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The problem with fast and brutal attacks on your foe was that they often left one feeling a little drained, and Shaheen was no exception to this rule. Despite her current state, she was still only a woman who had gotten very little sleep in recent times, which might have helped to feed her erratic and irrational behavior even more.

Rolling away from the bear once relinquishing her hold on his shoulder, she stood with head lowered, breathing labored and panting slightly from the exertion. The Fear that she was using to hold on to this form was slowly unraveling, and as much as she desperately tried to keep hold of it, she found it slipping away through proverbial fingers, leaving a feral looking woman in mostly shades of grey crouched down in it's place, hands on the ground and fingers splayed, lip pulled back from bloodstained teeth.

He was almost done. She could taste it.

The sight of his new toy when it was pulled glinted in her eyes, and if she still had hackles to rise they would have been bristling right now. As it was, her wings flared behind her, and she sprang forward, lashing at his dagger wielding arm with her fingers now curled into claws, in an attempt to knock it from his grasp.


HP:24
Damage: 3

She held her own for a time, fingers swiping at him as though she had yet to put her lionesses claws away. She had transformed back into a woman but continued to behave more like a wild beast, with snarls ripping forth from her throat, and golden eyes burning with a rage that could not be suppressed. Despite her best efforts, however, Shikoba held strong to the dagger, her goal to knock it to the ground never reached, and her attempts ultimately futile.

She never saw that fist coming. She was so focused on one thing that she forgot all about the dangers of being too close to a man who's skills lay mostly in close range combat and swift maneuvers. Or maybe it was not forgetfulness but merely the fact that she was hardly thinking at all that made the mistake for her, the voices consuming everything including her common sense. Whatever the case, it connected fully on her jaw, a crack that whip-lashed her head back as she stumbled.

And than he was upon her, driving her backwards into the dirt, pinning her with that strength she so admired and yet at this moment so hated. She bucked wildly beneath him, still snarling in an incomprehensible manner, throwing her waning strength into attempting to get him off of her, snapping with teeth at any body part of his that came to close, wings flaring behind her and kicking up dirt and debris towards his face.

There was nothing she could do, however. The blade caught the light of the moon one last time before it swung down towards her, and she let out a scream, low, guttural, and furiously indignant just as the blade parted flesh, slid through muscle and sinew and past bone, and lodged itself deep within her chest, cold, uncomfortable, a foreign pressure that she longed to tear out.

Though she continued to thrash beneath him, eyes glaring up at him, spiteful, hate filled, something began to change. The blade itself which felt so cold almost seemed to warm, to such a degree that to start with it was barely noticeable, but than rapidly became something so much more, until the area where the blade penetrated her body felt hot, itchy..no not just hot, burning, scalding, a pain that began to ripple outward until--

--It simply exploded within her.

Those screams from before were quite suddenly replaced by piercing shrieks of pain. It filled her up, it burned it's way through every nerve ending in her body, from her scalp to the tip of her toes. Flickers of orange and yellow and sickly green seemed to dance beneath her skin, her eyes fairly aglow with the colors that glinted across them. Her body began to writhe, bucking harder than it had before, the adrenaline that now coursed through her body along with the distortion giving her one last final surge of strength, and she reacted with a complete and utter desperation to escape.

Until it just became too much. Her body felt as though it was dying from the inside out and It was just too unbearable, with no offer of relief from the pain in sight. Tears now stained her face, rolling out from the corners of her eyes, eyes that in mere moments more closed tight as her body gave one final bow and buck beneath Shik , and than collapsed as she passed out cold against he ground.

And the colors continued to dance beneath her skin. They danced, and as Shik watched, if he chose to watch, he would see them chasing the grey away and leaving smooth, tanned skin in their wake.

HP: 19
Damage: 9

She had indeed passed out, her form lying limp in the dirt, head rolling to one side when Shik removed himself from on top of her. The open wound from the dagger welled up with blood when it was pulled up and out, threatening to spill over but held in place by her Fear shield, still in tact enough to do at least that. Fingers still twitched at it's removal, however, brows furrowing as though even in sleep, she was dreaming about the pain, her eyes moving behind closed lids, and quiet whimpers that she would never have elicited in a conscious state escaping from her throat.

It took time, but not a lot. Maybe her Fear helped to bring her back, refusing to let her brain simply switch off and ignore what was happening to her body. Eyelids fluttered open with a sharp gasp of air, and then closed again, forehead creasing. "It hurts." Her voice was ragged, low, harsh and quiet. A side effect from all of her earlier screaming.

With her eyes still closed, fingers clawed at the ground and another long hiss of pain whistled out from between clenched teeth. The sickly colors of distortion that had danced beneath her skin were fading away, retreating, but leaving in their wake a burning sensation that seemed to accost every joint and every muscle, a feeling like her skin had been stripped away and every nerve ending in her body was laid bare. Wet trails of tears still stained her cheeks, and she could do nothing to stop the new ones that stung at the corners of her eyes, escaping to join the others on the ground. She would have attempted to move, if the thought of doing so didn't nauseate her at the moment.

"What did you do to me?" Another rough whisper, not meant to sound accusatory in the slightest, but more along the lines of curious and questioning. She could not hide the pain that was laced in the tone of her words, or the wince from the sound of her own voice, so harsh against the throbbing ache in her head.

One arm dared to move, a hand searching, groping out towards where she had caught a glimpse of the man who sat down nearby.

Her eyes opened just enough to look at the blade, but she had already seen it, snatches of memory leaping forward but none so prominent as the sight of that distortion crystal gleaming red in the moonlight, now faded and dulled. It still didn't explain what he had done to her, why her whole body stung and ached in ways she didn't think was possible, all seeming to resonate from one area in her ches---

Oh, right, he had stabbed her. She remembered that now. By the gods her head hurt! She closed her eyes again, hand finding his and clutching it tight, and tighter still as she tried to ride out the pain that continued to sweep over her. He was talking again, something about healing but in a tone of voice she was not accustomed to.

"It hurts." She whispered again, only this time accusation had leaked into her tone, whether she meant it to or not. Her hand squeezed even tighter on his own as though to emphasize this. "You.." Her mouth felt so dry! She licked her lips and continued on, her voice croaking but louder then before.

"You a**." Of course. the insult would have been tempered by the way her lips curved up into a small smile, and she opened one eye, turning her head to peek up at him. "Help me up." It was more of a command then a plea for help, but almost as an afterthought, she tacked on one magical little word.

"....Please."

Her hold on his hand wasn't relinquished easily, but mostly because she really just needed something to squeeze as another wave of pain resonated out from the epicenter that was her chest. When his hand slid free of hers, she closed those fingers into a fist, nails biting into her palms, and eyes squeezing closed again. She bit back a gasp, her teeth clamping down on her bottom lip, her head tilting back, her other fingers digging into the earth at her side....

And then it began to ease, slowly, ebbing away, which was fortunate since Shik was grabbing for her hand again, her eyes blinking back open to stare up at him.

And then she concentrated just on him, very very hard, because if she focused too much on the pain that arced through her body the moment she was being helped up to her feet, she would have screamed, and maybe even sagged back down to the ground. Her muscles were tensed, the pain in them still so very raw, but she refused to give in to it. She wanted to be on her feet damnit!

And then suddenly she was, and it wasn't until that moment that she even realized that Shik was staring back at her, and hadn't spoken that she could recall. Such close attentions from Shikoba was not something the war chieftain was used to, and she shifted a little awkwardly on her feet, and then winced because dear gods it still hurt.

When he spoke, his words only added to the throbbing in her head, but she resolutely tried her best to ignore it. Breathing, slowly in through her nose, and out through her mouth, she was still trying to process what had just happened.

She followed his gaze, head tilting down to look at her shoulder, her arm, her hand.....

"It's....it's gone......" She whispered, voice still hoarse, before looking back to him with eyes full of confusion. "Shik...what...." She paused, lifting a hand and pressing it against his chest, swaying as yet another wave of pain hit, swallowing back the questions that were now bubbling up inside of her.

"I--I feel..." She breathed when it was over, head now tilted down to look at the ground between them. "Horrible." She wouldn't, no couldn't, lie about that. It was more then obvious that whatever he'd done was taking it's toll on her.

"And..." She paused again, eyebrows furrowing as though she were concentrating on something. "Empty. It's quiet." It was a familiar feeling, one that she'd experienced in the Haunted House after Shik had doused her with some liquid from a vial that Medea had given him.

She looked up at him, eyes now wide. "You don't know how long?" So not permanent then. But better...better this then what could have been....

Her lips twitched up, a smile, but an unsure one, and a small sound escaped that might have been a tiny bark of laughter.

And then she just stopped caring. She didn't care what he might think or say. She didn't care what it meant that she knew that she needed this. She sagged against him, pressing her face against his neck, arms wrapping around him. She just wanted to hold him, or be held by him or just...be close to him. Feel the warmth of his skin against hers, and cherish for just one simple moment the fact that she was still alive, and she could, and all the while thinking:

He'd done this for her.

Whatever he did, it had been for her. He'd saved her, again, despite everything. Their history. Things she had done. Things he had said. Their actions towards each other. The insults, the fights, the rivalry.....and still he would be the one that would save her, and that was okay, because she needed him.

She might have mumbled something small and incoherent into his neck.

She was getting to the part about killing him for it. She was. It was just taking her a very long time to get there. Especially considering there was this huge wall of gratefulness to scale first. Plus at the moment she was pretty sure she wouldn't even be able to stand on her own, and that...she really, really didn't like that part, to say the least. But Shik had seen her at her best and at her worst, and if he knew what was good for him he wouldn't even mention the fact that he was pretty much supporting her right now and that without him she would fall, or would have fallen, in so many more ways then just one.

She had kept her face buried against him, mumbling something pretty much unintelligible, words that she knew she would have issue saying out loud, clearly, for him to hear. Words of thanks, words to show how grateful she was, words for how very deeply she cared for him even if she had never truly shown it.

When he spoke, she did peek up, head pulling away just the barest fraction, and tilting back, one eye opening. One eye, golden brown, like dark honey, and for that moment at least not the glowing golden of insanity. One eye that widened in surprise at the smile on his face, one that was genuine, somehow pure.

An odd sound escaped Shaheen's mouth, a sharp gasp combined with almost a whimper when he drew her in closer, the action bringing with it another wave of pain that she resolutely attempted to ignore, teeth clicking shut. The action had just taken her by surprise, that was all, and she had not been prepared for it.

Nor was she really prepared when he tilted her head back, her head screaming it's protest at yet more movement, no matter how gentle the touch. And it was gentle, a foreign thing, a foreign feeling that was out of place coming from the rough man that now handled her so delicately. But she knew what he was doing, and she welcomed it. Even if it hurt her, any small movement, any slight contact, she still welcomed it. Eyes closing, kissing him back with as much fervor as she could manage at that moment, which started out soft and gentle but quickly seemed to regain a sense of intensity. It melted away the pain, made if easily forgotten about for just that moment. She didn't even know how long the kiss lasted, but to her it seemed to be hours before she pulled back, sucking in a long breath of air before letting out a small laugh, arms rising slowly for hands to meet behind the back of his neck, fingers lacing together, a smile playing on her lips that was just as genuine as his own. A rare moment of true happiness for both of them.

There were things she wanted to say, but they all halted in a throat that tightened whenever she thought about speaking. Words she had wanted to say for a long time but even now just..couldn't. It still felt wrong somehow, the wrong moment...as though if she said it, it wouldn't be as true as if she said it for no reason at all. Shik had just saved her, emotions were peaked. It might not have the same meaning now as it might at a different time. It might not seem as sincere as she meant for it to sound.

So, to hell and beyond with that mushy crap. Her eyes had lit up with new desire, almost like a hunger. "Well then, if we don't know how long this will last, maybe we should take advantage of what time has been given." She was practically purring, before her hands tightened behind his neck and she pulled herself in, or maybe she pulled him down, for another kiss, pulling away slightly just to whisper. "Take me home. Please."