Rogue
Legacy Name: Picaresque

Blaze sat in the corner, trying to push the very fine silk thread through the extremely small needle eye. She sighed with irration at the noise permeating her workspace. How did Maleria expect for her to finish the gown, when she kept screaming and cursing from the adjoining room? Blaze was an exceptionally skilled seamstress as long as she was left alone and uninterrupted by others. Her concentration waned as something hit the closed door with enough force to shake the wall that the doorframe was set into. Losing the last bit of focus she had, Blaze's form shimmered from humanoid, back to her natural Neela shape. Immediately, the delicate clothing and silken thread burst into flames. Blaze was no ordinary Neela, she was of the reborn variety, a natural fiery inferno. The flames that licked happily along her body threatened to burn more fabric along a nearby workbench. This time, the cursing came from Blaze herself, as she tried to dampen the rage at having just destroyed the piece she had spent over two weeks creating.

"Blast it!" she cried out. Looking down at the scattered ashes gathering along the stone floor, she turned as she heard the locked metal door unlock with a soft snick. Afraid that her mistress Maleria had heard her, she tried desperately to rein in the flames that had burst from her earlier anger. Instead, she was surprised to see an equine creature cautiously poke his head into the room.

"Hello there, Matchstick!" said the Hikei as he cleared the doorway. The swirling darkmatter magics gathered around the Hikei, both defining his shape and attempting to free themselves and yet get pulled back towards him, as if drawn back by an invisible force. She had never been sure if the individual darkmatter globes were alive. Each orb seemed to have a face, but yet they didn't seem to do much other than float around the shadowed creature she knew as Rogue. He was an extremely skilled rogue. She suspected that Maleria had created him with the sole purpose of spying for her. But he was too independent, and as evidenced by the earlier impact upon the door, he had a knack for upsetting their mistress.

"Let's ditch this place. Her royal pain has gotten on my last nerve. I'm breaking you out of your cell." He said with a twinkle to his eyes.

"But, what about all of my dresses?" Blaze looked around the room, trying to determine how best to pack her garments.

"You made them before, you'll make them again. Let's go, before she notices I'm not unconscious from being thrown across the hall."

Blaze started towards the doorway, but Rogue stopped her. "Oh we're not going out that way. Too many guards." He walked over to the window instead. "Ok I need you to shift back to your human form, so you don't burn me to a crisp." Eyeing her with impatience, she still didn't know how he was going to get them both out of a window on the sixth floor of the castle. Calming herself, she focused and used the magical ability that Maleria had gifted her. "Now get on my back, and hold onto my mane as tight as you can," he said.

Obligingly, Blaze did as requested and was suddenly propelled through the window. Before she could release a scream that was threatening to escape her lips, they suddenly halted their downward fall.

Rogue's darkmatter orbs had somehow formed towering stilts, adhering to his hooved and clawed feet. They were walking away from the castle, each step slowly lowering them with ease to the ground. The darkmatter resumed floating around Rogue, seemingly agitated.

"How did you, how did they..." Blaze started to ask him. Knowingly the stealthy hikei interjected, "They aren't supposed to do that, but somehow the little guys always help me out. They help with unlocking doors, and often I use them to reach things that are hidden from view," he said. "The stilt thing is new, but I figured they would come up with some way to keep us from going splat."

"So you just assumed they would help?" Blaze asked astonished.

With a smirk he responded, "Yeah, matter over mind."