Alabaster panted and gasped as he ran through the city, his white hair loose, the broken hairband lying rejected on the sidewalk. He skidded to a stop at a street corner, looking around curiously. "Hm...this place seems familiar... I wonder..." he mused to himself before angry voices behind him spurred him to run again until he came across a familiar looking white house with a black door.

"Ah ha! I knew he was somewhere around here!" Alabaster cried triumphantly, a large grin on his face. He streaked towards the house and stopped the moment he reached it. "Um... perhaps I should do this properly," he muttered thoughtfully to himself, as he reached up and knocked politely on the door, but as the voices once again became heard, courtesy was thrown to the wind and Alabaster began to pound on the door with both fists.

"Please be home please be home please please please!!" Alabaster muttered over and over again as he glanced over his shoulder, somewhat nervously. "Open the friggen door already Kali!" he yelled out, instantly giving away where he was to the owners of the angry voices.

"Oh crap," Alabaster said simply.

It was behind him now. What would he feel? Like he was being watched? Being followed? Well, obviously he was being followed. By who? Such angry sounds they were making, and they were making her mind hurt. Should he turn around, all he would see was shadow. A looming shadow, in the shape of a woman. And should he look really closely he would see a shimmer in the shadow, unexplainable.

It moves around beside him. Poor creature. He looked so frightened. And they were really being too loud. It wished they would stop.

Open the friggen door already Kali!

Now he’s yelling! It moves to his side and watches him silently, cocking it’s head to the side and observing his face closely. Should it help him? It sure wanted to. Ilea moved in front of him, making it’s self noticed, flat against the door in a two dimensional figure. It’s lips move and a sound, words, like whispers, can be heard.

“Help?”

Alabaster cried out in surprise and stumbled backwards falling to the ground, barely managing to avoid cracking the back of his head against the cement. He sat up and glanced over his shoulder again at the small group of people coming around the corner looking around.

"Hey whatever you are...'Thingie'... unless you can get Kali out here to let me in and hide me from those people there, I really don't have time to be jerked around," he said as he cautiously stood to his feet, brushing off his pants. He was still looking over his shoulder nervously, thankful that none of them had found him...yet. "Stupid binding spell, I'd just poof myself into Kali's house, but with that spell in place..." Alabaster sighed, aggravated, "How do humans do it?" he muttered to himself.

Kali had been enjoying a nice turkey sandwich, reading one of his many old histories of the world, when the frantic knocking jolted him out of his reverie. Setting down his book on the floor, and placing his sandwich on it's plate, he stood slowly, stretching his legs, which had fallen asleep while he was reading.

Hearing the knocking become louder, he called, "Hang on, already!" as he sauntered to his door. The voice that spoke outside was one that Kali had thought he would never hear.

No way, he thought as he flung open the door, suddenly quick.

Standing before him was the man that Kali had desperately tried to forget.

Sighing, he stood out of the way of his door, and motioned Alabaster in. "Hello, Alabaster," he mumbled.

He noticed the dark shadow behind Alabaster, following him, and continued, "Who's your friend, and what's your problem this time?"

Alabaster gave Kali his best grin, "Oh come now Kali, can't a friend stop by without getting the third degree? and besides..." Alabaster stopped dead when he heard a voice yell, "Hey!" Alabaster glanced over his shoulder and suddenly ran into Kali's place.

"Oh who am I kidding? I'm in trouble as usual as for the shadow, it beats me who he er..she...'it' is, please Kali for old times sake hide me?" he asked, giving him his most pathetic puppy dog eyes he could manage.

"I'll be good I promise." he added with a small pout, his lower lip sticking out slightly, trembling. "Pwease?" he asked again.

'Thingie’ moved to the side of him again, then began circling him, taking him in. Preditor circles, like a shark. Unlike a shark, no attacks came.

unless you can get Kali out here to let me in....

It was unaffected by his words, continued to circle, continued to wish the loud ones to be quiet. The door opened and it wavered, slid away from the door, away from the one called Kali. Then it circled Kali in the same fashion as it had with the old-young one.

"Who's your friend, and what's your problem this time?"

It stopped between them, in the middle. “Friend?” it said in that echoing scratch of a whisper, the sound only something bodiless could manage. It turned to Kali, “help friend?”

Kali smirked and snorted at the use of the term 'friend'. He raised his eyebrow, and shut the door at the yelling that was coming from the street. "Alabaster, the last time I saw you, was... god, it must have been more than fourty years. And you were not my friend, contrary to what your parents might have thought."

Shaking his head, he continued, "And why am I not surprised that you're in trouble?"

Turning to the shadow creature, he frowned, and replied to it's rasp slowly. "Help? With what?"

He always had a hard time saying no to someone, or something in need, as evidenced by Alabaster.

Alabaster grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Are you still mad because of those little harmless pranks I used to pull on you Kali?" he asked, "I bet my sisters don't even remember that whole shoving you into the spa they just happened to be in at the time." he said.

Alabaster glanced over when Kali was looking at the shadow creature when he smelled food, his stomach snarled, it had been awhile since he had managed to eat soild food.

"Besides I'll only be here until that whole binding spell wears off then I'll slink off into the night like I did when I left home." he said walking up to the turkey sandwich sitting on the plate.

The shadow solidified slightly, a strange look came over it. Transparent still, and still shimmering, eyes formed, emerald green, curious eyes. They were as transparent as the rest of it but unlike the rest of it, they had shape and color. The rest of it formed the shadow of a body but that's all it was. Shadow.

The curiosity so intense, the eyes focused first on the old-young man, then the other, the Kali.

Not help what.

"Help who? Friend?" The shadow mimicked someone raising their arms and pointing. It pointed at the two of them. "Friend?" It pointed in the direction of the loud people. Then it covered it's ears. Loud. They were too noisy. "Help?" It reached out to touch Alabaster but the shadow only appeared flat against his arm, and cold.

It was curious and it was confused.

Kali was very intrigued by the shadow, to say the least. He ignored Alabaster's eyeing of his sandwich, for the moment, instead opting to watch the curious shadow. Suddenly, as if a light bulb had gone off in his head, Kali exclaimed, "Oh! You want to help us!"

As if thinking about his exclaimation for a quick second, he ammended, "Well, you want to help him anyway," motioning vaguely to Alabaster.

Shrugging, he continued, "Go right ahead. I didn't ask him to come here..."

Then, turning to Alabaster, he snatched his turkey sandwich off of the plate, and took a huge bite, more out of spite than hunger. "If you want a sandwich, you can go make your own. Got it?" There was a hint of a smirk on his face as he said this, although he was trying to be deadly serious.

Alabaster shuddered slightly when the shadow touched him, he then smiled and said somewhat softly, "Sorry not used to having shadow creatures around, perhaps we should have a proper introduction, but for the moment..." he said turning to Kali, snatching the turkey sandwich from his hand with a grin. "Hey I'm not above sharing if it means I don't have to lift a finger to make something." he said before taking a large bite out of the other side of the sandwich.

He gave Kali a smug smile as he ate his bite, then said after swallowing, "Not bad Kali, you have good taste...but you got any booze around here? most of the bars and pubs around here know my face and won't serve until I pay my tab." he said with a sheepish grin.

"Shadow." It repeated after him, then lifted it's 'hand' off of Alabaster's arm apologeticlly. "Forgive."

It watched him snatch the Kali things sandwhich and take a bite out of it with interest. It was hungry too, but it was also doubtful that Kali would have anything around that would be a good meal, or...that he would want the shadow to eat. Emerald eyes shift to Kali to watch, again, intensly curious, for his reaction.