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It had been at least a week since her task with Medea, and things were only becoming progressively worse. As much as the War Chieftain liked to pretend to be fine, her illness was written clearly across her face and body in grey. Half of her skin seemed to be tainted now, and it repulsed her to even look at it. But it wasn't nearly as bad as the feeling of eyes on her all of the time. Judging her, hating her, likely plotting ways to take her down.

If only she could hide it better. The clothing that she had barely covered much that needed covering, and she could do little about that on her own. She was not a seamstress. She could repair small tears and holes, sure, but she'd never been adept with a needle and a thread.

And so she wandered the encampment. The lairs were too crowded, with too many that she could not trust lurking about. That many eyes on her made her skin crawl, spiked her anger, with strong urges to attack and hurt any that came too near overriding her sense of calm that she was no longer able to easily maintain. She wandered, and she searched for a familiar face from conquest, Zhi or Lifen perhaps.

So when she spotted a younger looking woman sporting the tell tale garb of conquest, she veered towards her, eyes flickering over her. It took all of her self control not to hunch her shoulders, to look down at the ground or turn her head to try and hide the gold of her eyes or the grey infection spread across her face. "Excuse me?" She called out, her voice stronger then she currently felt.

"I wonder if you might be able to help me."

The other woman might have tried to remain polite and controlled, but even the slightest quick movement, such as a small jump, was enough to set Shaheen completely on edge, and she flinched away from the much smaller woman of conquest as though she had thrown a punch.

So much for pretending to be strong.

Rubbing at one of her arms self-consciously, she had another quick look around, eyes darting left and right as though she were expecting some kind of attack.

"I..I was just hoping you could direct me toward an artisan, or somebody who might be interested in making me something..." This had been a terrible idea. She should have just gone straight to Lifen, or Zhi, or even Lan, since the noblewoman would have likely had good recommendations.

Anyways, the more she looked at the other woman, the more familiar she seemed. Had she run into her before? She frowned a little, tilting her head to the side in thought while she waited for a reply.

Ying. The name did not ring any bells immediately, and in any case the war chieftain was a bit taken aback by her odd flavor of partially masked enthusiasm. "You are?" She blinked, hardly expecting to receive such a response, the tension in her shoulders relaxing ever so slightly.

"I am Shaheen." It seemed best to introduce herself as well, though the words were stiff, and she offered nothing more then that save for a small nod of her head. She just assumed it was obvious what clan she was from, and naming her position of title seemed so pointless now when they all seemed to be on such equal footing.

The way the much smaller woman was looking at her so expectantly was slightly off putting, and she shifted a little more on her feet, feathers ruffling before she spoke again. "I need something to...to cover this." She lifted up her left hand and gestured down the right hand side of her body. "A robe perhaps, or a cloak with a hood...." She knew her wings might cause a problem, but she was hoping there was an easy solution to that as well.

Ying's enthusiasm took the war chieftain aback a little, and her own gaze moved down to the fissures of grey that swirled down her arm. The pattern they made would have been pretty, if it had just been a simple tattoo or paint. But as it was, she found herself feeling instantly both repulsed and shamed by her appearance, and the younger horsewoman's reaction had her ready to head for the hills, so to speak.

But the questions were what kept her grounded to her spot, a frown creasing her forehead. Colors? Designs? That was why she had sought out an artisan rather then attempting to just do it herself. After all, didn't they specialize in this sort of thing?

Still, it forced her to think, to ignore the voices that whispered incessantly to her and focus on something. "Natural colors, please." She did at least remember to tack on some manners. "Or if not, then I do like red as well..." Though that had more to do with a certain someone that she still wasn't speaking to, so perhaps she should have left that out.

She finally looked back to the other woman, nervous but trying not to let it show. Her "upgrade" in insanity was still fresh, and she was as of yet unused to how it was affecting her. "My..my beads?" She glanced around at what she already wore. "Oh. Ya, I have more, if you need them. Anything at all that you need, in fact, I am sure that I can---" She winced, and reached up a hand to rub at her head, eyes closing, and upon opening them again she realized she had completely lost her train of thought.

Oh, right. Designs.

"I really don't care. If there is a way to have my wings free then that is all I wish, otherwise, please, just help me hide."

She was beginning to sound rather desperate.

Shaheen simply blinked at the small woman, startled by the sudden compliment. She didn't receive kind words towards her appearance often, often hearing words of praise geared more towards her passion for battle and all it encompassed. Physically she knew she was fit, but she did not dwell on her looks, or on whether or not she looked "pretty."

"Th--thank you." She finally managed to say, stumbling over the words that were almost foreign to her. "Your hair is...quite shiny."

Paying a compliment in kind, even if awkwardly....that was what was proper, right? She often felt at a loss for how to behave around those of conquest.

And then a much touchier subject was brought up, and she flinched just slightly once more, her eyes closing, but this time as she let out a sigh.

"Physically? No." She answered, opening them again and lifting up her arm, eye drifting down to a hand that was solid grey in coloration, closing it into a fist and then opening it once more. "It does not. It just..." She stopped, and shook her head.

"It is difficult, that is all."

It had taken some time, but slowly Shaheen was able to relax more and more around the small artisan. She still casually shifted her glance to each side once in a while, and even checked over her shoulder again as though expecting somebody to be behind her (despite the fact that nobody seemed to be paying any attention to them at all). Her lips quirked up into the smallest of smiles, and she gave a small shake of her head.

"I am awful at giving out compliments. Today has just... not been one of my best days, and for that I apologize." No, she still hadn't adjusted to her new symptoms, to the progression of the insanity that writhed it's way around in her head, making her feel things she shouldn't feel, hear things that she shouldn't hear, and long for a place called just simply 'home'.

"And I thank you, for your patience and understanding." There, that was much better, and she waved off Ying's own apology like it was nothing.

When the other woman leaned towards her, however, she had to fight the sudden urge to step back and away from her, her body tensing up once more. Her fingers twitched at her side, because for just a moment, a tiny fraction of a second, she had thought of summoning her dagger and driving Ying back.

The moment quickly passed, however, and she answered Ying's smile with a larger one of her own, one that probably wasn't fooling anyone into believing she was actually happy, but at least it was better then before. "You do not need to do that." She responded, and then after a moments hesitation, reached out to give Ying a pat on the shoulder, using the hand that was not colored solid grey but still remained for the moment untainted. "But I thank you again. Just send for me when it is finished, I guess." She nodded, and let her hand slip back down to her side.

Shaheen had watched the smaller woman leave with an expression full of mixed emotions.

And then she realized she had forgotten to ask how much this work was going to cost. Oops.

---

Shaheen really didn't have her own dwelling, but she did have particular haunts. Since Shik had taken to living in the Lair's themselves, she had decided that he really probably didn't need his tent and hammock anymore, and quite often could be found camping out on his little piece of allotted land. That was where Ying would find her, in a campsite that for all intents and purposes appeared abandoned, the small fire pit cold, the area itself showing very little signs of life at all. But there were those who knew that Shaheen had been staying there, though her reasons for choosing this particular Executioners lot were her own.

From within the tent itself, Ying would probably hear stirring, the rustling of feathers, the muffled sounds of somebody pushing themselves to their feet off of a bed made up of cloths and pillows. She hadn't been sleeping, but merely resting, or perhaps it was more true to say that she was hiding, though she would never have admitted that out loud.

"She is." Came a voice, before a grey tainted hand pushed aside the tent flap, and golden eyes that almost seemed to glow with an inner light, peeked out from within. Two days had not been enough for Shaheen to grow used to her new symptoms, but it had given her a start. She gave the artisan a wan and tired smile, her eyes appearing almost glassy from lack of sleep.

"You've finished much faster then I thought you would have." She admitted, as she stepped outside into the open, and immediately she cast a glance around and behind, arms coming up to hug herself as though she suddenly felt cold. When she had finished her quick assessment of the surroundings, she focused her gaze back on the artisan. "Is this it?" She let one arm drop down so that she could point at the fabric held in Ying's hands, an expectant look in her eyes and a warmer smile replacing the tired one of before.

Shaheen reached for the cloak, running tainted fingers over the fabric before clutching at it, and pulling it towards herself, her other hand moving to grab for it as well before she raised her arms, holding it up with an appraising look. It's design was most interesting, suitable to cover the grey that ran in swirls down the right side of her body, but open at the back, room for her wings to spread free and unhampered. In fact, most of her body would still remain free and exposed.

She thought it was absolutely perfect before she even tried it on, and if she was any other kind of woman she might have squealed in delight or given Ying an excited hug. But this was Shaheen, chieftain of war. No matter what the insanity did to change her, there were some aspects of her personality that it would just never alter.

Lips quirking up higher, she threw the cloak around her back, adjusted her left wing by folding it and then pushing it out and over the fabric, before pulling up the hood and clasping it in place. The belt was done up next, and when it was all said and done, she held her arms out, gazing down at herself and doing a little turn for the artisan to see.

"It is perfect." She finally gave voice to her earlier thoughts, but then gave pause for Ying's question.

"No." The answer was simple and to the point. "But you should not concern yourself. I am simply...adjusting."