Silence of the Daylight (Private, Kotone)

The crash of thunder echoed throughout the hall, accompanied by the howling of the wind. Lightning flashed, jagged spears piercing the clouds and casting warped shadows of window frames upon the opposite wall. She ran through the darkened hall of the castle, her feet pounding against the cold granite floor beneath her. The tails of her coat flapped behind her, like a flag in the wind. Her sword was drawn, the steel blade singing as she rushed towards the throne room. There was nothing on her mind except anger. The desire for revenge. As she ran through the inky blackness of the ruined castle, sweat streaking down her cheeks, she thought about the confrontation soon to take place. It would probably be her last battle. And it was certain to be brutal. She wasn't even sure if she would make it out alive.

She looked ahead. Even in the low visibility of the hall, she could see a massive pair of double doors ahead. They were fashioned from oak and banded with iron, but were badly rotted, as well. She picked up the pace, charging at the doors with her sword at the ready. The roll of thunder sounded once again, just as she brought the blade crashing down on the aging wood. Splinters flew everywhere, and despite its size, the door she struck swung open, smashing to pieces against the wall beside the doorway. She strode into the throne room, back straight, expression stern.

The chamber was in even worse shape than the rest of the castle. The roof had collapsed in on itself long ago, and rain poured in from above, leaving the stone floors slick and the blood red carpet leading up to the throne soaked. Red tapestries hung from the walls, nothing more than tatters. The throne itself was nothing more than a marble chair, crumbling due to age and weathering. Seated upon it was a woman dressed all in black, wearing a ratty old cassock with red trim. Her skin was pallid, her eyes dark red, and her black hair disheveled and poorly cut. Her head was tilted downward, and she stared up at the intruder in an eerie manner. Blood leaked out all over the arms of the throne from her palms and wrists, and she held a wine glass by the stem in her left hand.

"I've come to end this, here and now. You're not walking out of this ruin alive." she said to the woman in black, raising her sword close to her face, and then slashing downward, as if saluting her opponent. In a casual, almost cavalier fashion, the woman in black let the glass fall from her hand and shatter on the floor, shards scattering everywhere. The witch then rose from the throne, a blood red aura surrounding her body as she quickly began floating inches above the floor.

"Come then, sister. Let's have one last dance..."

The truck bed rocking about due to the vehicle driving over a bump caused Abigail to awake from her nap. Her eyes slowly peeled themselves open, and the rustling of leaves on the wind accompanied by the dull growl of the truck's engine slowly began to overtake the remnants of her dream, the roll of thunder and the pounding rain that lingered in her ears. The young woman placed a hand on her face, which also served the brush away the bangs that seemed to perpetually cover her right eye. "Another dream..." she mumbled to herself. She had been having them quite a bit these past few years. Ever since she had begun her pursuit of her sister, Emiliana, really. The locations were always different (the one she had last night took place in a chapel), but the setup never changed. It was always the lead up to some final confrontation between herself and her sister.

Were the dreams prophetic? Abigail doubted it. There was no precedent for it, as she had never had visions of the future before. And she wasn't one to put stock in such things, either. Not anymore, at least. Gods, she wished Marian was here. She'd be able to explain it. But Abby was on her own for this one. And unless she could find another one of those doors that would lead back to her home, she was going to be on her own for the whole ride. It was her own fault. She had rushed into an unknown situation heedlessly, without contacting anyone. In fact, she hadn't really contacted anyone for almost three years. She wrote letters, sure. But she wasn't sure if they had actually reached her family.

Her family... Abigail stared down at her hand, eyes fixating immediately on the wedding band which adorned her ring finger. A star of sunlight reflected off the tear-shaped moonstone set into the gold ring. She couldn't help wondering if Sarah was okay. It had been so long since they had seen each other, and Abigail wasn't sure if her dear wife would be able to handle not knowing if she was still alive. Sarah was a tough girl, and she could definitely take care of herself. But even she got worried after a year or so.

Abby let out another sigh and crawled over to the left hand side of the truck bed, so she could get a peek at what was ahead of them on the road. Poking her head out from behind the truck's cab, the wind pulling at her red hair and causing it to whip about, the young adventurer saw it. Magnolia Town, dead ahead. The western most gate was maybe a mile or so ahead, and beyond she could see the roofs of houses, and the spires of a grand cathedral. Already, the truck was beginning to slow down, so that it wasn't barreling into town at mach five. In fact, it was going slow enough that she could just walk right off the truck bed and get the road under her feet. Taking a moment to check that she had everything, which really only amounted to her journal and a pen, Abigail rose to her feet, her dark red jacket flapping in the wind, and stepped off the back of the truck. The dirt crunched underneath the heels of her brown leather boots upon impact.

She walked the last half mile or so into town, journal in one hand and the other hand stuffed into the pocket of her blue jeans. The thick steel chain dangling off the choker she wore on her neck jangled with each step she took, the golden crucifix on the other end bouncing against her collarbone. She drew no one's attention as she sauntered in through the gate, which was just fine by her. The place was busy, though. Lots of people running around. Young and old. Merchants and civilians. Abigail spotted men and women in matching red uniforms amongst the crowd. Rune Knights, she had heard them referred as in Hargeon. Far as she could gather, they were the peacekeeping arm of the Magic Council, the body involved in governing the local mage population. Anything other than that, she didn't know for sure. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do first. She was broke, and didn't have a place to stay, so she'd have to find work eventually. And she wouldn't mind getting her hands on a sword. She felt naked without one. And then there was the reason why she came here. She needed leads on Emiliana's whereabouts. She had had no luck in Hargeon, so now it was a matter of scouring the country with her nose to the ground. As always.

"Might as well do that, then." the warrior uttered to herself, setting off further into town to question the locals on rumors...

"Um, hey there. I'm new in town, and I was wondering if you could help me out. I'm looking for someone. A girl, about eighteen years my senior. She has black hair, unevenly cut, a bit on the pale side, and she usually wears a priest's robe. Have you seen anyone like that?"

"Nope, can't say I have. Priest's robe, you said? Might wanna head over to Cardia Cathedral. The priests there may be able to tell you something."

"I'm sorry, child, but I haven't seen anyone fitting that description, nor have any of the other priests. If a woman in priestly garb had come to our cathedral, I would have heard about it. However, might I suggest asking around the local taverns? Those are usually the best places to tap the rumor mill. And if you are ever in need of aid or sanctuary, do not hesitate to return."

"Woman in a priest's robe, eh? Haven't seen anythin' like that 'round here. And somethin' that odd would be makin' the rounds if yer friend had actually been through here. Sorry, missy. Yer gonna wanna check another town."

And that was pretty much how it went for the next two hours. Abigail ran all around town, trying to find something on her sister's whereabouts or activities, only to get shrugs and directions to someone else who might know. By the time she had asked her last person, she was fed up and exhausted. Exiting the bar with a shove of the door, the young adventurer began walking down the street. Her back was hunched, and her brow was furrowed. She moved slowly, as her legs ached from all the walking she had done, and her mismatched eyes scanned her surroundings for a place to sit. She spotted a wooden bench not far off, and made her way to it, practically throwing herself into it and spreading her arms out wide. Sighing in frustration, Abigail directed her gaze toward the sky above. "Dammit all..." she cursed, angry that her search had proven fruitless. Otherwise, she simply sat there in silence, at a loss as to what she should do now.

By sheer coincidence, or possibly bad luck, Kotone had landed herself in trouble yet again. Or maybe it had been the way she'd punched the kid when he'd propositioned her in front of several people she'd been asking directions from. Either way, it wasn't really her fault, the way she'd seen it. She'd meant to just teach him a lesson with swift rebuttal, but as it turned out he was a Fairy Tail mage, and one who didn't like being told no. Especially with a punch to the face from nowhere.

Fortunately, the dragon slayer was more than a match for an inexperienced kid. She called him a kid, but the truth was she was probably about a year older. At most. She was bad at telling men's ages though. With a swift magic-aided kick, she sent the boy flying, straight past a red-headed girl who was exiting a tavern and sighing in frustration.

The boy crashed into a stall, shattering it and staying down. She could tell even from here he was more stunned than hurt. Fairy Tail mages were pretty hardy, a fact Kotone appreciated when she didn't actually want to cause more problems.

Kotone huffed, letting out her breath slowly before smirking at the kid with a cocky grin as she dusted off her hands and her coat. "Next time you want to be so rude to a girl, remember that some of us can kick your ass," she taunted him. She started to turn around, but then she realized she'd almost injured someone as they walked outside. She turned back around, the expression of the girl before she'd (surely) noticed the boy flying past her registering in her mind.

"Hey, you! Redhead!" she called out in order to get her attention. She walked up to the woman wearing the admittedly nice-looking jacket. "You alright?" she asked. She probably sounded like she was apologizing for nearly hitting her, but really she was more referring to her obvious bad mood. Kotone was trying to sound calm and collected. She was still quite overly excited from the fight, and not in a great mood herself after being asked to "come to his place and have some fun," but she naturally enjoyed helping people who looked like they could use the help, and her previous expression told Kotone she should see what she could do.

(Sorry I didn't post until now. Busy busy busy.)

To be perfectly honest, Abigail hadn't noticed the young man flying past her, coming only mere inches away from colliding with her. Nor did she hear the loud crash as he smashed into a stall a little bit behind her. She was too caught up in her impotent frustration to pay attention to what was going on in her surroundings. It was only when she heard her stomach grumble loudly that she was brought out of her stewing. And then she heard someone call out, "Hey, you! Redhead!", causing her to perk her head up.

On pure instinct and reflex, Abigail sat up straight and reached for her belt with her favored hand, as if to grasp the hilt of her sword. But she wound up swatting at air. Damn you, muscle memory, she thought, letting her hand fall to her side, since she wouldn't be drawing her weapon. And it was just as well, too. When she really took a moment to look at the person who had addressed her, she saw that it was nothing more than a girl in her late teens with black hair and big blue eyes. Not a threat, then. Not now, at least, the older woman thought, running a hand through her fiery red hair and rising to her feet. Standing at her full stature, Abigail had a good four feet or so on the girl, having to look down at her to make eye contact. She stretched out her arms, the sleeve on her jacket sliding back to reveal the swirling tribal tattoo that covered her left arm. And then she finally realized that the girl had asked if she was alright.

"Yeah. Yeah... I'm fine. Just... sort of at a loss." she replied in a quiet, dejected tone, her voice deep and husky. A sign of a considerable amount of time spent smoking. The adventurer stuck her hands into her pockets, her crucifix jangling on its chain from the movement. "This is my first time in town, and I'm not really sure what to do, since the reason I came here ended up being pointless." she continued with a shrug, the left corner of her mouth turned downward in a sort of half-frown.

There was an awkward silence between them after that, with Abigail just standing there, her mismatched eyes staring down at the young girl, or occasionally looking at passersby. Many of them took the time to stare at her, as well. She had to admit, she must've been quite the sight to them. After all, she was standing there in a blood jacket made from denim, with elegant scrollwork embroidered in gold thread. Not to mention the black leather belts she wore on her biceps, which served as sleeve garters of a sort, and the two belts she had secured around her thighs. Even her boots, which were a pair of tanker boots, buckled instead of laced. And of course, there was the strange choker/chain/crucifix she wore. All in all, the only normal articles of clothing she wore were her tank top and jeans, both of which were pitch black.

Abigail came back to reality, and realized that she hadn't introduced herself. "Oh, sorry! Where're my manners? I'm Abigail." She extended her left hand, the dominant one, for the girl to shake. The belt she wore on that arm drew tight on her sleeve, forcing it to conform more to the shape of her bicep and revealing how well-developed it was. She gave a smirk. "And you would be...?"

Kotone was rather confused when rather than addressing the fact that she'd been very nearly struck by a flying person, the redhead instead launched into an explanation about how she was feeling lost, and that her trip to town had been for naught. She raised an eyebrow. "That wasn't what I... nevermind," she decided quickly, shaking her head. Her hands had been inserted into her pockets, as Kotone had gone from hot-headed to acting cool as she tended to do around people once she calmed down.

The apparently very in-shape woman suddenly remembered she hadn't introduced herself, though Kotone hadn't actually asked so it wasn't a big deal. Truthfully she hadn't cared that much. Still, she'd already gone out of her way to not be too rude, so she might as well introduce herself as well. She shook the girl's hand, unimpressed by the muscle. Kotone herself was abnormally strong despite not looking it. She brushed some of her long hair aside before shaking her outstretched hand. Her handshake was slightly awkward despite trying to act cool. Kotone wasn't actually all that comfortable around humans, after all. Even if she was one, herself. "Kotone. I'm the Ice Dragon Slayer. Dunno if you've heard of me," she said as nonchalantly as possible.

Part of her was bragging, part of her was simply trying to play her title down. After the tangle with the kid, she wasn't in an especially social mood, and was torn between saying hi and leaving, and seeing what she could do to help Redhead. Yes, she knew her name was Abigail. She liked calling her Redhead in her own mind better. The part of her that was Krendall's daughter, however, won out. "Is there something I can do to help? I'm not from around here either. And I think if I stayed half of Fairy Tail would end up in the hospital," she chuckled as the boy recovered enough to come to his senses and scramble away before Kotone could address him again. She grinned a cocky grin as the formerly 'tough guy' mage ran off, her spirits rising a little closer to the level of her ego.