[continued from here (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=27105.0)]
(M for probable gore/body horror)
@MadEmperor
It had taken her the better part of three weeks to track down rumors of a gnoll clan who bellowed "Poisonclaw" as their battle cry, and all the while she had been lapping up any scraps of information about a particular gnoll in specific: one seen with a strange ax strapped across his back, though most who had glimpsed him claimed that he had been more concerned with using a wickedly curved sword that he carried.
But one gnoll was harder to find than a handful dozen; she'd gotten vague directions from a merchant caravan at the edge of the plains two days ago and been following the lead ever since.
Squatting in front of the small fire she'd made, Hanako sighed and let her head roll from side to side. "Where are you, party boy?" she muttered, as though the flames might actually answer. She knew a fire was a bit of a risk out in open grasslands, but she had it well contained--and she'd douse the thing before she slept.
For now, she sat in front of the flickering warmth and folded her tails into her lap, tipping her head back to look up at the open sky. She didn't know where Thrax was, how far gone he might be if--
when--she found.
But she was determined to find him all the same.
The next day, she came across a battlefield littered with dead gnolls and orcs. The position of the bodies indicated that they had killed each other. The emblem on the armor of one gnoll matched the Poisonclaw symbol that the caravan guard had described to her.
Poisonclaw.
She was close.
Hana shifted into what most would call her "true" form, a silvery fox the size of a large pony. She felt like all of her forms were true, were her. She was no more or less comfortable in any one than the other--well. She wouldn't say it was more comfortable, but she'd admit she enjoyed the visible display of her dual nature that her "halfway" form provided.
The massive fox sniffed the air, taking in the scent of blood, orcish and gnoll alike. She closed her eyes and concentrated, sniffing again, singling out the gnolls' scent, and then started to follow the faint trail of it back to its point of origin.
Maybe she would be lucky. Maybe she would find them before Thrax did. Maybe she would find him before he found them.
After some time, Hana would spot a dark cloud on the horizon. It wouldn't have been odd if not for the fact that there were no other clouds in the sky. It didn't appear to be over any structures, so if it was Thrax, he hadn't gotten his revenge just yet.
As she neared the spot, she would notice that the cloud was steadily dissipating. She would also notice the smell of death and burnt grass.
That didn't bode well.
Though, it at least boded better than a massacre of the Poisonclaw clan. Picking up her pace, the huge fox corrected her direction slightly to run straight for the heart of the ever-dissipating storm.
Her nose may not have been as good as Thrax's, but she was almost sure she could pick up his scent, mixed with blood and ozone.
She risked calling out: "Thrax? Thraxion! Can you hear me?"
What she found was a small group of dead Poisonclaw, clearly killed by Thrax's demonically enhanced lightning magic. Judging by the bandaging on several of the bodies, they must have been survivors of the battle, limping home to recover. The mercilessness that it took to slaughter the wounded like that meant that Thrax was deep under the blade's influence.
The attack had been recent enough that the bard's scent was still easily picked up. The bodies hadn't even begun to rot. Between that and the rate at which the cloud was vanishing, Thrax had been there sometime between when she found the battlefield and when she saw the cloud. She was close.
Hana only paused a moment to sniff at the bodies, picking up the fresh thread of Thrax's scent. Then she was off again, occasionally blue sparks leaping from where her paws touched the ground.
Please be alright, she found herself praying, though to who or what she couldn't say. Please don't be too far gone...
It was dark before she saw the campfire in the near distance. She couldn't be sure it was him, but the bard's scent trail was leading her in that direction. There also seemed to be only one figure by the fire.
As she caught sight of the fire, Hanako increased her pace, until she was all but sprinting by the time she entered the circle of light and skidded to a slightly ungainly stop.
"Thrax?" she panted--gods, if somehow it wasn't him, she was sure she'd just given whoever it was a heart attack.
Thrax looked up from staring at the fire, nearly unrecognizable as the fun-loving, sensitive guy she knew. His eyes weren't black anymore, but they were hard and pitiless. His clothing was bloodied and torn from fighting.
"You shouldn't be here." His voice was dark and angry.
Hanako let her shape melt back into that halfway form, crouching across the fire from him.
"Neither should you," she said softly.
He shook his head. "No. I'm exactly where I need to be. They've made that perfectly clear."
Without waiting for a response, he said, "My first trip back into the Serha and do you know what I found? The charred remains of a human settlement, marked with their symbol." He growled furiously. "As if bringing war back between the clans wasn't enough for their bloodlust, that they have to declare war against the humans too!"
"They won't be satisfied until all of us are dead!"
"Thrax."
Hana shifted a little closer, hesitantly reaching out to him. "I'm not saying you shouldn't be angry. But listen to yourself—this isn't you."
She determinedly kept her eyes away from the sword, like he was territorial animal she was worried she might set off.
"How would you know?" he snapped as he slapped her hand away. "You only knew me for less than a month. Maybe that wasn't me. Did that even occur to you?"
The kitsune quirked an eyebrow. "Listen, I know I'm down for a good time, but I like to think I at least need to know someone a bit before I hop in bed with them." She tried for a smile, but it fell quickly.
"Right. Bad time for jokes. But, Thrax...do you remember what we talked about that night? About how you don't need to seek blood to bring your people justice? Not like this, anyway."
She reached again, slowly, like she was trying to tame a skittish horse. "Is this really what you want?"
The gnoll cocked his head as if listening to something. He then looked at her with suspicion. "If you were just 'down for a good time,' then why follow me? Why are you really here?"
He looked ready for a fight if he didn't like the answer.
Ouch. Fair, but ouch.
Hana sat back on her heels with a small sigh. "Because you're my friend," she answered honestly. "Because you're a kinder soul than you want people to think, and because frankly there isn't enough kindness in the world."
She tried for another tiny smile. "I'm not ready to lose yours yet."
"You're wrong about me. Everything you think you know is just a mask. I had even fooled myself." He laughed ruefully, with a darker edge than usual. "All to hide that vengeance is the only thing that keeps me going."
"And anyone that gets in the way of that is not only not my friend, but my enemy." As he spoke, he slowly reached for the sword.
"I'm not saying you don't deserve vengeance, that your people don't deserve it," Hana said, hands raised and her ears pressing back flat to her skull. "But just think about how. You say you fooled yourself—how do you know? Did that tell you?"
She pointed at the demon blade, eyes narrowed.
"What of it?" he spat. "It hasn't lied to me once."
His hand wrapped around the grip, electricity crackling where his hand made contact. "It knows me better than anyone." He stood, his eyes hardening.
"Does it?"
Heedless of the danger, she grabbed for his arm. "Does it know your favorite tavern song? How you take your ale? Your favorite camp stories? Does it know anything about other than the fact that losing your family nearly drove you mad with grief?"
The gnoll was thrown off just enough for her to grab his arm without reprisal.
"... No... it doesn--" He was there. For just a moment, he was there. Then he jerked away, drawing the sword. No! You won't trick me!"
"I won't let you stop me either," he threatened.
Yes! It was just a second, but she saw that. She saw him.
Hana put her hands up to emphasize the fact she was unarmed, holding his eyes.
"Look at me, Thrax," she begged quietly. "You know I'm right. Are you really going to hurt me with that thing?"
"I don't want to," he said sadly, sword arm trembling as if from some unseen contest of will.
If she won't leave, you'll have to kill her
No... I can't... Not her!
She won't stop until you give up your dream of vengeance. You don't want that, do you?
"But I'll... I'll do what I have to." The tremble stopped and he pointed the blade at her.
Hana's red eyes went hard and flinty, and she tipped her head up, exposing her throat.
"Go on then," she murmured, holding his eyes. "Because I'm not willing to lose you. Not to that thing."
The illusion tipped its head back further, while the real Hana moved as silently as she was able to try to get behind her friend, though the invisibility she was using was slipping.
Thrax hesitated.
You said she was against me.. why would she?
An illusion! A trick!
But what if it isn't. She'd really be--
Do you want your justice or not? Power demands sacrifice.
... You're right... You're... No! I won't!
*Sigh* Then you leave me no choice but to... change... our little arrangement.
The demonic aura around the blade and seeping into Thrax suddenly became stronger. His eyes blackened and the weapon sparked with black lightning as it took the bard's enhanced magic for itself. His arm slashed for the illusion's throat as if moving on its own.
Even though she was the one who had created the image, Hana still winced as the blade cut into the illusion's throat and blood spurted.
The fox took a few steps back, allowing her invisibility to slip and the illusion to vanish. "I was really hoping you wouldn't do that," she whispered from behind him.
"Thrax" whirled around, slashing at where she had just been. He bared his teeth threateningly. "I knew you were nothing but a filthy trickster." His voice was so subtly different than the change was difficult to notice on a conscious level; it was more like the itch of knowledge buried just too deep to access.
That hurt more than she wanted it to, even if she suspected it wasn't exactly him talking.
"Thrax, please." She took her larger fox shape, backing up another step. "Please. Listen to me. This isn't who you are..."
"Thrax" laughed darkly. "But it is."
He stepped forward, his blade crackling through the air as it came for her head again.
With no physical weapon of her own, besides claws and teeth—which were all well and good but not the best method to party a blade—Hana had to rely on agility and luck as she dodged his strikes. Foxfire bloomed around her paws, but she didn't want to risk using it; she could seriously hurt him, and despite everything, she was trying to avoid that as much as possible.
"I don't want to fight you, Thrax!"
"That makes one of us!" he snarled, pointing the blade at her. She only had a brief moment to defend herself before a bolt of demonic lightning leaped directly for her.
Hanako's eyes widened, and on instinct she called up a barrier of foxfire. It wasn't enough to deflect the bolt, but it seemed to dilute it slightly--enough that when it struck her it didn't immediately kill her, at any rate.
She collapsed, panting and barely conscious.
For a brief moment, he looked at her with sad eyes before they once again turned black. The demon possessing the bard laughed. "If you value your life, you won't get in my way again."
He walked off, humming a tune. Strangely, he wasn't very good at it. This... wasn't Thrax.
"Wait...don't..."
Her eyes fluttered even as she reached after him. But she didn't have it in her to maintain consciousness. With a quiet sigh, her eyes closed and she slumped back to the ground.
Some time later...
A roar woke her. The first thing she saw was a grass drake fleeing with a panicked cry. The large shadow of a dragon loomed overhead.
Hana started to come to slowly, but the dragon's roar brought her around with an abrupt jerk. She gasped and tried to sit up, then groaned as her head pounded and her vision spun.
"Wha... Kah?" She blinked blearily and squinted up at the shape overhead, making out the familiar blue gradient. "Kah!"
The frost dragon looked down at her with relief in his big eyes. "Oh! You're awake!"
He stepped back to give her room. "You're lucky I found you before that drake had you for breakfast."
She laughed breathlessly and nodded. "Thanks for the save, big guy." She shook her head and managed to push herself to her feet, swaying slightly. Then she a realization seemed to strike her and she jerked her head around. "Wait--shit! I told you two not to come after me! You've got a baby to think about, you eejit, you--!"
She paused, looking around more slowly. "Ah. I see...River isn't here. Right."
"Neither of us much liked the idea of leaving you to face this by yourself, so we agreed that she would stay in Arca while I went after you." Kahroan gave her electrical burn a worried look. "Did Thrax do that?"
Hanako sighed and nodded. "He's...he's in a bad way," she admitted quietly. Then gave herself a little shake and said with more energy, "But he's not gone--I know he's not. I got through to him, Kah, I swear I did. He's still in there, he's just...lost."
She exhaled long and slow, then took a similar breath in. "Shit. He must be a few hours gone by now--we have to catch up with him before he gets to the Poisonclaw clan." She started toward him, then paused. "Ah, might a lady hitch a ride?"
"What does he want with this Poisonclaw Clan?" He answered her question by lowering himself onto his haunches so that she could climb onto his back. "Does it relate to what he told you that night in Zantaric?"
Hanako scrambled up--with less grace than River usually had, but to be fair she'd had less practice--and nodded grimly. "He...yeah. They attacked his clan when he was younger, without provocation. He--he's the only one left."
"That... certainly explains a few things." He sighed with grim sadness as he stood.
With a few powerful flaps of his mighty wings, the dragon was airborne. "Just tell me which way he went. We'll stop him before he loses himself forever, I promise."
"I think...due east. It was a little hard to tell, I was almost unconscious, but that was the direction the Poisonclaw trail was leading when I found him, and I think that was the direction he was heading after...after he..."
She swallowed a little thickly and blinked rapidly. "We have to find him, Kah."
Kahroan banked towards the rising sun with all the speed he could maintain. "You really care about him, don't you? Riv and I do too, don't get me wrong, but not to the extent you seem to."
"I--" Hana puffed out a breath between her lips and sat back. "I dunno. I don't stick in one place long, so I don't...make a lot of close friends. And we--we get along. Better than I do with a lot of people. So yeah, I care about him. I'm not willing to let him lose himself to this thing."
She didn't know if they had the time--or if she had the emotional energy--to explain why this vengeance quest of Thrax's felt so personal to her. Honestly, she wasn't even sure why. It wasn't like Thrax was her aunt; he had good reason to want the Poisonclaw clan dead. It was just...
Something about it made her feel like she had to help him. However she could.
Kahroan had to stop himself from evangelizing the virtues of romance. They weren't he and River; he had no reason to read that into the situation. However, his knowing silence revealed exactly what his love-addled brain was thinking.
He cleared his throat. "Yes, well, we're not either. If it wasn't for the baby, we'd have never left you two behind."
"I know." She reached down to pat his shoulder gratefully. Then she added, smirk plain in her voice, "Y'know, River had similar questions, before we fought the Countess. The two of you do know that sex can just be for fun, right? It's not always for making half-dragon-wolf-shifter families."
She chuckled a bit, leaning back again. "How's she doing, by the way? She's, what...two and half, almost three months now?"
His voice was filled with pride as he chuckled. "Yeah. Right now she's annoyed that morning sickness is a big lie. It's an anytime thing."
The light moment was interrupted as Kah spotted a dark cloud forming on the horizon. "That's his doing, isn't it?"
Hana chuckled herself. "Yeah, I'll just bet that's pissing her off. Your mate isn't really a sit still until you feel better kinda gal, is she?"
The shift in mood came with a shift in the air; the fur on her tails stood up as she swore she could feel the increase in electricity, the subtle shift in the wind.
"Yeah," she murmured, squinting to make out the steadily-growing cloud bank Kah had spotted. "Yeah, I'd bet you anything that's him. He's way more powerful than the Thrax who fought with us."
"He is, at that." He adjusted his flight path and increased his speed.
Ahead, a settlement with wooden fortifications took shape. While the figures were still small, they could make out several dead in front of the destroyed gate. It was burning, but nothing else seemed to be. Perhaps they weren't too late to stop the worst from happening, but they had no time to waste.
She didn't need to tell Kah what to do; he knew. The dragon came for a landing, digging furrows with his talons as he slowed to a stop. He wasted no time before he blew out the fire with a carefully aimed blast of frost breath.
"We need to hurry."
"Agreed." Hana vaulted down from his back and quickly scented the air, already moving in the direction Thrax seemed to have gone. "I don't think we've got much chance at stealth, or that it would do us any good--so chasing him down in full view seems like our quickest option."
Kahroan shifted down to his hybrid form and followed. By the time he did, she had followed the trail to the burned and broken gate. The gap was big enough for a gnoll, so Thrax had to have gone that way after dispatching the gate guards.
Passing through, the were met with more dead Poisonclaw fighters. At least there were no dead women and children and nothing else was burning. But that could change the moment Thrax completely succumbed to the demon.
The sounds of thunder, battle, and snarling gnolls ahead meant they were close.
"Thrax!" Hana dodged her way nimbly around the bodies, suddenly so intent on her goal that she didn't even seem to notice how close behind her Kah might be. "Thrax!"
She darted around a half-dilapidated structure, heading for the sound of the fight.
She found Thrax locking swords with a gnoll chieftain much larger than himself, his demonic strength more than making up for the difference in size.
"You killed them all!" the bard snarled, pushing his foe back before their blades again clashed. "My father! *Clash!* My mother! *Clash!* My brother! *Clash!* My sister! *Clash!* My master! *Clash!* Everyone who mattered to me!"
With each strike, his fury grew. And as it did, the fur on his arm began to turn black as the demonic aura spread. If he killed the clan leader like this, he would be lost.
She didn't call his name again. She knew it wouldn't matter. With a half glance back over her shoulder, the kitsune told Kah, "If you can, drag the chief back. We need to separate them."
Then she took her fully fox form and sprang across the distance left between her and the bard, slamming into his side with the full force of her weight and sending them both tumbling over the ground.
Kahroan rushed the startled chieftain and grappled him, forcing the blade from his hands. The chief growled, "This is none of your business, outsiders! I have to finish the accursed Stormfang for good!"
Thrax snarled and thrashed violently, practically foaming at the mouth. "Get off me, you stupid fox! He has to die! They all have to die!"
"Maybe he does!" Hana snapped at his neck, careful not to actually bite but just grazing her teeth over him, hoping the warning might help startle him back toward rationality. "But not like this, Thrax! This isn't justice, this isn't even your vengeance! That thing is controlling you, can't you feel it?!"
She rolled them over, heavy paws pinning his shoulders to the ground--and then she was in her halfway form again, paws becoming hands as she shook him lightly, legs tucked up to either side of his ribs in an effort to keep him in place.
"Look at me, you idiot! Remember who you are, what you are. This isn't you..."
The darkness of Thrax's eyes faded slightly as he met her gaze. "You think you understand, but you don't! You don't even remember what you lost! You have someone who loves you and a home to go back to! I have nothing! Because of him! And why? Because we dared to no longer be slaves to history? To have our own religion? Why?!"
"Yes!" She shook him again. "Yes, because you were better! Because you wanted better, you wanted a kinder world, and this world hates kindness. But that doesn't mean you stop striving for it! I know it hurts, I know it's awful, and I'm sorry. But please, Thrax. Please..."
Her hands tightened on his shoulders, but instead of giving him another little shake, she suddenly leaned down and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding tight.
"You're not alone," she told him quietly, ignoring the way the demonic aura of the sword lifted her fur like the electricity in the air. "You're not alone. I promise. I promise I won't leave you alone..."
Sanity flooded back into him as the darkness left his eyes. "Hana... Run... It'll..." he groaned as the demon fought back. The bard suddenly drove the sword towards her side, but stopped it inches from her. His arm trembled with the effort it took to hold back.
"I don't--I don't know how long I can resist... Please... Get away..."
"No," she growled. "No. Weren't you listening? I'm not leaving you alone."
Kah, get the sword, now!
And she kissed him, leaving her side fully open, but praying that there was enough of the Thrax she knew left—and that Kah would move fast enough.
The kiss made his hand let go just enough so that when Kah knocked out the chief and scrambled over to kick the sword from Thrax's hand, the blade was knocked free.
The bard's arm returned to normal as the connection was broken. When the kiss ended, he was sobbing. "I... I--I tried to--to kill you..."
"Shhh, shhh." Hana sat back, pulling him up with her and stroking her hand down the back of his neck. "It's okay, you're okay," she told him with another quick kiss to his cheek. "Look at me, Thrax. See? I'm fine."
She smiled, glancing back at Kah to mouth, Thank you.
Looking back to Thrax, she winced a bit. "Errr...sorry about that, by the way. I wasn't sure how else to, um, startle you? Fighting clearly didn't work, so..." She trailed off with a vaguely embarrassed shrug.
Thrax swallowed, his throat tight with emotion. "Do I look like I mind?" he joked weakly with a half-hearted smirk, sniffing back tears.
Kah gave her a quick nod and proceeded to cut free a piece of the chieftain's tent. He approached the demon sword and gingerly wrapped it as if it might bite him. The dragonman even made sure to think only positive thoughts as he handled it.
"Still." Hana gave him a half smile and stroked his cheek lightly. "I don't exactly want to make a habit of kissing people unexpectedly." She smirked. "Though maybe there's an exception to be made if the person in question is trying to kill me at the time."
She glanced back at Kah again, shoulders slumping with relief once the sword was covered. "We should—I should help him," she corrected herself quickly. "Then let's get out of here, yeah?"
Thrax nodded slowly as he dried his eyes. "Y-yeah, that's... probably for the best."
He looked over at the chief as he stood. "What about him? He'll just keep pillaging and murdering if we leave him be."
Hana hesitated a moment, then she moved closer to him and slowly, carefully pulled Stormsong from his back and placed it into his hands.
"It's up to you," she told him softly. "But if he dies, then it's by your hand, with the weapon of your people. Not because some fucking demon wants blood, but because you want justice."
Thrax nodded, giving her an appreciative smile. "I have just the idea."
He stepped over to the chieftain, who was already coming to, despite Kahroan's mighty blow. "I will not kill you. But I won't be showing you the mercy you denied my people. To someone like you, this is worse."
He brought down the axe on the chieftain's right arm, lopping it off above the elbow. The larger gnoll cried out, cursing the bard in gnollish.
"Make it so he won't bleed out. Then we can go. He has no power now."
Hana nodded, her expression hard as she flicked her fingers and sent a bolt of foxfire to cauterize the wound.
"Kah, you ready?" she asked, turning her back on the Poisonclaw chief dismissively. She gave Thrax a small smile and slight incline of her head.
"Proud of you," she told him quietly, moving close enough that he could hear but maintaining a careful distance.
Kah carefully kept the sword away from Thrax as he took point. "Yeah. Let's get out of here before the other fighters regroup."
"Agreed. And definitely keep that thing away from me. I can still feel it calling to me," the bard said, keeping away from it as he followed.
Even as they set off, Hana cocked her head as an idea occurred to her. She gave Thrax a sidelong look and offered, "You could ride me? My fox form could hold you easy enough, and it'll help make sure we keep some distance between you and the blade."
She shrugged. "Just a thought. Might help us cover a bit more ground too, though."
Thrax nodded. "That could work."
"You aren't coming with me?" Kah asked. He had pretty much assumed that they would; it still felt strange not having the energetic pair around.
Hana looked between the two men. "I...I don't know..."
She sighed and rubbed at the back of her neck. "I mean...we could stick with you as far as Arca, but..." she glanced at Thrax. "I'm not sure how far you wanna tempt fate, if it's a good idea to try to get all the way to Moonspear with that thing."
"Me?" Thrax shuddered. "Yeah, no. I don't trust myself around it one bit. Maybe for a few days, but not all the way to Moonspear."
Kahroan nodded, withholding a sigh. "That makes perfect sense. But, maybe there's someone in Arca better equipped to get it there. The Order of the Moon surely has a presence in the capitol."
Hana nodded. "That's a good point. Should we be flying then—er, if that's okay?" She glanced at Kahroan with a sheepish smile. "It is the fastest way to travel."
"I think you mean the best way." Kahroan grinned.
[ Continued Here (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=27111.0) ]