Reunion

[Dawn Shadowsbane]

Light flashed in the semi-darkness as the flickering light of the torches reflected off her spinning sword. She occupied the center of the middle ring, flowing from one stance to the other with a fluidity that confirmed her boasts of long familiarity with the weapon in her hand. Her long singular braid cut through the air in echo of the steel short sword in her hands.

The dragonelf remained quiet when she slipped into the Arena from the Inn's common space above. Her trademark cold smirk whispered upon her lips and her wings remained relaxed as she carefully padded into the space. She wore smoky leathers tight to her form, emphasizing her curves and seeming to indicate she was unarmed. Once inside, she settled perfectly manicured hands onto the bannister.

Her movements slowed upon realizing not only was she no longer alone (she wouldn't have stilled if it were anyone else; it didn't matter if someone saw her) but also the identity of the intruder. For intruder it was - it was the daughter she finally knew was truly hers. In a way. She turned to face the witch, a natural turn to complete the form, and, panting, turned her gaze up toward Dawn. She remained otherwise silent, however.

"Mother," she drawled, and the smirk grew wider. "I am grateful that you remain so predictable." She pushed back against the bannister to regain an independent stance without support. "I have come to say hello. It has been far too long since you and I have had the ... pleasure ... of truly enjoying each other's company." Her hands spread as wing ridges lifted in the mockery of a friendly shrug. "How are you faring, dear Mother?"

Her hand convulsed around the hilt of her weapon at the address by the dragonelf. "I am not your mother, Dawn; you are not of my body. Your mother died, a long time ago." She shifted her stance slightly, affecting a more relaxed posture than she truly felt. She would never ease her vigilance around the woman.

"Indeed." She dismissed the denial with a wave of her hand. "You are a mere shadow of the woman who bore me; you are nothing but a clone." She snorted. "Yet you are still my mother, as you bear the heart and hope of my late beloved father. And it is in that spirit that I have sought you out. I wish to ... reconcile." She would never be able to manage a friendly smile; her attempt appeared grotesque and sinister rather than appealing.

It was her turn to snort. "Reconcile, aye." She scowled, a deep and furious furrow to her brow as lips twisted in unholy visage. "You don't reconcile. You hurt, and damn, and destroy. You seek the path of most destruction for all who fail to gain your affection." Her own dark, hard smirk relaxed the brow as hand curled around the hilt in another squeeze. "Let me see ... " Her tone shifted, lowered and took on the cool edge that Dawn so often utilized. "... anyone may be with you, Skid, except Jaycy. Just because I know she has wanted you."

Her brows lifted with the very air of innocence. She remained at her perch high above the other woman, looking down with that maniacal expression. "That was before I knew the truth of you, dear Jaycynda, my dearest mother. I had truly felt you betrayed my poor father in your many ... pairings. I also felt you betrayed my twin and I in abandoning us to the tender mercies of strange guardians. Now, I am aware of the truth; that we have all been abandoned by the bitch who bore me." Again shespread her hands in supplication. "We are all victims; dear Jaycynda. It is time to recognize such and regain some relationship. For you are all I have left of my true parents."

"I still don't believe you. You are a vile snake, Dawn, with more motives behind each visible scheme. I've heard rumors that you no longer trade in slaves." She shook her head. "Aye, I'm sure you don't, because you can so easily change your stripes." The tip of her short sword raised almost leveling to point toward the dragonelf on the stairs. "You don't want a relationship with me. You want something else - you want to hurt me again. You're still trying to make me pay because I look like your mother. But remember this, Dawn, I am not." She stressed the final word, punctuating it with a jab of the sword toward the stairs.

The smile faded and her voice resumed its usual cold bite. "And yet you act as she did, Jaycynda, in your judgment and damnation." She took a step forward to once more lean on the bannister, never once seeking to close the distance between the two of them. "She - you - both are stubborn and selfish, thinking of yourself. I have observed your life here in this place you profess to love so much. You ignore those you find beneath you; you only grace a chosen few with your attentions. As she - you - did once."

[Dawn Shadowsbane]

The winged one sneered down through the darkness. "You refuse to even believe enough to give the last connection to the woman who created us the basest chance at redemption." Wings rose in her agitation, spreading behind her until they met door on one side and wall on the other. "You, and you alone, are the evil between us. You are a false dragon mongrel, feigning innocence and disclaiming fault in your state. You mock my father and I with your very being!"

The tip swiftly dropped as she took a step back, caught by the sudden harshness in her words. They cut deep but, upon reflection, true in their way. She took in a deep, steadying breath, turning her glare upon the other woman again. "What do you want, Dawn?"

She hissed briefly before relaxing her wings behind her and taking her own moment for collection. "My dear Jaycynda," she drawled, "... I wish to give you a gift." Her brow lifted in challenge toward the redhead well below. "Mockery though you may be, you are indeed my only connection to the past and the father I honor so well."

She snorted inelegantly. "I'm not that interested in any gift you have to give me, Dawn. Unless that gift is you not trying to kill me and leaving me alone. That would be the best indication you have any real interest in this ... reconcilitation. Actions speak louder than words, and if you wish to have me believe you and not judge you on past actions, you would leave me be. I've no desire to kill you and I have and will continue to do the same." Perhaps attempting to suit her own action to her words, she sheathed the blade in its plain scabbard, sliding the blade home with a soft hiss. One hand remained on the hilt in readiness for the expected attack, though.

"I do promise, I shall, as you say, leave you ... alone," she purred into the shadowed light before her. "But I believe you shall desire this gift, once you know of it. I wish to tell you a secret; an answer to a conundrum you have long asked futilely. I know you have long queried who and what injured your precious Pslyder." The smirk gained the self-assurance that tended to come when one knew they offered a carrot too prized to resist grasping for. "I have sought answers, on your behalf."

Her eyes first widened and then narrowed at the woman's words. "On my behalf? Or on your own behalf, to find out who to congratulate and get pointers from?" She scoffed. "And what do you want for such a secret, Dawn?" Both hands contracted, one around the hilt and the other into itself, nails digging fleshed holes that began to seep vitae.

"I wish nothing for this secret, dear Mother," she crooned. "But merely to bring you peace." She stood straight once more, easing almost imperceptibly toward the exit already so near. "Or do you not wish to know? I could remove myself at this moment and leave you in blissful ignorance." The smile seemed more snarl at the "offer" to keep the knowledge Jaycy almost surely compulsively needed unspoken. "It is your choice, my dear." The smile settled into something more humanoid but no less monstrous.

"Who did it," she simply snarled.

The smile bloomed wider as Dawn stood tall on the landing well above the redhead. "Me." She turned her body swiftly to face the door square on and reached out, quick as a snap, to grasp the door handle and pull it inward. The space quickly became just enough for her to slip through and out of sight, leaving Jaycy before the woman could react in a physical manner to the news.

She almost knew the answer before Dawn gave it; there would have been no other reason for the dragonelf to even bring it up if she hadn't caused the damage in the first place. But still, hearing it aloud brought a horrid shudder through her small frame and a fresh press of blood to drip into the sands from the gouged holes in her palm. " ... you will die," she promised, a soft huff of breath in the now otherwise empty Arena.

She stood, though, and did not trail after the woman. Her rage was hot but her revenge would be cool, calculating. Finally she stalked toward and then up the stairs and exited. She had research and planning to do.