Demons in the Snow (PvP)

[Dawnika Snow]

The unconscious woman sat still with her hands tied to her feet. She was out cold, mostly from blood loss. Soon the blood dried up and stopped the flow. As long as she did not move sporadically, they would stay shut. Koal watched the snow fly through the air in the blizzard. Although he felt bad that he practically just hogtied a woman, he had to do what he could to survive. Even if that meant stepping over the line of chivalry.

Dreams clouded the assassin’s mind. The smell of fire crossed her senses, burning wood and crisp smoke. When her eyes opened, black clouds covered the ceiling.

Where am I?

She began to cough heavily from the smoke while she sat up. Dawn’s eidetic memory failed her not. Although, she didn't need it to know exactly what was happening.

The fire..The fire!

Her room was adjacent to her father’s room outside the hall. If she could hurry fast enough she could save him. Bolting out of the bed quickly, she grabbed the door by the handle. The jiggling metal of the lock told that it was jammed. A stupid door was not going to stop her though. She was a prime now, stronger than anything on Earth. Stepping back to get a running start, she charged at the door, ramming it down with her shoulder. It was then she could hear the screaming voice of her father through the walls of his room. Fiery support beams started to collapse and burst flames around Dawn. Her determination and ability to breathe in shallow air pushed her forward. Through the hefty black smoke she could see her father still in his bed trapped under flaming debris. He was attempting to push it off him but the weight of the wood and heat of the fire made it impossible.

“Dawnika! Get out of here!” He yelled trying to get the burning wood off his body. Despite hearing her father’s pleas she rushed to help him out of the burning death trap. “I said go! Now!”

“No, I won't leave you dad! Just hang in there!” She press her hands against the fiery support beam and instantly jerked away as the heat burned her hands. “Dammit!” She yelled waving her hands to cool them off. She tried again after a moment and burned through the pain. Still she was unable to relieve the board from her father’s chest.

“Dawnika! Leave now! You have to survive this!” He screamed, partly in pain, partly in deep concern.

“But, Dad!” She said kicking at the wood. Another support beam fell beside her, launching white hot ashes in her face.

“No buts! This is all my fault, Dawnika. You don't need to die because of my mistakes. Live your life how you see fit, and don't forget why you fight to preserve it. Live to your goal.” With his last words came his last breath. The young vigilante continued to get him out which proved impossible for her. She hesitated to leave her father behind, but soon bolted out of the room and down the stairs hoping over blazing debris. When she made it outside she watched her home burn to the ground. She knew this was a fantasy, just a dream, but it hurt too bad to live it again. In spiteful rage she slammed her fist into the tree next to their house.

Then suddenly she was back in the cave. Her opponent stared confused at the angry vigilante. She had punched the wall and the wounds in her arms opened back up.

“Hey, don't do that or you'll bleed out you idiot.” He said.

“I see I'm captive now. That’s great.” She said looking at the bloodstained ropes holding her limbs together. How embarrassing to be captured, he should have just killed her; at least there's honour in that.

“Just shut up. We'll handle this after the fighting is over.” He said looking out at the blizzard. The vigilante kept her eyes on him, messing with the rope while he was looking away from her subtly. She could probably get these ropes loose since she was quite familiar with knots. Blood dripped from Koal’s shoulder and chest. He was hurt really bad.

“Hey,” she said, “Aren't you going to patch yourself up?” She asked looking at his wounds and stopping with the rope. Koal kept staring out of the cave watching the blizzard though.

“I'm not familiar with first aid.” His deep, rugged voice echoed through the cave quietly. The only other sound beyond that came from the crackling fire.

“I am.” Dawn said, sitting up on her knees and holding out her hands. Blood rolled down her head and over her eye. When Koal turned to her as she moved, he noticed her eyes were still silver.

“What makes you think I'll let you out of those ropes?” She must be crazy after she just tried to kill him. Dawn groaned as pain swept her head.

“Because if you don't then we'll both bleed to death. No one wins anything that way. Besides, the only reason I attack you is because you were with Ballad. We only want him, the rest of you are not our targets.” She explained, still holding out her hands. “Take off the glove on my left hand, it's my medium for summoning things. I'm out of ammo so I can't use any other weapons, and I don't carry any melee weapons.” Koal was hesitant to release her after all the trouble she had already caused him, but she was being reasonable enough. It was obvious she wasn't much of a liar, but assassins are tricky.

“How can I trust you after all that fighting?” He asked turning to her looking past the flames between them.

“Truth be told, you can't. I'm a cold hearted killer with nothing to lose.” She said looking at the floor. “I watch my father burn to death in our own home. I can't believe I made it out of that house alive. But now I'm marked for life with that date. December 2nd, 2004.” She turned around and pull her shirt up enough to show the massive burn scar on her side and back. It obviously stretched further down her hip and up her side, but looking closer now, he can see where it continues on her calf. She turned back around to him and looking into his eyes. “The fire was started by a gang that my father owed money to. We struggled to make a living so he started selling drugs. I was only seven and didn't understand what problems we had. When my dad couldn't pay what he needed to back to the gang, they burned down our house with us in it. Long story short, they took everything I loved and cherished in my world and literally burned it to the ground. So I decided to become a vigilante. I trained with a sniper and killed the entire gang without a single person spotting me.” She was about to start crying. Koal could see she was not lying. It was in her eyes. She may not have suffered the same way he did, but she has had a rough part of her life torn from her.

“I see.” He said looking down into the blazing fire. All this talk of the past made him start thinking of his life before the Omniverse. The terrible experiments and horrible poverty. The question now was, should he cut her loose?