The dorms; usually a place where a student simply goes to for rest, relaxation… and perhaps some intimacy between another student as well. With the constant threat of monsters and creatures lurking the woods and larger buildings, the dorm provided the more important protection because of so many rooms and structured walls blocking larger creatures from stalking any would be victim. The dormitory could still be prodded by smaller creatures so although the building provided some safety, students that have been attacked in their own dorms know well enough that even their sanctuary was not fully attack proof.

But even with the fact that students eventually had to leave their quarters for classes and other activities, Sole was presented with a small problem. His new target was not only social enough to stay in multiple groups where he couldn’t very well hide amongst the hustle and bustle, but she lacked any personal activities that normally drug a student out into the open. And as if she wasn’t more difficult to obtain, she spent most of her time in her dorm where his size prevented him from even attempting to catch this alluring sort of human female by surprise. And the fact for as long as he had been stalking her that this was the only true place she was alone was even more frustrating.

But he would not let this little issue of size stop him from he wanted. He was resolved with having this striking female for himself. But that meant he had to abandon the element of surprise he was so used to. Perhaps it was time to get out of his usual style. The last time he tried a different tactic and allowed himself to be in a summoning circle, it worked out well and received the energy and emotions he ever so loved. Though a summoning may not be in his future for this woman, a different tactic was needed to get her in his clutches.

He was elated at his timing as he peered secretly through her closed window and found her to be in her room, studying some magically inclined tome he assumed was simply normal for the long time he watched his prey. And he had been stalking her constantly to the best of his abilities to be unseen. Now was the time to lead her into a false sense of security.

It was easy to slip in given only a night lamp was helping her study at this late hour. The closed window did little to stop his shadow form from slipping in, remaining a perfect shade to prevent his appearance from being darker than the shadow given from the night lamp. Finally he made himself comfortable on the wall before her before he silently slips into the lower lit part of the wall. He wasn’t surprised to see she was too absorbed to notice and entirely different shadow now lying on the bottom of her floor. He could manipulate his form into looking like a smaller reptile with an elongated neck. Perhaps his body resembled that of a monitor lizard, though perhaps the size of an alligator. His elongated neck and head made him look like some prehistoric dinosaur, but he cared little of what she would perceive him as for now. Lying down with his front crossed in front of him and his un-imposing size before her, all that was left was to bring her attention to her new company.

“You seem to be enjoying your book a little more this hour of darkness Kanoe. I do hope you do not mind some company this night,” he puts simply, his in-human voice perhaps a flaw of his effort to be un-imposing while he turns his single, shadowed head to her. But the dark witch would come to be comfortable with it soon enough. His form was a bit hard to outline with only his eyes having the lamp light shine through, but other details probably wouldn’t matter to her at the moment. She was in the presence of an inhuman creature. That alone will probably distract her from wanting anymore details.

Kanoe never had any delusions that anything she did on the island was considered safe. But neither did the woman go out of her way to make herself a prime target. Well besides having a beautiful body. The witch generally had a simple routine. Go to school, come back, study, sleep, not much changed from this unless her Mistress wished her presence, she wanted to exercise, or if a monster had ambushed her. She did not realize that her normal routine was the only thing between her and another large monster from feasting upon her luscious form.

Monsters had proven time and again that her dorm room was not safe. But it was better than nothing. Besides, the solitude was nice when the monsters were away. Already changed into her robes, the dark witch was reading through a tome as she usually did. Darkness was her only company beyond the soft glow of the lamp. Clarice was out attending her own classes as well as working under a Head Girl as a Prefect. It was looking like this would be another night alone for her.

Unfortunately, something decided to break the silence and announce its presence inside her room. The obviously monsterous voice made Kanoe jump and immediately look towards the source. It looked like a pitch black lizard. Already, the dark witch was channeling her mana. Looks could be deceiving and she highly doubt just an ordinary lizard could sneak into her room like this. Besides, the bloody thing actually spoke.

"I do mind the company," she replied darkly, "Get out or I will remove you, monster." Of course she was not even sure she could hurt this thing. But its a lizard right now and she had plenty of fire to test out to see if this creature could burn.

The lizard-like shadow lifts his head to the side, allowing a clearer profile of scales prodding out from him as he scratched his chin casually before continuing to lie in place. He seemed very un-threatened by the mana gathering in the woman’s grasp and seems only slightly interested when she spoke.

“Ah yes. Creatures of different types have infiltrated your room yes? I can understand your want or shall I say need to be left alone with inhuman presences. But whether you believe I am not here to cause you grief tonight is entirely up to you. I will however make sure you understand that you’ll only be destroying this wall and not myself. I’ll simply move off this partition to speak with you in darkness. I thought you may be more comfortable knowing where I am instead of constantly seeking where my voice is coming from.”

The tense witch would be unable to harm him in this form, but not one to tell her further, he could also not harm her in this form. It was a sad detail to not be able to grab her or he wouldn’t be going through this conversation at all. But since he had to, Sole remained perfectly calm in spite of being targeted.

“Besides, I can suspect you wouldn’t wish to rouse the staff and Head Girls with damaging property if you could avoid the attention.”

He had done much research on Kanoe and had even tapped into her lover a few times to know a Head Girl’s attention on the blonde mystic was partly because she damaged school property. And since Kanoe was well aware of the woman’s transgressions, he doubted Kanoe wanted to follow behind Clarice’s example, especially since Sole was not attacking her this very moment. She would not get inkling he could read minds so perhaps she would be more comfortable believing he was just a friendly shadow.

“And monster is so derogative. Please refer to my name as Sole. I do hope you’ll consider simply listening to what I have to say instead of attempting to blow me to pieces.”

The matter of fact tone of the creature was nothing less than annoying to the witch. She did not stop channeling as she rose to her feet. The raven haired student kept her distance from the shadow lizard. There was no point in taking risks. She was unsure why this thing was wasting time with conversation when it had the obvious opportunity to ambush her. Perhaps it was here to toy with her like so many other demons and powerful beings. Kanoe was truly growing weary of this.

It was doubtful Kanoe would consider any shadow 'friendly'. Eyes narrowing, the witch ensured at least a chair was between her and this lizard as fruitless as that defense was. "I really could care less about what you have to say, monster," she hissed, "I know how you creatures work. Make some deal that costs far more than its worth. Then I find myself without clothes on and thoroughly abused. So whatever you have in mind, save it and just leave me alone. Nothing you have to say would convince me that I should help or assist you in anyway."

She knew it was useless. This monster was not going to leave. It was looking like another one of those restless nights again. The last thing she needed a lizard trying to talk to her while she slept. This was definitely making the witch uneasy. How in the world was she going to get rid of this thing? She wanted it out of her room and gone from her life. Nothing would make her happier after all the monsters she had to deal with.

“I have no deals or tasks I’m asking you to take,” he puts simply, actually being plain truthful in that matter, “I do not require any assistance you could possibly offer, but thank-you for seemingly suggesting that. All I want is to talk and you’re doing so, which is all I ask.”

He remains in place as the witch rises and places a chair between her and him. Not that it would do her any good, he could not leave his shadowed form in any case even if he did want to show her whom she was dealing with. No, for now he was simply a talking shadow, but given Kanoe’s experiences, she would never think of him as straightforward as he appeared to be.

He turns his attention to the book on her bed and seems to be analyzing it from the distance he was at before turning his attention back to her, gesturing towards the tome with his shadowed claw, “I see what you’re reading was an old dialect of a preservation circle. Such a spell is supposedly created to prevent any transgression from befalling the user. I have not seen such an incantation done in a long time so I wonder if you’re attempting to try and figure out how to perform the enchantment?”

Judging by Kanoe’s surface thoughts, it seemed she wasn’t entirely aware of what she was reading but more trying to pick apart the words to translate it into a language she understood. He did just give her free information, truthful actually, but he doubted she would be so inclined to believe such a protection spell was what she was reading. But maybe he implanted the thought that the spell could very well protect her, at least a little, from lesser powerful creatures. Though he doubted she had the power to block many creatures, it was a sense of security she no doubt longed for nowadays.

“I do not blame you for not trusting me at all. It would be like you trusting a stranger and sadly yet, I am not human and your encounters with inhuman species I will assume to be… less than pleasant. But I desire conversation with a human gifted in magic and your utter presence of power drew me to you. Although we have had a minute long conversation and you still are uncomfortable with me, I do appreciate what few words you’ve given.”

Standing on all four of his legs, Sole begins to climb up the wall and onto the ceiling towards Kanoe’s bed. Though the woman was next to it and she no doubt would be a bit reactive to him moving, believing he would perhaps attack her, his body disappears where the lamp shade blocks the light bulb from illuminating the entire ceiling. No doubt alarmed that she couldn’t see him, Sole suspected Kanoe may react poorly to not seeing him until his head pokes out of the wall behind her bed where the lamp was brightening her reading area. His long neck peers out to the tome still on the bed and he appeared to be reading it more closely.

“Hmmm, most of these are protection spells. I assume the mage who wrote this tome must’ve been in dire need of self-preservation at this time to write so many on one page. I suppose some will work for you, but I have to say some spells look a little draining than what need be. Oh well… who am I to judge since I am not a mage?” he appeared to be talking to himself in the last few sentences, seemingly drawn to continue reading further in silence.

As Sole mentioned, there was no reason for her to trust this thing. It could be luring her into a false sense of security to make the kill all the sweeter. No, Kanoe was not about to fall into this trap again. But she also had no way to make this thing leave. She supposedly has no way to harm it and would only damage the room if she tried. Worse, the monster was now moving about her room freely and without a care. Sole was stating things about her tome. Whether they were true or not did not matter. This was really becoming aggravating for her.

"Stay away from my books!" she growled, "Who said you could read it? Get away! Get out! I don't want you here!" The witch was tempted to throw a chair at the annoying creature. It faded away into the shadows briefly only to reappear on her wall, looking down at her tome. Well at least she knew the thing was incorporeal. She had no real methods to deal with such creatures.

Kanoe gritted her teeth in annoyance as the thing began to state what she could and could not do with these spells. "I told you to get out! I do not want your bloody company! Leave me alone!" She took a deep breath as she tried to calm her boiling nerves. This was not what she wanted to deal with this night. These small nights of privacy were all she had left on this island besides her lover. Now its being ruined by a monster merely being in the same room as her. Part of her wished the thing would just rape her then leave like all the other things that attack her.

The lizard-like shadow huffed slightly at the woman’s rampant and persistent hollering and sighs to himself. “I do not appreciate being yelled at when I am clearly right here.”

Sole even understood her displeasure for a creature being in her room, but really, screaming and yelling at a shadow was a bit maddening if someone were to watch the scene unfold. Though Sole felt little pain in what a normal life would feel, he felt his ears become slightly irritated from her excessive bantering.

“Yelling at me will do nothing but wear you down and where will you be then, hm? Sooner or later another creature, who will possibly be less kind than I, will hear your shouts and wait for you to exhaust yourself from your screaming. Maybe if you spoke as kindly as I then perhaps I would be more inclined to listen.”

“Besides, I seem to be a monster to you so you’ve relieved me of any manners I could’ve given before if you spoke to me on the same level as you.”

Kanoe was going to have to be softer in voice in order to get any way with this shadow in her room. Seeing she wanted him away from her books, he climbs back into the shadows and Kanoe finds him back at the other wall, lying down and waiting for her to respond in a more polite way.

“Continue to be rude and maybe I’ll just sleep right here. The walls are no property of yours so I have full freedom to do as I please.”

Of course the monster did not listen nor obey her demands. Well actually Sole did obey one. The shadow had disappeared and appeared on a different wall, away from her book. Kanoe immediately moved to her bed and closed the book, hugging it to her chest as she glared at the uncaring lizard. If the thing decides to pop back to her side, she was ready to go back to where she was before with book in hand this time.

Most of what Sole said meant little to her. A monster would rape her whether she was worn down or not. It was not like a human woman had much of a chance against demons and devils on this island. The creature was now taunting her by promising to stay in her room overnight. She did not own the wall but, that would not stop her from blowing each section of wall to pieces if it meant this monster would leave.

"Fine.." she replied evenly, "Would you please, leave this room and stay out? I am not in the mood to speak to you nor will ever wish to speak to you. Leave me alone so I can finally get some rest." It was about as calm as she could get. Getting worn out, she stopped channeling her mana. Not like having her magic ready would help her against this sort of being.

“As much as I would love to honor such a polite request, I’m sad to say I will not stay away. But sleep is necessary for humans,” he replies, getting up and moving towards the door to the dorm hall. Her utter displeasure for his presence was not his intention, but the first phase of his ruse was under-way.

“I will, however, simply bid you good-night.”

Slipping through the crevice her door provided, Kanoe found herself alone one more. But she should know this wasn’t the end. He had made his presence known to her, which was all he required for this night’s affairs. Slowly he would manipulate this woman into vulnerability and then he’d strike. But for now, stalking and prodding at the dark witch would suffice.

Doubtfully, the dark witch would not get a good night’s sleep after having a creature assure her he would return again. Perhaps not one to be off-guard, she may even worry he would attempt to return once she fell asleep. But this night was filled with nothing more than her paranoia running rampant. He did not visit the rest of the hours of darkness. But he did however; leave an imprint in her mind. A Subtle suggestion that perhaps he wasn’t as threatening as she would want to believe he was. Mental suggestions were kept to a bare minimum in order to not rouse the witches’ suspicious of mind play.

The morning was much the same and Kanoe roused to what sleep she might’ve gotten to see she was alone still. That little mind suggestion probably didn’t seem like such a bad thought. But Kanoe was free to make her own assessments… for now.

Sole was patient and bided his time as the woman prepared for her classes. He sits by her door as a shadow, phasing in and out of dorm rooms to avoid detection by other moving students. He would keep the pressing the dark witch for as long as it took to manipulate her outside. And phase two was to simply have her be comfortable with his presence. It would bore him greatly to simply influence her mind into going out to the woods or other secluded areas. Besides, her raw emotions fed him and made him even more stimulated to pursue her. Manipulating would dampen what he lavishly fed upon.

Though he was sitting next to her door waiting, it was doubtful Kanoe would notice him at the angle of vision he was in. He would probably have to speak up in order to get the woman’s attention. And wait he did until the dark witch came out, much to Sole’s delight.

“Good-morning, Kanoe.”

She doubts the monster was truly sad about the matter. In fact, she doubts a monster could be sad about anything as far as she was concerned. But the shadow did finally leave her room. The promise of coming back left her uneasy and sleep would not come quickly for her this night. She would change into her nightgown and slip under the sheets. Her eyes would close but her mind just kept going, thinking that the monster would come back and was just waiting for this opportunity to strike. After much tossing and turning, sleep finally claimed the weary woman.

Waking the next morning, she groaned and mumbled her annoyance at waking up so early for class. She cleaned up and got changed into her uniform but not before briefly searching the room for last night's invader. Once dressed, she grabbed her things and made her way downstairs as other students were doing the same. At least the monster left her alone long enough to get at least a little bit of sleep.

~Good-morning, Kanoe~

Kanoe's eyes narrow as she glared back at the shadow waiting outside her door. "I thought I told you to leave me alone.." she hissed quietly. Whether the creature let her sleep or not, the thing was still a monster and was no doubt planning something. Why else would it be following her around. Not having time to deal with this thing, she made her way outside and begins the long trek to the building that her first class was in. She did not care if the shadow was supposedly harmless, the only shadow she wanted following her was her own.

It was a better greeting than last night. The monstrous shadow could not be more pleased, but he could not revel in the fact she didn’t attempt to attack him as she already began to move away to her first class. Sole followed much to her dismay.

“Oh come now. If I had wanted to do something sinister to you, I would’ve done so. Seeing as how you believe I want something from you and have not even asked for anything, you’d have to wonder what I want. And I already spoke of it last night.”

Truth be told, the trailing shadow did just want to talk for the moment. Slipping into crevices of doors and hiding into the shade of trees when students passed Kanoe by, Sole simply returned to her side or rather he was walking horizontally with her feet as he moved on the ground, easily keeping pace.

He slips through the mindful opening he made last night and configures a few thoughts together. Thoughts consisting of ‘humoring him’ and ‘he’s just a shadow’ come to her in random order. Of course she could dismiss them, but he focused on bringing them back once more every time she starts to think otherwise. That was it. Get her to be comfortable with his presence. At the very least that magic-happy hand won’t aim for him while he treds lightly beside her. Though he could feel no pain in this form, it did disorientate him from his plane suddenly being blown to bits.

He was attempting to be very careful in keeping the woman’s focus off the little suggestions popping into her head. It was a gentle touch for someone who would normally take what he wanted and took it very forcefully. This time he would try the simple tactic of leading her mentality from where her normal paranoia was constantly concocting what could be behind a corner.

“You seem eager to attend classes. Perhaps this is a favorite subject of yours, hm?”

The thing was truly an annoying pest. If this thing were a student, she probably would have struck the student to show that she did not want the company. But there was nothing she could do as the shadow decided to follow her out of the dorm. The other students would not notice the shadow slipping in and out of hiding only to return to her side each time. Her anger would rise each time the creature returned as it continued to truly test her nerve.

The witch could not help but think of the creature as it continued to stalk her openly. Other monsters would watch from afar or without her knowing. But this one was completely open about it. The harmless appearance had to be a trap, a lure to get her to drop her guard. No matter how hard she tried to ignore the thing, thoughts continued to surface about the whole matter. The thing had yet to attack her and seemed to only want to talk. But each time, the witch would push the thoughts away only to find them prodding at her mind once more.

By the time she arrived at the steps to the building, Kanoe was feeling rather weary. She did not know she was fighting implanted suggestions. The witch only knew that this monster had to be dangerous because it was a monster. It was then the monster decided to speak up. Gritting her teeth in frustration, the witch turned and swung her foot at the incorporeal creature. It was foolish and would no damage but it did give her an outlet for her frustration. "Leave me alone!" she growled before storming into the building and into her class room.

If the creature indeed had not been a shadow manifestation, he would’ve perhaps found humor in her frustrations. The senseless stomp on the shadow did nothing to him, but rather, it allowed him to have a brief moment of contact with her before the dark haired woman screams to be left alone. The poor female just opened the hole wider in her mental defenses by stomping him.

Kanoe would find herself in the classroom amongst other students, left alone for the time being as her class began. But now out of sight, the shadowed figure simply hides within the shadows of the class furniture, busily and tactfully prodding the woman’s mind from afar.

‘It just wants to talk?’ ‘It probably won’t leave me alone until I let it talk.’

They were subtle in their approach as he begins to wear away at the woman’s sense of self-preservation. The small prods in the right direction was what he wanted and sooner or later the constant thoughts swirling about of his presence would be accepted and she would conceive to ‘humor’ him. And sine he was consistently putting in mental suggestions during class, her focus would be off on trying to listen to the lecture and her ever changing thought process.

He was amused as he watched the woman writhe in her own confusion, furthering his plans of getting off beat. He was a tenacious creature by nature and he continued to send soft thoughts of himself to her. Pity classes ended so shortly. He would’ve thoroughly enjoyed bewildering her to a breaking point. His vigilance of thought implanting were surely beginning to wear on the witches’ mentality. Already she was starting to come to a conclusion (though he helped her thinking along) that the shadow was a harmless wanderer. Why it picked her he did not implant into her mind, but he was persistent in under-handing his abilities to Kanoe. Accepting his company would delude her from pinpointing anything of suspicion. But her conclusion was a long process, of which he had plenty of time to deal with to keep her thinking over it. Some classes he would let her have relief while others he surrounded her thoughts in her extra shadow. This day he put full effort into ensnaring her, hopefully with minimal effort if he could.

With her last class finished for the day, he mindfully allowed her relief between her trek to her dorm from her class until she opened her room door. Finding his there on the same wall she had met him shouldn’t have been surprising for the dark witch. And further yet he ‘appeared’ to be sleeping, creating the scene of him almost falling into the background. A lamp, a bed, a table full of studies and a shadow on her wall was how he wanted her to see him. A simple addition, though a talking one, to he room.

His deception went further as his imaginary sleep allowed him to prod her mind once more, suggesting she simply accept the fact he was here and there was nothing she could do about it. She had thought of this deliberation before so the notion would easily be accepted as her own thought process.

But ignoring him while he was here would not do either. “Good-afternoon,” he spoke calmly, raising his head to her as if to ‘greet’ her from her long hours of being in class.

The whole dealing with this new threat was wearing her down little by little. Though her mind was known to drift during the boring lectures of class, it was usually reviewing various thoughts and theories about magic. Instead, her mind ran in circles asking the same questions over and over as she tried to figure out how to be rid of this creature. Most monsters raped and left her, some may keep her for longer but usually to rape her further. But this lizard just kept talking and butting into her life. In many ways, this was worse as she had no idea what to expect anymore.

She felt even more tired as she finally left her first class. The thoughts were less persistent but would still nag at the back of her head during her next class. The witch was given little to no rest before the thoughts seemed to surface more and more in the class after that. By the end of her day, Kanoe knew she had to do something or this was going to drive her absolutely bonkers.

If the lizard was still stalking her during her transitions from class to class, she did not see nor notice him. The walk back to the dorm was much the same. Unfortunately, the creature was back on her wall sleeping when she finally returned. Kanoe could only sigh but she knew it was hopeless. Before she could decide on what to do, his voice greeted her once more. She shook her head. "Fine!" she grits her teeth, "If you want to talk, then talk. What is it you want from me? How can I be rid of you?" The witch was not going to spend the rest of her semesters with this shadow stalking her to and from her classes and inside her room. She set her things down and nearly slumped into a chair, the day's events already wearing on her.

The lizard was given his chance to speak at last. “Voices please,” he utters, reminding the woman of her yelling. “I have told you once more. I simply wish to speak.”

Perhaps thoughts of her blowing this way out proportion would suffice. She was already exhausted mentally, now it was time for a more forceful thought suggestion. Thoughts of her calming down and remaining composed were the most forceful suggestions he made. And more so, he wanted her to follow them. At the very least she could simply recuperate from her day’s trials. He needed her to stay focused for his words.

“I am a wandering shadow, moving from place to place, seeking communication from time to time to keep up with the present day’s technology and information. It’s what I’m normal to I decided to seek a more personal communiqué.”

He was curious of human technology. It showed him where most human intelligence could be actually seen. Of course only parts were true.

“It has been a long time since I spoke with a human so freely instead of seeking what I can on my own time. If you would be so kind, perhaps we can exchange news of different things. If you can find I may possibly be able to return the favor, you need only ask.”

Being as friendly as he could to an exhausted witch, the shadowy creature remained in place rather casually. “That is unless of course you’re perhaps too tired to make any conversation with me, Kanoe. I could always wait until tomorrow.”