[MOVED THREAD! Authors, in order of appearance: Damaged16, Small Wonder, and Anarchist]

Kyoko Kaishi was reaching the end of his rope. It was inhumane to have so much happiness thrown at him in such a short period of time! Well, served him right, though: He wasn't human. The ceylonese tree viper anthro was a sarcastic, antisocial being whose mere appearance even portrayed it. Yes, he was lithe and thin. He wore a long black leather jacket and because of that one could barely see his blue and teal scales (only on his hands when they were exposed and on his face).

"Heard about it in the bar," Kyoko Kaishi explained to his, sadly, extremely loyal sidekick... Who oddly enough seemed to be more like a cheerleader or fan of his. Kajioh was basically the snake anthro's total opposite.

Kyoko Kaishi found the entrance to the catacombs. It would be well hidden to most people, but Kyoko Kaishi deftly used his sensitive tongue to smell the air. No one had ever caught him doing such a thing, as he merely breathed in the air--nothing suspicious of such a common task.

He ducked his head as he entered and looked around. A long, winding path with many different cut offs and rooms. In all, a maze of rock.

"I heard this is where people who know magic come... Apparently the people of the city above aren't very fond of magic," he explained with a shrug.

Now, where to?

--

 "It's kinda dark in there..." Kajioh said hesitantly, peering in the entrance way. Catboy or not, he was still very human, and the dark scared the bejeezers out of him, even if his luminous yellow eyes were well adapted to see well in the dark. But, he also had some very good reasons to fear deeply shadowed places...

He took a small step backwards and swallowed audibly. "S-so...we're goin' in there?" he asked quietly, black ears drooping and equally black tail hanging lifeless. Eek. He did not wanna go in there! It looked so...scary! Just the sight of it gave him the creeps! So much so, in fact, that he suddenly became aware that his claw-like fingernails were extended in his sudden tension. He quickly righted himself, and looked up tentatively at Kyoko Kaishi.

He had to be kidding! They'd get lost!

--


 "Yes, Kitten, we're going in there." Ah! He'd just verbally referred to Kaji was "Kitten".. Well, he had to do it sooner or later. It was what Kaji was, nothing more. He was a cat. A kitten by nature, really.

It wasn't really that dark... Some light filtered through different cracks amongst the rocks walls from the surface, and in some areas that were being populated, there were torches.

"If you're scared of the dark, grab a torch." he said, tossing back his lighter to Kajioh as he walked along the cavern. His eyes adjusted perfectly fine. And, if he couldn't see.. He oddly enough knew if someone was near. Heat sensor? Perhaps. He didn't see things like snakes did by detecting heat, but when he couldn't see, it was as if he began to see like them.. He could feel and see things and smell them perfectly with his tongue.. it was strange.

--


 Kajioh didn't seem to notice that Kyoko Kaishi was using the term "kitten" as an insult and not a term of indearment--which is what he took it for. And he was right...it wasn't all that dark, but it was dark enough! And scary enough, what with all those pathways. Very scary! At least to poor Kajioh, it was.

But...ack! Kyoko Kaishi was going in, and Kajioh didn't wanna be left out here all by himself! Besides, he went where Kyoko Kaishi went and--ow!

The lighter tossed to Kajioh hit him square in the chest. He hadn't seen Kyoko Kaishi throw it, as he'd been too busy worrying over the place they were soon to enter!

Rubbing the place the lighter had struck with one hand, he bent and scooped it up with the other and quickly scrambled after Kyoko Kaishi. He snagged a torch on the way, and, and lit it with the lighter, and kept very close to Kyoko Kaishi--and was careful not to get so close as to catch the snake anthro on fire!

--

Scarlett aimlessly walked arounf ther catacombs. 'wounderful.' she thought angrily to herself. 'of all the places to go exploring you had to choose the place you would get lost in.' She glance at the quivering light that was emitted from the palm of her hand.
"Don't you dare " she said dangerously to the light as it guttered and died. She sighed, she had been walking around for who knows how long, she was drained up. She sat down in the dark and stretched her legs out, staring at the wall that she knew was jaust a few feet away even though she couldn't see it.
'i'll look for a way out i the morning...night...wahatever...' she drifted into sleep...
 
--


 Chardonnay was walking down a corridor in the catacombs under Connlaoth when he heard the voices. He didn't recognize any of them, the first one sounded confident, the second one sounded scared and the third one just sounded angry. And they didn't sound too distant, they were probably just a corridor away. He pressed against the coarse stone of the wall, sliding to a sitting position and keeping a wary eye on the entrance to his corridor. Who could they be? Soldiers? Refugees? Wanderers? Something else?

Chardonnay really hated checking out those people that found themselves in the catacombs. Maybe they would just happen to walk down this corridor? Maybe, he inched a little closer to the mouth of his corridor. If they went in another direction then maybe Merlot would find them. That would be good, then he wouldn't have to potentially deal with them. That wouldn't be too bad in itself... He scooted a little closer to the mouth and waited.

--

 After what seemed like 2 minuets of sleep Scarlet opened her still tired eyes. Scartlet let out a moan and stiffly climed to her feet.
The only place in the world thats this dark and i have to get lost in it. Fabulous!
Scarlet let let a small beam of light from her hand to eluminate the darkness that was every where. One hand on the wall she stumbled on again...
 
--


 "K-Kyoko Kaishi...I hear voices..." Kajioh whispered from beside Kyoko Kaishi, looking up at the snake anthro with yellow eyes that were eerily luminous as they reflected the faint light. "Who...who d'you think they are? D'you know anything about this place, huh? Where is this, anyway?" Kyoko Kaishi hadn't really told him anything! What if there were monsters down here...? Hairy monsters just waiting to--!

"AHHH!" Kajioh squealed in fright as another pair of glowing, beady eyes met his, and he lunged at Kyoko Kaishi and successfully managed to wrap his limbs around his protector, clinging to him for dear life. "AHHH! D'you see it, d'you see it!? Kill it, Kyoko Kaishi!!! Hurry before it eats us!!! Hurry! Quick! AHHHH! It's coming our way! It's gonna bite us and turn us into werewol--!"

With a small squeak as the light from the torch illuminated its dark crevace, the rat turned and fled down a random tunnel. Kajioh blinked. "Oh...heh heh...a rat. I knew that. Darn rat! Scaring us like...OOO! A RAT!"

Quickly disentangling himself from Kyoko Kaishi, Kajioh dove down the tunnel after the rat, all previous fears forgotten as he went from scaredy cat mode to stalk mode.

Until he collided with something much bigger than a rat at the head of the corridor...something that was not a wall by the fleshy feel of it...

--


 Kyoko Kaishi rolled his eyes as Kajioh started to panic. Of course, Kyoko Kaishi had known it was not anything that could cause them harm by it's scent, the sounds and that eerie second vision he tended to be struck with when it total darkness. Though, aside from the rat, Kyoko Kaishi did know there were others down here--which he expected--and was not bothered by any of it.

Lighting a torch as he walked on, Kajioh racing ahead, Kyoko Kaishi proceeded to light other torches hanging from the walls as he went on and, as he passed Kajioh (after Kaji bumped into someone), he merely grabbed the kitten by the collar of his jacket and continued on walking, almost dragging Kajioh with him.

"Get a hold of yourself," he said in a level voice. "If I have to remind you what happened last time, you can work on your own from now on." He said. He could stand Kajioh's overexcited behaviour, but when he constantly made them stick out in any type of environment... Well it wasn't Kyoko Kaishi's style! He preferred to be a shadow until he felt he needed to stand up and be heard. Now was nott he time. He needed to get a lay ofthings down here, then teach Kajioh what needed to be taught.

--


 "Ow," Chardonnay groaned reflexively after being run into by...whatever it was that ran into him. He tried to fight the urge to squeak and pressed his lips together. Then came a person with a torch, who thankfully didn't appear to notice him and drew the other away.

Not being seen made his confidence flicker up like the light from the passing torches the man in the black coat lit as he passed. Chardonnay rose to his feet and squinted, keeping his eyes on the duo. Once they were a good distance from him, a smirk danced up the man's face and he slipped after them. Keeping to the shadows and moving slowly so he wouldn't upset any rocks or rats or whatever and give off his position.


--


 "Ow! Okay! Sorry! I won't do it again, I promise! I don't wanna work on my own! I can't, I--ahhh! So many rats!" At the sight of the rats skittering away from the torchlight, he squirmed in Kyoko Kaishi's grip, eager to "hunt", though his struggles were useless. Finally, he gave up, and allowed himself to be dragged along.

"Sooo...where we goin'? Are we there yet? When we gonna be there? What're we lookin' for? Do you know? Are we...?"

Poor, poor Kyoko Kaishi.

--


 Kyoko Kaishi had released his grip on Kajioh when he said he'd behave. He continued to walk through the cave, glancing at the chambers and such as he passed them.

"We're going to find a place to stay so I can teach you how to survive," Kyoko Kaishi said, finally stopping and checking one of the chambers. Seemed as good of a place as any, but Kyoko Kaishi had been looking for one closer to the surface and preferably with a crack or two for sunlight. He was cold blooded after all!

He lit a few torches about the rather large "room" and noticed there was a narrow crack at the wall of the cavern that filtered in light from outside but not so much as to provide a window for people from above to see.

"Follow somebody else," Kyoko Kaishi said, not even glancing back to Chardonnay. He had... smelt her. Not with his nose, but rather with his tongue. He didn't have to stick his tongue out to gain a scent, hell he doubted Kajioh even knew he had a forked tongue! He just had to breathe through his mouth to gain the stronger scent.

--


 Kajioh stumbled slightly when he was finally released, but regained his footing and continued jogging after Kyoko Kaishi like the fawning kitten he was. However, he stopped suddenly when Kyoko Kaishi spoke, his black ears perking at his words for a moment, and then drooping suddenly. Teach him how to survive...? Well...that sounded all well and good, since Kajioh had zero survival skills--after all, he'd been a domestic cat--but there was something else that worried Kajioh.

Wait...maybe that meant that...

With a small squeak of alarm, he rushed into the room after Kyoko Kaishi and nearly threw himself at the snake anthro. "Waitaminute! Ya don't mean you're gonna leave me after you teach me, d'ya!? You can't do that! What'd I do!? Where'd I go!? I'd be all alone!" Kajioh cried, arms wrapped around Kyoko Kaishi's neck as he clung to his companion for dear life, it seemed.

Eek! He didn't wanna be alone! Kyoko Kaishi wouldn't ditch him, would he!?
 
--


 Kyoko Kaishi had heard those ominous steps as Kajioh ran at Kyoko Kaishi and, before Kyoko Kaishi could duck or get out of the way, the kitten had a firm grip on him and they both went tumbling to the ground.

Kajioh was a fan girl.

"Gerroff me!" Kyoko Kaishi yelled in a tone that was much less endearing than Kajioh's. Kyoko Kaishi and Kajioh were getting completely different things out of this relationship--if one could even call it that.

Kyoko Kaishi tried to pry Kajioh's arms off his neck, but the kitten had a rather good grip and, for the position they'd fallen in, Kyoko Kaishi was in no place to overpower the kitten and get up.

"I'm not going to leave you--not unless you pull a stunt like the one you did in that village!" Kyoko Kaishi said, annoyed. "Get yourself together and get off me!"

If the kitten had ruined his jacket, that'd be it. So, Kyoko Kaishi would abandon Kajioh if he got them into a horrible mess (and made them slaves) or ruined Kyoko Kaishi's leather jacket. There wasn't much room for error! Kajioh had to calm down!
 
--


 Whoops, Kajioh hadn't exactly meant to topple them both over...oh well!

"I won't! I'll be good, really! Won't do that ever again! Cross my heart!" Kajioh promised quickly, relief flooding his voice. Whew! Kyoko Kaishi wasn't gonna ditch him, after all! He'd been really worried about that...

Contented, he gave Kyoko Kaishi one last squeeze--this one more affectionate and less clingy--and hopped off his companion to stand nearby, watching him.

Whew...well...now that they got that covered...

"So! Whatcha gonna teach me?" he asked excitedly, all previous traces of fear gone and replaced with excited expectation. Kajioh really was a simply little guy...
 
--


 Kyoko Kaishi was quick to get up and dust himself off. He'd have to work on teaching Kajioh not to lunge at him! Especially when it involved a hug. If he was going to jump, better to put Kyoko Kaishi out of his misery and just kill him.

Kyoko Kaishi found a completely luminated room, two torches the walls and decided this was as good of a place as any to make their temporary home, at least until they figured out where to go from there.

"Aside from that fact that you need to learn to keep your mouth shut," he said.mostly referring to Kajioh's ambitious attempts to free a slave, and ended up getting them into being slaves! "You have to learn how to defend yourself."

Kyoko Kaishi was definately not going to be doing that for Kajioh! Kajioh had to learn to fight his own battles. Kyoko Kaishi also thought he might teach the kitten how to steal, or at least how to pick-pocket, so he could survive on his own.
 
--

You know what they say about my type of people? They call us monsters and abominations. Are we abominations? Are you sideshow freaks that people would pay to see? I don’t think anyone would waste money to see me. Maybe to see my death at the hands of the normal folk, wouldn’t that be amusing for them? I just wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of that. Of watching the hunter, die, though I don’t think I could be killed so easily. I am immortal. Or so I think. I can cast spells and more spells to save myself. Its what I do. Its what I have always done. I use my magic to win my battles. Though I would never choose magic over a nice hand-to-hand battle. Its how I’ve gotten where I have gotten. I’m like the Amazonian warriors only they would think we to far dishonorable to be apart of them. But does it really matter? Who gives a rat’s ass? Not I. I’m apart of no one much less some group of females. I’m a stealthy huntress always out to make a kill. That’s how I work. Its what I do. I wait for someone to speak to me in that old forbidden tongue… then I remove his or her tongue. Its how I work.

Vera had found her way in to the catacombs. How she would never be sure. But she was quite interested in the darkness that surrounded her bubble of light. She was stalking. What she of course wasn’t sure. Only that she knew it was two males. One seemed to be the master of the other. And the other by the smell was a kitten anthro. Oh so curious of her newly found pray. She followed them for a bit before another found his way in to the picture. Her black tipped tail twitched as she observed the other follow. She figured he would be made soon. Oh… sooner then she thought. She merely gave an amused smile as she leaned against the frame of the wall. She would go unnoticed for a bit. She was down breeze and a nice invisibility spell casted. As they spoke, she stepped forward. The spell retreated and she faded in to sight.

“Yes. You never know who is lurking about… It would be a shame if you were caught alone.�

--

 Kyoko Kaishi could smell Vera before he saw her. He stood there, looking at her. My, what was it about people feeling an undeniable need to jump into his life. Given, he'd found Kajioh and had helped him, but Kaji had since followed Kyoko Kaishi like a loyal pet.

Kajioh wasn't exactly a kitten, though one wouldn't know it from the way he acted. Kajioh was tall, old enough to walk as an adult but his enthusiasm and energy made him the perfect playmate for any child--which was, as Kyoko Kaishi had yet to learn, what he had been doing before he went solo, then leeched onto Kyoko Kaishi.

Something about the way Vera appeared, without Kyoko Kaishi being able to at least pick up her scent or see her through the darkness, was suspicious. Kyoko Kaishi could always at least smell what was around him. The forked tongue he was careful to keep hidden behind his teeth--one he doubted even Kajioh had ever seen--had a better sense of smell than virtually anything. It could pick things up quick.

However, the fact that Vera was an anthro proved to be some kind of relief. For reasons all his own, Kyoko Kaishi trusted other anthros more than he'd ever trust any human. Anthros, at least from his time, had been reduced to slaves or were on the run from the law.
 
--

 Kajioh jumped in surprise when another anthro suddenly appeared out of nowhere and, jumpy as usual, Kajioh leaped behind Kyoko Kaishi for protection. After all, from Kajioh's experience, other anthros had in the past been pretty mean to him...domesticated anthros did not fit in well with those who had been living on the street and dodging their persecutors for ages.

Indeed, Kajioh was far from a child--he was sixteen years old and stood at around five foot eight. But domestication had impeded his growth and left him suspended in a kitten-like mindset.

He'd been raised to be a pet, toy, and bauble. It wasn't really his fault!

Flicking his black tail nervously, he peered around Kyoko Kaishi at the new anthro with big yellow eyes, shyly yet curiously. "Who's that?" he asked Kyoko Kaishi, tugging on his sleeve. As though he'd know. But, hey, Kyoko Kaishi was knowledgeable in everything else, so it wouldn't be surprising!

--

You know what is so fun about life? Of course, its the little games you can play. Take for example me. I'm 150 years old, a master level mage. And what do I do in my spare time? I toy with world. Some could say its naughty. But I've never really considered myself nice. Games keep the world turning, keep the world laughing, they keep the world amused. And I do adore my little games. I wouldn't call it terrorizing. Because that would be cruel. Just merely... tormenting with a smile.

But my games go far beyond just simple tormenting. Mind inflict fear, hate and agony. Fear for those that feel they might be nexted. Hate for those that can't understand. And agony. Agony for those left behind. I believe the fear is the worst of the three fates I produce. Agony fades away after time. Hate fuels the fire and for the most part just gives you an ulcer. But fear... ah... Fear eats away at you. Day by day, taking pieces of your freedom, your mind... your soul. I cause fear. My games are really games of terror. But I suppose, as long as I am not on the receiving end, its just a game to me.

These two amused her. The kitten, though he not actually one, was her target. She wasn't planning on hurting him. Just scare him a bit. It amused her to watch him bound behind the reptilian and through body langauge beg to be saved and protected. She imagined that he had been kept as a slave or toy for a human kid. The other did little for her. The feline made a slow trail towards the duo, slowly fading in to tongues swirls of black smoke. She roamed about the room for a moment before reappearing as she laid her long slender fingers upon the other feline's shoulders. She leaned over his shoulder to peer at his profile. Her voice was soft and almost playful as she spoke. "I'm me, silly." Brow tipped upwards as she tilted her head a bit more. "Why are you asking him who I am? I don't think he has the answer to that." She leaned back to stand erect, fingers linked behind her back as she moved toward the reptilian. "And as I know you don't have the answer to that. I'm Vera Lang. A... wanderer... of sorts." A catlike smile crept on to her looks. The usual "I know something you don't know" ex-pression poised on her white and pink features. Her long pink spotted tail twitched and tuffed ears tilted with each sound from outside the cave room. She was sure the other two were somewhere close. She had found it easy to follow them around. They were far from silent and not the greatest of observers. "You know there were two others behind you? Talentless in the tailing department. I'm surprised you didn't make them sooner." That seemed like a conversation started. Good one, Vera. Go with that.

--


 Kyoko Kaishi grew bored quickly with Vera's little game. What she found amusing--flaunting her perceived talents, playing her little game--was truly unnecessary. Oh, the talent of toying with the kitten! Anyone could send Kajioh up the wall... Vera's game was one anyone could play, well... Had Kyoko Kaishi not been with Kajioh, then anyone could play. But with Kyoko Kaish around, it was a different story.

"Knock it off," he scoffed with an impatient look. If Vera wanted to look superior she should have picked a better duo to play with.

"I could care less who is following us, actually." Kyoko Kaishi replied without much interest. "The point about these caves is that those down here are here for the same purpose."

He glanced at Kajioh quickly before looking back at Vera. However snappy he was, and antisocial, he wasn't completely rude. She had given her name, he'd give their's.

"That's Kajioh," he said, nodding his head to the kitten. "I'm Kyoko Kaishi." He added.
 
--


 Well, Vera certainly got her wish. Kajioh was positively shaking with fright, black tail bristling and ears flattening against his head as Vera walked slowly toward them...and turned to smoke as she did so, so that before long, Kajioh was unable to see her in the darkness! With a yelp, he huddled closer to Kyoko Kaishi, yellow eyes darting about the room as he looked for her, whimpering softly. How was she able to do that!? How was she able toâ€"what was she doing!? What was she gonna do? What wasâ€"

A hand was suddenly laid on his shoulder, and someone leaned over him to speak softly to him. For a moment, Kajioh was deathly silent and still, save for the icey chill that was slowly working its way up his spine, his heart seeming to stop...

And in the next moment it was a great effort on Kajioh's part not to accidentally maul Kyoko Kaishi as he wildly twisted out of the other anthro's grasp and scrambled around to his protector's front, once again putting Kyoko Kaishi between he and Vera. At this point, he was freaked, quite frankly, beyond words, and it felt like every hair on his body was standing on end. "K-Kyoko..."

Oh, wait...Kyoko Kaishi was telling her to stop! YAY! Relief began working its way through his thin body at his words...
 
--


 The very example as to why Kyoko Kaishi had decided the kitten mustbe taught how to live independently. He let strangers get the upper hand so quickly and without thought. That had to change.

However odd it was that Vera had vanished, Kyoko Kaishi was not quite surprised about anything in this world. It seemed that the abnormal was quite normal and the normal were left in the dust.  

[Transfer: COMPLETE! Resume posting! XD]

Hmmmm... good point. We suggest we persuade as many as we can to join us, full-blooded or otherwise, that show interest in our clan, yesss? Such hybrids may provide talents otherwise not available to us. And of the young and inexperienced you speak of, we need not worry about them, if they wish to join, they must obviously wish to learn and gain experience by traveling with our band of darkness. And, if that is not the case, we will teach them ourselves, for what is experience good for, if it is not shared with the minds of others?*his demonic grin relaxing slightly, he then turns his attention to Aki* And what are your thoughts on these many inquiries?

--

Aki listened to Razien's inquiry. Hmm...good question, a question which addressed a point he hadn't yet thought of. "Perhaps we could learn from the native beings what this pack was once called. Out of respect, I would call it by its old name. Yet, if its name cannot be discovered, I suggest we come up with a new, original one."

He stressed the word original, the only outward display showing his dislike of the name "Deathmaker". No...that name was cursed to him...

"And yes, howling would be the most effective way of communicating, especially since we may likely end up far apart."

He then listened to Raidne's question, and nodded at Razien's reply before adding his own input, intense yellow eyes looking to them both in turn. "Exactly. My old homeland was full of hybrids and...other things that are a bit more difficult to explain...in addition to the usual wolf. Each and every member was a great asset. And as for the young..."

A grin flickered across his lips. "I've had experience with the young, myself. In addition to our own young, my pack often ran across abandoned young ones...and often even stole the young from others. It can sometimes be tricky, if the pup you take in was raised by or born to lightwolves, but often they can be turned. As for the ones with darker tendencies...they are usually quite eager to learn, if sometimes stubborn." He chuckled softly. "But, yes, young creatures are very important to include."

--

+Something flashed in her blue eyes with Aki's responce. Raidne's tail began flicking wildly. "Shall we begin, if that is all the questions and comments. I have no more." She stood and streatched, waiting for their departure to be official.+

--

hmmmm... yes. But before we go, may we suggest a name? That name being The Legion. While simple and possibly cliched, it is a name that can inspire fear in the hearts of our enemies, and also belay a message of unity and combined strength from such a unity to the creatures we speak of.

--

+A smirk crossed Raidne's face. She liked that. She liked it a lot. But her mind still swam with other names, having forotten about the name part of this conversation. Her face could be easily read and so she didn't say a word. She searched her mind for another possible name.+

--

He nodded at the suggestion. "Sounds fine to me," he replied. In truth, he didn't really mind either way. So long as it was not named after the DeathMaker Clan, he was content.

"Well, now that that's that...shall we begin?" he asked, head tilting to the side in inquiry.

--

*she pads up silently, unnoticed by the others till she stands very near Aki. A near-demonic smile crosses her features for a second. She knows she is getting older but feels only the years in her spirit and not her body. She tilts her head back and lets out a howl that will chill the blood of even the Darkest of wolves, letting all know that an Ancient Evil has arrived. Her name? Leviatharia. She steps forward into the clearing as the howl dies away and waits to see what the others will say. Her eyes look them over as she wonders if any of them other than Aki have much power at all*

--

+Triangles perked with a dangerous howl. This would be interesting. Raidne stood strong, almost defiant as the other neared. Large, black and beautiful wings graced her back like a cape, tickling the ground below. Sharp nails gripped the dirt below them. Red eyes watching the femme who called herself an 'Ancient Evil'.

Her body was poised perfectly. Lean, young and beautiful figure flexing with each breath, just barely. The look Leviatharia had given both Raidne and Razien pulled at her nerves. Now, she decided to speak. "And you are?" She rose a brow. Plume swung gently teasing the grass blades. There was something about this one that really got on her nerves.+

--

Aki was about to suggest that they begin when another wolf suddenly appeared, a dark female that came to stand silently beside him. He blinked, yellow eyes rolling over to gaze att the newcomer...and words froze on his tongue, his yellow eyes widening slightly in surprise. That was...it had to be...and yet...

She howled then, and the sound of her voice confirmed his thoughts.

Leviatharia...

For a moment, he was too stunned to do anything. But then Raidne, clearly disgruntled, thankfully broke the silence as she confronted the new female. Urk. Seemed he'd have to settle things quickly, before annoyances on either side grew too high. He had no idea of what Raidne could do...but he certainly knew what Leviatharia could.

"Raidne...Razien...this is my neice, Leviatharia," he told her and the other wolf quickly, though calmly. His neice, indeed...though she had also, at one point, been his mate. But that, of course, had been before he or anyone else had known his lineage. "I certainly had never expected to see you again..." he continued, his gaze this time returning to his neice.

It was quite the surprise...the last possible thing he could have expected...

--

*hearing this amusing news, he raises his head and laughs a gritty laugh, and then says* How lovely, a family reunion of sorts, yesss? We would've never guessed this newcomer to be such a close relative of yours, Aki. And she has fire in her eyes even in her old age. How curious, she must be a fierce warrior to still hold the killer instinct in her heart. *saying this, he amuses himself by imagining her skill in combat, and begins to pace around her, looking her over, keeping what he believes to be a reasonable distance, so as not to make her nervous, making a careful check for any physical weaknesses, psychotic grin still glued to his face*

--

+Black triangles stiffened and her head went swiftly to Aki. She a relative?! It was nearly unthinkable for her. Her face held no hint of her feelings despite the look she held moments before as she rose one brow in questioning thought. Eyes went back to Leviatharia((where did you think of your name by the way?)) As Razien commented she noted the other's strengths and flaws.+

--

In answer to your question, bitch, I am Leviatharia.

*she looks at Aki*

Good to see you again, Uncle. Where is Mataki? Did you kill her again???

*smirking, she looks at the other wolves, an arrogant look on her face*

I can sense you want to try me. If you're going to attack, don't pussyfoot around it. Be a wolf.

*with that said, she lunges for Razien, her claws sweeping at his shoulder*

--

Raidne rose a brow at Leviatharia's comment. She wasn't mad, or offended, but instead interested now. This wolf was strange, powerful, and not one to mess with, not to mention blunt and heartless. She found these qualities to be good ones, when mixed properly. Raidne's before disgust and hate had now become a fondness. Her entire body visibly showed her new thoughts.

Raidne stood as Leviatharia jumped upon Razien. She was actually quite curious as to what Razien could do. Had this been months later and had she connected to Razien, it was possible she would help him if he so needed. But as it was, she was a wolf who preferred one on one fights not unequal challenges. Instead she studied their spar. What were each of their weaknesses? Defense skills? Attack maneuvers? Strengths? Mistakes?

--

He smirked, chuckling softly. "I know not where Mataki is..." Hell, he didn't know where anyone was that he had once knownâ€"except, of course, for Leviatharia. And that was, in itself, a surprise. At this rate, he really wouldn't be surprised if anyone else showed up...his neice's presense proved his misconception that he was the only one from his old home to wander upon this land.

"And no...I did not kill her." He raised a wolfish eyebrow slightly, inquisitively. Where had she gotten that idea? He had never harmed his soul-sister, even if he had treated her harshly at timesâ€"but harsh treatment had always been something she had needed, to keep her in line. She had died, though, once, and that had been partially his fault, for it had been during a battle he had initiated...but, thankfully, her soul hadn't yet left her body, and with quick action, she was able to be revived. Still, it hadn't been a direct result of his actions.

Of course...if she had ever crossed him...that might be a very different story...

He was snapped from his thoughts suddenly when his neice lunged for Razien, and, like Raidne, he made no moves to stop it. He didn't know either Raidne or Razien that well, though he certainly considered them valuable assets...and, though he was related to Leviatharia and knew her well, it had been a long time since he had last been been acquainted with her. Blood, water...neither was really of importance when it came to pack structure. And with more wolves arriving, they would be needing to work out their heirarchy.

This brawl could very well be the first step in doing just that, and he watched it with interest. He knew what Leviatharia could do...it should be interesting to see what Razien could.

--

*Seeing the aged wolf attempt to pounce on him, his maw opens slowly, lined with a row of fiercesome teeth, releasing a low, excited growl, before swiftly unfolding his scarred, black wings, and with a single loud flap of his wings, is launched into the night sky, deftly avoiding the aggressor's attack, his body grazed by the draft caused by the speed of his opponent's attack. And, using the inertia from his intial launch, he flaps his wings and arcs his body backwards, pulling himself up only inches from the ground, and swiftly begins his glide at his opponent, fierce jaws opened, releasing a frenzied roar, aiming his piercing teeth for his attacker's throat, his mind consumed with bloodlust, longing to tear her delicate throat open and taste her rich, warm, luscious blood on his fangs*

--

*she laughs at the challenge and shakes, suddenly seeming aged no longer but a wolf in the prime of life. Her coat has a luster to it though it is as black as night. Launching herself into the air, she turns and meets Razien in mid-air, dark energy swirling around her as everyone realizes she is more than just an aged wolf, she is also a magic weilder. Her fangs lengthen and a green, dripping venom flies off her bared fangs. Sometimes she seems more like a mixture of a wolf and a snake than anything else*

Don't make me laugh, PUP!!!!! YOU'RE NO MATCH FOR ME!!!!!!

*with a dark laugh, her claws slash Razien's shoulder open wide as she brushes by him in the air. She doesn't even feel his fangs as they tear open her shoulder. But it is of no matter. Her blood is like acid. If any touches his tongue, he will know it. She lands with her classic lightness and grace, turning to watch her opponent with not a care to the blood slowly running down her shoulder*

--

*he sharply banks in the air and lands, facing his prey, an ever-widening grin on his face, fresh blood staining his fangs ever so much, he says* Mmm, spicy! *licking his devilish fangs, every drop of blood, causing a small wisp of steam to rise, as is burns the saliva right off his tounge* It's been a while since we've had an opponent, especially one like you, we can feel our blood boiling. *digging his off-white claws into the soft ground in excitement, his wings beating feverishly, causing a strong wind, his eye twitching, he says* HA! HA! HA! HA! BUT WE'RE AFRAID THAT YOU'RE WRONG! FOR YOU SEE, IT IS YOU WHO IS NO MATCH FOR US! *and with that, he launches suddenly at his prey, his jaw open, with fangs that, also appear to have gotten larger, he lets out a blood-curdling roar* RRRRRRRAAAAAHHHH!!! *and just before he reaches his opponent, he appears to disappear into thin air(what does this remind you of? ), a faint after-image is all that is left of him*

--

Aki watched the battle with unchecked amusement, a wry, wolfish grin on his muzzle. The comments these two exchanged were colorful, to say the least. Almost reminded him of those days, ages ago, when he had bickered and fought with Lone Wolf. Ahh...he actually missed that, come to think of it...

Bright yellow eyes watched the fight as he settled back on his haunches, and he tilted his head to the side slightly as a sudden thought came to him. Hmm...he really hoped neither of them were killed. Both would be a valuable asset to this pack, and with their numbers as low as they currently were, they couldn't afford to lose any members. Later on...sure. But now, with only four among them...no.

"Battle all you like, spill as much blood amongst yourselves as you desire until a pecking order is established, but do make sure that when this is over, your limbs will still be usable and your hearts will still be beating. We can't afford any losses just yet, nor can we afford any lamed packmates," he remarked calmly to the duo, and knew that, just because the male had vanished, that he could hear perfectly well. At least, he assumed that was the case.

--

+Raidne's interests were held firm as the battle became more intence. An ear twisted to Aki's words. He made a good point, but one the somewhat disapointed her. Black tail flipped as she watched for Razien to make an invisible attack on Leviatharia, for she suspected that was what the male would do.+

--

*she laughs a dark laugh*

Not bad.....PUP!!!!! But are you good enough????

*she closes her eyes for a second and in an instant 3-foot long black spikes grow out of her body all over. From the tips, deadly venom drips menacingly*

Go ahead. If you bite me, you are likely to die...

*an evil grin crosses her face, not caring if she kills this one. She looks at Aki, letting him know with a look that she intends to kill if she can*

--

Quite impressive, elder, your abilities to shape-shift are definately of a high level, but with every perfect defense such as yours, there is a perfect weakness... Tell us, do you admire Autumn, season of the fallen leaves? Do you love how the wind whips the masses of dry foliage into an unorganized frenzy? hm hm hm hm... *and saying that, the sound of what would appear to be a thousand howls, erupts from the forested plain, and soon after wolf upon wolf, come into view, some in the trees, others pad slowly onto the field. More and more appear, until they are everywhere, red-eyed clones of Razien, mirrored in image in every way, each one made from one of a thousand drops of Razien's dark red blood, from the shoulder wound he recieved from Leviathara, which he spread across the field and then, formed on his command after she put up her defenses* You see, we also were versed in the ways of magic, one art of which, as you can see, is the art of self-duplication. For you see, once the timid porcupine puts up its spikes, it does not move, and neither can you, for if these three foot spikes are all over your body, the ones on your paws have dug three feet into the ground, making it rather hard to move we'd imagine. "But how can we attack her?" you ask? Simple, for as victims upon victims fall into a pungee pit, their corpses begin to fill the pit, and if left unchecked, it eventually becomes safe to travel across. You see? *the devilish grin across his features growing ever wider, and after a short pause, his blood-red eyes widen and he yells* ATTACK!!! KILL OUR PREY AND FEAST ON HER REMAINS!!! YA HA HA HA HA!!! *and with that, he, along with the other hundreds of wolves, converge all onto their target with lightning speed, making sure not to disturb the two observers, as they pass by, and begin jumping onto their spiked target, biting a new area as they are impaled by her spikes; one after the other piling on, each biting a different area, looking for a weakness in her armor, each attempting to crush her spikes, either by the pressure of their bites, or by their combined dead weight*

[Transfer of posts: COMPLETE! Resume posting! ^_^]

[MOVED THREAD! Authors, in order of posting: Small Wonder, Invisible Sweetness, Zombified Poet, and Leviatharia]

Aki didn't know how he got to this place, nor did he really care. The fact was, somehow he had arrived here, and he was all the more glad of it. Finally, after so long, he had gotten his wish--he had escaped from his homeland, and all the memories it held.

Now, he could finally seek to bury his past and start anew, in a place where he wasn't known, where his history wasn't known...finally.

He didn't need all that crap.

Of course, some of the things he had left behind were regrettable. No, actually, only one thing was regrettable--the loss of his soul sister, Mataki. She was the only one he had ever cared for...hell, he hadn't even cared for his son, Makuta. Especially not after he switched allegiances and decided he wanted to walk in the blindness of the Light.

No, whatever had happened that had made him wind up here...it was the best thing that had ever happened to him since he had been rudely awakened and fed knowledge of who he was.

He grimaced slightly in distaste, glowing yellow eyes set in jet black fur closing. Yes...that newfound knowledge had certainly screwed him up for a while back there, for it had played on his greatest weakness. But...now, he wouldn't have to worry about that ever again. Here, no one would know about that--and they wouldn't ever need to know, either.

Here, it most certainly wouldn't be important, anyway.

Loping along at a relaxed pace, a slow grin formed on Aki's muzzle as the scent of wolves touched his nostrils. It was a faint scent, an old scent...but it was there nonetheless. It was also the first time in months he had smelled another wolf.

And it was a pretty familiar scent, as well. The scent of blood and death and destruction. Oh, sure, it was an aged smell...but it filled him with a sense of...welcome...nonetheless.

So, there are Darkwolves here, as well... he thought absently, stepping casually into the territory and gazing around. They may be long gone now, but they were once here. They still may be here, even...just few in numbers and in seclusion, as in the case of the Deathmaker Clan long ago. There was only the two of us, Vertigo and I, but we were able to build the Clan up from dust into an army of legends...

Smiling to himself, he leaped up onto a fallen log and sat upon it, physically relaxed though his mind and senses were alert.

All it took was a little nudge and the planning of two wolves. The same can happen here...but first...let's see if there are others...

Throwing his head back, he opened his jaws in a deep, haunting howl, perfected to carry over quite a distance...

--

+From somewhere behind the male, another walked near. She did not quite enter the border. Her raven coat looked healthy and rippled with muscles. Blood red bat-like wings rested upon her back. Many silvery tattoos upon her beautiful face and shoulders. Her voice rung out.

"Male, do you as well seek acceptance to these lands? I have only just come, but it seems that no one is here. If that's the case, will you be taking it over or shall I have the pleasure if it is truely unhabited?" Raidne's voice sounded very official. Her wings opened wide, much larger than her body, and lifted her into the air many feet. She swiftly flew over the border and up to the large brute.

"Well?" her voice asked, more peacefully now. It was well past sundown now. Night. Raidne's favorite time of the day. Her ice blue eyes swiveled up to the sky and looked upon the moon for a moment before returning to the male.

"You know, I haven't given nor asked for your name... I am Raidne, may I know what you go by?" Her voice was now completely normal. She sat before him and flapped her wings for no good reason but out of habit. She paid close attention to the male's actions and any sounds made by other creatures. A rat scurried near and she growled to herself as she watched it run.

With a devilish smirk, the femme looked once more at Aki. It was nice to be in the presance of another evil. She had been alone for nearly a year now and as luck would have it, she found this place. And a wonderful place it was to be. The darkness of the lands filled the air. Raidne would love to have, or live, on lands as beautiful as these. The tip of her tail flipped as she thought of this.+

--

*from the faraway treetops, he looks upon the pair of wolves, studying them, searching them for any signs of weakness... he grins in delight of what he sees, his over-dialated red eyes fixed on the "couple", the thought of which makes him laugh silently to himself.* hm hm hm let us join our evil bretheren, yessss? *and with that, and a swift unfolding of his fierce, black wings, he sets off to his quarry and reaches them with relative ease, slowly landing in front of them, a relaxed grin on his muzzle, he glances at the red-winged wolf, in awe of her delightfully evil wings, and quickly turns his attention to the local magnet, sitting on the log in front of him* you! we hear you're looking for a few bad wolves to rain terror upon this land, and to be the Sovereigns of Destruction to these weakling Wolves of Light, yesss? Allow us to join you and your partner here in your Quest of Darkness! Together we will make this land quake in fear! *and with that he grins menacingly, bearing his fangs, and begins to laugh a psychotic laugh heard throughout the plains*

--

+The wolfess smirked as the newest male showed himself. She listened to his words with delight. With a nod she spoke.

"I'm game. Male, what do you say?" She turned to Aki. Raidne didn't feel the least intimadated by there two. The tip of her tail twitched. Her eyes were dark. Why did she care at all what that wolf thought anyway? She reached out with her long front legs and gave a good stretch and yawn before her eyes swiveled to the new one. "Do you happen to know what wolves live within these lands? Or at least what happened to them?" Curiousity filled her voice and she smirked, waiting for both their answers.+

--

Welll... from the tales we've heard.*He said with a psuedo-pondering look, all the while, his ever-present grin, shortening slightly* This was a land of great bloodshed, so many a battle raged here that the very earth was said to have been soaked with the blood of the fallen, which is why one could smell the scent of wolves of days long past here, such as you Aki.* saying this, he turns to the silent "host" of this little get-together, who has yet to speak, and turns back to Raidne, and with a strange tilt of his head, and a widening of his fearsome grin, he continues* And, tales speak of this area being the very spot that our gracious leader, Darkfire, was risen from the dead, in fact, the "log" on which Aki is sitting, is the remains of the very tree that she first had laid under to die. Strange, it is, almost an act of fate itself, that Aki, the leader of the very prestigous Deathmaker clan, would sit at that most infamous spot. And, to my knowledge, this land is watched over by a band of light wolves in the mountains to the south, to ensure that this dark land be not used again in the formation of great evil, and it is said a tribe of dark wolves roam the woods to the west, possible allies, but as far as we're concerned, all of them are just a potential kill. *after saying this, he turns to Aki, with a curious tilt of his head* But, yet, if you are here, then what of this "Vertigo", second founding member of this vicious clan of the past, was there not two in the beginning?

--

+'Aki, so that's his name.' she thought after shehad listened to the story of the lands. She did not speak though, her eyes danced to the male, now known as Aki. It seemed that the question Razien asked him had an answer of interest. Raidne Sidera's eyes danced to the stars above, for it had become night((if it wasn't already)). The beaurtiful black-blue sky over head of the beautiful wasteland of the terra of the Nightmare pack. The scent of long dead darks, the feeling of power, and the evil that called these lands home. All together, made for one great place to live!+

--

Aki couldn't help but grin wolfishly, just a little. Heh...his prediction proved true. So, these lands weren't altogether dead--all it took was someone to initiate their rebirth.

Three wolves...not a bad start at all, considering that resurrecting the clan of his old homeland had taken two.

And now, bombarded with questions, he decided to take them slowly, starting with the most recent.

"Vertigo...I know not what became of her. That was ages ago, and in a much different realm than this. She vanished shortly after my old clan was rebuilt." He gave an indifferent shrug. It was the truth, and something Aki had always found peculiar...there was just no explanation for it. Not that Aki worried himself with it. Truth be told, he concerned himself over little, and allies were only as useful as they made themselves. Vertigo had been useful while she had been around. Gone, she was of no concern to him.

"And of course I'm interested in both of you joining. A pack cannot very well function with only one wolf, can it? Now, you have both asked me a great many questions...I now have one for you." That was said with a look at Razien, bright yellow eyes revealing nothing.

"How did you know my name? And of Vertigo and the Deathmakers?" He had never voiced those words...so how should he know? Unless he had a way for delving into the minds of others...

Inwardly, he cringed. He had left his homeland to break away from those that knew of him--and thus knew the one weakness with which he could easily be manipulated. Having that brought to light again was the last thing he needed.

--

+Red wings rested upon her back in a calm fasion. No question had been directed to her and no eyes upon her so she hadn't any reason to be answering. Truth be told, she was very new here. It seemed now of course that this male planned on taking over these lands indeed. It only seemed right though, for as she was told of the pack's past or at least what she believed was the pack's past, she suddenly seemed unfit to rule them, at least on her own.

Icy blue orbs showed the respect she held for both males, but also the fact that she wasn't the lest intimadated by either. Raidne turned her head to peer at Razien to hear his answer out of curiosity.+

--

Hm hm hm. *he laughed silently as the group turned their attention to him, so delightfully curious* Silly, little Aki, you see, we've heard many legends of your clan and your terrorizing of the lands from whence you came, and yet, we never put much belief into the tales, until now of course, hm hm hm. *his demonic grin widening* And as for your name, well, many of the stories told of a raven haired, yellow-eyed wolf such as yourself, and so let's just say our... abilities combined with the knowledge of the legendary leader of the Deathmaker clan, led us to believe that you were he. *his ear twitching slightly* And yet, as one question is answered, another arises, Raidne. *twisting his head over to Raidne, his over-dialated red eyes staring piercingly into hers* What is your story, little Raidne, if you don't mind us asking.

--

+The femme looked eerily at the male. "It is a fair question...yet, the answer is not one I wish to give." She became colder in her mood and posture. Her voice held a very deffinate tone. Raidne's past was one that was very dark and and full of distrust. She hated to tell it and therefore, she hardly did.+

--

Aki smirked lightly at Raidne's response. Ah...so like him. He, for one, could definitely understand her unwillingness to relate her life's story to a perpetual stranger. Or, to anyone, for that matter.

However, now the three of them were greeted with a silence Aki found uncomfortable...and thus strove to break it.

"So...what is on the agenda for today, eh?" he asked, grinning slightly. "It seems we now have our pack--or the beginnings of one, at least. And it will grow larger given time. But, until then..." He left the question unspoken, looking at the two wolves before him curiously.

--

*turning to Aki, with a freakish grin* We suggest that you, Raidne, and ourselves, journey to the West, into the woods, to try an locate the tribe we mentioned earlier, to maybe recruit them into our ranks. Or we could travel to the mountains of the North, and kill the Wolves of Light that reportedly dwell there. Either way's alright with us, just so long as we get to taste the blood of the fallen at some point. *and, having said this, he flops down to his side and rests his eyes as he waits for their decision*

--

+Raidne nodded to Razien's responce. She decided, after a few moments, that it would be best to give her input.

"Mattering on how many wolves dwell in the Wolves of Light pack, it may be better to recruit others first, so as to even the numbers, that's saying if any even wish to join." Her eyes went from Razien to Aki, they spoke to him and so she didn't need words. They said 'what do you think?'. She was quite happy that her past hadn't been demanded to come forth. Maybe if they asked later she would be willing, but untill later times, the present was one of considering what to do next.+

--

He nodded at Raidne's words. "Raidne's correct. We would do better directing our energy toward building our numbers and recruiting others before making any plans of harrassing lightwolves." He grinned amusedly.

"I know not how many reside in the neighboring tribe, but that shouldn't be our sole source for finding allies. There are lone wolves, as well, I'm sure. Perhaps we should split up and search that way, and then meet back here at day's end? We would accomplish more separately than together, at least on this mission where our goal is to make ourselves and our purpose known."

He looked to both Raidne and Razien for imput.

--

"hmmm... yes we see, but, before we go, will our clan name remain as Deathmaker, like your former clan's moniker? Or shall we make a new title for ourselves? And shall we incorperate the use of a howl to communicate with one another over great distances?

--

Raidne listened carefully to Razien. His inquiries were important. Once he was finished, she spoke.

"What about the strange creatures who want to live with a pack? Ones that may not be full blooded or maybe even young and inexperience ones...What should we do with them? Ask them as well?" She looked first to Razien to see his response and then swiveled eyes and head to Aki for his. And that is where her sights remained for many moments.

Josef growls again, the tatoos on both shoulders blazing with a white light as intense as the light coming from the ruby around Ziarre's neck. "You fool. If you can't handle it alone, don't resign yourself to death! Why must you die if you can't do something alone? Just get people to help you, otherwise it is not worth doing!" The hand on the grip of his bow was white-knuckled in his anger, and he looked about an inch away from nocking an arrow to his bow and firing at Ziarre.

However, his expression softens slightly as he listens to Toviel's litany. Looking over at him, then back to Ziarre, he notices that the ruby seems to be burning her. The glow of the tatoo on his left shoulder fades to nothing, while on the right the glow extends down to cover his hand in a protective "glove." He reaches up to hold the ruby away from Ziarre's skin. His blue eyes meet her glowing maroon ones, but he speaks to Toviel. "How, then, are they different from humans?"

--

Sougra shifted uncomfortably. Things were really coming to blows between that woman and Josef...

Luckily, the other man, Toviel, spoke up, to shed some light on the situation that, without him, might not have been shed. After all, the woman was far too hot-headed to say anything intelligible, it seemed. Anything that didn't include nasty language, at least.

Teleporter? Was that just another word for a hot-headed human?

And then the ruby started to burn, it seemed...and Josef reached out to hold it away from her neck. Sougra gave a little huff of frustration. Why didn't she just take it off!? That would seem the easy way! If something hurt you, you got away from it! You didn't keep batting at a porcupine with your paw after you learned it could stick you! Unless you were really daft or stubborn...and with some pups it took multiple tries before the lesson would sink in...

She seemed of the stubborn variety.

--

Toviel continued to look at Josef and Sougra, sighing as he moved away from Ziarre. She could move fast and her aim was accurate, no matter how he moved.

"Teleporters can teleport. They can go anywhere they please, nothing holds them. They can appear by someone by name or appearance. They are difficult to kill because of that, and they detest confinement and rules. They can heal automatically, and they only age to a certain point. They don't die of old age. Besides that and their attitude nothing else. But with Ziarre... it's different," he spoke quietly.

Ziarre's eyes burned with feverish hate and anger, they burned maroon. But suddenly she winced and cried out, shielding her neck from the flames and wincing. She snarled, the pulse of the ruby growing louder as she glimpsed a blue glow, but nothing more than that.

Toviel continued to look at them.

"Ziarre is different because of that ruby. That ruby holds both soul and spirit. Without that ruby, without she will die. When she gets to hot-headed the ruby tries to fuse with her body. It has already. Eyad is after it simply because it holds all her power and if he takes it, he'll have it. Then he wont have to put up with her. She'll be dead, no strings attached. When she was just a kid, about 5 she was sold off to Eyad by her dad. Eyad is a power hungry son of a bitch," he spoke lightly.

"That's why she can't take it off," he said.

Ziarre's lower jaw clenched and her hands twitched irritabily. She pulled away from Josef stubbornly, still holding it away by the chain. She didn't want anyone touching her, indirectly or directly. But her eyes were soon turned to Toviel and her image seemed to flicked, as if a hologram.

Toviel hit the ground and hit it hard, his mouth bleeding as he was kicked around once or twice more by an unseen force which was Ziarre. She materialized more solidly a few feet away from both of them.

She glanced to the fire and an hold, hold fire flickered inside her. Fire... she winced, looked away and regained her 'self-control'. Okay, calm down. Her head was racking by those bickering voices.

Calm down! No! Who do they think they are? What is that bastard up too? @#%$ them! Calm down! The ruby! It's trying to fuse... that fire... no, calm down! leave it go! fear is not an option. stop it, stop it, stop IT! Ziarre staggered, getting dizzy. Within a second she had a dagger out and emotionlessly she cut open her shoulder and everything about her died to a smoldering flame.

She felt lightheaded and pissed.

"Toviel, shut up. None of your buisness either. This is none of your buisness, none of it. I don't care about your rules, about what you consider a good host or not. I don't want anyone to even act nice to me. Don't be all nice, leave me the hell alone. I'm only here because I'm due for visits from Eyad. Toviel needs protection I can't provide while I'm being attacked. That's the ONLY help I will recieve. I refuse anything else. I don't like you people, I hate all three of you. I hate you more than any of you can imagine. No one can help me, only make it worse," she said in a harsh, growling tone.

Ziarre wasn't taking this crap. Not from anyone, not from them.

--

Josef growls in return. "You know what? I'm tired of hearing your sob story about how you hate all of us because we offer our help. I'm tired of hearing about how nobody can help you. I'm tired of hearing about how much you hate rules, and kindnesses, and all that. Despite you being some kind of 'Teleporter,' when it really comes down to it you are not any different from a human on the basic level. It's not really that nobody can help you, its that you won't let them. You are too busy being consumed by your pride that you refuse to acknowlege the skills of other people." This woman irritates him. He cannot see how anyone could be so arrogant and so insistent upon their independence, especially since he has come from a tribal community. He was brought up to do things on his own when possible, but to ask for help when it was necessary.

He pointed one finger at Ziarre, unaware of the bright glow from his left shoulder and the grey fur beginning to cover his body. On his new lupine muzzle, the lips curled up into a snarl. "You are obviously incapable of defeating this man alone, but you do not wish to die. That leaves one alternative, and you can either see it or refuse to. That choice is up to you, but I strongly suggest that you see the one option that is left to you." He turns back to poke up the fire, shaking with anger with the fur all over his body bristling. This woman...is such a stubborn idiot! In his anger, he left her wounded shoulder to heal by her own devices. He'll be damned if he offers any more help to her!

--

Hated him? What'd he ever do to her? And hated Josef, too? All he was trying to do was help, and she hated them?

Sougra gave a little indignant growl, white fur bristling along his hackles. No wolf ever spoke to another packmate like that, and if they ever did, they were quickly put back in their place by strong words or strong actions. Or, if they were so insistent upon their own independence, they were kicked out, just to teach them a lesson and show them what the world outside their community was like.

Usually, they came back, and came back humbled, at that.

In a normal wolf pack, an actual wolf pack, the pack would no doubt be run quite differently. But Sougra came from a wolf pack that wasn't quite a wolf pack. His kind were both humanoid and wolf, but at the same time, neither. And though they called themselves "wolves", and called their community a "pack", they had their own set of rules, customs, and mannerisms. Some were similar to those of true wolves...but not all.

Still, they had no separate name for their race. They were simply "wolves", and, in truth, legend had it that they were descended from some of the first wolves to walk the Earth. That said, they felt no need to change their name.

It was a confusing history to an outsider, but to Sougra and his kind, it made perfect and complete sense.

He was jarred from his thoughts when Josef finally spoke, and his yellow eyes darted from Ziarre back to the man...who now looked more like a wolf himself. Sougra blinked in surprise for a moment, confused. He knew he could take on a...a cat-like appearance, but a wolâ€"oh, wait, that was right. The ritual. Now he had wolf in him...that explained it. That explained the tattoo. Erk. Sougra had gotten so caught up in the current drama that he'd nearly forgotten!

Which lead to another annoyance. At this rate, it'd be forever until he could learn to shift and return to his true form, just because the female ws being so stubborn and, well, mean. But...that was him just being selfish...so he quickly pushed that thought from his mind. His parents had always told him that was a bad trait to have...

--

Toviel blinked at Josef and shook his head, just about to interrupt and explain to Josef that help was not truly an option. Eyad used energy to attack her which was not solid and could not be attacked, only fended off. And the thing about Ziarre's species, they were all like that. Toviel knew another teleporter who was just as bad as Ziarre, acting both the same. But once again, Ziarre guided him off that path.

"Toviel, shut up, now," she snapped as she moved a little ways off, sitting down again the tree, a light, vague smirk on her lips.

Toviel sighed and looked at them.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled to them, rubbing the bruises on his face for a moment.

Ziarre was tense and waiting for what was too happen, what she knew would happen. She felt the ruby swell with it's own needs and she could feel it, growing hungry. She refused it, denying it of what it wanted and waited for Eyad to come again.

--

Josef growled softly, sitting back over by Sougra. He looked down at himself, noticing that he had shifted with an exasperated sigh. Looking back over to Sougra, he explained telepathically. <Sougra, one of the the things that you must beware of now is that intense emotion may cause you to shift when you do not want to.> He sighed again, looking at his furred hands. <Case in point. I had thought that I was past that stage, but apparently this change is still new in me, and excitable. I will not be able to change back for a while...> He shrugged his shoulders. <That is the price you pay for this ability.>

Josef looked over at the two newcomers to their camp. "Well, bear in mind that if this camp, or any of the people in it, are attacked, it is my duty to defend it and them in any way possible. And no, there is no way that you can dissuade me from doing that." He looked pointedly at Ziarre. "You don't want my help. Very well. I can accept that. But my honor dictates that I must do this. If you cannot accept my honor, then I will be glad when you decide that it is time to leave my fire." He turned away, testing the draw of his bow.

[YES! All posts have been moved! We may resume posting, now! XD]

Toviel gave a nod to them, smiling lightly and politely. He was a coward, yes. But at least he was polite and almost decent. On some days. Others he was a pure traitor, through and through. And Eyad found them so easily.. But Toviel had not tipped him off. Eyad, being a sorceror, had scried for them and found them. And the ruby around Ziarre's neck could be easily found with it's own life-like energy.

Ah, yes. I guess so. I'm Toviel, and that is Ziarre.

He spoke to Josef, jerking his chin towards Ziarre who sat off, leaning against the tree. He suddenly couldn't hold his tongue anymore, and he seemed much more demanding and forceful.

What did he want? No, seriously, Ziarre. This was worse than all those other times. What did he say?

Ziarre looked at him, disbelieving. He wanted to mess with her now? While she was in no mood to take his crap? In no mood to answer private questions in front of these people.

It's fine. Everything is fine. Leave it at that, Toviel.

She gave him his last warning, her tone said that. She felt her teleporter blood heat in her veins, excited at the prospect of beating Toviel up. Teleporters were ill-tempered and had a love for a bloodshed, and the thought of hurting another made her heart jump with joy.

Toviel sighed. Might as well give up while he was ahead, knowing that was his last warning. But of course he couldn't help to just reply.

Yeah. I know. Everything is fine until you're really laid up. That ruby is going to get you into serious trouble. Being laid up will make the ruby ravenous! I wish Eyad would leave you alone.

Ziarre rolled her eyes and flopped her hand in his direction. Like she cared? He should go away and shut up. The only reason he was even concerned was because she was his protection.

So, may I ask your names now?

Toviel asked politely towards Josef and Sougra, glancing between the two in his oblivious and yet curious way.

--

"So, may I ask your names now?"

Josef nodded. "I am Josef, and the wolf is named Sougra." His eyes narrowed. "So, who is this 'Eyad?' I have invited you into our camp, so I think it is only fair for you to tell me who this man is who pursues you, as it now pertains to the safety of both Sougra and myself as well as you two." He crossed his arms across his chest. To hell with being polite now. Though he was obligated by his own rules to allow them to share his camp, he had to know what evils they carried with them, for the mutual safety of all in the camp. "Also, what is this about the ruby being 'ravenous?'"

Only then did it filter through that Ziarre had talked with someone. That meant that the person that she had talked to had to be close by! He calmly reached over to his backpack, and unrolled his bedroll, revealing an unstrung recurve bow and several bowstrings. Selecting one of the strings, he strung the bow in one fluid movement. Then he pulled a quiver full of arrows out of his backpack, and clipped it onto his belt. There. Now he was ready, should someone try to attack any member of his camp.

--

Sougra, throughout this strange conversation, had inched closer and closer to Josef, curiosity quickly turning to unease. Someone was...following those people? Someone bad? Yeah, it looked bad, from the way Josef had reacted. Sougra had never seen a bow and arrow before, but he could tell it was a weapon; it looked like one, at least. Kinda similar to the spears his own pack used sometimes, only...different, smaller. And he couldn't tell what that strong, curved thing was, or what it would be used for.

That ruby the femaleâ€"Ziarreâ€"had was bad, then. That's what he got from Toviel's speech. So...why didn't she get rid of it if some person was following her because of it?

The situation was quickly growing more and more bizarre. Sougra hadn't initially really feared these new people, and he still didn't. But...but what was it that they'd brought with them?

Not good, huh...? he asked Josef, sitting so near him he was almost touching him, though his wide yellow eyes were still watching the duoâ€"mostly focusing on that strange ruby, now. The...the red stone's bad? Why doesn't she get rid of it...? Maybe Josef knew something about this kind of stuff. After all, he was far more worldly than Sougra was. And, besides, only Josef could understand him. It would be pointless to try and ask the other humans that question.

--

Ziarre sprung to her feet with energy she could not spare. Anger swelled inside her while she cut Toviel off. It was time he shut up while she told these strangers straight out what they needed to know. Only what they needed to know and nothing more. She refused to reveal to them the key to her past. They didn't care anyway.

It's nothing you need to worry about. He only comes after me, he wont bother we neither of you two, or him for that matter. The ruby? Ravenous... Yes. It feeds off energy, and anger is the energy it is most nourished by.

If only she could get rid of ther ruby, if only she could lose it from her neck. She would be a free woman then, she would be what her species were meant to be. People who, in all their viciousness, loved freedom and boundless things without rules to bind them. If only, then life would be, truely, complete.

I am the only one he wants to kill. That's fine with me and I suspect it's fine with all you, right? I know Toviel would prefer it.

Toviel looked shocked, because her voice had risen, and despite the exhaustion she had, she always found the energy for anger. And you could always measure her anger by how the ruby glowed, and how it pulsed with life.

Toviel gave a guilty look as she spoke on how he would like to see her dead. That was true, he truely held a deep contempt. And a twisted love for her, but the only reason they stuck to eachother like glue was because he was a puzzle peice to her past and she was his protector. The only one who risk her neck. The only one who felt obligated to protect himself.

Ziarre was fuming. The anger she felt had flushed her face and her ruby pulsed, casting out magnificent light. Her eyes burned with hate and anger, an inferno twisting within them. Oh God, how could she ward Eyad away? Her energy was strained and the ruby could not live solely off of anger, oh no, it could not. It would soon take her weak body to the limits. It would test her as it has done so many times before. But what could she do? It locked her soul and spirit within itself. She was at it's will.

--

Josef looked down at Sougra to answer his question. "I don't know if the ruby is necessarily bad..." he looked back up at her, and the ruby, "but most things that exist by leeching off energy like a vampire generally are. And no, I don't know why she doesn't get rid of it."

Josef listens to Ziarre's question, then shakes his head in reply. "No, it is not all right with me that he wants to kill you." He looks her over, particularly the ruby which pulses with light. "You are my guest here. It is my obligation as your host to serve as your guardian for as long as we share a fire." He bows to her, one hand swept out. "What kind of host would I be if I allowed the enemies of one of my guests hurt her?" He looked up at her as he straightened. "No, it is most definitely not all right with me that he wants to kill you, and only you." He crossed his hands over his chest in finality, showing that he would brook no further arguments.

--

The sudden ferocity and motion of Ziarre made Sougra jump in surprise, but then he calmed as she spoke...a little. Kill her...? Something wanted to kill her?

That made Sougra a tad uneasy...and even a bit sad. Why would someone want to kill her? Why would someone want to kill anyone, for that reason? Well, aside from food. Wolves killed, but they took only what they needed and wasted as little as they could. The only thing from a kill his pack didn't use from a kill was...was...hrm. No, they used the bones, too, for weapons and stuff. But that was beside the point! He didn't think anyone could eat Ziarre, nor want to. She didn't look like she had anything on her, anyway. Then again, wolves didn't eat humans, especially not his kind, which were, in their true form, humanoids themselves!

Maybe there were human-hunters, too...Sougra knew about those hunters that tracked down animals like wolves for various reasonsâ€"he'd been taught it early onâ€"but he didn't know anyone hunted humans, and hunting was, really, the only reason Sougra could think of that someone would want to kill someone else. In his own pack, there was no such thing as murder that he knew of. Maybe prior to his own lifetime, but since he had been born, he'd heard of nothing of the sort.

Senseless murder was a concept quite unknown to him.

Looking to Josef as he spoke, Sougra gave a little nod of agreement. No, it wasn't at all okay that someone wanted to kill her...

--

With Josef's words her anger grew and the color pulsing from the ruby was near blinding. The soft sound of a beating heart pulsed, coming from the ruby as it thumped. Ziarre knew she was sating it, but not for long. She paused, but just for a moment. Why did he care? No, he didn't. She didn't want to be confused by his words. Teleporters were often puzzled by any kind of kindness shown them.

It better be alright with you that he wants to kill me. I will not let you get into my damn buisness. I don't care what kind of host you want to be, but the only thing I even want you protecting besides yourself and that wolf and Toviel. He is the only want who needs it. Leave me out of it. I can and will defend myself. If I can't do it, I'm better off dead anyway. He kills me, he kills me. It only involves me, my father, and Eyad. No one else! She snapped in a voice that had grown in volume and viciousness.

Her arms crossed across her chest as the tension and hate just built itself. She'd be in for a long night. She knew she would submerge into many battles through the night, and they could not help her. Only if Eyad actually appeared, and even then he was a strong, powerful sorceror. The mere thought of him made a thick bile rise in her throat and she swallowed back the vomit that burned it.

Her lower jaw clenched as anger flickered inside her, the inferno raging. The ruby, in return of living off her energy, gave her energy back to her. It made her a little stronger, and her determination to get Josef out of her life was only swelling. Her pride was large and the mere thought of intervention already hurt it.

Toviel watched, sitting on the ground and watching the fight between them. Ziarre wouldn't give in, whether Josef wanted her too or not. She didn't want his help. It would scare Toviel to the core if she accepted. That would definitly not be Ziarre-like. Unless it was a twisted scheme to get them both killed of course.

--

Josef growls, sounding more animal than human, as he begins to lose his patience with this woman. Proud, arrogant, vain...he growled again, the tatoo of the wolf on his left shoulder starting to glow. His eyes narrowed to mere slits as he glared at her. "Listen, you bloody idiot. If there is a problem that you can't handle alone, and this is obviously one of them, you better lose your pride a little bit. If you can't admit, even to yourself, that you sometimes need help, then you are going to die. And no. Nobody is better off dead, unless they would use their life to hurt others. Or they are too stupid to know when they are into something over their head.

"For however long you share my fire, I am your protector. Get used to that." He snarled, turning away.

--

Sougra gave a little snort as he listened to the exchange. Wow. Josef certainly got her there...

And he was right! Sougra just couldn't see why the female was being so difficult. Josef was being nice to her. It was kinda weird that she would refuse his kindness. He knew that he'd taken up on Josef's offer of companionship without even thinking, and he felt safe around him, too.

His head cocked to the side, confusion once again the prevailing emotion. Humans were so odd sometimes...not that he knew many humans personally.

What's with her? he asked, though a bit carefully. Josef sounded irritated, after all...

--

Ziarre's dark eyes suddenly started to glow maroon, her anger mounting. She couldn't understand this man, nor did she want to take the time or effort to do so. She was at least getting energy from this and a sudden joy flamed inside her eyes. She was a beast born from hate, anger, war, and bloodshed. She relished battles and fights, and she loved this, but she refused to give into him.

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! This doesn't CONCERN you! You BLOODY BASTARD!," her british accent came into play, as she was more screaming and snarling then anything now.

"I don't WANT your help! I don't WANT to share you fire. I HAVE too though. I CAN handle this alone, if I can't, then I die, then my father and Eyad wins and everything is at peace again. But they wont win. It takes ALOT to kill a teleporter DAMNIT. Oh, BY THE @#%$ WAY! I do hurt people, I do kill people. I AM better off dead. In your opinion and mine for different reasons!"

Toviel blinked and winced and avoided staring at the blaze of the ruby.

"Teleporters are vicious creatures born from war and bloodshed. They are creatures who hate rules and are self-dependant. They do not like help and are confused by the mere thought of kindness. They reject it harshly and live by their own rules. If they die, they die fighting and by their own rules. They are beings who are prone to violance and bloodshed, they are drawn to it. They have large prides and when accepting help they are most vehement. They feel they have shamed both themsleves and their blood. Teleporters are deathly loyal and sadistic. They love to inflict pain, and are ill-tempered. They hate to reveal to much about themselves, like their problems. They feel it is only their concern and no one elses because no one else should care. They do like being bound by feelings, unless it's love. They can be most loving, affectionate, and tender creatures when you decide to accept them. And teleporters usually do not start fights unless they are annoyed or threatened. Teleporters only kill and use violance when they have reasons. Their own reasons and no one else. They also love being difficult," Toviel, in a monontous voice recited what he knew about Teleporters.

Ziarre glared and him and clenched her fist. She a maroon glow touched her fingertips. But suddenly she flinched, sharply at that. She glanced to the ruby and fumbled for it, pulling at the chain away from her neck as it literally began to burn through her clothes and melt and burn her skin. It was trying to fuse with her bones. It had done it once, and she Toviel break her collarbone to get it out too.

Toviel's green eyes look at Ziarre sadly.

"They are also determined and lack self-control," he added.

Josef nodded, piling up a little more tinder and kindling, and then blowing the smoldering remains of last night's fire to life again. Just when it was burning again, he felt the pulse of magic behind him coming from Ziarre, and his head jerked around. He saw the blue glow around her, and his eyes narrowed into blue slits. However, then he blinked in surprise as he saw her concentrate, biting her lip, and the glow disappeared. What is going on with her?

He stood, noting that she had bitten her lip enough to make it bleed. Approaching her, he held out a finger to touch her lip, and concentrated. The tatoos on both of his shoulder glowed a soft white, as did his fingertip as he touched her lip. Healing energy flowed from his finger to her lip, stopping the blood and knitting together the flesh. Then he backed off, attending to the fire once again.

--

Sougra blinked, growing more and more confused by the minute, especially when the female buckled a little, a light materializing around her. Something wasn't right...and that begame especially obvious when the pup caught the faint scent of blood, and then moments later saw that the girl had bitten her lip.

Sougra resisted the urge to vocalize his uncertainty and concern with a whine, and instead, once the...well, whatever it was that had bothered the girl...had passed, he slowly, bravely, inched a little closer to the duo, sniffing quietly at them while Josef took care of the girl's lip. He wanted to ask what was wrong; it had seemed like the girl was being hurt by something, by that light. But then he soon remembered what form he was in, and that they probably couldn't understaâ€"wait! Well, Josef had been able to! Josef had surprised him. Maybe they would, too?

Or maybe they were more of those humans that weren't very connected with nature.

What happened? he asked them. But, if they weren't intuned to wolfspeak, as Josef was, the question would sound like nothing more than a few soft yips.

--

Ziarre almost recoiled from his touch, her body stiffening and tensing as he touched her lip. Her anger swelled slightly, but died. She had little energy left and she knew she had to reserve for what was to come. She stayed still and strong, no matter what came she would not bend. But when he healed her lip, confusion flickered in her dark brown eyes, along with grown suspicion.

What was that for?

She snapped at Josef. She was so distanced from kindness or consideration that this was highly unusual to her. She didn't know why he had done that. Her pride was bitter towards that act, and yet her more uncertain side shifted, not understanding this, knowing she didn't deserve this show of kindness. But before you knew it, her eyes returned with their fiery glare and she turned it upon Toviel, a frenzy of dots speckling her vision.

Get by the fire. Now.

Toviel blinked, wondering why she had snapped so viciously. He barely uttered a 'but' before she snarled, it was almost animalistic. She turned around and started to wobble away, the unnatural feel of the ground tilting and swaying beneath her feet made her unsuitable for walking. And her headache, got, she clutched her head, making her way for the darkest and thickest brush nearby. Darkness threatened her vision, and everything pounded in her ears. Oh, god, it hurt. It really hurt.

Toviel looked at Sougra, and he shook his head lightly, sighing.

Sorry. Can't understand ya.

Toviel then cast a worried, green-eyed gaze at Ziarre's receding back as she was engulfed by the woods. He wondered what was happening, why she was wobbling, but suddenly he knew why. He sighed heavily and lowered himself into a sitting posistion.

Meanwhile, Ziarre had watched as a swirling ice blue mist shrouded her and collected at her ruby, forcing itself within it. The color filled the maroon ruby, and it looked so bright. Her eyes soon flooded with the color that had taken over her ruby. She moaned softly, slithering to the ground in both pain and lack of oxygen. Her face was quickly paling as she gasped and pleaded for air, but was unable to get it. The darkness was closing in, so quick. It was so lulling, it's sweet song. It sang to her, beautiful songs and she was falling, so slowly it seemed. But a small seed of anger started to bud and blossom, an ugly flower blooming inside her and she managed to wiggle a dagger out from it's hiding place, slashing her left forearm, over the top in a large 'X'. She felt the blue mist slip from her as her anger became more powerful and a maroon veil lifted from her and chased the blue mist away, but not before it took the screaming, angered face of Eyad. She began to choke and gasp, a throaty laugh echoing from her. It sounded... not very human. More beast, more savage then anything. The sound she heard made her smile weakly. She truely was a damnable beast. She was not meant to live with anybody but her own kind. That's what one of her victims had told her before their death. Perhaps it was more truthful then she had first guessed.

Toviel had been looking around, concern in his green eyes as he sighed, just sitting there uselessly.

Ziarre stood, wobbling and falling over, making her snarl with frustration, using the tree to push her up she slashed at it when she stood with the dagger's blade. She then lifted up her shirts, only pulling down her most inner shirt an cut the arm holes and down the front, ripping it most of the way and pulling it off, sliding her dagger back into it's sheath. She then made a makeshift bandage for her arm. She sighed, wincing the slightest. God, she hated herself, she hated her life, she hated this most of all.

Ziarre wobbled and teetered from the woods and tried to regain her balance, especially in their prescence. Instead of moving far away from them she just leaned against the nearest tree, sliding down to the base, exhaustion sweeping her in it's arms. But she had to stay alert, had to stay awake. But she already felt her eyes begin to redden along with the tip of her nose and her eyes grow puffy as tears pricked behind her eyes. She clenched her lower jaw and looked hard at the sky. Okay. Better, all better. No more tears. She could not shed one.

Toviel looked at her.

Are you okay?

He noticed the bandage. He already knew the answer.

Perfectly, absolutely, wonderfully FINE.

She spoke, harsh-toned and desperately tried to cover the exhaustion. Gah, she probably failed at that. Like everything else... NO. She had to be alert. What if Toviel needed her? What if... She just needed to stay awake.

Toviel knew better than to press, he then looked to the two strangers, his head tilted.

So, what's your names?

He directed it at Josef, but included Sougra with the 's' and a friendly glance at him.

--

Josef noticed the bandage as Ziarre walks back into camp from a brief excursion out into the brush. There was something wrong with the woman, he knew it. He just didn't know what. However, there was nothing in such a distance as she could have gone that could have done that to her. Was the cut self-inflicted? If so, there could be...difficulties with these two. She also looked incredibly tired. What could cause such problems? Demonic possession? Josef didn't know. This was outside of his area of expertise.

"So, what's your names?"

Josef looked sharply over to the other man. Ah, yes, the coward. "You two are the guests here. I think that it is more polite to give your own names first?" His left eyebrow quirked upwards in a questioning expression without his face softening at all. He didn't trust either of these two...though the woman was quite frankly dangerous.

--

Sougra snorted softly when the male told him he couldn't understand him. That's what he had figured...but it was still a pain! Oh well, so long as he could communicate with at least one person here, it was alright, though he guessed what was probably the most annoying about being stuck in this form around other humans wasn't the lack of communication, but the difference in treatment. It was really easy to be ignored...

Though, surprisingly, he hadn't experienced this from these new humans, even though they couldn't understand him, and even though he wasn't in his true form. That man had actually responded to him, and acknowledged that Sougra was actually speaking! Mostâ€"actually, allâ€"humans in the village had just cast it off as jargon. And tossed some random object his way in an attempt to get him to shut up. Sougra had learned shortly after that that trying to get someone's attention that way was fruitless.

Soon, the woman that had momentarilly vanished reappeared, and Sougra's sensitive nose picked up on the faint, coppery scent of blood. And the bandage was quite obviously the source, covering an injury of some sort that Sougra hadn't smelled of noticed before.

He looked inquisitively over at Josef, then back over at the people. How'd the female get hurt?

This was...weird...

[Hope ya don't mind if I help move posts, too! ^_~]


Josef nodded slightly, and set his backpack down. Using that as a pillow, he pulled his cloak around himself as a blanket. Looking over to Sougra, he smiled. "Wake me if the fire starts to get out of hand, okay?" That being said, he shut his eyes, and soon was dreaming.

--

Finally, Sougra finished cleaning his wound, which had stopped bleeding fairly quickly with care. Looking up as Josef spoke, the pup nodded. Will do! he replied and, with a wolfish smile of contentment, curled in closer to Josef and shut his own eyes.

Before long, sleep had taken him...

--

Josef wakes up the next morning with a yawn, to find that the fire had burnt itself out over the course of the night, and is now reduced to smoldering embers. Well, looks like there isn't going to be a hot breakfast...well, he didn't have anything to cook anyways. Oh well...today, he and Sougra will work on Sougra's transformations, and maybe he'll be able to snag something for dinner while he's at it.

Looking over, he finds the wolf pup to be still asleep, and smiles slightly, reaching over to wake him with a gentle shake. "Wake up, Sougra. Big day today..." He pulls out two strips of jerky, and grimaces slightly. Those were the only two that were left...yes, he's going to definitely need to do some hunting today.

--

The sensation of being gently shaken brought Sougra back to the waking world, and his eyes peeled open groggily, blinking against the morning light. Hearing Josef speaking, he glanced over at the man, before his eyes closed on their own as his jaws opened wide in a long yawn, tongue curling. Licking his lips, he gave a small smile at Josef, then slowly raised himself to his feet and stretched out his back, chest to the ground, tail up, and forepaws clawing the earth as he reached forward, deepening the stretch.

Finally straightening, and feeling far more awake after that little morning ritualâ€"amazing what a little stretching could do! He never quite felt awake unless he did all thatâ€"he grinned wolfishly over at Josef, wide awake by now. After all, he was young, and it always seemed the young ones woke up with the most ease. Sougra was no different, and within a matter of minutes, it was as though he had never been asleep to begin with.

Oh! We're gonna try the shifting thing? he asked finally, tail swaying relaxedly. A bit of a silly question, since Josef had said they would, but he had also been so tired last night, Sougra hadn't been so sure he'd be able to today. He might have needed more rest. But, it didn't seem that way now. Josef had been the one to wake first, after all, and Sougra was usually an early riser!

But this had also been the first day in a couple days that he'd been able to sleep securely.

--

Josef nods with a smile. "It should be relatively easy. The ability and knowlege of how to do it is within you, along with my blood, and all you need to do is find that knowlege within yourself." He grins, and speaks in telepathy. <And it will make it even easier with me guiding you through the process.> He unconsciously reaches to his left shoulder where the new tatoo of a wolf stands out on his skin, and rubs it gently. "And now, because of your blood, I am able to shift to a wolf as well, and that will make it even easier for you to learn how to do this."

His gaze becomes intense as he looks at Sougra. "Are you ready to try this, now?"

--

Toviel was laughing hsyterically, wiping tears form his eyes as his breath labored from lack of any kind of exercise. He panted he raced through the forest, tripping over an arching root. He stumbled through the bushes and land behind the duo, a wolf and what at the time appeared human. He landed, face on the ground, twigs sticking out from hiss haggy hair, boody splayed out on the ground wildly. He lifted his head, spitting on the dirt with disgust. "Ew, that tastes bad!" He mumbled as he rolled onto his side, looking at the two others, waving a hand in an awkward fashion. "Hey.. ow..." Everything was spinning, and boy, did he feel like he had a serious hangover. And he hadn't had any booze in days!

Ziarre had been following behind. She was relaxed, at least more than had been in days. Usually you could see her muscles outlined against her skin, but at least in the woods she was far from anyone. Besides Toviel, but he wasn't as bad without others around. They had more civilized conversations that way, and she preferred that way. He probably felt that way too, she bet. But she had been becoming more and more on edge, soon becoming aware that this wasa forest and she was never alone. Those thoughts alone made her stealthy and tense. But still, she seemed loose enough to be mentally calm. She was just ready to pounce and move.
Ziarre crept through the bushes until she peered through the bushes with her dark eyes at Toviel and glanced to his right, staring at the others. She snorted and stepped out and behind Toviel. She couldn't have Toviel getting himself killed!

Toviel glanced behind him, spitting out dirt more.
"Oh.. hey Z-foo...!" He mumbled as he continued to try to work dirt out of his mouth. Ick! It tasted BAD.

--

Whoa, really? Sougra exclaimed. He could shift into a wolf now? Crazy! So, that ritual had given him a new ability, too! That must have been the ghostly wolf he'd seen beside Josef during the ritual! It made sense. So now you have...three forms? Wow... That was pretty amazing. He hadn't known that was possible, but he also hadn't known other shifters even existed until he ran into Josef. Or, rather, until Josef ran across him. There was a lot about the world he didn't know...it was almost dizzying to think of how little he knew and understood!

But, back to the present! He could ponder the world's mysteries later.

Josef said shifting would be easy, and Sougra found that to be a relief. It'd be even easier with Josef's new ability, because it was a given that he'd learn the most through example. He always learned the most that way...this should be no problem. Easy.

And Sougra was certain it would be. He'd been able to get into this form with the guidance of his mother, and he was a quick learner if he did say so himself. All he needed was instruction, and practice, and he could catch onto a concept easy enough. He could do this! He would do it.

He was so lucky to have run into Josef...it had to be pure luck. If he those humans hadn't tormented, if he hadn't gotten lost, this wouldn't have happened. He'd still be alone in the human place, fending for scraps...and he'd never learn how to shift. Well, not never. But not until he was reunited with his family, for sure.

Yeah! More than ready, Sougra replied in his usual enthusiastic tone, watching Josef expectantly and intently.

At least, intently until his attention was snapped away from the man when something landed loudly behind them. And complained loudly.

Sougra jumped in surprise, spinning around to find another human splayed on the earth near them, spitting out dirt, and before long, yet another human had entered the scene, a female. Both, from what Sougra could tell, appeared younger than Josef...and neither seemed as acclimated to the wilderness as he, though the girl certainly looked fit. And had something of a stalking wolf's attitude...

Amber eyes darted back to Josef quickly, questioningly, then back to the duo, head tilting slightly.

--

Josef started to speak in resonse to Sougra's question, "Well, technically, I have five forms, counting halfway between-" but then leapt to his feet as soon as he heard the first human crash into the clearing and spun around, hunting knife in his hand. He was in a crouched stance when the woman walked out of the trees, and his eyes were blue slits as he spoke in accented Common to the two. "Both of you, state your business immediately, or get the hell out of here." The tatoos on each of his shoulders begin to glow softly, and his teeth are bared in a snarl as he looks over the two. "I don't have anything for you to rob, if that's what you're looking for, and if you're looking for an easy target for anything, you'd best be looking elsewhere."

--

Ziarre was just about to speak, her anger mounting and it seethed from her eyes a the ruby around her neck burned with a furious maroon glow. Her teeth gritted. She was not human, far from it. Something, that looked like a human, very most. But they were much more vicious and they could be call savages. Ziarre was close to speaking until Toviel's whiney voice pierced between the duo. He clutched Ziarre and pulled himself up, giving a weak smile as Ziarre was more than enraged.

Toviel spoke rapidly and stumble-mouthed. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry.. We have no buisness, I'm just an idiot she's a bitch.. we make our way around... And I didn't fall here on purpose! I'm just an idiot.. I'm sorry!" He cringed. He was two years older than the girl, but held cowardice. For life preservation of course. He lost his skills to booze and he had been unable to gain them back ever since.

Ziarre's anger only boiled as she cut off but she didn't speak. No, this was one of those times where it was more wise to try and control yourself and let the idiot talk. At least he wouldn't any of them killed. Hell, Ziarre wouldn't let herself or Toviel be killed. It would be much harder to kill herself anyway, and Toviel, well, it would be really easy to kill him.

Her hands curled into fists and she glared at the other two. Defiant and unbending, an unyielding surface with many a thing hidden.

Toviel was just Toviel, he was the most open of the duo. He would tell you what he thought, get beat for it, and continue on. His daily routine now-a-days.

--

Nagasoto looked at the cringing figure on the ground with a mixture of disdain and disgust. A drunken coward...he'd seen a few men from his villiage go the route of drink, but he'd never seen it go this far. What a pitiful figure...on the other hand, the woman with him was entirely different. That ruby at her neck...was it glowing? Yes, it was. Josef's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You use magic, yes?" The tatoos on both of his shoulders began to glow a little more brightly, the figures of the snow leopard and the wolf outlined in white light rather than black ink.

Looking between the two of them, he sighed, and the tatoo's stopped glowing. The man's description of himself and his companion had likely been accurate. He definitely looked like an idiot and she a bitch. He slowly resheathed his knife, speaking with his mind to Sougra, <Apologies, but the lesson will have to wait. I don't feel comfortable showing such a thing to these people...besides, teaching you to shift would leave us both in a vulnerable position, and I don't trust them enough to allow any vulnerability to show.>

Looking back at the two newcomers, he sighed slightly. Damnable rules of etiquette of the tundra. If someone shows up at your fireside, you are obligated to invite them to share your fire. In the tundra, it makes sense, because they could freeze to death up there in a heartbeat if they didn't share your fire, but here...the laws of etiquette still apply, even if there is no tundra. "You are welcome to share our fire," he looks down at the smoldering twigs, "for as long as it lasts." He looks up at Ziarre and Toviel, suspicion still clearly evident in his gaze.

--

Sougra looked back and forth between Josef and the duo, blinking slowly as he listened to the exchange, though his yellow eyes widened slightly at the mention of "magic". He wasn't too familiar with it, though he did know what it was; his parents had told him of it, though they themselves could not use it. Some of his pack could, but most preferred not to, preferring to rely on their own physical abilities and natural brute strength. They always prided themselves in their physical prowess.

Yeah...that's what I thought... Sougra admitted, a little disappointedly, but he knew Josef was right. They didn't know these people...and until they left or something, the lesson would have to wait. He had gotten a feeling that was going to happen when those people showed up.

But the next thing Josef said surprised him. Josef didn't look like he trusted them much...he'd said he didn't trust them. So...why was he inviting them to stay if he was suspicious of them?

He tilted his head to the side slightly, curiously.

--

Ziarre, with hands that usually were forceful and fierce, lowered to the ruby dangling around her neck. She touched it with her fingertips, carressing it as it burned fiercly, hot against her flesh. She let out a sigh, and the only thing in her that was held in her eyes were a deep, deep rooted contempt for the thing that held her soul, that imprisoned it inside that stupid jewel. She was about to reply in her harsh tongue when Toviel did.

Toviel had no desire to make enemies with these people. He had so many enemies on his back that it was a burden. Usually Ziarre held them, but lately she hadn't been doing her part. Her attention was waning and it scared him. He wanted to know what was happening. But he spoke in reply to Josef.

Well, the ruby isn't by will.

He said in a matter-of-fact tone. He knew all about the ruby, he wasn't there when she got it, but he had seen it's disastrous affects on her and other people. But mostly it was on her, and the affects... Well, lets say they were never pretty and she was usually laid up for awhile. To see Ziarre off her feet was startling, at least to him.

Ziarre gave an incredulous look to Toviel. He had not just said that! She punched him roughly in the shoulder, reminding him that she was the boss and that he had spoken too much about her. She couldn't care less if he told them of his entire past, but if he dared to tell of her's... How dare he!

She then took notice his lips that were slightly blued and how he was shivering. He could never stand the cold, not like her. She shrugged off her jacket and didn't even hesitate, thrusting it at him and he slipped into it.

Toviel wasn't surprised that she had given it to him. Ziarre could be generous, even to him. They hated eachother, but they were obligated to one another by eight long, hard years of sticking by eachother's side. It was just habit, and she protected him and he.. well, he had no use. He was just there.

That's very kind to let us stick around.

Ziarre rolled her eyes but it stopped short, and her knees buckled slightly. God damn it! She could feel a faint blue light materializing around her, surging at her, pressing against her. She bit down hard on her lower lip, making it bleed and the blue glow dissipated into nothing. She regained her control, arms crossed over her chest. A barrier to the world.

[MOVED THREAD! Authors, in order of posting: Small Wonder and Damaged16]

Makyo stayed high in the secure branches of the tree long into the night, not daring to move, hardly, as he listened intently for the sounds of those that had pursued him earlier that day. But the woods were silent, save for the occasional rustling of bushes and leaves as some animal went about its business. And he couldn't help but move a little, shivering as the air grew cold, a sure sign that winter was fast approaching.

But as the night wore on, and Makyo heard not the slightest sounds of human activity, he slowly let his guard down and slowly descended from the tree, wings working hard in his exhaustion. But he hadn't dared to sleep, not even a little. And even if he'd had the peace of mind to close his eyes, he couldn't have been able to doze in the slightest. A broken arrow shaft was still lodged painfully in his arm, sending red-hot pain racing horribly through the limb at the slightest movement. And, motion or not, it ached and throbbed at a consistent, sharp pace.

He knew it had to be taken care of, and that was the first thing he set off to do. If he left it in much longer, it could get infected or, perhaps even worse, the wound could start to heal around it if it was especially neglected. Either way, it was an agony-inducing bane he wanted to be rid of as soon as possible.

It took the better part of the night to return to the river he had visited that morning. If he could have flown, it would have taken a mere few minutes, but he was much too tired to attempt that, and too cautious, as well. Walking along the earth in the darkness, he could blend in more easily with his surroundings; just another shadow in the night. Of course, it also made for some stumbling and, thus, some soft cursing as the jolting movements agitated his wound...but it certainly kept him awake, if nothing else.

After a timeâ€"amidst all the pain and exhaustion, he'd lost track of timeâ€"he came to the river, and promptly made his way to a shallow portion of it that was close to the trees, providing an easy escape route if he needed it. Glancing around the area cautiously, he finally knelt when he was sure it was safe and dipped his wounded arm into the chilly water, which immediately induced more shivering. But it also felt good against the sore flesh, and he held his arm under the water until it had soothed and numbed the pain to some extent. That would help...because he knew what he had to do next, and he wasn't looking forward to it...

Drawing his arm from the water, he glanced over the wound, and felt it gingerly with his fingers, fingers tracing over to the other side, where the shaft would have to exit. He had never had to deal with an arrow wound before...but many of his own kind used such weapons, and he knew all about their structure. Arrowheads were designed to pierce and lodge in the muscle, and to stay in the muscle. They were tapered, so that they could slide in easily...and not be removed easily. Pulling it out the way it had come would only result in the already damaged flesh being further damaged...he would have to push it through rather than pull it, so that it exited the way it had been traveling, resulting in a clean exit wound.

Shouldn't be too difficult. As he felt the wound, he could feel the tip of the arrowhead poking just slightly through the skin...

Makyo took a deep, slow breath, feeling suddenly ill, and submerged and soaked his arm again to restore the feeling of numbness. And to regain his nerve.

Damn...how did he ever get himself into this mess? It was just his luck to be assigned to the one place on Earth where mages were hated.

--

Green hair flowed in the wind, his body twisting to avoid making any noise. Feet hit the thick branch of a tall tree with velocity and precision, a body following effortlessly to crouch where the feet had landed. It was silent.

Nikao looked about where he had landed. There was nothing around; no animal stirred and no signs of company anywhere. He continued onward, leaping effortlessly from tree to tree; seemingly flying. His hands flowed on the tree's bark as he slowly descended further into the darkness.

Something was there. He slowed his descent. Silence. He leapt off the tree branch he was on in time to come between the fae in the water and a unnaturally large wolf. Nikao's arms widened at his side to make him appear larger and he let out a sound that resembled much like an animal--though, which animal was unclear. He watched the wolf flee, then waited to make sure it was gone.

He turned to see Makyo and resumed a crouching stance. He glanced at Makyo with interest. He'd seen faes before, but never conversed with them. Or perhaps he had, years ago, when he had enjoyed the company of others in the forest. Before vengeance had plagued his mind.

Nikao could smell the blood. Very little blood, and a very faint smell, but he could smell it. Makyo's arm was the source, the blood having stopped flowing long ago and now just waited to resume when he took what was clogging the wound out.

--

Taking a deep breath, Makyo finally lifted his arm free of the cold water when he was convinced it was as numb as it was going to get. He had to do it now...and fast, before the numbness, yet again, wore off. Not that it would help much to begin with, but if it would relieve any of the pain he was about to feel, it was good enough for him. Pain or not, he had to be quick; the sooner it was over with, the better. The worst part of anything was always the anticipation, right?

He'd just keep telling himself that.

Clasping his hand around what was left of the broken end of the shaft, he took another deep breath. Alright. He'd just count to three, then he'd push it the rest of the way through. It'd only take a second. Just one moment of pain, then his body could finally begin its natural healing process. He took yet another deep breath, then began to count, keeping his eyes riveted on the wound, even though he wanted to look away. He had to watch, just to make sure he didn't do something wrong.

One...two...thrâ€"!

He jumped in surprise as a strange sound, eerily close by, filled his ears, a fierce, animalistic sound, and in a split second he had forgotten all about the shaft lodged in his arm. Well...for the most part. He bit his lip to refrain from cursing as his sudden movement made the wound ache even more, but nonetheless he scrambled awkwardly around to confront whatever it was that had just made that noise, heart beating fast and yellow eyes wide with surprise and fear. With all that had been happening lately, fear had become a very natural response for him; his nerves were frayed.

And the sight of a human didn't help those nerves much.

Cold, exhausted, wounded, and frustrated, he soon found that he no longer even cared at this point. It seemed he couldn't even breathe without rousing armies. Quite uncharacteristically, as his stare turned from fearful to blank, he found himself seriously considering the idea of just up and surrendering to the human. This was ridiculous. He was tired. All he wanted to do was get this bloody arrow out of his arm and sleep. He just didn't have it in him, not the energy nor will, to run anymore.

Well, at least not this night.

But then, as he actually looked at the human...it soon became obvious that he was different. The way he held himself, the way he looked at him...everything about him was less like an actual human and more like...well...a wolf, almost.

Blinking tiredly, Makyo tilted his head to the side slightly, regarding the man warily. Perhaps he was the one who had made that sound...? Still, Makyo was cautious. Faes were guardians of all creatures, but that didn't mean all creatures realized that. Faes were sometimes attacked, as Makyo very well knew, and had to be careful.

Besides...not all faes were benign. Just like any other creature, some were malicious...and the malicious ones could oftentimes give the rest a bad reputation.

--

Nikao looked at Makyo for quite a while, not noticing or even caring that he was staring at the fae. Finally, as Makyo began to stare back, Nikao lept up into the branch above him, the lowest to the ground, but still high enough to almost be completely out of sight in the darkness.

He watched Makyo. Something about him told Nikao that he was not like those he'd met before in the Dark Mage Village.

Nikao knew he had more pressing matters to tend to, though at the time he couldn't decide which of the two ideas he had created in his head to tend to first. And... He couldn't understand why, but the fae was different. Maybe it was because Makyo was rather alone in this forest--with the Kingdom so close--and Nikao could relate... And odd animal instinct acquired

--

Makyo jumped slightly as Nikao vanished up into the trees, no longer able to see the man in the darkness the trees provided. Numbness was once again leaving his arm, the throbbing, sharp pain returning, but he didn't dare turn his back. He didn't know what to expect, and being hunted had made him jumpy and far more cautious than he had ever been before. Before being assigned to this forest, he had never had a need to be cautious; his life had never before been in this kind of danger.

It was a harsh wake-up call for him.

He cleared his throat nervously, shifting slightly so he was crouching on the balls of his feet rather than kneeling. From this position, he could jump to his feet quickly if need be...but he didn't want to rise to his feet just yet. The humanâ€"was he a human? He looked like one, regardless of how he behavedâ€"seemed wild, like any other creature of the forest, and Makyo knew very well not to make any sudden movements. It could very well be that he was just as nervous as Makyo was, and a nervous creature was a creature that was likely to either flee or attack. And, though faes were intuned with nature and nature's children, accidents and fatalities weren't all that uncommon.

"H-hello...?" Makyo spoke quietly...but his words were no longer that of the common tongue spoken by most of the inhabitants of the land. They had shifted, changed to suit whatever language, if any, the shrouded man spoke. All faes possessed the gift of tongues; they could fluently speak any language in existence, even ones they had never before encountered, and shift back and forth between languages without even realizing it. The gift was just that naturalâ€"so natural it was almost done unconsciously.

And it could be a very unnerving ability, as well, to anyone who was unfamiliar with it.

--

Nikao watched Makyo for a while longer. He could see the wound on Makyo's arm; he could smell the blood from it and most importantly; he had heard the quiet uncertainty in Makyo's voice. No, Makyo was of no harm to him. He was not a human and was not the magic wielder who had ruined all Nikao had once lived for.

Letting his feet slide the diameter of the tree branch he was on, Nikao swung once around the branch before letting himself fall right in front of Makyo and, without missing a beat, he grabbed the arrow shaft and pulled it skilfully from Makyo's arm.

Makyo had been taking much too long. He was creating more anxiety for himself just waiting to pull the thing out and, like an animal; Nikao sensed his fear, anxiety and uncertainty. Though, Nikao knew this would hurt as well, but the fact that it had happened so suddenly may have taken away the pain. After all, pain was all a state of mind. If Makyo had not known the shaft had been taken from his arm he would not have felt half as much pain as he would if he knew. Nikao knew that. So, perhaps he had relieved some of the pain that may have came if Makyo had pulled the arrow out on his own.

Nikao leapt back and watched Makyo. "Who did this to you?" He asked, holding the arrow close to his nose and inhaling the scent. No, not one he knew. Well, it was around the forest--the scent--but it was not one he wanted to find. It was not one he cared about.

--

Pain was only a state of mind, huh?

Makyo could vouch otherwise.

Nikao came so quickly, he hadn't the time to react, and a second later...

"Are you INSANE!?" Those were the first words that popped out of his mouth, a whole hell of a lot louder than he had intended, too. Bent over, he hugged his arm protectively to his chest, feeling the warm blood trickle out. That he'd been expectingâ€"once it was dislodged, it was only expected that it should bleed, so that wasn't a concern at all. What he hadn't been expecting was for this stranger to dislodge the bloody shaft for him! The part of his mind that was still rational and unclogged by pain knew that, from the stranger's question, he was only trying to helpful. But the irrational part of his mind could only register pain and some other choice words that he'd picked up from Raijah.

Oh, he knew that shaft had been removed, all right.

But, whatever Makyo currently thought or not, Nikao had probably had the right idea. The way Makyo was carrying on, it would have taken an hour of painstaking torture before he pushed the thing out, which would have been far more painful than a quick, clean motion.

Gritting his teeth, he waited for the pain to pass, and as it settled down to a sharp throb as opposed to a searing, stabbing pain, his rationale began to return, as well. Well...that was one way to get an arrow out...it was done and over with, now...he wouldn't have to worry about it any longer.

That was good.

It just would've been nice had he been warned in advance. Though, that was probably the point...

"Ah...some...some humans...the humans that live in the village a ways away," Makyo finally answered as he slowly released his arm, turning to soak it in the stream. A delicate ribbon of blood colored the clear water for a moment, streaming from the wound, but soon it was washed away by the river's gentle current. Makyo closed his eyes for a moment, letting the cold water soothe away the pain. "They...don't care much for, er, my 'kind'."

Opening his eyes, he looked back over his shoulder at the...man? "Thank you, by the way. Ah...sorry for my outburst. I just wasn't expecting that..."

Something was different. If his body hadn't been so damaged, he would have been able to pin-point the change immediately. Sakkata...he could feel an energy that he just instinctively knew was hers flowing within him, flowing freely through him now after suddenly coming to him in a rush, but there was something else...

And then through his exhausted daze it hit him. His magic. He'd released it. When that swell of energy had swept through him, he'd let go. It had been purely accidental, but...it had happened, regardless of how he had clung to it.

And he wasn't holding it now.

And the fatal attack he had been anticipating hadn't come.

There had been no change whatsoever...nothing had happened. If anything, he felt slightly soothed, felt a little less pain.

For a moment, he was frozen with shock, unmoving, not daring to move or even breathe lest that undo what had been done. Or...what had been undone? Or...

He gave himself a slight shake. No, couldn't get his hopes up yet. It might just be temporary, might just be dulled from Sakkata's sheer energy. Whatever the case...he'd find out later, he supposed. He couldn't let himself get swept up in wonder now...there'd be a later. One way or another.

Shakily wiping some of the blood from his chin with the back of his handâ€"no new blood...the bleeding from within seemed to have stopped, since no new blood filled his mouthâ€"he nodded, even though he didn't know that she could see. "I'm...I'm ready...I'm not going anywhere...we'll do this..."

--

<font color=white>Good.</font>

They were going to do this. Unfortunately, Sakkata had never actually preformed this particular ritual before. Sure, she knew how to do it from scrolls and the like, but doing it and reading about it are two different things.

<font color=white>Alright Hatame. For the most part I'll be doing the ritual through you. Only at the end will you have to take over. Just listen to what I tell you, and we'll do fine.</font>

Well, she hoped they'd be fine anyway. As long as nothing went wrong...

<font color=white>First, I'm going to need you to move Torr's corpse and place my body in his blood. Weird, I know. But necissary.</font>

Aw hell, her body was naked wasn't it? If Hatame said ONE WORD about that when she was alive again...
Well, you can guess what would happen then.

--

That was comforting to know, that Sakkata would be the one in charge, for the most part, and that knowledge calmed him slightly. After all...he hadn't the slighest idea what to do. And that last thing he wanted was to screw something up.

The first step was simple enough.

"Alright..." Forcing himself to rise, a task that was a bit easier now that some of the pain had been eased away, he made his way slowly to Torr's corpse, and rather roughly began to heave the mangled body out of the way, leaving a pool of blood behind. It wasn't exactly heavy, with the absense of blood and so many organs, but it was still a bit of an effort in his state. And, besides...it wasn't like he cared to preserve the body's condition, anyway. Torr deserved no such honor.

Setting it aside, and yet keeping it close by in case it was needed later for any reason, he then went to retrieve Sakkata's body. And with her, he was far more gentle, and determined to carry her. It took a little longer to get her there, because of his overall stubborness, but he was eventually able to lay her carefully in the pool of blood, dropping to his knees beside her. "Done."

--

Sakkata's energy waited patiently. When he announced he was finished, Sakkata felt a bit of relief wash into her. First task, done.

Sakkata's body lay limp and degraded in the pool of blood, still missing hair, ears and tail.
That would be a problem.

<font color=white>Alright, I need you to bring my tail over and lay it next to me. And any of my hair you can find, NOT including the piece around your finger.</font>

She was pretty confident all would be renewed when the ritual was over, but she couldn't be entirely sure. Damn it...

<font color=white>Once that's done, all you need to do is...</font>

She realized this would sound very, very strange.

<font color=white>Ah, you're going to have to lay down next to me, in the blood. Just bare with me here Hatame. </font>

--

"And I...was hoping you'd...forget the tail..." Hatame remarked as he rose unsteadily, a weak attempt at humor even in this situation. But he was feeling calmer now. Now that he was actually doing something, now that he had hope that all would be wellâ€"or...at least...mostâ€"he could relax a little. Only a little. Which just meant he wasn't quite as stressed out anymore.

Keeping busy was a good way to settle down frayed nerves.

Gathering up her tail, and whatever else he could find that belonged to her, he raised an eyebrow slightly at the next set of instructions. But that was it. It was odd, true, but...well, if she asked it of him, he'd do it. If it had to be done, he'd do it. Simple as that.

Laying down the collected...ah...items around her, he took a deep breath and slowly, carefully, laid down in the blood. And tried hard not to cringe. It was still slightly warm and...urk...

He was in no was quesy. Usually. But...drinking blood, now laying in blood...

Good Gods, this had to take the cake for the strangest thing he had ever done in his life.

"You owe...me big...for this..." he muttered, though his tone was slightly teasing.

--

Sakkata's disembodied voice laughed, her energy sending a tingling sensation throughout Hatame's sensitive nerves.

<font color=white>Oh shut up. I'm sure you'll never let me forget I owe you, either.</font>

However, Sakkata really held no qualms about paying him back for this. He'd earned it, whatever it was.
Er...well...baring some things...

<font color=white>Ok, this next part is all me. It may feel strange, but just lay still and you'll be fine. Just follow my directions. Near the end, you'll feel my energy leave you, and at that point you'll have to quickly take off the strand of my hair from your finger and put it in the blood.</font>

Right. Ok. Time to get going...
Oh boy, hopefully she hadn't forgotten any of the ritual...

Sakkata's power began to well up in Hatame again, flooding his systems in pure energy. The blood began to heat up around Hatame, to the point where it was actually steaming but not yet boiling.
And then, as if upon it's own accord, the blood began to defy gravity and made it's way up Sakkata's stationary form. In no time at all she was completely covered in the blood, forming a crimson layer over her normally blue skin.

<font color=white>Hold your breath, Hatame.</font>

She warned, just as the steaming hot blood, which was actually not as scalding as one would imagine, began to flow over Hatame as well, soon coming up towards his face to cover it entirely.

--

He cracked a tired grin at her statement. Purely Sakkata. Only she could be so cool and nonchalant in this type of situation...

Listening to her next set of instructions, he nodded in understanding, and forced himself to relax a little moreâ€"which was quite the challenge, considering he was laying in a pool of blood right next to a corpse. Well...that sounded easy enough. This didn't seem quite as complicated as he would have imagined. Of course, the mind did tend to conjure up scenarios that were far worse than the actual truth. That probably had something to do with it.

"Got it..." He quickly placed his hands together, just to be prepared.

And then he felt Sakkata's power well up in him, and the blood began to heat, then steam. A hot spring. Yeah...if he thought of it as a hot spring, and not blood, it wasn't so bad...

And then the blood began to crawl up Sakkata's body, covering her completely. And soon it began to do the same to him. Alright...so the hot spring analogy didn't really work anymore...

Holding perfectly still, he quickly did as he was told, holding his breath and closing his eyes, and trying not to think of what was really covering his face. Instead, he quickly shifted his focus to within, feeling for Sakkata's energy. Once it started to leave, he had to...damn, this was so weird...

--

She hoped this would finish quickly, so that Hatame wouldn't suffocate or something. That would be bad...
The blood was doing more than just covering the two of them up. It was transferring energy, power, and magick to Sakkata's corpse, as well as renewing her body. Good, it was working so far.

Suddenly, Sakkata's tail trashed. It then thrashed again, and again.
Soon, it was wiggling all over the place, overloaded with energy. It was desperately trying to find the stump it once was attatched to, squirming all over the place like a grotesque snake.

<font color=white>If something starts wiggling on you, don't freak out. It's my tail.</font>

Indeed, her rogue tail did thrash Hatame a few times, before finally finding it's place and re-attaching. Even her hair was beginning to squirm, moving to her head and melding back in. The hair on Hatame's finger tugged, trying to get back to Sakkata as well, but the knot holding it did not permit such movement.
Finally, Sakkata's energy began to drain out of Hatame, flowing into the blood and eventually back into her own body.

<font color=white>Now Hatame! </font>

--

Thank Gods Sakkata gave Hatame that warning, otherwise he might have indeed lost the breath he was holding. It was unnerving enough being buried under hot blood. Being thrashed by some squirming object he couldn't see...that was even more so.

You're doing that on purpose, aren't you? he couldn't help but think wryly. He wouldn't put it past her.

All around him, he could feel things moving, an odd feeling indeed. And he, too, was beginning to hope this would be over soon. After all, he couldn't hold his breath forever, and it was by now starting to get uncomfortable...

The hair around his finger began to move, tugging against him...and then came Sakkata's voice again, and at the same time, he suddenly felt it, felt her energy begin to drain. And it was only then that he allowed himself to move, but only to quickly remove the hair and plunge it into the blood, where he released it.

It was almost done...right? Sakkata was almost back...

--

As the final hair hit the blood, a drastic change occured. The crimson liquid bleached into complete white, and for a moment was unbearably hot, then incredibly cold.
And then...
It was gone.

Hatame was free to breath again, no longer coated with crimson. And, as a perk, he would find his body completely renewed.
As Sakkata's was. Hair, ears, tail, everything was as it should be.
Well, except for the fact she was stiff as stone still. There was no evidence of breathing, nor of any real life at all.
None at all...

It was...over?

Hatame found himself shaking uncontrolably, partially from sheer exertion and exhaustion, from using too much magic, for clinging to it stubbornly stillâ€"he couldn't hold on much longer...but for some reason, he just had toâ€"and partially because of what had just happened. What had just happened!? Torr was motionless on the earth, bits of him sprayed along the ground. He had...he'd drunk the blood, heard the tree explode, seen Terri, heard a voice, a very familiar voiceâ€"maybe he was hallucinating; yeah, that was likelyâ€"and then...then something happened.

And now it was so silent.

Except...

The sound of someone weakly speaking his name snapped him out of his shock. Terri. That was why he was still holding into his magic. If he let go now, like his body so wanted to, he didn't know what would happen...he wouldn't be able to do anything...at the very least. She was hurt...Torr'd done something to her...

On wobbly limbs, he managed to half crawl, half stumble over to her, collapsing heavily next to her. He felt so light-headed, blood forming in his mouth that he quickly swallowed down, trying hard to conceal the damage he had taken. And, very vaguely, he could make out Terri's condition. Dammit... "Terri...you're..." He coughed. "You're...Terri, tell me how...how to..." He trailed off, swallowing back blood. Damn! He had the element. He could do it if he just knew how! He had nothing more to lose!

He wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. He could feel his grip slipping.

--

Terri could hardly make out Hatame's outline. Everything was so damn blurry...
She could still feel his magick, feel it triggering the strange curse that tore him up inside.
"Let...it...go..." She whispered, and was forced to take a deep, shudering breath afterward.
Coughs then stole her body, convulsing her chest, and splattering blood onto the dusty earth.

Calmed, Terri knew what was coming. And she had to tell Hatame what to do so her dying would not be for naught.
"Hatame...you have...to bring...Sakkata back..."
Another painful breath. And her blood just kept pouring out, within, and outside of, her body.
"Use the connection...the hair...do a...blood...bond..."
Terri grimaced, teeth bared and coated in her own blood. She had to get it all out in time!!
"Torr's blood...and...yours...have her...power in it...You have to...get that power...back into...her...Blood too..."
Revival spells were so damn complicated to do, let alone explain. Not much time...so little...

<font color=white>Rest now Terri. Rest.</font>

Such a...familiar...voice....
She was fading...
Sakkata....
It was Sakkata...

Terri's life finally extinguished, eyes dulling as the light within went out. And yet her body would not decay. It would stay just as it was, until cremated with intense heat.

<font color=white>Hatame...Did you think I'd die so easily?</font>

There was a hint of amusement in that voice that spoke from within Hatame. From deep within, where his magick lay, and where her magick now lay as well. And the curse that held that magick back was really beginning to tick.her.off!!

<font color=white>I'm going to screw this damn curse all to hell, it's caused enough trouble! Then you can focus on bringing me back, alright?</font>

Good ol' Sakkata...

--

Hatame shook his head slowly, lest the dizziness overwhelm him. Let it go? No, he couldn't...if he did...he couldn't...not yet.

He watched Terri worriedly as she struggled to speak, struggled to breathe, even! Inwardly, he, too, knew what was coming...and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. As usual. All he could do was listen to her as she struggled to speak, and cling to his magic so that he could listen to her. No...not her, too...

Holding onto calm as well as he could, he focused on what he had to do, and absorbed her words...even though he couldn't understand them. Connection...blood bond...but...but how? He'd never done anything like that! He had no idea what she was talking about! Why hadn't she...why hadn't she drank the blood instead!? She knew what to do! And if she had...she wouldn't be...

That same voice filled his mind...and this time he knew it for certain to be Sakkata's. Even though it made absolutely no sense...but, then, nothing did, really. "S-Sakkata...?" Beside him, he could feel Terri lose her battle, her spasms ending...and mixed with the sense of horror and helplessness he felt at that, there was also relief. It wasn't right...it wasn't right for anyone to suffer like that.

After this was over, he'd probably be joining her...he just had to hold on until then.

Wait...what?

"What...? But...Sakkata...how...?" <I>Screw the curse to hell? Yeah...that was definitely Sakkata. And that phrase, if he knew her, usually meant destruction...

Maybe he was hallucinating.

--

Sakkata may be dead, but she hadn't given up. Her spirit was too screwed up to leave this world anyway. Hatame still held a tie to it, and so she was anchored...for now.
Her energy swelled, temporarily swallowing up his magick as well. And in that moment, he was released, set adrift for one fleeting instant in time...

...Before everything came crashing down.

The deceased Drygan's energy poured forth, severing the strange confinement the curse had placed on her indominatable soul. She flooded into his body, heart, and soul in one rush.
Freedom like none other...

Still flowing within him, Sakkata could tell he had taken some heavy damage. She sought to sooth and heal that which she could with her pure energy, before asking him to do what needed to be done.

<font color=white>Alright Hatame, it is only your connection to my soul, via that hair, that is keeping me here. We've got a pretty intense ritual to preform, so I hope you're ready for it. </font>
There was a brief pause.
<font color=white>Don't die on me now, alright? </font>

Hatame landed hard where he was thrown, blood blossoming where Torr's claws and the rocky ground had scored and bruised his body, and for a few moments he lay in a daze. In the shock of the impact, Hatame had nearly lost his hold on his magic, but he clung to it desperately. No matter what...he couldn't let go of it, not until he was through. If he let go now...he wouldn't be able to do any more; the attack that would follow would be debilitating, far worse than any he had ever had...maybe even lethal, and he knew it. He'd never before held his magic in him as long as he was now, never used so much before since the curse. But he had to.

He was doing this for all the right reasons. At least, he thought so.

Vaguely, as he struggled doggedly to rise to his feet again and regain his bearings, he saw with relief that his attack had done some damage...

And that Terri had taken over while he was down.

It all happened so quickly, she was so fast, and for a moment as Terri latched onto Torr and sharp ice coated his body, Hatame thought Terri had him. But then Torr ripped Terri off him...and she landed and...

Oh, fuck, no...Terri!!

"DAMMIT!" Drawing upon his magic, he let it fill him fully, let it rage within him even as pain expanded within him and that familiar copper taste coated his tongue, even as dizziness wanted to floor him, keeping him rooted to the ground in a crouch. He was drawing more than he should, and he knew it...and he knew that the repurcussions would be horrendous. But Torr was so bloody powerful, and...and he had to push himself to the limit and beyond if he even had the slightest hope of doing anything to him! And then, focusing, he sent that magic out toward Torr. Terri had had the right idea...and Hatame would add to it, and he did, combining Earth with Ice, focusing on sending sharp shards of both deep into flesh, and on continuing to coat Torr in the freezing, hard substance.

Torr was strong...there was no doubt about it. Eerily powerful, and even that was a drastic, deadly understatement. But...but everyone needed air, no one could live without it, and Hatame kept that in mind. If he could just cover Torr's face, cover his nose and mouth...maybe...

--

Torr hissed in pain, both burnt by fire and ice. Third degree burns had blossomed where Hatame had touched him, and now bits of his flesh were turning black with decary from frost bite. Sheets of ice had even begun to form on his flesh, numbing it.

A scream of pure rage and excruciating pain errupted from Torr, and it was by far the most unnatural sound one could make. Blood splurted from the strange holes being made in his flesh by Hatame's magick.
Crimson splashed onto the earth, and Torr's pupils dialated with anger.
Ignoring the ice that krept dangerously high on his face, Torr rushed Hatame, and a sudden wave of crushing power errupted from him.
Hatame's magick was repelled with ease, and Torr was practically on top of him, ready to rip him to bits.

In the backdrop, Terri was painfully pulling herself into a sitting position. Her arm had snapped, and her ankle was sprained badly. There would be no more running around for her. But then, she didn't need to in order to stop Torr's attack.
Focusing her power into the earth, she summoned up her magick.
Quite suddenly, knobby roots burst from the ground and twisted around Torr, stoping him in his tracks. Within moments, the 'roots' were manifesting into a full-blown tree, which was quickly encasing Torr's yowling frame.
It would not hold him for long though.

Weak, Terri struggled to stay concious. "Hatame!" A seperate root lashed out, caught Hatame's leg, and pulled him across the leaf-littered ground and away from the constricting tree.
It released him right next to Torr's blood.
"Drink it! You have to drink his blood, and you can steal some of his and Sakkata's power! Quickly, I can't hold the spell!"
She was physically and mentally straining to retain Torr even as the tree caught fire and began to crack open.
"Quickly!!!"

--

It was all Hatame could do to keep his magic flowing into Torr, watching with grim determination as the magic had its effect and praying it would be over soonâ€"though it didn't seem close to concluding. He didn't know how much longer he could keep at this...he'd never held onto his magic this long, ever, and he didn't know how much longer he could as it churned within him, making him sway where he crouched as his muscles burned with the warning of agony to come. How bloody much more could Torr take!? With the burns of fire and frost blackening and rotting his flesh, and with blood spurting from his budding wounds and splashing to the ground as Earth and Ice stabbed him...Gods, but anyone else would have been downed by now from the sheer pain of it all, if nothing else!

The most it seemed to be doing was making Torr even more pissed.

It was surreal. It was sickening. And it downright frightened Hatame, even if rage and despair had kept that emotion well hidden. It was like...it was like the creature was no longer even mortal.

And then Torr charged, and Hatame's magic was repelled like it was nothing. Desperately, he tried to regain control of the flows that had been suddenly repressed, to channel them back at Torr, but Torr's power easily overwhelmed his own, and all he could do was watch him approach...

...Until, at the last moment, Torr was wrapped up in the thick roots that burst abruptly from beneath him, encasing him within the tree that was quickly forming.

Terri! That could only be Terri's doing! Gods, with the way she had landed, he had feared a lot worse for her. She was aliâ€"

He hardly had time to register her voice before somethingâ€"another root?â€"grabbed his leg and pulled him across the ground, landing him right next to the blood that had pooled on the ground. Disoriented, he quickly made to rise, not wanting to let Torr, however contained (for the moment), out of his sight, but Terri's words made him freeze. Eyes widening, he glanced down at the blood again, unable to keep from paling a little. Drink it...well...of course it made sense! Sakkata had explained about it before! And, as a Gryphon, he'd consumed plenty of blood-drenched flesh in his life...that wasn't so much a factorâ€"except that this wasn't blood from a prey animal. This was Torr's blood! The idea was enough to make his stomach churn.

But...it was also Sakkata's blood...the blood that Torr had so savagely spilt to end her young life...

Taking a deep breath and repressing a shiver, he wasted no more time before he closed his eyes and bent to drink it, determined to drink it all without wretching, even though that was the first response the action evoked. Still, he kept it down, and continued to drink the blood as quickly as he could. He could hear the tree cracking...but he didn't let it distract him. There was just no time to allow that.

For Sakkata...

--

Terri was strugling with everything she had to keep Torr contained. Magick whipped about her body, creating small yet painful gashes in her flesh. Sweat poured out of her strained body, every muscle shaking uncontrollably. She was pulling on the deepest reserves of power. She'd have nothing left after this...

Finally, Torr burst free with a terrible roar. Power rocketed into the sky, and Terri was smashed backwards as her connection to the magick was severed abruptly. Rolling to a stop and looking like a torn rag doll, Terri did not move again.
But it was alright...because...he had drank it...

<font color=white>HATAME!!!!</font>

The shout came from with Hatame, pulling from a part of him that was no longer a part of him. Power foreign to him surged forth, burning away all else and filling him with light. There was nothing else.
Just pure, untainted energy.

Torr screamed with rage, blood pouring from his wounds. He rushed Hatame, but would never get closer than five feet from him. The energy rushed from the host gryphon, smashing into Torr with amazing power. The Drygan's chest caved in, and then went even further, organs and ribs exploding from his back as the energy smashed into him like an invisible cannon ball. He stood for a moment that seemed like forever, then crumpled to the earth.
Even with all his stolen powers, that was one wound he could not bounce back from.

<font color=white>Thank you...Hatame...</font>

Terri shivered very slightly on the ground. Blood was leaking from her mouth, it's coppery taste coating her tongue. The world was blurring before her eyes. She had...to tell...Hatame...
"Ha...Hatame..."
Her voice, so weak...please let him hear...it was too important for him not to know...!

Out of the corner of his eye, Hatame saw that Terri had done as he had pleaded for her to do and healed Sakkata's tortured body...and through his anger and despair, some small sense of peace permeated that mass of conflicting emotions and numbness. He didn't know why it was so important to him...but in that moment, that small act seemed as though it meant the world.

One small dignity...it was the least they could offer. She deserved so much more than this...she deserved better...

And then Torr laughed, and his words sent a small chill through him, momentarily slicing through the rampant hatred he felt and refocusing his attention. Damn him...wait. Cremate her? Like hell he woulâ€"!

Hatame hadn't the time to react. A split second later, and Torr was beside Terri and had sent her tumbling with a simple movement of his hand, to land in a daze feet away, and in the next instant, he had grasped Sakkata's corpse and heaved her off the ground. And Hatame didn't need to hear Terri's desperate cries to leap into action. No...there was no way in HELL he would let the bastard touch her! He was NOT taking her! Not again!

Without even thinking, Hatame tackled Torr roughly from behind, aiming to drag him down to the ground and, at the very least, make him lose both his focus and his grip on Sakkata. At the same time, he focused on his magic, focused on fire, focused on sending white-hot tendrils searing against, into, Torr's skin. Torr wanted to burn Sakkata? Two could play that game. Hatame would burn Torr as much as he possibly could, as long as he possibly could!

Fortunately for Hatame, Torr had seemed to ignore Hatame's presence, for he had landed right between he and Terri. And, after all, why would Torr pay him much mind, when he was physically weaker than even Terri and couldn't even weild magic without severe consequence? But none of that mattered; for now, not seeming a threat worked to Hatame's benefit. Well, hopefully.

"TERRI! Get Sakkata out of here!" he shouted, holding on, literally, for dear life.

--

Torr snarled in surprise, thrown slightly off balance by Hatame's sudden tackle. Torr was big though, and strong, and only stumbled a bit from the impact. But one surprise followed another as Torr felt his flesh begin to burn in white-hot flames.
"DAMN!"

Throwing Sakkata's dead body away, Torr reached around to heave Hatame off and away from him. Sharp nails dug into soft flesh as he grabbed the unfortunate man, and with abnormally high strength yanked him free. Torr haphazardly tossed Hatame away, so intent was he on stopping the magickal fire before it did too much damage.
"You will pay for that!!" He roared, bits of his back and waist now charred and painful.

Terri heard Hatame's order, but paid it no heed. She was going to make Torr pay for what he did...SHE WAS GOING TO MAKE HIM PAY!!!
"TORR!!"
She pulled on the very deepest reserves of her power, and it flared around her, from her. She could feel it well up, begging to break free of her body and spill out into the world.
And she would let it, too!

Dashing straight for Torr, Terri moved at an inhuman speed. So fast she was nothing but a blur. However, Torr was faster. In the blink of an eye his clawed hand protruded through the back of her cloak, having gone right through.

Well, right through the cloak anyway.

Terri was unharmed, crouching at Torr's feet, smirking dangerously. Such a simply trick...discard the cloak at the last minute, and that will be what he attacks.
Launching her small frame up, Terri latched onto the large Drygan male much as Hatame had.
"Take this, you BASTARD!!"

Terri's body exploded in white light, and the ground beneath them froze solid. And that was exactly what she was trying to do to Torr, too. Everywhere her flesh touched his, the skin began to freeze, sharp ice crystals rupturing delicate cells. His own immense power stopped him from being frozen solid, but it wouldn't stop frost bite at such a close, surprised range.

Yowling in pain, Torr wrenched Terri free of him, his grabbing hand beginning to freeze as well. Throwing her slight form with all his might, Terri flew in a high arc into the air.
She landed with a sickening crack, and lay still.

"I KNOW she's dead!" Hatame snapped, and that single, last word sent a painful shudder through him. Somehow...it just made everything more real, to actually say it. It made it more final, more...Gods, he didn't know anymore... "I'm not stupid, Terri! But...but...she was...Torr...just look at her! Terri, please, heal her...she deserves at least this ONE small dignity!"

It was irrational, he was being irrational. He knew it, but he didn't care. She was dead...you couldn't bring back the dead...no matter what; no one could, and he knew it. And he didn't mean to try differently. It was done. There was nothing he or anyone else could do. But, for some reason, it just felt really important to him. He couldn't stand to see her like this...no one deserved to go through what she had gone through...no one...

They'd failed her...

He turned his head away so she wouldn't see his own tears, even though his voice easily gave it away. And he only nodded vaguely when she mentioned Torr, though his posture stiffened defiantly. Torr. No...actually, he could think of one person who deserved to go through what she had. And much, much more...

And then came that voice...

"FUCKING BASTARD!" Hatame was on his feet in a second, even as his magic battered him from within as he held onto it, making him sway slightly, blood from his previous attack staining his lips. But rage and pain such as he had never felt before had made him numb to it; all he could think about was Sakkata...and killing Torr. Everything else simply ceased to be...

The only thing that kept him from attacking right then and there was the thought that if he was careless, they would be killed and not Torr. Hatame wasn't worried about dying; he had nothing to lose, especially not anymore. The only thought that worried him was dying without knowing for certain that Torr had, too.

--

She flashed her teeth at Torr, snarling deep in her throat. She would do what Hatame asked! Sakkata would not be put to rest holding the scars of Torr's torture!
Whipping around, Terri scooped Sakkata up and hugged her bloody form close. She rocked lightly with grief, but through the fuzz of despair, she focused her energies on Sakkata's cold and limp body.

Slowly but surely, Sakkata's deadly wounds closed themselves, re-knitting carefully. Her hair did not grow back, nor did her ears or tail. Those were things no magick could bring back, as Terri knew all too well. Her own hair, ears, and tail were cropped, just like Sakkata's now were...
"Damn you Torr..."

Torr simply laughed. "Call me all the names in the world, spit out the worst terms you know. It changes nothing. But I will do one thing in the Chosen's honor. I think I'll cremate her myself."
With that, he was beside Terri in the blink of an eye. Even she had been able to sense his movement, let alone see it.
Blue eyes widening in surprise, she was sent tumbling by a swift and simple backhand from Torr.

Rolling to a stop a good ten feet away, Terri was too dazed to rise at first. "No...H...Hatame! Don't let Torr burn her body!"
It had blinked right into her head. The only true way to put a Drygan to rest was to burn them with the flames from a dragon, their ancient ancestor. Drygan bodies didn't rot, so to bury them was pointless.
That was it! That was it!!
She had to keep Sakkata's body intact!
"Hatame!"
She still couldn't rise enough to try and stop Torr herself.

Torr, on the other hand, had gruffly heaved Sakkata's corpse off the ground by her head, his free hand summoning an intense heat. Power pulsed from his body, and the shear amount of it was scary. Just standing there he put off energy, enough to make into a hundred simple attacks with so much more to spare.
"Goodbye, Sakkata." He hissed, just inches from lighting her body and watching it go up in smoke.

[Thread continued from <a>HERE</a>. Authors, in order of posting: Blue-chan as Terri, Sakkata, and Torr. Rhi-Rhi as Hatame]

It had taken a good day of quick traveling to actually bring the Mountains within range. Terri's durable muscles were burning, but she was not yet exhausted, thankfully. Dropping gracefully from the treetops, she awaited Hatame's approach. He was stuck in human form, and could not travel nearly as fast as she could with her lithe draconic form.

Terri was still carefully hidden within the folds of a dark brown cloak, the hood pulled up to cover her inuman form. From what one could see of her face, she was relatively young, perhaps 17 or 18. However, her skin was pure white. Well, until the sun hit it that is. Once the light touched and bounced off the color, it exploded in a dazzling array of colors that changed as she shifted. The color prism was all there, thanks to the odd properties of her skin. It was rare even among Drygans.
Eyes of ice blue were sharp and wary as she waited for her companion to appear.

Not too much further, and they'd be near Sakkata's still-stationary form...

--

Finally, finally, Terri came into his view, a figure in the distance, and Hatame picked up his pace to sprint the rest of the distance toward her. This whole time, he had been relying solely on their connection to follow herâ€"as she was far faster, and even if she wasn't, there was no way he could see her up in the trees from the groundâ€"and he had actually found the experience useful. It forced him to really concentrate and study how the connection worked, and to interpret what each sensation he got from their connection meant.

Being forced to do something could teach one quite a lot.

Slowing to a stop beside Terri, only then did he allow himself to rest, leaning against a tree to catch his breath and brushing his currently disheveled white hair from his dark-skinned face. Well...at least, his jaw-length bangs were white; the rest of his hair was coal-black and reached midway to his back. Like his companion, he was young, appearing maybe only a year or two older than her.

Under good conditions, and in good health, if he ran at a steady pace, he could go for hours. After all, he was in truth a Gryphon, and retained something of their endurance, even while in a human body. Of course, he wasn't exactly in good health anymore...his curse had sapped that a good deal, making his muscles burn and limbs ache whatever the case, but with Terri's healing, he was in as good a condition as he could get. And what with the current situation...that was incentive enough to keep him moving.

Aside from some breathlessness and achiness, he was hardly fatigued.

"She still hasn't moved, huh...?" he finally commented when he had regained his breath, green eyes looking toward the mountains that were now so close...

--

Terri waited for Hatame to catch his breath, able to feel his aches and pains due to her healing magick and the fact she had used it on him more than once. It was a nifty trick, to be able to search out and find what was wrong with a person by touch. Even more nifty if you had healed them before, because then you didn't need touch.
"I bet Sakkata could break that binding spell if she really tried." She started at length. Not the best thing to bring up, but it bothered her nothing had been done about the painful affliction yet. It zapped so much of his energy away...

With a sigh, Terri looked back towards Sakkata's signal. "No movement at all. I'm really worried Hatame." And it showed in her voice. Sakkata shouldn't have been so still for so long...
Damn it, what had happened to her??
"Are you ready to go yet?"

--

He grimaced slightly when Terri brought up his condition, and made a point to seem not to have heard. It was a touchy subject...and he didn't think Sakkata could break it. Hatame had confided in her about it, before, and the solution she had offered was ending his lifeâ€"which was the one solution he knew of, as well. He didn't know of any other solution...and it didn't seem like she would, either. But who knew? Maybe Terri was right. Maybe.

Not that any of that mattered, now. That wasn't what he was worried about. His sole focus was getting Sakkata back...everything else could wait.

"I'm really worried, too..." Hatame muttered, equally anxious, though he tried hard to reign that emotion in. Freaking out would do Sakkata no good. "But...yeah, let's go..."

Taking a deep breath, he set off again, a little quicker this time despite the pain that wanted to slow him. Try as he might to stay positive, this was really bothering him, and he wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

Please be alright...

--

Terri dashed after Hatame, a growing dread building in her stomach. Now more nervous than ever, she bolted ahead of Hatame, forgetting the earlier incident of getting blasted in the face.
This was just too important for her. So what if she got blasted again, at least she'd know Sakkata was alive and well!

After a few moments of Terri's disappearing from Hatame's view, her signal joined Sakkata's in the distance. It stopped then, and after a moment of silence, a piercing scream split the air.
And it was Terri's scream.

Right in front of her was what was left of Sakkata. Stripped of clothing, Sakkata hung from her ankles by a strip of rough rope which was in turn tied to a tree limb. It was more than likely she had been raped, and there were bruises all over her blue tinted flesh. Her face was battered so badly, and so swollen from it, that she hardly looked like Sakkata anymore. Her hair had been cruelly chopped from her head, and her ears were masses of flesh. Her tail lay in a bloody curl at the base of the tree, no longer attached to her body. Blood was smeared all along her frame, large claw gouges evident.
And her throat and wrists had been slit, now gaping red mouths of the grizzliest kind. She had been violated in every possible way...

Terri stared in horrified shock, legs trembling until finally she collapsed. She...the Chosen...she was dead...dead!!
No...it couldn't be...it just...no...
"Sakkata..."

--

Terri's scream jolted through Hatame, and he picked up his pace, fear coursing through him like wildfire and making the everlasting pain he felt seem non-existant. Thoughts of what could have happened coursed through his mind, despite how he tried to reign them back. He had to stay calm...fight for calm. Panic would help no one...Gods, let them both be alright...let themâ€"

He stopped dead.

The scene he came upon wasn't one that existed in real life. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare, and all Hatame could do was stare blankly, unmoving and unblinking, at the violated figure that bled and hung from the tree limb, numbness coating him, even as a terrible, clenching nausea gripped him. No...that wasn't...it wasn't her. Things like this...they just didn't happen. It just...it wasn't real. He was still unconscious, and this was all a dream. One long, drawn out, horrible nightmare...the worst he'd ever had...

Sakkata wasn't...she just couldn't...

His body seemed to move automatically, as though without him even realizing, as he moved slowly toward the body with unnatural, cold calm, the only thing betraying that calm being the shakiness of his limbs. Standing beneath her, he glanced up at the branch she was tied to, and the only thought that came to mind was that it was too high for him to reach. Alright...

Pain raced through his limbs as he embraced the source of his magic, but it felt so distant. Someone else's pain. A second later, and fire had gnawed away at the rope that suspended her, and he caught her body mechanically as he released his hold on his magic's source, the force of her weight and the force of the magic's attack sending him crumpling. But he seemed not to notice, even as he coughed up blood. Instead, he worked on pulling the remainder of the rope off her, gently supporting her.

"Terri, heal her..." He said it calmly, not even looking up. He had gotten the rope off her, and was removing his overcoat, covering her battered body with it. God damnit...he'd KILL Torr for this... "Terri? God DAMMIT Terri, why aren't you healing her!? I can't heal her! I can't heal! You HAVE to heal her, Terri, I can't! Or just bloody tell me how to! Earth magic, right!? I have Earth magic! Just tell me, and I'll do it!"

Pain scored every inch of his body as he once again reached for his magic, creating a sensation akin to having ones insides shredded. But that agony had nothing to do with the moisture in his eyes, which he stubbornly blinked back. He didn't care...he didn't care if his magic killed him, he'd heal her if Terri wouldn't...somehow...

--

Terri had gone numb inside. There was nothing left. Nothing. One look, one good look at the scene before her had blasted everything away, and it had fallen like shards of broken glass.
There was nothing...

Turning her head painfully slow, Terri watched with clouded eyes as Hatame passed her and moved right up to the tree. What was he...? No...he was using magick...
Her body...it had to be...burned...and...
Terri trembled as she watched, tears finally breaking free and cascading down her face. It just wasn't right!! IT WASN'T RIGHT!!

She shook her head mechanically as Hatame shouted at her. His frustration and despair poured out with his words, and though she opened her mouth, no sound would come forth. Slowly, she crawled toward him and the corpse that was Sakkata.
"I...I can't Hatame." She hissed lightly as she felt him pulling up his magick. "Please...don't. She isn't...she can't be..." Terri clamped her teeth together and hung her head. "She's dead Hatame! Dead!! I can't bring the dead back to life, no matter how hard I try! And neither can you!"
Her head snapped back up and she stared straight at Hatame. "Don't kill yourself Hatame. We...we have to find Torr. We have to make him pay for this!"

"Make me pay? Whatever for?" The cold, cruel voice of Torr came from behind them. Standing calmly upon a tall, craggy rock, the demented Drygan looked down at them. His hair was completely white, and he had a maddened look of power in his eyes.
"Well, here I am, if you really need to 'make me pay'." He smirked, sharp teeth flashing. There were no traces of blood on him, but one knew he had drank Sakkata's blood in order to gain her power.
And just the thought made Terri shudder with fury, her pupils narrowing to tiny slits as energy shot from her small form. Damn him...DAMN HIM!!!