I can't hear your heartbeat [Scarlett]

[Snake Eyes]

(OOC: Date is June 29th. A reunion thread for Scarlett & Snake Eyes only unless we both agree to others coming in.)

Snake Eyes glanced shiftily at the surrounding woods, and kept moving throughout the trees. With his new found abilities, he was able to fly under most creatures radar; as he had been able to with most humans during his GI Joe and Arishikage days. The magic had also given him a voice in the form of telepathy, something he didn't realize he missed so much.
Still being a man of few words even before his vocal chords were damaged, he was cautious of who he spoke to and when.
He hadn't tested it out on a human yet. He figured it was some kind of breech of privacy. The animals had fled when he tried and it wasn't just because of his aura. They didn't understand the voice in their head and hightailed it out of there.
Sure, he had sign language to fall back on, but how many people actually knew that?
Snake Eyes sighed softly.
He rested a gloved hand on the tree trunk and peered down at the forest floor from his perch in the canopy.

[Scarlett]

Another day in paradise. Or more another day in the forest. Not a paradise whatsoever anyways, just another day altogether. Formerly emerald eyes stared straight ahead. Someone was there. Scarlett knew it. She just had this feeling that someone was there. That, or she was overreacting, not to mention it was probably just a werewolf passing by. Or a small animal. Nothing that should be too concerning to the vampire mistress.

Yet, that was just the thing. Going for a trip for the forest today had concerned the vampire that day. Why? She hadn't a single clue. She just felt a tad anxious that day. Perhaps fearing death, or causing another death out of hunger. She had been cutting back a tad on mealtimes, and being a vampire, she believed she shouldn't care anymore about death. Yet, there was a side of her that she buried in front of everyone. A side that did care, wonder who her victims really were. A side that had nearly been forgotten. Only those that had been close to her knew. Ha. And where they?

All dead, probably.

[Snake Eyes]

The atmosphere in the forest had shifted: something or someone had been alerted to his presence. It was a foreign feeling, being noticed. Snake Eyes had spent the better part of his human life lurking in the shadows; only two people could sense him: Storm Shadow and Scarlett.

This magic had enhanced what Tunnel Rat had called his 'ninja skills' and Snake Eyes had just found out that they didn't protect him entirely. Like with everything else, they too had their limits.

He dropped twenty feet from his perch and landed silently atop the leaves. He was being watched, he could feel it. But where? Where was it coming from? Snake Eyes closed his eyes and focused only on his hearing.

Silence. Not a single large heartbeat in the area.

Then who?

[Scarlett]

Had Scarlett even had one, her heart would be beating pretty fast at the moment. The feeling of being watched came over her, making the vampire worry even more. She had to do something to alert whoever was there that she knew who was there. That, or look extremely crazy in the forest. She wished that she had been anything but a vampire. A werewolf could run away, a demon could use nasty tricks, a witch the same. Anything could have been better, but instead, she had to deal with being partially dead.

"I know someone's around here." she muttered, hoping that it wasn't too loud to get her noticed even more.

[Snake Eyes]

A voice, more specifically, that voice was one of the things Snake Eyes least expected to hear. He turned, following the sound. But it couldn't be! Scarlett wasn't here. Was this another after effect from the magic? Hearing voices? He hoped not.

He could see a figure, but there wasn't a heartbeat. Maybe illusions were another possible effect? Hallucinations? Snake Eyes' mind was reeling as one possibility after another came rushing at him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Snake Eyes knew there was something off kilter about the tone of her voice, but at the moment, all he could focus on was that she was here.

["Shana?!"]

The thought was too loud, filled with surprise and shock and disbelief. Had it been an actual sound, it would have resounded off of the trees.

[Scarlett]

Shana?! The one thought filled her mind. Shana O'Hara. That was her name. The name she knew before everything went downhill, turning upside down. She froze, now looking like a corpse. An unblinking corpse, standing upright. What a sight that must have been to see. She didn't recognize the voice whatsoever. Maybe she was hearing things. Thinking odd thoughts. Crimson eyes gazed about, searching for the owner of the voice. Wait. Is was just her thoughts. She only thought her name being called by someone. That made perfect sense. Pasty white vampire somehow didn't believe that. She inhaled deeply through her nose.

That was what confirmed whether she was crazy or not. She smelled human. Man. She knew it was human, didn't have some sort of canine smell. But who? Well, she'd just have to find out soon. "I know you're out there." she said, loud and clear now. She was going to find out who this was. No matter what.

[Snake Eyes]

The voice spoke again and he froze, his body as still as the surrounding tree trunks; part of the scenery. Okay. Definitely not crazy. He crossed 'hearing voices' off his mental check list of 'symptoms of insanity' and focused on the matter at hand. So that meant that the figure, this person wasn't just a figment of his imagination, either. 'Hallucinations' went the same way as 'hearing voices'.

Was he dreaming? The voice was Shana's. It had to be! The ninja felt an inkling of regret; hadn't he sworn to her father that he'd protect her? He quickly wrestled the thought back into the dark corner of his mind where it came from: focus on the present. He had to find out who this person was and whether or not it was a threat or one of Cobra's tricks.

Snake Eyes decided to try again, softer this time.

['Shana, it's me: Snake Eyes.']

He stepped out from his hiding place in the shadows and took an audible breath.

[Scarlett]

Snake Eyes? But... he couldn't talk. Scarlett knew that. She was only hearing voices. She was wishing for Snake Eyes, that was all. That had to be the reasoning behind hearing 'his' voice. But when the vampire femme caught sight of him, she knew he was there. Or only a hallucination. Either way, Shana didn't care. Seeing him had made her forget her vampire ways for a split second, causing her to embrace Snake Eyes in a hug to prove if he were real or not.

"Snake Eyes. I... how did you talk?" Scarlett's mind instantly swirled over to that thought. From what she remembered, she knew he had his vocal chords damaged. Snake Eyes was probably the memory she actually kept near and dear to herself, reminded herself never to forget. Perhaps in fear he was gone, she often kept his memory close by. But now, now he was there.

Now they were two different races.

[Snake Eyes]

He tensed for a fraction of a second before wrapping his arms around her, returning the hug. She was real. She was here, solid beneath his fingertips. Alive. Relief flooded him. Alive. Shana was alive. Snake Eyes shut his eyes for a moment and took in the moment.
Then it hit him. She was cold. Frozen, frigid to the touch. How long had she been out here? When was the last time she was warm? He tightened his grip ever so slightly on her, pulling her closer.

He looked up to indicate the sky and was in the process of lifting a hand to signal to her when he remembered. Snake Eyes' lip twitched upwards in a half smile behind the mask.
['The meteor shower affected me, gave me a 'voice': telepathy.'] He paused. ['Not that we have any trouble communicating, but it's nice to be able to voice my thoughts.'] He realized a little too late that it was a pun, but it did fit the situation.

He looked down at her, studying her. He wanted to say something else, but the words wouldn't come: his voice had been taken away decades ago and to suddenly get it back....Snake Eyes didn't know what to say. There was so much he wanted to say.


['Shana,'] He lifted her chin so she'd look up at him. Was it the gloom of the forest or did her hair look darker than before? It must have been the light, because her eyes were different than before. When he last saw her, they were a bright emerald green.
It had to be this forest. It had to be.
Snake Eyes finally settled on something to say. ['I missed you.'] It was simple, but true. He had missed her, more than the others on the team.

Something else was bothering him: he only heard one heartbeat. Snake Eyes thought that maybe it was his own heartbeat rushing in his ears that covered up hers, but he had better training than that.

Whatever it was, the ninja decided, it didn't matter. She was here and that was the only thing that counted.

[Scarlett]

Scarlett had a feeling in her gut that Snake Eyes knew there was something amiss with her. She just knew it. How couldn't he notice? She was pale. She had darker hair. She had crimson blood colored irises. Large canine fangs. She was pretty much dead. How couldn't he notice anything different with her? Now, she could expect anyone else she used to know not actually notice anything, seeing as how she was closest with Snake Eyes. But she was sure he'd notice at least. Just one little detail he'd notice, bare minimum. She had to shake the thought from her mind, however, deciding to look into the meteor situation.

"The meteor gave you a voice, through thoughts? So, it goes both ways? I think of something, you can hear it, vice versa?" Scarlett asked, wondering how exactly the telepathy worked. When he lifted her chin, she looked up at him. It was in that moment that it didn't quite matter to her how the telepathy worked. They could still communicate. She could fight the urge to make him into a snack. For that moment, it seemed like everything could still work. That nothing would be going downhill anymore.

"I've missed you too, Snake Eyes." Scarlett spoke at last, sincere tone obvious in her voice.

[Snake Eyes]

It finally registered with Snake Eyes that it wasn't the forest's lighting or the fact that he was dazed: something was very off about her. The lack of a heartbeat, the chill to her skin; he could feel it through the gloves, and they were insulated. Scarlett's gaze was different,not just in color.

Regardless of what was different about her, he didn't care. Snake Eyes tightened his other arm around her in a gesture of reassurance. He found it easier to speak with touch; this new ability was taking some getting used to. Scarlett had accepted him as he was: scars, silence and secrets, and that was long before the meteor. He could easily return the favor.

Snake Eyes hadn't really given it all that much thought. He knew he had a voice now, but other people being able to speak back at him with thoughts? Shouldn't they have telepathy as well? Or maybe he could 'hear' them by using his new gift.

['Only one way to find out.'] He said and shrugged a shoulder. ['Say something with your thoughts.'] The whole invasion of privacy thing was past them; they were very close and he knew Shana trusted him.