Colour of the soul

In a world where everything is black and white, color is known to take hold when one meets their soulmate. Still this does not make the hunt for the 'one' any easier, the key is they eyes they are known to be the first hint of the truth.
Renee x Killian
Rose x Angus
Dani x Jory
Jet x Keenan

Sighing with relief she moved to pick up her sketchbook where she’d hidden it before Oliver got into the house and sat down on the couch with it “yeah I am thank you, it’s just been a lot to take in. Last thing I knew I was just a human and now I’m something called a shadow master” setting her book down on her lap and flipping through it until she found a clean unused page Renee pulled her pencil out of the rings that bound the pages together and started to idly sketch not really paying much attention to anything using the chance to digest what she’d learned from Cricket while a picture slowly started to form on the page. “What’s your name? Where are you from?” she’d never heard an accent like the mans before and she was curious as usual, glancing down at her pad and blinking seeing the framework for a dragon that Renee suspected was for the big one outside that had growled at her the girl could only sigh and commit herself to the work carefully drawing outlines of wings, the scales were going to be fiddly but they’d look nice when she was done. All the while she kept her ears open listening to what the tall man had to say.


Going cross-eyed trying to look at the hand on her nose, Rose huffed releasing a few clouds of black smoke, ‘Hell would freeze over before I’d be caught by that bitch’ the dragon retorted grumpily the tip of her tail twitching not unlike a cats tail when a cat was being irritated. ‘After Dawn. No point sticking around to babysit the girl she’s got enough of that and I’m already on babysitting duty with Angus’ although the twitching of her tail stopped as soon as he mentioned her vice. Fully intending to drink his entire stock dry she wriggled slightly to get more comfortable on the earth ‘Try to heal well scruffy’ she had no idea what he’d been hit with so she wasn’t sure if there was still silver in his wounds or not but she remembered him always being horrendous to heal for some reason he'd never really told her why she’d just had to deal with it and do her best to help him. Although if this Renee girl could actually heal him then perhaps the girl was actually worth rescuing.

Ireland, she’d never been there before, but from what she knew it was a fairly dismal place weather-wise but charming in other respects “Yes I do. I keep the place clean” it sounded better than admitting that she basically had board and food for free. Tucking some hair behind one of her ears to keep it out of the way she queried “What do you do as a job?” perhaps that was being a bit too nosy but for him to turn up here with a dragon for a companion it had to be something interesting. Pursing her lips when she made a mistake in her work, she scrubbed the mistake out with her eraser and continued, wishing she could see more colours already to be able to use coloured pencils in her art was a private dream of hers, although she could see some shades that according to the names of colors of her pencils was called green. Currently, she was just using a plain old graphite pencil, glancing up to peer out the window at the dragon to refresh her memory she smiled to herself and started work on the details of the dragon’s face.

Growling to herself at the claim that he couldn’t promise that, she softened again when he itched her itchy spot ‘Going so soon?’ wriggling slightly at the scratching, when he stopped, she concentrated and changed to be human again and folded her arms. “Don’t call me a hedgehog you dick” normally she might have elbowed him but she was wise enough to not bother this time. So instead she reached up and very roughly patted his cheek “Try not to piss off your mistress, the aftermath affects everyone” and with that she headed towards the house with every intention of finding his alcohol supply and perhaps if she was feeling generous sharing some with Angus. If she was lucky there’d be enough for her to make some bad decisions, since she was going to be infront of others again she started to mentally wind herself up into the right frame of mind for dealing with others and so by the time she entered the house she had her hardy grin back on her face and some life in her gaze, inhaling and detecting the strong whiff of what she was searching for the dragon followed her nose.

Her features lit up at the offer “Oh yes please! I’d love that” she’d never been to the beach before and the fact that there was a bookstore there too was an added bonus, unsure how she’d get there she supposed she could maybe get a bus or something. At footsteps, she tore her gaze from Angus and blinked at the stranger unsure where she’d come from, however noticing there was no more dragon outside she supposed that the stranger must have changed from the dragon. Seeing Killian up and walking, she rose to her feet fiddling with the hem of her sleeve a little anxiously watching his eyes, as ever amazed at the sight of the colours she saw there “if I’m allowed to”seeming to remember she questioned softly “Can I visit Angus and his bookstore and the beach there? I’ve never been to a beach before” looking quite hopeful, she pressed her hands together hoping that she’d be allowed to visit. It didn’t occur to her that she might have a choice in the matter, Killian owned the house and she owed him much for him bringing her to this safe place and thus she must ask politely if she wanted a treat like getting to go to the bookstore by the sea. Rose meanwhile had found the booze and wandered back into the room tossing a bottle to gus with a look that told him to be grateful she was sharing even that much

Watching him she just wanted to reach out and stop it from hurting, her heart ached knowing exactly how much pain he was going through thanks to what had happened “okay, look after yourself okay? You can’t look after people if you’re not taking care of yourself.” Speaking quietly, her features creased into genuine worry for him. Rose watched from the corner she’d parked herself in, unscrewing the cap off one bottle of whiskey with her teeth, ignoring the slightly sour feeling in more happier pursuits like seeing if Killian had gotten the whiskey that could let her get completely shit faced. Summoning what confidence she had, Renee took a step forward and very gently touched her hand to his cheek “I mean it” for that moment she didn’t care if the jackal growled at her or not. Her shadows wanted to try to heal him again but she barely managed to hold them back not wanting them to interrupt, despite how much or how little he cared about her, she felt connected to him somehow and home. The touch and the look lasted for a few moments, brushing her thumb over his cheek briefly she lowered her arm and backed off, going to go sit on the couch again drawing her knees up to her chest and going quiet.

Heading out the door and putting her booze safely in the car, she waited for Angus before driving off, searching for a place to get drunk that wasn't covered in shadows. After a couple of hours drive she found a quiet spot and pulled over at a motel collecting her booze and marching inside to perch on the dining table in their room after paying for it and helping herself. Very happy when it was discovered that it was the type that let her get shit faced, Rose's mood improved dramatically "Be thankful I shared curly" the dragon announced when he walked in "its extra powerful, good for dragons that find it hard to get shitfaced" and after the bullshit that had happened with Killian a relief from the inside of her head would be well worth it. She dimly remembered Angus being able to keep up with her very well, so she might hav eto share more than just one bottle considering she owed him some for winning the bet. Taking a long swig and sighing happily she kicked off her boots and wriggled her toes quite content with herself and her collection.

Jet offered the barest of smiles and walked with him back to his room "You have a couple of hours to prepare and then you are to go finish that job. Bring the target to ice and then place it in one of the cages and I'll have your next job ready to go. I've talked her into giving you regular breaks as if you dont' heal you'll be useless to her. So after the second job you'll have 12 hours to do as you wish within the facility. Good Luck" she had no idea what it was that ice was sending him to capture and didn't particularly care keeping him alive and functioning was the only thing that mattered. He'd raised Dani and now she had a life outside of Ice, one day her goal was to make sure he had a life outside ice without having to serve her and being beaten by her. She'd figure it out, for now he had to grit his teeth and hold on.[/color]

Rose scoffed “I’m aware curly, finish what you got first its potent stuff” supposing he had multitudes of questions she spoke “You get five questions right now and the rest tomorrow” she still had his file on hand in the car, hopping up she walked out and returned with it offering the file to him. Inside it had a record of everything about him, from his blood type, to blood tests from when he was sick, schooling records and a good deal of information on him about his selkie seal side too, at the back of the file were a bunch of comments written down by Ice about him. Evidently she’d had a shadow following him around for a long time Rose assumed to herself, it was the best explanation she could come up with the one that made the most sense, taking another swig and finding herself draining her bottle of whiskey she walked over to the crate she’d set down on the table and picked out another bottle. About to toss another at Angus she realized he was looking down at the file and so walked over to set the bottle down on his lap, proceeding to drain her new bottle as fast as she could seeing relief from some of the darker thoughts in the alcohol.

Jet was in one of the training rooms, her shadows billowing around her like a thick black cloud before she pulled her two guns out of their holsters, specific shadows flowed into the guns loading them with special bullets. Targets were moving around, instead of watching them, Jet closed her eyes and pointed, focusing on where she knew where the targets were and fired, destroying each one, opening her eyes when she sensed Killian there she slipped her two weapons back into their holsters. “You’re back. Your next assignment file is in your room on the table, eat and try to get some rest.” Watching him leave, Jet sighed to herself frustrated, but still there was nothing she could do about it and so she had little choice but to do what she could, she spent the next few days working on her own projects until she was sent down by her mother into the cells to interrogate one of those trapped down there. Stalking down the steps she passed cell after cell, not paying much attention to who she was going past until a brief flash of colour caught her eye, stopping and backing up a couple of steps Jet stared rather intently at the man sat huddled in a corner. His hair wasn’t black, white or grey it was brown, the same browns that she saw in colour around her whenever she went outside. It was achingly familiar as were the curls, the name of the owner of those curls took a few moments to return to her memory before she spoke quietly “Keenan?” could it truly be him? She’d been so cold for so long she’d nearly forgotten and she wondered if he would remember her. Quickly she closed up, it didn’t matter if he did, and it didn’t matter if he had colours, such things would only end up with her getting hurt, her hands around the bars of the cell tightened.

He murmured a question staring at a photograph “He is the shadow killer you’ve been hunting. According to the file, you’re his brother by blood, half brother that is and he is a shadow master.” Rose provided calmly halfway through her bottle, setting it down and belching impressively she folded her arms and sighed “The Theory is that Shadow masters and Vampires were once the same thing and they split off into their own separate trees a long time ago, the earliest recording of a Shadow master is before the pyramids were built. Their shadows are alive and have personality, they do as their master bids, take Bran the Raven. He’s a shadow of Killians that bonded with me and that’s why he follows me around.” The intoxicating booze loosened her tongue, usually quite reserved on telling others about shadow masters her somewhat tipsy mind was of the opinion that he’d already seen Killian and Renee being shadow masters so knowledge on what his brother was might help the man come to grips with it all. Picking up her bottle she wandered over to sit down next to him, every now and then taking a gulp of booze, in so many ways Angus was just a kid when it came to hunting. He at least showed a willingness to learn and a quick mind which would make it all the easier for him to learn off of her, the fact that she finally had a drinking buddy was a definite plus as well.


He was older than when she’d seen him last, but he still had a look of naivety to his features, so different to her who’d learned that naivety was something that got in the way. She’d gotten older, jaded, distant and cold, to the point where most of the time she didn’t feel any emotion, she’d been beaten by her mother for failing missions and had gone through a grueling training process that had lead her to become a honed hard killer and she’d taught those lessons to Killian until he was just as good as she was. The man in front of her represented a time when she’d been not what she was now, ice had had a falling out with the dragon that owned him and wasn’t allowed to go to the crater again, leaning her face against the cool bars she didn’t say anything for a few moments, just thinking. Was this worth it? Was getting involved really going to be worth it? She wasn’t entirely sure, and that sense of unsureness made her uneasy, taking a deep breath she opted to talk to him to see if she could make up her mind on whether to get involved or not. About to ask how he’d ended up here she scolded herself internally for being about to ask such a stupid question, Ice had found him, gotten Killian to bring him here and dumped him in a cell until she decided what tests she’d like to do to him. “Didn’t expect to find you here, you know” finally she was able to come up with something useful to say.

Snorting at the comment about Killian, Rose elbowed him “So would you if your back had been beaten with an ore you’re weak too” she’d been able to smell the blood when he’d been with her and from the way he’d walked had suggested to her that it was his back he was having problems with. Still it would be unfair to expect the selkie to magically know what she’d figured out “Silver burns” leaning back to take a hearty swig of her drink she sighed “Give him a few months, maybe a few years” he needed time to heal and get his shit straight before he was bothered again with familial drama. She threw herself into getting as drunk as possible after that, it wasn’t until sunlight peeped through a crack in the curtains that hit her face that the dragon came around. Yawning and scowling to herself at the brightness of the light, she heaved the covers up over her head and resumed snuggling into the warm body she attempted to go back to sleep, quite comfortable where she was and without any pressing matters she was content. An arm was slung around him and her head quite comfortably resting on him, she wasn’t usually one to sleep with the same person twice as she wasn’t that keen on winding up accidentally attached to someone. She’d been burned enough times, but if she was stuck with him learning off her for a while some sort of attachment would happen so she’d angle for friends with benefits if this kept happening, not interested in puzzling it all out she pushed the thoughts away and managed to enter a light doze.

The comment caused her to smile subtly “A wonderous surprise for us both then” he looked relatively unharmed so evidently her mother had not done anything to him just yet, tapping a finger against one of the bars the only outward sign that she wasn’t her usual calm controlled self she was intently battling conflict over what to do. Yes she saw colour on him and she was being a complete hypocrite by not going for it like she’d told Killian to do, she couldn’t let her mother know she knew him or the sadistic bitch would make her do everything with him. It’d have to be kept a secret, and secrets with ice were always a little risky “How’d you end up caught? Ice can’t get into the crater” keeping her voice quiet she wrestled with herself unsuccessfully and so the finger kept tapping betraying her. She didn’t even know if he saw colour with her, from what she knew that could happen and she didn’t have the best luck in the world, as demonstrated by her current predicament, and yet there was no real subtle or proper way to announce or ask when it came to colours. Internally kicking herself for what she was about to say she added: “It’s been a while” the comment was almost awkward for her although she went with her usual skill of making out like it wasn’t a big deal.

She refused to move for most of the day, finally needing the bathroom had her wriggling free, coming back from the bathroom she wandered over and found a single bottle of whiskey left, unscrewing the top she took a large gulp and lowered it wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Hair messy and all over the place and feeling very in need of a shower she glanced over at Angus not entirely trusting him to not guzzle the final bottle that’d be instrumental in helping to get over the pounding in her head. Unable to decide she went  ‘fuck it’ and after collecting clean clothes brought the bottle into the bathroom with her. Turning on the shower she reached out with her hand after turning on the shower to measure how cool the water was, stepping in she closed her eyes and felt the cold water wash over her face sighing softly, in a decent mood for her with a hangover she remained in the shower for a long time. Finally turning it off and stepping out she dried off and pulled on the clean clothed neatly folded on the floor, reclaiming her bottle she poured half into a large glass for Angus when he finally pulled himself out of bed and pulled open the curtains before flopping into a chair and working on emptying the half of whiskey that was left in the bottle.

“The dragon kicked you out then, I see” Lucky sod. If only she could be half so lucky and have Ice dump her and want nothing more from her, how dare he turn up here and make her feel conflicted just by his presence. Inhaling deeply and slowly letting it out she managed to collect herself together still she felt paralyzed like there was nothing she could do, leaning into the cold metal bars some more her eyes closed. There was no point asking about colours, things were the way they were, and she wasn’t going to get him out, she couldn’t she had Killian to look after and someone had to keep an eye on Oliver. “Where about did you get taken from then” making out like it was mere idle curiosity and nothing else she decided that going there was something she could do to think things over and truly decide what she was going to do. Not having a clear cut plan made her uneasy and an uneasy person made mistakes, she couldn’t just go with it and see what happened, blue eye snapped back open seeming to burn with intent before her usual calm composure settled over her, now she had a plan it was easier, she had a way forward, it’d be alright.

Grinning at the look on his face she retorted “Aye, I only used cold” while he was in the shower, something caught her attention, drawing her eyes away from her glass a familiar colour caught her attention making her stiffen. The cover of his book he’d been scribbling, it was a blue-green one she recognized as being found in the sea, “oh no. no. no this is not happening” about to jump out of her chair and bolt then and there, Angus reappeared wet hair extra curly after collecting the glass with his whiskey in it he sat down with the notebook that had put dread in her. Not again, whatever god there was had to be taking the piss, looking away and resisting the urge to curl up into a ball she drained the bottle and stood “Going to get more booze” muttering loud enough for the man to hear she walked out the door slamming it behind her. “Bran!” She couldn’t cope with this again, not now, all she wanted to do was run, run far away and stay away, it was supposed to be rare that only one person saw colour and now it’d happened a third fucking time. Clenching her fists and ignoring the fact that they were shaking she stomped down to the local liquor store gritting her teeth so hard her jaw muscles ached along with the pounding behind her eyes, taking a deep breath she entered the refreshingly cool room and made her way over to the Baileys. She disliked vodka and sweet alcoholic drinks, and the smooth taste of her second favourite drink sounded quite good, buying the entire shelf she carried them back in bags, stopping at her car and sitting on the ground, drawing her knees up to her face and hugging them. She hadn’t expected to hurt like this again, she hadn’t expected to see colour again and going by her past record, it’d be onesided once again and she’d watch the colours appear and then fade, just wanting it all to stop the easiest thing to do was to just shut down for a bit in order to try and wrestle with her conflicting desires, her survival hunters instinct telling her to run. The only reason she hadn’t was because she’d told him she’d teach him about creatures, and she disliked going back on her word to anyone, and that he was Killians brother he needed someone to keep an eye on him so Ice didn’t get grabby.


Snorting to herself Jet ignored the urge to shake his head, however when he told her where he was taken from, she rolled her eyes heavenward “really? You’re such an air head. No wonder you didn’t last long, you’re lucky it wasn’t a hunter” ‘feels like me’ how could anyone make decisions based on something untrustworthy as feelings. “Still making things out of Clay?” That’d been the one thing he could do that had always surprised her, how he’d made many things out of squishy clay, she’d never been creative like that and had never given it a go, far too afraid of failure or not doing well enough and the consequences of that. It’d been so calming to watch him work with the slimy substance, how many hours had she wasted watching him work instead of going straight home and had to lie to her mothers face repeatedly that Erisidr had taken his time responding. Tearing her gaze away from his coloured gaze to check carefully that nobody else was coming, satisfied that it was alright she was safe, the ever-vigilant woman returned his gaze to the kelpies face, wondering at the plain colour that had become the definition of beauty, because of how much his eye colour changed in the light she’d been blessed with a subtle range of colours. Part of her, the smart part insisted this was a dangerous habit to indulge in, she couldn’t shouldn’t risk this and for once she was ignoring the smart part, since he was useless with telling her where he was taken from she suppose she’d have to bother Killian to find out under the guise of obeying Ice’s commands.

Glancing up at him Rose spoke softly “I Saw it again. Colour. I can’t do it again, I really can’t Bran” moving a hand to gently brush it over him “I just want to leave and get far away” the raven was always good to talk to which was why she’d called for him. He never sugar-coated things which she valued it meant she could always trust him to tell her the truth. “Scared Bran” she didn’t even want to drink the alcohol she’d bought now and felt a little sick to be honest. A part of her wondered if she was blowing it out of proportion before it was quickly told to shut up, she’d been through more than most and had every right to be apprehensive, starting to fidget she ended up pacing around the car with her arms around her trying not to end up feeling any more sicker than she already did. Her bird knew that she’d seen colour twice before and knew very well how it all ended “I don’t know what to do. I promised I’d teach him and I don’t go back on promises lightly” still far too proud to let herself whimper she pursed her lips and tried to get angry which didn’t happen, the scared feeling remained.

Narrowing her gaze at the fleeting grin she rolled her eyes again at the comment “And that’s how creatures wind up on the black market, dead or in places like this. The only good instincts are honed ones along with good training” supposing that she should get going she postponed bringing up the fact that she saw colour because of him, instead she released the bar and took a step backwards “I should be going” it wouldn’t do to be caught here talking to him but she’d make sure he was fed properly at least. Not wanting to drag her eyes from his she sniffed turned and left without a goodbye, finishing her errand she headed back up to Killians quarters avoiding the route that went past Keenans cell, knocking on the door twice with a specific pause so he knew who it was before entering she closed the door behind her studying him. “Ice wants something of the kelpies, whereabouts did you take him from? She doesn’t want to waste you on such a Trivial task apparently” managing a slight sneer directed at her mother, Jet folded her arms and leaned back against the wall waiting.

Snorting to himself at his first comment, the familiar preening of his beak through her short hair was enough to settle her a little enough to actually listen to him. Wrinkling her nose at the idea of the kid seeing colour on her she was rather disbelieving, however, what he mentioned about Angus being unable to keep his trap shut made some sense “Alright. He gets a month, still nothing I’m gone” moving back to the bags she picked them up and walked back to their room, opening the door and striding in she set the bags down on the table “Consider the bet debt paid curly” wandering over she studied his notebook “Best be careful Angus. Creatures don’t like lore about themselves written down.” She spoke calmly but there was a definite word of warning in her tone, she’d seen some creatures kill a hunter or a lore writer it was why she used her memory to her advantage and kept most of her information there apart from her simple leather-bound notebook that was filled to bursting with photos and hastily scrawled notes. Depending on what he said she’d get her notebook and let him flick through it, if he could read her scrawl and shorthand, sitting down on the unmade bed and rubbing her head idly she read over his shoulder.


Listening Jet didn’t show any of her reactions to the younger shadow master "She’s rather angry with you, Likely six months to a year. Behave and work hard and it may be less, you’re aware of how fickle she can be” the bonus meant that he’d have plenty of time to do nothing and that’d help his back heal. Not asking about the girl as it was no longer her business, he knew her opinion and wouldn’t want to hear it repeated. Leaving him there and concentrating she appeared on the outskirts of the town mentioned and frowned slightly at the heavy rain, who on earth would want to live in such a dismal place? Walking along until she found the little quaint sign notifying her of the b&b, walking up to the house she stopped studying it, it some how suited Keenan and she could understand why he had picked this place for himself. Exploring she came across the hut out back behind the house and pushed open the door, looking over the various creations she reached up and brushed her fingers over some of the baked finished ones, none of it helped her decide what she wanted to do with him, at the noise of hurrying footsteps or perhaps paw steps Jet stepped out of the hut and closed the door behind her a hand going to her hidden weapon under her coat.

Rose snorted “You bring up a valid point” the fact that it was under lock and key was a good idea, getting up she walked out and returned with her notebook very unhelpfully dropping it down onto the page of his and sitting back down on the bed with a wide yawn. The leather-bound book was full to bursting, and the home-made latch of an elastic band and a pair of buttons that had been sewn on were almost groaning from the stress of keeping it closed. There was a bit of everything in there and most of it rarer information she didn’t particularly trust to keep just in her mind, she’d have to find a new job now which sometimes meant skimming papers for jobs. For now however her head hurt too much, so she lay back on the bed and curled up a bit deciding that sleep might help, she was still scared, of getting hurt, of getting attached, of caring about yet another person who could be used to hurt her. Pulling the blankets over herself until only her hair was poking out and a small hole for air, Rose tried with all her might to just go back to sleep and escape having to think for a while.

Renee currently was in the middle of baking with some help from the youngest shadows, giggling away at having been covered in flour when one baby had gotten some up its nose (Wherever that was she had no idea) and sneezed it everywhere. Reassured that she was allowed to stay and quite enjoying her time with Cricket and had taken to spoiling the serval where possible, her own baby shadows were learning from his baby shadows and were doing their best to copy and do what they did.

Seeing the dog, Jets face lit up with joy, not afraid in the slightest at the soft unsure bark, Jet lowered herself down so she was more on his level and less of a threat “Hello Beautiful” offering an open hand for the dog to sniff she eagerly awaited his response. Having adored dogs from a young age due to their loyalty, soft fur and the love that they had to share, seeing the dog reminded her of the small pottery dog that Keenan had made her which she still had, a little chipped and hidden away in her room. Remembering some of the conversations she’d had about dogs with Keenan as kids as that had been one of the few things to break the training, she had which demanded she remained cool and collected. ‘When I was little all I wanted was to be free of ice and to have many dogs, then I’ll never be cold or lonely ever again’ she’d eagerly proclaimed that once, oh how simple-minded she’d been then, now she knew it wasn’t possible, she’d never be free of ice, she had to do what she could to look after Killian and keep him on the right path. Out in the real world, her long coat had become a fashionable normal length leather jacket with dark blue stretchy skinny jeans with a pair of boots and her long hair was tied back in a plait to keep it out of the way. The dog was an Irish Wolfhound from the look of him, due to her love of dogs as a child she’d gone out of her way to memorize every breed, and he was just wonderful.