Strange Travellers, This Night. (Ice, Closed)

[Wrathwyrm]

There was a certain frightening aspect about forests in general, given the right timing.  For instance, this was pretty typical a night for ghostly travels.  The moon was high and full on a crisp, clear night.  There was little noise in the woods right now.  Also, there was a light fog along the ground, but that much seems to have been...provided for, rather than being damp enough in atmosphere to provide it.  Yes, it would seem that someone was making this area creepier than it was, as though that were the goal.  Perhaps you would do well to confront the fellow waving his hand over the ground in a circular motion, since that is apparently where the fog is coming from.

The figure himself?  Well, he appeared to be in some midnight-blue magely robes, offset by a face-obscuring helmet, torso armor, shoulder pads, boots, and gauntles all cast in black.  You really couldn't see his face, even though the helmet would normally permit it, just those two red eyes of his.  The right hand appeared to be creating fog via some element casting, while in the other hand...there was a chicken leg, a cooked drumstick.  Looks like he'd prepared to be here a while, so either he was out to spook some folks or...creating the right atmosphere for spooks himself.

[Ice]

The night was her company right now. She found comfort in the darkness and shadows. Of course all beings like her enjoyed the darkness. It hid them from the rest of the world. From the ones who hurt them and hunted them. Of course for this traveler these woods were her home. At least they used to be. Now it was more like a prison then anything else. The undead always wanted to be free. To either live or die. Because being in-between worlds was a curse to them. At least to her it was.

She stood there silently staring at the strange fog that seemed to gather in her forest. She could feel that it was magic that made this. She hated magic for one reason. It could hurt her. She moved through the woods wondering who was out here on this night. Then she blinked as she saw a creature before her.

He was not really that far away from her. She looked him over trying to see if he was friendly. To most she would be invisible. Except for her glowing blue eyes. She chose to let the odd creature notice her before she would speak. That way she could see what his intentions were.

[Wrathwyrm]

The detection of a ghost is a tricky thing to manage, at times.  They don't make a sound OR an appearance if they don't want to, so you can't rely on that.  They don't produce a smell and many cannot even be touched, so forget about that too.  Taste is out, obviously, so what have you got left?  Only the sixth sense, if you've got any tuned to those who are no longer living.  Ghost and spirits have an energy about them.  They exist, and generally their form is held together by some kind of energy.  One way or another, they maintain a presence, and it by blatently sensing them that they are found...unless you're lucky.

This peculiar magus with the drumstick was making fog pretty much to draw attention to himself, see who became curious about him.  He could've been there for a while, but he had a sense for the ailing dead.  He could feel that presence as it came closer.  It was when it seemed to stop that he became more interested.  It meant that - far from this being some unthinking entity - he'd attracted the attention of one with some intelligence.  Good.  Those were the best.  He took a bite from his chickenn leg - half done - and decided on his approach.  After a moment of this, he turned around, seeing the eyes.  They glowed blue to his devious reds.  His sense of the unnatural dead and souls thrust too soon to the afterife began to fill in more details.

Pity that he didn't leave a ghost behind, himself.  Zan might've liked this one.

He could see an outline of the ghostly aether, even while the form preferred to remain hidden.  And while he was not a normal being, he had been the friend and trusted companion of one for years.  What they had here was the ghost of a woman that might've caught his eye, had they both lived.  Oh well.  Down to business.  These ghosts won't avenge themselves...at least, not always.  The magus now spoke.

"Good evening, spirit.  I am Garlock The Destroyer.  I bring curses and damnation upon the deserving.  You are bound to this world while having passed on.  I suspect you might want to change that at some point."

She would be able to tell that he was...not a simple magus, either not human or not natural or something else.  It would be a feeling that she would pick on from her own unearthly senses as a ghost.  Perhaps...perhaps he could actually deliver, as stated.

[Ice]

The ghostly woman just stared at the other being with interest. She knew that there were some who could feel her presence. That made those particular people very dangerous to her. And right now she still was unaware of his intentions. She just knew that he was in her forest for some reason or another. She intends to find out why.

As she was staring at him she noted that he had an odd feeling about him. Almost a dark presence.  He definitely might not have been human. Then he turned looking at her glowing blue eyes with his red ones. She stared silently back. She was not afaid enough to run away from him. At least not yet. Instead she found herself being curious about the odd being.

As he was looking at her she had to wonder what was on his mind. Now the ghost had had a few people who thought that she was pretty.  But now that she was dead  love was never on her mind. Only fear and hate if her darker self came out. Otherwise it was just uncertainty and curiouity .

As he spoke she listened to him. He wanted to get revenge on her killer. She had not seen that creature in a while. She thought that was dead by now.  And she would tell this creature just that. " It is nice to meet you garlock . I am raven. I do want revenge on my killer but I don't think he would be alive after such a long time. I have pretty much given up hope on ever finding him." She told the creature now. She was not sure what else she could say. So she told him the truth.

[Wrathwyrm]

He was finishing off the leg while she spoke, and managed to snigger fiendishly once she was done.

"I call forth the dead, if they've had some sort of a dark past, especially one that has suffered or deserves suffering.  I can give the dead license to bodies to wreak their revenge.  What do I care if the one is dead?  No one is safe..."

Yes...  Safe was gone a long time ago.  It packed its bags with a 'NOPE!' and took off.  No, it didn't matter to Garlock what it took to do the things he did.  He felt vindicated himself, and he gained power from it.  That was what was important.  He tossed away the chicken bone now.

"Tell me, Raven...  If you found a person could deliver the one, or could strongarm someone else with his power to do the deed, would you do it?"

[Ice]

Now what he was telling her made Raven blink a bit. So he was some sort of creature of vengeance? That was a bit strange for the once human girl to find out. Though that was not to say that she did not believe him. Oh no she had learned that there were many strange and scary things in this world. The creature before her was both of those things. At least to her he was.

She looked at him as she contemplated what he told her now revenge would be very very sweet. At least to her evil half. However the side of her that was out now knew one thing. This would come at a cost. One that she might not be willing to pay. After all everyone always wanted something in return for helping someone.

" If I said I would what would you want in return? Everyone wants to have some kind of payment for helping others. Nothing is ever free." She stated to him. The tone of her voice would tell this creature that she was not very trusting of others. It was the kind of tone one used when they had been too trusting of others. When they had been betrayed too many times before. 

[Wrathwyrm]

Usually, Garlock didn't have to negotiate anything with damned souls and spirits of the dead.  They tended to pretty much just go with it.  Raven appeared to be a little more cautious.  Well, no matter.  What could it harm to tell her?  She was hardly one to suffer the consequences, after all.  The strange magus crossed his arms as he answered her.

"I get it in the process of doing the deed.  Something of the agony and the anguish, between the afflicted and the intended victim lies a release of energy which I draw upon.  All suffering gives me strength.  Fulfillment of revenge increases my strength, permanently."

So basically, he benefitted from fulfilling her curse upon the one who brought her to this point.  That just left one very important question for Raven to consider: Did it matter at all to her if this strange one gained power from the event?

[Ice]

Raven seemed to just frown as he spoke. So this monster wanted to help her in order to become more powerful. Now while she did not usually care about how powerful one was she did have to ponder one thing. Did he intend to wipe out all the world with his power? Or was this being just wanting to become stronger for another reason? Either way it really did not make a difference to her.

She looked at him for a second after he spoke. Then she made herself appear slowly before him. She figured now was a good time to show herself to him. " Well that would be a good reason then.  If you really think that you can help me then I'll let you do so. " She told him now.

She then moved her hand up to her chest while she was watching him. As she crossed her arms he would see the blood dripping from her wrists. Even in death her wounds never healed though they did not cause her pain anymore . It was yet another curse that she had now.

[Wrathwyrm]

"Very well.  Let us begin."

What Raven saw next was only for those who required vengeance would see: The True Garlock.  He did not let others - those who would use such information about him against him - see this, but it becomes necessary in the case of the dead and the damned.  They are a part of it now.  They enter into an agreement with the creature concealed, the cat who walks like a man.  Garlock reached up and slowly lifted his helmet...

...but as soon as he did, everything changed.  Oh, there was still a forest here, but it was cast in different shadow, or possibly made of shadow.  The moon was red, the sky had no stars, and there was no longer any fog.  Raven would feel transported, taken from the place they had been...to a very near place that was Garlock's domain.  She could not sense him in that armor.  In fact, the robes and the armor were empty now, frozen in place with the helmet lifted.  She would sense him...all around her.  However, a sleek black cat with his eyes would appear upon a tree branch.

"My power comes from pain, from hearing and feeling the woes and suffering of others.  My curse entraps the individual within a hell of their own making, from the things I have learned from the a'grieved."

Another cat - identical in appearance - came to exist at her feet.

"Someone ended your life and left you in this limbo state of being, forced to wander the world and never know respite.  No matter where he is, living or dead, my curse will find him...because your story will lead me to him, like a pungent odor that cannot be missed."

And then, with a deep rumble, a cat that must've been ten feet tall at least appeared not too far from her.  It was - every bit of it - Garlock.  It was hard to say if she knew what she was, if she had heard of one, but there was a certain myth about cats who curse the living with the troubles of the dead.  The big one's eyes glared at her.

"If you tell me the Truth, the Form, and the Regret of that which brought about your woes, I will be drawn unerringly towards it, or it towards me.  That is how it works.  Since you are more composed than most spirits and are not wailing your laments without prompt or request, I will ask: Will you tell me your story now, Raven?"

[Ice]

The event that started happening after he spoke made  raven feel very nervous to say the least. She shifted a bit wondering what she was getting herself into now. She did not understand exactly what was going on here. Though she did know one thing. She did not want to do something to upset this.... Cat thing. She now really was not certain what to think of him as.

She noted that either he was mutiple errr.... Cats or he did some kind of illusion magic. Either way it was very very strange to her. She was quite as she floated there listing to him as he was talking to her.  From what he was telling her it sounded like he had so scary powers. And he got stronger as he used them.  That was a good thing to keep in mind.

As the largest cat stared down at her she looked up at it. She had never heard of beings like this one. Though raven had always been alone. There was never anyone near her to tell her about different beings. She had to figure it all out on her own. That was never an easy tasks. And neither was what he was now asking her to do.

Her story had always been painful for her to tell. And it always made her darker side want to come out. She wondered if he knew about that half. Well most didn't believe her when she told them anyhow. She chose to warn him anyhow.

" Yes I will tell you. But I think you she know something. My death has caused me great pain. It has created a part of me that is evil. A part that that doesn't like anyone. She comes out when I tell my story." She said trying to let him know in case she came out. Though even evil Raven was not dumb enough to do anything stupid to this creature.

[Wrathwyrm]

The uneasy sensation from Raven was felt like ripples in a pond to Garlock.  It was understandable.  He had shown her his true form, the feline monstrosity that preys upon dark emotion and crushes those of whom it finds wanting.  Even without taking on a particularly horrifying shape, merely that of a large cat, it could be very intimidating.  As she spoke her warning, Garlock's two tails would flick into view, here and there.  There was no sign, beyond this, of his attention to her words.  Regardless, he was not ignoring it.  Merely...considering.  Her evil side would crave blood even more.  He preferred to deal with beings like that.  They did not waver when it came time for the punishment of the intended victim.

"I do not do this thing to be liked.  My actions are both good and evil.  Where some will rejoice, others will cry out with loss.  This is merely a form of closure where there would otherwise be none.  Even those rife with darkness and evil will see the sense of it."

As the big cat spoke, the small cats were play-fighting off to the side.  It was strangely mute.

"Your evil side will awaken and I will see to her as needed.  The question is not whether I will be able to handle her, but whether you will.  She is part of you, and you a part of her.  No matter what happens in regard to your past, you will have to reconcile with this other you at some point.  That is how it is."

He then became silent, waiting for the Truth - the event that occurred - the Form - the person or persons that created the event - and the Regret - the lament that keeps her in pain - to be told.

[Ice]

The ghostly woman was just watching the cat monster as she finished speaking. She noted his two tails now. It was an odd thing to note but she didn't say anything. After all she had seen worse.  As she listened to him she saw the other two cats playing. That too was odd but she had other thing to worry about . Like how to control evil Raven.

" Well what you say dose make sense. I'll try to keep her in line. I can't make any garuntees though." She then took a deep breath as she prepared to tell her story to him.

She looked at him now . She told him how she had once been a innceont young girl who had lost her parents. How she lived in these woods. How one night a man came and attacked her.  She did not know his name or why he chose her.How the man tortured her and laughed the whole time. How she begged for him to stop.  How He not only took her life but took away her inncence. It was that last part that really hurt her more then being killed.

As she told him all of this her voice got darker and darker. The other half was coming out.though she remained deathly quite after the tale was told. Almost as if she expected him to leave. Though if he was what he claimed to be then he wouldn't. Though this raven knew that no one ever cared about the dead.

[Wrathwyrm]

This was necessary.  To tie the proverbial noose around the man's neck, to ensnare him for his fate, his story would have to be known.  His name was not known, but it did not matter.  The physical description of the man, the things that he had done, and the suffering that Raven was left with was more than enough to lock him into Garlock's ethereal sight.  He noticed, all during her tale, that she had grown darker in speech, considerably more angry.  They were actually much alike, in a way.  It may seem like something of a stereotype, but he definitely sympathized with the woman, as she had twisted through these terrible circumstances, much the same way he had when he lost his owner.

Garlock's eyes had narrowed and perhaps the main cat body had tensed as Raven spoke of her being tortured to death.  There might've been a sound, like teeth gritting, and the playing cats were now actively tearing chunks out of each other.  He remained silent for a moment, even after the cat skeletons had stopped moving and faded away.  The terror was genuine.  The suffering was extreme.  It made him angry.  True, he himself did things to people and did not care about some of the results, but this was obscene.  Now...the cat drew its eyes shut...and it focused.  In what direction did the feeling go?  What path did the man take from his place of torture?  His answer did not take long, for the sensation that came about was the cold of the afterlife, of lives lost and souls passed.

The less-cordial side of Raven would hear a brief snicker as the cat's eyes opened again.

"As you say, he is dead.  I felt the cold touch of his demise.  However, as I said, this is but a minor irritant.  I call forth the dead, as is.  There is no reason why one of them cannot suffer my wrath."

He stood, and stretched, then drew his head low to meet the eyes of the ghostly woman.

"With your permission, I will draw him here.  Whatever the afterlife holds for him, shall we not scar him for eternity?"

Whatever the darker side of Raven was thinking, Garlock seemed rather keen to go on with it.  Their surroundings were beginning to look a little more 'real', but she could still tell it was his realm.  He was preparing something already.

[Ice]

The darker half of the ghostly woman now stood before the cat monster. Unlike her other half she didn't feel afraid of him. No she only felt a dark burning hate. Hate that had been growing for over two years. However. She did not do as she normally would have. She did not make a move to do another harmful. Instead she just stood there with a dark look on her face. she wanted to see what was going to happen now.

She noted that as she was talking the cats seemed to get more aggressive towards each other. That did not make a difference to her though. Now he knew her story. Now he knew why she was the way that she was. But she knew one thing. He likely only wanted to know for his own gain. Though as long as he killer pause for his actions she didn't really care.

Though there was one thing that did bother this evil being. If she got her revenge she might disappear. Though what she did not tell him was that since her death all living being were on her hit list. She wanted everyone to suffer. But she could not do that if she moved on to the other side. She however knew not to voice such a though to this creature.

" Indeed I figured he was. Yes I would like have him tortured. I want it to hurt him as bad as he hurt me. Unlike my other half I am not kind of forgiving. Forgiveness is for the weak." She stated coldly. It would be obvious that she meant every word that she said. Though she seemed to not say rather she would want to do it herself. She was giving him the option to choose rather he wanted her to help or not.

[Wrathwyrm]

The woods surrounding them was now indestinguishable from the one they had come from.  A large, cat-like smile appeared on the big cat's face as he began to vanish from the bottom up.

"Then, let us begin."

The eyes were the last to dissappear.  Rather, they shut, and the shape that occupied the robes and armor was back again.  Now, however, she could see that there was a humanoid cat in that ensemble, not a human.  Garlock's arms spread out, hands set in a claw-like fashion, pointing up.  Ethereal forces expanded from his hands in a quiet shimmer and a low thrum.  Everything around them rippled and there was an echo of long-dead voices.  Garlock was calling the dead, and the dead would answer because he had the right words to snag the one he wanted.  He directed it to a point in the distance, a figure standing there, disoriented as he seemed to have command of a body again.  He would appear as he did back then, as the formation of the spirit would be manifold to the time of the event.  Garlock lowered his hands.

"He will overcome his disorientation, wonder what happened to him, feel a sense of deja vu and confusion, and then attempt to leave.  It will take him some time to realize that he cannot, that the woods wraps around itself.  If you wish to haunt and torment him, lash out and beat him, allow him be lost for a while, first.  It is best then they are confused and vulnerable.  I will be doing some of my own, regardless."

So saying, a frigging Puma appeared at his side, producing a snarl that would echo threateningly.  While Raven tormented the man in her own way, he would push things along with a good old-fashioned stalk.

[Ice]

The evil ghost just watched the cat thing as he changed again. She was wonder just how many cat like forms he had. Though she supposed that such things did not matter much. All that mattered was that her killer would pay. And she would at least be able to watch. Even that was such sweet satisfaction for the ghostly woman.

As he summons the dead she frowned. Being dead she often her the sounds of other trapped souls. Though this was a bit different from that. Some of these souls had moved on. That made her growl some. He really was as powerful as he claimed. That was kind of scary to this half. And rather interesting as well.

She looked at him as he spoke. She could see the point of what he was talking about. Besides it was better to savor the torment that was to come. " That makes sense. It will give my time to enjoy this. I'll let you make the first move. I wish to see how you torment those who you seek revenge on. That is if you don't mind." She told him with a slight grin.

And so she didn't make a move just yet. He might not that she enjoyed watching suffering more then doing it. Perhaps that came from knowing how horrible it could be. Even when it comes to her killer.

[Wrathwyrm]

"I don't mind.  Not at all."

He waves his hand slowly and a transparent veil came to surround them.  They could see through it, but as Garlock soon explained, it was an illusion of the realm, rendering them unseen.  The puma wandered off behind a tree, vanishing from sight and allowing the scene to unfold...

The man shook his head, becoming more aware of his surroundings.  He was in...a woods?  Yes.  Nothing but trees as far as the eye could see.  Well, he was on a path, of course.  He wasn't sure what happened or where he'd been going, just then.  He looked back and forth along the path, as if uncertain.  Where was he going?

"Home, perhaps."

Yes, that sounded right.  Whatever it was he'd been doing, he could go home and try to recall, to figure out wherein lay the lapse of his judgement.  And so, he proceeded down the path.  Now...to Garlock and Raven, he would vanish at one edge of his territory and appear at another, but to him...he was seamless, continuous.  He saw and felt no transition point.  It was to become an endless night...  At about the time he would appear to be growing impatient, hurrying along and beginning to wonder if he path would ever end, Garlock introduced the intersection.  It was actually something he'd seen at another woods, listing directions to the towns of different countries.  Perhaps in the modern-day future, something like this would be amusingly placed inside of a mobile army camp for treating wounded soldiers.  Ah, but that is another story, and of no relation to this one.  The intersection had the desired effect: Confusion.

"I don't remember this being here.  Ah well.  Connlaoth is home.  Connlaoth, I go."

He turned left, and went down the path.  Soon, he became aware, aware of something moving parallel to him in the woods.  It was dark, stalking quietly, but it was just barely audible to him.  This, Garlock did by design.  The act instilled uneasy, a sense of urgency and concern.  Was it dangerous?  Why did it follow him?  He began to quicken his pace.  Doing so got a similar reaction, and a snarl.  Oh, that was bad...  An animal was stalking him, and it sounded predatory.  Shit...  He moved faster.  The creature loped in the woods, becoming closer, yet remaining somewhat indistinct.  It was approaching the path.  He got off of it, having spotted a tree with low enough branches to climb.  He could defend himself up there, make a stand.  He leapt and began climbing, the sound of the critter much closer, making him look back for a second to see where it was.  Nothing?  Suddenly, there was a roar in his face as the puma was right there to knock him off of the tree!

They fell in a mass of man and furry beast, screams and snarls meshing as he furiously and mindlessly fought in a panic...and then there was nothing there.  No beast!  No tree that he'd been trying to climb!  Only the cuts and bruises that he'd received - nothing deep, just yet - and the shocked sensation of having been in such a battle...and then finding that he was back at the intersection, where he thought perhaps the sign was at the wrong corner and that it pointed Connlaoth in a different direction entirely.  Clearly shaken, he began to move in that direction.  This time, however, he would find an area that might seem familiar to him.  Not because it was any place in particular, but in his deja vu, he would feel that he's been at this grouping of trees before.  While he was trying to calm down and get his bearings - because the path had ended and he unsure of himself just now - Garlock turned to Raven.

"I would be pleased if you would join in and remind him of what happened here, compound his fears.  You can see the borders while he cannot.  He will know his place and be hunted.  We will exhaust him, wear him down, and then he will be more at our mercy than before.  He will know the terrible helplessness of being overpowered and torn apart.  And when he understands that we have taken him from the deadlands to hurt, there the torment will truly begin."

[Ice]

The ghostly woman just smiled as she watched the events unfold before her. It was rather interesting to watch someone that she hated go through what the man was going through. And it made her feel kind of saified . Of course she did know that hurting him herself would be more satisfying.

She smiled as he gave an uneasy look as he knew that he was being stalked . That made her smile even more. She then grinned as the puma attacked the man. Of course that would holy be the very beginning of what was to come for the man.

She then turned to the cat thing as he spoke to her now. She gave a dark evil smile to him. " In that case I would love to do just that. Making him suffer would be a pleasure for me." She to the cat thing with a laugh.

She then disappeared from sight. She moved to where she was in front of the man. She then made herself visable once again. " Hello  my killer. I know that you remember me." She said to him. She them moved around to where she was behind the man. " Because I can never forget ." She stated her voice was much darker and more evil then it was before.
" Run." She said . And then she laughed a dark evil laugh. She was one who tormented both mentally and physically.

[Wrathwyrm]

Oh, she was surely a treat.  Garlock loved it when the spirits were inclined to help.  The satisfaction grew, and he knew that they were getting just what they desired: Closure.  As Raven hovered off, the Bakeneko was heard to chuckle echoingly.  It was indeed heard all over.  Even the man would hear it, his attention being on a particular tree, one which had grown bloody as he watched it.  Memories of a particular night, slashing and stabbing at sunset - of a beautiful woman begging him to stop as the knife worked its way around - began to come to the forefront.  He would begin to recall as Raven appeared nearby.  As she spoke, his eyes widened before he even turned to face her.  When he did, the fear in his eyes was absolutely precious.

"Oh no...  You?!  No, NO!  This isn't possible!"

His mind rejected, partially irrational at this point, but a part of him shouting quite loudly in his head that he couldn't be here.  He never came back.  He never came back to this path again.  Not ever.  How did he get here?  What was he doing here?  Did she do this?  How? HOW?  It didn't make any sense, and he didn't have time to make sense of it.  She said run, and began to laugh cruelly.  He didn't have to have much of an imagination to know what would happen next.  She was a willowy ghost avenging her death.  This was going to be very big on the pain.  Garlock followed invisibly as the man ran, watching as he sped through the woods - Raven had cut him off from the path - and seeing him pull out a knife.  A knife!  Hah!  What was that going to do?  Neither one of them was vulnerable to the thing.  Oh well.  He let Raven go on her merry way now.  He would only interfere to add terror, not to overshadow her.  At least, not before the finale...

[Ice]

The evil ghost just grinned at the look of fear that the man had on his face. Of course she knew that he didn't want to believe that she was here before him. Most creatures did not know how angry the dead could get when one tortured them before they died. Though she did know that he would soon feel the torture that she had felt so long ago.

" It's very possible. You made me what I am. And now you're going to feel my pain." She told him. As he took off she disappeared. She moved to go and make him think that she was not going to let him go. Though he never would have escaped anyhow. Garlock had told her that the man was trapped here. At least untill they were done with him.

Once again she made herself visable to the man. She looked at the knife in his hand. " Your toy is useless" she stated. She then moved closer. So close that she was almost touching him. " Try to kill me again. I dare you" she growled at him. The anger in her voice was very clear. She stared at the man. She the lift a hand and when to slap him with her nails.