Winter Veil

Winter Veil had fallen with the snow across Silverlight City, bringing with it all sorts of festivities..........and stuff.

Really? 'And stuff'? Are you kidding me?

Shut up, Lightbringer.

Snow was falling, coming down so thick that if you were walking down the street, you couldn't see anything that was more than three inches beyond your face - your own feet included. Almost everybody in Silverlight had made a tactical retreat into their homes or a warm inn, but there was one soul still on the streets.

Clad in dark armor, the figure's cloak billowed behind her as she went along, from a mixture of the strong wind and her own movement. Her eyes glowed through the thick curtains of snow falling, and eventually hit another figure laying prone in the street, a circular area of snow around it dark with blood.

The dark woman sprinted over, kneeling beside the body and going to roll it over. There was a groan, then a flash of bright pink as the second woman's hair fell out of her ragged bandanna. The dark figure chewed her lip for a minute, then carefully picked up the injured Acquiri and began carrying her through the streets, still moving swiftly but now weighed down by the second figure's bulk.

After a few minutes, a large mansion loomed out of the snow. Pushing the door open, the hood of the carrier was blown back with a gust of warm air, revealing her to be a pale elf, an angry red line running from above her eyebrow to just below her nose on the left side of her face.

"Ini!" she yelled, rushing the bleeding Acquiri to the floor in front of a fire roaring in the hearth. An Engelium walked in, opening her mouth to say something, then followed the trail of blood across the room to where the elf was sitting.

"Holy light Nalsia, what the hell happened?" she asked, kneeling down beside the Acquiri and snapping off healing spells as the elf told her what had happened.

A few terse moments of silence reigned after Nalsia had finished talking, but the Acquiri groaned again, and this time, bright amber eyes opened. "A.......Azur.......Azurae...?"

Laeini answered. "No, not us. Who's Azurae?"

The blue woman struggled to sit up, panic flaring in her eyes. "My.....daughter....where?"

Nalsia shot up off of her armchair and ran for the door.

Out in the snow again, but this time without a cape, Nalsia dashed for where she'd found the woman, turning for a few seconds before spotting a nearby alley. Padding silently into the darkened area, the elf found a cardboard box. Normally, she wouldn't give a box a backward glance, especially while she was looking for a person, but this box was different, as it moved.

Gently tapping the side of the box, she watched as a small pair of bright pink eyes fearfully studied her. "M-momma?"

Nalsia shook her head. "No, honey, I'm not your mother. But if your name is Azurae, I do know where your momma is."

"Y-you know w-where my m-momma is?" The elf could hear the little girl's teeth chattering just from the way she talked. Quietly cursing the fact that she hadn't brought her cloak, she picked up the young Acquiri, who squeaked in fear, and ran back to where she'd come from.

The older Acquiri was once again passed out, and Azurae ran to her. "Momma? Momma wake up!"

Nadia shook her head and walked out of the living room. It'd been several centuries since the vents that had led to Azurae becoming her adopted sister, and once again it was that day of the year, to look back and reflect on what'd happened. For Nadia, that meant gaining a sister, but to Azurae, it was both that and losing her biological mother.

But even the memories weren't enough to push down the festive Winter Veil feeling. And besides....she had a lot of mistletoe to hang.

The rogue rose from her spot by the window and grinned. Time to stir up some trouble.