Paper Hearts {open}

[.:Zodiac:.]

This might not be the best place to begin her new mission as a spy, but it didn't seem sensible to run straight into the enemy camps. She figured she might as well explore a bit, and see if she could meet and maybe gain information from anyone found wandering around. The chances of that last part seemed a bit slim given the location, and she hadn't seen a living being since she left the castle. Lightly stepping over the piles upon piles of debris, Zodiac scanned her surroundings as she shuffled her pale wings into a more comfortable position. The sky was cold and grey, and the mist had turned into a slight rain that dampened her hair and clothes. She was overcome with a sudden feeling of despair, wanting nothing more than to be far away from this place.

Picking her way across the junk was made easier with the use of her wings, which she used to sort of glide, and flit from place to place. Earlier she had been searching the ground, maybe for something of use, or maybe even something pretty. The cold dampness had doused these thoughts however, and she now barely glanced below her as she moved on. The wind had picked up, and it seemed the rain was beginning to grow heavier, so when she ducked into the run down shack on the outskirts of the refuse pile- it was with great relief. She tossed her hair and opened her wings in the hopes of shedding some of the moisture, but it wasn't much use. "Guess I'll just have to wait here until the rain lets up." she murmured to herself, taking a quick glance around the dark room. Another, more important, thought interrupted that one. "I'm hungry."

[Lucian Owens]

Lucian felt the sting of the rain on his body, the wind helped make it colder than it really was. His eyes traveled across the barren landscape wondering if his superior truly thought he was the best man for the job or if he wanted him dead. The last one seemed to make more sense to him seeing as he was traveling alone, as a scout in the outskirts. The one place where anyone caught walking alone was killed more often than not. It wasn't his idea of a fun assignment. The war was draining enough as it was without having to be old enough to remember when it started.

He looked around again wishing he had more supplies with him, but all the had were his swords, knives and assorted guns, problem was the guns only had enough ammunition to give him two clips and his steps were not that quiet. Groaning a little he stopped and crouched down so he could look through the scope on his KATE rifle, oh how he loved this thing, his only stealthy weapon.

As he scanned the area he stopped on the figure not much more than a hundred yards away. Fuck, an angel was out and about and he didn't have the back up needed if she or he had back up. He was in trouble and his instincts were telling him to shoot. Shoot to kill, but he stopped and simply watched her trying to figure out what she seemed to be looking for. Slowly he lowered his gun and carefully walked forward, as slowly as he could but if wasn't that quiet especially after he heard a twig snap under his feet after hearing her say she was going to wait for the rain to stop. Groaning he quickly drew his M16 praying that this wasn't going to turn into a shoot out.

[.:Zodiac:.]

Zodiac took a quick look around the small shack, and when she felt quite safe that she was alone she removed her bow from her shoulder and leaned up against the cracked plaster wall. The room smelled of mildew and decay, but it was dry, and somewhat warmer than outside. Feeling rather disappointed that she had yet to come across any real life besides the occasional rat, she slumped down to the floor and gazed out the empty doorway into the grey haze and rain. She watched for awhile, mesmerized by the soft colors and rhythmic thud of raindrops on the ground. At first she thought she was imagining it, but there seemed to be the form of a human. Or in this case, a human, or an angel, or a vampire, or a werewolf, or who knows what else. Certainly something more interesting than rats. She perked up a little, trying to focus her gaze on whatever it was, but it seemed to dissipate into the mist. Maybe it was nothing after all. She was about to convince herself of that when all of the sudden her eyes caught the faint trace of movement.

Maybe she thought she would have been excited to finally see someone else out here. Thats what she had been waiting for wasn't it? Now that the moment had arrived, it was a different matter. She had no idea who, or what, it was. It was out there, in the mist and the rain, somewhere between reality and her imagination. That was not a good place to be. She didn't move, but could feel the small hairs on the back of her neck stand up. A reasonable person in her situation would be afraid, of course, but afraid because this was a war. In Zodiac's mind, the fear of this encounter had nothing to do with the war, and more to do with the fear of the unknown. Oh, she would much rather know that there was a bloodthirsty vampire out there than not know at all. Because that left it up to her mind, and the worst monsters she could imagine, which just happened to be worse than bloodsucking vampires.

Still not sure about what was out there, and whether or not it had seen her, she stayed as still as she could. Her bow was in her hands, and every sense alert for any sign of danger.

[Lucian Owens]

Lucian was cursing his luck. First he was assigned this stupid suicide missing and the next, he had practically given away his position. He only hoped the Angel hadn't seen him or heard the twig snap. Growling to himself he slowly crept forward trying to get a better angle on the angel. Even with his heightened sight the rain made it difficult to see his target. So he once again switched his M16 for his KATE and looked down the scope.

A female was in a shack hidden from the rain, but also protected from a vast majority of attacks. She also could have company, up to two or three other angels could be in there. Here wings were hidden for the most part so he wasn't sure if she was an archangel here to deliver a blow to the other three races, or a scout like himself. Slowly he swung the rifle over the horizon looking for any possible ambushes before he swung the gun back looking at the angel and debating on how he should make his next move. He had to survive this if he wanted the war to end but he didn't want to kill her if he had the choice.

Suddenly he heard the sound of another sniper rifle being loaded. Turning quickly he found the target, another DNX by the name of Flash had been sent out as well. Great he had one chance at this, if he wanted to save the angel and potentially kill himself in the process. Flash hadn't seen him of that he was certain, but he had seen the angel.

Blast, do I risk everything, just to save her or do I stop the shot and alert my presence... fuck why does this have to be so hard...

Grabbing his M16 he stood and sprinted as hard and fast as he could getting into the shack just as the shot rang out he tackled the angel to the ground. "Stay down if you want to live."

Grabbing her bow he took one look out at the horizon desperately wondering what he should do. Flash would surely check on the shack before moving on. He could signal to the man telling him the angel was down. His mind was so busy figuring out what to do he didn't hear the movement behind him.

[.:Zodiac:.]

Zodiac had been so distracted, focusing only on the wispy figure in the distance, she was taken completely by surprise when she caught the faint hint of movement to the side. She turned her head just in time to feel the force hit her square in the shoulder. She lost her grip on the bow, and there was a moment of no reaction as she tried to process what was going on. She felt herself hit the floor of the shack, and the breath leave her lungs. Whatever the man had just shouted didn't make it to the part of her brain that decoded speech, and busied herself with trying to escape from whatever was pinning her to the ground. "Get off!" she managed to growl, completely forgetting about the katara hidden in her sleeve. She did manage to dig her nails in to whoever was on top of her, which was the best she could do while she attempted to squirm free. "Ugh, what are you doing?! Get off, please!" Maybe it wasn't quite the right time to ask nicely, but she wasn't exactly thinking about what she was saying anymore. Whoever it was, it didn't exactly seem like they were trying to kill her. She could swear that she was about to have a heart attack. Her pulse was racing, her eyes frantic, and her mouth dry. She tried one last time to push her way to freedom before giving up and letting her limbs go weak. "Please.. don't kill me." Zodiac wasn't afraid to admit that she was a coward. She was the biggest coward probably in this entire world, and that really didn't matter to her as long as she was alive. Oh, and she was selfish too, if you call wanting to live selfish. And she even felt bad about it, but she sure as hell didn't want to die right now. Maybe if she pleaded enough, they would spare her life.

[Lucian Owens]

Looking at the woman before him made Lucian want to simply laugh. She was an Angel and she was begging for her life? Something was definitely odd with this one especially when he was here to save her life not take it. Growling in frustration though he looked at her, "Will you keep it down already. I have a sniper out there who wants you dead, and if you keep up all the whining I can't keep you safe."

When he looked out he saw Flash approaching so he jumped out the window with the bow in hand, "One down Flash, I'll clean up get a move on if you want to stay ahead of me this round." His comrade nodded as he turned to move in the other direction and when Lucian thought he had gone far enough he jumped back into the shack tossing the Bow at the woman.

"Now can you please tell me who you are and why you begged for your life. I wasn't here to kill you, despite what my orders are." Rolling his head he cracked his neck releasing the tension in his neck.

[.:Zodiac:.]

Zodiac sat up, brushing the dirt and grime off of her clothes. She narrowed her eyes, mostly angry at herself for not handling the situation as well as she could. The fact that he was rubbing it in her face didn't help either. "I'm sorry, but I didn't know tackling someone to the floor was a friendly greeting." she said sarcastically, rubbing her shoulder. He had managed to dent the little bit of pride she had, and she didn't like looking stupid infront of other people. Grumbling to herself she decided to listen to the man and stop making noise, because apparently she was in danger from someone else.

When he began speaking to her again, she supposed the danger was over. Her feelings were still hurt, and she debated on ignoring his questions, but knew it would make her look even more childish. She made sure to keep the resent out of her voice as she spoke. "I'm Zodiac. And I was begging for my life because you attacked me. I'm not the best at close combat, especially when I'm squished on the floor." She looked away, disappointed at her fighting skills. "Actually, I'm not to great at combat in general. I'm mostly hear to learn about you Earth-beings." She tilted her head. Despite her mission as a spy, she was genuinely curious about the humans, vampires, and werewolves. She wasn't one of the angles that believed the three species were evil, and certainly wasn't here to kill anyone. She was the kind of person to give anyone a chance, that is if they didn't start out by jumping on her. No, she wasn't about to let that go, but she whispered a small "Thanks." anyway.

[Lucian Owens]

Looking at her he felt rather exasperated, a friendly greeting wasn't on his mind when the sniper shot was ripping through the air. But other than the tackle he hadn't done anything outwardly threatening to her. Sighing he responded, "Normally tackling isn't a friendly greeting, nor was it supposed to be. Your kind kills my kind on sight and yet here I decided to save you rather than let one of my kind kill you. Do you see something wrong in that?"

Looking at her carefully he turned around scanning the area again trying to ensure that nothing was aproaching them. Before he looked her in the eye, "Lucian, one of the few humans left who remember times before the war. Zodiac why are you here and don't tell me you are innocent in the fight. I know that you are not as innocent as you appear. But you're welcome."

Lucian you are insane giving her your name will spell disaster. She will turn it over. You can't trust her, or any of them and yet here you are helping another enemy. You're getting us killed.

[.:Zodiac:.]

"Yeah.. sorry for overreacting. You just.. really scared me. I didn't know what to expect coming down here. I thought everyone would be out to kill me." She folded her wings behind her, stroking her ruffled feathers back into place. "You can't really blame me for being jumpy.. I'm pretty new to this whole thing, and not really cut out for war if you ask me, but there's not much other choice." Despite claiming she was a part of the war, fighting on behalf of the angles, she wasn't the fighting type. Before committing to this whole thing she told herself that she wouldn't kill unless her own life was in danger, and hopefully not at all. She turned her face towards the door, gazing out into the now empty rain. "I think we're all just paranoid, expecting anyone who gets a chance to kill us, but I know not everyone is like that." She smiled a little, and took the chance to relax. Her shoulders drooped and she leaned against the wall.

This guy, Lucian he said his name was, didn't seem too bad. She listened as he asked what she was doing here. What am I doing..? she wondered, twirling a lock of her hair between her fingers. This had become a habit of hers when she was thinking, or lost in daydreams. "Well officially.. I'm on a mission as a spy. While on the other hand, I'm actually exploring, and trying to learn about you. I guess that officially could be counted as spying, but I'm really just curious. Everyone makes you out to be monsters, but you're not any worse than us." She moved a little bit closer, examining this new human. He was quite a bit larger than she had first assumed humans were, but again, maybe she was just short. She tilted her head as she looked him over, fluttering her wings slightly and biting her lip. "And my verdict is.. you're not too bad." She stepped back, and smiled before making sure to add "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." It seemed like a silly thing to be saying, because she had never hurt anyone, but he must not know that to be acting like he was.

[Lucian Owens]

Lucian looked at the woman carefully as she spoke. He lowered his gun but made sure it was close at hand. She spoke about being a spy and having little knowledge and training at war, or at least that is what he understood being new to all this as. "Everyone should be out here to kill you. To the Vampires, Werewolves and Humans you are an angel no better than the other three races. You want to be the power race, that's all the war is about anymore. Power and numbers."

He continued to listen and wonder about her affiliations, then he saw her eyes look him over and he chuckled softly. So he was pleasing to her eyes, that was different. "No I am not like others of my race. I am surprised they sent a spy out with so little knowledge about the enemy. I am a big brute known as a DNX the super soilder if you will though I hate it and wish my old life was back. Take that back to your leaders I don't care. I would just be considered a waste of intel." Then he flashed her a small smile. "You see something you like ?"

He leaned against the wall casually looking out over the horizon as he began "So why is it that someone as inexperienced in war is wanting to explore the most war torn area on Earth? It doesn't really make sense even if you are a spy, and I guess I am just curious to know why you have choosen this stretch of wasteland."

[.:Zodiac:.]

She nodded slowly, feeling even more sure this war wasn't for her. She was failing dismally, but that was just the way she was. Zodiac didn't like the thought that everyone was out to get her, just because of what she was, but she soon remembered not everyone was like her. Most people kept their feelings hidden deep inside, and acted like it didn't hurt them to watch lives bleed out from other's bodies- when at the end of the day, they're not all that different. Maybe some people actually don't care, but she sure did, and she believed that other did too- somewhere. If that was the case, all people needed was someone to knock some sense into them, but the hope of that seemed too far gone. If it was coming down to war, all she wanted to do was live, and keep as many people as she cared about alive as well. After days of worrying over it she had decided the best way to do that was to take some part in the war, to help out, but condemning other people to death was a thought that became like a stone in her gut. She wouldn't be able to live with herself having any part in removing someone from the world, when she could see herself in their eyes so clearly.

This was something she had been struggling with- and was still to this moment. She pretty much ignored whatever Lucian had been saying, up until the part he said something about being a super-soldier and that it was why he looked different. It was then that she noticed that he was actually talking, and had been for a couple moments, so she looked at him and pretended to understand what he was saying. His smile startled her a little bit, because it meant she was going to have to come up with some sort of convincing answer to his question. "You see something you like?" She looked around the shack for a moment, wondering if this was some sort of trick question, just to see if she had been paying attention. Was he talking about himself? Oh yeah, that must be it, because thats kind of what they had been talking about. He kept talking, so she decided to ignore the question. It must have been rhetorical, but she still looked away and blushed, feeling he had been making fun of her.

So, why was she here? "I don't know, sometimes you can find nice things in piles of garbage... not that I go through garbage or anything, I was just saying. It looked pretty abandoned and I wanted to explore. I had no idea it was a bad place to be. I..I.. I actually don't have much idea about anything as you can probably tell. I kind of just wanted some time to myself, to think about things." She ran her fingers though her hair, trying to understand her own motives. "It hasn't turned out to be a complete waste of time." She said, smiling a little.

[Lucian Owens]

Lucian simply sat down as she continued to talk. He knew that this first meeting was going to last for several minutes a least and he wante to have a little break before he found himself once again out in the cold wet weather. Zodiac did seem interesting, she was attractive in her own way and yet still he was hesitant to trust her. She wasnt't like Raphael in any sense though they were both angels. Zodiac still seemed to be hiding something.

"This does seem like a strange place to relax though Zodiac, all the races patrol out here,well your race can patrol the sky easily enough. Though I don't seem to understand how this trip wasn't a waste of time. Unless you see me as something more than a savior, perhaps you see me as a good prisoner to take back to your leader?"


Lucian wasn't even sure she would respond to his comment slash accusation but he ha to test the waters bit by bit. He wasn't safe here if she wanted to use him as information. He would be better off killing himself if that was the possible outcome. Smiling softly at her he tried to ease the tension he had surely brought to the table. His radio began to buzz alerting him to a communication request. Growling he reached to take it only to hear the voice of his commanding officer relaying orders to return to base. Flash had been killed and they suspected vampire involvement. "Understood sir, I'll report back in an hour finishing my check thought I saw movement due west from my position. Proceeding with caution."

Looking at Zodiac he shrugge slightly as his radio quieted. "You were pacing for a while and you are due west of my position. I didn't lie persay."