Into the Canyons (invite only) (finished)

[Anya]

The vengeance demon was over a thousand years old, and she still had yet to learn the art of subtlety...in her human form, at least. Perhaps her difficulty when it came to adjusting(or some kind of subconscious refusal to do so) stemmed from the fact that for so many centuries, her line of work was anything but subtle. When granting someone's vengeance-fueled wish, subtlety was really the last thing needed. For maximum devastating effect, the wishes and the way she chose to grant them had to be big, over-the-top, and utterly chaotic. She had helped to start the freakin' Russian Revolution, for crying out loud! Anya knew all of these things very well, and she probably still would've been doing them if it weren't her her stupid conscience and guilt and...all of those damn human memories. The point being, all of the qualities that made an excellent vengeance demon weren't exactly helpful when it came to human interaction. Which was why it came as no surprise when Vince noticed her reaction to Nara's mind-touching.

She glanced sheepishly at the devil, who seemed to have choked on his food. His response to her offer to help Vince seemed less than enthusiastic...perhaps she shouldn't have been so hasty before speaking for them both. But then again, Anya rarely if ever thought before she spoke, so it couldn't really be helped. For a moment, she stared down at her food, which still remained mostly untouched. "Huh?...Oh, I wasn't annoyed with him!" The demon responded, albeit a bit belatedly when Vince questioned her about Nara. "Just kind of...surprised. You know, that he lived in a library and all." she finished in a mumble. Seeing as she clearly wasn't the best liar in the world, she thought it wise to stop there.

When the bounty hunter brought up the b-word again, Anya's posture immediately stiffened. Of all the things Vince could have questioned her about, why did it have to be this? Trying to avoid a freak-out akin to the one that had happened moments ago, she took another bite of her pizza and pretended to consider his words while she chewed. She spoke once she had swallowed again, her words considerably more calm than she was actually feeling. "Yes. TV does make you paranoid. When I was a h--err, when I lived in Sunnydale, my friends made me watch lots of scary movies about serial killers and ghosts and that sort of thing." Anya replied pleasantly enough. But television and all of its horrors weren't the reason she feared bunnies.

If you asked the demon to explain her bizarre phobia, she wouldn't because she couldn't. Anya didn't actually know why she was so afraid of bunnies...she just knew that she was. In truth, when she'd first been a human over a thousand years ago, the demon had actually loved the furry little creatures. She'd kept a couple as pets, and of course they soon multiplied--to the point where she had at least nine or ten living with her on her little farm at one time. After she became a demon, however, Anya began to associate rabbits with the pain and unhappiness of her former human life. As the years went by, and these years turned into centuries, most of these memories faded into an unintelligible blur--but no matter how much she forgot about her early human life, the dislike associated with the animals she once loved had never faded. Eventually, it had changed and developed into a full-blown phobia, and thus the demon's vehement aversion to them now.

Was it silly? Well, yes. A lot of things about her were silly.

Anya dismally played with the straw of her drink. Clearly, Vince was growing more and more suspicious of his two companions, and she wasn't quite sure what to do about it. One thing she did know, however, was that she really, really didn't like the idea of being forced to face her most potent fear. "And that depends. If your idea of 'proving' it to me involves me anywhere near one of...them...well, trust me. Bad things would happen." The demon shivered at the very idea of those floppy-eared, buck-toothed little fiends.

Not even daring to imagine what would transpire if Vince attempted to carry out his idea, Anya chattered on. "..Maybe now would be a convenient time to change the subject. Let's talk about...uh. Zombies! What do you guys think we should do about them? I mean they're still out there roaming the streets, you know, all 'grr' and...flesh-eating." She pointed out, her tone regaining a bit of its brightness.

Only a creature like Anya could manage to sound more chipper when discussing zombies than when discussing bunny-rabbits.

[kitsuneflare88]

Nara shrugged and finished eating his mouthful of pizza then took a drink from his cup. People sure like you to stand on ceremony here was a thought that went through his mind. He had pretty much by the end of this devoured 3/4's of a pizza by himself. He took a drink from the soda and smiled in a friendly way to reno.

"I'm really sorry for earlier i just got a bit of pizza stuck in my throat." he said smiling. It was ammazing he was now speaking english comfortably and without much pausing. His voice confident and relaxed now that all the difficulty had passed, granted it had required a massive combination of reading minds, and listening to conversations around him very carefully. "I would be happy to help." he said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice rather than a manipulative "sure i'll help" voice.

If there was one thing he hated about his kind its that everybody sought out power through structure regardless of who was leading or their merit. He was glad so far there was no stabbing in the back, which was slowly starting to dawn on him. Granted that didn't stop him from being his usual paranoid self.

"its alright," nara answered to anya referring to his surprise about having his assistance offered so easily. "I'm just not used to this place." He sighed and felt it was time to head outside for him any ways. "I'll be back...If you will excuse me." he said standing up and walking outside towards one of the alley ways.

His body hurt now. Maybe he had eaten way too much of that pizza, it made his human form uncomfortable and sick, or was it something else. Now he understood the realm of gluttony, and why those souls had been so bloated. In all honesty the thought of the place made him ill. When he was out of sight, he changed back into his normal self, and flew up to the rooftop of a nearby building. He sat on the ledge thinking, something had changed in him. He didn't know what and he wasn't sure how he was going to take this change.

He was starting to feel was it "pity, empathy..." he really didn't know all he knew is he had a strong desire. Granted he knew his kind had little emotion but they had desire and passions, and his body was feeling it. He gave out a small growl of discomfort, it wasn't the food it was these new found emotions of caring, and.....sympathy, was there also some form of remorse seeping through.

He was tempted to let out an infuriated howl of rage, but knew he couldn't do such a thing. His wings curled around him as he sat there in the moonlight, his tail swishing about slowly behind him. This day had changed him and he wasn't sure if it was in a good one either. His head started to hurt again though he got no bad feelings or glimpses about himself or people. It just started hurting for no reason.

His eyes remained closed as suddenly his entire body began hurting not just his head. He was surprised and definitely caught off guard by the sudden blinding pain. It was lucky he fell backwards and onto the roof rather than off the apartment building he had been resting on.

[renoraines]

Reno was surprised with the two but he didn't hate them. They were not bad people as far as he could tell but rather strange. Reno was worried when he saw Nara chocking on his food or at least it seemed that he was. He was terrified as he just looked at him and was going to help but as he noticed that he was better he just sighed and relaxed . Reno shock his head as he looked at him with the look that said ‘be Careful’ as well as he told him just that. Then he looked at Anya as she spoke and listened to her. Reno nodded to her in understanding, “Oh, alright then. It just looked like you were annoyed that is all” he sighed as he just watched her for a while then looked at Nara once more as he waited for him to speak again.

After that Reno looked back at her as he said the next thing and watched her reaction. He nodded in understanding. He knew how that was like to be pulled to do things that you were not sure you wanted to do. Reno knew that feeling very well but something about her reply rather confused him but he wasn’t sure what or why did it do that. Which was why for now he just ignored that. “I see, well I know how that is like. I have been through something like that. Had no idea that there were horror films about bunnies so” it was true that he didn’t knew that because he hadn’t watched TV in a while. Only when he was in sixkiler enterprise he actually got a chance to watch some TV but not a lot so. He then took another bit of his pizza and a sip off his drink as he waited for one of the other two to say something else.

As he said what he said next, he hoped that she would accept his offer. Since he was sure that it would help her or at least he hoped so. Reno watched her play with her strew and everything else she did as he just sighed, AS Anya spoke once more he listened to her again and then sighed. “Well, you wouldn’t know that until you try, ya know?! Give it a try. Perhaps it will help you but if not then we will leave it for good. The better way to get rid of fears is to confront them. That what I learned and I am fine.” he smiled at her. “It won’t be easy but give it a few tries. You won’t regret it” he added. Reno hoped to convince her but he wasn’t going to force her. All he was trying to do was convince her. “Not forcing you. So if you sure you don’t want to then fine. Sorry if it seems like I am forcing you”

Reno watched her and sighed as he could tell that the idea still scared her. As he listened to her speak the next sentence he just sighed and lifted up an eye brow. Reno laughed a little when she said ‘grr‘. “Grrr?!” he was rather amused by the word ‘grr’ but not everything else that she said. The rest was rather scary and worrying. “I am not sure. All I know is that we have to avoid them at all cost. Somehow. I just have no idea what should we do about them. Do any of you got some plans?” he looked between them as he waited fir a reply. “I never saw zombies until now so I don’t have a clue what to do in that situation.”

Reno then looked at the guy and listened as he nodded to him and watched him stand up and leave. “Talk later then” he called after him. Reno kept looking at the direction Nara left and after that he looked back at Anya. “What’s with him? Is he alright? I do hope that he is” right as he said that some cops walked in as he hid himself behind a Manu that he took from a table next to them. Reno was grateful as the cops got something to eat and drink then left with out seeing him. He sighed to that relived. It was way to close but luckily they didn’t see him. As soon as Reno was sure that the cops left he put the Manu down. After that he looked at Anya as he hoped that she didn’t see that or else he would have a lots of explaining to do. Reno watched for a few minutes and after that took another bite from his pizza and another sip off his drink.

[Anya]

Her bright brown eyes switched to Nara without missing a beat as he stood up to leave. Rather taken aback by this sudden occurrence, Anya almost opened her mouth to question him. And then, at the last minute, she thought better of it. It probably wasn't a big deal, and he'd be back. Hopefully. Trying not to fret more than she needed to, the demon gave a tiny shrug. "Okay. We'll be...here." she said eventually, giving Nara a grin and a little wave as he left the shop. Odd...where would he be going? She very much doubted he was heading out to take a smoke break, or something. Anya shook her head, puzzled. But to be fair, Nara had a whole new world to take in. Maybe he just needed a moment to process all of it. And yet...she couldn't help but feel that something was off.

In an attempt to forget this, she returned her attention to Vince. The blonde regarded him warily at first as he spoke of "confronting her fears". As far as she was concerned, even being in the same room as a bunny was a horrible idea, and an event that would undoubtedly give her nightmares for weeks to come. Still, Vince was so unexpectedly encouraging that she couldn't help but feel a bit touched. They'd only just met, and yet the guy genuinely seemed to want to help her whereas most people would have simply laughed at her absurdity. Anya smiled despite herself. Though she still couldn't even begin to imagine herself going within ten feet of the furry little monstrosities, perhaps...as long as the circumstances were safe and controlled, of course, and it meant she got to spend more time with her newfound friends...

"I'll tell you what," the demon answered, choosing her words carefully. "Maybe...under the right circumstances, I'd consider hearing you out. As long as you promise not to let any bunnies attack me, of course. Think what you want about 'em, but the stupid things really don't like me!" Her insistence was emphasized by a slight wrinkling of her nose, as if she were mocking the creatures that plagued her existence.

Zombies, however, didn't provoke the vengeance demon's concern quite as much. Even though one of the hordes had just tried to kill her, Anya pretty much regarded this as an everyday occurrence. Casually sipping at her soda, she gazed around the room as if expecting to see one of the undead creatures sitting among them. "Never saw them before?" she repeated Vince's words with a slight scoff. She wished she could be so lucky. "Well, they're pretty much all over New York. I'll tell you my policy when it comes to zombies: whack 'em in the head and send 'em back where they came from. Problem is, they tend to travel in packs. So that's a lot of whacking."

Anya would've said more, perhaps going on to explain the connection between the zombie hordes and her current unkempt appearance, but thinking about this reminded her of exactly why they were here: they were hiding. Taking shelter from the very horde that had almost found them in the alley. The horde that could have very well started to track them here. Setting down her glass with a soft thump, Anya stared wide-eyed at Vince. "Vince...Nara's kind of been gone for awhile..." she observed quietly, her voice now noticeably edged with worry. What if Nara had gone outside, only to be faced with a very large, very hungry pack of zombies? "..Maybe we should make sure he's alright." As she spoke these words, the demon stood up slowly, her gaze trained on the shop's door. Zombies or not, she was definitely beginning to sense that something was wrong.

She probably would've left within the next couple of seconds, not one to be dissuaded by reason or common sense. But before she could move, she was stopped in her tracks by something quite...unusual. At that moment, several police officers walked into the shop. Bad timing to be sure; Anya had never been particularly fond of the authorities. But then, she'd never ducked and hid from them, either. Spotting a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned to Vince to find him...hiding behind a menu? The demon's gaze darted from the cops back to the bounty hunter, and as it dawned on her what this had to mean, she slowly frowned.

Well, this was strange to say the least. The demon hesitated, unexpectedly torn. Her inquisitive, curious nature demanded that she immediately question Vince on what had just happened, but at the same time something was telling her that they needed to find Nara now.

"O-okay. Listen. This is getting out of hand." Anya said in a low, cautious voice. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a wad of money and tossed it onto the table, before turning back to Vince with an extremely determined expression set upon her face. "You're gonna come with me, and we're gonna find Nara, and then...there are gonna be no more secrets! Between any of us!" With a huff, she motioned for the bounty hunter to follow her, before stalking to the front of the shop and out the door.

The outside air was cold and crisp against her skin after the warmth of the pizza shop. Crossing her arms across her chest in an attempt to warm herself, Anya took a few steps out into the night. The demon was visibly wary, all of her senses peaked as she peered out at the empty city. No sign of zombies. But no sign of their friend, either.

"...Nara...?" she called warily, tense and alert as she listened for an answer.

[kitsuneflare88]

Naradan let out a howl of rage or was it a scream of anguish, he didn't really know what was going on all he knew is his mind and body hurt more than anything he had felt in his few hundred years of life. His tail was swishing about, His wings flared out.

The Howl or scream came from a nearby rooftop of what appeared to be an apartment. Several people could be seen outside at thier windows looking for the source of the noise. Several seemed genuinely horrified by the noise.

It sounded like someone was dieing or being tortured. Granted for what was happening to nara it was pretty much torture. The demon, was experiencing his own remorse, a pain many of his kind would not survive. Something inside of him had changed causing him to genuinely feel regret for some of the sin's he had done over his life. It was like some great revelation granted this revalation for him was comming at a price to say the least.

He was atop a 4 story apartment just next to the pizza restaurant a wing could be seen over the side and some thrashing shadow which could only be his tail as it smashed into the side of the ledge sending some rubble over the edge raining it down on reno and anya.

Anya might have some in inkling of what was going on being a demon who had forsaken her own past to do a form of atonement, it was a painful experience, especially for him. Though if he survived he might actually have his freedom from the other demons from his realm. The arch devils of his realm had imposed this upon his kind should one try to leave, the would experience an unholy amount of pain if they tried to forsake who and what they were. Which is why many of his kind were settled in their own ways it was a means of control to stop many from leaving their service.

Nara was struggling to keep hold of himself as he saw and realized everything he had done and what its purpose was, he was sickened with himself filled with regret anguish, and many other emotions that were not befitting for one of his kind. If they were to go up they would face not the young teen they knew to be nara but a full fledged monster known as Naradan, He was a huge creature roughly 9 feet tall weighing probably several hundred pounds, with flicking tail that seemed to have a life of its own along with huge hang glider sized wings.

[renoraines]

Reno was surprised by her reaction to the least. "You will be alright, don't worry and that's a deal. I will be there to make sure they don't attack you but you give them one chance. If you are right and then try to attack you because they hate you then I am sorry and won't ever ask you to get near them again. Deal?" he hoped that she would accept his deal. Yet again with her he couldn't be sure of anything. When Reno tried to convince her to confront her fears he really meant it because he cared not anything else. He believed that it would be good for her and others if she did. Not that he would make her or anything but he still hoped that she would agree.

"Well not before now that is. I haven't seen them until today." Reno looked down then back at her and sighed. He meant it, that day was the first day he saw real zombies. "I know they are. I saw them not to long ago. When I was here with Terra and when I met a weird young woman. I met Terra here, she is a young girl who is pretty nice. Anyway but I haven't seen much of them. So I guess you saw more then I did." He watched her and laughed a little at the whack them part. "Whack them? What do you mean by that?" Reno was definitely confused by that as he never heard that before.

He finished his pizza and his drink then finished the other pizza as he ordered two more with coffee. However, he asked to pack his order as he planned on taking it as he had a feeling that they should go that minute. "Now that you mention it yeah. That is very strange. I hope he is alright" He really meant it as he paid for his new order. Reno did notice that her voice said that she was worried about him. Truth be told he too was worried about the guy. Something felt wrong. which he hoped was just a feeling and not something real. After all he didn't want anyone to be in trouble that was for sure. "Good idea, We should definitely do that as it's not a good sign at all."

They were about to leave search for Nara when over sudden cops walked in, which got him off guard so he picked a menu and hid behind it. Reno wasn't found of them as well as he feared them in a way. After all he was wanted, granted he never committed the crime but not many knew that. Which was the real problem. Not many believed him even which was bad. Reno hated the situation but he could do nothing about it so. Not yet anyway, unfortunately. However, he hoped that someday he could prove his innocence. Even so he knew that it wont be easy but he surely wasn't going to give up so.

He noticed the way she looked at him when he hid behind the menu and signed as he gave her the look that said. 'will explain later'. Reno was glad when the cops left as he could tell that she was curious and confused. Which he wasn't surprised by. He knew he owned her an explanation and planned on giving her one. "Will explain later, promise"

"Yeah I know, I agree with you" He meant every word that he said. Reno watched her take out the money from her purse and threw it on the table. He himself paid for all his orders. Reno listened and nodded to her. "Accepted. I get why you are saying that and I agree but promise me that what I tell stays only between us. Not that anyone will believe you but I just don't want people to know who I am as they will get the wrong idea." Was all that he said. Reno definitely followed as he looked up and took a deep breath. He knew that sooner or later it would come to that.

Outside it was very cold, so Reno took his coat and instead of putting it around himself he put it around her. He hoped that it would warm her up and then he just stood next to her. Reno looked around glad that there were no zombies around but worried about the whereabouts of their friend. He looked at her before he looked around once more as he hoped that they would find him soon.

"Nara" he called out after she did. Just then something fell on his head Reno were really confused by that. He put his hand on his head then cleaned himself up then looked up. "Um... Anya"

[Anya]

The city was cold. Dark. Quiet. And with every second that went by, the vengeance demon's sense of dread heightened. Suddenly, Anya became aware of a movement behind her, and then something being draped over her shoulders. She immediately let out a startled yelp, turned, and then breathed a sigh of relief. She'd nearly forgotten that Vince was behind her. It seemed the bounty hunter had offered her his coat as protection against the cold. Despite her anxiety, Anya gave her friend a smile of gratitude as she wrapped the jacket more tightly around herself. Chivalry wasn't quite dead, it seemed. The blonde returned her attention to the streets, praying that Nara would eventually answer her call. But the city remained so hauntingly silent...

And then the screaming started. It rose in pitch and volume until it became a howl of sheer, unadulterated pain. Anya had heard some pretty awful things in her life, but this noise had to be among the most horrible of them. The demon shivered and bristled, goosebumps running along the skin on her arms. "Oh God..." she whispered, instinctively clutching at Vince's arm and shutting her eyes tightly. The level of desperation and remorse radiating off...whoever it was, was almost physically painful to her. Judging from the volume of the sound, it was coming from somewhere very nearby. But where?

Seconds later, her question was answered as a thin shower of rubble rained down upon the pair. Most of it seemed to have missed them, however, instead cracking loudly against the concrete sidewalk. What the...?

"Um...Anya."

"What?" she hissed, momentarily distracted by the sudden somberness of Vince's tone. The man beside her was looking up at the building above them, where the rubble had undoubtedly come from. Frowning, she followed his gaze--she really didn't see what could be so important about an old building that was falling apart when there were much more important things to worry about. Oh, how she was wrong.

The first thing the demon could make out atop the building's roof was a large black wing hanging over the edge. A little ways above, an even larger ebony form was visible...and although she couldn't make out an exact shape from this angle, Anya didn't need much more information to tell her exactly what had happened to Nara: he had transformed. And if his previous howls of pain were anything to judge by, something was hurting him. Badly.

For a long moment, Anya could do nothing but gape mutely at the scene above. Undoubtedly Vince had already seen as well, although she doubted he had realized the connection between this creature and Nara. This was really, really bad. When moments ago she had impulsively decided that she would no longer keep secrets from her human friend, she hadn't exactly imagined introducing him to the world of devils and demons like this. In fact, this was pretty much the last scenario she would have ever imagined or hoped for. But there was nothing that could be done now. Vince had already caught sight of Nara's devil form, and if she rushed up there to help their friend, he'd undoubtedly follow her. On the other hand, they couldn't just stay down here! There had to be a reason Nara had transformed, perhaps the very same reason his screams were now echoing around the city. Anya wasn't sure what was happening, but if the devil had been attacked or injured they couldn't just leave him up there!

With a shaky intake of breath, the vengeance demon slowly turned to her human companion. "Vince? Remember what you said earlier, about all these secrets staying between us? Well...just keep it in mind...and please don't freak out." she muttered, before taking hold of the bounty hunter's arm once again, taking a step forward, and with a soft pop teleporting them both up onto the rooftop.

She wavered slightly when they reached their destination, having been thrown a bit off balance. It was an impulsive move to say the least, and perhaps it wasn't the smartest thing she could have done, but there was no going back now. With a desperate glance at Vince, the demon quickly tried to appeal to him. "I'm really, really sorry about this, but there will be time to explain later. Right now, I need you to trust me." Anya told him earnestly. Granted, the poor guy had just been teleported onto a roof only yards away from a 9-foot devil. He had every right to be a little bit freaked.

But Anya would worry about this later. For the moment, she was more concerned about Nara's condition. She slowly turned the face the devil, her expression one of uncertainty mingled with a tinge of fear. While not quite as surprised as she might have been had she not previously realized what Nara was, she was still a bit intimidated. That, and her wariness of his long, lashing tail kept her from getting to close. None the less, Anya managed to collect her nerves enough to call out to him a moment later.

"Nara? Listen to me...I'm Anya, remember?" The vengeance demon spoke as gently as she could, although her voice wavered slightly. "It's alright. Y-you're gonna be alright. Just...tell me what happened."

[kitsuneflare88]

Nara's tail flicked at something nearby it embedded itself into a wall before ripping rubble out of it. If anything got close especially an individual it would create a terrible wound that might not heal correctly. The tail was seeking something to distract his own agonizing pain.

He was roughly dragonish in appearance. He was inflicting some pain onto himself because nothing at least at the moment could be worse than the pain he was enduring. His claws were clutching deeply into the concrete taking some of the concrete out of the roof. His head was twisting and his wings were flapping idly around he might accidentally hit one of them if they got really close to him.

A wing would spread and attempt to knock anya down, this was something that some devils might call the pain of remorse. In Nara's dimension devils were bound in such a way that if one were to feel remorse and go through a form of atonement they must endure a terrible trial of pain. They would see every sin they committed against the world and show the suffering that it caused. If the devil survived it would mean they genuinely wish to atone for what they had done. They would then be given a chance to make up for those crimes.

His tail was lashing out any and everything around him it seemed to definitely have a life of its own. It was snaking about randomly and nara seemed to be hitting parts of his body against the wall. He wanted this pain to end he knew what he had done was wrong, anya's own discussions with him had made him rethink every thing. He was howling and still gritting his fanged teeth it was as if he was trying to say something but the pain was causing him to not be able to say anything. He was crying as well was it from the pain or something else.

He slammed a claw down into the ground and roared again, his telepathy no longer under control a single blaring emotion radiated from the devil's mind. It was remorse and sorrow, and possibly a desire to make repentance. Anya would probably understand what he was going through though this was obviously more extreme in every sense of the word.

His howling was a reflection of the pain he was going through as he was definitely wreaking havoc on the rooftop. His tail was smashing into random objects his wings flapping about. He could feel life around him and their familiar minds, but his sensibilities were lost to pain he wanted to shoo them away from him which caused his wing to flap outwards to try and smack anya away from him. It was possibly a response of a shame or just wishing to protect them as it was obvious he wasn't in control of his faculties.

[renoraines]

Everything happened so fast that it scared him and confused him. More then a little that was for sure. He looked at her as he listened then nodded. After that he looked at the dragon unsure what to do or think. "It’s not Nara, is it?" he asked her. Reno watched what she did shocked, confused and scared. "A...Anya? Are you sure it's even wise? And why is there a dragon here. I really can't understand it at all" . It was all so very new to him that he wasn't sure what else to say. It seemed that his life turned upside down more then he thought that it was even possible.

Reno watched everything else happening as he moved fast and pulled Anya away or tried to. He was glad that the tail didn't hit him. Also it was rather to close. "Anya, I don't think it's friendly" Reno really didn't understand nothing of what was happening and that was for sure. There was no doubt about that. Reno didn't expect none of what was happening that moment to actually happen. Yet it did, by the looks of things. He wasn’t what to do or say anymore as it took him by surprise.

"What exactly is going on here?" Reno asked her as he really wanted to know. It all was more then he could handle there was no doubt about it. Even his expression said that. Reno looked at the dragon then at Anya. o on and so forth as he waited for a n explanation. It made his secret a lot smaller that was for sure.

(Sorry it' to short, blah, muse fell a sleep on me)

[Anya]

OOC// It's all good Reno, I know how you feel xP.


The thrashing, dragon-like devil was certainly a fearsome sight. But rather than back away as she probably should have done, Anya stood utterly transfixed by the horrific sight. The only movements the demon gave were slight, jerking winces every time Nara's tail whipped too close to her. No matter how far the danger escalated, she found herself entirely incapable of moving away. Her feet felt as if they were rooted to the spot, her hands clutched tightly together as she watched her friend lose all semblance of his formerly remarkable self-control. She watched in growing distress as Nara's tail lashed again and again, occasionally striking himself as it did so. The vengeance demon's expression slowly changed from one of fear to one of increasing anguish. He was hurting himself, and she didn't know how to make him stop.

"Nara," she tried again, but before she could even begin her second plea she was suddenly choked by an overwhelming wave of emotion. The wave of absolute remorse and agony crashed into her like a speeding truck--she could feel Nara's pain as the he telepathically broadcasted it, and in that moment the demon realized exactly what was tormenting the devil. For the first time in a very long while, Anya was at a loss for words.

Paralyzed with shock, she stared unseeingly at her friend's anguished form. When one of Nara's wings suddenly extended, she was barely even aware--the blow would've knocked her right off her feet if not for Vince, who reached out and pulled her out of harm's way...though just barely. The sudden action snapped the demon out of her stunned trance, and she finally seemed to hear Vince when he warned her about what he no doubt thought was some unknown, evil entity.

"No!" Anya shook her head, her voice almost breaking as she turned to face the bounty hunter. "You don't understand! He's not an it, he's...he's Nara." she explained, almost pleading with him to believe her. Vince seemed completely bewildered by this point, and his confusion and fear only added to the vengeance demon's distress. She couldn't understand how all of this had gone so wrong so quickly. She just knew that she wanted to make it better. Because now, she recognized Nara's pain for what it was: the agony of remorse.

She remembered. The wish that the sobbing, distraught girl had made at the spur of the moment: "I wish just for once, they could feel what it's like to have their hearts ripped out." And with a metaphorical snap of her fingers, Anya had made it happen--literally. Then, just like that, there were bodies...everywhere. And blood, so much blood...all because of her...

It had been the first time the vengeance demon had ever killed after she'd gotten her powers back. After she'd been human, experienced all of those human things, and learned what it was like to really feel. The other demons had been calling her "soft-serve", and saying that she'd "lost her touch". Anya had only wanted to prove them wrong by granting one vicious, bad-ass wish. She hadn't been expecting the rush of grief and remorse that had struck her upon seeing the lifeless bodies of the college kids. It had been enough to make her want to end her own life...and she almost had.

And now what Nara was going through was even deeper and darker than that. This wasn't a mere case of regret, this was a trial. One that there was a very real chance Nara might not survive. She almost couldn't bare to watch.

She couldn't listen to his roars and howls of pain any longer--she found herself turning to Vince, speaking, saying anything to drown out the heart-wrenching noises. "I'm--I'm so sorry. This wasn't how I wanted you to find out--it just--I..." the demon found herself babbling, dangerously close to tears as she spoke to the bounty hunter. "..When we were talking about demons before...I wanted to tell you but I--I was afraid. And now...and now he's hurting, and I don't know what we can do to help him!" Suddenly frustrated by their passive helplessness, her last words came out in a near snarl. Desperation showed in her darkened brown eyes as she glanced over at Nara once again, hoping...praying that this torture would somehow end.

[kitsuneflare88]

Naradan continued to howl about smashing parts of the roof, suddenly dark energies began swirling around his body forming a ring of black fire around him. There seemed to a chain that seemed to be linking to his neck. With the collar and flames appearance a swirl of absolute malice hate, the will to dominate life, and all other dark emotions that damned so many people seemed to radiate from the flames.

This energy surged formed a swirling vortex around nara as the mass of darkness and evil began to slowly move faster and faster, the chain upon his neck seemed to start moving about like a jump rope. The dark energy continued to build up around him and move faster. Nara wrapped his black wings to him he knew deep down this trial was almost over, he had to just do one thing.

"I RENOUNCE YOU ALL...." He screamed or was it roared to the blank air. The winds swirled faster and faster around him for a few moments before the chain around his neck suddenly shattered. The winds slowly faded and the flames blew outward though they weren't hot and they certainly weren't real to any outsider like Anya and Reno. The huge devil stopped moving and flopped over to his side now visibly shaking from the terrible trial he had just endured.

"Take that you sick...Bastards...." he muttered happily as he lay there on the cold rooftop. "I'm free of you." he muttered though he did get the sense of the words, We'll see. His emotions finally under control he could feel Anya and vince's pressance it felt warm and inviting.

He smiled to himself before touching their minds, he was too lazy to really talk just saying what he had took a lot of effort from his burning throat. "I'm fine now.....sorry to worry you." he muttered to them as his dragonish head looked at them with a smile. Though it could be mistaken for an evil I'm gonna eat you expression too. After all devils like himself were never meant to show "good" emotions, so it would make sense his features didn't wear them too well.

His head was surprisingly lopsided given that half of his forward facing horns were missing, and he was pretty scared given that part of his face still hadn't regenerated though new scales were slowly starting to grow. He couldn't help but feel happy and content for the first time he could feel emotions that didn't have to be guarded. He rolled back and laid there staring at the sky, appreciating that it was there glad to see the stars above him. He had never looked at the sky and just seen it for what it was a marvelous creation.

Then he realized that vince was there and blinked, this was probably vince's first time seeing a full blooded devil. He was embarrassed he had felt and recognized the feeling of vince but maybe he had been too lost in the fact he was enjoying things and feeling emotion true emotion for the first time in his life. He turned back into a young man. He appeared to be the same as he had been before the trial. He sat up looking around at the damage he had done while in pain, and definitely looked embarrassed by the whole thing. "I guess i've got a lot of explaining to do..." he said in the innocent oh dear god I'm in trouble tone of voice, though it was still very happy.

[renoraines]

Reno looked at both confused and surprised as he listened to both and sighed. When he listened to Nara cry and her talk but still. It all rather confused and surprised Reno to say the last. He watched it all in terror not sure how to react. He was surprised by Anya's reaction when he tried to get her away. He listened to her but was unsure of how to react. "That is Nara? Are you serious? But how can that be? I thought things like that were not real. I thought you didn‘t believe in all this things" he was serious about all that he said just as before.

He looked around then back at her then at the Dragon. He watched what they both did and sighed as he just watched it all in terror None of it made any sense to him, that was for sure. Reno believed that he would get an explanation to it all but he hoped tp get one that moment. He figured that it was how she felt when she saw him hide behind the menu. If that was the case it wasn’t surprising at all. In fact it made sense as now they knew things about each other that they had no idea about before. Reno wasn’t sure what to think about it all as it wasn’t what he expected. When she said that there won’t be anymore secrets between them he thought that she meant other secrets not that ones.

Reno was definitely confused, scared and surprised by it all but he let it be, as he hoped to get an explanation soon. He was sure that they both would explain it all to him. He hoped anyways. Reno was still confused about the fact that the dragon was in fact Nara. He wasn't to sure that he couple even believe it at all.

He listen to her peak to him again as he looked at her. "I can't believe it, it's all real? Magic, demons, everything? I don't hate you, it's not your fault. We all hid things from each other. It's just that my secret isn't as destractive as this. Wait does it mean you are a demon too? or you used to be but not anymore?" He asked as he looked at her. "As for him , only he can help himself. I am not good in helping anyone who isn't human.

When the next thing happened it took him by surprised that he almost fell of the roof but luckily he didn't. It was more then he could handle and yet he was still there. Then again he had no way of getting down because he didn't feel like leaving Anya as well as the door on the rooftop was locked. Reno at that moment was really scared. Terrified in fact. Then again he was scared before too but now more if that was even possible.

As soon as it all was over and only Nara was there he just looked at him shocked and confused. Aftere that Reno looked at her and back at Nara. "Yeah, explanation will be good. I think it's time for us to reveal our secrets to each otrher with no fear. The question however is, who will go first?" He looked at both as he said that.

[Anya]

What happened next played out so quickly that Anya almost couldn't focus. Vince, whose bewilderment only seemed to be increasing, was now vocalizing his disbelief in the form of various questions. And she heard all of them, but couldn't find it in her to respond. What did one say, exactly, when explaining the existence of all things supernatural to a human? Anya wasn't the most adept at organizing her often-frenzied thoughts into words at the best of times, and her current near-hysterical state was only making things worse. The only response she could offer the bounty hunter was an anxious, almost guilty look. Vince was quite clearly terrified...and yet, she had no more idea of how to help him than how to help Nara. God, why did she feel so useless?

Things only seemed to be getting worse. She squinted slightly against the forming vortex of energy, her hair whipping around her face as violent winds ripped across the rooftop. What was happening?! The intensity of the scene before her chilled the demon's blood as she looked on, her shock and fear rising all the while. Did this mean...was Nara losing? And if he did, if he succumbed, what would happen to him? Anya was beginning to realize that the situation could very well be becoming far to dangerous for all of them. But how could she and Vince just leave their friend here? They couldn't, not now.

And then...just like that...it was all over. With a final scream from Nara, the dark energy seemed to fade, and all fell silent once again. For a long moment, the vengeance demon didn't move--she didn't even blink, staring in quiet shock at Nara's suddenly calmed form. When the devil touched their minds once again, this time with confidently reassuring words, Anya almost fell over in relief. It was only then that she realized how stiffly she'd been standing, and stumbled a bit before regaining her footing and moving towards Nara. She let out a half-choked little laugh as he returned to his human form and spoke sheepishly to Vince. That had to be the understatement of the year.

Although a part of her was still a tad cautious, she now approached her friend with much less uncertainty than she previously had. "I'm so glad you're not dead!" she blurted out, her awkward-yet-sincere directness failing to desert her even at a time like this. With a sudden energetic rush of impulsiveness, the demon bounced forward and practically tackled Nara in one of her clumsy, spontaneous little hugs. The vengeance demon was nearly giddy with relief, as was made apparent when she pulled away after a moment and turned to grin widely over at Vince. However, the human didn't seem quite as thrilled as she did...more like utterly disconcerted and alarmed. Anya let out a tiny sigh as she was reminded that they weren't quite out of the woods just yet. Vince was right: they had all been hiding things from each other, and it was time to get everything out in the open.

"Well, why don't we all just...start over!" she suggested, already starting to regain some of her former brightness. Taking a deep breath, Anya stood up tall as if she were about to give an official speech. "Hi! I'm Anya, and I'm a vengeance demon!" Great, now she sounded like she was at an AA meeting or something. Backtracking quickly, she stumbled over her next words. "Err, well I was. I mean I still am, technically...but I don't do so much of the 'vengeance' part anymore." Expectantly, she glanced around at her companions. She was still quite curious to learn a bit more about Nara's backstory, and Vince still hadn't told her why he'd been hiding from the cops. Might as well hear it all out now...she doubted this night could get much crazier than it already was.

[kitsuneflare88]

Naradan smiled and sighed rubbed his head a bit smiling still just happy for being fee having his own choices for once in his life. "Well you call me nara, My real name is Naradan Feratu, and as you saw I'm a devil. More specifically I'm a "Horned" Devil as some humans call us." He answered in a really friendly and calm voice. "and i dunno how i ended up here in New York or even what dimension I'm in."

He gave a nervous scratch on the head looking a bit apologetic. " I really didn't want you too to find out this way. Well....Truth is i would rather you have not found out at all....but whats done is done." he added cheerfully, he began rolling bits of cement and rubble underneath his boots, looking like an embarrassed five year old rather than a horrible monster.

"your not the only one Anya, I'm so glad i made it through that. Though i still have a lot to answer for. And i had no choice is not a proper excuse for any of it." He answered a little solemnly as Anya would know what he would be going through from now on. Granted this was still more extreme than what she was doing, then again demons had little use for rules or law. Least wise the ones Nara had met, you kill the leader the rest tend to scatter in confusion.

"i am really sorry i hope i didn't hurt anybody with what happened." he added really hoping no one had been injured seriously at least physically. He could only imagine what vince's reaction might be like granted he had just seen a devil the size of an ogre that appeared to be a black dragon just go crazy. "I would really not like to be chased by an angry mob." he added thinking out loud with a little bit of humor added though he was serious at the same time. He just wanted to break the uncomfortable tension between them all now that all their secrets were out in the open.

He kept fidgeting a little bit with the bits of concrete feeling bad a little that the apartments dwellers had been forced to listen to such a horrible thing. He was so glad that the door had been locked to the roof, though there seemed to be several men moving up in that direction. They were upset and possibly carrying guns, judging by what he could feel from them. "Anya we might want to get out of here before before the gentlemen two floors below come up here to shoot us. I think my little racket kind of made some people mad or might have freaked a couple of the tenants out." he added with a nervous little kick of a pebble, again nara seemed to have a gift for understating things by alot.

[renoraines]

Reno watched them as it all was over. He was glad it was all over with, even so it was all too scary and weird. Which he trully hoped won't happen again again. Reno sighed and looked down as he was glad that he was still alive. He watched Anya move closer to Nara and everything else that happened then sighed. "Whatever it was, it was definitely too close" was all he said for now. Reno then set down and breathed deeply. He was glad to be alive. He was glad that it was all over in the good way rather then a bad way.

Reno then listened to them tell about themelves and introducing themselves.He smiled at both and nodded. "You call me Vince Black but I am Reno Raines. I am rather wanted by the law as you noticed or at least might have guessed Anya. I am framed for a rime I never committed. By the guy who got my fiance' killed when he tried to get me. I am a bounty hunter and a renegade." he explained as it felt good to him to tell about himself without worrying that they will turn him in.

As he heard commotion behind the door on the rooftop he sighed and looked between them. "He is run, I can hear running and someone is kicking the door. I am not a demon but human yet I can still here it as it's not to far. I don't hear the running very well but I do hear the kicking so" Reno meant it. "Let's get out off here right now. But where should we posibly go to?"

(GRR, Too short again. I am really sorry the muse is a sleep again)