Wish Upon a Kithril

[FoxWriter]

It was freezing, a very bitterly cold night with snow that fluttered onto the streets, coating the roads so fast that the many snowplows couldn't keep up. It was bitterly cold enough that the Lake in the park had frozen solid, and the children ha taken to skating on it when school was let out. The night itself was peaceful, because of the snow most of the people in the city where trapped, closed off from the world and for once the world was silent. Not all that silent though, along the streets, darting through the street lamps was a figure, a young girl, or she looked like a young girl anyway, a dirty young girl, and cold too it looked like. She was very clearly homeless, and very clearly looking for shelter, she needed shelter or she would freeze to death, even being an immortal creature with all of the worlds magic at her fingertips she really didn't want to spend the winter frozen under a snowdrift. So she was looking for someone to take her in.

She was young, sixteen maybe, it depended on which age you wanted, the one she looked, or the one she really was... she looked sinfully young, though She told people she was fifteen, to get their sympathy, but really she was closer to six hundred, not that she could remember much of those times. She was bound to masters, one after another and that was all she knew, just her master, and what he wanted. She smiled fondly in memory of her last Master, he had died only weeks ago, a heart attack that she hadn't been able to stop, but that was the way of things, she was perfectly capable of defending people from an attack or performing CPR but she could not stop the flow of time or the course of nature. It had been his time, and she had done all she could to make his passing a comfortable one. Now she was master-less, and homeless. Cold, starving and in desperate need of a new master, someone who would use her the way she needed to be used.

Her name was Chandra, and she was a pretty little thing, it amazed her how many people ignored her, she was beautiful and she knew it, she was supposed to be beautiful after all. She had long silver hair that fell to her thighs in long graceful tangles, she had been finger brushing her hair but it wasn't enough and she was loosing the battle. Her eyes where a bright green, a gorgeous green that sparkled in the light of the streetlights. Her skin was as pale as the moon, and she was slender but not thin, she was perfect in body, thin but not starving, not yet anyway, she'd had enough reserves of magic to keep herself fed, but now she was running out. She had just enough magic to prove she was magic, and she had to save that to prove to her new master of what she was. She coughed hard into her hand and shook her head, that was the last thing she needed, was to catch some silly human sickness. That could be just as debilitating as freezing, it wouldn't kill her, but the magic starvation could, it was a painful way to go, and she needed a new master, she couldn't afford to be picky anymore, as soon as she smelled someone she thought would need use of her... resources, she was certainly going to do everything in her power to catch his attention. Even if she had to cheat to do it.

She paused suddenly and sighed, deciding to call it a night. her feet hurt, they where bare and it was too cold to walk around that late at night. she turned and headed back the way she had come, shivering in her slim white dress. it was long sleeved, but it was thin, and it was just as dirty as the rest of her was. she ducked close to a building, she knew it would be empty, she'd been sleeping there for three weeks. ever since her last master had passed. she checked to make sure that no one was around before she carefully slid open a window, it had a broken lock, not that anyone at the place knew it, or they would have fixed it by now. quick as a flash she was inside, and jut in time too, it had started to snow outside, the large fluffy flakes falling slowly, as if taunting her. she shivered again and moved into the dark, cursing as she stubbed her toe, someone had moved all the front desks around... she grimaced and rubbed her stinging, throbbing toes before moving deeper inside to where the two heaters where next to each other. she usually slept over the vents, they where the warmest, and she was never cold laying there. she moved over to the vents and moved to sit down before freezing. there was a light on in the back... someone was there... and from how loudly she'd cursed... they knew she was there...

 

[DirtyOldMan]

Eric had been working all day trying to put together the perfect presentation for a high level meeting of the board with their Japanese counterparts in the sister organization. He'd taken every member of both sides into account and included items from both their home country and city, but their in depth heritage as that kind of thing was a show of respect to the Japanese businessman. When he was in the middle of finalizing the copy room order for duplicates...the man in charge of the meeting operations called. It seemed that the delegation from Japan had been reorganized and 3/4 of the representatives were either pulled from their positions or simply fired....thus making 3/4 of his presentation less than desirable. As a result Eric was scrambling to piece together all of the new information he'd acquired. the original took weeks to obtain through discreet communications...this time however it was bold and bluntly requested at odd hours of the day/night/morning depending on what part of the world he was calling. He was at wits end to be sure!

At 40 years old Eric had remade his career having lost his position in IT when the new administration cancelled a bill to bring hundreds of thousands of outsourced jobs back to the US so he found a nitch and filled it. At 42 he had learned the system and developed into a position where people needed and depended upon him. At 6'2" he seemed an imposing figure to some, but once he opened his mouth everyone learned that he really wasn't imposing as much as welcoming. He made people feel at ease and were often opening up and offering information to help him out without too much hassle it made his job a lot easier. Besides, with a kind smile, well groomed brown hair and kindly blue eyes, people couldn't help but feel a bit disarmed around him.

While rifling through fax copies and coordinating facts with emails Eric thought he heard something thump..and then as he redirected his attention back to the task at hand he clearly heard a small voice swearing at someone or something. The floor, and likely the building, had been emptied hours ago and his was the only light remaining.

Eric's first thought was vandals sneaking in...then of perhaps one of his coworkers coming in to poke fun at him for the comedy that had transpired to thwart him so....but after looking at his watch he decided that it was far too late for that...and WAY too cold for vandalism. No teenager with a can of spray paint and a crowbar would bother coming out tonight! So the question remained...who just ran into something in the dark and swore out loud as a result??

He walked about 10 feet from his office door and quickly flicked the main room lights on, fists balled and ready for a fight if he had to be. (Eric wasn't much of a fighter, but had sworn many times that he wouldn't let some idiot thug keep him from going home each night.) As his eyes became accustomed to the glaring lights he looked around ....and almost missed the petite body half hidden behind a door frame across the room. Long Silvery hair draped down to cover part of her face and half of her upper body, but there was no doubt that it was a girl...a very attractive, if not dirty, girl.

"Hello?..who are you?...are you all alone in here?" It was all he could think to say...obviously she had come in from the bitter cold, especially dressed as she was, but other than that he was really at a loss for why she was there and how she'd gotten in.

 

[FoxWriter]

Chandra was hiding, as best as she could. most humans where not trustworthy creatures, they would take advantage of her if they could, and the last thing she wanted was to be bonded to another rapist. true it was a lot less of a risk nowadays, but it was a risk she didn't want to risk. she gasped as the main lights flooded on and she yelped, clapping her hands to her burning eyes, staggering a little as she hunched over as if expecting to be grabbed or struck. they always grabbed or struck, but nothing happened. she turned back to him, her wide green eyes frightened as she studied him, using her hair to shield herself. no need to let him see how pretty she was... that was... until she saw those kind blue eyes, that strong frame, the well manicured appearance... she blinked at him and pulled her hair behind her ear, letting him see the swelling bruise under her left eye, and the dirty, but adorable face that had been hiding behind her hair.

"please... sir i'm sorry... i was only cold... i just wanted to lay in the heater i didn't know you where there..." she muttered, her voice timid, frightened. "i..i've been sleeping here for three weeks and...and no ones been here before...i..i just...i just wanted to be Warm... that's all... i wasn't going to steal anything..." her voice was soft, and cultured... as if she should have been sitting in a palace somewhere, sipping tea with a tiara on her head. there was a slight accent, but it was too weak to be placed, it was just enough to color her voice into more of a seductive sound. she was shivering still, trembling violently and she wrapped her arms around herself as her teeth started to chatter. now that she was inside the chill was really starting to get to her, an she stared at him, wide eyed and pleading. "please... i won't bother you, i promise... i just want to lay on the heaters until morning... i'll be gone by morning, i promise..." she always was gone by morning, least wise no one had ever mentioned seeing a silver haired beauty in the building.

it was only October though, not even Halloween yet and it was already snowing outside. in another few weeks the ground would be covered in snow and it would get colder and colder. a slim thing like her would never survive a northern winter on the streets out in the cold. what was a gorgeous thing like her doing on the streets anyway!? and so young too, how could someone leave such a young thing to suffer the cold streets embrace? how many people ha she begged for help from only to be turned away? she stared at him, her eyes wide, pleading silently with him to just let her stay there on the heaters. she asked for nothing else, even though she was clearly hungry, her stomach was growling so loudly Erik could hear it, even as far away from her as he was. yet she only asked to lay on the heater, surely he could give her that?