Strange Travellers, This Night. (Ice, Closed)

[Wrathwyrm]

He was a bit beyond conversation right now, but it didn't matter.  The words penetrated, regardless of whether he wanted them or not.  She was a spirit of the dead, wandering the world as per the terrible death trauma he had put upon her, and now she was having her revenge.  He had no plan, no idea of what he was going to do.  He was only grasping at straws, wild mass-guessing, at this stage.  The ghostly woman caught up to him annd taunted him about his weapon.  Why, it was the very knife in question, and it could do nothing against her!  Even as he tried, it either went right through her, or struck her for no damage, as he flailed the thing about, frantically.  Whatever the case, he tossed it at her in frustration and ran harder.

He was moving at full-tilt now, pushing exhaustion for speed in order to get away, and at some point he returned to the path, or some kind of path.  He stayed on to get more uninhibited running in, no longer having to dodge trees.  And in the distance, he saw someoe!  He saw someone in robes with a staff!  A wizard!  Perfect!  He ran, calling out, and...the woods did that stretching effect where you seem to cover very little territory at all, because you're suddenly getting alot more of it.  Way over yonder, Garlock continued walking, sniggering as he did.  The man would reach the intersection again to catch his breath.  Funny thing is...if he looked at the signs now, he would find that ALL of them say Connlaoth now...but all of them were crossed out.

[Ice]

Evil Raven just laughed as she noted how afaide the man before her was. So this is what vengeance truly felt like. This is what total saifaction felt like. She loved this feeling. And of course knowing that this man could not hurt her anymore made this revenge all the better.

She let his uselessly try to harm her. Each time he stabbed at her her form just flickered slightly. It was not painful for her. No it was just funny to watch this human struggling to fight her. She loves playing with her victims.  It made her feel empowered to do this.  Such sweet vengeance this was.

She lifted the tossed knife and  grinned she could use thar. She followed him at a distance as he ran and ran. It excited her to chase after this man. Then as he started to call out to someone in the distance she grinned. It was now time to start hurting this man. So she hurried to catch up with him.

As she got behind him she gave him a shove. She wanted him to land on his face in the dirt. She then lifted the one that he had thrown. " Beg " she growled using his word he had said to her so long ago. She then tried to slash him in the arm with the knife. She wanted to see him bleed now.

[Wrathwyrm]

He got worse than a face full of dirt.  As he fell, his face smacked off of a sign, because he was one of those people who looked at something perplexing and had to go touch it to check if it was real.  So, he actually got a bunch of splinters in there.  As he rolled around to right himself, he found himself staring up at the woman with his blade in her hands.  She told him to beg, but in a fit of irrational anger and stubborn denial of his situation, he refused.

"I'm not begging!  I know what you want!  I'm no- AGH!!"

He was far too wild and uncoordinated to possibly mount a defense or an epic dodge to her slash, and he caught it deep in the arm, blood beginning to spurt already.  He backed away on all fours, shouting out for someone - anyone - to deliver him from his current situation, trying to put some distance between himself and her.  It wasn't likely that someone would appear, right as he was getting quite desperate, but for laughs...someone did.

"What's going on here?  Who disturbs my meditation?"

Garlock appeared now in robes that could have belonged to Obi Wan Kenobi for all we know.  Of course, they were simple wizarding robes with a sash of runes tying them closed.  He just wanted to get the guy's hopes up, by appearing suddenly - his face unseeable under the hood, of course - and putting on a wizened old man voice.  The man got up as he half-crawled to him, gripping him by the shoulders.

"You have to help me!  She's out to kill me, do you understand?!  She's a murderous witch and she wants her revenge on me YOU HAVE TO STOP HER!!"

It was about the time that he stopped having coherent sentences and started frantically shaking Garlock that the magus pretended to have a fatal heart attack and then - to make the situation even more horrifying - melted into a black puddle of goo before his very eyes.  The man's eyes widened with shock and he looked like he was starting to gibber.  At this point, Raven could say 'Boo' next to his ear in the most sensual and alluring voice imaginable, and he would STILL lose his shit.

[Ice]

Evil Raven was having fun with this man. She was even more delited to know that it seemed the cat monster was joining in. She smiled as she watched what the creature was doing now. She smiled as she started to laugh again. She certainly was enjoying this.

As she watched she saw how scared the man was now. It was almost the same terrified look that she had all those years ago. She frowned as that thought entered her mind. It was sad to think of the past. Sad and very upsetting to her. It only made her want to kill the man. Though she wanted to do it slowly.

So she made her way over to the man who was now reduced to muttering mess. This was really pathetic. She grinned moving closer to him. " Roar!" She yelled loudly behind him. She was just happy to hear him screaming at this point.

[Wrathwyrm]

Whether it was that Raven was literally roaring or just saying the word 'Roar', the man was far too jumpy not to react in abject terror.  There was indeed a scream.  You can just imagine it.  It was a proper loud one, too.  Even better, as he jumped away from the source of it, he stepped in the pile of Garlock and slipped, going headfirst into the ground before scrambling, really starting to gibber as he moved to get away.  The only problem was that he was pretty much spent by now, in terms of energy and reserves TO that energy.  Throat dry, lungs burning, limbs straining, balance thrown, and concentration blown.

Raven would be able to pursue him at her leisure.  Even if this were outside of Garlock's influence, he could hardly match him as she was now.  It's just that the cat wanted to have his own fun in this.  The puddle on the ground said he was going to completely wear him down now, and she would see how.  The man would hear some of the trees creaking...and then they'd change...  A few of the trees around him changed into limbs that were ending in a large cat's paw.  It was essentially a scaled-up thing, which now brought out some nasty claws.  His eyes widened, and then he rolled aside as it came down with a heavy impact.  Another one bega to do the same, and another, and another.  He was forced to dodge and avoid with all his remaining strength.  He completely lost all perspective in relation to Raven's position, and Garlock was now herding him back in her direction.  The cat forming by her side spoke up.

"He's on the verge of collapse, but he can't fall asleep.  Go on.  Take your time with him.  He won't even have the strength to run now."

[Ice]

The fact was that she had only shouted the word. She could not actually roar. Though now whispering in scary voices was something that she could do. As well as making things move with her mind and other types of ghostly acts. But none of these thing matter at the moment. All that mattered was that she was enjoying what was taking place here. And having help just made it better.

As he made the cat like paws with claws she grinned. That was actually fun to watch. As the man got closer she smiled even more. The she looked at the cat that was talking to her.

" Okay I'll be sure to do that. You can always join in more if you want. " She stated with a laugh. She then when over to the exsohsted. Man and smiled at him.

She then let her nails become claws. She grinned at him then tried to slash his chest. She didn't want to kill him yet but she did want to hurt him.

[Wrathwyrm]

"Soon, soon.  When it becomes painfully obvious that he's already dead, I think."

And so, as the little cat licked its paws, the trees returned to normal and the man was on the ground, totally exhausted.  As soon as Raven slashed open his chest, he let out a cry of angish, now looking up at her with wild eyes of terror.  He heaved in ragged breaths and exhaled sobbing whimpers, half-lying and half-sitting in a most haggard and worn-out state.  He was completely at her mercy, any defense he could possibly mount too feeble to fend her off.  He had no idea how his world was turning his upside-down, only that he wanted it to stop and didn't know how.

[Ice]

Raven smiled darkly at the cats words. She then focused her attention back on the man before her. Slashing his chest open was the nice thing that she was going to do to this man. She floated above him looking him over as she did so. She knew that he wanted death to come. However she knew that he would soon see that death was only the beginning for him. There were worse thing to fear now.

She slid her cold hands down his side grinning evily at him. Then as she did this a second time she sank her nails in. She wondered how loud he could scream. She also lifted the knife again and stabbed him with it. She laughed softly now. Though she was not sure how else to torture the guy.

So for the moment she just watched him suffer. You see this ghost did a lot of thinking as she did there's things. She wanted to figure out just what hurt him the most. So  She was considering her options at the moment.

[Wrathwyrm]

The man let out screams that were somewhere between anguish and something that sounded like "GERROFFAMEE!!" as his weak limbs failed to make any difference.  Now, he was starting to beg, or possibly pray to any number of gods.  We can't actually tell at the moment.  His cries were getting pretty hoarse, as well.  At this point, our boy is about in the same condition as anyone you were to place in the hands of The Spanish Inquisition for a while.  After a while, it seemed like Raven was unsure of what to do next.  This is where she heard a polite cough next to her.  The man looked up in complete confusion at the appearance of Garlock The Destroyer now.

"In my opinion, it's best to work from the outside-in, from the extremities to the inner portions."

[Ice]

The evil ghost was in deep thought as she watched the man's reaction now. She then shook herself from her thinking as she heard the cough beside her. She looked at garlock with a grin. Maybe she should have thought about that herself. Though one had to note that she was more used to killing her victims then she was used to torturing them.

" Now there's an idea." She said with a grin. She then started with the man's left hand she slowly ripped off his nails making sure to take her time. After she was done with that hand she would do the same thing to his other hand. What she was doing to the man was worse than what he had done to her. Though that did not really bother her much.

[Wrathwyrm]

The evil-eyed magus let her get to her work.  Yes, it was understandable that Raven was not well-versed at being horrible to people.  Not enough practice.  Still, he was feeding that now, and we will see just what that does to her in the end.  The man's voice was a hoarse warble of protest, a pathetic and exhausted struggle against that which he had no energy to resist followed.

"Oh, stop squirming.  It's your fault.  You deserve this.  Oh, who am I?  Nobody important.  Just a bad Samaritan.  Heh heh heh heh heh..."

One thing that Garlock did NOT do was give this man any bowels to evacuate when he came back here.  We don't need that kind of thing spoiling the fun.  Well, sometimes that was amusing, but not so much when you're being as meticulous as Raven was now.  This was one of those Vincent Price moments, like The Abominable Dr. Phibes.  You could have played soothing classical music to this and it would have been totally fine.

[Ice]

Evil Raven kind of paused now as she heard a bit of protest from her better half. She knew that he was her killer but the better half might not be able to cope with doing something this evil. She just meantally told good raven that she would be alright. After all it wasn't like if the situation was reversed that this man would give her any mercy. So why should she show any to him? It seemed to make her otherside behave for the moment.

She then wondered if this cat creature had a plan in mind for her. If he wanted to warp her in to something for his own use. That would be a bit of a hard task for him to do though. The ghost had a very strong will. She was not broken easily.

So after she pulled his nails off she started to cut the man's fingers. She was splitting them down the middle. She wanted to hurt him. Of course that really was not a hard thing to do at the moment.

[Wrathwyrm]

Hah, you wish Garlock was out to turn you over to the dark side.  That would make it so easy to peg him for what he is.  The problem with that was that he had no need for actual minions and servants.  Summoned creatures, maybe, but he wasn't looking for a protege'.  He let Raven go about her merry way, cutting away like Ramsey Bolton, because it was what she wanted.  It was her revenge, her curse upon this man, that he should suffer horribly and that she desired to perform some of the act herself.  It was down to her as to when she'd had enough, and Garlock wasn't even here to teach her any sort of lesson or limits either.  If she felt like tearing through every inch of this man to inflict the fullest agony she wanted, he was perfectly fine with that.

[Ice]

After she was done with cutting his finger. She smirked. Now she would listen to her other side. After all she was starting to get bored. Evil Raven was not one who had too much focus. So she stood and glanced at the cat monster. " You can have him. I'm getting bored. " She stated. She would not mention that her other side was grumping about how she should stop. Sometimes it was better to listen to the half that always kept you from getting killed. After all she knew well that she was nothing without her better half.

[Wrathwyrm]

"Oh?  Well, no matter.  I can do it."

He didn't even have to snap his fingers.  A shadowy puma just came out of nowhere suddenly and jumped him, creating new and fresh panic with much flailing and screaming as it tore and bit at him.  Several more followed, going for the arms and legs exclusively.  While this was going on, Garlock spoke to the spirit.

"You see?  There really was no limit, not in here.  You could have simply gone wild with the claws and he'd still be able to appreciate every inch of it."

So saying, Garlock did up the ante as something blasted up from the ground, throwing the man into the air before the large serpent-like thing with a monstrous multi-eyed cat face chomped down upon the man's airborne body, the crumple-splorch of him being harshly [/i]munched[/i] unmistakable.  The fact that he was not being allowed to pass on mean that he was experiencing every horrible, viceral part of it.

"I trust that this constitutes his just rewards for killing you, now."

[Ice]

The evil ghost watched what the cat creature did as after he spoke. She then looked at him when he said something else. Now this might be the evil side of raven but even she had her liners. And this was the extent. She really just was not in to torture. To her just plain killing was something she liked best.

" Well that may be . I am not quite that creative I guess. " She told the cat thing with a frown. She then looked at him with a slight frown now. " It does." She said then she starred in to his eyes. Her eyes were glowing brightly now.

" Are you going to make me go to the other side?" She now questioned. She knew that she would never fit in with the ones who moved on. She truly felt that she belongs here. And she would not want to have to be forced to leave.

[Wrathwyrm]

Strangely, with all the activity that was now present in Garlock's realm, things were quiet as Raven spoke, strangely calming down.  Once she had looked Garlock in the eyes and asked her question, the Bakeneko's magus form stood in silence...and then everything of his realm vanished in an instant.  They were back, right back in the the very spot that they had met.  All that remained was the magus, as she had seen him when he came to this place.  The only difference was that there was no longer any fog.  Other than that, these were bookends to each other.  Finally, Garlock spoke.

"I am not here to force you to do anything, either side of you.  I am a creature of vengeance, of rage and wrath, with a purpose to destroy that which leaves the dead and dying in such condition.  What you do once the curse is over and satisfaction's met...is entirely up to you.  The man who pinned you down and cut at you while laughing, now has scars upon his very soul which will not remove."

He sighed, then, not sounding his usual self for a moment.

"You could do anything with your existence, stay or go.  I must continue.  My own satisfaction is not met, and I don't know if it can be.  My world was destroyed, long ago, with the life I lived and the place I had...and a good man as my master.  Those times will never return.  I sympathize your situation, Raven.  I feel you would have intrigued him, and for you to be cut away thus disturbs me as much losing him."

This was the way in which Garlock The Destroyer went.  He did not destroy that which he felt closest in understanding to.  He gave them the chance to destroy what they themselves hated.

[Ice]

Evil Raven noted how quiet everything had gotten now. Then they were right back to where they had been before. This was okay with her though. She was about to let her other half get control in a moment. But first she wanted an answer to her question. And she smiled as one was given to her.

She was happy that he was not going to force her to go away. Though as he spoke the smile turned into a strangely understanding look. This half of raven even understood where this cat thing was coming from. Oddly she felt a slight connection with him. Though that could have been because he had helped her get her vengeance. Still she knew thatshe owed him a debt that in her mind she could never repay.

"I do thank you for helping me. However I believe that I have another purpose here. What that is I don't know. I hope that you will find your peace one day. You deserve that. Everyone does. Well most everyone. And if I may say so I now conciseder you one of the few I trust. " She said to him taking a breath.

She then smiled to the cat monster. " I would have been honored to have met your master. " She added . Raven had had a few encounters in her current form. But none were ever long lasting. She knew the dead could not fall in love. Especially when they had a half like evil Raven.

[Wrathwyrm]

Many a time, when reaping vengeance for the lost, Garlock felt just a little better inside when they themselves had some peace.  He was such a finicky creature, though.  He could bring back the restless dead, but never could he do the same with Zan, not even for a moment.  He did not know why, since the pets and familiars of his master's shop had been brought about for revenge, but not he.  Perhaps it was so quick and without warning...  For that much, he was at least fortunate.  Yet sometimes Garlock considered necromancy and other spells of spirit-calling to speak to him.  Somehow, it felt wrong.  Maybe one day when he felt less anger towards the world.  Zan might not like 'Garlock The Destroyer'.

"I have one request, Raven.  My master, Zan, still had living family, last I checked.  I've yet to see them in my wanderings, for I do not know where they live.  But should you meet a Goldswith, treat them with respect."

[Ice]

As he spoke he might be able to see that evil Raven was taking her leave. She had done her part there was no need to be around anymore. So as she stood there raven got a much light kinder look to her. She then look at the cat monster who had helped her. She then nodded to his words.

" I will keep that in mind. If I should ever meet them I will respect them. " She told him. This was a promise on her behalf. She would never go back on her word.