Stop looking for it, and it will find you.

[~Sangsue~]

We are the vampires, like living stone

Sangsue sat near the edge of the cliff, in the middle of a barren spot. Her knees were held to her chest by her arms, and she rested her chin on them. She looked at the stars in the cloudless sky without really concentrating on them, or anything, and trying not to think about too much. It was such a peaceful night, and Sang wished to enjoy it. But she was far from at peace at the moment. It had been a little while since the last time she had seen her friend. She had given Sydonia time by herself, as she knew she wanted, but Sangsue's mind kept returning to what had happened. She felt the urge to find Sydonia, and see how she was. Not only for that though, she still enjoyed the company of her friend.

Sangsue had been searching for her for a few days now, not quite nonstop, as there were things that still had to be attended to, but as much as she could. Right now, she was taking a break, and feeling rather forlorn and disappointed with her seeming inability to track someone down. Apparently she was not in the right place at the right time, or she was just being avoided. Sangsue's thoughts wandered to things someone might come to bring her back to attend to, which she really didn't want at the moment. There shouldn't be any trouble with the humans, she had gotten rid of the body she had killed the night before; none of the other residents had been causing trouble; and she was pretty sure any type of paperwork or decision making had been taken care of before she left her house. So yeah, she should be good.

As Sang's mind blissfully began to go blank, thinking only of the twinkling dots above her, a bit of longing washed over her. A longing to see her best friend again, as no one had for a small time. At least as far as she was aware. It was, of course, a very simple task to come and go relatively unnoticed, but someone had to take notice that she was there. Everyone in the city knew who the two were. But not a speck of luck had come her way. "Ah well," She thought "Most times what you're looking for comes to find you when you stop searching so hard." A small sigh escaped her lips, and she just continued gazing.

We are loyal, enduring, longing; for a life besides our own

[{ Sydonia]

I want it so badly, I'd shoot the sunshine into my veins

The disturbingly large, furry wolf looked up into the clear night sky, her orbs tracing over every star that stood out, and finally stopped to rest peacefully on the moon. Her mind instantly registered it as a waxing gibbous, and that it would be full in about four or five nights. Sydonia didn't even know why she had come out this far from the city; the city was her home, and she loved every aspect of it. Even the humans, which was something to be said. She loved it, and yet she felt she didn't want to go back. Not tonight. But she didn't know why. The dark brown wolf shook her head in a motion as if she were shaking off water. She just didn't want to think about it right now. She wanted her mind to be clear, to be completely free of anything that might burden her. Syd just didn't want to think anymore. So much had happened in such little amount of time, and she knew that it was all going to stick with her for awhile. Why couldn't she just forget about it already?

The wolf slinked up toward the top of the cliff. The wind was at her back, seeming to push her toward the top with a gentle force. Syd didn't look up, and her tail drooped so that it scraped the ground as she walked. She was still quite a ways from the top of the cliff, where she knew she was eventually going to get, but she didn't care. She kept walking anyways. Another glance at the oblong shape of the moon with the red orbs of the wolf's provoked an instinctual sound to rise from inside her chest. A thick and drawn out sound, as she lifted her head toward the moon in an eerie howl that only certain people would be able to decipher. The sound was filled with sorrow, but Syd didn't know why. She had not a clue why she should be sad. The lonely wolf continued up the steep hill.

When she was about twenty feet from the top, still not looking ahead of her, the gentle breeze shifted and began moving against her, wanting to push her back down to safe elevation. She didn't listen to it. Because the wind carried along with it a scent that was familiar as it crept into and infiltrated the wolfess's sensitive nose. It was a scent that she would know anywhere, and no matter what. It was the scent of her best friend. Lanky neck suddenly raised a head with ears perked in the direction that both the wind and scent came from, as Syd took a couple uncertain steps forward. A dainty silhouette sat on the top of the cliff, and Sydonia could see it perfectly. The giant wolf began a gentle lope toward her beloved friend, hoping to reach the vampire as fast as her tired legs would carry her. She was utterly exhausted.

I can't remember the good 'ole days.

[~Sangsue~]

We are the vampires, like living stone

Tiny noises from behind Sangsue came to her ears, but she ignored them, figuring they were just small animals moving about. At least it was something to break the ominous silence. Silence made her jumpy. The vampire was startled though, as a different sound intruded loudly upon the quiet which had settled. A howl, and it was nearby. And the sound was almost painfully familiar to Sang's ears. If she wasn't mistaken, it came from the mouth of the exact person she was looking for. Her focus and head snapped to a spot behind her, the direction from which it had come, waiting to see if the source might emerge in to view. And very soon, it did. The dark outline of a wolf entered Sangsue's vision.

The wolf seemed hesitant, but quickly moved to approach her at a nice pace. She assumed that this was her friend, an assumption which was confirmed as a breeze blew a trace of her scent in Sang's direction. She exhaled, then stood fluidly and went to meet the wolf.

We are loyal, enduring, longing; for a life besides our own

[{ Sydonia]

In the night light

The large wolf ran as quickly as her tired legs could carry, which was certainly not that fast at all. Her dark brown fur seemed a little bit more matted, more tussled than it usually did; she had seen a rough past few days. A faint outline of her ribs were even starting to appear at her sides. A wolf without much food degenerated at a rapid pace. Sydonia almost stopped heading toward her target when she saw that the vampire had risen to meet her, but her body would not let her do so. She merely slowed down to the point of finally stopping only when in front of her best friend. The wolfess didn't look up into the other's eyes or even her face. She kept staring at the part of Sangsue that was right in front of her slightly raised head -which was about the vampire's stomach- and walked carefully forward until the top of her cranium was pressed gently to Sang's stomach.

This simple movement of contact didn't need any words to explain why. At least, not in Sydonia's mind. Lids dropped over crimson red orbs as the wolf stood statue still and just inhaled, absorbing the scent of her friend into every fiber of her being at that moment. It just felt good to the wolf, to know that she did have someone, despite the lack of family members back in the mansion. And the loss of her best friend for the past few days had almost done her in. The wolf stepped back to a healthy distance from the vampire, where she shifted in step back to her human form. The human phase of Sydonia wasn't any better looking than the wolf at that point.

Dark circles almost pooled underneath the girl's icy grey eyes, and skin was even more pale than usual, which was saying something. Striped hoodie sleeves were pushed up to her elbows, and fingerless gloves were missing. All in all, Syd looked a complete mess. A wrist was raised to rub at tired eyes, then Sydonia blinked slowly. "Hi." she said, in a tone that summed up all the miserable, tortured feeling that was the werewolf at the moment.

We still shine bright.

[~Sangsue~]

We are the vampires, like living stone

Sangsue observed her friend as she came in to better view. She looked bad, like she hadn't been taking very good care of herself. And the poor thing looked like she was about to drop from fatigue. Sang frowned at this, she didn't like seeing her friend in such a state. And she wondered why she had gotten like that. What could compel her to stay away from the huge house, where she knew she could get proper food and rest? When there was only an inch or so between them, Sangsue looked down and waited for her to speak, or even to look up. But she didn't.

A soft breath, almost a sigh, slipped out at the contact with her stomach. It was a huge relief to the vampire, being close to her best friend again. She brought her hand up to pet Sydonia's head, an absentminded display of affection. Sangsue just breathed, her breath now making clouds of steam in the chilly night air. She wanted to talk, but it felt wrong. The silence was too ominous. Then Sang waited as the contact was broken, to see what she was going to do. When Sydonia shifted back to human form, it made Sangsue gasp in astonishment. She looked. . . Well horrible. Again Sangsue wondered what circumstances could have led to her falling to such a state. She couldn't recall seeing Sydonia ever this not-put-together.

Looking at the figure before her, Sang had the urge to run to her, and hug her tightly. She had the urge to drag her back to the house and personally make sure she was restored to normal state. But all she did was approach slowly, and gently wrap her arms around Sydonia's shoulders. "Hi." She whispered in response to the others greeting. After a few seconds, she stepped back with a crease in her forehead. "Where have you been?" Was the question that came to mind first, and the one that might indicate an answer to the others. Such as "What happened to you?" and "What have you been doing?"

We are loyal, enduring, longing; for a life besides our own

[{ Sydonia]

How cruel is the golden rule

Sydonia stood, wordless, as she watched her companion step forward to embrace her with a gentle hug. Hesitantly, the werewolf raised frail arms to wrap weakly around the other in the same gesture, just more tired-ly. Syd was expecting questions, but she was expecting a whole lot more than the vampire proceeded to ask when she stepped back. At first, the exhausted girl merely blinked at the question. Then, she rolled her eyes in a gesture suggesting everything around her. "Oh, around." she replied with a weak, sad smile. Syd let out a long sigh, and rubbed her eyes once more. "You know, directing new additions to the city, avoiding humans, putting certain arrogant werewolves back in check. The usual." She shrugged.

"Had a hard time forgiving myself, I suppose." the werewolf stated, proceeding to raise her arm to scratch her back (with some struggle from her aching muscles), and wincing when the movement proved to be too much for her body to handle right at that moment. "But, you know I always do." This was true. Sydonia was harder on herself for doing something wrong or stupid than she was others. If she did something that she didn't like herself doing, she did not let it go very easily. Syd raised her right hand to push her hair out of her eyes, revealing some light scarring running from the far left side of her face down the side of her neck. It looked about a day and a half old, and probably was. But it would fade.

When our lives are only golden-plated?

[~Sangsue~]

We are the vampires, like living stone

Sangsue waited for an answer from the girl in front of her. It took her a tad longer than normal, she looked a little out of it. Ok, maybe a bit of an understatement. The explanations given were not really out of the ordinary, except the last one. Hadn't heard that one before. But she waved the thought aside, deciding it wouldn't hurt not to ask. The other answer following these was one Sangsue had expected though. It had been clear from the moment she had seen Sydonia run out of sights through the city streets at their last meeting that she would be kicking herself. Like she always did. Yes, yes, Sangsue knew all too well how Sydonia acted when she knew she had done something wrong. Well wrong to her, anyway. Sang really wished that sometimes she could just get over it, move on. The vampire hated seeing her friend treat herself this way.

As these errant thoughts came and went, Sang's attention was drawn to something revealed by the pushing aside of Sydonia's hair. There were marks, a scar it looked like, on the side of her face. The vampire stared at it, wondering what could have made it. It had only been a few days since they had seen each other, what had she gotten in to since then? Again Sangsue had the urge to just get her back in to the comforts of their own home. "Well, have you forgiven yourself now?" Sangsue began quietly and cautiously. "And what happened there?" Indicating the scar on the side of Sydonia's head.

We are loyal, enduring, longing; for a life besides our own

[{ Sydonia]

The words of the prophets

Sydonia nodded obediently at the first question of Sangsue's, though she was only half telling the truth. Naturally, it didn't take much of her energy to lie, even to her best friend on the entire planet. Most of the time she could do it without even thinking. She really didn't have much mentality to think at the moment. And what happened there? Syd's hand instinctively raised to the scar she knew was there, running lightly down her neck. She ran her hand weakly along the line of scar tissue. It didn't hurt anymore, and Syd knew that it wouldn't be there forever. So why did it matter? She was prone to injury as it seemed. The tired girl shrugged.

"Just another injury probably from that stupid werewolf that I had to fight off." She shook her head at this. Some creatures could be so idiotic. Syd hated it so much she wondered why she hadn't just killed the other werewolf in the first place. The werewolf girl inhaled the cool night air, the clean atmosphere cleansing her lungs with the slightly cold temperature. It felt good. But it made her sleepy. "I'm tired." she mumbled absentmindedly. She looked back up at Sangsue (as she had been looking at the ground), light grey eyes meeting those brown of the vampire's. "So what have you been doing with yourself?" Sydonia inquired.

Are written on the subway walls.

[~Sangsue~]

We are the vampires, like living stone

Sangsue listened to Sydonia's explanation for the injury, and again decided she wasn't going to ask about it. It's not like it was that big of a deal, it'd be gone soon. She was just curious as to how she had hurt herself once again. Although, Sang felt that if this werewolf hadn't been taken care of already, and was still causing trouble, then she would have to insure he was removed. A renegade werewolf could pose too many problems, that she really did not want to deal with. She heard mumbled words. "I'm tired." Well that much was pretty apparent. But she knew where she could rest. There wasn't really any point in urging her to do so, if she really wanted to, she would.

"So what have you been doing with yourself?" Oh, what had she been doing with herself? Pretty much nothing new. Attending to paperwork, looking after her new pet, making sure nothing ate it. She also had a little run-in with a kititran who had angered a dragon. Not the smartest tool in the shed, huh? "Nothing, really. Besides trying to find you, which of course happens as soon as I stop looking. If you're that tired - because from the looks of it you could use rest - then why don't we head back?"

We are loyal, enduring, longing; for a life besides our own