At a Loss

[Whisper]

Whisper's sweet, childlike voice filled the eerie crevaces of the Valkeries' Hideaway.

Alone, she swirled around the murky cavern as if it were a candlelit ballroom, her simple cotton dress swaying gently in the non-existent breeze. As the Valkerie span past each towering pit of flames, her face was lit with different colours; green, red, blue, orange and purple, each one catching her whole, devouring her by painting her their own before the next flame would take her on as a dancing partner.

It had been a month since Kaiser had been killed. The Hideaway still seemed a lot colder, a lot more desolate now he was absent. His cutting remarks to Kasatzia, his backhanded compliments to Whisper, and his adoration of Desdemona were more than a little missed, though Kasatzia would be loath to admit it. Each sister had coped with the unforeseen death of their brother in their own way; but each coped alone. Emotion was difficult for a Valkerie, as not a single drop of their blood contained any trace of humanity; and though what they were feeling couldn't be described as grief, or despair, they were reacting indefinitely to the idea of loss.

"Come to the Valkeries Hideaway, where brother and sisters shall no more play;
Enter the realm of dark and death, where you're sure to catch your final breath;
A cavern now filled with eternal hate, for you the Valkeries now await;
A flamey death is your demise, if you catch a Valkerie by surprise."

Whisper improvised as she span around, singing the haunting verse over, and over, and over... She knew a lot depended on when she stopped... if she stopped.

[Lothani]

'Might I join a lovely being, such as yourself?' a silky voice echoed around the Valkerie. Seconds later, a giant cat showed herself, standing nearly an astounding 6 feet to the shoulder. The tip of her tail twitched a slight bit, and the Rapah bowed deeply on one massive paw. Seeing such a creature do a lovely chant and dance, was a rare sight indeed. No doubt humans had tresspassed this hideaway in the past, and paid for it with their life... or soul.

'I beg pardon for entrance to your lovely home, for I would like to meet another as rare as myself, to see if any other being is as alone as I.' her tongue spoke once more. Her backside slumped on the ground at the entrance, awaiting a word of exile or acceptance. Her eyes showed equal if not less age and experience, hopefully the Valkerie would see a friend, not foe.

[Whisper]

Whisper's chant came to a slow halt as the unusual creature entered the realms of the Hideaway. Whisper's ethereal violet eyes settled upon the enigma before her; struck with wonder, she approached the being carefully and slowly, never taking her unnaturally wide eyes off its face.

"I am not alone," spoke the Valkerie, after a long moment had passed. "I have two sisters, who live here with me. We are family." Another long pause fell between them.

"You may come in," said Whisper gently. "May I ask what kind of creature you are? I have seen much in my time, but I have never seen anything quite like yourself..."

[Kasatzia]

"Whisper," a low voice said from behind her, a hand slipping into hers. "My dear sister. Who is gracing us with their presence?"

A creature so similar to the first Valkerie appeared at the beautiful girl's side, her large, expressive red eyes illuminated in the beautiful and flickering flames. They gazed at the newcomer with interest, the sisters' fingers entwining.

"Hello," Kasatzia said softly, a tiny smile directed at her. "What a pleasure it is."

[Lothani]

The long black snake-like tail behind her slowly swayed side to side as Lothani listened intently to the beautiful female infront of her. It had been a long while since the Rapah had communicated with another being. She would usually keep to herself in forests and other lands, being a nomad.
Her gleeming amber eyes locked with the valkerie's violet gems as she spoke.

"Forgive me. I assumed you were the only one of your kind." Lothani apologised. At the valkerie's ushered words, the giant cat slowly and silently padded through the entrance of her home, glancing from side to side at times before she ceaced merely a metre from the creature. No doubt the female thought Lothani to be a strange creature. All others did.

"You may," Lothani began, her tongue speaking in English, "I am what my creator deemed as a Rapah. A giant black leopard of sorts in human tongue." her beautiful eyes still locked with the other set in the room. "I was once demonic, but it backfired on me. Now I am this." the black creature said, ushering her nose down to her paws. Those massive paws held such power in them. It seemed as though apart from the odd weather manipulation she could conjur up, the only other power she held was in her paws.

But then another entered. Possibly, no, definatly the first one's sister. Such beauty seemed to radiate off the two sisters, almost as if the two were humans and trees - them both needing eachother to exist. Such a loving family so far.

"Hello," spoke the second female with a smile. Such kind creatures they were.

Lothani's reply came, "Hello." just the same. "The pleasure seems to be mine, with your sister welcoming me into your home, and a greeting such as yours."
The leopard again dropped her rear-end slowly, and attempted to smile to the two seemingly twins. "I dare say, it would be an honor to know the names of such devine creatures. I, in the past, have been referred to as Lothani."

[Whisper]

Whisper smiled pleasantly at the strange, mystical creature. It had been a long time since any other being had treated the Valkeries with as much eloquence as they gave themselves; most Lycans and Vampires despised them their origins, and had nothing to do with them. On the whole, Valkeries were a lonely breed, and quite well suited to it.

"Indeed you may," said Whisper, giving Kasatzia's soft hand a squeeze - it had been a while since they had been together. "My name is Whisper, and my sister's name is Kasatzia. I am the first of the Valkeries, and my sister is the fourth. Out of only five, just three survive."

Whisper's voice trailed off, in the same melodic way it had done as she had danced about the cave.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lothani. It has been long since we have had visitors to our cavern."

[Lothani]

The head of the giant cat lowered itself a little, inclined towards the two Valkeries. They indeed were as rare as she, for Lothani had heard a little about Valkeries. Had all five lived in the grounds of the school? It was indeed a strange place to choose home, but a respected decision no doubt. 'The pleasure is mine, dear Whisper and Kasatzia. For I've heard only legends of your kind.' came her reply.

The black tail behind her slowly ceaced swaying, and began twitching every now and again - a show of intreguement.
'What, I humbly ask, is the name of the last Valkerie in your family of three?' Lothani couldn't understand why the Valkeries wouldn't have many visitors to their lovely cavern, they seemed beautiful, polite and respectful to a large extent. Maybe they, like Lothani, struck fear into most hearts other than their kind.

[Whisper]

Whisper smiled, thinking of the youngest, and most naive, of the remaining Valkerie clan.

"Her name is Desdemona, and she is as like me as dear Kasatzia - we were created alike as perfect beings." Whisper smiled gracefully, enjoying entertaining company with the mythical creature. Her sister twirled a strand of Whisper's long blonde hair around her finger as the Valkerie spoke.

"So what brought you to our cavern this night?" asked Whisper, smoothing down a crease in her silk dress. "Curiosity, or... something else?"

[Lothani]

Her tail continued to twitch from time to time, listening. 'Indeed, curiosity mostly. As I've said, I've heard of yourselves within the castle territory, and decided to see wether the legends were true - that such powerful and graceful beings would choose to live here of all places.' the Rapah explained, her deep voice like silk in the air.

'I was thoroughly intregued to listen to your story of.. creation... when I heard of your dwellings.' Lothani continued, but paused. Her tail stopped and she sat stock-still.

'If it was... something else... what did you think it was?'

[Whisper]

Whisper shook her platinum blonde head, the strands glistening in the fairytale lights of the multicoloured fire sizzling gently in the background.

"I do not know," said the Valkerie delicately, releasing her sister's hand from her grasp. "Though we do have pathways to look into the future, I do not use them - rather, I let them use me. On most occasions, I prefer to be surprised. And if you were a threat to my home, or to any of us, I would have recieved a vision concerning that matter. The Powers That Be seem to want us alive... which is why I find it so hard to believe that two are gone already..."

Whisper's ethereal orbs darkened, unable to shed tears. "But is of no matter now," she whispered to herself as she faced her visitor once more, smiling into the beautiful creature's face. "Did you come for any other purpose? My sisters and I would be glad to help you in any way we are able."

[Lothani]

Those almost cute rounded ears listened forwards towards Whisper. She was so kind. 'I had no intention of harm towards your family. I don't see why anyone would.' came her reply.

'I merely felt as if I should have met the creatres that dwelled in this lovely abode.' she paused.

'But your story intregues me, what happened to the other two family members, if you don't mind me asking of course.' Lothani almost forgot her manners. Not a smart thing to do.

[Whisper]

Whisper smiled gently, and briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them a moment later, their purple ethereal haze had disappeared, and they shone bright white, no pupil in sight.

"Most creatures look down upon us because we are not like them... we were created by man, a long time ago, in an underground laboratory. They took the best features and powers out of every powerful being that walked the earth, and combined them with the subtle art of alchemy to create five 'perfect' beings. But despite their best efforts, we grew too powerful for them to able to restrain us - the five of us combined our firepower to blow up the laboratory, killing our creators and all the work that had helped to create us, so that there could never be any more like us. After we had done this, we went our seperate ways, each bringing chaos and devastation to the places we visited, but never again seeing each other until we came here..."

Whisper's mouth curved into a graceful smile, her white eyes shining luminously in the cavern. "I am not quite sure what called us all to arrive in the same place at the same time... destiny, or fate, I suppose you should call it. But we were together, and we found that our powers were stronger when we were united. Within a month, however, we noticed that one of us was a little different than the rest. Alakin was flighty, and irritable, and preferred the company of humans, often snapping or throwing fireballs at the rest of us when we tried to prevent her from leaving the Hideaway for her own safety. Our brother, Kaiser, was more headstrong than the rest of us and he suggested we use our powers to kill her. In the end, we did. As legend tells it, only a Valkerie can destroy another Valkerie completely. Kaiser was the next to die. I am still not quite sure what happened... he eventually made some unsavoury associations, with humans and demons alike, and somehow it was that which killed him. I believe he shared a soul with someone..."

Whisper shuddered. The thought of having a soul inside of her was truly terrible - she was gracious, and good-natured in most respects, but it was nothing to do with a soul. She acted as she did because it suited her.

"The person he shared it with died, and he with it. However, Kasatzia and I have talked often about the old legend, and how it would probably be possible to bring him back, if only a Valkerie can rid the worlds of another Valkerie." Whisper shrugged nonchalantly, her eyes brightening slowly into their previous violet colour. "I hope that tells you all... please feel free to ask any more questions if you wish."

[Lothani]

Noticing those purple eyes of the eldest Valkerie disapear, and form bright white ones, Lothani listened to the creature, taking in every last drop of a word. Whisper’s eyes seemed to be the main thing lighting up the cavern. It was beautiful. As she described the destruction of her creators and the lab with her four siblings, Lothani curved the edges of her lips into a smile. Alakin sounded much like a human herself. Filled with the moods of humans. Maybe in a past life she was one. Again, Lothani smiled, listening as to how they revolted against Alakin. She probably deserved it, treating her siblings like that.

At the mention of Kaiser’s death, Lothani’s tail twitched, unknowingly to the owner. Especially at mention of sharing a soul. That didn’t surprise the Rapah that it braught his downfall.
At the point of Whisper’s with asking more questions if need be, Lothani piped up after sitting contently on her hind quarters. She was such a large cat, and took up a bit of room. ‘I’ll take you up on your offer. Were you very close with your brother, Kaiser?’ she questioned, lowering her upper half slowly with her dinner-plate forepaws.

[Whisper]

Whisper tilted her head to the side, seriosuly contemplating the creature's question.

"I suppose so. We were united as a family in that the blood that runs through our veins is identical; so much so that we can occasionally look into each others' eyes and literally see into their mind's eye. We were close in a physical sense; but Kaiser was always the free spirit, wanting to break free from the family ties that bonded us here."

Whisper sighed delicately. "I do not have to have been close to my brother to note his absence, though. It feels almost as though a part of me is lost."

She shook her head again, and turned her wide-eyed gaze on the curious rapah. "What is it like to be a being such as yourself? Do you feel a closeness with any other being?"

[Lothani]

Such a rare occasion. It had been quite a while since Lothani had been allowed to ask such personal questions about another. So strange…<br>Those beautiful ablaze violet eyes of Whisper’s seemed to… almost… dull… when she spoke of her loss of Kaiser. A ripple echoed from the Valkerie, and hit the cat. The feeling that Whisper ‘felt’ was loss. Lothani had never had a chance to experience it, she had never wanted to. But it seemed to pour out of Whisper, and effect Lothani too.

“What is it like to be a being such as yourself? Do you feel a closeness with any other being?”

It wasn’t an unusual or unexpected question or two, but Lothani thought on the answer for a few passing moments. “I… I’ve never… let… myself grow close to another. So I’m afraid I wouldn’t exactly know.”<br>