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Post by Ritzz on Jul 1, 2015 0:14:20 GMT
Hiirousagi. Scarlet Rabbit I was sent rolling down the hill, choking on the loss of air I had tried to replenish from suffering such a hefty blow to my abdomen. Saliva mixed with blood came coughing up out of my mouth as I challenged this foe, grimacing at the bad turn of events, and the lack of assistance that my fellow is giving me.
The Lunar year would be 1335, a Penumbral year, one that occurs every 2 decades. Like every penumbral year before it, this is when the winter is at its coldest, and thus most of my people are hibernating peacefully until warmth returned to our lands. As a guardian, I had no luxury, instead I sacrificed my right to rest to defend my people from the harsh animals of the Great Lands. By this year, it was still relatively recent that I would have become a sinner, that my hair was dyed this scarlet color of crime, and that I was banished from my home. A "child" soldier in training to becoming yet another cookie cutter perfect guardian, or if I excelled, a guardian that had chocolate chips.
I had assumed the post to the southern gate of "Chinganu Ishi", a quaint little village near the base of the Ti'ren mountaintops, just before the border that would reach out to the Great Lands. There I stood with my Superior Officer, Kusanagi. Superior Kusanagi was the actual watch stander for that post, and I was little more than a shadow that stood beside him to gain experience and knowledge from what he does and what he teaches me. A mentor and I was the intern. He always stood tall with a freshly shaved face and trimmed black hair, which had matched with his indigo blue and black kataginu attire. I had worn an all white kariginu, a favorite color of mine which ironically complimented the red hair I had once believed to be disgusting. Superior Kusanagi knew I was a sinner, but cared not for it, for the past deserves to be left there if it does not interfere with the mission.
"Defend the now, so that people will always wake to a new tomorrow." is what they told me when I first enlisted. Their motto, or possibly a mantra.
He told me that statement often for the last few weeks I had been there with him. I talked with him more often than not to learn new things; How to read, how to write, how to move this way and that, "what should I do when this happens?" He would simply sigh and question why when I should know so much already, I would reply with my own mantra; "So I may not disgrace myself a second time."
At the start of the watch, Dayshine had only began to brighten up the area, revealing the rolling green hills and winter flora that the village laid near the base of. Hours passed and the area went from frigid to decently cold as the sun bathed us in the fair skies. Not a word or peep to come from the sleeping village other than the occasional critter that would scamper about. Soon enough, Superior Kusanagi would hop up from his sitting position, grimacing at the sight ahead. I had looked forward as well, the air had gotten heavy, my throat went dry and hairs stood on end from this dreadful gloom. Danger was coming, and it had a disturbing sight for me to behold. I looked to Superior Kusanagi who would stare forth unblinking and unwavering, a bit more encouraged to see not only a dependable guardian beside me, but one of the same type as well.
To Guardians, there are several types of people that are in the ranks that own powers relating to the body: Heat, Sound, Might, Speed, Psychic, and Electricity. Heat would refer to how high the temperature the person can make their body, to points where they can easily burn others with a touch and melt metals within their proximity. Sound refers to hearing and speaking, more notably to how a person can speak with such loudness to shatter glass but relay messages throughout a bustling battlefield. Might and Speed are the backbone of our corps, and are rather obvious. Psychics and Electric users are both referred to as "espers" as their powers relate to brainwaves and electricity built up by the brain.
"Handle this on your own, do not disappoint me."
It was then that I was told I had changed from the stone cold gaze I had always had in such a long time ever since I joined the Guardians in their service. A face of surprise and confusion I gave to him, but he only stared forth at the beast that would come down the hill in a wobbled gait. A moose's head atop a man's bony chest and fat stomach, arms and legs long, lanky, and covered in fur, the skin was pale, red, the hands were clawed, and the feet were hooved. I had heard of these creatures before, a human would become one should they commit cannibalism, acting like a beast would turn one into a beast it seems, and this man had become one in finality.
A Wendigo.
I stepped forward, but I didn't know why. Was it courage that I hadn't knew I had? Was it anger and for defiance towards Kusanagi's play to make me show cowardice? Or was it a deep feeling of self-loathe that I would be walking to my own demise? I hadn't thought over it for much longer as the gap closed to 100 feet. My heart pounded, and my breath raced as I got a better look at the creature. The Chest would sink and heave before rising with each exhalation, and by then it had noticed me. It focused on me. It hungered for me. It was coming for me. My senses were begging me to pull back, but I couldn't. I couldn't turn around and beg Kusanagi to take it on himself, my body wouldn't listen to my sense and closed the gap further.
50 feet. 20 feet. 10 feet. 8 feet... 8 feet was he point that I stopped and began. I took a quick step forward, and with the swinging movements of my hips combined with the momentum of my step, I slammed my palm into the beast's stomach, staggering it back with the preemptive strike. Know better, I had not dared to let it keep balance, so I followed up with a sweeping kick to its legs to trip it forward onto the ground, body nearly outstretched. I was small, but from being raised in the country of my home sector, I had knew the best way to take down any creature would be to destroy the head. I raised my leg, and with a fury I had brought down my fist, crackling with electrical energy, onto its forehead.
It hadn't even dented the skull.
The Wendigo would screech angrily at my misdeed, I was confused. I put all of my strength into that strike. Was the head too hard? Maybe the stomach would be a better option? Would snapping the neck work? I had several foolish thoughts in my head as I worried about how to deal with the Wendigo, but I hadn't realized I broke the mantra. Defend the now. The wendigo raised its arm, despite its lanky appearance it was strong and fast, slamming the back of its hand into my stomach...
I rolled several feet away before coming to a halt, back where this story begins. I would come back up to my feet and realize the futility of my actions. I am not strong enough physically to kill this creature, it hadn't even sustained wounds to its bare stomach. It quickly came for me with a fury and swiped its claw in my direction, it was faster than I thought, the training I was given blessed me with the ability to dodge several fatal hits, but its claws would graze me and that alone would send me nearly falling to the ground. I was cornered, but Kusanagi did not come to my aid.
It came down to bite out my neck, but bless our Queen for giving us naturally strong legs, which were the only things that held him back. I was running out of options, it didn't fall from my preemptive strike, my kick couldn't break its legs. My electric fist could not break through its bones...but I did notice that on the surface that I struck, a burn mark was there, charred fur in the midst of brown. It had given me the idea that would still influence me to this day.
Use the power fate gave to me.
I couldn't formulate a plan in this position however, but I used my wits to realize that the ground still had a small amount of dew on it. I had counted my lucky stars and prayed that this would work, else he would have disemboweled me there. I adjusted my feet from the center of his chest to near his shoulders, and from there, I propelled myself with a forceful kick to push me away from him. The ground wasn't as wet as I had hoped and I didn't get very far, and instead rolled away instead of slide, but this gave me enough time and confusion to get back to my feet. The Wendigo got back up and came after me once more. I thought back to my earlier attack and decided a course of action and moved forward to him for a head on collision, counting down in my head.
"3...2...1...now!" I rolled forth to get under his claw swipes and ensured I did it early enough so I would be under him when my feet pointed up towards him. At that moment, I anchored my hands to the ground and pushed myself up, shooting my legs out with all of my might into the beast's stomach, opposed to earlier, being caught off guard AND with such force sent the creature into a saliva spitting daze while it held its stomach. I took this opportunity to get behind it and hop onto its back, wrapping my legs around its neck to keep me from falling off and digging my nails only so far into its thickheaded fur. I concentrated my electrical storage into my hands and relentlessly unleashed a storm of energy into the beast's head, causing it to yell and squirm violently under my mercy, red sparks dancing around its head beautifully. I couldn't stop watching these sparks, sparks a color so different from the norm that other guardians used, the curse placed upon me even tainted my electricity it had seemed...but why was it so pretty?
I charged electricity into the beast for several seconds watching the light shot until...pop. The creatures head had imploded from all of the energy, coating the ground and me in its red blood, I finally snapped out of my daze with that frightening experience. Kusanagi looked towards me expectantly.
"...I will report this to the guardians at the North gate and have a crew come to dispose of the corpse proper. I hope I had not disappointed." Kusanagi was silent for a moment before he gave me a few claps.
That day, I didn't hate the color red so much.
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Post by Ritzz on Nov 3, 2015 3:47:13 GMT
Lillith Lily Hansworth "Mother! I found more dandies!" The young child ran up to her mother, hands filthy and filled with at least 7 dandilions, by far the most amazing catch made all day. Her mother however was much less than impressed at her daughter's filthiness especially with one of her better dresses donned and she's playing in the dirt with it. The mother would sigh and digress.
"My, what a wonderful batch, my little flower girl truly is the best of flower pickers. You will make such a wonderful wife...but for now you will stay as my adorable daughter!" The mother would pick up her daughter and raise her to the skies, both of them laughing happily.
"Where's Father?" "Currently out observing the games, for a Lord he simply cannot stop enjoying the hunt of deer...that man." The mother sighs, placing her daughter down.
The family trio lives in a sizable manor, a date approximately 600 years ago on the island country that would now be called (Ireland). A family that held small political influence, they had gained respect and a modest amount of wealth. Not enough to own such a large castle, but enough to live a luxurious life if they handle their economics well. The manor sat a small distance from the small village on the other side of a large lake surrounded by thin forestry.
"Mother, the moon!" "What about it, young one?" "I saw it yesterday, it was alllmost full. I would like to see it shine on the lake again like when Father showed me."
The mother would frown slightly. "Lily...I can't go out to that lake, you know that I've been feeling a bit under the weather recently. I only get so much energy because you share so much with me! It's dangerous for you to leave the manor at night as well. If your father returns too late you may have to wait until the next full moon..."
Lily would pout as she is put down. "Why not stay near the manor while you play? You can watch for your father with the guards and ask him as soon as he gets back." The mother smiles as Lily beams and happily runs outside.
And waited for her father she did, she played and rested, ate, and played again for hours until her father came back home. By then, it was already past dusk and the stars began to flood the sky. Lily had asked him the daring question, but to her heart shattering disappointment, he denied as he was too exhausted and gave her promises of the next full moon. They all dined and went to their rooms to sleep, or at least 2 out of those 3.
Lily was wide awake, anxious and agitated, she was GOING to see that full moon no matter what her parents said. She's a big girl and doesn't need people to worry about her. She put on her dress and shoes and snuck out of her room, she's seen the guards walk about their posts so many times already so she knows when and where to go to escape the manor without alerting the guard, and from the manor she made her escapade to the lake. It wasn't a very far distance, but it definitely required the use of a lantern to see the ground through the pitch darkness of night. She was so focused on getting to the lake that she hadn't paid attention to the branches she walked by, which ripped and tore most of her dress, and the mud getting all over her shoes.
"Woooow!" She says with glee and astonishment, finally laying eyes on the thing she made this journey for, the glistening moonlight shining on the lake's rippling surface, giving almost a mystical feel to it. She'd happily walk along the shore of the lake for different angles, but would see something in the distance, no matter how hard she tip-toed and squint her eyes from the distance to get a better look the darkness didn't make it any easier to see, so she decided to simply walk up to it. What she found was not a log as she thought, but a person. A waterlogged corpse?
She stared at it, gasping and moving slightly closer it was actually still moving. It was alive! She wasted no time placing her lantern down and trying to drag the body out of the water to land so it wouldn't be dragged back out to the lake. Albeit as she dragged it past her lantern she noticed something odd...the person was not only female looking, but they had a tail! A leather tail that had a spade tip. She blinked and decided to flip the body over to check if they were breathing, but she'd quickly scoot back as she sees that the woman with pale gray skin not only had a tail, but horns as well. Was she a monster or something?
She'd squeal as the monster starts making noises, black liquid coming out of the thing's mouth before they'd come to. They eyes opening slowly. Black scelara and red pupils is the best she could tell that the demon had, she was very sure that what she had pulled out was a demon anyways. The blackened eyes would dart over to Lily and they'd both stay in silence before a voice comes out.
"You...d...did you save me" "A-ah, uhm...yes...I thought you were a human so I tried to help...please don't eat me!" The demon's eyes would widen and she'd give a pained chuckle. "No, human...don't fret. I don't eat humans of any age , gender, or race. I did not even plan to come here on my own violition...but i was forced out."
"Forced out?" Lily tilted her head, still very cautious of the demon but a bit too trusting anyways.
"Attacked by another....one who I had once thought was a friend. She turned rogue and violent...she waited for me to be alone and finally struck. Injured me pretty bad but I managed to escape...urgh." The demon would grip her stomach injury, a small gaping hole where the kidney would be. She doesn't seem to be getting any healthier at this rate.
"I...don't have much longer like this...can you help me?" Lily would point at herself, and the demon would nod. "You helped me already, so I can trust you...nnh..." "But I...I'm not a doctor...." She would turn to the forest, frowning at the sudden darkness, her fright has made her kick over her lantern and knock the flame out, despite the thin foliage, the darkness of night is still strong and hard to see. Not to mention, it terrifies her to even think about going into it alone...
"...Are you scared? I can tell....you're scared of that darkness right? That sometimes will get you?" Lily would face the demon with surprise. "How did you..?"
"How about this...I help you, and you help me? I can help you get home to your family if you promise to provide me some help." The demon would smile sweetly despite it clearly being painful to her, Lily would jitter in place, scared of the demon and scared of the dark...but the demon really looks like they need help and she looks like she really appreciated Lily's help already, so maybe it would be fine to jst help this once...
"Ok, I'll help you if you promise to bring me home to mother and father! B-but I don't know what to do...you're bleeding and coughing and-"
"Just take my hand and help me to my feet, we can walk.." The demon would hold out her hand to Lily, struggling to hold it up. Hesitant, Lily would approach the demon and take her hand to help her up, but the demon seems much heavier than she looks and only seems to be getting heavier...and heavier? Or is she getting weaker?
The next thing Lily knows, she's looking up to the sky with her arms pinned down and the demon looming over her with a smile.
"Eh? Ah...grrr...." Lily would struggle and fight, but to no avail. Powerless.
"I'm so glad you decided to help me....I was scared that I would have to make my own disguise, but to my luck a human so kind as you found me first. You can help me by being my disguise...that damned Gaap won't find me this way..." Lily wouldn't understand what she's talking about and would call for help, only for her mouth to be filled with a black pus that oozes out of the demon's mouth, causing her to gag and choke to effectively silence her, by the time she regains her breath she finds that she can't make a sound. The demon's wide and toothy smile would grow at this.
"It's time then...please, excuse my intrusion. I understand that you're nobiliy after all. The demon would forcibly hold open Lily's mouth to Lily's surprise and fright. From there, the beginning of the nightmare begins as the demon would force her head into Lily's mouth, not causing any pain or distortion or even a loss of breath, it just seems that the demon bends and squishes to perfectly accomodate her invasion of the body, followed by the neck and arms, chests and legs. Lily would clasp at her throat once her arms are freed but to no avail as the last bits of the demon enters her body, causing something akin to a seisure fit. Suddenly, she'd stop moving.
Silence.
Guards in front of the manor would perk up to the sound of crying, familiar crying, they'd quickly move to the source to find Lily moving through the forest with tears streaking down her face as she bawls. Apparently she snuck out and got lost is what she tells the guards, and what the guards tell her parents as they are woken up from their slumber. She is properly bathedand taken into her parent's quarters to sleep for the rest of the night. Albeit only her eyes were the ones that stayed open for the rest of the night in that room.
A string of strange occurences would begin to occur in the household. Lily's attitude went from playful to more timid and finally she had stopped her usual dandilion collection entirely. At dinner she was oddly silent. Stairs would find themselves oddly stacked in the dining area, fresh torches and lanterns would suddenly go out at night. Guards would hear Lily's playful giggle down the next turn but reaching it would find nother but empty space. One tme, her mother was shocked to find Lily standing over her at the side of the bed, having been staring down at her at the entire time with a happy "Good Evening, Mother."
The household finally decided to call experts on her child's behavior but even they were stumped, calling it a paranormal activity and recommended the enlistment of an exorcist. This was the unfortunate breaking point. The exorcist had attempted to perform a "spiritual cleansing" on the home, only to determine the source of it came from the daughter of the household itself. Distraught, the parents only half believed him and half believed it was a mistake, they insisted he stayed the night to try again in the morning when he was less tired. So they slept, until the Exorcist woke to find himself floating in the air. That's what he thought at least, but he felt the tight clinging of a hand on his ankles and looked up to the one holding his leg. A small girl with Lily's appearance, white hair, red eyes, and small protruding horns from her chalk white skin. Though they spoke like Lily, it was clear this wasn't her. Only his yell could be heard by the guards before they came to the guest's quarters to find a strange meat lying in front of the door, blood oddly coming through the keyhole of the door itself.
Weeks later as higher nobility came to visit the manor's owners for discussions on local economics and agriculture, they were greeted to a lack of security at the door. Confused, he and his merry men had entered the manor. They left much more displeased than they had hoped and te manor was quickly condemened for years to come. The nobility spoke of the reasonbs why the manor was closed; Corpses of guards were found disconnected from the original and combined with other body parts. The front half of a guard's head was missing, the bloodied sword of a knight's blade disconnected from the statue itself. 4 guards seemed to have been slammed together at high speeds as their bones are mostly dust and stuck to each other. An unfortunate guard was unable to be recognized due to how his body was too distorted from being pancaked against a wall, the suspect of the crushing is a door similarly bloody to the wall.
Most gruesomely it seems, that the owners of the manor were found in their bedroom, bodies dried up and boneless as per the large brown stain on the floor with the respective skeletons laying in it. The emptied bodies were twisted and contorted to where the legs of both parents were fitted into the other's mouth so they connected flawlessly, and from their they were arranged in a crescent like the moon, there were a few more corpses of people who were supposedly visitors to the manor that are laying about similarly, but it appears the perpetrator had gotten frustrated and left them be before they could finish their "Moon."
Since then, the manor has since been deemed haunted even after its reopening, although no further incidents had been cited in that household. There are stories of people seeing a young girl occasionally walk the outskirts of the lake and the halls of the manor, supposedly the missing daughter of the nobles whose remains were never found until this day.
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Post by Ritzz on Nov 13, 2015 2:15:03 GMT
Eur-dou Xy [OUTDATED] I am Dystonian, part of a race wihtin what Earth deems the "Kupier Belt." I was not born of a Mother and Father like many in this galaxy are, nor did I grow up from infancy. I was created in a tube at this age, programmed prior to my finish to think as I do now so I would be a recreation...but I was a failure.
Dystonian culture has our names reflect the way humanity's names once were based off their occupation and a personal name. John Knight, Jane Farmer, Henry Knight. Being born in a lab I had no family to give me my occupational name, but I already had an occupation by the time I was born; a Killer - "Xy." My personal name was deemed at the same moment of my birth as well, but it was moreso off my genetic state and physical attributes. I was meant to be replicated off a legendary hero of Dystonia; Omisida. "Xy-ren Omisida" literally translates to "Victorious Warrior." The reason why he was meant to be replicated was to further business for our tribe. Dystonia is not our mother planet as we had come from another home I wish not to remember, but I know that we are a tribe that had left the homeworld. As keen combatants we took our work as mercenaries and hitmen, Omisida clearly stood out amongst our tribe of killers and even our rivals as well, so thus was the push into power we needed to become recognized as a civilization and more importantly as a planet superpower known moreso for our contract based murder and less of our technicians.
Having issues with my genes and physical attributes was only the beginning; I had no relative appearance to Omisida at all. His hair was brown whilst mine was black, his skin was fair while mine more pale, his eyes blue and mine red, his wings were a pure red and had a shape similar to scythes while mine were amalgamatic and purple. Wings in our community aren't meant for flight, and if anything I am actually the oinly dystonian capable of flight. Wings are symbols of power in both the literal sense and status, the color defines the strength while the shape definies its control. Primary colors are the strongest, followed by secondary and tetriary.
I was also born with a deformity of sorts; a snake growth that coils around my arm. It wraps around and bites its own tail, which on Earth I believe is called "Uroboros." It wasn't a real snake nor did it have exact functions, I could remove it but it would return without me noticing unless I watched my arm specifically, it would simply pop back into existence. As an anamoly amongst the cloned failures I was granted the name "Eur-do Xy"; Strange Failure Killer. We failures were not going to be wastes of space simply clogging up the waste shuttles for scrapping and we were put through training nonetheless. Those who still couldn't pass examination were doomed to solar cremation, while success granted you work in the field as a mercenary, but not a hitman that was tasked with important jobs. I easily managed to succeed with others due to my power to manipulate blood, but mroe accurately my power is to manipulate "flow" which is something I had not known in the past.
Amongst the failures I still made no friends. Some feared me, others scorned me as a "fluke" due to my surprising control but my distorted wing color not matching up. The only one who did not despise me was one who was seen as the closest but further from Omisida. She shared the haircolor and skin tone, but one of her eyes was hazel opposed to both being blue. Also opposed to how dystonians have normally pointed canine, hers were more humanlike and rounded out. These genetic defects were determined by mismatching on the scientists' part.
The largest issue the scientists made was her attitude. She didn't lack one, but rather, she had too much character for them to control. She was outspoken, taunting, presssuring to even scare the scientists themselves. She refused to be called a failure like all the others so she gave herself a name; "Ruseka Sykolo"; Adamant Mind. She treated the clones appropiately for their behavoir, fairly and justly. She felt like the older sister to the clones, or maybe it was just me she had impacted the most...I realized how much she impacted me too late when scientists were fed up with her attitude and decided to cremate ehr as well. She didn't fret or fear it though, but I had definitely had the change that initially made me who I am today at this point as I felt my first emotion. Taking her hand and pleaded that she couldn't go, that she could fight back. She had told me that she was never a fighter and told me everything was going to be okay, with her gone she wouldn't affect the clones so badly and tricked me into looking at my fallen bracelet, or at least I had thought it was a trick at first. It had actually fallen down on its own for the first time. She took the chance of her distraction and escapes my grasp, and disappeared behind the laboratory doors.
That was the first 2 years of my life, the last 2 years was a steady rise to where I am now. I clawed my way through mercenary work and had worked with many different races such as the Jurians, Roz, Lunarians, Sul'wars and Narkeets. Over time, Ruseka's impact had only increased my self-awareness and I lost that sense of being a tool to my work, but I realized that I was bound to contract afetr contract and that I couldn't do anything about it with the thorns that threaten to open my necks, and the dystonians that threaten to hunt me down if I survive. I was stuck in a relentless cycle. I became cynical, and in Ruseka's absence I copied her by giving myself a name; "Kyouro Junsea." I became the "Abyss Patriarch" and revealed to the world that I too had gall and attitude, that I was just another clone...that I am me...
Eventually I was hired by Meyze, which came at a surprise by first to be summoned by Luna's trusted military leader. I was given a contract that may have impacted the galaxy in a way I never could have imagined: The death of Luna's Princess Kidara Rosa Azulua, the Dark Blue Rose. In addition, the slaying of the remnant of Mar's people, the technocythe Celari Yumo, traitor to Meyze and sympathizer to Kidara. I arrived on Earth only to see the Princess in allegiance with Magnum City's luxurious Sapphire Hotel. I plotted my way of attack, but to enter the city I needed to enter through a gate as opposed to giving off my location and intent, they had confused me with Ruseka which was probably what made me more careless in this mission. I wanted to see her, but I couldn't find her. I wanted to end this as fast as I could so I could see her so I infiltrated the Mayor's Hall and entered her office, I accessed secrets and had put into action the City's personal defense robot, which was meant to go on a rampage to kill the princess but had attacked me instead which was the combined efforts of Ruseka and an AI that infiltrated the city's networking. I nearly escaped before coming to fight the guild's leader; Moonlight, which put me at a pinch between the defense robot and the guild's leader. I was in no mood for combat any longer, but dissenting from my orders by drawing my weapon or submitting to a foe would end in the thorns that bind me to my contract killing me.
I lead Moonlgiht on and luckily managed to survive while letting her cut off the thorns that wrapped around my neck. I faked being unable to engage in combat any longer and gave up, taking the chance to join her instead under the premise that I was being controlled and wasn't aware of my actions. I feigned ignorance of emotions and basic decency so I could pass off as an ignorant fool to the guild members. Now that I was one of them, I had some form of protection from Meyze's mercenaries in addition to Dystonia's assassins should they come here, which they definitely will. Mainly though, this brought me ever closer to talking to Ruseka, which I had only managed for a brief moment...she remembered me and seemed happy.
Things took a turn for the worse when Dystonia finally caught wind of my dissent and in an effort to uphold their legacy of sure kills and utter mercilessness, they had sent the legend himself to take not only me down, but finish the contract I was given and to kill Ruseka which should have been done years ago. He caught me off guard with his assistant, the one armored lunarian people would soon befriend, and eventually I was drawn into a corner of a sure-kill. So I thought, at least. My bracelet had fallen off once again without my notice during the fight, and as if a grace from whatever god that watches over me, members of the guild I thought who hated me came to my rescue to fend off the lunarian, leaving me able to fight Omisida one on one fairly. While he was the original, I had proved that a copy can be nsuperior even if it doesn't come out the way you wanted. I took hold of his stomach and used my spacial distortion to twist the space around him into a miniature black hole, imploding him on the atomic scale. I don't know what happened after that since I passed out standing on the spot. I challenged fate again...
Recently, I've just returned to the shadows where I belong. Moonlight's grandfather told me to watch over the girl, but I no longer have inetrest in that. I'm no protector, I'm an assassin who has killed each and every contract I've been given, I have no humanity to give to these earthlings. I cannot return home after killing the planet's only hero and main source of income, I've no skills in anything other than the art of killing. I have no family, and after speaking to Ruseka at last I learned that my older sister is dying due to her genetic mismatching. Nobody even knows I've disappeared anyways, if not that I don't exist to them anymore anyways.
Maybe it's time that the Patriarch would just assume her rightful seat in the world of the Abyss...
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Post by Ritzz on Dec 5, 2015 8:29:36 GMT
Luna’s Lion “ Gencer Itweh” “A man is not recognized for what is said he has done, he is recognized for what he is seen to be doing! You shall not leave this training camp as boastful whelps who speak more than they can prove, you will leave here and climb a mountain. From that mountain, people will look up to you…that moment is when you know you have influence…you have power! Use that power for the best of our home and for our Monarchy!”
“Now STRUGGLE!”
My instructor’s wisdom echoed through the hall of our gymnasium, followed by our taught warcry as acknowledgement of his words. Despite his age he can still light a fire in a few souls. By then I was in one of Luna’s intergalactic training camps for martial artists, or a “dojo” to keep it relative. I was young and aspiring for a goal I always saw within my sight and as I trained myself I got just a few feet closer to breaking that finish line’s ribbon. The training class I’m using to get past that finish line is currently composed of 20 people, originally 60 but many couldn’t pass the physical and combat examinations or handle the stress so they unfortunately had to be dropped out as they couldn’t rank up through the school’s titles and eventually reached their deadline or quit short of it. The levels go from novice, to apprentice, to trained, to expert, and finally master. Each title has a prerequisite amount of years in the previous title to advance and by the Lunar God’s graces I had managed to reach apprentice by this point of time in my life. The training really was arduous and I even had trouble bearing with the stress, but it helped to have friends to back me up. Stuck through the 5 year prerequisite and ranked up to training, another 5 would let us reach expert and 10 from there to qualify for master.
The end of class was my favorite time of the day. Get out of class, get a few drinks, take the mass transit to the recreation district and chill on the raised hardlight platforms and just chill with my pals looking to the skies. After class is typically when Luna had revolved behind Gaia, and Gaia blocked the sun. So the artificial sky was changed to a live feed of Gaia from our view; A black marble with blue highlights, and a golden ring of light outlining it. Lights from Gaia’s populated cities dotting the continents…it was always-
“Always an outstanding sight, eh?” Broke the silence that day. It came from Reeco, one of my classmates and friends. Cute girl, gossiping loudmouth though.
“Ahhhhh but not as outstandin’ as your beautiful lips, oh how I’d like to-“ And it was halted there as Reeco splashed water on his face and his brother burst into laughing tears. The flirt was named Brind, and his brother Kurt. Knuckleheaded twins with the charm of stones, but they had excellent teamwork with other people and surprising decision making skills.
“The only outstanding thing about her is that she manages to stay in school without everybody getting mad at her for gossiping away everybody’s personal life. The mafia’s gonna hunt you down, you know?” I said, grinning up to Reeco from my laid out position, who seems less than happy at the remark.
“Geeeeez, Itweh, don’t encourage these boneheads to make fun of me…besides it isn’t like I tell any LIES…”
Kurt cut in. “Yeeeeeah right, like that rumor about that dude in our class…uhhh…Stacy was his name right? Naw it was Straci, yeah. Didn’t you say he could hit like a orbital strike? You said you saw him break hardlight.”
“Jus’ to put this out there, you said he could SHATTER LIGHT.” Brind chimed in, much to reeco’s distaste.
She just squirmed in place at all of the nonbeliving eyes on her. “I-I saw him do it! You guys know he’s always getting’ into fights with those kids from the other training schools, fightin’ those Sul’wars… I was walkin’ down Halley district when I saw him brawling with a few of them in front of a store, he accidentally punched the hardlight sign in front of it and the sign broke!”
“Ooooor he just broke the sign post and the hardlight has no power left to sustain itself…” I said, rollng my eyes.
“Nonbelievers, the buncha yall! I can’t stand you guys sometimes…I can’t wait until I’m a teacher so I aint gotta see your faces again.” She was pretty mad that time, but the twins were laughing to where they were losing their breath.
“A teacher, for what? Dystonian humor?” Brind stabbed.
“Better than a certain somebody who wanted to be a doctor so when mom got the sniffles he ground up random green and purples veggies, added lemon and honey, and put it in the microwave to make a ‘healing tonic’” Brind glared back at Kurt who was shrugging innocently.
“Asshole…whattabout you, Itweh? You’re just below us in class standing so you’ve got promise. You’re always training so I figured you would try out going for the military.”
“Ooooh… lil Itweh’s gonna be a military hero? He grew up so fast..” Reeco giggled.
But I just laughed them off. “Damn idiots! You guys are pretty dumb and must not respect me if you thinks I’m just gonna settle for ‘Hero’. My goal ain’t that small scale. Heroes are something like firemen or law keepers that land in the news paper for a few days, I respect them but I don’t plan to be forgotten in a week or two for saving a single life.”
I stood up and turned to them, point with my thumb to the Earth behind me. “I’m gonna be a legend. Somethin’ people’ll continue to write about even a hundred years after I’m dead. Like the instructor said… I’m gonna be a man people look up to, like this big blue Gaia behind me.”
I ended it with a grin to their silence, but then they all burst into laughter. I was pretty embarrassed for the rest of the day and the twins wouldn’t get off my back about it. Disregarding that, we all accepted each other’s goals in the end. We stuck together as we usually did and managed to reach expert at the same time. Reeco eventually separated from the class to pursue her dream of becoming an instructor herself, when I last talked with her she was enjoying her training under another instructor for motivational speech. Kurt and Brind both stood ahead of me in class and eventually left me behind as they became Masters in the field. We kept in contact for a few more years and they had positions in the Royal Guard. I however, dropped out due to incompletion. I was incapable of attaining master rank as I lacked the skill and couldn’t handle the stress. I eventually was dropped because I could not rank up by my deadline.
I was struck with depression as my dream world collapsed. I woke up and saw the reality…the ribbon I was approaching wasn’t a finish line, it was a block of wood from a hurdle, and I ran right into it. It took me some time to recover before I saddled up and moved deeper into the sub-urban district for a new life as a law keeper despite my hollow words from before and actually enjoyed it for several years. I was about 58 when I finally had the largest change in my career, and my life…
I had been on ‘patrol’ through the Kohoutek district before I heard two girls shriek and call for help. Despite being in a cruiser which normally has the windows rolled up, I was capable of hearing them by lounging back in my seat bored out of my mind, so I could hear them since the engine wasn’t activated. Sitting up I looked to the source and caught sight of a pair of sisters. Blue haired and a redhead, both chasing after a familiar looking thug. He’s carrying something that gleamed in the light so I assumed it was an expensive necklace and I drove up to the sidewalk, demanding he stopped. Of course, the best idea for him was to duck in between the buildings to escape me. As I was driving a streetcruiser, I could have easily flown over the buildings, but it is considered illegal due to concerns about having vehicles crashing into the bedrooms that are typically located on the upper floors and from crashing it could cause a cascading issue of having the upper levels collapse onto the lower ones. This is just excluding the possibility of explosion. I had to take the long route around, luckily the girls had chased after him despite him outrunning them, so I managed to follow after them and cut off the thug as he tried to pinned himself in a cul-de-sac. I got the cruiser in front of him as he tried to move for a house which I believe he would’ve tried to break into and jumped out of the cruiser, pointing my hardlight pistol at him and demanding he halted.
But then it hit me, I knew who this man was after all. This thug was someone I remembered; Straci. He got in fights a lot, yeah…had promise, but failed due to negligence of his duties, he was on the same level as Kurt and Brind last I remember. His muscles were bulging and eyes were red, pretty clear he was hopped up on some drugs. It’s a miracle he didn’t hurt the girls when he robbed them from the way he looked.
He glared at me, looking for revenues of escape up until the girls finally caught up, followed by an old man begging for them to come back to safety. A crowd began to build too, their interest getting the best of them as they gathered around, not the thickest crowd, but people were there, watching from doorsteps and a distance. Even doped up he kept some intelligence and stalled for time.
“G-g-gencer….buddy…let me b-b-by…” He said, twitching when he stuttered. I only repeated my demands.
“Y-y-yeah I heard….you s-should r-r-reconsider your actions. I know you dropped out at expert…t-they kicked me out before I c-could become a master! I was so close, b-but because I always got into fights and that I showed n-n-no respect….”
“….you h-heard about them right? M-m-my punches? The stories USED t-to be lies, but with this juice I got from a dealer….I can shatter hardlight with ease! Can you comprehend that? Shattering light?! B-b-but I ran out of money… I need more juice… this necklace can fetch a fair price for me.” He looked around at the small crowd, dangling the necklace playfully. The blue-haired girl yelled at him to give her necklace back, It was then that I noticed that the necklace had a strange blue crescent moon pendant attached to it…but I didn’t realize he got what he wanted with his time stalling.
He charged at me. “I’ll be a man that everybody looks up to, whether they want to or not!” He yelled, or at least that’s what I think he said, He was pretty damn fast too, so that nonsense about being a master probably wasn’t incorrect. I couldn’t shoot him, either he’d dodged in the off chance or the hardlight bullet would burn through him and go out the other side, either way, I would be putting the two idiot girls behind him in trouble. It was too late to try and dodge because he’s just get me while I was moving.
So instead, I stood firm and dug my heels into the concreate, tensed up my muscles and gritted my teeth. I took the infamous strength of Straci’s punch directly to the left side of my chest, the concrete reinforced with steel mesh underneath my feet cracked as I resisted the pushing force and my uniform got a new hole in the site of the impact. Witnesses said it sounded like a deep booming nosie when he hit me, and by the god’s graces I survived and could hardly breathe after I took the punch. If it was anybody else they would’ve gotten a new hole where their torso used to be.
I coughed up some blood, but grinned. “So that was it? This honey-bee level punch was the legendary hardlight shatterer, beefed up by some orange juice?”
“It was sooooo weak I didn’t even have to use my skills to dodge it!” I left him awestruck either from my words, surviving, or both. Completely in nonbelief and distraught at this realization that the punch nobody could survive was tanked by someone of lower level than him and tried to consider all the reasons for my survival, but it was then he didn’t notice the counter attack had already begun. I grit my teeth as I dragged up my fist that wasn’t holding the pistol and clocked him with enough force from the uppercut to have him flip several times in the air. In this state of vulnerability I waited for him to descend back down and give him a heavy boot to his back, causing his to drag his face along the ground as he slid past the parting crowd as he went by.
I stood over him as he looked up to me with a scraped and scratched face. “Haha, looks like I’m the man now, since I made you look up to me instead!” He groaned as I taunted him before passing out, afterwards I snatched the pendant from his hands and brought it to the girl, who I assumed was the shorter blue haired one. She looked pretty regal now that I noticed it, white frilly dress and parasol…her sister almost looked the same but I couldn’t even see her eyes because her hair was so moppy, but I could tell she didn’t like my intervention. She looked up at me and happily took the necklace back, putting it back around her neck.
“Hey, you are pretty strong, almost as strong as me….I like you, I want you to work for me!”
“M…my lady… you can’t just recruit random civilians against their will off the streets.” The old man chimed.
“Uuuuu…. Hey mister, work for me pleeease? I’m the princess so you might not have known who I am, so I can make it worth your whillle~” She grinned, twirling her parasol in hand.
I just smiled and nodded. “Haha, sure lil girl, I’ll –“
Wait…did she say Princess? And that pendant looked like one of the royal symbols…?
I dropped to a knee so hard I nearly injured myself even more. “Of course I’ll work for you, P-princess!”
She was so filled with glee and clapped, the redhead folding her arms and scoffing. The old man walked up to me and said that I needn’t be so tense and I immediately ignored that advice and stood up straight, holding up a clammy and shaking hand.
“M-my name is Gencer Itweh, it is a pleasure to meet you, sir!”
He just chuckled. “My name is Meyze Yortul…. Glad to meet you.”
%#$$%^$^&$%^&%^&^^&*^*()**(&*&%^#%$@#$%^&*(%^#*)^&$%^%$#$^* Ugh, noise…
I worked in the royal palace alongside my two friends, Kurt and Brind. We managed to catch up to my good luck of meeting Kidara. Escelare still doesn’t seem to like me despite my best efforts and Kurt won’t get off my back that I’m just not her “type.” I wasn’t trying to be her type dammit. But I digress…it was peaceful days, every so often we would go out on Kidara’s behalf to explore the city, meet the people, fight off a kidnapper. Days that are all just memories now… I remember one day Kidara said that she wanted to visit Gaia and-
@#$%^&^%^%^%^%$%^&*(^*(&&*^&%^%&%^$^%$^%$^%%&*()(&%*$%*&() …Noise….
Today is a special day, according to Kurt and Brind, I’ve been chosen on their behalf to attend a special operation with renown scientist Clarcsen Fenov. Recognized for his accomplishments in the medical field. They told me that the purpose of the op was secret and that it would be revealed once I got there. Even to them it’s all more or less a mystery, but the job pays a hefty hazard payment and it takes us offworld so it’s a huge bonus to our checks so how could I say no? With these two boneheads I’m sure it wouldn’t be so terrible… the day arrived and I boarded a special cruiser, a Stalker class, stealth focused but modified to encompass a larger capacity of people and compartments. We weren’t given guns as this was a supposedly sensitive mission that guns could compromise, so we were entrusted hardlight batons instead. It was likely to keep our dystonian company who were coming along on the ride comfortable but still have a show of force. They all appeared to be scientists as well, I could only imagine the strange medications that Lunarians and Dystonians could make together. After a quick brief of the security team’s job, we took off.
By then I knew we were going to Gaia and that we would be taking up some abductees. I assumed that we would be abducting wild cattle as we usually do as we don’t have farm animals of our own in Luna. It was always a funny sight to see the confused animals watch their friends get sucked up into the air and then just continue as if nothing happened. I noticed we were moving over a village though, weren’t we risking it by frolicking around where humans live? I decided to move back to the bridge and question them about this breach to Operational security, but they told me it was per Fenov’s orders. Annoyed, I went down to the laboratory compartment fitted to the Stalker cruiser to speak to Clarcsen himself…
Humans in pods…a dozen of them. Some children, some adults, different races it seemed. I stared on at the scene, Kurt and Brind standing off to the side joking as they always did, while dystonians and Lunarians all scampered around their latest creations, 3 more children who they genetically modified as far as I know, Clarcsen standing to the back of the group seeming pleased. I quickly stepped up to Clarcsen and spoke silently amongst the crowd, but Kurt and Brind took notice of my action.
“Doctor…what is this? You’re risking revealing ourselves to the humans by having us over a village even if we are in stealth mode, but you’re also ABDUCTING humans too? What are you planning to do with them, you madman, this is against the law and our moral code!”
Clarcsen chuckled. “The law? You should know that the law is who allowed me to do this. Meyze has given me complete authority to perform what I find necessary to further my research in the ‘Oracle’ project.”
“Oracle..?”
“Yes, Oracle, like a seer…we are going to make a psychic!”
“That’s insane, you can’t just abduct humans and force them to become what they don’t want to, how do you know that this will even work?!”
“I knew it would work because I have spent over 30 years abducting humans, experimenting on them to see how far I can take them before they die to where the balance between mind and body is optimal…and I’ve found it, my first psychic!” he pointed to the blonde haired girl.
“But with recent discoveries, I care less about her, we’ve had offshoots in the past, but nothing like this… the boy…capable of subsonic speed and possibly even greater. The brown haired girl with two tails is the greatest one yet. We have determined that she can defy the very laws that bound us to this physical world, an anomaly in the world of physics and sense! She is the real jewel that we can harvest from, and with that power we can grant it to all of our citizens and truly break our limits, and ascend to a level of godhood!” He chuckled.
I couldn’t believe what I just heard, running my hands through my hair… Clarcsen was a mad scientist sure but…Meyze? Luna’s very own military commander was the head of this project? There is no way the King would allow something like this and neither would Kidara, the sister has no power in the Monarchy due to her adoption… he’s been pulling strings behind our backs, who knows what he is thinking of doing… I paced back and forth for a moment before sighing heavily. The next moment was all critical thinking. I knew that the laboratory had only recently been connected to the cruiser so to accommodate a lack of sizable entryways the laboratory was fitted with a cargo doorway for them to install all their equipment. I left the laboratory and reentered the bridge, locking the door behind me.
I left nobody awake in the bridge, and I managed to luckily keep the guards there from alerting the others by taking them down first with a lie to bring them all together and take them all out in one fell swoop. From there, I opened the cargo door in the lab, setting off alarms. I ensured nobody could enter the bridge except from the laboratory by locking and barricading the doors with the seats and consoles unnecessary to flight and life sustainment. I reentered the lab to find that many of the scientists were in a panic trying to save their documents and test equipment, Kurt and Brind busy trying to help them, Clarcsen was standing in the same place he was when I left them, glaring angrily to me as I entered the room. He knew I did it.
I acted quickly. I decided to let fate handle the poor souls in these pods as I tore them off the walls, the pods were mainly hardlight so I had to tear off the circuitry with them. I rolled the pods off like bowling balls, knocking scientists and gear off the ship as well. Kurt tried to stop me by the time I got to the 7th pod, but I swung said pod into him and slammed him into the socket the pod once was in, the circuitry’s electricity coursing through his body and knocking him out. I tried to knock Brind off the ship by rolling the last few pods into him but he unfortunately avoided it. The ods were hardlight, so they can survive a fall from this height, but it’s all up to how much power the remaining circuitry the pods had to keep the actual container energized before they struck the ground to actually keep the people safe. If they died, it would’ve been better than being a weapon…
“Gencerrrrrr! You bastard, what the hell are you doing?!” Brind yelled
“Fuck you, Brind! Fuck you and your brother! You saw this for much longer than I had but you never did a thing! You KNOW this isn’t what we fight for, whatever happened to using your power for good?!” We approached each other, fists clenched.
We broke out into a brawl of strikes and kicks, trading blow after blow. He was faster than me, but I was still stronger than him, he never could beat me in arm wrestles.
“I trusted you, Brind, and this is how you repay me? By abducting humans?” He tackled into me, ramming me into the wall and bringing me down onto my back, I defended my face as he wailed on my stomach.
“I trusted YOU, WE trusted YOU enough to bring you on this mission you ungrateful bastard! We aren’t humans anymore, we are LUNARIANS. We aren’t experimenting on our own people!” I managed to jab his diaphragm with an extended hand, forcing him to flinch and with that I drove my knee into his stomach to knock him off completely. It took me some time to get back to my feet as much as it did for him, but I didn’t realize he grabbed a loose piece of debris from me ripping the pods out of their sockets and swung it at me, it was serrated from my rough actions and he cut my stomach real good, he seems to be focusing on that right now since he got some hits in, I quickly backed up and avoiding a few more swings before throwing some chemical liquids in corked off cylinders towards him, he blocked them with the piece of debris and more or less were harmless but gave me the windows I needed to kick the debris into him, breaking his arm by forcing it into a position it normally shouldn’t be and forcing him to drop it. I staggered back a bit to cover my stomach…I was bleeding decently…
“Guh, you prick..always thinking ahead to win… you cut me badly.”
“Screw you!” He stormed up to me and grabbed my head with his good arm, headbutting me viciously and making me stagger back, I leaned forward under his punch and returned the favor by slamming my palm into his groin* “Aaargh!”
We traded more blows after that, blow after blow, the scientists dared not intervene in case they might get sucked into the storm that isn’t sucking them out to plummet to the earth, but suck them into this no holds barred brawl between former friends. After a good minute of struggling we both stood weakly to face each other.
“Why are you being so stubborn…we could have made it big… You were one of my best friends Gencer, my best! I spoke highly of you to bring you into the royal guard despite everybody not wanting some commonfolk failure to enter their ranks! I sponsored you!”
“I am being so stubborn because I’m the one who didn’t forget our instructor’s words of using our power for good. The King wouldn’t want this, the Princess doesn’t want this, humanity doesn’t want this…you’re just another worm squirming in this shit heap!”
“Why do you care so much about being some damn hero to these earthlings?!” he stormed up to me, and I did the same to him.
“Care so much about being a hero?! Who the fuck cares about that???”
“I JUST WANT TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU”! We both crossed each other with all of our might, I slammed my fist square into his face, while he jabbed his palm straight into my stomach wound. I sent him flying into the wall, or at least the head of what was once Brind. I grunted heavily as I looked down to his beheaded corpse and grimaced as I carefully pulled out his hand that nearly disemboweled me. It was still a traumatizing thing, to pull a man’s arm out of your body… when I finished I used his uniform to act as a bandage and cover my stomach to keep the organs from leaking out. I turned to the remaining scientists.
“This project is done. We are going back home, and all of you will be convicted of your crimes.”
…or at least this was the plan, everything was fuzzy by the time we returned to Luna, I couldn’t stay conscious by the time we pulled into the city. By the time I woke up, IO was already imprisoned by what I realizd was the royal palace’s dungeon, I was absolutely confused for a moment but I realized that Kurt and those dystonians must have lied to save their asses, so I was glad to see Meyze soon come downstairs after learning of me finally waking up.
“Meyze! I’m glad you’re here… those bastards Kurt and Brind were traitors! Clarcsen was committing crimes against our morality an-“
He held up his hand. “The dystoanisn have all been executed, and Kurt as well for his treason and betrayal. Clarcsen was deemed too valuable to kill and has been incarcerated.”
“Then…why am I here?” I felt a chill…he wasn’t here to just let me go, I finally remembered his part in all of this.
“You…are more durable and useful than those twins. I couldn’t let failures to my goal live after all, who says they won’t fail me again? You survived against them with such a grevious wound, so you can be…useful…”
$#%^&*^%*(&%^&%&*(%^&*^&*^( Noise, again.
….This room I woke up in, this looks like a lab….strapped to this damn table! Meyze! You bastard, why can’t I move? Why can’t I speak?! Who is this bastard with a needle, get that shit away from me!
#$%^&%$%^&^%$^&*^%$%^&*&^%$^&* More noise
How many weeks….12..? Let me out you sons of….no stop!
*&&^&$%*&(^*))_))_()(*&%&^$%^$%^#@$%$^*&*()__!() Noise! It’s so loud!
These damn^&%&*&^*%&* needles&&*^&*(^*&(&*&*(&)&drugs*&*()&(*)&(*)&*()&)*(&*()&*(^%$%^#@$pain tolerance(*^&*%^&%^*$%^$&^$%^$^$^&$&(%^&(&noise*&^*(^&^%&*^&*(^&*^*()^&**&^&*(torture)&*&(*&*(^&*^%&%^&$%^&%*^%^&*noise!@#$%$#@#$#@!#$%^&*_++_+_)*^%^collar^^%^^$%#$%^!@#@!#$%^$#%^&^%&*(Omisida^&$%#$#$%^%$#%^&%$^&*^%^&*^&*Kyouro!@##$%#%^&%$#%^&*&^%^&*(89)_+ruseka!@#$@#$%^%$#$%^&^%$^$%^&^%^Noise&*^&%^&$%#@$%#$%^&Noise$@!#$%^$#E@$%^&%$#%^$%^&$%^%^NOISE5$%^$%^$&%^$%^&NOISE&*^&*^&*^*&^&(^&*^&*(^&*NOISE&^NOISE^%(^&%&%^&%!%^!$^#$%@$%&*(!^*&()&*(&*()!^*&^&*NOISE&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
…It stopped? Who is this girl on my visor? ….the collar is gone…
Kidara’s here….she’s grown so much…she’s gotten me new armor?
….Ugh, another one to ruin my peace of sitting at the gate? …wait, I remember her…. She was one of the humans from the pods and the other two came with her. Does she remember me after all that time? How…?
Feh, whatever… she seems to appreciate me by sitting in my lap. Such a bother… but I guess I can settle for being these kid’s heroes as opposed to a legend for now…. But not she’s making my armor too warm in all this heat…
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Post by Ritzz on Dec 5, 2015 21:13:01 GMT
Canvas Hundred Year Painting "...Where am I..? Rather, why am I able to think? These thoughts and words...where did they come from? It's bright here...and I...have a body?"
Around her, a voice echoes.
"Yes, you've materialized. You have been a canvas for the last hundred years, the last hundred years of your full life that is. A painting of sn abstract girl looking into a mirror on your old body..."
A picture drops in front of the newly born "human", showing them the drawing of the gray girl. Jagged shapes forming her body and hair, sitting in a seat and staring into a mirror. All made of softer, messy lines.
"But why have I materialized now? Who am I..?"
"Why...you are you, of course!"
A mirror would replace the picture, showing the girl her own body, she resembles the picture a lot with gray skin, white hair, and once jagged limbs but they are quickly adjusting to appearing human. She'd stare into the mirror, and soulless, black deadpan eyes staring back.
"I look like I would scare people."
"Well, assuming the figure of the painting made on the canvas, you were an abstract drawing come to life. For 100 years you existed first as a blank canvas, then you were purchased by a low class artist and were painted on. Of course, low grade artists make low grade art, so your painting didn't amount to much. You were simply passed down through the family line, weathering away until your owners decided that 'Enough is enough, its time we've gotten rid of this. It won't sell. It's useless.' Now you were cast away to the trash, but luckily you had reached your threshold and now you are a tsugumogami as I mentioned earlier. 100 years... can you imagine living that long as just a simple sheet of canvas attached to a wooden frame? Humans can't at least."
"A...tsugumo-"
"You are how a humanization of your previous form. You are "characterization" of the canvas to put it in different terms. You are more than just a human though, you have power. More power than you think."
The girl would raise her arm unconsciously, or maybe it was out of her control. Colors would swirl out from the white space around her and into her hand, forming a glittering paintbrush in her hand.
"An artist, fitting no? You can paint nearly anything thatis real regardless of not knowing what it looks like or where it is, as long as its real, however depending on where that object is and you're painting off a whim, then you might not get what you want... trying to paint somebody who's dead will just give you a skeleton, or a person in a bedroom might just give you unintelligible darkness if they're in their bedroom at night. Those are just examples though... anything that is REAL you can paint, and make come to life from the surface you painted it on is what is special about you."
"That's...a powerful ability I have in my hands..."
"It also has a powerful fault; You can't paint in the rain or have your paintings doused in water, or else they'll melt away."
"....And within time, your body will wash away too."
"I would wash away in water?"
"Noooo no! Not in water, in the flow of time. Tsugumogami don't die like most humans do of old age, we depend on humans for a symbiotic relationship between us and them. 'Ownership.' You share a life force which keeps your physical state sustained and your power at optimum. Without this connection, you will fade away. No bringing you back and no second chances for you. You don't even have a soul so after this...poof!"
A short silence would settle over the white world as the pressure began to build over the realization that, as a soulless being, this is her only chance at living. Her reflection would smile at her, slowly crawling out of the mirror and looming over the girl, the reflection taking hold of the girl's cheeks lightly as she stares down to the deadpan's girl's empty eyes.
"Buuuut.... you don't need to do that you know. You can always just take it for yourself. Kill them and take their soul for yourself." The reflection caresses the girl's cheek, smiling warmly. She would then take Canvas' hand, the paintbrush's tip distintergrating and particles dispering into the air, as if it was erasing itself.
"Color them in, and then erase them away. I mean after all, killing is an art in its own away after all...but don't think of me as the devil on your shoulder. I am your will to survive, your fight or flight. Even if you take a soul, soon enough it would dissipate away and you'd need another. Never be afraid to hold your life above others in a bad situation, you don't NEED to play a hero, just the survivor."
"But if you ever need help to make a decision that is too hard for you, just look for me inside you and I will handle the situation for you...~" The reflection gives a wide smile before returning to inside the mirror.
"Now...wake up."
The girl's eyes would shoot open as they awaken inside of a dumpster, junk and trash all around her. She had observed herself, still gray as she was in the white world and nude to her unfortunate luck. She'd raise the lid of the dumpster and look around. She's in an alleyway, in a urban city....monsters and humans walking the streets and in the skies. She's got no clue where she is, but she decides to take on the appearance of a human, painting herself a human color and giving herself a white dress to not stick out, she'd exit the alleyway and be overwhelmed by things she does not truly understand, and eventually she'd accidentally move into the street...
It was a blur, but her life was saved by a strange woman and a person who she names "newt". It would be considered affectionate if there were feelings behind the words, but she had no will to feel the care and compassion that these two had given her to save her life. While they discussed to themselves on her situation, her paint thinner would begin to distintergrate her brush, she considered taking both of their souls at that point. Despite all the eyes looking at her, all the powerful beings that could take her on... she was entirely willing to bet herself against an entire city. How many souls could she take if she slaughtered everybody who came after her, how long would she live before she had to kill again?
But she didn't erase them, she didn't do it out of a sudden feeling of compassion or care, nor worry for herself if she got attacked, nor pity and mercy.
She simply decided not to.
She decided to live off the life force she was given for the time being, and instead follow the two lfiesavers around to get bearing of the world she can freely explore now. Now was not the time to eat to survive, but to simply relax in her new state as a free being. She chose to stay at the guild and feign care for those who truly care fopr her back, but her faking really does come off as a lack of care for their well-being anyways. She doesn't need friends, and all of her friends are just "distractions" that keep her from thinking about when she will need to feed off of someone else. Either by ownership or by murder. Her enemies are just hold ups. She chooses not to understand emotions even those she wishes to learn about them, in order to keep herself occupied. She doesn't fear death, but entirely wants to avoid it, a lack of feeling regardless of the situation.
On a flip of a switch, she could just kill the people closest to her that have been "helping" her to be a bettrr person for the entire time she's known them.
She's a youkai, a real monster.
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Post by Ritzz on Dec 12, 2015 10:17:25 GMT
Seele. [OUTDATED] Kids have nothing to watch over, they're free and need no responsibilities other than basic chores. Adults watch over the kids, sneering down at how childish they can be and how they marvel at even the smallest things, pitying their ignorance of the world...but then who sneers down at the adults then?
Not the government, not the president, not the world even. The ones who sneer at us are the same ones we pray to, the ones we beg for protection and salvation. The merciful gods of course.
...But then who sneers down at them..?
"A town flooded to the brim of blasphemy and treachery towards the balance...plotting against God with demonic rituals, you satanic pigs!" Screamed the angel, who furiously stepped through the main road of the now burning village. Corpses either cut or burned line the sides of the street while more eagerly come to meet them as they run out of their blazing homes, screaming in agony as the fire tears their soul from their flesh and leaves behind an ashen body. At this time, I was part of a town guard of sorts for a town that has been long erased from memory and history. A town once thought to be pious under the kingdom's rule, heavily governed by the local church under the noble will.
I myself was one of many guards recognized for extraordinary faith and commitment to the lord, and so I was granted the title of "paladin", which would be known as one who braves against the dark forces that would eventually haunt the town and drive them away time and time again. A hero of sorts that sits below the ranks of heaven's guards... and now it seems one had come down to wreak havoc on my life. What I once praised for protection was granting me desctruction. I couldn't bear the sight of it.
With the few villagers that survived; family members, church members, squires, town hands... all people who couldn't stand up to such a reckoning force. The church was slowly burning due to the dense amount of wood needed to build it but soon it would come down if we made no effort to escape. I was the last guard remaining as the team I was with had decided to leave the escorting of the villagers to safety to me. They all swarmed the angel with numbers and... the doors tothe church flew open, and I saw him with a clearer view for once.
Tall, shining silver armor, a large claymore coated in flames. His face was hard to see because it was hooded but he had long enough hair to tell he was blonde. His wings were as told in the bibles we read...he was truly an angel that we now feared.
"All of you! You dare to hide in what was supposed to be a holy building, yet you sacrilegious filth yet dare to taint it with your runes and hexes... Even now you hide behind one you call a "paladin" as if they've achieved a position closer to god, while it was far from it. To prevent the balance collapsing due to your plans, I will judge you as the Gevurah. You will be judged, sentenced...and promptly executed." He threateningly tilted his sword as he quickened his approach, tossing forward several demonic runes and talismans.
"In addition to these various runes and hexes, you have been discovered by investigations in the afterworld to be summoning demons, while not of my largest concern, it is that you have been abusing their soul energy t-" He halted his statement as I clashed my blade against his claymore, I nearly fell over as I didn't feel any resistance... my sword had melted before they even made contact with his blade. I was completely astonished.
And then I felt his stare, and I couldn't stop shaking from there. "What are you doing, human?"
"H-halt... you can't just kill these villagers. You descend from the skies, call us blasphemers and talk about a "balance" while throwing out some runes and stuff that couldn't even be ours! We are a god fearing town under the Kingdom's territory, we'd never go against the lord!" I looked back up to him, speaking firmly.
But he only scoffed back at me. "You act like you understand... explaining will only confuse you further and waste more of my time. In a town of heathens I surprised they even bothered to make someone like you a rank of "Paladin" when they could have simply corroded you even more. Why do you think they cower behind you if they are truly so innocent, surely they'd argue against it at least once if my accusation was baseless...if you had looked at how pale their faces went when I showed the evidence maybe you would have changed your mind of me purging them. However, I don't blame you for thinking those you once loved are villains. I respect that you at least tried to follow a pure route and believed in the correct morals. I'll let you live so you can begin your life anew as a nun or priest, swordsmanship doesn't befit a woman."
He flourished his blade around me as a final "or else" to add insult to injury. He completely degraded me, gave me fear and looked down one me not only as a woan but likely as a human. As if I was just in the wrong place as the wrong time...sneering down at me as he moved behind me to the villagers.
...But why am I so relieved? That I won't be dying now? I'm so glad....
.......
"Celecia! P-please help!"
Just as the angel was about to bring his claymore down on the people, I charged into him from an angle into his back, to knock him to the side of the villagers and off balance. Or at least that was the place, I recoiled off in pain as my armor over my arm was beginnning to MELT away, so I quickly tore away the armor to protect myself from getting anything worse than a second degree burn. The claymore came down into a villagers, but he turned to face me.
"...I gave you a chance to escape, yet you attack me anyways. Are you dull? A fool?"
"Call me whatever you want, but I won't just let you kill them! You don't have that authorization over human lives, God let us live on this planet as we wish, so who are you to act as a "judge"?! Who cares if they.... they lied to me and were satanists, I won't hate them for that, we will just expel them from the village, is that not fine enough for you?!"
The angel just clapped, shaking his head as his claymore floated beside him. "Surprising. I didn't expect to get lectured by a fool when I first arrived. However, what do you think they'll do if they're expelled? That they'll just stop? they'll turn on a heel and become god fearing humans? What about the damage they've already done and were planning, can just expelling them fix what they've ruined??"
I fell silent, frowning as I couldn't retort.
"Also, who says I am not working under God's will? I AM his judge, I was sent here to preserve the balance in lieu of another member of the Sephirot....I am no angel, if that's what made you think I am just an overzealous angel, I am something...different. I only prevent damage to the balance."
He slapped away my oncoming remains of armor, barely flinching. "Take that nonsense back to heaven in a nightsoil pot, you bastard! Even if you aren't an angel, I am this town's guard! I am not going to allow you to hurt them any further! I'll change for them then, i'll-"
He sent me flying into the wall with a swift kick, I coughed up a heavy amount of blood as I got stuck into the wooden wall, not believing what had just happened in a second. That was like a ballista had hit me....I had a dent in my armor too, I needed to get it off... I paifully crawled out of the wall as I heard screams from the villagers as he started to hack away again, husbands failing to save wives as they've cut in pairs, elders and nobles being torn apart...I jumped top my feet, tearing off the rest of my armor which was clearly useless... I took the ruined torso armor and limped over to him quickly, yelling angrily.
"Get the hell away from themmm!" I yelled, swinging my armor at him, which melted as well, but he at least focused on me again, he swung his blade downwards and I dodged to the side, getting in front of the villagers once again, holding my hands out to the side to protect them.
"I...I won't let you..." I said.
He glared down at me, it was pretty bleak at that time. I could barely even keep conscious between the rising heat of the flames and the force of his kick giving me a concussion and internal bleeding. Flames were erupting from within his armor, and everybody gave a terrified gasp... this was bad...
5 left...only 5 left...these villagers I protected were begging me to save them, stop this angel...but I couldn't get up...I was broken, damaged, and dying. What could I do?
Well, I could get up, of course. I need to...that's what I need to do, that's only what i need to do. So I'm gonna do it, I gotta stay determined, keep going! Get up! Their hands are patting me on the back, they're putting their trust in me.
I clashed a blade forged of flames against his, a blue flame sword to be precise. My body had burned brightly in a blue aura, tinted with large licks of black energy. Eyes glowing blue. I pushed forward, causing the angel to take a step back and shoved hard enough to push his claymore out of the way, taking a slash at his chest, which forced him to dodge backwards. I lunged at him feinting a downwards cut, but instead i landed and slashed upwards, sending him into the ceiling and following up by slashing the blade, sending an explosive wave of fire into him. "I won't let you!"
"Now, everybody, get ou-" I turned to tell them to escape but...they all were laying there...I presumed dead. I quickly understood what happened though, they gave up on themselves but trusted me to finish this fight and live on. I was coated in blue-black flames, but they didn't hurt...these are flames of justice! I finally have the pwoer I need...the power to win! To beat him, stop him, KILL him, EAT HIM!
I roared viciously as the angel came back down gently, staring. "Those blue flames...the aura of will. I'm astonished a human can maintain it, but I suppose it's because of the others supplying you with power."
"You're damn right... these flames are the power entrusted to me by my remaining friends. These flames are of not only justice, but dreams, the dreams that I'll carry on forever! You ended those lives based on your skewed view...but now I'll end you. Those wings of yours won't even let you escape to heaven!" I charged at him with full power, newly formed flame sword aimed at him.
"Because I'll drag you back down to this hell, with the ashes of the hopes powering my dreams weighing me down, BastaaaaAAAARD!!!"
And like a cruel comedy, I bounced off his armor like a skipping stone hitting a castle wall.
"What in the world are you talking about? the "flames of justice" you gained are just an anomally of power that burns away at your soul. The great amount of darkness in those flames were traces of ACTUAL darkness tainting your now ruined soul. The very people you protected actually tested their hypothesis on you, ironic is it not? And it luckily failed... but you can be threatening....I'll purge you, so don't worry." The flames on his sword forze in place as if taken in a picture and he raised his sword. I was too tired and in pain to move, shaking my head in disbelief and holding up my arm as feeble defense.
He cleaved through, the flames doing no damage to my physical body, but I felt a definite burning, I don't understand what had happened, but from within me flames erupted like they had from his armor, I squirmed and screeched on the floor to no avail....why was the merciful gods so cruel? I didn't have a chance to finish the thought as things turned dark.
...................
"...her soul is in shambles... darkness interminglign with light so dangerously..."
"Make it work... she can become a useful nephilim like that. Able to traverse the worlds of light and dark much easier that way."
"...I can try. It will take time... when she wakes we may need to adjust her to her new lifestyle, since she likely will not take kindly to her death at your hands."
"She'll adjust, don't worry. She is a much better candidate for the position than me. She can become..."
"The Gevurah."
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Post by Ritzz on Dec 15, 2015 21:22:39 GMT
Zetrus ReBraccio Meekest of Monsters Within Calypso, the silver-haired vampire sits at a golden cafe. Expensive, luxurious, and most importantly soundproof. Despite the recent city apocalypses, the cafe still runs smoothly, much like Calypso's economy despite being ruined so often. Opposed to her usual nature, she's gone out for once to curb her appetite with tea and actually stumbled across a man who shared an interest in history like she does, conversation struck up, and now they've been chattering for the last hour.
The man is leaning back in his chair nonchalantly, trying to stifle his laughter to not disturb everyone else too much due to something Zetrus mentioned. She's giggling too.
"That's...a...riot! For a bloodsucker and one with TEETH at that I'd figure you would have seen that coming." He chuckled.
"W-well, I just thought that the process of having to carefully drink it like a juice packet was a bit awkward all the time so when I tried to use my fangs I thought it wouldn't be too different... When i refrigerate the blood packets I don't have it set to an extremely low temperature to preserve them so maybe my fangs are just really sensitive. I made such an embarrassing mess..."
"I'd imagine, blood everywhere! Haha, so anyways you said you were with the Guild right? I never saw you with them in the papers or the news. You told me you were a maid so I'm guessing you were always insid- ah, well since you're a vampire it would make sense you usually are..." He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit awkward after pointing that out.
She'd scratch her cheek nervously, but give a reassuring smile. "To be honest, you are more or less correct. My mother was a vampire and my father was a human, so I am a hybrid. Going out in the sunlight does not hurt me but it does drain my power and tires me if I stay out for too long. I usually came out of the building at night to perform the maintenance on whatever they broke that day or any weeds and leaves in the garden.... I also felt as if hiding within the basement was my best decision to keep everybody safe...from me. I always caused some sort of trouble for the guild; when it wasn't my monstrous nature coming out it was me dragging my old bad blood from my homeland all the way here. They've helped me time and time again and treat me like a sister still."
She sipped her tea, smiling bitterly as she stares at her own reflection in the drink. "I was just a burden to them, really. I hated how I would come out and cause some sort of trouble for my friends there everytime I exited the basement. It drove me crazy... crazy enough to leave the guild without a word."
He whistled as she finished, thinking over it for a second before shaking his head and sucking his teeth. "I see... can't cause them trouble if you ain't there but... I can't imagine they took it well, just being abandoned in the dust like that without even a goodbye. Sounds like they really cared..."
"But why move to Calypso then? It's not that far from Windcreek." He questioned raising his eyebrow.
"Well... that's a twist of fate really. I left on the excuse I was getting groceries for the guild, so I came here and used me own money for food to sustain me while I waited for a dip in airline prices to go back home to my country, with mother. I came across an odd bar as I walked though... a bar that secretly was ran by vampires and has many vampric visitors, "Moonlight Sonata." I only learned it was ran by vampires after I got acquainted at least... but there I made friends. 4 of them! And one of those wonderful friends is actually my employer too."
"She is a year older than me, and she's around my height too. She's a different breed of vampire from me though, she says she was bitten. That didn't change my view on her though, she's a bit crude...a heavy drinker... loudmouthed when she's drunk and gets a bit flirtatious but she's really warm and nice under all of that. I love her even if she does sometimes get on my nerves... working for her is not hard either since we live in a small apartment where only the two of us stay, so cleaning isn't too bad." She'd smile.
"Wow, for a cute and cuddly vampire you really have a way with your words. I mean with you loving her and her flirtatious attitude it sounds like you two may have had a drunk night and..." He'd make two Vs with his fingers, crossing them over with a cheeky grin.
Zetrus would seem confused for a moment as she watched his fingers, but her silver eyes would quickly turn vampric red and so would her face, dropping her plate onto the table and her cup onto the plate safely as she holds her cheeks with embarrassment.
"W-w-w-w-whaaat?! No, it isn't like that at all no no no! Me and Madame Teme share a healthy employee-employer relationship and only that alone I-I have only had one instance of where drinking mayhavegonetoanexcessandmaybewepartookinactionsbutIamalwaysontherecievingendbecauseshe'ssoforwardandbulliesmearoundutIknowsheeanswellandthatthisisjusthowsheactssoinnowayisshetryingtotakemyfirsttimeallit'saboutisjustthealcoholshewouldneverdosomethinglikethatwhilesoberand....and...uhm....................."
She'd look to the ground, defeated.
"Does it really look like I love her in that way?"
"Well unless that was her last name you speak about her on a first name basis so you seem rather close for just an employee-employer relationship~" He grinned.
She'd cover her face, shaking her head in shame. Her long silver hair would ripple side to side as she shakes her head as well, letting out a muffled "Noooon!" as she does.
"Hahahaha! I'm sorry, you're just so meek I wanted to tease you a bit...different topic different topic...you mentioned your mother..."
"Fuuu... m-my mother? Yes, she's a pureblooded vampire unlike me. Despite that, she was a woman who harbored kind emotions towards humans unlike the clan we were part of. She participated in the clan wars too, against other clans... she was nothing legendary but they say she wielded a halberd of silver and ebony... unknown who made it or where it's gone. I believe she had passed down the affinity I have now with my magicks, which allowed her to create the halberd rather than have it smithed... she had to spill vampire and human blood with it as self defense she says, but she never hated either race, she only wanted to survive. That compassion is probably why she fell for father...but father says that she just fell for his charm, heehee."
A short pause. "She says he was more worried about my birth being defective than his own health the day of my birth because there was never any confirmation a human and a pureblooded vampire could have a successful birth. He hadn't been sleeping for days and actually fainted after I was confirmed to be alive..." She giggled, the man chuckling along.
"So if you're half-human and half-vamp, what can you do? You said you got magic passed down from your mom... so why settle for maid? Ever gonna go back to heroics?"
She shakes her head, looking up to the artificial sky for a moment. “I don’t think I’ll be a hero again, at least I personally won’t consider myself one. I am not the best fighter so I am not as skilled as the others, I don’t have control over my ‘issues’ like the others do, there is a large reason why out of all the mythos, vampires are still the ones who don’t proudly walk the streets. We’re story tale villains and more often than not there are vampires out there still causing trouble. I could change people’s outlook, but who’s to say after I’m gone a clan like my old one won’t rise again? Vampires are always dangerous.”
“…But because I am a monster is why I became friends with all the people in the guild, too. I love them all so dearly, even the ones that I haven’t met in the guild. Bah, I suppose I am boring you with that! My powers… I am capable of many things vampires can do; Turn to mist and bats, hypnotic gaze, regeneration, strength, magic. I’ve mentioned before that my mother had a halberd she created with magic, so she taught me how to do that as well. I can take it to the next level however, and replicate mythological objects from my career of studying history and archaeology. While inferior at best, they still retain some of the mystical attributes… I stopped because I became a maid instead…because I didn’t want to harm my friends…”
The man goes “Huh..” and rubs his chin, nodding in acceptance. “I think I sorta get it now. You’re scared, not in a bad way but it’s sort of a motherly fear because you don’t want to hurt them. Your biggest enemy is your fear, which is inhibiting your potential and holding you back because you think you’ll hurt somebody. Even when you’re the best candidate, you think you’ll disappoint somebody, right?”
Zetrus would frown, her eyes returning to silver as the mood drops. Nonetheless she nods as he’s correct.
“I am an easily irritated person, a switch easily flipped. I got angry around Madame Teme once and… it was the same as when I was with the guild, or out in the city. When the children and people saw me, and I looked at their faces. The pressure of those worried and scared eyes on my back. I hated that…”
Silence… “I suppose I can somewhat relate… I used to be in the air force you know? Got taken out of the sky over a country unsympathetic to Nor and brought in as a hostage detainee.” He says, rubbing his chin.
She’d tense up, staring on attentively.
“Mind you, this was before the mythos and rich nobles who can afford their own robot army came into the scene and a military was something people still thought about. I wasn’t the only one, there were two others. Marine Staff Sergeant and a Corporal. We got interrogated, slapped around a bit, threatened, and barely fed for 4 days. Constantly spoken down to for being a citizen of Nor and framed for infractions against their country. I was the senior officer there, so I was the one with the responsibility of getting those marines set free, a leader in chains. Sort of like you, having power but in situations out of your control you were scared to use it. Eventually we were all brought into the interrogation room and I was in the hot seat, demanded to hand over sensitive information about the base in a neighboring friendly country. Pressuring me with the safety of the marines if I didn’t talk.”
“But did you? I don’t know what I could have done….”
“I couldn’t, so I didn’t. By law I’m not allowed to, but I felt the stares of the marines kept in the corner, they stared at me silently. Didn’t beg a moment for their own safety and lives… I realize that those two staring at me was them not only being worried, since that’s normal, but putting their trust in me to not throw an entire base under the best for the sake of two lives. I told them nothing other than that we would like to be returned to our base, and they were furious. They beat us pretty swiftly and returned us to the cells with a warning. I figured they’d be pissed off after all they’ve gone through, but one of them actually thanked me for having the courage to keep my integrity even in that sort of situation. A few days after that, a team swept the floor with the kidnappers and rescued us, luckily we all managed to survive until then. See what I’m trying to say?”
She’d stay silent. “Aiyaah… you shouldn’t be so worried about how people see you. If they’ll respect you or not after you ‘lose control.’ If they seem worried or scared, it’s probably because they are scared that you’re the one that’s going to get hurt. I’m sure if someone as meek and soft spoken as you were to get involved in a fight, it would probably be something serious that could really end in someone dying… however, you also shouldn’t underestimate your friends…”
“Even normal humans like me, we all are strong in a way you know? I mean I heard some mythos are like thousands of years older than humans lived on this planet, yet now we humans are the most populous race, y’see? The guild was supposedly destroyed a month or two back, and yet here they are, putting a stop to the leader of AXIS’ plans and are even rebuilding the fortress in the exact same spot. Don’t think we are all too weak to handle a bit of your power if you get a bit rowdy, we’ll calm you down guaranteed. Hell, might even have a cup of tea afterwards, y’know?” He grins.
Zetrus would sit still after his statement before staring into his eyes suddenly, her own eyes having a different feel to them as if they’ve realized something, standing up with a smile.
“Thank you, not just for your service but for letting me see things in a new and righter perspective!”
“Did I help you reach an epiphany or something?” He chuckles.
“Well, not just that. I also need to bring the Madame her groceries before the store closes…. But now I have one thing to do before that. I’m glad I had a chance to talk to someone like you.”
She’d give a polite curtsy mixed into a bow, giggling as she disperses into a swarm of bats that flutter into the artificial nighttime sky.
“Merci~”
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Post by Ritzz on May 20, 2016 0:34:30 GMT
Peacekeeper Quebec “Natayla York” It was 22XX…
…They called it Remnant. To them they were unsure why now.
A city guarded by one large circular wall, within it stowing away millions of people, the last millions on the planet. Thanks to the efforts of those who came before us, we managed to save enough technology and learn from those who worked in the past to create a barrier that prevents surprise attacks from the air, and weapons that we can use to stave off the enemy. We thrive in a city of artificial production, as the land has grown dead long ago, medical supply is produced in excessive quantities in preparation for defense, and even now we work to further our technological knowledge to make up for our lack of magical access. Why, in a world once flourishing of magic and the abnormal, lacking in that department? Well, magic died long ago with much of our hope.
Maybe the name was a reminder of how they once lived? Maybe it’s the only one they’ve got now? Or maybe it’s because it was made from what remained. In the end that we live in it didn’t really matter. All I know is that we live in a world abandoned by hope, and trying your hardest earned you greater losses. They had said that the biggest enemy to humanity was viruses; but that’s not entirely true. It’s not a virus, it’s not aliens or weapons.
It’s themselves.
I remember it clear as day, or night, it’s hard to really tell in these times because I never knew of a “blue” sky. It’s always tinted red with flames and black with soot. It wasn’t hard to forget those sirens, another attack was coming. Those things we fought against I could only wish were monsters, but no, they were worse… they were red, black, white, brown but regardless of the color there was always the same when it came to their general appearance. They were us, copies made by the masses but stronger, faster, they did not know weakness since their entire purpose was to overcome it.
Scarlet Hearts is what they were named, but to us all they became were Red Devils.
They attacked often but not at the same time, sometimes they’d attack in waves by a few hours, others they’d attack multiple days in a row. Rarely they’d attack en masse after a month of silence. They always had the same goal, to take as many of our people back with them to make more for their cause…back to that damned Scarlet Witch. We were not defenseless though, no. We fought them off as many times as they came, but there’s no denying that even when we come out victorious that we don’t suffer losses. Even if we win the battle against the enemy, we can’t even win the battle against ourselves. Outcry happens often in remnant, power struggles even in these awful times. Fearing what the next day brings is constantly weighing upon our shoulders and when we lose people, despair ensues and brings further ruin. Eventually we would lose, and our resistance is only making it harder on us in the long run.
But that’s why we fight, as Guardians of the city we stand atop those walls and go out into those barren fields to fight off those demons that come for our families, our friends, ourselves. Despair is always wrought over our home, but humans are stubborn, tenacious, and arrogant. So I fought, we fought together and we did it knowing that if we survive, even we could at least put a smile on a face when we get back to our apartments to those who were worried and stave off that inevitable for just a bit longer.
Well, that’s how it was… as humans, we hated being caged up, as even animals would. We got annoyed, pissed, savage. We wanted to breathe fresh air. That was when the Peacekeepers came. They were built and adjusted to fight against the hordes of Devils as one man armies. They could enter the field and slaughter the hordes on their own, and there was only 10 of them before I joined. As expected, many marveled at their new superheroes, but others of course were reluctant to accept their presence…because not all of them were made to fight Red Devils, but also to enforce the peace within Remnant. They saw it as a way to silence the people and keep those in power out of their reaches, but in the end, are you really going to argue with one of the few who would save your life and has done so many times already?
To say the least, I was impressed.
As a soldier myself, I wasn’t able to keep a killcount equal to even the newly made peacekeepers a year after their initial introduction. I’ve been one for 3 years after coming of age, mind you, and these cannon fodder devils come by the hundreds. Sometimes me and the normal humans would just sit aside and let them unleash hell. Why bother, after all? They just created larger and larger dents in the devil’s forces it was almost as if we weren’t needed. All we did was put down stragglers that made it beyond the chaos, and it was probably lucky for them that we got to them first. Soon enough though, it appeared that the red devil forces were increasing the effort to compensate for losses, they weren’t pulling anymore punches and began sending some with magic potential and some with power that was given to them by the Scarlet Witch. We needed more Peacekeepers, but we lacked the resources to build such competent fighting machines from scratch since we could never regain land and heal what was once burned, and scavenge the land for anything useful. That was when the current peacekeeper plan was enabled. The past 10 android peacekeepers were now known as Lawbringers and had their jobs adjusted to defending the city permanently from external threat. In that year, 26 new peacekeepers would be made, with 10 sentient AI to guide them and assist them.
However, the peacekeepers would be “made” from humans, opposed to machines.
Sign up was slow even amongst the soldiers, we did not know the consequences of abandoning what makes us human to become a peacekeeper because after all you would need to give up your emotions, your family ties, your goals, and your dreams to essentially make you “numb” to feeling despair and loss, making you invulnerable to the Devil’s curse. Once you lost it, they were not going to be able to bring it back. “Was it worth it?” is what the word around town was. Braving the consequences though, brave men and women stood up to take the loss and had their last night’s with the ones they cared for and got the cries out for the dreams they had to abandon, even if those dreams were to one day be crushed by devils anyways. They underwent the conversion, coming back as warriors without a heart for the world, and sometimes ones that could even pump their blood, replaced with pacemakers and artificial liquid. The normal humans and I could only pray for these newly recruited as they were sent out. Sometimes it didn’t go as expected and they’d never return, other times they came back with resources, but the resources was just the scraps of their own weapons before they passed away too.
We kept making them, we kept losing them. The devils kept pushing and breaking. We were running out of time and options. They needed more peacekeepers.
…I was reluctant at first, to be honest. Not because I was scared of dying on the field or because of losing the only family tie that I have left. Rather… have you noticed I have always separated “normal humans” and “me?” I’m not normal…rather, I’m specially abnormal. I don’t use magic or superpowers, and it isn’t because I can’t or I lack potential. It’s because I inherited a quirk from my elders. They said that the first owner did not have a name for it but eventually people around them decided to give it a fitting nickname:
Reality Check. The ability to nullify and render useless the supernatural be them magic, arts of the soul, energy from the mind and body, or what have you. If it doesn’t sound like something a human me or you can do, this power can make it disappear on contact, as long as you kept holding it.
Because of this power, I was scared they would send me on suicide missions, because I was the only one who was immune to the devil’s attacks and influence. I wasn’t ready to die yet, I wasn’t a hero like my ancestors were.
Tragedy loves misery, however. They’re both good friends of grief too.
It was a midnight mission. All we had to do was scavenge any weapons and equipment that soldiers dropped when they were struck…or… well, it was an easy mission. We just had to go out, pick up some stuff and quickly run back. We even had a pair of peacekeepers to guard our group of 7 including me. There was an attack earlier that night, so we were expecting them to be regrouping for a bit longer than expected so they could lick their wounds. Needless to say, we were wrong, dead wrong. The sky turned its usual scarlet and the wave came into our sites from the distance, a typical legion size but still rather distressing so we all bee-lined it straight for the city as the peacekeepers stayed behind to prepare the counterattack. What we did not see coming was this woman, skin rough, her clothes reminded me of how people centuries ago wore, and her eyes were… thin. The only thing that ran through my head was that something about her just felt cold.
…because it was, and the temperature was declining fast.
We didn’t even have time to get into formation, we just opened fire to no avail. I was panicking and unloading my entire magazine in her general direction. Dust was rising around her as stray bullets hit the ground and created a cloud that blocked our vision, the lead told us to hold fire and had us wait for the cloud to settle. We had no time to fight this woman while we ran from the wave of devils, but we weren’t just going to leave our backs wide open to attack if she was still kicking. As long as she was down, then we could hurry on is what I thought briefly, but then all I thought next was that it got really, really cold. I looked around me as I snapped back to reality that things were silent other than the sounds of cracking, like glass.
Like within an iceburg, I stood at the center of practically frozen time. The six soldiers I came with completely still in nearly clear crystal-like ice, I’d be only able to tell it was ice because of a fog formed on the ice from my breath. They, like me, were not expecting this. They didn’t have faces of pain or fear, just watching forward at the enemy we thought were dead. I was stiff and frozen in place like them out of fear, I was left alone on the ground I stood on, frost just around my boots as it could not affect me. The cracking was beginning to intensify and I saw streaks of jagged lines pass over the view around me. I reached out and was about to call one of their names, the ice disappearing at my touch but it was already too late. Like whitish-red snow and sleet, they fell apart into a slushy mess, the dust cloud settling to show all the bullets we fired embedded into a shield of ice. The devil noticed I was the only one that survived and showed some surprise, or possibly happiness before their attention turned towards one of the peacekeepers that closed in to take her down and quickly made her distance, leaving me distraught and confused in the melting puddle. I didn’t even bother picking up their weapons and gear, not like I could pick up all those shattered pieces…I just ran as fast as I could back to the city, sweating bullets and heart racing.
Of course I was reprimanded by people for not at least bringing back something to remember those we lost and no resources but that eventually became background noise as I drifted into despair myself. We were wiped out in a second by a single devil with power, and we couldn’t even stand a chance against it. If it wasn’t for my power, I would have died… and to make matters worse, more of those alpha demons began coming to assault our home. Actual demons, magicians, super strength…and we couldn’t even kill one. They all just came to break our peacekeepers and then run off before they got tired or overwhelmed. We were losing, no matter how you saw it. They NEEDED more peacekeepers.
Soon enough, they started asking me how those soldiers went out and…I didn’t know what to really say. If I should tell them the truth about how I escaped or not. If I did, they would definitely send me on the front lines to use my ability and after seeing that monster I don’t think I’d survive against one who wouldn’t run away next time. All of my options for lies did not make sense in the end and did not tie up loose ends in the story, especially since the peacekeepers were there to see what happened. All I could do was hide for the time being, stave off the inevitable by hiding away somewhere people barely go; The archives. It’s accessible by anyone as it’s essentially what you call a library but because of constant attacks people barely used it. To keep me from falling asleep, I just read books and kept on reading to take my mind off things and distress myself in the little time I could. After thinking over that event, I decided to read about the past and learn more about how this all started, but there were very few articles that described the events leading to now. All of them were sensationalist headliners that barely gave me the info I needed. All I usually got was about the Scarlet Witch, old cities, a Guild, supposed heroes. Often enough I’d read about a woman who could use an ability that sounds exactly like Reality Check, but it says that she is a suspected criminal for the genocide of a town full of mages, and particularly mentioned often in the article I read about the disappearance of magic with the help of a rich man. She was definitely one of my ancestors…but why? Why did she kill that town? Why did she help this man? Why did she forsake our current world?
Questions turned to confusion, then to anger, and thankfully into a passion. I hated her, for whatever reasons she had, she became a criminal that more or less screwed the rest of us over for the time she was alive. Now, it was up to me to make up for her misjudgment. I would go out there and fight off the devils using this curse passed down to me while shouldering this burden. I would make a change. One for the better.
But I’m not dumb enough to go out there as a soldier.
I decided to give the truth to my superiors and those who wanted to know the truth in an open meeting, to let them all know about what happened and my ability. I offered myself to become a peacekeeper to make up for those losses we sustained and regain land that we deserve. I would join the most recent and advanced rank of Peacekeepers made. But on one condition;
They will not convert me into a robot or cyborg. They will naturally bring my body to its limits, and to let me retain my sense of self. I gave them the headlines I had read from the archive and told them to replicate whatever magic they could. I wanted them to make me an ultimate alliance between humanity, science, and magic even if it was artificial. I wanted to make a statement against my ancestors that their decision was wrong, wherever they were watching and to the devils that hope for humanity is still alive, and it’s coming for them.
And so, I joined the ranks of 26 new peacekeepers. With 3 new AI to guide us. To differentiate us from the other peacekeepers as we were experimental, we were given phonetically themed codenames. I was clearly given Quebec. Training to become a peacekeeper was…harsh to say the least, but expected. They go beyond even the extended human limits I have to fight things we had no chance of beating with guns and swords. My particular training was long, 2 months as opposed to 1, especially to train myself further to keep a calm composure and to not show fear as I did before, and especially to resist the mindgames that devils love to enact. My first day as an actual peacekeeper was rough, but leaving the city as a party of 4 peacekeepers and coming back as 4 intact peacekeepers with resources changed the mindset of the people. It was no longer a one sided slaughter. It was war.
War is hell, and we were the Devils now.
Months turned into years and the pitiful land we owned began to expand. As underdogs our dramatic story turned into a heroic uprising that had no sign of stopping. Eventually there would be a stalemate as now our city perimeters grew much larger, we could sustain more healthier lifestyles and more defense. In addition, our technology was improving. Automated soldiers piloted by citizens who were not able to join due to physical limitations could fight without risking their lives or the safety of another. We became a formidable force, but we could not extend any further and instead turned towards the defensive until we could figure out a new plan.
Of course, we had no idea how crazy this plan would eventually turn out.
Out of our 26, 5 peacekeepers were chosen to undergo a special and intensive mission, one that required me to go as their valuable asset that could change history. On a literal scale.
Upon going in further depth on technology and finally having the resources. They could recreate a machine that could dilute time to their will and manage to send at most 5 of us back in time before all of this happened to the age of Mythos and Magic, before the Scarlet Witch enacted her assault. There, we could strike her at her least alert and instead of taking the world back we could stop it from turning into that hell in the first place. The orders were to destroy any obstacles and possible threats to the future of the world. Particularly being the Guild, a gathering of supernatural beings in the first place. We were not meant to attack you, but if you were to get in our way we would use the skills and weaponry we were given to counter you to their fullest and make sure you don’t get in our way again.
…but I wanted to meet her. My ancestor. I know her name and with that knowledge I even dedicated my ability after her just to spite her actions…my Manhattan.
And when I see her, I’ll beat the life out of her.
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Post by Ritzz on Jun 18, 2016 18:40:45 GMT
The Adorable Corvian Cioara MarodesWolf of the Wind Sierra/Noblesse "Cioara, you need to stop. This is a bit much even for you." He said silently, scratching his head in annoyance.
Once again, he and Cioara would find themselves in a position that could get them into trouble with the authorities. this time? Spying on the Head of Tengus himself. Based on her loose suspicions.
"SiSi...I told you already that this is not me illegally entering a person's home for the sake of a scoop. I'm breaking in on the sake of making news for the better!"
He frowns. "You made it sound worse."
"Just shut up and keep an eye out! If someone flies by and sees us then they'll take my camera again..." Sierra grunts and waves off her statement as he continues lookout from the section of the roof he stands on. The two currently on the aforementioned Tengu Chieftain's shrine roof, which also acts as his home. The tengu village itself is much like the lunar rabbits in oriental style; pagodas, podias, large curved roofs, etc. The Chieftain's shrine in particular was a 3 section pagoda surrounded by a large fieldof garden and separated by a simple gate and walls to the other buildings around it. it lies in front of the hill that leads up to the Onyx Palace, a decorated imperial castle that has long been out of service and is typically a landmark now. It was once used specifically for war planning when youkai had not seen eye to eye as they do now, and slaughtered each other who stepped on their toes. The pagoda blocking the road up to the castle signifies that now Tengu will stop any advances at war in attempts for peace.
Cioara however feels this building has a new purpose now; To hide a secret.
"Naaatch~ I did it Sisi!" The sound of clunking is heard as she undoes the lock on the door, using her power over the wind to slide parts of the lock into place to open it. She slides the door to the side after confirming nobody was inside and enters, Sierra sighs and follows after her.
"Don't use my nickname if we're going to be in here. I don't want them chasing me down because you called me name while we were escaping...what are you even looking for if you aren't here to interview the Chieftain this time?"
She looks back to him for a moment before looking around the room, confirming that it wasn't the right one and moved to the inner door, ensuring nobody was walking the halls and motioned for Sierra to follow, who closes the door they used to enter. "Well...for proof..."
"Of what" is what he thought because she already snuck out into the hallway before he could ask, and he had no choice as her guardian but to follow after her. They kept checking doors and sneaking through the building and even went up a level. It took some time even then for Cio to even enter a room at that point as she seemed to finally find what she was looking for. Sierra entered to find a room of storage. She was already digging through some old wooden drawers through what appears to be records and writs.
"...Cioara, those are probably way mroe sensitive than we think they are. I don't think you should be fiddling around with that stu-"
"Sisi, I'll just put it to you straight. I believe that the Chieftain might be a Scarlet Heart..."
Sierra's eyes widened, albeit only slightly. He's been around Cioara to hear alot of her air-headed claims but this was on a whole new scale. An accusation and a possibility of being a large scale threat to the community otherwise.
"That's a bold claim...so you came here in order to prove that, then? Well now our punishment might be even worse if we get caught trying to frame the Chieftain..." He grumbled.
"Well, the consequences are great but the gain is even better! Besides, things are just suspicious. You know about the incident that happened centuries ago..."
How could he not, it was a famous tragedy that hit the fragile balance of power and trust without the youkai community rather hard, at least amongst those who're older and in charge. In this very same shrine of peace years ago there was a meeting between the heads of youkai clans to organize a peace with one another and improve relations. This would prove to strengthen the bond between the races and prevent turf wars.
However, there was a traitor in the midst, out of the 5 clan heads there the old Kitsune head had apparently allowed the entrance of a demon under the noses of the tengu, and let it murder 2 of the clan heads before it was finally warded off and escaped leaving just the Kitsune, the Tengu, and the Kappa alive. This created great distrust between the kitsune and tengu in particular and ended with the kitsune not only having to become nomads but their leader having to renounce their rank, lose her power in the form of removing several of her tails, and banished from her own clan permanently. It was a huge incident that still echoes to today.
"Yeah. I can already see where you're going with this though..."
"Mm! Found it... it's good you see where I am coming from though, to explain it would have been rather pathetic on your end..." She'd give him a smile as she pulls out a small bundle of paper tied together in ribbon. He didn't seem to appreciate the joke.
"These are records from the old era. If he didn't get to these first to alter them, it should give us what we need to call him out."
"What would you find in those records that'd help you..?" He'd question her as he moves to the door silently to confirm what he was hearing wasn't a person approaching.
"Well, his appearance mostly. As lame as that sounds given people change how they look over time, I think this would be just what we needed to fish him out." SHe'd start reading through the records hastily.
"Besides, I have observed the Guild deal with these scarlet hearts. I've seen many of them now and there is a distinction amongst them that is blatant. You will start to see from my point of view soon enough." She'd take out her phone, flipping through her gallery and handing it to Sierra, he'd take it from her and observe the pictures. It's one of the scarlet hearts the guild has dealt with before albeit the picture was taken from a distance, he looks to her and she motions for him to swipe, which he does to see another picture, and another, and another yet of a scarlet heart.
"Do you see a pattern?" She asks, hoping her noticed.
"...The colors are all the same, just in different places. Almost all of them had some variant of brown, white, and black. They all had red prominently on them though."
"Exactly! Looking at the Chieftain haven't you noticed? He's always wearing a red and white set of robes, his hair is black and his eyes are red too!"
"...He could just like those colors and it isn't like those colors aren't rare for even humans." "Nope! Because look here! *she'd excitedly shove a section of the writ she was reading from, briefly describing Gizou as he began his term as the Tengu Chieftain. It would say that his hair was black, but his eyes were blue instead of red.
"Nobody can just mistake red for blue! Also isn't it odd that there are NO pictures of the Chieftain prior to this incident that are available but many of the pictures we see of him are dated to be several years after the incident and onwards. All with his current appearance." She'd quickly search through the writs further for any more proof towards her claims.
"MMm...I suppose that is rather suspicious...but with only this you can't really expect people to take up your side. You've only got a writ of records that could have possibly been wrong after all and a possibly coincedential point. You don't have enough to support your story, Cioara." he says flatly. She looks to Sierra with disbelief that he'd shoot her down so bluntly and pouts, putting away the records where they should be.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I'm sorry..." She'd mutter.
"That's why you need witnesses." He'd fold his arms.
"...Witnesses?" She'd look to him. "Witnesses! Yeah, why didn't I think of that sooner! You're a genius Sisi!" She'd hop up to her feet with renewed vigor, Sierra shrugging his arms.
"Well, if we'd want a good witness we'll probably need to talk to the Kappa's clan head and of course to the old Kitsune head. After all, the suspected criminal and innocent bystander would be the best choices. We'll need to get out of here first though. All of your excitement might've-"
In the next moment he disappeared as the door to the room slid open, a guard having been suspicious of the noise coming from the room entering. Sierra had planted himself against the wall to avoid being noticed by him. before the guard could even yell at her to demand what she was doing in there, Sierra would slam his shin into the back of the guard's head to knock him out.
"...gotten some notice. C'mon Cio, we're getting out of here." He'd hold his hand out to her, which she would take with a smile.
"Alright, lets go!" She'd happily exclaim.
In the next moment, they disappeared together, a gust of wind blowing down the hallway. However the wind came back and ensured to close the door with the guard inside to be courteous before escaping out the temple entirely.
The investigation began.
-To be continued-
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Post by Ritzz on Jul 11, 2016 20:17:24 GMT
“Rabbit” Tyrie Scout. The animals who lived in that forest knew she was an outsider, but not in the sense that she was just foreign to the land.
She was foreign to the natural order.
An anomaly, and its name was Tyrie Scout.
She prefers the nickname "Rabbit," now.
That’s why the wolves attacked her, why the birds avoided her and why bones lay all around her cave. That desolate area where only she lived, surrounded by bones to ward away the animals to leave her be now unless they wanted to end up the same. Eventually this only led to the attraction of curious teens and superstitious cameramen to wonder why such an area was left so quiet. She didn’t want them to learn of who she was, so she used her unnatural voice to scream and ward them off from behind the rocks. This enough at least convinced them that something dangerous was lurking about and wasn’t happy that they were invading territory. If the shout didn’t scare them off, eventually the bones would, and for those who ignored the bones a rock coming from the darkness of the cave would jolt them with the energy to run away. She learned this only made things worse and eventually those hunters came.
For blood, of course there were no plans to take her alive with scary eyes like theirs.
So she ran north, she came across many forests, but she wanted one far from the humans. She found a nice spot in the northern forests of Castute, a snow filled frostland. The spot was essentially a set of rocks that plateau’d for some nice protection against rain and snow. There was a previous den of wolf occupants, quickly evicted to say the least. It was a nice location for a while, the animals left her be after she set up her territory markers and her body adjusted to the cold only barely, so she had to begin fashioning clothing out of the leaves and grass. Hunting was decent, the silence was peaceful. Up until she heard the sounds of large flapping, roars, trees being cracked to accommodate space. Her eyes opened and her glowing irises stared out of her home to the foliage and saw that the information she was given was true, they were here.
Those wyverns.
They weren’t sure how old she really was but the older members of the foster care assumed she was four when she was taken off the streets, parents dead by the hands of a escaping criminal, but it’s likely she was at least a year older than that. In any case she didn’t seem very active for a 4 year old. She played with the others but would eventually stop midway through saying she was tired but its clear she played just to be nice. She didn't really want to play with them at all. She wasn’t shy or mute but she didn’t speak with a lot of volume and she spoke in short, concise sentences. Not to say she didn’t show emotion, but rather her emotions would suddenly spurt in the wake of certain events, moodswings. The way her eyes stared at you, is what people found unnerving as well.
She wasn’t dumb and she wasn’t inattentive in her reclusiveness, she paid attention to how you acted when you didn’t know she was around or awake and how you did when you knew she was there and the way her stare got to you was almost as if she was rating you.
For what? How much of a liar you were? What you’ve done in the past that she's seen in your eyes? She knows that dark secret you've been holding?
In any case one would know if she trusted them if she didn’t have her tic happen. She’d always glance away when talking to you if she didn’t trust you. Other than her quirks she was a simple kid, she liked sweets and watched cartoons like all the others, made mistakes, learned from them, went to school, the whole 9 yards for 3 years. Then, there was a knock on the door, a strange air filled the room the kids where playing in as three men in cathedral robes entered, smiling to all the children. She stared at them, and all she felt was foreboding.
Those cultists.
They spoke to the children kindly and briefly, they told them that they would be talking about something special for the kids, the foster care staff clapped with surprise but she knew that they were in on it too. They’ve had religious people visit the foster home before but there was something very off about these men. Namely, their robes didn’t look like any of the other religious clothing she had seen and on the note of religion, they hadn’t even mentioned it at all yet. Soon her concentration was broken by them asking a strange question; “Do you like dragons?” An odd question that a lot of kids said yes to.
“What was a religious person doing talking about dragons?”
“Did their religion follow them instead of a god?” is what she thought, but she just let it go in one ear and out the other as she sat on the couch, barely giving them any mind anymore.
Crazy is what they were. They continued going on about dragons, how they could fly, immense power, breath different things, live forever, immense power, are the most awesome creatures, have immense power. “What was with this immense power stuff?” His partner droned on and kept the kids entertained with stories about dragons up until the third man came onto the stage and made the first red flag.
“Do you want to be strong and big like dragon when you grow up, and be a great hero?” A lot of the kids were confused at that point, and she obviously gave her attention then. That foreboding feeling grew. He told them that he could make them like dragons, it wouldn’t hurt and would be 'very cool' supposedly but nobody believed him. To give his proof, he pulled up his sleeve to reveal a small dragon clinging to his arm, having been motionless the entire time while hiding under his sleeve. The kids were amazed, he said it used to be a mouse, but a mouse turning into something that ugly didn’t impress her.
The kids wanted to pet it, which was where the second flag was raised. He smiled and told them they couldn’t because they could make him sick. However, he could give them a taste of what it would be like to be a dragon now if they wished.
This was when she knew something was wrong and she wanted to go outside but they noticed the silent child sitting on the couch and motioned for her to come over. She glanced away in irritation before moving up to them, and they gave her a spiel about dragons and if she was interested. She gave them her stare, and she glanced away saying “not really.” The man seemed disappointed, or suspicious, of her immediate denial but smiled and told her that was ok and let her go about her business. To escape she would excuse herself to the bathroom to get some personal space to breathe. On her way upstairs she saw the group of kids and the man who took them aside giving them cups of "juice." A red liquid.
The way it sifted around in the cup and its thick redness and opacity disturbed her yet she didn't know why. Inside, she thoguht it looked oddly like blood. Quickly she went upstairs for breathing room and pushed the thoughts out of her mind. Things were at least finally silent for a few minutes before she headed back downstairs to the living room area, the kids who got their drinks were back in the living room standing in front of the first man. He looked as he had just finished another lecture before focusing to the children in front of him.
"Little ones, did you finish your drink?" He waited, moving his eyes over each one who nodded their heads. His smile became uncomfortable to Tyrie.
"Good, good! Now children I will let you know of a secret... from the beginning you were all blessed by the lords to be gifted with a present of the divine. Every time you ate, you drank, even as you studied books it was all in preparation for this moment that we come here to you today."
"For today, I will show you the beauty of the dragon! Today I will let all of you... become something greater than dragons, heroes!" He spoke so grandly it felt like one big sham. More so, it was just outright confusing to hear.
"If that dragon on the other guy's arm was beautiful to him then he must not have very good eyes..." She thought,sitting down on near the far wall in acceptance she won't be able to leave until he's done, sighed, and let them go on about his infatuation with giant lizards.
However it was clear with his next action he would not be a sham after all. He would motion to the foster care attendants, who were all too happy to approach him wih eagerness. They reached under their shirts to retrieve chain link necklaces with strange clear gems hanging as pendants. The particular thing about the gem was that from so far away she could see that the gem was crackling with energy, or maybe the cracking was the gem itself not being able to hold what it contained for much longer. For each necklace he would kneel to each child who participated with the drinks (amounting to 5) and would appear to be praying or meditating. The lights within the gems would transfer from their jewel and enter the children's chest with apparently a bit of pain. Afterwards, the gem would crumble to dust as if the strain finally being released was what kept it together in the first place.
Then, nothing. He would send the kids who expected excitement back to their seats disappointed and started on a new lecture. She stared at him intensely and it was clear he felt her gaze as he glanced to her momentarily before continuing. She was trying to figure him out. He's hiding something, and was that magic?
Magic really exists? I've only ever seen it on the TV in the news and cartoons.
Several minutes passed since. The kids who got the drinks began to act strange, some having stomach aches while others having strong coughing fits as if their body was trying to force something back out. Then, it started. They collapsed and started crying, saying they were in big pain. Her eyes stared at the kids who collapsed, they were convulsing, the other kids trying to calm them down or just staring not knowing what to do.
"I knew it..." Was all she thought.
It would be best to back away into the kitchen is what her senses screamed to her, her intincts to 'flight' blaring alarms in her mind. She made no resistance to the thought and quickly ran into the kitchen, observing the event from around the kitchen corner. Then the change started. Their skin began to crack, not like it was dried and needed lotion but as if it hardened like stone. Their eyes widened and pupils dilated as they became thinner. Suddenly, tails and wings spurted from their bodies, throwing any unfortunate kids in the way into the walls and furniture. Their hands and feet grew and nails sharpened, their new skin was scaled and rough and their face started to extend into a snout, teeth sharpening.
She couldn’t believe was she was seeing, her legs were trembling, her pants were wet, and she felt like she was about to cry as her moodswings came about. She looked to the people that were supposed to take care of them, and they looked pleased. The cathedral men had wide smiles. All according to plan it seems. The newborn dragons thrashed about a bit scaring and hurting more children before being controlled by a loud “Enough!” from the man who held the mouse-dragon.
All 5 of the newborn dragons heeded his words and came to his vicinity. The children who weren’t knocked out or unfortunately gone from the mini-rampage were bawling their eyes out and running off to a different part of the house, one of the staff following after them. These cultists finally helped her realize why she always held a seed of suspiscion in her mind. Their were intentions clear; This wasn’t a foster home, it was a clever holding area for them to push their beliefs on the easily convinced.
Albeit, one of the foster care staff did seem disappointed. They spoke to the cathedral men in big and confusing she could barely understand but from his babble she could decipher that the dragons weren’t up to expectations. They wanted the children to keep their human body but assume the soul of a dragon and thus inherit its power. Now at least he knew he could augment and finalize his plan with these results, however he would need more subjects to be sure. The other 2 smiled and demanded the other children gather as he had a promise they literally could not refuse. The offer?
“We are the Governors of the Wyvern. We’ve come here to help you become who humans should be, a strong entity that resides at the absolute top of the food chain. You have seen our methods, but we will need more of you to come with us for a very special experiment! If you all refuse, We shall simply test this same serum on you until we see better results. Who shall come with us?”
That was when it was all over. There was no escaping the situation now. Even if she had tried to run earlier the town they lived in were all probably in on the scheme. Nobody had even come to knock on the door to question the screams and bangs.
“They probably helped keep anybody who wasn't in on the plan ignorant, or probably used them too. An entire town of crazy people..." Was what she determined in her mind, she had calmed down from her moodswing back into her quieter self.
As a staff member ushered her back up to the group the entire group was either still crying or traumatized into silence, they didn’t know what to say and didn’t want to end up like their former friends, as monsters a hero would defeat. However the cathedral men were waiting on an answer and grew impatient, so they decided to give them a deadline of thirty seconds. Thirty seconds to put your life in another person’s hand as if you were just giving them ten dollars you owed them or return their pencil you borrow. A horrible feeling. Twenty-five, twenty, fifteeen. Time was running out, nobody was saying anything. There wasn’t any way out and no “win” to this situation, so she finally decided to raise her hand.
“Fine, I’ll go.” She says dejectedly, looking to the ground rather than at the men.
“Oh! And what’s your name, little girl?” The man with the dragon on his arm questioned.
She looked to her friends before looking to the man. "My name is Tyrie. Everybody calls me Rabbit because I'm small and quiet."
"That's quite adorable, and very mature of you to step up. Thank you little Tyrie...now, would anybody el-" He would finish but Tyrie gripped his hanging sleeve and tugged for his attention.
"No, I want to go alone."
"Why would you like to do that, everything is more enjoyable with friends aren't they? Aren't you friends with them?" He responds, it felt as if he were making a cut at her at the same time.
"No, it's because I like being alone. Just leave them here and take me. If I change into something like that I want to do it somewhere by myself." She says bluntly, not looking at the man still.
Needless to say, what came out of her mouth came as a surprise. The man had considered her request, accepting it with a nod and motioned for his partner to take her hand to lead her outside. In all honesty, she really didn’t take the heroic road consciously, she just didn’t want to be group with other kids when they tested on her. If she was going to turn into that, she’d at least like to not die before she changed because her testmate went on a rampage.
"Be happy, children. For all of you she has decided to offer herself alone and spare you the chance of attaining divinity. How greedy of her... if none of you would like to challenge the offer than it would only be cruel to go back on her wishes. You will all live to be mundane men and women for today." He proudly speaks, as if that horrible event was nothing more than a mere gameshow everyone is enjoying and he's hosting it personally.
He lead her to a stark white car, blank and grayed windows you could see through. There was another man waiting inside the car, suited up in grey and brown slacks rather than in robes. She was put into the back seat while the robed man sat in the front. She sighed and crossed her arms over her black sweater, kicking her short jeaned legs. She asked them if the dragon kids would be ok and the robed man gave a chuckling yes. Her eyes narrowed, seeing that poisonous lie at the edge of his snide smile. The cultist looked in the mirror to her, mentioning that she was surprisingly calm for having been through such a experience.
All of that, merely an "experience" to him.
She replied in her quiet voice.
“I have lots of good luck so I think that some bad luck was going to balance it out anyways.”
Then, the car pulled off...
It’s been a few days, or maybe a few weeks now for her. She wasn’t able to tell, they kept returning to her room to perform brief ceremonies unto her, and she knew this was to prepare her for the change rather than to give her blessing. They had her in a thick plastic cube, with a fisheye camera directly above to watch her every move. There was a bed, a toilet, and a table with pen and paper and a small stack of books. She was a prisoner of style it seemed. They fed her strange drugs they said would make her drowsy so she spent most of her time asleep with them performing any examinations they wanted on her body, much to her discomfort, but at least she wasn’t breathing fire yet.
Deep inside she was really scared, her heart pounded every time they came into her cell, thinking today would finally be the day and they would tell her “You are ready.” She couldn’t bear thinking of losing herself to becoming a dragon, she hadn’t even gotten a chance to amount to anything yet. Over this was her layer of normal attitude and a thin veil of acceptance because at least she would be out of the house. Her own wit brought her to tears on that thought, really a terrible situation to be in if even her own cynical jokes hurt.
Time passed and she had no idea what was in store for her, she did manage to pretend being asleep after taking the drugs she gave her to listen in on a conversation between the cultists before she gave into the drug's effects. Unfortunately, it seems that one of her testmates didn’t survive the change and died of something she could not pronounce but it was bad and his heart couldn’t withstand it. They would be bringing in another one to replace him. The other two had taken what they considered the final version of their ceremony but something went wrong with their heads, they were still too rabid to control so they put them in isolation. She was really worried now, if the final version they were going to give her made her rabid then she wouldn’t even be worth their time in the end. They’d kill her. She then drifted to sleep.
Blood on the walls, bodies laying on the furniture, the place is burning down. She’s running, crying. She doesn’t know where to even go anymore but she keeps running because she hears the roars. Those terrifying roars. Then a hand grabs her shoulder and stops her, a man in a robe is holding her down with a scary smile telling her that it won’t hurt a bit and looks up, her eyes follow to see the snout of a dragon in her face and it opens, fire coming loose. Then she jolts awake, sitting up and clutching her pillow tight to herself.
A nightmare, one of her first. She was sweating and trembling, taking a good minute to finally calm down, which the cultists decided to make the prime opportunity to visit her cell suddenly. They didn’t appear like the others, they had worn deep violet robes adorned with red and gold trims, and a strange mask that resembled a snake. She knew very well what this meant. It was her time. When she first got there they took her clothes and outfitted her in a gown but apparently those who change are outfitted in ceremonial clothing. A black cloak with a golden tiara, lastly, they gave her a dragonfruit. Adorable. She was lead back outside during the night through a dirt trail up to a temple, the top of the temple astonished her the most.
There was an otherworldly glow there, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. It was the large white dragon fastened to the temple in chains and fixtures. It didn’t appear that it was alive anymore, but not like it was decaying for very long either. It probably took so long for her turn because they had to catch this one and bring it here. The walk was mostly silent the rest of the way. Entering the temple was most boring than expected, not many details lining the steps or inner hallways, but exiting the other end of the hallway lead to the antechamber, filled with what she now understood were acolytes on either side of the path, taking a knee and giving her prayer for a safe resurrection. How nice of them.
The antechamber lead back outside, to the center of the temple which was a gilded plaza. Several of the priests she had seen before stood on top of stone pillars, humming an ominous chant. The two that lead her to the temple had guided her to a table in the center of the room, made of stone and oddly tinted red. Foreboding filled her once more as she was forced to lay on it. With her position, she stared straight up into the dead dragon’s maw, its lifeless eyes staring back at her made her heart pound more. The priests had began to talk to the acolytes who entered from the antechamber to witness the rebirth of a being who truly deserved to be at the top of the food pyramid, a full spiel that she barely paid attention to. At the end of it all, she looked to the priest and as her last words she at least asked him what was going to happen to her.
“Youngling, what we’ve brought you here to do is to have you take on the energies of this dragon into yourself. You’ve seen it before at the foster care, yes. Those children who changed before your very eyes. We had given them a drink that was full of dragon blood. However, the soul was not the dragon’s we had killed like this one, it was a soul of one we had killed before, preserved with necromancy and held in that white gem. The soul was so powerful it took much effort from our higher acolytes to maintain the gem before the soul started to fade, or 'fragment.'" He said. She remembered the drinks, why she was so nervous then.
" A very risky procedure… we could have lost the soul in the best case scenario. Worst of all it could have unleashed untold havoc within our chambers. We had known that the soul of a dragon was needed to grant one the power of a dragon, but we wanted more. Power of a dragon is useless if the body can’t withstand the power inside of it, or will die before it even gets a chance to use it. Human bodies are frail after all…so that’s why we decided to merge soul to soul and body with the blood." He said matter-of-factly.
"This was more scientifically driven rather than our normal methods to alter the body using draconic blood and genes that would merge with the humans that we cultivated over time to easily absorb these genes with their body. It would change them forcibly into a body that mocked a dragon’s as a human body would not withstand even holding the blood as a normal man, and their mind and organs would stay the same. In the end, those men often died of drinking the blood and succumbing soon afterwards. So unfortunate really..."
"That was before we thought to use the soul as well however. Soul power. This would give the body the strength it needs to withstand the change after drinking the blood but now you have seen with your own eyes how that eventually ended. Interesting results but overall unsatisfactory. We saved those few for study later. They died in the end because once again, their organs were still human, they couldn't maintain a complete dragon's physique."
"Long before those children we had failed, before that we used teens and adults, but their bodies were too accustomed to their human forms that attempts to change it ended with death….and now we see where our mistakes really lie.” He says, looking over his shoulder to Tyrie.
She was silent for his entire speech, she didn’t understand what he was talking about, but she knew he was crazy. Insane. Had no morals and soon she’d probably end up a released project too. She’d squirmed at the sight of one of the specially gowned priests taking a strange dagger from under his sleeve, moving to just under the dragon’s neck onto a square of stone. The square would slowly rise as a pillar, bringing him close to its neck.
“We now understood that the strength of a soul fades without a proper vessel. The spirit fragments all too easily in the gems we made for storage. Hence those changelings we made were too weak as well” He positioned himself at the front of the table, adjusting her head forcefully to look up at the dragon.
Her breathing pace increased as he let go and moved away.
“They should be taken while they are still strong! This one was heavily injured before we brought him here and we ended his life mere moments before you got here. You probably heard its roars even while you were in the holding cells.”
She did indeed remember roars, but only in her nightmares. This beast was the source after all.
“And the blood…the blood, the blood, the blood…foolish of us to have it consumed. We should have followed after the old queen’s footsteps…” He raised his hand, the chanting of the priests around him intensifying.
A light glowing in the dragon’s chest where its heart should be. It’s soul. The priest holding the dagger stabbed upwards into the dragon’s neck with surprising ease and dragged it forward, her eyes widened as the blood came splashing down on her like a torrent of rain. Coating her in red.
“The best way to retain your youth and power would just simply be to bathe in the blood of those with power. Blood coating the outside of the body instead should only alter the outer body as it gets absorbed into the skin.” He thrust his hand out to the side to signal the command.
The priests all glowing momentarily as Tyrie rolled onto her back as she coughed, half throwing up and half coughing back out the blood that fell into her mouth. The soul sparkled and shot out like a javelin, slamming into her back and made her jolt forward. She felt her chest tighten after this, shaking a bit as she looked up to the priests, all eagerly awaiting results. It began too soon for her to even regret having laid still on the table, she lurched forward, coughing and gagging on air as she felt like she was about to throw up, holding her head as a burning headache tore through her mind. Her skin was cracking, like the others had, but only in specific areas.
She could feel the skin on her forehead roughening and could barely feel the table with her legs as the skin would be replace by small, tough black scales. The rest of her skin stayed its softness and dark skin tone. Her back would be aching as she felt it changing, felt it moving even. It was growing longer and breaking through the skin on her back, though it was not bare, it was coated in a thick layer of scales as well, the priests were impressed by how fast the progress was compared to before, seemingly none of the previous two testmates grew tails. She tired biting her lips to distract herself from the pain but soon even that would hurt as her canines sharpened. Her sight became momentarily cloudy as they changed, the irises adjust to become more reptilian and more interestingly, a glowing ring had grew around her pupils, orange.
Soon enough, the pain would subside and she’d collapse forward, giving herself a break to breath. Was she even still alive or is this just a extra bit of punishment in the afterlife? The acolytes gossiped amongst one another and some were intrigued while others were displeased. They all unanimously seemed to agree that her lack of scales and wings was a disappointment and still left her vulnerable. The priest was proud of his work nonetheless. He learned something new from this experience and was already plotting adjustments.
“Acolytes! Behold, our success of a hybrid! No…our success of a new species, the new heads of the food chain, the next conquerors of this world. Tonight, we have played god, and now we will steal right from under his nose the spotlight that kept him special! First this one, then 2, 5, 6, 10! Many more! Aye!” The priests and acolytes cheered. She could barely stay conscious for any longer and closed her eyes, but as she drifted, she heard a voice amongst the yelling.
Those madmen…
Fate is a lot like an ocean, where the tiniest wave, the smallest ripple, the slightest oscillation can turn into a large tide. That’s exactly what she felt like; as if she was in an ocean and a tidal wave of fate has crashed into her. It took her some time to even manage getting down the temple steps before she collapsed, the priests had to carry her the rest of the way. That was where everything seemed to speed up around her and leave her in the dust. Hours turned to days and days into weeks within this coma, dreaming of a isolated solace.
A house in the suburbs, it was a dry heat that called for ice cream and she just ran back inside the house with a cone already dripping onto the door mat from the heat. Her mother was calling her name. She thought she was in trouble and called for her mother in return, but she couldn’t remember where she was before she left. In fact, now that she thought about it, this voice was unfamiliar to her. A womanly figure approached her from the kitchen quickly, the girl looked to her feet to see the ice cream stains and apologized to her mother. For a moment, there was silence followed by a solemn chuckle. The mother crouched down to where her face met the girl’s the and the girl was shocked frozen, there was no face. Haze. Cloudiness. A fog.
“Child, This one is not your mother.” The woman said, and soon her world began to burn away in a bright flash. There was no heat she soon realized, but rather it was disintergrating instead. Her eyes couldn’t handle the sudden exposure and she covered them with her rough forearm….rough forearm?
"Oh, that’s right…the scales…”
Soon she remembered. Piece by piece. It was all so confusing at first but now it was all too obvious who would be interrupting her dream now. She moved her hands from her eyes, the darkness of her brown eyes having receded slightly by the luminescent orange ring around her eyes, it would be hard to see the reptilian features even if you were in a social zone with her, but up close you’d be able to see the thinness of her irises more clearly. Said irises dilated in the light as they adjusted to finally let her see the source. How it worried her that she would be sharing a room with it in her head.
The dragon. Disembodied from the neck down it was simply a illuminating head and neck floating in the dark crevices of her mind. The way it floated there, as if it was still lifeless disturbed her, because she felt as if it could have taken on a more sociable form, but it would take this one to talk to a young girl after a traumatizing event. How Kind. It was expecting something, conversation she felt and she opened her mouth, albeit nothing would come. She tried again twice, her words disappearing in the void or not appearing at all. She instead thought of another way, to simply think the words to it instead.
“This thing was from the temple...why's it here? Am I dreaming still?"
This time, she felt its presence resonate with her, her body trembled as the dragon spoke. It almost felt natural to tremble under the presence of its voice. A voice that commands authority and demands respect. It was booming and deep inside her mind.
“Finally, fleshling. You are able! Able to speak with This One...This One, called Rhyalis.”
It was waiting for her to wake? It didn’t seem angry at her at all.
"Rhyalis..? Why are you…inside my dreams? Is it because of that weird stuff that happened with the ceremony? Shouldn't you be dead?"
Rhyalis gave a solemn chuckle.
“This one and the many others are not so weak even in death, child. We are ever-lasting in life, and long-lasting in death. Tis why mortals revere us so highly, why we are so mighty. Why you all fear us.”
“This one’s soul hast joined yours, so now we are one of the same. An interesting tale to pass down the generations, yes? However, you would not be the first, nor the last. There are many more natural ways for ones like you to be born, and it is simply to be born of mother and father, of dragon and human…but now it seems a new taboo shall arise, as this strange art to bind us has made you the same as The Hybrids. It does not seem like you have adjusted to such a change…”
Rhyalis spoke all of this as if he was a wise old man who knew everything from the beginning. She felt as if she asked him who she was that he would give her name right down to her great-grandparents.
“Of course not, I wasn’t born to be a dragon but I was...made to anyways. You must mean that….I’ll die?” She said, to end her sentence with those words almost choked her as she had a bit of difficulty trying to say the words. Rhyalis stared to her, or it felt like he did. His orange eyes didn’t move nor did his mouth even as he spoke. He was appraising her.
He spoke to her bluntly.
“Aye. You are but a child. Now that you have absorbed this one’s soul. The soul of one who holds a divine essence like the many others. Your powerful soul will tear your weak body from the inside out.” She grimaced, rubbing her arm.
“What a… really lame series of events. If your soul is so divine then why can’t you call god to just separate us safely?” She looked up to him with naïve wonder. Rhylais gave a more hearty chuckle.
“Child you misunderstand This one’s words. All members of the draconic race derive from the gods, not the god you pray to. Our souls are mere fragments of their divine essence, you could say This one, and now you, are the offspring of a god…but to say we have a foothold amounting to their enormous power could possibly be only a feverdream. We are merely children to them the way you are a child both literally and figuratively to me. We cannot call on them for aid, we must fend for ourselves as mortals who do not age, but do die. Rarely.” He says, staring to her.
“So, we’re in really bad luck…figures… I guess fate still wants some bad karma to make up for all the good karma it gave me all those years I lived. I am sorry that you had to be stuck with someone so frail.” She mutters from behind her wrists. By now she’s taken on a crestfallen posture, sitting with her knees pulled close to her chest and resting her arms on her knees, leaning forward with her forehead on her arms next.
“You…are sorry?” He would scoff at the thought, his laugh sounding more like angry growls, disturbing her slightly but she wouldn’t change position or posture.
“You are a strange child indeed. This One has interest in you, so calm after those events. You speak so casually to someone of this stature. You even consider my life in addition to yours. This One doesn’t worry about his fate, he has lived a long and wise life…. But now This one would like to see you grow.”
This piqued her interest, her head rising with a puzzled expression, somewhat alien to her normal facial expressions.
“You would like to see me grow..? I’m sorry but I’ve been the same height for a while and puberty doesn’t hit for another year or so…”
“Bwahaha…once again child, you humble me with your confusion. This One means to have you survive. You will not grow in age with a soul like his, and he is afraid your body will stop maturing in the soon to come years. You will grow in power. You will become strong enough to withstand the essence of a divine and earn your spot amongst the race of draconics.” He spoke with such a tone it almost felt as if she was stuck within an old storybook about the birth of a legendary hero.
She hated those books, but the chance for survival had sparked something inside of her. She hadn’t felt it in the many months she was stuck with the cultists, she almost forgot how to even spell the word.
Hope.
She would stand, taking a step forward to the dragon. “Why didn’t you say so sooner? You made me worried for no reason. I will gladly accept your help.”
Her mind began to buzz as the reality around her shifted, the blackness surrounding them both beginning to erode away as the dragon’s head and neck began to pulse with life. The darkness around it shattered like glass as a clawed leg would step forth, then another, wings breaking through the darkness above his back. Soon he would stand proper, towering over the small girl.
He spread his wings the width of an airplane and let loose a mighty shriek to the neverending sky, light emanating around him and finally burning away the last of the darkness. They now stood in a world of beautiful golden light. The white scaled dragon leaning its neck down to Tyrie, examining her once more before returning its neck to its normal craning position. With all the special effects around her and him, it’d almost look like an angel had finally heard her cries and saw her tears, deciding now would be the best time to save her when her life was at risk.
“Child…Tyrie…you wish to gather strength? This One shall acknowledge your whim. However…”
“However?” She personally thought to herself. “Oh, so that it was this is. It’s a Deal.”
“You must understand that now, you will find your actions grim. There is no denying that in the near future you must commit a crime against life to preserve your own. To kill. You will not kill those humans, but instead you will reenact the same process that made you who you are." He slowly explained, continuing further.
"You must slay another with the soul of a dragon, and devour their essence much like you have done to This one. You will have to fight enemies, you may have to fight those who you don’t know, you may even have to hunt down a friend, should they have the essence… With enough souls, you can stabilize your spirit and body, and live on the rest of your days in peace, or finally seek revenge against those who made you this way."
He did pause for a moment, looking around at the dark abyss surrounding them.
"However I am not forcing you to make this choice, you can always opt to wait until your eventual demise, or you can end it here. Now. Give your conscious to me and I will finish it for the both of us. I will wait for you decision any time you decide to make your offer.” He began to turn, to relax on his golden throne within the realm of the gods, or at least that’s how she felt that the place they were in was. She didn’t even let him get a chance to lay down completely when she called his name.
“Rhyalis! I accept your offer! I’ll become…a real Hybrid, a stronger one if that’s what it takes to keep me alive.” She said defiantly, not to him, but to fate that brought her here.
Rhyalis turned to her, it almost seemed that a smile had grown on his face as his mouth opened with a low “hmm” coming from it. He would bow his head in acknowledgement.
“Then it is clear between You and This one. However, in order for you to stand a chance, you must know what you are now, and just what kind of power your body has absorbed. This One will teach you to harness this power as a dragon, and you will use it to whatever human ingenuity you can muster. Let me introduce myself in full…”
“I am Rhyalis, Wyvern of Energy.”
And it was there that Faust and the Devil, formed the contract that would shape her history.
Those two…
It had been several months since her rebirth as a Hybrid. The days would be absorbed with her inspections, typically on her growth which of course was bare, her mental states had not deteriorated like the other changelings, and her physical form was stable. At night, she would dream with Rhyalis, learning her potential; to control Energy that surrounds us all, is within is, and fuels the very universe. It was so mystical hearing it from him, but then she heard him tell her that now she would be able to take that energy and use it to her benefit. To break, destroy and maim. Or maybe to save. Honestly, she felt indifferent to either cause.
She’d be stuck in a lonely plastic cube that smelled like a hospital surrounded by people she didn’t like, but she had not felt instincts to outright murder them all, yet. She learned how to take that energy and bring it to a physical form around her, like sparkling stars or a glittering mist. She would learn how to release a mighty shout that could knock even the sturdiest of doors off its hinges if she was close enough and Rhyalis even gave her an example. She tried to imitate to an embarrassing amount, to which Rhyalis would nonchalantly tell her it would be best to observe herself do it in real life. She learned most importantly how to breathe.
Not like a human, like a dragon, to unleash a torrent of energy at any unfortunate to still be in the way. It would be unfocused and more consuming than it should be, but she would grow accustomed to it quickly is what the dragon told her. She couldn’t hide it, she was a bit excited.
For many days from then, a rut. Walking to one side would be cultists invading her privacy to near illegal levels if there even were some form of law and order where she was trapped, and retreating to her mind to speak with her only friend. Day after day. Her cell door opened but it was hardly a surprise as she laid in her bed. She would be able to see the woman through the plastic from even the dark, but she didn’t see the woman. The girl’s ears heard that woman before she came in the room, nose smelled her. The girl barely gave the woman any acknowledgement before the woman simply spoke.
“Good Afternoon, I am Carla. As of today, you will be subservient to me as you prove your worth. Honestly, I see no hope in you, no meaning to why a mere child should inherit the soul of a dragon when a man could have easily tested it himself and gotten the same results from our only dragon within these parts. You’ll have to do, as High priest Delgrosse believes you are his magnum opus.” The woman speaks down to Tyrie with such indifference to the danger Tyrie could pose to her right now or how hurtful her words could be to a kid like that. It was soon clear that when Tyrie’s senses had soared that the hair on the back of her neck standing was a good sign. This woman, Carla, was powerful and testing Tyrie’s patience. She wanted Tyrie to make the move for an excuse to slaughter the Hybrid if she really thinks Tyrie was not worth the time and effort. A minute had passed with silence and Carla sighed dejectedly before speaking again.
“What? Are you afraid? Just stand up and follow me. Don’t worry about changing clothes, those robes from the ceremony will be enough.” She said, turning and leaving the cell at a pace Tyrie would catch up to. The girl thought about her clothes at last, how they hadn’t been washed by her in some time yet they smelled clean still. Maybe it was because she didn’t sweat and play in the dirt, and possibly they cleaned it while she was asleep. The latter disturbed her more than it should have, but she did take it off before sleeping at least.
By the time her mind caught up to her, she was walking down a crisp hallway with Carla. She hadn’t really walked in a long time, so adjusting herself to her counterweight swishing behind her naturally as she steps was a bit awkward. The floor was cold to her bare feet as well, but she didn’t mind. What she did mind was the amount of people walking around in suits and robes alike, all of them looking like busy doctors who don’t even care about her existence, no fear or curiosity.
“Oh, it’s because I wasn’t the first to be changed like this, and not the last. That’s why.” She figured in her mind. Seeing her must have been everyday to them. She just followed Carla through the hallways, she could see outside from a brighter viewpoint, since last she saw it was pitch black night, the night of the ceremony. She saw many trees and shrubs but no buildings, not a city’s buildings at least. She saw smaller structures that could compare to cabins, and the temple in the distance. This building was probably where all the important stuff happened is what she believed. Carla would take her down staircases around the hallways once more until another set of stairs downwards and finally to a door that lead back outside, filling her nose with a healthy dose of fresh air.
Carla would urge Tyrie to follow , not bothering to even say “Don’t run” but it was clear with her walking posture and the guardtowers she soon saw erected around in the perimeter of the building that she wouldn’t in her right mind. It was now she saw what she was approaching, her nose wrinkled from its smell. It smelled similar, a bad memory, but of what? What was it, oh! The Foster Home.
They want to see her worth, of course. It was like a magnet dropping into a bunch of needles and bringing them all together. She was going to fight.
They stepped into a tall structure no different in appearance than the temple with large stone bricks and adobe, but the halls were steeped in a rancid stench. She was hesitant to continue, but Carla had already expected this and took her hand, practically dragging the girl along. Ahead she saw the hallway split into a perpendicular, with the other end widening out, the two side paths were rather clean to the path ahead of them. It was coated in red stains and the rocky looking scales of changelings. Carla let the girl’s hand go and let her stand in the center of the room, she would move to the side and place her hand against her temple, speaking to someone that isn’t there. Her chest felt heavy, her breath quickened, her arms were tired and now she was getting a headache.
“Fight? I’m going to fight? A little dragon? But I’m not…I..don’t want to…” is what ran through her head. Rhyalis telling her the time would come and the time actually coming made her realize something devastating. She was a pacifist, and now it was too late to ask if she could return to her room. The end of the hall had a wall slowly raise, revealing itself to be a gate. Carla folded her arms and looked to Tyrie in anticipation. Tyrie looked back to her and then straight ahead into the light, into that arena. All she saw was the eyes of a changeling staring back. It had already been waiting in the field for her, albeit impatiently.
Glowing chains had surrounded its body to prevent its movement, probably magic, like the ones from The Wizard of Oz she thought. She whimpered and stood frozen in place, there was NO way they thought that she could fight that thing, or was even going to bother leaving the room. She’d stand there for a good moment before she’d snap back to reality, having been grabbed at the shoulders by Carla. Carla had tanned skin but very blue eyes, sea blue even. Her long brown hair had curls and her face was so furrowed all the time it seemed that was just naturally her default expression. She didn’t seem angry at Tyrie and leaned forward to whisper into Tyrie’s ear.
“You can do it, there are others waiting for you.” Tyrie blinked as she heard the words, and then blinked as she was suddenly on the sandy ground in front of the gate. Carla had thrown her out into the arena. Where’d that strength come from?
She had no time to consider it as the gates were closing and her eyes focused back forward, the chained changeling was snarling. She saw that the skin that hadn’t changed was fair and it had blue eyes too. Maybe she had once known this kid? Rhyalis had gained her attention as he suddenly spoke to her, a pre-game brief.
“This One sees that you have to fight whether you’d like it or not. This One has taught you all that he can without a body and with so little space for you to move in. I have taught you the ways of a dragon with the little power you have, but you now have a chance to steal that tortured soul resting in that one’s chest. Devour it and become stronger, learn from that faded spirit just like you learned from mine. All you need to do is add your own human touch to it, just as you have added even the smallest touch to my speech patterns.” He chuckled, but he was right.
They’ve both influenced each other in a way, delving into the mindset of a member of the Draconic race, but now it was time for a human to step forward and use a little bit of thinking to pull through. She’d grimace, assuming her low stance on all fours. It made her look a lot like a tiger or lion with how her knees and elbow had their bends, ready to pounce or spring at any moment. Her eyes had fear in them, but just the necessary amount to keep her cautious rather than reckless. She knew where to strike thanks to what Rhyalis had told her and saw many bones and stones lying around she could use to her advantage. Now that she noticed, the arena had seats, many of them lined up safely away from the carnage so that onlookers can watch and record data.
She couldn’t even take a breath to finally calm her racing heart down before the chains on the dragon were released, it releasing a disturbing roar as it bounded towards Tyrie, she saw in its mouth what had haunted her nightmares.
Those Teeth!
She’d use her tensed up muscles to spring herself perpendicular to the pouncing dragon, going about 10 feet to the right of it with a bit of extra distance from skidding on all fours. She surprised herself with how much her physical body has changed but the cultists don’t seem entirely impressed. She readjusted herself as the dragon searched around and found her position, opting to charge towards her instead. The creature was like the previous ones she had seen before. It had wings, claws, sharp teeth, and long limbs.
Those heavy scales and bulky body made it look a bit rounder rater than a sleek lizard and probably added to its clumsy looking gait and slow movement. She was much faster but it’s clear who was stronger out of the two, she wasn’t planning on risking taking it head-on. She circled the beast as she moved on her hands and feet around the edges of the arena to buy her time as she observed everything within the arena. As she saw before, bones and carcasses from previous losers, large stones, and now she’s noticed a sturdy link of chain attached to a section of the wall. It was probably broken by the last prisoner it held before they switched to using those glowing magic chains.
She tried forming a plan but she felt hotter. Strangely hot, for only just starting some exercise. Damn near painful even!
She’d quicken her pace as she notices a wall of fire chasing her from behind, coming from the dragon’s mouth. Even if she does have tough scales on her arms and legs those would probably melt off in flames like those. She’d quickly decide to beeline for a nicely sized stone and pick it up in her hand as she ran over it, putting her trust in her eyes as she throws it as hard as she could, it didn’t hit the beast’s eyes as she hopes but lodging it in the nose had the same effect of stopping the flames. It even felt a little comical to see it like that, but there’s no denying it was angry now and went after her again.
There was no way she could keep it from breathing flames if she was running away, she already figured she needed to go on the offensive to get the advantage and some time to think, so she looked back on Rhyalis’ words. She could breath too. As the creature approached she focused on harnessing the energy around her. Much like meditation in a way, she thought of ‘talking’ to her environment for aid. Asking the world to give her the energy to defend herself. It slowly began to conjure in front of her mouth as a ball of energy, backed by a translucent magic circle.
However, it was too slow. She couldn’t gather the energy to fire in time and had to abandon the act as the dragon raised a claw and cleaved a clean claw mark into the earth, like three rows of earth ready to be filled with seeds. If that was too slow, then maybe she could try focusing the energy somewhere else? Rhyalis told her energy can be used in many ways, all she would need to do is make one that works for her. She decided to try her arm instead, glowing white energy beginning to circle her left forearm as she traveled around to the side of the beast, its head turning to follow her as it stayed wary of her new movement. Its mouth started to flare with flame again.
She closed the gap between them staying just meters away as she slammed her energy reinforced arm into the earth, releasing a wave of energy up as if she just slapped the surface of a pool.
The energy crashed into the dragon and in its surprise it fell over onto its side with a screech. The cultists looked on with interest now, as did Tyrie. She saw she had a chance, if it’s this slow then she can beat it if she can hit somewhere weak. She thought about the weakpoint only then because even after that lightshow, the dragon stood up. It appeared to be damaged with some scales lifted off its hide and some blood trickling, but that was not nearly enough to subdue it. It stared at her and she felt its burning anger. It was livid.
The joints? The underbelly? The tail? Just what could she do to take this monster down? How many clean hits would it take? It didn’t even look like breathing fire constantly was tiring it out. Her best bet was beating it until it showed some signs of slowing down for the coup de grace. Sending a wave from a distance like before only caused a small wound, so she’d need to get up close and personal for better effect.
She decided to go for its legs, no movement would make this thing an easy target. She took her lower posture and kept a watchful eye of its mouth and claws. She dived forward to slide under an expected swipe over its claws and tensed her body to spring upward as she slowed to a stop under its stomach, with a shorter charge of energy than last time she pounced forward and slammed a burst of energy into the creatures gullet, rising it off the ground for only a moment. It lurched backward and spittle splattered onto the ground as it ejected from the monster’s mouth, blood spilling from its new wound onto the earth. It screeched towards the sky as it backed up and sent claws everywhere it could under itself to shred the little hybrid under it.
Failing just barely as she’d escape from the gap between its legs. She huffed with annoyance as she held her shoulder, a glistening wound going from the front of her shoulder across her chest with a small gap in the center of her chest wound over her heart, and even some scales on her forearm cracked into two. She managed to guard her vital organ using her tough scales and the force of receiving the blow during her guard luckily pushed her back enough so the claws wouldn’t rend the other side of her chest and rib cage open. She’d take a few breaths to adjust to the pain, giving her injured arm a bit of movement to check if it could manage some more stress.
The dragon was watching her moves closely now, it appeared to have gone on the defensive. A moment of watching each other as she circled around him and she dropped to all fours once more, taking another charge for its underbelly to take advantage of its sluggish movement, but then something strange happened; The wings of the dragon flapped hard and violently to send up a plume of dust around it, much of it getting into Tyrie’s eyes upon its sudden movement and blinding her. She recoiled back as she rubbed her eyes, the panic of being unable to see having taken over her sense and left her vulnerable to the dragon’s next move.
In her mind, she thought she was transported to a highway and was struck by a car, or maybe a pickup truck, possibly a 16 wheeler at most. Whatever it was, it got her clean and sent her flying into the wall with an agonizing crack. She whimpered as she bounced off the wall and laid on the floor, numbness overtaking her right arm as she realized it was definitely broken somewhere. “Get up” she thought. “I need to get up, now.”
She propped herself up using her good hand and the wall as assistance. She had the wind knocked out of her and she felt a bit of her life too, dazed and confused but the tears were at least drowning away the dust that blinded her so she could partially see now. It was coming again, but its head lowered and neck craned to the side. She used all the strength she could gather to throw herself a few meters to the ground opposite of where the head hanged, to see it swing the head upward like a hammer and crush the wall she smashed into even further, scaring some of the cultists as well. She slowly got to her feet as the dragon was recovering from its reckless charge.
Her body was a little more sturdy than she thought but without another arm she was at even more of a disadvantage. Trying the same spot won’t work since it learns but she knows that if it would protect that same spot, then she must have did more damage than she thought.
Very Nice.
She’d consider her options, looking around the arena and notice the chains once more, conjuring up a plan in her mind. She knew how to win now, and it was all so simple, but she was too scared to think of even considering it. With a broken arm and nearly liquefied bones otherwise, she doesn’t have a choice in the end anyways.
“Hey! Hey, over here!” She yelled as she picked up a small stone. Her voice wasn’t very loud even if she wasn’t in pain but it was enough to get its attention. Surprising it with a preemptive strike, the thrown rock would actually hit it in the eye this time, giving it grief and shrieking loudly in pain, its mouth flaring with flame as it steps forward towards her. One eye blinded and bleeding with the other glaring down at her in fury, it chased her as she used her two human legs to lead it around the arena’s walls as a flame trailed behind her. She was praying in her mind that she would not trip, or it’d all be over.
She leaned down and grabbed the chain as she ran then bolted as hard as she could towards the center of the arena, stretching the thick chain taught like a line. The dragon’s head would follow her, but not its sluggish body and as its legs continued to move into the chain she’d gasp as she’d be dragged nearly off her feet back into the fire but stomped her feet into the earth and pulled forward to keep the clothesline strong, succeeding and tripping the dragon forward and onto its front, sliding its head into the wall and letting stones crumble down onto its face, confusing it further. She took this chance to charge forward, keeping an eye on its movements as the claws would scratch away the stones, revealing its good eye to look at Tyrie.
Her brows furrowed as its body entered its defensively stable state again as she approached, and she’d notice the wings rising this time. Closing her eyes and shielding them with her arm she’d prevent the blinding attack this time, and finally let her able to see what struck her soon afterwards at high speed. It’s tail! Dragging along the ground to make sure it hit her small stature, it was a smart move the dragon made for all its reckless actions before, but Tyrie learned from her mistakes as well and used her draconic strength to leap a few meters forward above the beast’s tail.
Landing onto its stomach clumsily and sliding to the ground in a stumble, she’d continue with the momentum as she uses her hand to prevent herself from falling to the ground and approach the dragon’s head in a dash as it’d move its head to meet her, Tyrie twirling briefly just before touching its jaw, an orb of energy starting to grow in front of her mouth again.
“Let me return this back to you!” she thought, as she slammed her own tail into the dragon’s jaw with a satisfying crack to give it a taste of its own medicine.
As she expected from the trauma, the dragon would shriek once more and leave itself open to her coup de grace. Abandoning all her senses and fears for this moment, she’d prop the dragon’s mouth open using her arm and leg. Staring down into its maw to see the raw pink flesh within, she felt heat starting to surge within its bosom as the embers of a flame rose from its throat, pressure on her arm and legs as it tries to clamp down on her as well. She had to resist just a little bit longer, hold out for just a few seconds more, stand fast for just that moment and so she struggled, her face contorting in pain and anger as all her mind felt at that moment was what Rhyalis had once told her all dragons felt when they feel threatened, what pushes them on to tear down any foe who stands in their way; The will to Conquer and Triumph.
She took a deep breath and breathed outward as the flames began to erupt towards her, releasing a unfocused beams of energy down into the dragon’s throat. Its legs and claws flailed in reaction to the pain and its head shook and struggled on its own to shake her out of its maw but the little hybrid did not release. Only instead did she put a bit more effort in to the beam to focus it just enough to burn through the fleshy innards of its mouth and a hole through the back of its throat, crashing into the wall behind it. Its movement slowed until it finally stopped seconds after this newly formed windpipe, and finally with the final twitches of a resistance to death it laid still, leaving a charred scent of scales in the air. The cultists surrounding the arena in the seats looked on in awe or expectance as they knew she’d come out as the victor.
She’d stare into the dragon’s maw, something the cultists couldn’t see her do as she stood, and called out into the dragon silently. To bring out the soul she rightfully earned
“Come to me, your true owner now. Vacate this flawed form and join my own. Grant me your power and strength and together we will ascend…”
It almost felt natural for her to say even though she thought of it on the spot. She half expected it to fail, but as Rhyalis had explained to her that it would come so long as she demanded its presence, it did. A fading light of a former soul. She felt somewhat sad for it, to be burned out in an imperfect form doomed to fail and be eventual cannon fodder for a real test subject, but she also felt happiness that she was giving it somewhere to finally rest in, finally let its true power come to light and be of use. Within her it would be another pillar supporting the legacy of her rise to power.
After that, everything went blank again, albeit this time much longer. A coma, induced from concussions of battle and eventually passing out. It was here she spent her month of rehabilitation in her mind speaking to the faded soul of the dragon she absorbed, but to her she’d rather consider it “saving” their souls instead. Opposed to Rhyalis who was freshly killed before his absorption, this dragon whom named herself Kurit was restricted from passing on to the next realm and held in stasis by necromantic arts before it was moved to its new vessel. The dragon changeling.
She spoke similarly to Rhyalis but was much more first person and used “I” and “me” when referring to herself. Albeit she remembered little about herself is what was the most glaring issue, the next being that even in her mind her form was, for lack of our understanding, warped. Distorted and cracked it was like looking into a shattered glass image, Tyrie could only feel sorry for Kurit’s state and asked Rhyalis if there was any way to mend her, but she herself told Tyrie that in time it would not matter. Her consciousness would fade away as her soul has bonded to Tyrie’s and is now simply a part of her being now, all she could do now is share her strength and power as Tyrie had requested of her in the first place, so she granted Tyrie the knowledge of how to use a dragon’s shout, and her soul granted Tyrie scales that could harden past her fingertips and toes in the form of claws.
It was confusing in a way but made sense considering the dragon changeling she came from and now gave her an idea of what she could attain from the other souls she takes. What abilities stick out the most would be what she could make use of. The roar were a unseen addition, but the claws were obvious. It appears that she couldn’t obtain the flame breath though, but she was content not setting her clothing aflame on purpose and accident. In the remaining time they had left, Rhyalis and Kurit would keep her company while she dreamed. Seeing her recurring nightmares of the foster care’s incident.
“Such a strange child. So accepting of what the world gives to her, if I was her I would have already tried escaping. Death would be more preferable to being a subject should I be caught in the act.” Kurit says as she watches the nightmare from the darker corner of Tyrie’s mind, Rhyalis himself sat opposite to her in that golden region when he first introduced himself to Tyrie.
“This One agrees. However, I expect that is just simply her nature… she has spoken before about how fate treats her and she believes misfortune is attracted to her being. She says that she had cried because of such circumstances.” Rhyalis gives a heavy breath from his nose as he pauses for a moment before continuing.
“Now she says that she tries to not let it get to her. She’s surprisingly cynical and expects the worst out of situations, and having been such a reclusive person because of it she typically just watched from afar or busied herself with reading. That is probably why she seems somewhat more mature for her age, and probably why she’s so cautious.”
“I don’t suppose that explains her rather strange moodswings? She is happy as can be when she’s satisfied with even the more mundane things and nearly crying for someone she does not know, not even the same species even. I would have thought she would be more bitter at my arrival in her mind.”
Kurit spoke with interest, rather justified considering Tyrie’s concern. Rhyalis had thought back to their first meeting and even then Tyrie had not been as excited and puzzled as someone else could have been. Even before the fight she had shown fear but when pushed into the arena she adjusted so quickly that it was abnormal. There is something about her that definitely gives the feeling that she is ‘broken’ in a way.
They both murmured more about Tyrie’s case as the dream continued on. Time ticking by as it ignores the plight of Tyrie and those unfortunate souls being stolen and tested on.
So their days continued, Tyrie could only guess a weak had passed since she fought the dragon and everything returned to its daily rut of waiting but strangely no ceremonies, no check-ups since . There was nothing more she could learn from Kurit, and Kurit was beginning to fade. Suddenly her thoughts began to vanish, or rather, they weren’t so prominent as when she was dreaming. She heard voices, lots of them, running and playing. Was everything a nightmare after all? Just a bad dream?
She slightly jostled and groaned as she felt pain in her arm, the one injured in her fight. Of course it wasn’t a dream. Her eyes opened to the sight of a new ceiling. A brown ceiling that appeared to be painted so, with white walls. She sat up slowly, trying to resist the fatigue and saw the origin of the voices. Her vision was still hazy, but she saw that there were people in there with her after all, kids around her age and older. The room was big like an auditorium, so there was more than enough space to run around and play tag, making noise. Two kids were drawing, or reading. There were three older looking kids that were sitting next to the wall talking amongst themselves and finally what she guessed were older teenagers just overlooking everything. She was surprised by the hands that would take her by the shoulders and gently lay her back down on the cot she sat in, it was Carla herself. If her small smile was anything to go by, Tyrie could guess she was actually happy to see that Tyrie was ok.
“Please don’t exert yourself, you healed quickly but it’d be best to give it another week.”
“Car…la? Where am I? What happened...?”
“Well, first off you won. Blew a hole straight through Subject 16’s cranium with that surprisingly amount of energy output you had. You fainted soon afterwards and have been in a coma since. We had our doctors tend to your wounds and splint your arm, as it was both broken at the forearm and dislocated in the elbow and shoulder.”
“I’m honestly just glad you’re alright.” Carla smiled. To Tyrie it felt strangely warm.
“…You’re acting nice, is there something you want from me?” Tyrie said, being unintentionally poisonous with her tone.
“What? No, I don’t need anything from you! I just came here to make sure you were alright… I suppose you’re right to be a bit suspicious of me because of how I treated you before but… if you were in my shoes you wouldn’t have gotten that close to me if I was just a young kid going to fight a dragon too. It would’ve broken my heart to pieces if you lost. That was an if, and now you’re resting here peacefully.” Carla replies in a reassuring tone.
Tyrie would stare at Carla, but she wouldn’t feel her lying, but there’s more to Carla than what’s being said.
“Well… it’s just strange you’re being so nice anyways because you barely know me. You never visited me even before I was sent to fight.”
“That is because I am a caretaker. I’m not allowed to speak with the new Hybrids unless they are to be escorted to the proving grounds or are taken here; to the Roost.” Carla would motion her hands to the room, Tyrie’s eyes have finally adjusted.
There is plenty of furniture, mainly in the forms of cots, couches and tables. There are many books and a small amount of toys for the kids to play with. Opposed to the lack of technology that she was subject to in her cell, there is one television available in the center of the room. It’s on, but seems to be the cultists’ own personal channel of education to keep their minds healthy and working. There are a few wooden doors open or shut and a particular set of metallic double doors that sit under the television. Those wooden doors is what she thought probably lead towards a bathroom, kitchen, and closet.
Carla explained the assets of the room to Tyrie and brought all the current inhabitants over to speak with her. She thought there were more but it turns out only 7 in total were there. Alan and Aleesia, twin children with Aleesia having a lisp to her speech. Everett, one of the older children who reminds Tyrie of herself, not very vocal but she did seem nice. Clyde, Justin, and Nadia. A boy, boy, and girl respectively were the teenagers. Lastly, there was Ulysses, the last older child who was near her age like Everett, but he was the one who seemed to not be happy to see her at all and gave no more than a “Hey” before quickly returning to his reading. The big surprise was with what she noticed they all had in common which she should’ve realized earlier. They all were Hybrids, like her. Their scales and pupil ring color were different and Everett had managed to attain wings. This was definitely a Roost alright.
Tyrie had been left bedridden for a week and a few extra days due to Carla’s weariness of the injury. She learned much about the situations of each of her roommates from there.
Alan and Aleesia are both foster children like Tyrie, parents having been victims of riot within their former hometown. They’ve always been together and have even undergone the ceremony with each other. They have not gone to the proving grounds yet, and were sent here to learn from older Hybrids before their time comes. They both have claws but are more thoroughly coated with perrywinkle scales on their fair skin leaving the only areas not covered being the under and backsides of their upper arms and thighs, faces, palms and soles. They don’t have tails but have gnarled black horns coming from under their dirty blond hair. Gray circles surround their blue eyes.
Everett didn’t want to speak up about her past but did confirm that her black dragon was called Feron. He told her about her power of thunder and it became more prominent when she was bumped into behind by the playful twins and her wins emitted an annoyed spark between each other. She had the least amount of scales on her in contrast to the twins and probably was the closest to still being a human than anybody else. The only places scales were noticeable were at her back encroaching up her neck, down her shoulders and legs likely because of her wings, which resembled the typical wings you would see in art of dragons. Those yellow scales on her body definitely didn’t resemble the black scales of their previous owner but Tyrie was in no place to judge from her own white dragon and her own scales were black. Blue circles surrounded her hazel eyes
Nadia and Clyde were both Hybrids with the same element. Flames. It definitely fit Clyde’s personality since he was so pumped and optimistic despite the situation they were in. He was doing so for the sake of the others who were normally down before he got there, from the streets as a homeless. Nadia was much calmer but to Tyrie’s surprise had actually volunteered as the daughter of a cultist herself. Nadia had straighter horns that pointed towards the sky that rose from the sides of her head and scales that coated her forearms and lower legs completely in scales with hints from the collar of her dress that the scales had coated some or her torso too. Clyde had scales completely covered his torso and arms with scales covering his feet as well, he had a tail that stretched a length of 4 meters and had jagged horns going from the tip of the tail, up his spine and to the nape of his neck. For Nadia’s strangely violet eyes, green surrounded her pupils. Clyde’s red eyes only intensified with a glowing ring of red around them.
Ulysses hadn’t spoken to her at all, but from the distance she could see that he was quite odd after his ceremony. His skin was patched with spots of scales rather than sleeves of it at his hands, ankles, forehead, and then just randomly up his arms legs and body. Luckily he had no tail else it would have been more disturbing. He coughed every so often, signaling that he was sick. If his black hair with gray accents were anything to go by the spirit probably wasn’t working in his favor. She only remembered from being introduced to him at first that he had green circling his blue eyes, red hair, and fair skin.
Justin stood tall as the last to be introduced to her in Ulysses’ place. He had tan skin and black hair with golden eyes of his own. If his voice made any less of an indicator, he explained that he was a foreigner years before he came to Nor. He was frustrated with the travel and new life he had to live and months before he had come to the Roost he had ran from home. He managed 3 weeks out in the urban jungle before he was kidnapped off the streets. His gray scales were thick and stony, and said they came from a great red dragon who commanded the earth. He could not breathe but his body could instead become strong like the earth and him strong as it included. He could grow talons and a tail using this strange power but of course would be too heavy to even make use of wings and had scales line his body like the twins and Nadia combined which would probably make him extremely durable with all those scales fully coated in earth. His eyes were surrounded by black rings. He proudly proclaimed himself as the leader.
It took her time to adjust to her new surroundings, but those kids and even Carla would eventually become something she didn’t need, but she knew she wanted.
Friends.
Those friends of hers…
Years. It’s hard to imagine years had passed since first coming to the roost. Hard to believe even surviving for that long fighting atrocities of human and draconic generation. Now was not the time for her to think about that though, Everett was getting tired of flight from her attempts at trying to knock the dragon down and Alan was once again getting back up from being swatted and the multi-armed menace was already starting to break Tyrie’s guard down. Furious, she’d shiver and hobble forth a foot or two as she’d clench her fingers nearly into fists, avoiding digging her fingers into her own palms.
In the next moment she’d let loose a horrible noise up towards the head of the beast and the sky. Something close to a shriek, close to a wail, but yet neither, it could only be described as a roar to her. The force of this roar would stun the dragon in place, using 2 of the 3 arms it has on the left to keep its lopsided body up, while the single arm on its right and free arm of the let could grasp its head to cover its bleeding ears from being in so close of a vicinity to her and being in the direction the shout was aimed. Everett and Alan both had covered their ears after recognizing the sign of Tyrie preparing the shout before she released and now have their openings. Everett had flown close to the side of the dragon and unleash a torrent of electricity as her breath, slamming in to the dragon’s head with enough force to knock it onto its side and leave it flailing from the shock. She’s continue to assault it with her volts from above to keep it occupied.
“Lan! Go!” Tyrie called out to Alan with the signal that his time was ready.
He quickly gave Tyrie an affirmative nod and circled the dragon until Tyrie was between him and the beast, with Tyrie kneeling down and holding out her hands in preparation to vault him. He got a running start and jumped to land one foot into her palms and she used all her strength, human and draconic wise, to get him a good 13 feet in the air with a clear sight of the dragon’s underbelly. He hissed as he pointed his clawed fingers forward as if he was about to pounce and suddenly leaned forward mid-air, raising his feet behind him.
A burst of wind would come behind him as he came down like a bullet into the dragon’s torso, ripping and shredding into it like a living buzzsaw. From within he’d tear the dragon’s tender insides like a mower cuts into grass. A minute would pass after the dragon’s initial shriek of agony after the first impact and proceeding blending would Alan tear his way out of the Dragon’s back, shaking the blood off himself like a dog before observing his work, quickly running into Tyrie’s body to give her a hug despite his griminess still.
“We did it! We did it! You were so right, Rie!” He exclaimed, he ran back to the dragon to climb up onto its body and inspect it more thoroughly, Everett didn’t seem as excited and slowly landed next to the wall near Tyrie, leaning against it as she slid down to a seating position.
“What the heck…how can he be so energetic after all of that..?” She says with absolute confusion.
“He was being knocked around like a ragdoll yet he doesn’t even look like he’s been more than a bit bruised. Either those scales are really useful or boys are more durable and crazy than I thought.” Tyrie replies with a sigh, sitting down next to Everett.
“You alright?”
“Oh please, Tyrie. I’m the one with the least defense out of us all. If I’m not alright then I’m probably dead or near it.” She replies back to Tyrie with a snide grin. Tyrie could only shrug in response.
She actually thought on Everett’s words. It was rather morbid of Everett to say but it didn’t bother her that much. In fact being hugged by Alan while he was covered in blood didn’t even irk her and it’s more of a surprise Alan’s so giddy while covered in it. This place has definitely changed her over the years, because seeing this stuff would have relapsed her to those nightmares she stopped having.
“Well at least both of you weren’t being the bait. If Alan was that tough he should’ve taken the job instead. I mean I can’t jump through the air but I’ve got claws I can make with my scales too, you know. Now my arms hurt…”
“Well next time you shouldn’t doubt the kid’s abilities. All of us were brought to here for a reason. The cultists think they’re in control, but it’s probably those gods above who are guiding our destinies and made us this way. All of us can handle ourselves in our own ways, we should just help each other find out how.”
Hearing Everett give her theory about their situation again just brought Tyrie to silence. Everett and Tyrie became good friends among the friendships in the Roost, even when the newer members arrived afterwards. Everett had turned out to be a very open-minded individual and came to accept that in some way their fates were the decision of ‘The Ones Above’ that she read about from a book. This book had very confusing basis, but explained that the world is governed by 3 deities:
One governing state of “Order.” Another, the state of “Balance.” And the last, the state of “Chaos.”
Tyrie had no idea why such gods would govern their actions and fates, but she decided to let Everett indulge in the idea for the last few years. It at least made her more talkative and active in finding a way out of this Roost and to the world at least in search of answers from the gods. Alan and Aleesia both grew to learn that they had absorbed the souls of a subspecies of dragon whom Rhyalis deems “Third Generation” when Tyrie had questioned him with their description.
Small dragon-like reptiles that were at least triple the size of humans and with what they lacked in strength they held in speed and frenzy. For this, they were recognized as beasts close to the dinosaur of the same name; Raptors. Tyrie had grown into a suitable and peculiar being herself. Over the years she has challenged many more dragon “atrocities” as she and others in the Roost personally call them rather than “changelings” like the cultists. Absorbing their souls she has become steeped in strength now, with more powers she has adopted from their former owners and insight with their knowledge.
Kurit and those others have all since faded as they were fragmented, but Rhyalis has stayed with her still, albeit even his image has been fading. She’s asked him if he would disappear like the others and he reassured her that he would be with her as long as she wanted him to.
He was clearly lying, and she regretted her ability to catch onto lies at that moment. He had stayed with her for so long because his soul was not fragmented but he too would eventually completely fade from her subconscious.
That was years ago when she asked, now she’s grown taller if only to that into a prepubescent height. Her hair’s grown longer down to her back and untamed, her bangs had hanged over her eyes hiding some of their features other than the orange glow of her circled pupils. She now at least filled in the robes they had given her in her ceremony and had to replace with new ones every time she had to battle. Her body had only so much more growing left until the immortality would take its toll and halt it completely, much to her displeasure. She was rather tired of Clyde’s taunting on her height. Nadia and Everett (Despite being a year younger, Everett actually hit puberty sooner and grew half a head taller than Tyrie amazingly) love to team up to play dress up with Tyrie and Aleesia with the spare comfort clothes Carla supplies them with.
There had even been additions to the Roost in the form of additional space to make room for the new members. None of them were young children this time, but came in a group of 3. Henrick, Oscar, and Isla. They were all just a bit older than the previous groups of hybrids, being Tyrie, Everett, and Ulysses which now left them with 4 age groups. Kids, young teens, young adults, and with the passing years Clyde, Nadia and Justin have all become adults respectively. It took time to adjust to their new members and space but eventually everything settled down once again. Tyrie became good friends with Henrick and brought him into her circle of close friends with Everett and recently Nadia. She thought that for what their situation was, it wasn’t that bad with the people she was with.
She was happy.
After returning to the Roost with Carla, they were welcomed back in happy praise, of course Ulysses was the only one who had not seemed to care. Aleesia and Alan were like mirroring images because they both took off at each other at high speed and immediately began their speedy chatter about the battle. Tyrie had immediately settled for laying down in her cot, Henrick and Nadia having followed. Everett was already being pestered by Clyde who had the same enthusiasm as the twins but to her disdain she had little enthusiasm to share back but didn’t want to be rude. The others were either asleep or reading.
“So how was it?” Asked Nadia. “Doesn’t look like there were broken bones and none of y’all came back with even a scratch.”
“Uh, well it wasn’t really that exciting more than it was irritating. The thing had 3 arms on one side and 1 on the other and just looked lopsided altogether. Honestly, I think what Alan did was at least a mercy kill.” Tyrie responded as she stretched on the cot.
She’s adjusted quite well to her altered body, albeit she’s developed a sort of tick with her tail that it’d twitch whenever she noticed something interesting and even now as she stretched the tail would stretch too. People have already related her to a cat if her mannerisms and attitude weren’t like one themselves.
“Eeugh, the atrocities get worse every time. Why do they even bother making the same messed up monsters if they’ve got the ceremony that makes us now?” chimed in Henrick. Visibly grossed out.
“Probably because they’ve gone through the trouble of having gathered those fragmented souls through whatever magic they use to drag them from the Other World and it’d be a waste to just let them go, even if that is the best thing they could do for those poor things.” Said Nadia “I don’t imagine having two of their prized creations kill each other would be good for their plans either.”
“Where do they even get all these dragons from anyways? Even before I came here I never saw so many that there could be a bunch these cultists could use to make so many atrocities and even some still alive that could make more like me and you.” Said Henrick.
“Even if the Mythos reveal was not that recent I don’t think there’d be so many dragons running amok freely.”
Henrick did ask a question that haunted all of them. Exactly how did all of these dragons come into possession of the Wyvern Cultists?
The ‘Mythos Reveal’ is an event that happened decades before, an event that effectively turned the world’s understanding of fairy tales and fiction on its heads. It was where creatures of mythology and magic had decided to stop hiding, and come into the light of the world where humans lie, bringing with them the hidden magic world few humans could see into. This was for the better or worse of the world of course, but definitely turned the world’s attention towards their newest possible adversaries. It took those decades since to make a decent companionship between human and (to put all the monsters, magic creatures, and other sorts of supernatural being under one term) Mythos and even now it still rides a fine line. Racism has reached into Human and Mythos hearts as it always will from fear or superiority and conflicts arise.
Reintroducing magic to humanity which was lost long ago to them felt like second nature to many humans. Such humans had “potential” in which they had larger natural deposits of mana within them, likely being descendants of wizards already and aptly took upon the name of ‘Mages.’ With a surge in magic and supernatural rising in the world once more, humans born with extraordinary abilities began to crop up like the old folktales of yore such as Beowulf and Hercules. Albeit now it’s more than likely those were not folk tales at all. By the time of Tyrie still being in the Roost the exotic characters of Hiirousagi, her sister, and the dystonian had not come to the planet but soon even creatures whom we had thought inhabited the very stars had come to visit the land; Lunarians, Lunar Rabbits, even Martians.
The world had changed in a single night and has not stopped bringing people’s understanding and logic to its very limits. It was for a lack of better words, Astounding.
However, it isn’t like reports of dragons were so widespread it was a common occurrence. Like in books, they’d be seen roosting in mountains and caves. With current weaponry it was much easier to handle a dragon attack but it did not make it any less devastating, especially with how populous and large cities are now. In our world one could only imagine how much damage a dragon could do to New York City or Chicago before some sophisticated force could arrive to stop it. Now these cultists were bringing dragons in at irregular intervals but nonetheless were attaining enough of them for nearly a dozen Hybrids.
And that is just here at this location. From what they’ve learned from the educational channel the cultists have shown them. It’s apparent there are more temples the cultists own around the world, with an unknown amount of Hybrids probably resting in those Roost now that the ceremony has been tried, approved, and perfected now. A very scary thought.
Had people in the outside world even known about this band of cultists? Is this sort of research even legal? They couldn’t know from the Roost of course, but this couldn’t be right in the view of the law if they had to be secluded at all times from the general public.
Thoughts swirled through her mind, longing for an answer. Of course, they would stay longing still.
“We should worry about that another time, as we should be more concerned about ‘ourselves.’” Nadia said, a glimmer of secret in her eye. The other two nodded to her in acknowledgement of what she really meant.
Escape.
They couldn’t speak about it openly even if there were no cameras in the Roost, but they suspected if the cultists could use magic to mess around with spirits, then they could easily have some spell to watch their moves. They took a risk explaining portions of their plots for revolt during battle. Either the cultists could have listened even then or they could have been outright killed distracting one another, but neither happened yet. This plot has been in place for nearly a year now, and with 3 extra bodies it could be successful. Most of the year that the plot existed was purely trying to pass the message between each other via notes and during battle, but even using notes was dangerous as the cultists could possibly glean through their paper trash for critical info.
The plan was simple with the help of their 3 new dragon brethren. Henrick was a new type they hadn’t seen before, with scales similar to leaves, a dragon hybrid of nature. Oscar was like Everett as a lightning type but had no wings and was fairly new to its use. Isla had scales that resembled Ulysses’ patchwork-like scales but were more thoroughly attributed along her skin, and told us that she had command over the water. It was safe to bet that was Ulysses’ ability too, but he was never sent to the proving grounds on command by the cultists declaring him an “oddity” of all things considered.
The plan was to shatter the barrier over the proving grounds that contained the chaos to inside the arena, and simultaneously break down the Roost’s walls so the cultists would have two fronts to defend escape from and swarm them from both sides and then make for the escape into the woodland. From there Clyde and the other fire breathers would ignite an amount of trees to make a wall of fire effectively blocking, or at least hindering, the cultist’s path. The cultists definitely underestimated them, or at least did not think they had the gall to plan an escape. From Everett flying high enough to inspect if there was a barrier by “accidentally” bumping into it in a retreat and everyone’s eyes lazily gazing around as they walked their way to the proving grounds, inspecting the amount of watchtowers and exits there were, and finally to the new rising ambition filling the hearts of all those young rebels. The time was coming.
All they needed was another Proving Grounds event. They even planned to aggravate the dragon on their escape to cause even more chaos on the cultist’s rear should they begin chase.
They hadn’t spoken about it since, people were antsy, near still craze. It was as if the gods themselves sent a cool breeze and a refreshing smile to calm them down. It was Carla, and she brought them all new sets of robes and tiaras, and in addition some new meals. “Fast food” is what she called it. To Tyrie and the others who lived in sheltered lives prior to coming to the Roost, it was strange but delicious. Those who already lived on the streets or were abducted from the streets themselves knew well what the food was; A hamburger and fries. It was all she was allowed to bring them to prevent contamination and a following sickness but it was clear the Hybrids enjoyed it.
Amongst the excitement of the meals and Clyde’s hyped up spiel about how he’s seen dozens of different and wild restaurants, Carla took Tyrie aside silently. Nadia had noticed, but Tyrie gave a reaffirming glance that it wouldn’t be bad. They sat on a cot near the far wall adjacent to the door, enjoying a moment of silence between them as Clyde continued on, laughter following.
“You know, I’m really glad to see that you grew up being the same person you were when I first spoke to you. I was worried that eventually you would…break.” Carla suddenly said.
“Break?”
“To simply have given up long ago. Honestly, if I was in your shoes I would have curled up and refused to leave the cage, but you found that strength inside you to pull through all that muck anyways and now here you are. Even in a bleak world, you’re having fun with friends you could lose in a moment of battle.”
“We’re enjoying life together because the next day, hours, or even a few minutes we could see one of us leave for the proving grounds and never return. Hearing of how Justin even managed to get hospitalized that one time really tugged at our hearts for that time. He doesn’t like to speak of it, but he’s our leader in a way…” Tyrie responded dryly.
“Oh? A leader, hmm? And what about you? Second in command?”
“Hah!” Tyrie scoffed with a bit of anger on the tongue. “I’m the one who always gets treated like a little kid along with Aleesie and Alan! I should technically be the leader because I came FIRST! And- uhm…” She was going to continue ranting, but she lost the words, or realized that her reasons were just her pettiness not reminding her of the fact that she passively lets the girls treat her that way anyways.
“I just wanna stop being used a dress up doll, I don’t even like skirts.” Tyrie huffed, pulling her knees close to her body.
Carla laughed, stroking her hand through Tyrie’s hair. Tyrie shuddered a bit out of surprise, but didn’t entirely hate the feeling. She enjoyed the sensation in fact. Nadia had did it to Tyrie when she was smaller as well, and both times they reminded Tyrie of something motherly and compassionate. Now that she thought about it, Carla had always done this, have these little sessions with Tyrie away from the group, always giving Tyrie something a bit extra… how could she never noticed that Carla had been caring for her that much?
“Carla, what really made you care for me?” She suddenly questioned. “I said before that we barely know each other and even now we still barely do, why do you stay close to me so much?”
Carla’s eyes widened in surprise and slowly looked forward, staring past the grow and even through the wall. It took her a few seconds to finally reply, but her answer surprised Tyrie.
“Maybe it was guilt, of bringing a child into this cruel madness. Maybe it was obligation, because I wanted to step in place of those parents who are gone from your world. I know that whatever the initial cause was, the reason now is because you were the first who really showed me that even children can be strong when they put their mind to it. I had long ago abandoned the thought of setting you sects of Hybrids free, when before the hybrids there was just normal children waiting in her to receive the flawed ceremony and be turned into those…monsters.”
What? Is what Tyrie suddenly thought. She considered freeing the children before? Was she always like this?
“I thought that if I got too close to you, I’d lose you like I lost the others and be demolished. However when I saw you force that dragon’s mouth open with all that pain on your face and give it your all to defeat it, you sparked hope back inside me once again. Normal children could not survive, but you are changed, something close to a hero now. I believe that if I gave you the chance to escape that nobody would stop you and I’d happily accept the consequences that followed. At least, that is what I thought I should say. It doesn’t make a lot of sense and I’m surely leaving blanks not filled in, but it’s what I just wanted to tell you.” She took Tyrie’s hands into her own, Smiling.
“Are you sure it’s ok to talk about escape like that? Aren’t they listening to us?”
“No, how could they?”
“Well…we assumed that they could use magic to spy on us. We don’t even really understand magic ourselves...”
“Haha, ah I see. Well, You would be correct but doing something like that would require a man to constantly stand post, using up his mana just to keep a clear watch on you? They just decided to erect the enchanted walls of the Roost to simply prevent your escape and was done with it.”
“Well, I’ll ask this then; Why would you want us to escape?” Tyrie asked in her typical blunt nature.
Carla took a moment to answer this as well, almost as if she didn’t want to answer it, but her mouth quivered and she gave in. “Honestly, I felt as if when I joined I was working towards something right, something decent that could benefit the world. This religion designed around wyverns and dragons was initially just a simple scientific faction that would study beings that had longer lifespans and we would see what allowed them to do so.”
“How could they live so long without disease, fatigue, muscles eventually wearing out and heart stopping altogether? We wanted to bring that to humanity so even if we could nto attain immortality we could at least eradicate humanity’s biggest enemy since the moment we were born; disease.”
She sighed as she thought of what once was, she knew that it was all too typical that eventually, things would have turned this way. She should have abandoned these loons as soon as she had the chance. Damn, such a goddamn idiot.
“Eventually study turned into adoration, and reason became radical. Soon we turned from science alone and delved into magic with the help of rising mages. It may seem that this cult is relatively new by a few years, but it came into existence only a few years after the Mythos had first came into the public. Delgroose of course isn’t the original leader but had inherited the responsibility of leading this cult, and does it fantastically.” She frowned as she says this, disappointed in it all.
“You were there when it was just about science? How old are you?” Tyrie’s eyes stared into Carla’s for the first time since they started talking, being convinced bit by bit that Carla was actually being truthful and heartfelt, but she still didn’t give all of her trust up yet.
“Haha, I’m flattered. I’m over 50 years old, you know?”
Tyrie was astonished, Carla definitely aged well. That was probably why she felt such a motherly attitude coming from Carla
“Just a bit of make-up and a little bit of magical glimmer and I feel just that much younger! If you feel it you can be it, don’t you think?” She laughed to herself. ‘Of course, even with magic, at my age escape would be a deathwish. They hunt dissenters with extreme prejudice. So I stayed here, waiting for the day I could find one group that could finally tear down this hellhole once and for all.”
Carla’s face became serious as she placed her hands on Tyrie’s shoulders.
“I know I am asking much from you, but please Tyrie. Even if we have barely spoken and if you hate me, I am begging you not as a friend but as an old woman who regrets her inaction at the source of the problem; Please destroy this cult. Destroy this misled cult and Kill Degroose.”
Tyrie couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she desperately searched her instincts to see if Carla was just trying to lead her astray but she could not find even a hint of deceit. Carla really was someone who made their mistake and even if they could be even a small piece in the big solution. She was genuine.
Those heartfelt pleas…
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Post by Ritzz on Oct 24, 2018 5:31:08 GMT
The Jewel of the Sands Kasei Ken Hungry.
This is what the wanderer thought to herself as she traveled through the desert, accompanied only by her imagination and stomach. She had been traveling the world by herself for a long time now. Though this would be the first time she actually felt hunger, despite not needing to as she is not human or alive either way.
She is the creation of a long gone civilization of which has very few remnants in comparison to this day, ruined by war and time. Flesh, bone, muscles and tendons make up her body, but she has no systems inside of her person that would let a man or woman operate as she instead operates off a core that sustains her body and mind. To her it is her soul. She is known as a golem, but to others she would be more accurately labeled as an homunculus.
No mere golem however has the ability to freely think, speak, and have desire to dine and sleep like she does. To an extent, it may very well be an actual soul residing inside of her. She wears clothes, she learns, she feels emotions. She may as well be as human as much as any other man or woman.
Except she isn't a golem based of a human. In her forehead, she has a distinctive pair of flesh colored horns peeking out between her ruby red bangs. As the hair would hint to she is in fact one of the great creations of the noble race reduced to near extinction in ages past.
A Ruby Ogre.
As for why this ogre hungers despite lacking a digestive system is quite simple; As she wandered the world, she came across a village bordering a river in the desert. This river was clearly their livelihood as evidenced by a lack of any other sources of water other than a cacti-like plant named "Hand Prickers". There was even a healthy amount of green following alongside the river, able to grow grass to feed the cattle and vegetables for consumption. The village may have been small, but they still rationed correctly to prevent overdependence on the river's bounties just in case things were to go wrong.
And something has.
The villagers saw her arrive and pleaded with her to hear their woes. To be clear, they did not impress themselves on her simply because she was a stranger, but because of what she had at her hip. A long, slender blade hidden in a decorative sheathe. It's human equivalent would be a katana, but made by Ruby Ogres it would be something much greater than that.
In the end, she bent to their wills out of consideration that if she left them be, she'd be left hungry for the duration of her trip across the desert if she didn’t collect supplies. She heard them out and essentially was told that a band of desert orcs have settled upriver and set their sights on the village. The village has managed to fight away the invaders with their prowess hardened by the desert and the beasts who reside there, but they can only hold out for so long against a greater number of orcs who manage to make off with their women and slay a couple of the defenders half of the times they came around. Especially so considering the demi-human orcs are naturally more hardy than humans are, they could survive much longer in stressful conditions and particularly ones of battle. This has become a war of attrition, and the humans are losing.
To make matters worse, the orcs are going out of their way to pollute the water with the wastes of their food and remainders of the warriors who came to retrieve the women from their clutches.
Needless to say, it was a dire situation.
She hadn't really considered anything when she took the offer up. They offered her rewards of golds and trinkets they had, but her only wish was to have food for her continuous journey once she completed the job. To accept so casually is what threw the villagers off guard. No haggle, no compromise, no begging. She even went for something significantly cheaper than what was offered to her. They could not thank her enough when she set out the next day, taking the first to rest and center her mind and body.
This is not to say she is especially kind or caring. She told the villagers that this would be for herself to get supplies and to train her swordsmanship. However, there is little doubt that the nobility that her creators were known for was passed down to her, and she couldn't bear the thought of leaving them to slowly wither away. It doesn't seem she has realized her little quirk either way.
The directions to the ogre camp were simple. Follow the river to find the ruins of an old fort that was used long ago to fend off invaders. For what country against what people was lost to time, just as this fort was lost to man and is now infested with beings who refuse to follow order, refuse to feel compassion, and refuse to give mercy. Much unlike the civilized orcs in developed nations, these orcs were nothing more than barbarians who refused to interact with the races. So they follow their base instincts.
Kill, feed, breed, sleep.
Out of the thoughts about the matter, thinking about the particular orcs breeding and feeding made her eyebrows twitch nearly into a scowl. The disgust nearly showed on her face as she thought about the captive women and lost men. All the more reason to rescue them today than wait for assistance who may never show up even if they prayed to however many gods of luck there were. Maybe the gods of luck expended all of their power just being able to bring her there either way.
Then she refocused as she saw it in the distance, sandstone, bleached to whiteness in the sun and mottled with holes from erosion of centuries' sandy breezes. She crouched low behind a stone, likely a piece of the larger fort that had one been here, and watched the ruin. She saw figures with tan skin roaming the battlements, carrying large wooden clubs or swords. Likely the orcs she was looking for, so she arrived earlier than she thought after only scaling the dunes for a little less than an hour.
She crept closer, using debris and short dunes to hide her figure as she approached. She was lucky not to be spotted against the reddish-tan sand as she approached, considering her bright colored hair and clothing stood out starkly against the sandy backdrop, but maybe they were being too lenient this far away from civilization. nobody would come this far out into the desert. This village is easy pickings! is likely what made their guard drop.
She finally crept close to the wall of the fort and took a look around. The direction she approached from only let her see a large sandstone wall with holes cut out to act as windows and a ruined battlements that exposed much of the battlements to light due to the broken ceiling. She shifted right along the wall, keeping quiet to not stir attention to herself and looked around the corner closest to the river and saw an entrance guarded by an orc slouched against the wall nonchalantly, likely on ease thinking his brothers standing watch lazily at the battlements would have kept eyes out for the sides to ensure no invaders would blindside him. So he would watch the gate to ensure nobody would enter from the front.
Now, despite her being able to sneak up to the fort, she was not skilled in silently taking down opponents like an assassin. She knew her limits and decided to instead attempt infiltration from another route, and doubled back to scan the left side. Another flat wall with windows high out of reach, but she saw that knicks and dents against the walls here were larger than the ones on the side and front. Maybe the fort was attacked from behind in an ambush? Or possibly by its own people?
Nevertheless, it offered her a route inside if she could make it. So she scaled the wall slowly and silently. This close to the wall, she could now hear laughter and jolly laughter from the orcs, and pained cries from the women. So they either took the women out from wherever they stored them to use them publicly, or the woman were normally stored somewhere higher and they just do the business there. Either way, she now knows that the orcs are distracted by their banal pleasures.
"All too easy." She whispered to herself as she clambered up the wall and hung near one of the carved out windows. It wasn't the shape of a rectangle but instead similar to an upside-down chestnut. An odd design to say the least, but it also made it awkward to hang onto should her hands slide along the curves. She paused and waited, listening for any footsteps. Confirming that she heard no footsteps, she launched herself from where she held and caught the window hole without any issue.
"Whuh?" said the orc in his heavy, gruff voice.
Grunting as she pulled herself up, she was met face to face with an orc. Turns out, she may have confirmed that nobody was walking around behind the wall she was scaling, but didn't account for anybody standing still. A foolish mistake for any infiltrator.
They were locked in that awkward moment for a mere second before the ogre took the initiative, bringing her hand up to grab to the back of the ogre's head and downwards onto the edge of the window to stun him, using that same chance to pulled herself through the window and rolling down the back of the orc. She wasted no time getting her bearings and seeing that fortunately he was the only guard present, but who knows how long? She snatched the blade from his sheathe at his waist before he had a chance to arm himself as her recovered and the orc opened his eyes to find a blade growing out the back of his throat. Unable to breathe or speak, he held his throat as he tried his best to ignore the futility of a severed throat and tried to cling onto the life he was losing. A pitiable sight.
She brought the orc's dance and breathless song to an end by kicking him squarely in the chest, sending the unbalanced demi-human back into the window and out through it's opening, falling silently into the sand outside.
No sounds of distress or warning coming from anywhere inside the fort. The coast was still clear for the time being.
She crouched once more and took to prowling around the insides of the fort. From outside the fort one could see that there are three sets of windows. One on the base level and another set higher up on the second and then the third. The fort may have been significantly taller before time brought it to ruin. To the ogre, it would make sense to head lower first. She has to find the captives and secure their safety. If she were to go higher, she might encounter the leader and engage too early, thus leaving the captives open to be used as hostages.
But if he were to be down at base level enjoying his time with the captives, that'd give her just a bit more leniency. Engaging in a head on brawl with the entire fortress would be her preferred strategy, but she needs to ensure that none would escape later. That would come later. For now, the captives.
Slinking through the dark ruins, unlit by anything but the light of the sun hanging high in the sky, it was a task made even harder by the fact that the orcs have superior senses to humans. They could see better in the dark than she could, and a superior sense of smell. She doesn't sweat, but she still does prefer to at least act like a lady. She bathes and cleans herself, so she does smell like fragrant soap. If the wind were to blow against her favor, she'd be revealed quickly.
She had to move.
She slinked down and set of stone stairs, checking corners as she went to the outskirts of the courtyard. From where she overlooked the area, she could see that the courtyard was essentially a large, open plain with disregarded objects like old, rusty weapon racks and broken wood laying around. In the courtyard the orcs were busy at enjoying life with spirits and women aplenty, dining on the finest stolen food the village didn't offer. Music of songs and screams echoed through the fort from this location. She could count ten in the courtyard alone, and several walking along the ruined battlements standing guard. There were at least 20 orcs that she has seen during her stealth.
There were stone pillars ahead of her, wider than her person by double, and they went parallel with the left and right walls if you were to come in from the gate. At the left wall is a set of three heavy wooden doors. One of them is the only one still relatively usable and is also barricaded from the front with a wooden board held up by old metal brackets fastened to the stone wall.. Safe enough to assume that the locks were too rusty to be operable anymore, so they settled with using the block.
Taking in her surroundings once more, she observed that the orcs were still absorbed in their pleasures and not paying attention to their surroundings. She chose a good time and quickly shifted from pillar to pillar until she was at the last one before the door. She took in the surroundings one last time and hurried to the door, lifting the wood block as silently as she could and placing it down. She expected the doors to creak, but to the extent they did was overwhelming. She was still a bit away from the party but if there happened to be a pause in the excitement and they went silent, they'd easily hear her and that'd be it. She slowly opened the door to not attract attention from it suddenly flying open in their peripherals. She got it opened enough for her to slip through and quickly went inside, closing the door a bit quicker than she opened it at first.
What awaited her was the stench of mold, blood, and the groans of women used and unused crying amongst one another, and a single orc holding a woman down with his foot on her back.
Desert orcs had tan skin, large bellies, and bulging muscles, and large jaws with fangs pointing upwards. Wrinkles lining their faces with their ugly grins and glimmering red eyes, glowing as they glared down at their prey. Many of them wore at most leather armor or just simply loincloths, but these orcs seemed prepared, a warrior clan. Many of the tougher ones enjoying themselves up in the courtyard wore chainmail and even helmets. This one was wearing a loincloth. Either he discarded his armor or he was a grunt who got fed up waiting and decided to take part in his own fun.
She gently went down the staircase, careful not to make a noise. The woman noticed the new figure completely different to the ones they've seen before coming downstairs and looked to her with confused and pleading eyes, but they didn't utter a word. She already held a finger to her lips, the universal sign for "Keep Silent." The orc was no fool however, and even he could pick up on the sudden lack of ambience as the women went silent. He looked around at the cages the women were held in, banging on the bars to get a rise out of them, then he finally turned around to face the staircase and only saw two emerald spheres glaring him in the eye, then his vision quickly went upwards with a crack as her foot kicked him in the jaw and sent him stumbling back towards the cells. She took the sheathed blade from her hip and swung hard, caving in the orc's throat. He gasped for breath and went tumbling down, his immense weight slamming against the cell's door would prove too much for its old bolts to withstand, and it fell inwards, getting a brief shriek from the women before the bottomless depths of their ire leaked out and they desecrated the corpse just as they were desecrated by the orcs.
This orc didn't have his weapon at his hip, so she looked around and found it sitting against the wall. She picked up the blade that had lost its sheathe long ago. It was surprisingly sturdy which showed some degree of care was put into the sword, despite it having a small layer of caked blood here and there. She brought the sword over to where the orc was getting kicked and yelled at by his prisoners, unable to respond in his deceased state. Soon enough, a second chorus of shrieks would go through the dungeon as the blade slid cleanly into and back out of the orc's skull, ensuring the demi-human was dead for good.
She spoke clearly and calmly to all of the distressed girls. On one hand she wanted to calm them down and on the other she wanted them to realize the situation they were in. Now isn't the time to take vengeance on a corpse.
"I have not saved you all. Not yet. I came only to find where you were all being held prisoner. How many of you were there before I got here?" Her voice was silent but held presence. The girls were quick to respond out of worry.
"There are 13 of us but they took 2 up the staircase..." She winced as she heard the shriek of the women from the courtyard.
As awful as it was, it's good to know that the women are both in the courtyard. It'd be troublesome if she had to search for them. She remembers seeing 2 women as well.
She put a hand to her chin, thinking calmly. She looked to the group of scared women and let out a sigh.
"I will rescue all of you, be certain of that. The only issue is how I prevent the orcs from getting to you all once the brawl begins. I'd prefer if they didn't take hostages... so I will need you all to stay here until I am done. You might run into the gatekeeper if I let you all try to escape." She lifted the blade and swung it quickly towards the floor, flicking off the blood staining it. She flipped it and held it by the blade, the handle out to any who would take it as a gesture before she put it against the wall.
"So this will be your personal defense weapon in the low chance they get to you. I will need you all to have someone help the two upstairs down to safety here once I free them as well. Or you can just hold the door open and gesture for them to come over, either way works." She spoke cold and dispassionately, purposely trying to stymie the willpower of any overenthusiastic women, but still giving them a clear goal so they wouldn't feel helpless. She wanted it to be clear who was the vanguard and who was the support.
"Oga? Oga!? Idiot left position..." One of the orcs walking his rounds noticed a missing orc who he was supposed to meet. There's only 23 of us, so we know when one of you milkdrinkers are off slackin'! He grunted as he looked around a little bit more and took to the courtyard from the right side.
"Oi! Any of you seen that knobhead Oga?" He slammed the butt of his metal spear against the ground along with his shouting to get their attention.
The orcs in the orgy turned to him and then each other as they continued their fun. Shrugged shoulders all around except for one who was cheerily enjoying a whole bottle of wine to himself.
"I've seen 'im! He was headin' down to the dungeon last time I saw 'im! Probably getting a taste of the prizes for 'imself so we decided to put the block on and lock 'im in there. Gahahaha!" The orcs joined him in ridicule, sending the orc standing watch into a fit once he heard the lazy orc was enjoying himself while the rest were standing guard as he stomped across the courtyard between the orgy to get to the dungeon.
But something was off... the wooden block, that is.
He paused, looking at the door in confusion, but was startled by the door opening. What startled him wasn't exactly the door itself, but who walked out. A stunning red haired women with nary a blemish on her features. Her clothes were unfamiliar to the desert dwellers, but the foreign cloth was fitted to her body. She looked a lot like a roaming samurai with her yukata and katana. Her curves were noticeable in all the right places and while she wasn't exactly buxom, she still had a noticeable chest. They were practically eating up this foreign beauty with their eyes, but only the orc's leader, dressed in nearly a full suit of armor, was suspicious as to why this woman came out from the dungeon.
"Get a grip, you knobs." He spoke with a booming voice, literally tossing aside the two women he had with him to the sandy floor. They sobbed and made themselves small as they curled up next to the walls of the courtyard. He eyed her not with lust, but with the eyes of someone sizing up an enemy, then his eyes fell on her sword.
"So you speak the language of the races, I'm surprised." She stepped out into the sunlight. Her red hair practically glowed under the intense light, but what caught many orc's eyes were the small nubs peeking out from her hair, like stones parting a river of red. Horns.
"Yes, I'm an orc who enjoys having an intelligence above the rest. After all, these knobheads wouldn't get 2 miles without shitting themselves to death if it weren't for me. A leader has to have a brain after all." He clapped his hands together as he leaned forward in his seat.
"We are the Burmoth Guk clan. Named by me, named after me. I trust you won't forget it, young ogre."
"And you even recognize my race. You must be older than you look to even know I'm an ogre, or have you seen world news recently? I suppose it doesn't matter. I don't care about your clan or your motives and so forth. Leave the village be and leave these lands." She demanded this as if she were talking to a troublemaker who had made his last mistake and could no longer be part of the party. In response, two orcs approached her with glares on their faces, making their already ugly features even worse. They had to look down at her, and she had to look up. Their hands already had their weapons ready and waiting.
"Oiii, don't you look nice. I always wanted me a noblewoman, blue bloods are a rarity." One of the orcs licked their lips with a smirk.
"You both are making a crucial pair of mistakes right now." She calmly laid her hand on the hilt of her blade, gripping firmly as she stared up at the two of them.
"I don't think you got the right idea about this situa- Uh?" He mouthed words of confusion as he stood there, his gaze turning upwards just as the orc from before had. He too could not breathe and quickly pout a hand to his throat and felt warmth. Liquid dripping onto his hands confused him and he looked at his hands, covered in his blood. He gagged one last time and fell forward, dead.
"Hunh?!" The other orc was stunned by this. The ogre flicked her blade downwards towards the ground and flicked the red blood onto the sand and uses the same motion to sheathe her blade. The orc would not let this chance pass, now knowing how fast she could cut, he brought out his sword more defensively and went for a stab, watching her movements all the while.
He was repaid for his trouble with the loss of his grip on his blade and motor functions of his hand in general as it hanged limply in front of his arms. Without even getting the chance to scream in agony once he realized what happened, two green flashes cut his throat horizontally , leaving it to similarly hang backward as the orc finally fell over. The ogre stood there still, flicking the blood onto the sand once more. She looked towards the other orcs as she held her blade in one hand. The reflection of the light against the glimmering green blade was truly astonishing, one could sell it for a pretty profit.
But now wasn't the time for orcs to worry about this, two of their comrades are dead and it's safe to assume a third died in the dungeon. This woman is dangerous. She has to be beaten, defeated, broken, and made to suffer with the others. Maybe twice as much use just as a punishment to ensure she can breed replacements for the good orcs she sent to the next life.
The leader sat from his position, holding up a hand to calm his orc brethren. He knew how futile it would be for these underlings to try and take her on up close from watching her swordplay alone. She was an expert at melee, just as he was. But unlike her, he had other options, we gestured with his fingers to have his orcs standing guard at the battlements prepare themselves and in understanding, they brandished something she didn't expect. Crossbows. They must have retrieved them when they learned a real threat was there while she dealt with the two in the courtyard.
Although she didn't expect them mostly because she had closed her eyes and brought her free hand up to her forehead in a strange gesture, muttering under her breath.
Intrigued, he held his hand ready at the order to fire and decided to ask her. "You come to my base of operations, kill 2 of my men before me, and now stand in the wide open courtyard of my fort with crossbows trained on your person...making a prayer for your safety? Is now so wise?"
"It is not for my safety." She replied curtly once she finished her prayer, returning her free hand to resting on her sheath.
"I pray for the souls of your fallen men, so that they may find peace in the life they find next."
"And why do you pray for my men? Out of pity? You have no other reason to offer them the slightest knowing what they have done to the villagers, yet you offer them that last act of kindness."
"Do not mistake anything for me pitying them. It is sad they didn't know they were out of their league, but no man or woman deserves to die before their time comes. You are all no different, but you have seen what I can do. Anything further is mere foolishness and an insult to the lives lost so far. Leave the village be or leave to the next world. You will leave either way." She spat back at the orc leader.
Offering a prayer to a soul that strayed off the path is not uncommon for the ruby ogres. They do not believe that a man is born evil, but that men and women of all the races are born with darkness in their hearts that threaten to lead them astray.
Notably, the Ruby Ogres do not support the religions of the other races nor have any pantheon or a deity of their own. They only believe that the cycle of life is a circle, and that the dead return to life eventually. This particular ogre picked this up as a quirk as she traveled the world, despite still not following any religion of her own.
So who does this ogre pray to? Well, it's quite simple.
Any who would listen.
"Gahahaha! I see, I see. Then I hope you won't mind if I simply skipped the reasons I have if you won't offer a compromise." He sent his hand forward and 7 crossbow bolts came down in a semicircle with her as the center.
She responded by cutting a safe passage for herself through the small hail of arrows, cutting in a wide sweep to guard herself completely from the left and right side and knocking the bolts onto the floor, their metal tips falling shortly afterwards with metallic clinking on the stone blocks behind her.
The orcs gave grunts of disapproval and disbelief, and threatened to simply swarm her if coordinated attacks didn't work, but the leader finally stood, his metal armor, refitted from the many pieces and parts of human armor that was melded together, gleamed in the sunlight as he walked towards her. The two village girls had been using the ogre's unending stream of surprises to link up together and shift along the walls until they could hide around a corner, opposite of the dungeon like where the ogre had hidden before.
With each heavy step jingling his metal pieces and decorations, he stopped a couple of meters from her. He reached behind himself and had one of his orcs lift an oblong sheet of metal and hand it to the leader. A strange gesture upon first glance, but when one sees how the orc holds the thinner end of this large metal slab like a handle, it finally clicked to the observing girls what he was carrying on his back when they were returning to this fort. It wasn't just a random slab of metal or some memento he stole somewhere from the village. The dual edges were sharpened and polished to a gleam made it clear.
That was his weapon. His sword. He was holding that thing that looked like it weighed as much as he does with ease.
He bellowed and laughed heartily, to the ogre. It all made sense now. He was crude but had charisma, he was intelligent, he knew how to prepare and he is leagues stronger than his kin.
He's an orc hero.
"I am Burmoth Guk! Tell me, young ogre. Tell me your name before we let the fates decide the victor." He pounded his chestplate, and a blue glow shimmered across the surface of his armor, even up to his helmet and leg protection. An enchantment or blessing that protects him even further stacked on top of his already heavyset armor. He was a walking tank.
"I am Cel...ahem. Excuse me, I discarded the name that I was given recently. I still forget to introduce myself proper. I am Kasei Ken. That is the name I own, and the one to remember." Kasei rubbed her chin with her free hand as she stumbled her words, slightly embarrassed at herself, but regained her composure and pointed her blade towards the dungeon door.
"In there, there are villagers. Non-combatants. If I am to see that any of you attacks or tries to grab any of the villagers. Your life is forfeit." Said Kaisei in a dispassionate tone, her eyes staring at Burmoth all the while. The orcs responded with grunts and annoyance, but opted to play along for the enjoyment of watching a good fight. They beat the shafts of their spears into the ground, giving a good stomp as they began to chant;
"Buuurrrrmoth. Burrrmoth. Burmoth. Burmoth. Burmoth."
Soon the nearby desert began to echo with the sound of his name, Burmoth chuckled heartily as he got into his stance for battle.
"For the Chaos Lorrrrrd!" He shouted with a wide, bloodthirsty grin. Rushing towards Kasei as he dragged his sword along the ground, the orc hero took the initiative in this duel of fate, to gamble for victory.
Strong, large, enchanted armor, and to top it all off he turns out to not be what I thought but something just as annoying. An orc paladin. Kasei thought to herself, clearly upset as she backed up cautiously, waiting to gauge just how fast this orc can be first.
He stopped short of reaching her if he were to use a normal longsword, but his huge metal sword more than made up for the range as he took a quick horizontal slash that she reacts to with a quick roll underneath the blade and opposite to its travel path. Due to how quick the orc centered himself back to his normal posture it's clear that he's intelligent enough to not overcommit to his attacks and is gauging Kasei's full strength as well.
But he won't stand around waiting for her to act. He won't even let her get the chance to catch her breath.
"Ha! Grrah!" He practically abused his advantage of reach and strength by taking quick slashes and pokes at the invader of his fort. Despite not putting full effort into his swings, the gashes in the earth show that the weight of the sword alone makes up for his careful strategy with raw destructive power in addition to conserving his stamina as he hasn't used any of his techniques just yet. Kasei could only respond with dodges and deflections. Being a golem and particularly a golem designed after one of the stronger demi-human races makes Kasei naturally stronger than even humans at the peak of their strength, but even she could not block what is essentially a wall of metal flying at her. Her blade, made from an alloy of orichalcum and iron, is capable of taking direct hits from Burmoth's blade even at the edge without denting or getting chipped away, but needless to say that she would be sent flying from the force alone.
"Hrk..." Kasei grunted as she's forced to deflect another one of his swings. She's started to fall into his rhythm and now he can read her movements more easily. He pressed the advantage and gave a few stabs to back her towards the wall under one of the battlements to remove her avenues of escape. She found herself nearing the wall and frowned as she considered her options.
She quickly took a few more steps back to put herself near the wall and took a breath. He closed in on her, suspicious of her plans but not wanting to waste his opportunity and decided once again to go with his trusted safe option, stabs. He poked holes in the wall when she dodged and nicked her clothing several times, but getting nowhere with this he changed his strategy quickly. He mixed in a horizontal slash amongst his rain of stabs to try and catch her off guard, but to Kasei this was the chance she was waiting for and leapt high enough to get over his blade, and followed it up mid-air with a horizontal slash at his neck.
He wasn't a hero to the orcs for nothing, and reacted in time by leaning back with a few steps. This opportunity was all Kasei needed, and took to the attack for a change. Landing on the ground, she didn't let him get the chance to raise his sword to get back into a fighting posture and swiped diagonally down the orc's torso, sliding against the metal with a shriek and sparks of blue as the enchantment activates.
Kasei's swordplay and specially forged blade usually leaves her undeterred when using a primarily slashing focused weapon against armored foes, especially one who is wearing simple steel armor. This enchantment however leaves the orc's armor with nothing but a deep scratch that could barely be called a gouge. She narrowed her eyes as she saw the scratch start to fade away, the armor restoring itself slowly. It's durable and can repair itself from light damage, troublesome for the ogre but a blessing to the orc.
Undeterred by the sight, she pressed on with a flurry of swings, focusing on a single point to cut through the enchantment by force and not allowing it to heal through overwhelming damage, but the orc would not let this happen. He thrust his forearm in the way of her slashes and swatted away her attack with a parry, roaring as he roughly swung his greatsword from its lower position upwards, sending sand up as it dragged along the earth.
She leapt backwards with a somersault to prevent getting caught in the cloud of sand. She watched as the shadow of the orc stepped through the cloud, pounding his chest tauntingly and then took that fist and raised in upwards, dark energy gathering around his hand like a gas.
"...An orc hero who can use magic, you are no simple orc who simply rose through the ranks through brute strength." Kasei reattached her sheath to her hip, her off hand becoming free once more. She watched him cautiously as the orcs that were watching the battle stood at the sidelines, cheering him on. She briefly turned her eyes to ensure the two villagers were still where they were waiting and refocused on Burmoth as he began chanting.
What he said however, was incomprehensible to her. There were the languages of the races, who lived in civilized societies who intermingled with the other species on the planet. There were the languages of those who refused to adapt to change and retained their cultures, like the desert orcs and other demi-humans or monsters around the world. Then there was the language of the dark, where the gods who rule over the monstrosities and evils whisper into the ears of suitable subjects and grant them words of power for them to borrow. These words gave this paladin power lent from the world of this darkness, and he could command it to his will.
He bent reality to his wishes and broke the boundaries of physics that man understood, pointing his hand forward and casting a bolt of electricity from his very hand. She reacted to him aiming his hand at her in time to dodge, but the wall behind her was unfortunate enough to take the attack and was left with a burning hole where the lightning struck.
"I suppose it was too much to expect one who doesn't intermingle with the other mythos to be a paladin of light and virtue." She hissed as she stood, charging at him to prevent him from having the time to chant the spell again, slashing at his chest but found the greatsword there to block her strike.
"Gahahaha! The Chaos Lord whispers to me, he was the one who told me I could rise to greatness and riches. He merely told me to get out there, and begin conquest. I learned to read, I learned to fight with many a weapon. I challenged those adventurers like you who would stand in my way and struck them down. I learned from them and adopted their techniques, I stole their precious knowledge and used it for my people. You too, will be a great lesson for me to learn from, and when I strike you down I will be all the stronger for it!" He locked her down by pressuring the greatsword on her blade, having the gall to even lecture her during this as his confidence swelled.
"Hrrgh..." Kasei tilted her blade and let the greatsword slide downward towards her side harmlessly, then she spun in place. In a flash of green, the orc hero would find his forearm armor with a deep gash, but not enough to cause him damage. Surprised but not stunned, he grabbed the edge of his greatsword to hold it up like a board in preparation for her follow up attacks, where two extra slashes came and slammed against his sword. Burmoth shoved forward to knock Kasei down to prevent her from dealing further damage, but she dashes downwards and slid between his legs, pushing upwards as she got behind him and twirling slightly, cutting a deep gash into the backside of his grieves. She wanted to follow up with another on his back, but the orc managed to nearly catch her with his fist as he swung around viciously, her cheek grazed but not bleeding after getting cut by the metal on Burmoth's arm. He grunted as he readied himself, Kasei doing the same, but her posture is different. She stands upright, with her blade angled towards Burmoth. Both of her hands on the hilt now.
"You don't even truly know who these gods are, don't you? If they are tricking you or using you. You don't seem to care either way, all things considered." Kasei said calmly, as the lower ranked orcs booed at her impressive feats to cut through his plate armor that deeply, even with the enchantment the gouges are not healing as fast as they could.
"That is none of your concern. After all, this is only getting to the good part!" Burmoth smiled, authentically excited as he found such a foe to battle today. He's never fought someone with a style from the far east lands, so her techniques are alien and confusing to him. But he understands all, and he will find her weakness just like all the rest and adapt what he learned into his fighting style. He may even need to raid her country to find more worthy warriors.
With this on his mind, he roared and took a heavy stab towards Kasei, but instead of dodge, she swung her blade and managed to actually deflect his stab downwards, responding with a slash from her katana at his throat. Using two hands, her slashes have greater power behind them but she has more wind up to compensate. This allows the orc more leeway to respond and lean back, using the momentum to spin in place and face towards her with a significantly stronger slash powered by inertia. She ducks under the greatsword, allowing it to slide across her blade as she uses it to prevent the greatsword from touching her head.
As they both regain their posture, they lunge at each other. Metal clashing with metal as blows and cuts are blocked and deflected, skin and armor dents and scrapes with glancing blows. The orcs cannot even cheer at this point and remain as silent as the awestruck humans as they watched the duel between the people leagues above their levels. Particularly Kasei with her significantly shorter sword shouldn't be able to withstand and even deflect his greatsword.
One orc turned his head slightly, and his vision laid on the two villagers hiding in the corner. While the battle was intense, he had faith in his leader's skills that even if he was threatened for this that he would be safe. He started for downstairs...
"Hrk-!" "Ha!"
The stalemate of deflects and parries was ended by Burmoth, making a spin in place and putting his faith in his armor to protect his backside as he wound up. Letting Kasei strike his back several times with her heavy strokes did manage to actually fracture his shoulder blades, but he still had the strength to bring down his greatsword to her surprise. She held up her blade to block and all of that weight and force was too much to bear, so she fell to a knee, holding the greatsword up using one hand on the hilt of her katana and the other on the actual blade to give her more leverage. Blood ran down from her forehead and she shook her head, blinking many times to shake away the stars in her eyes. She was stunned.
Burmoth would not waste this chance, swinging down his blade mercilessly on her guard. He was aiming to break her guard and leave her open, but to batter her as she tried to defend it was just as fine. She would break either way, but he was not going to assume it would be easy. Dark Energy surged around his body as he decided to take full advantage of the situation.
"Limit Break!" Burmoth howled as his muscles bulged and his sensed focused. His relatively quick swipes with the greatsword became quicker and more plentiful per second. Kasei was fortunate to have trained through blocking quick katana strikes, else she would have been to slow to respond, but she can't handle the pressure for long. She tried to dive out of the way and get some breathing room, but his leg suddenly found her path and kicked her square in the chest.
She was sent flying unceremoniously, smacking into the fort's inner walls and down onto the sand, groaning.
"You...had a trick up your sleeve. Do you always go easy on the first date?" She said snidely, even from her position she still had time to make jabs.
But Burmoth was having none of it, he leaped at her with a stab, which she nimbly dodged with a roll. She held both hands on her katana like she had done to block the greatsword to block his kick that tried to catch her, then she swung upwards with her hand pushing on the back of the blade, carving a deep gash into his chestplate from his groin as she rose to her feet.
However, he was able to swat away the blade before it could reach his neck, his reaction time had significantly improved as well. If he hadn't used limit Break, he would have been too slow to swat the blade away and would have had to dodge to avoid her blade, but now he has a chance to attack now that she is off balance.
"Eeek! No!" "Let go of her, sto- help! Please!"
Over the at the corner of the fort, away from battle there were cries and pleas. From the area the women had been hiding an orc was shoulder carrying one and grasping the other's arm to force her to follow him.
Burmoth hesitated for a moment as he raised his blade, sensing a change in the atmosphere. Something was off. It was a blessing of his fight or flight instinct or his mental ability to register threats, and he quickly leaped upwards with his immense boosted strength and landed atop the fortress' decaying walls, observing the situation.
The orcs all looked in confusion to one another as they watched their leader fall back. Kasei calmly walked to the center of the fortress and lifted her blade high, swinging it down heavily. Unlike Burmoth, Kasei is not one made for theatrics when angered. Her hidden skill revealed itself as a flash of light that traveled through the air towards the orc quicker than the eye could follow and moved into the orc's arm harmlessly.
Or so it seemed. In the next beat, his arm fell off with a clean slice separating it from the rest of his body.
"Ghuuurrrraa!?" He dropped the other villager as he help up the stump that remained of his full arm, screaming in fear and pain.
"Burmoth, I told your men that if they were to land a finger on any of the villagers, they would perish. It's clear that they don't listen, nor do they care to stop their fellows from acting out...As a follower of the, uh, "Chaos Lord" must be a devout follower. How about them?" Kasei inquired as she watched the orc writhe on the ground, the villagers quickly moving away from him.
Burmoth watched with caution, keeping his limit break state active in case of anything. His breath grew heavier now as the side effects of forcing his body beyond its limits began to wear at his constitution. "Haaa...I doubt any of them are followers of anything." With a grunt, he whistled out towards the desert and turned back to the courtyard.
"Then I have ample advice to all of you." She held her blade perpendicular to her body, looking at her reflection. Facing resolution, she turned the blade and focused.
"Pick a god and pray."
In the moment that followed, she swung in a flurry around her, beams of light sent everywhere around her and penetrating the walls, metal, and orcs alike. She pirouetted in place and swung widely at the battlement, a long beam of light washing past the midsections of the orcs at the battlements who brandished their weapons, and they reacted with fear initially, thinking they'd meet the same fate as their orc brother on the ground.
At the same moment that the beams made impact, her blade was steadily on its way to being sheathed. Just before fully placing the blade in its sheath, she whispers one last word to the forsaken orcs.
"Hissastsu."
Light glowed from where the orcs, walls, and whatever unfortunate to have met the light was severed by this light, though it was more accurate to call it a small burst of energy. The orcs all fell to the ground in halves, the walls crumbled and fell into the sand with thumps and thuds as they smashed against other debris as well. As the dust settled, what remains was cleanly shaved ruins of the fort, now properly squared off . From the outside it resembles a cube, while the inside holds the debris and corpses of the dead demi-humans. The villagers and the dungeon door were left miraculously unscathed but upon closer inspection the rocks that would have touched them appear to be carved into much smaller chunks, surrounded by neatly cut cubes.
Burmoth glares down at the scene, watching Kasei as she stands up and raises her head to look up at him.
"That was not a skill you see every day. You've been hiding special things from me I see." He said in a poisonous tone, unhappy to see his men all dead.
"They forced my hand, unfortunately. Your dogs were left without leashes."
"Huh. I must say up until now I was enjoying our duel... but I see I was too overconfident in myself to see an opponent stronger than me."
He admitted his faults as he held up his greatsword, or at least what remained of it. He sacrificed his blade to block the beam that came his way, now holding the last third of the greatsword that remained.
"It was good to learn from fighting one with your strength. I almost feel appreciative if I didn't want to stain the sand with your corrupted blood for what you've done to these girls..." She glanced to the villagers as she finished her statement, then looked back up to him, hand on her blade's hilt. "Surrender yourself over and settle this peacefully. You'll survive with your head in custody."
"...You know. To fight you opened my eyes. I need to get stronger, faster, develop my techniques..." He clenched his fist as his limit break petered out. The sounds of something galloping beyond the fort's walls could be heard.
"But to achieve that, I cannot go with you! Eat this!" he suddenly thrust out his hand, using the last of his expendable magic power to send out a bolt of lightning, striking the debris in front of Kasei and sending up a thick smokescreen of dust and sand, scaring the village girls as well.
"Tch, stubborn one aren't you.."She rushes out of the smokescreen and runs into the wall. Literally. She comes out the other side of the wall semi-transparent and soon returns to her normal opacity as she comes across the sight of Burmoth a distance away on his steed, a large gray stallion with a twisted gnarled horn. A sort of stag. He turns to look at Kasei, frowning.
"Heed my words, ogre. I will leave you now, but trust that I will bolster my forces and strike again. I'm sure you will come to aid the distressed people once word of my name gets around, no? Then, we will have our battle once I am truly prepared to defeat you." He spoke of the future with a frown on his face, but he didn't sound angry at his retreat but rather disappointed as if he doesn't want the fun to end here.
"Dammit..!" Kasei swung as she unsheathed her blade in one fluid motion, sending out a beam of light towards Burmoth that he manages to dodge even while mounted on his horse, the distance was too far to rely on the speed of the slash to reach him reliably.
"That's the spirit...my future wife has such a fierce spirit! Gahahahaha!" Burmoth cackled as he turned his stag, taking one last good look at the normally stoic Kasei having the look of awe and confusion on her face before he raced off to lick his wounds and regain his strength.
She stood there for a while before returning to the village girls.
"What's wrong? You seem pale and distraught...does he have more orcs on the way?!"
The village girls who were in the dungeon had come outside once being assured by the lookout that the coast was clear and safe. Once they took a look at Kasei though, they felt as if they'd made a mistake in judgement.
She looked gaunt and weak and oh, so very tired. His words had damaged her mental psyche more than he could have ever have damaged her physical body in just one sentence.
"Yeah...just...let's go." Dispirited, Kasei lifts one of the two most recently abused girls onto her back and began carrying her out of the fort, while the others picked up on the hint and the most fit of the prisoners carried the other. Thus the caravan to return to the desert village began and ended that same day with smiles, tears, and appreciation.
In the back of Kasei's mind and she dined on a metal stick of meat roasted over a fire, she thought over what Burmoth had said. He would return, and ensure that she knew he'd return. An ominous thought entered her head.
I've gotten a rival now... She sighed heavily as she continued walking through the night of the desert sand, the light breeze throwing sand into the air.
She looked up to the moon hanging high in the sky. A waning crescent. Fitting.
She feels her determination to adventure for a while waning too.
"I'm just...gonna lay low and hope he doesn't find me. Yeah."
With conviction in her eyes to absolutely not meet Burmoth ever again, the ruby ogre continued her journey.
Or maybe it's just escape now?
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Post by Ritzz on Nov 9, 2018 20:12:35 GMT
"Girl Talk" Kidara Azulua & Vonteno Arzt "Mythos."
A term coined decades ago by the human race on this world of magic, dragons, beasts and beastmen. This world is similar to ours in basic geography, but with many major differences. Mainly being the population difference.
Humanity is the main race who lived on this world since ages ago, being the most populous and adaptable to many environments. Following them would be the Luans, a race of humans who were less inclined towards magic but developed stronger bodies to compensate in addition to other factors such as thinner pupils, slightly pointed ears, and many of people of this race are significantly taller than most humans usually by at least a foot.
The last of the three prominent races would be the Ruby Ogres, but only by relativity to how the other non-human races interacted with the humans and Luans. In the past, humans despised "creatures" and as a result, despite being intelligent and capable of speaking human languages, they were discriminated against and eventually the feeling would be mutual from the creatures to the humans.
The Ruby Ogres would be the ones to take it upon themselves to take the monster infested lands of the desert and jungle lands to make a home for those shunned by humanity. Although this is not to say every creature would leave to this new land, others would take their chance living in the human territories. In the last hundred years however, humanity's age old beliefs had begun to waver and absolute belief in their old customs of absolute hatred towards the non-humans. Man would grow to appreciate and even love their non-human companions, and soon there would be tension growing between those humans who supported the non-humans and those who supported the ancient ways.
As a result, there was a war.
The result was victory for the supporters of change, and finally the non-humans could be respected and given a better name for themselves.
Mythos would be chosen to name the collective non-humans of the world; Alarunes, Rabbitmen, Werewolves, Vampires, Ruby Ogres, Orcs, and everything in between. Mythos would be the name taken often by the creatures of the western hemisphere, while those of the east took a liking to the age-old term for their species; "Youkai."
Since mythos was an umbrella term, more specific names for a class of mythos would be made to further clarify the type of being they were;
Spirits, Demons, and Angels would fall under the "Numen".
Intelligent Monsters who would sustain a healthy life in society with others would be known as "Beastkin."
Alarunes, Mermaids, Lamias, Tengu, Beastmen, Vampires, Zombies, Walking Bones, and other humanoid creatures that had extreme differences compared to humans such as animal features, or sustaining themselves off of life force, or being undead would be classified as "Fae."
Lastly, the humanoids who had very little differences compared to humans, such as an orc's different colored skin and tusks, or the ogre's definitive pair of horns that grow from their temples, or an elf's elongated ears would be classified as human or demi-human. Luans are also considered humans due to their originally human lineage. Many beastmen are born practically human other than having animal appendages which are typically the ears and tail. These beastmen can qualify as demi-human, but typically avoid doing so to avoid confusion.
Magnum city is the name of where all of these races meet. They mingle, they fight, and all of their cultures come together in this melting pot to create a culture that would give even the toughest monster-hater a heart attack purely upon sight of the city's less busy streets. Beastkin dogs with the head of men walk alongside ogres, directing them as tour guides around the city. Young fairies dance through the air on their way home, in the skies all of the winged mythos fly around with one winged beastman directing the flow of traffic so the skies would not be absolute chaos.
In a peaceful little café, me and another woman sit at a table on the second floor of the restaurant. A seat near the front of the store, looking out the large pane windows to the city outside, letting the morning sunlight basked us in its warmth. A young lizard beastwoman would finally bring me my coffee and gave the one sitting across from me a nice day as she goes to take care of the other customers. I've been waiting for this all morning, so I calmly took the warm white mug, taking a deep breath and smelling the nice scent of vanilla that wafts from my drink and relax...
"So, what brings you to my office today?" I finally spoke up, I felt that there wasn't any ice that needed to be broken but I decided to at least lighten the mood. I still don't know why people are always so tense around me.
"I wish I had such a nice office like this. The cushions for this booth are quite comfortable and I adore the smell of coffee that was spilt on these who knows how many years ago." The woman sitting across from me was practically an otherworldly beauty, flawless skin with long flowing blue hair, thin golden eyes, and a dress of black and gold. Her mannerism was regal, yet playful. If I were a man I would probably have fallen for her...but then again I still wouldn't have a chance with royalty.
This woman was the first daughter of the current Luan King, and next in line to take the throne once she were to find a suitable man to be her king. Her name was Kidara Azulua.
Fortunately, the common populace wouldn't recognize her easily, due to her isolation to the Luan capital. As such, only Luans would recognize her at first glance and really only those who lived in the capital as far as she explained to me. Which is completely fine by me either way, it would get annoying having to deal with paparazzi here.
As for myself, I am a human through and through. I've been told I'm pretty...scary. I look in the mirror and I can at least rate myself highly on a scale of one to ten at about an eight if I could be so narcissistic. Platinum blonde curly hair from my mother's side, slightly tanned skin from my father's. Really the most defining part of my person are my eyes. They aren't normal like any other human or even demi-humans. I have no pupils at all, instead my blue eyes go from a gradient of blue to gray from top to bottom.
From my home world I haven't been explained the reason why this is or met anybody else with this condition, but in this one I have met one other person with the same circumstances. A young mage who looks quite similar to me, but is a bit younger. Her mother shared the same features while mine didn't, but their eyes glowed whenever they used immense magic power, whilst I don't particularly use magic that much myself. That didn't really matter as much to me as how apparently intimidating it looks, since the gradient doesn't reflect light well, and I guess having a pair of dark, gradient eyes looking into yours would be a bit scary.
I was just wearing a comfy white brown sweater and some black slacks with loafers. It was a day to myself after all, so I planned on taking it easy up until I was summoned by her majesty. Should I even bother calling her "her Majesty" in public places? I imagine that would gain a lot of unnecessary attention and she told me she preferred to be called by her first name anyway, so I let it be.
"Glad you appreciate it. So what's up?"
"Hmm, well firstly I know that I do not visit the guild often, and I feel bad for not speaking to my friends once in a while... so I wanted to meet you and have some girl talk amongst other things." She beamed at me so brightly I almost thought she was a different person.
The Guild. I tried to rack my brain for some fond memories of that place but I couldn't particularly find any of myself or with her. That isn't to say I hated the place but I almost immediately set out as soon as I came to this world.
The only reason I keep thinking about "this world" is because the Guild took me from my home world of my own volition. My family was gone there, and I had no reason to stay in that cesspit any longer. I much rather liked that kids weren't drafted into the military here, that's for certain. That at least is one good memory.
As for Kidara, I only really remember that she had a particularly short temper regarding her personal affairs and that she was absurdly strong. Saw her lift a car with those slender arms of hers and launch it like it was an RC car. Now she's here sitting in front of me like a darling little angel as if she didn't have that hulking strength inside of her.
"Well if you came to have some girl talk I suppose you meant about personal life?" Well, even if she did have that hulking strength. I had no reason to be rude or scared of her. So I decided to throw out the easiest topic. "I guess we can start with work."
"Ah, yes! I hear you are quite the accomplished detective now!" Her eyes sparkled as she leaned forward slightly. She got pretty excited, so I guess she's still not used to more mundane jobs that don't involve royal affairs...she probably thinks I'm like Sherlock Holmes.
"Can you please share a story about your work? I'd love to hear one if it isn't too much to ask! Everyone we know in the guild is like a superhero but they don't have normal jobs...so to hear about what it's like from someone who handles the criminal stuff in better detail is really intriguing to me."
"Well... I suppose that's fine. Not many people comes to this joint after the morning rush hour ends and even then it's still a pretty quiet place. Alright, sure." I nodded, Kidara clasp her hands together and gave a childlike little "Yay!" as a result.
I gave a sigh as I crossed my arms and tried to think of a suitable story for the princess. I did remember one that could entertain her but I'll have to change some names so the crook won't be recognized by anybody snooping in on the story. I decided to tell her the story from my point of view.
It was a simple story about how I apprehended a drug pusher who I needed to press information out of so the force could finally identify his companions pushing drugs in the other districts as well. So I needed to pretend to be his lover in order to gain his trust. I went as far as to even use his drugs but I detoxified my body soon afterwards. I've never been so glad to know a little bit of healing magic before then, one thing I can thank my service in my home world for at least.
It was an easy enough job since it was one I got early after becoming a detective, skipping some stones in the process due to my connections in high places helped even though I was apprehensive of receiving any of that pygmy elf's help, but that was a story for another time. I was a nearly blank slate that criminals couldn't easily sniff the past of since I already came from another world and I had no major deeds I'd done during my brief stint as a mercenary. It took a full year developing our relationship from associates to friend and then "lovers", as disgusting a thought that was. It helped he was a klutz, so whenever he bumbled about I gave him one of my best smiles and encouraged him on whenever he was getting pissy and cranky.
He actually did hit me a few times, but I'm made of tough stuff and I really wanted the information out of him, so I held my annoyance in check. Eventually he made the mistake of spilling the beans when I asked him who his friends were as if it was a simple question, under the guise that I could "help him out" with getting the goods from his suppliers since his face is recognized by the cops.
Seeing the disbelief and betrayal on his face as he was dragged away was more than satisfactory as revenge for the few times he hit me. Knowing he and his friends would be off the streets was the icing on the cake.
"Wow...to think you had that much determination. I would've bopped him then and there if he ever laid his hands on me!" She pumped her fist as she said that, frowning in disgust.
"And that's exactly why they chose someone like me for the job, because they didn't want someone "bopping" the dude as soon as he pissed the spy off." I retorted. I didn't mean to shoot her down, but I realized it came off that way since she nodded shamefully.
"Ah, yes. Of course, I know too well I couldn't do that since I have such a short temper..." She pouted for a moment, but then she squirmed a bit and I felt chills run up my back. She was going to ask something really shocking, isn't she?
"Erm...you said you gave your best smile...but you rarely smiled even with us. I'm sort of jealous, we never got to see this so called 'best smile!'"
Oh, that? You had me worried for a second there. It was true that I don't usually smile though but it's not because I'm unhappy or anything. I'm just sorta stoic. Though this was pretty amusing in and of itself so I figured "Why not?" and gave her one for the humor.
"Haha, well when you say it like that you make it sound as if I'm lying?" I teased her a bit as I gave her a small smile, she lit up instantly and smiled back.
"Aww, don't tease me so! I didn't mean it that way!" She giggled as I took a drink of my coffee.
For a princess she is sort of adorable in her own way.
"Oh, by the way. Did you and that drug pusher make love if he trusted you so much?"
I take everything I said back right now. What the hell?!
I almost choked on my damn coffee so i wiped my mouth clean with a napkin. Is it really ok for a princess to be asking that kind of stuff?
"W...what? Way to hit me with a lowblow, damn..."
"Sorry? I just wondered since if it was a year-long relationship with such a crass man that he might have tried to attempt the act." She looked at me confused, as if it were an obvious question someone would ask in this situation. I finally remembered that she has no damn tact either, and now I got flustered because of it.
"Well, no. We did not go the full way and fortunately it never had to come to me to perform on him. At most he caressed me and we shared kisses. He already had a main girlfriend anyways." I sighed, the day just started and now I already feel tired.
"Oh, so then he took your first kiss?"
It's one thing to ask about sex, so you just decided to down the chain and ask about kissing and cuddling, huh?
"No, Kidara. He was not my first, thankfully."
"Then was your first from someone back in your home world?" She tilted her head questioningly.
"Yeah, it was."
"Wow! That's rather surprising...I did not think you'd fall in love in like...ever."
I'm gonna kick this chick's ass.
"Erm, I-I did not mean that in a rude way. I meant that you always seemed to prefer being alone. It's like when I asked about your smile earlier, you never really talked to us and you were almost reclusive in a way. Now that I am talking to you I'm starting to see you in a different light."
Reclusive?! First I'm scary, then I'm hard to approach, now I'm reclusive?! Lies!
"...It was just a childhood thing. It was really just us pecking lips. Nothing really special. We broke up since I had to move away and I never saw him again. I haven't had anybody approach me since as they are all intimidated by me." I spoke with as much strength as I could. I felt my heart was breaking...I always knew that people avoided me deep in my heart but I never wanted to accept it. Much less accept that the fault was on MY end.
"Oh, and you're rather...tomboyish too? You're all about guns and work and stuff. You never talk about much else." She drove the final nail into the coffin.
"Now wait one second. I am only interested in guns because I need to know as much about them as i can so i can summon them properly, that's how my summoning magic works. I need to know the ins and outs of its manufacture and its ballistics, otherwise a shoddy copy will give shoddy work. I'm serious about my work because my work saves peoples live and keeps them out of danger! There's not many women my age in the police force nor do they share my interests other than one of my friends, and we don't even chat that much outside of work. I'm a perfectly normal person, I'm just under dire circumstances!"
That's just what I would have said if i wasn't on the verge of collapse, what Kidara said struck true and hit home harder than she thought. I really did focus too much on my work. I separated myself from the guild because I didn't want that nonsense interfering with my new life, and now I am more or less the same as I was back home, stoic and quiet. Where'd all the enjoyment go? Since I was silent and clearly distraught since I was in a cold sweat, Kidara decided to speak up on my behalf.
"Say...why not drop the act? I've been thinking about this for a while but you seem to be putting up a front for one reason or another. I don't know why, but maybe you should let the real Vonteno out, so she can enjoy herself. Let the work Vonteno finally have a vacation and get some time to relax." Kidara placed her hand on mine and looked to me with a small smile. I looked back to her, then down to the table. I was getting rattled so it was already hard for me to keep up my act...yes, my act. I was wearing the mask for so long that I forgot I was wearing one and it essentially became my new face.
I took a moment to myself, mulling over how I would feel if I just told her about my circumstances...but it was met with concerns that if I bottled up my feelings eventually I would just self-destruct and truly become reclusive. I'd tell her and lift the weight off my shoulders.
I took a breath and finally relaxed myself, it felt like such a relief to release the stern visage I've always had for the last several years and talk to someone as myself, rather than as someone I'm not. I rested my elbows on the table and my head in my hands and looked at her. She smiled happily, I guessed she was glad I finally opened up.
"So, you got me. I guess I have been getting a bit too deep into the persona and lost myself in the act."
"Heehee, I could tell. I was worried that if I pressed you about this you'd get angry but I'm glad you trust me enough to let your guard down..." She nodded happily.
"Say...that said. Why did you act that way anyways? I-if you don't mind me asking." She smiled awkwardly, scratching her cheek.
"Oh, I don't mind. Getting asked about myself is actually makes me a bit happy. Never do get to really chat with anybody about the stuff that bothers me after all." I tilted my head, thinking back to the past and how I should word it to her.
"It started with my mother. She wasn't cruel or mean or scary but she had this sort of...air around her. She could instantly snap from the nicest woman you ever met into this straight-laced no-nonsense lieutenant commander who'd set anybody in line with just a glare. The kicker being that she didn't even have powers like I did." I chuckled to myself.
"She could intimidate anybody...but she did it to keep people in line so nobody would get hurt. In fact, I bet you'd think I never got bullied when I was younger because of how I act, but these eyes of mine were often a reason why kids either avoided me or bullied me. So she had to come around and scare off the kids when she heard me crying. I hated having to depend on her that way, so I tried to copy her." I shook my head shamefully, while Kidara leaned forward as she was listening intently.
"I slowly adapted to having this ego like my mom's, though most of the time I lived with my father who was the more lighthearted one of my family, so he was how I grew up more empathetic up until I joined the armed forces. I was still a teenager at the time but since Odanara had no qualms about age or sex regarding the force I joined up without a problem. My skills and my magic allowed me to reach an officer status rather quickly too, since very few in Odanara could use magic anyway. It was there my ego started to dominate my personality and...I just sort of stagnated up until I met the guild there. Things happened between us and eventually I came back with them to this world." I stared into my coffee, looking at my reflection. Not to brag, but I guess I am a lot prettier when I'm not scowling all the time.
"But don't you miss your parents?" Yikes, a heavy question. Sorta expected it though.
"I do. Trust me I do, but I chose this path because I couldn't stand being in that world any longer. It was truly a selfish decision on my part that I made in the heat of the moment. I do regret not saying goodbye to them at least...but I did not want to let the reason I came here escape." I sloshed my coffee around in my cup idly. Kidara gave me a concerned look, to which I just shook my head.
"It was just Ruseka. She taunted me when I found my platoon dead, but she hadn't killed them for giggles. She told me that they all found it...disagreeable that I would be leading them. A young brat with just some magic to my name. They were gonna kill me one way or another once I returned, that's just how crappy Odanara was. I mean, it's not like I would've preferred them dead if not just incarcerated but Ruseka says she took them down because they were already scumbags, so there was no reason for her to regret it later. She indirectly saved my life."
"Color me surprised. I have never met her personally, but all the stories I hear about her are about how she is quite mischievous and plans ahead to the point of it being unnecessary." She sighed and I couldn't agree more.
Ruseka is a mess and I really hated her at first. She was despicable and malicious when she was with AXIS, but after her breakdown and subsequently abandoning AXIS I at least learned she was a victim of her own cruel fate. It doesn't excuse her actions while being a member of AXIS, but she at least is atoning for her crimes. Rebuilding a catastrophe ridden city is no mere feat. Though I guess she stole all of her finances and materials from AXIS anyways.
Speaking of AXIS... a supervillain team of misfits hell bent on controlling the world. They broke up a year ago after getting torn apart by the guild, huh? I wonder where all those mooks went after it dissolved...
As I was lost in thought, Kidara tried to lift the mood.
"Well, now that we can talk heart to heart, why not tell me about what sets your heart aflutter?" She smiled brightly, as if she didn't just ask something so personal and embarrassing. Does this girl not know anything about mood? Can I even refer to her as "girl" since she's Luan? They age significantly slower than humans do and I know she's at least in her forties despite looking like a teenager. Wait, none of that even matters, she's a princess! The hell is she doing asking people questions like that?!
"I...dunno? I never really had interest in love before." I huffed, looking away. I was probably too obvious since Kidara pressed further.
"Oho? Then let me be more specific; what kind of person would you like?"
I was silent for a moment, a bit hesitant to answer. Since it was so quiet inside, we could hear the bustling coming from outside. Looks like across the street there was an argument between a dog beastman and a pale guy, looked like a vampire. I guess he was probably stealing from the beastman's store, since the beastman was holding up a stack of packaged steaks. One of them was even open and leaking blood, so the vampire was probably trying to make off with a snack...he looked oddly thin to me though.
"Well, I would like a person who is dependable at least. Someone who can cook, clean, and work just like I can. Someone who can help me relax after a long day of work or..you know...just let me chill while I'm on my day off. I'd like them to be nice at least, but stern when necessary.." Before I knew it, I got way too into detail with what I was saying and I got caught in her trap.
I paused, feeling a chill up my spne and I looked up to Kidara, her face had probably the most annoying, smug grin I could ever see in my entire life. I almost wanted to punch her.
"Ohhhh? So...you want to be paaaampered do you?~" She spoke in a sing song voice as she teased me. That damn Luan! She roped me into this...!
TBC
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Post by Ritzz on Jan 30, 2019 7:03:14 GMT
Valerie Cindarune "A Brief Struggle." She is an Elf, one of the longest living species on the planet of Gaea. Due to her long age, her maturity growth is extremely slow. Even though she's already 700 years old, she's still taunted occasionally for looking like a kid, which is a button for her many regret pressing once she has her tantrums. She's a fan of meat and pastries. She is also the party's mage.
Valerie Cindarune is a proud member of the "Pluckies", a team of developing adventurers in the Belldove Kingdom. As the kingdom is located in a country full of plains, forests, and a single gorge, the location is divided into 4 areas.
The Highland is where the capital city and the royalty resides. There are fewer monsters there due to being routinely exterminated by the royal army and the vantage point of placing the capital atop a giant hill large enough to oversee the land, but still on a gentle slope so entering and exiting the city would be easy.
The Midlands is where the villages and smaller cities reside. Mostly flatter plains and a few plateaus.
The forest areas aptly named the Woodlands, and are particularly dense. They even seem to have different climates due to nature spirits inhabiting certain areas of the forest. One area may be full of evergreens and maple trees when suddenly the area gets muggy and swaps to vines and more exotic fauna.
The last location is the Plateau, where the gorge is located. The area at the bottom of the gorge is reachable through detours to the west and south of the Cliffside, but strong monsters reside within the gorge, including a mysterious fog emanating from an underground tomb located within the cliffside's base.
"Don't let them get behind us!"
"Right!"
"Two to your left, Claudius."
"Got it!"
Where the Pluckies are currently located now are the woodlands, specifically the Cardinal Woods. They are here on an extermination quest for Treants, a rather simple enemy to dispatch as they are very weak undead. Though being weak for an undead still means you're much stronger than the average villager. As treants could easily disguise themselves as normal trees and wait for unsuspecting prey to walk by the treants became an immediate issue to the nearby villagers who hunt in the woods for food.
The reward was high for the level of quest it was, since the quest itself was available to low ranked adventurers like the Pluckies. They prepared their gear and set out as soon as possible. The forest was only a few hours away by walking so it was very accessible to them. They arrived at the edge of the woods first daunted by the density of the woods, even though light was clearly shining through the leaves and branches, the sheer amount of trees that made it easy to get lost deep in the forest was something of concern. More notably, the reason it was even named Cardinal Woods was because a priest of high stature was wrongly accused and hung in the forest with his body left to hang there. Harboring hatred and disdain for those who killed him, his intense emotions carried over through the afterlife and cursed the forest, causing the forest to easily harbor magic to generate undead such as walking corpses and evil spirits like treants.
Entering the forest at first was actually rather soothing, since entering during autumn let them witness the forest during its color change. The ground and trees almost seem painted with green, red, brown, and orange because of the sheer amount of leaves, giving the edge of the forest a genuinely wondrous view that enraptured the adventurers at first, but going deeper into the forest began to feel dreadful. The branches were barren and the ground was covered in flaky, brown leaves. The trees curled and branches turned gnarled, for many tree trunks it almost looked like there were faces in them. It was clear that they were approaching a nest of treants, who sap the health of the land around them and their negativity warps the foliage in images similar to themselves.
Getting into the nest and trying to ambush the treants while they were unsuspecting was the goal, as Treants still had notable differences from trees like unnatural crack lines where the faces would be and were typically thinner than normal trees, being dead trees after all.
In the process of this, they got ambushed and surrounded themselves. The party took formation and rushed through the thinnest rank of treants they saw and abused the slower reaction time of the tree spirits to get by relatively safely. Fortunately as treants were common, they weren't too dangerous on their own. They weren't very fast and were rather dull despite their strength. It would be difficult for many people to be surrounded even by weak enemies since there is still power in numbers though. The party acknowledged this much and took the chance to get past the ring of encroaching trees and give themselves some breathing room.
Ever since, they've been fighting like this, letting the treants come to them while they hold the line. Their two warriors at the forefront holding the treants there, while the thief picks off distracted treants one by one as they are distracted or downed. The two casters, one Valerie and the other a druid, hang in the rearguard. The druid is there to provide healing and watch for any more ambushing treants or wandering monsters, while Valerie is his bodyguard and the party's artillery, casting arrows or light to strike at the treant's weakness.
"Damn trees...you are a gigantic disgrace to nature as a whole!" Ozwuld, their dwarven druid, spat with utter hate and spite in his voice towards the treants. He held out his hand and summoned forth his catalyst, a living snake, and began chanting. As a druid, he was specialized with speaking to the earth to gain favor and blessings from the world itself rather than a higher power, allowing him to access his magic even if his connections to the gods were blocked by some force, giving him an edge over clerics. His catalysts, however, all require to be animals and organic tool, which take time to make or train.
Of course, as a man who is deeply rooted in nature, he finds treants and other monsters that pervert or corrupt nature to be vile. Though he seems to have no problems with alarunes.
"Just don't let that hate of yours distract you..." Says Artemis as she slips behind a Treant, then goes back the other way as it turns back around to try and track her, stabbing into its eye holes and carving through to the soul trapped within using her dagger. With a new hole open for the soul to access, it escapes through the hole and rises into the air whilst leaving the treant body a motionless husk.
Claudius and Jean, the knight and spellsword respectively, are busy hacking and slashing at the treants and too distracted for conversation.
Claudius may call himself a knight, but he is more so a knave in bits and pieces of armor. He is not a member of any order nor took any chivalric oath, his suit of armor is mainly leather with a metal breastplate, arm guards, gauntlets, helmet, and grieves. He protects his vitals but couldn't afford a full set, though he does have a shield and shortsword to compensate for his middling defense.
Jean is a spellsword who mixes swordplay with magic, dazzling the battlefield with might and mind together. Most novices would focus on upgrading their offensive magic arsenal to bolster their team's offense. Jean however took on the role as a magic tank, using her magic to buff her body and create a shell of magic energy around herself to act as armor so she can stay at the forefront as a tank. She uses a claymore, using its weight to easily cleave through the treants.
Lastly there is Valerie, using her magic to bombard the treants with a stream of power, knocking many of the small trees over and onto each other. Using it to conserve her power instead of pelting them with bolts of energy. They fall over easily since they're just barely more than the size of an adult, leaving them open for Claudius and Jean to finish off.
"T-this is so terrifying... should we stop? I think we should leave as soon as we're done, yeah?" Valerie says, shuddering as she watches the malicious trees groan and shriek as they are broken and cut apart.
"Last one!" Claudius calls out as he strikes the tree across the face with his shield, breaking it to splinters. He then thrusts his sword through the softened spot, releasing the soul within. He gives a couple of seconds to look around cautiously before dusting off her sword and sheathing it away at his hip. "So what is this about you being terrified? Weren't you the one who was always so eager to fight giant boars and night crawlers? Why are you afraid of some moving trees?"
"They're so unnatural! Trees should be moving and groaning and...ueegh..." She shudders, thinking back on the faces she saw.
"Aye, I agree there.." the druid rubs his nape, ruffling his red hair as he pops a kink in his neck. "Trees aren't malignant forces naturally, and especially not the type to harbor hatred for the livin'. Treants are practically the enemies of common sense, like a lot of undead are."
As Ozwuld offered his thoughts, Valerie nodded quickly as she finds something to relate to.
"Well, a lot of things don't make sense. Undead, treants, this forest, magic. The lack of logic is the common factor in all of these, which is why we have trouble understanding it. Which is why I think people should stop trying." Jean finally decided to join the conversation after ensuring each treant not cut to pieces was dead with a cursory stab through the face. Some actually released souls, showing a slight manner of intelligence to these treants through playing dead.
"We should be concerned about getting out of this forest. Clearing this nest was far easier than I thought it'd be but I'd rather not wait for midnight before I can eat." She added on to it with a good point and a completely unnecessary bit of information. She was right that with the job done, they should go. They may even be able to catch a good spot at an inn.
"Right, right. Let's go to the village and tell them the issue was resolved. Jean, you and me will take spearhead. Valerie, you swap with Artemis. You used a lot of magic during that fight and it's clear you're uncomfortable here, take a breather in the center. Artemis and Ozwuld will take rearwatch. Let's hurry back to the village so we can get the signature for completion and get out of here. Gotta admit, this place gives me the chills too." Claudius gives Valerie a wry grin and turns to march off, Jean adjacent to him by a few feet, and the rest following in ranks as he suggested.
It was a while before someone finally spoke, being Artemis. "What I don't understand was why the treants managed to get the drop on us when we were prepared. They couldn't have known we were coming in advance and they don't send messengers." She frowned, folding her arms. I only heard a large mass of something coming this way and suddenly a wave of treants came for us."
"Maybe they somehow sensed us?"
"They can't tell you're there from that far away. You'd need to be within about 10 meters." Artemis shook her head, denying Ozwuld's claim.
"Hmm..." Claudius put his hand to his chin, thinking as he walked. Jean looked to him and raised an eyebrow.
"You got an idea?"
"Well...can't be certain, but..." He sucks in some air, realizing it may sound a bit strange if he just said it without reasoning so he started to explain himself first.
"Ok, well. Treants are not typically mobile creatures, right? Why were they coming in our direction if they normally can't sense anybody? If anything, they didn't look organized at all. They came from in front of us and then surrounded us. That was why we could break out of their ranks through the gap that was still there." He hypothesized.
"You mean that wasn't an attack from them. I guess it is strange they didn't just attack us from all angles if it was a purposely thought out plan." Jean nods in agreement, understanding his thoughts.
"But then why do ya think they came our way?"
"...I believe they were ordered to come this way, or maybe they were getting away from something."
Claudius spoke with uncertainty, but it was still enough to shake everyone down to their core. The thought that something able to control the undead wasn't uncommon. The thought that undead were scared of something was completely different and very rare.
That means something dangerous.
"That can't be..." Valerie gripped her metal cane tightly., seeming distraught.
"Everyone, please. It's just a thought. The Cardinal Woods are a place for beginners like us to make some quick cash. The villagers haven't seen anything like some big nasty monster and if anything, this forest wouldn't have enough magic to support such a creature if they just stayed in the deep woods. It'd have to come out and show itself if it did exist." Claudius sighed.
"I would prefer if such a thing didn't appear." Artemis muttered.
"No use fretting about it...hmm?" Ozwuld lifted his head, noticing something.
Jean tensed up slightly. "You felt that too? Something feels wrong..."
Artemis and Claudius looked to Ozwuld and Jean respectively, while Valerie seemed to be caught up in her own thoughts silently.
"What do you mean, Jean?"
"I sense...magic. Awful magic, like that of a treant but much greater." Jean said grimly.
"Damn it Claud, you jinxed it!" Artemis fretted, already reaching for her blade.
"Calm down, wolf! It's not an overwhelming presence and it isn't even coming this way. It felt more so like that of summoning magic. A treant was probably born again, I recognize this sensation from my experiences with Witch Doctors. Necromantic summoning has a very distinct aura...anybody with a good sense in magic could feel it." He patted Artmeis' shoulder to put her at ease.
"This forest is known for reviving the dead and wayward spirits inhabiting the trees, all due to the Cardinal's curse. It's the natural phenomena this deep in the woods, alright?"
Artemis is still on edge, but stows her dagger. "If...you say so...augh, we need to just get out of here."
Now it isn't just Valerie, they are all feeling the dread of being in the forest and they all collectively agreed. They picked up the pace towards the village.
The sensation of powerful necromantic magic didn't seem to stop pestering Ozwuld and Jean, in fact, it seemed rather like the sensation was assaulting them. These were happening too commonly and too close to them for it to simply be coincidence now.
Something was coming for them, and they couldn't let it get to the village by following them.
"Claudius, something is definitely out there this time. It's coming this way." Jean alerted their party leader, taking her claymore from her back.
Claudius looked to Jean, then back to Ozwuld who nods grimly.
"Then it's time for the banquet. Get ready for our guests! Artemis, set up the traps, Ozwuld and Valerie will start buffing." With a collective nod, they all started to get to work.
Artemis was a wolfman thief, though she's only about a quarter non-human and only features the heightened sense and wolf ears. Her senses do help her with her job of course, and her best talents lied in laying out traps in addition to sniffing them out. Since her enemy was likely an undead, she opted to set a perimeter of simple mine traps. Useful for many adventurers who go delving in outside locations rather than inside, these mines are filled with gunpowder and a magic solution, essentially creating a magic bomb. Expensive, but useful for situations like this.
Informing the group of where the bombs laid made her job complete. After all, there's only so much a thief could do against the undead, who usually have nothing to steal if they're below the class of vampire or lich.
Ozwuld and Valerie both focused on using their respective power to summon strength and durability to their allies. Ozwuld called upon the earth to grant her subjects succor. While Valerie used her magic to wash over her allies with a stream of power, bolstering them with her sorcery.
Jean cast a special spellsword buff on herself, granting herself an invisible shell that acts like armor. She would use it on the others if her spell allowed, but it was strictly a personal buff. She promised to learn a party wide version another time. Claudius, being the only other one in the party besides Artemis who doesn't use magic, used an enchantment spell he purchased from a vendor, one to imbue his weapon in fire for about ten minutes. Simple but highly effective against undead and especially treants. It may have been a bit excessive for use in the woods, but he considered it optimal concerning the worry on the caster's faces from earlier.
Soon after the party finished their preparations, they all began to hear the heavy footsteps of their enemy. They turned to its direction and steeled themselves, but what they saw staggered the whole group.
"What in the seven hells...?"
"This was supposed to be a novice area, you said that earlier right?"
"Really? You are going to call me out on that right now?"
"That's not a treant..."
Valerie's gaze focused on the creature unfamiliar to her party members, but they all recognized its strength was a league above the pitiful tree spirits. Valerie managed to mutter its name.
"A wood warden..."
Wardens are considered "Medium variable threats" by adventuring guilds. They are all certainly threats above novice and adept adventurers, but to veterans they have a bit of leeway when it comes to how manageable they can be. This is due to Wardens coming with "classes" of their own depending on the environment they were born in. Iron Wardens came in caves while Obsidian Wardens appeared in volcanic regions. Wood Wardens albeit tough on your first encounter, are one of the easiest to handle, but for a newcomer party, it's like fighting a devil.
It was a large disfigured humanoid about twice as tall as Claudius, with heavy wooden armor and an gnarled axe of tree held in its hands. The wood its armor appears to be made from looks ancient and decaying, while the shade that hides where its face would be glows with 2 bright green lights that resemble eyes. The way its back hunched didn't hide just how tall the thing was compared to Claudius still.
So the party had no choice but to run. The magic bombs that Artemis set appeared to have little effect on the Warden, who burned for a few seconds but eventually the flames had been snuffed out underneath his wooden grieves, likely due to magical reinforcement of some sort, but did at least burn the monster's leg to a darker color. The monster rushed forward to catch the party and easily overtook them, aiming to bring its axe down onto Jean's back, but Valerie swung her cane into its burnt leg and stumbled with a shriek, the Warden toppling into the forest with a splintered shin. Valerie explained this was due to the flames weakening the Warden's foot so nobody decided to ask questions. With the Warden tripped up, they managed to escape.
Though it hadn't followed them to the village, they hadn't wanted to venture back out into the forest while it was still active. Taking a detour would take several days as well, so they had no choice but to give up the rest of the day until tomorrow to try to leave for their home the next day. They dejectedly returned to an inn to rest and recuperate until tomorrow.
The night is owned by the nocturnal, so strong beasts even give way to sleeping in shelter when the night comes since they would be at the disadvantage to things that thrive in the dark. Humans and demi-humans are no different, preferring to keep their distance from the dark forests due to the threat of being attacked at night by wolves, nocturnal creatures, or in the case of the Cardinal woods...ghosts.
After all, the history of Cardinal Woods is still proven to this day by the presence of treants and malicious spirits. Though tonight there is an especially dangerous presence in the forest tonight. A Wood Warden. Although they can be found anywhere, they are not naturally born creatures. Anybody who adventures for a living would know this through shared information or through examination. They are close relatives to golems, though they take a more refined form and serve only one purpose; To defend a location. Many adventurers seek out strong wardens under the idea that the wardens are guarding treasure, or protecting the real threat.
In a way, despite being a form of defense, wardens are sometimes the biggest defensive liability in the event they are defeated, as they just gave away the rough location of something important.
As the lich of Cardinal Woods had.
Deep in the dead woods of the Cardinal forest, a lich has made his home out of a desiccated grove full of dead trees, moss, and cobwebs. Here he has been planning for a long time to exact his revenge on the nearby village for running him out of town for his practice of illegal dark magic. He gave his life in the pursuit of power and attained great magical ability in death in exchange for sanity. Now a slave to his goals, he had worked tirelessly to summon his ultimate subordinate. He simply needed time, an area for a large enough magical circle, and plentiful spirits. All that can be offered easily in the Cardinal Woods.
As a bodyguard, he summoned a Wood Warden to guard the area through patrols, killing anybody who entered its radius of work. Since he was nearly complete, he expanded the range of his warden's patrols to give an earlier warning if adventurers had somehow found out about his plans. It worked in his favor, as he sensed that his warden had met adventurers and was later defeated by another encounter, which gave him the urgency to finish his summoning in time for his arriving intruder.
Pale skinned, bald, and noseless with black sclera and red eyes. He wore an odd set of purple-black robes with black crow feathers lining his collar. He chuckled to himself, placing his hand on the human skull that he held on his opposite hand, green lanterns of energy lighting up the area. There was indeed a large summoning circle near his location, with what appeared to be a large skull with two horns sticking out the sides at the center. Likely a great ox's skull.
"I see my Warden's killers are finally here...I've been...waiting for your arrival." he turned slowly and dramatically around to face the darkness, looking to where the presence of a powerful group was.
"So, the world noticed me at last. The Great Lich Esteban! They sent valiant heroes...to disrupt my party plans? Is that it? Well maybe they should have sent moooooore...." he grinned widely, chewing out the scenery.
"Come forth, mighty heroes, and show me your prideful faces...before I break them with utter despair..." he beckoned them with his long bony finger.
The presence hesitated momentarily, but finally stepped out into the light. A lone girl who appeared to barely be greater than a teenager stepped out alone. She appeared to be a witch of some sort, wearing a striking pair of robes and hat. Her long blue hair tied into a ponytail sticking down from her hat, her violet eyes staring up at the wizard with intrigue. Her slender hand held a thin metal cane in it. A metal cane as well, though she doesn't seem to walk at a limp or use it for assistance. It's clearly her catalyst. Her other hand was hidden in the darkness holding something. A frail girl with a magic stick.
But oddly, nobody else steps forth even though he can still sense a large presence. He figures this as some form of mockery and shakes his head.
"Don't waste my time! Come forth and let's finish this quickly." He grumbled, dramatically swinging his hands forward. Three green lanterns fly past her and illuminate the darkness behind her, revealing nobody except herself and the hand that was hidden in the darkness. In that hand was wood carved in the shape of a helmet. A warden's head.
His warden's head.
Staring down at her he tries to understand what he's seeing, shaking his head in disbelief at her powerful presence and the warden head she's holding. She couldn't have beat it herself, her teammates must have all been heavily injured or died, and she was sent alone.
Regaining composure, he chuckles. "Ah, I see now. Your party of buffoons must have tried very hard to keep you safe and must have been gravely wounded...or killed. So you came in some futile attempt to end it yourself? How noble..." His chuckle turns into a cackle.
Valerie tilts her head, tossing the warden head aside. "No? That wasn't at all the case. They're all sleeping peacefully at the inn. I just came to get rid of that thing and I figured I'd come deal with you too."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing, maybe she had lost her mind? No, she's telling the truth...she's strong. He decided now was not the time to toy around, he had to get rid of her unless she'd ruin everything.
He threw his arms to the air, grinning madly. Dark power rose from around her and the air shuddered momentarily as the magic circle began to glow. Valerie covered her eyes to protect them from the intense wind and light coming from the circle.
"So we aren't going to talk this out, huh..."
"You are a strong adventurer, maybe a hero? No matter! You made the foolish mistake to come alone...now you will suffer for your pride and arrogance! Come forth! Gray Devil!"
He cackles as his call is heard and a creature is beckoned. It quickly rises out of the earth, but the first and most notable feature is its large, gnarled horns sticking sideway from its goat head. The gray fur of the goat comes to a stop at his torso that is entirely human, and shifts to that of a goat's legs for a lower body. Its entire body packs muscle, and in one of his hands is a heavy slab of iron resembling a sword, or maybe a hatchet. Its eyes open to reveal glowing yellow irises that glare directly towards Valerie as he finally stands, a good four heads taller than she is, not to mention he's simply huge due to his muscular stature.
"How do you feel now, fearless adventurer?! A gray devil in the flesh! Physically strong, adept in fighting, and highly resistant to magic. A mage's worst nightmare! How would a caster like yourself fare against my pet, I wonder..?" The lich rubbed his hands together, expecting despair and tears.
"He's certainly...big." Valerie stared blankly at the devil.
The lich took this as shock. "Enough talk...devil, slay her here and now!"
Obeying his command, the devil lifted his hatchet with a deep growl and swung it down. An impressive swing that would easily cleave through the common steel equipment many adventurers use, and fast enough to catch even skilled rogues within range.
And with the shriek of metal clashing against metal, the hatchet stopped.
"Oh, dear... I suppose you really thought I was purely a mage." Valerie stands with her feet grounded and stable, her metal cane held with both hands up to hold the hatchet at bay. From the way the devil's arms shake and bulge it's clear he's trying to force his way through her guard with strength and failing.
She pushed to the side to let the hatchet fall beside her and open the devil's guard up, gripping the fore end of her cane and jabbing it into the devil's torso, sending it stumbling back a couple of feet. The lich stared at this with his mouth agape.
"Impossible...a mere mage could- no, you said you were not 'purely a mage'. What are you then?!" He growled out to her.
"Well, warrior was my original job...but I swapped to mage because I wanted to do this job as well." She rubs the back of her head nonchalantly.
People switching jobs is not uncommon, but it isn't common for someone to swap to a job they have no experience in. Warriors often switch to knights or berserkers, who value strength and vigor above all else. However, this elf changed from might to mind. Normally this isn't a very easy thing to accomplish within a single lifespan...training for years in a skill uncommon to your own. However, elves live much longer lives, so this isn't impossible to them. To most, it's just a waste of time.
But they also have a lot of time to use, so why not?
Disregarding that, even if she was a warrior, to block a strike from a gray devil is no easy feat without damaging your weapon. It would have to be on the grade of mythril or higher...which means...
"You're a...hero?" The lich choked on his own words, the absolute worst case scenario appeared right before his eyes.
"What? No, no, no." She shook her head is absolute astonishment.
"I'm what I call a Frontliner.."
She is the gem of the Pluckies' party, hiding her true strength and abilities by casting spells or handling problems out of sight or in secret, so her party of bright eyed adventurers can continue to grow without depending on her. Even then when the treants attacked, she was the one who attracted them with her large presence of power that acted like a beacon to the undead spirits who despise life. This was to protect them from encountering the Warden she herself sensed a while before they encountered it in person during their battle with the treants. Now she decided to deal with the source of the problem, a large source of necromantic power coming from the forest. The lich.
"Damn it...Devil, she can't be proficient with magic, burn her to cinders!" He poured his magic into his summoned monster, the Devil raising his hand over his head and summoning a ball of fire.
"Stream: Great Flame Guard." Valerie chanted words and held her hand forward, but nothing more happened.
The devil roared as he threw his hands forward, a thick wall of flame rushing at her and coating her entirely in red hellfire. Though that's what it appeared from the front, behind the flames she stood behind a hexagonal barrier that kept the flames at bay. The flames char the trees not protected behind her, and eventually are blown away entirely.
By the end of the attack, the ground was burnt black and a good section of the small grove is on fire, coating the sky in black. Valerie stood there, eyebrows lowered in a scowl.
"You know, any right minded person would be very angry over the threat of a forest fire. I am an elf, so I'm able to hear the trees weeping as they burned to death..." Her eyes turned from the devil to the Lich, her young eyes narrowing, glaring into his eyes.
"They will be avenged." At these words, the Lich shook.
"D-dammit, how?! I don't care what you do, devil! Kill her!"
"Stream: Great Bolt." At her words the air groans. The common sense of the world is twisted and snapped to her command and the power of light and water falls under her jurisdiction. Light flows from the air like water together at a point to form a spear of light.
At the snap of her finger, the spear jets forward and stabs through the forearm of the devil as it tries to block where it was headed, its chest. The spear lodged itself in its arm, but at least kept the spear from piercing its heart. It has no time to recuperate before she's already in front of it, slamming her cane into its shin and shattering the bone, forcing it to a knee.
The monster swipes at her once, twice, three times with its hand to try and catch her but she dodges each attempt. She gives it a kick on one hand as it swipes for her, bending its fingers backwards on that same hand. In a rage the devil manages to stand up with pure fury powering its body now, raising its blade to hack away at her with this newfound strength. Valerie prepares herself to intercept with her cane.
Metal shrieks and clangs together as their weapons meet each other repeatedly. Sparks fly as the two continue their flurry against each other. Neither is landing hits against each other but it's mostly on Valerie's choice that they don't. She's purposely only aiming to deflect his blade, her eyes occasionally glancing at the lich.
A few more clashes and Valerie makes her choice to act. She swings upwards with both hands, knocking the blade out of the devil's hands and a few meters away. She'd clothesline the monster's legs to topple it and move behind it. She chants a new spell with anger and virtue.
"Ex Stream: Max Strength!"
She'd grip onto the devil's legs and turn her body while stomping into the ground hard enough to crack it to give herself support. She'd twirl and take the devil off the ground and launch it at the lich in one complete motion. This act came by surprise of the Lich, and due to her massive strength buff, he couldn't consider evading the body in time. It'd slam into his frail body at high speed, both of them tumbling through the woods until they collide with a sturdy tree, the lich limply stuck to the devil's back like a squashed fly, and devil itself in a daze.
The devil couldn't even regain its senses before it found itself looking up at its own legs, and deeply embedded in the tree judge above its chest would be its hatchet, with his head missing.
The devil, clearly astonished by this act, could see Valerie out of the corner of its eyes as she approached, placing a foot on the devil's head.
"Lich is dead, big creep exterminated. Claudius and the others will be glad to know that it's safe to go home now. Ah, the spirit isn't disappearing? You're still alive?" She looked down at the head, realizing it's looking back up at her.
"Gross...well, whatever. It was pretty unfortunate for you to run into me so it isn't your fault you're like this now, but that Lich's."
"But even you should have known you were out of your league and bailed, after all..." She paused, considering some things.
"If you had a level, it'd be about... 60. That lich was like, 40. I'm about... 110 give or take." She smiled, putting pressure on the thing's head.
"Please be sure to tell your friends not to leave their stinking devil holes until they can make a match for me, ok?"
And in the next moment, the devil's vision blacks out with a meaty splat.
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