallization was from a field exercise gone wrong. I’m blind thanks to frostbite and my wings and body suffer from the crystals. Other than that, the wounds are all from today I am afraid.”

The healer was young and winced a bit at the words. Hot poker? Who would be that evil? “Can… I ask you something?” The healer was curious. “You act like your children–”

“They died a long time ago with my husband during the Egjora and Adeluna invasion. It's alright now like I said it has been a long time.” Kalei lifted her arms and limbs as needed as the healer worked. “War does such things I suppose.”