The wetness of raindrops, the dirt and the stone. Akin to earthworms wriggling in the rain when their tunnels are flooded she squirmed before awakening. As if having had nightmares the wolf human sprung up on two feet.
Ric Halcon felt more like a drowning beggar than anything else and booze to push everything away had not been present for some time now.
Shambling like a corpse the mage gathered her bearings while observing a significant amount of blood, and guts lying about. What had transpired? Sniffing around she figured it was a deer or some kind of four legged herbivore.
The wind tore at her skin and had an easy time making its way past clothes like her torn brown wool robes and an abused peasant tunic.
Her body marched on with a fast pace egged on by the fact that no prey was nearby. She felt some form of refreshing energy building within from having eaten something before going to sleep but it was faint and she would need more, preferably with some regularity.
Unfortunately with the rain being so thick and the wind brewing up for a storm, shelter from the weather quickly became the next step in the journey.
Caves naturally inhabited this mountainous landmass and she had spent time in some of them on the way to the top already.
With those glimmering wolf eyes it was easy to spot a multitude of tracks. Many an animal had taken refuge inside this large gaping maw of a cave to hide from this storm and she could smell the majority where close.
A n aura of fear resided over the area, there was even the feint scent of sulfur and brimstone that means dragon or other volcanic beasts. Probably not something to worry about for now, might just have been a temporary visit months ago.
IT was not long before a mother mountain bear with her two cubs tried to defend themselves and died. Digging into the flesh and fur she began her feast.
Centurion rested in his den, snoring lightly and his markings barely glowing. He eventually roused himself and slowly slid his way out of the earth. Something new was out here. He could smell it. The monster leaped into the nearest tree, burnt and black as it was. He began to move towards this new scent in this manner.
Eventually, Centurion came to a cave with a wierd girl in front of it. He smiled, fangs glistening slightly as his markings glowed once before his body melted into shadows. He slid along the stone wall in shadowform, eyes faintly glowing and partially closed to prevent discovery. The girl was distracted by the food she was eating. Centurion faded back into a physical form and swung his scythe-like tail blade at the girl, hoping she wouldn't see or hear it coming and dodge it.
When the scythe almost hit its target a clash of bone and metal ran deep within the cave. The ribcage of her recent prey had been ripped out, intercepted and parried the blade so it would hit the ground rather than her back.
Ric might not have paid heed to the enemy that now silently sneaked about her and aimed with intent to kill but her passenger did. The darkness inside her chuckled, its voice echoing along the cave to search for life in the physical plane of existence surrounding the mage.
"Who interrupts my breakfast?" She ate another slice of meat, wary of her surroundings now.
Centurion growled and wrenched his tail free. "One who wishes to keep his territory to himself." He hissed, a slight clicking sound underlying each syllable. An ominous shiiiiick echoed through the cave as his claws unsheathed. "It's been a while since I've last hunted... I suppose you'll do." He said, the everpresent clicking of his speech punctuating every syllable he spoke. He took a few steps forward on all fours, revealing himself just before he swung with his claws.
"Wha." A shiver went down her spine when Ric saw a monstrosity present itself with claws poaching forward akin that of a large insect. Her clothes got torn further but a set of black tentacles pulled at her from behind so as to pull her out of range for now.
"Whatever god spawns your kind?" Her voice had a chilled tone as if the entire situation was mundane and uninteresting, like two strangers forced to stand together making small talks.
Spreading her hands she willed magic circles of power to take shape In front of her. The green energy lit up the area while gathering metal from the earth that would eventually be used to build two walls of teardrop shaped metal arrows came to existence.
"I suggest smaller prey."
They then scattered with no direction, with the only truly safe spot being where she currently stood, not taking any chances the woman grabbed at the earth and a large circle took shape. Akin to Arthur the king of knights she dragged out of it her staff.
A large black metal pole shaped like a candle stand, except there existed no candles on it, only sharpened spikes.
"it's less hazardous for your health."
Centurion dodged the metal... For the most part. One of them sliced into his shoulder and he let out a roar, akin to flint on granite. His green blood splattered the cave floor and he cowered close to the ground. "You little..." He let out another hiss of pain before jumping into the air, swinging his scythe-tail at the girl again.
In a clash of staff and scythe, the two where now locked in a stalemate where only the tip of his scythe had nicked her shoulder yet no blood had been drawn, instead a black fluid kept her blood from being spilled.
"Do you even have a purpose other than eating and sleeping? Who do you serve?"
It was only now that the circle she had drawn the staff from began pulsating oddly and growing outwards. Eyes, within the darkness of the expanding circle a thousand of hungry glowing eyes.
"I serve nobody." Centurion hissed and wrapped his tail around the staff, holding it in place. His claws swung forward, attempting to gut her... Or at least tear her clothes off so she would leave due to embarressment. Blood poured out of his shoulder, staining the rock beneath him a luminescent green.
"How fortunate, Then why do you still reside in this realm."
Because of a sudden drop in killing intent the scythe instantly passed through all defences, like a butter knife she could hear the blade cut through layers of poorly maintained clothing and instantly her movements dulled.
Clenching her teeth and shivering in the naked cold the she wolf growled. "Why? Did you suddenly loose appetite?."
She widened her stance and began a series of rage filled stabs with her staff, telegraphed life threathening blows making it easy to read but risky to counterattack "Don't you want my succulent meat!!!"
Centurion tightened his tail's grip on the staff, barely keeping it at bay. "I was hoping you would at least leave after that, but I guess my assumption was wrong!" He hissed, ducking under the staff and thrusting his arm forward, intending to impale the girl.
"leave? NAKED?"
The claws came and her staff was thrown to the winds, it was a standard bait waiting to happen.
Corner someone who believes they are strong and the first thing coming out of them is usually very straightforward.
Had his hand been smaller she could have easily thrown the creature but that was not the chase.
"NOT WITHOUT NEW CLOTHES!"
His large white claws and her hand passed sides, a straight jab against his fierce cross aimed to cut through the ribs like a hot knife swims in butter.
His aim would probably be to puncture the main organs of a human being.
"BALL."
The entire place lit up, in a neon green shade. The ground seal had stood there for quite some time now, gathering materials and just waiting for an order. When it came her fist charged forward and grew akin to that of a meteor.
They would hit at the same time if this rate of growth kept going.
Centurion howled with pain as the cave lit up and his claws retreated to cover his eyes. Then her punch came and launched him into the wall. He felt some things crack and he collapsed into a pile of black. When the light faded, Centurion rose, blind and in extreme pain. "You win this round..." He clicked. "But... You will not survive our next meeting..." With that, he slumped to all fours and slowly crawled away, having to rely on his other senses as his sight was still impaired.
(Feel free to stop him.)
"WHAT?" surrounded by the powers of the earth and the sky Ric Halcon had gathered the minerals and the atoms needed to combat conventional means of causing physical damage.
"YOU DARE RUIN MY CLOTHES AND TAKE YOUR LEAVE?"
Gathering material to form her first ball the patented handler gloves had appeared and with those a greater control of the fusion seal could be maintained. The monster could have been feigning retreat and wait for her to get careless.
Summoning fourth a black metal wire rope was easy now and it felt lightweight in these hands of hers. The rope quickly flew towards its target now and dark green runes appeared on its sides. Anyone caught would not be able to escape from its hold.
Centurion heard the chain whistling through the air and he panicked slightly. He surged forward with a single leap, and it still wasn't enough. His tail got caught by the chain and he fell flat. "Let me go...!" he hissed, trying to claw his way forward. His arm was still drenched in blood, but it appeared that the wound itself was gone. Unfortunately, it had only sealed on the inside, and the wound was still there and causing great pain for him. Now, he hurt everywhere and tried to escape. He was nothing more than an animal now.
"shut up you purposeless monster!"
Truth be told he was strong, even now she struggled to keep her grip on the chain. She would have to think of something to restrain his movement further.
"Lightning."
The chain lit up and electricity surged towards Centurion. Enough of it to impair his muscles hopefully. That is if this monster body functioned like humans.
"You picked your prey, now I pick mine."
Centurion screeched with earsplitting intensity as the lightning struck him. He stil struggled, but large jolts of electricity made him lose ground. Eventually, he collapsed and vomitted a disgusting mixture of black ooze and stomach contents. It was too much for him to bear as he curled up, coughing. "I... have a purpose... To hunt and thrive... and yet... I admit you are superior to me..." His markings dimmed. "But you... will not survive our next meeting..."
"So your purpose is eating and shitting? You exist for the sake of existing? I do not have the patience for games."
Thank god the electricity worked, she might even have had to use even more energy restraining him and there was not much left. Predicting when to stop is always a hard thing about her type of magic and she had existed in a weakened limbo ever since arriving to this dimension beforehand.
"Hanged man."
The metal formed around the neck, arms and back of this creature and it became a large restraining suit. The chain in her hands now began lifting him towards the ceiling. Because he had sort of stopped struggling it had become easier to form and mold stuff around him.
"WHO SUMMONED YOU?"
"One... whom I had killed shortly upon... arrival." He rasped, some black ooze dripping from his maw. He coughed once more, spitting some of the ooze onto the floor as he faintly struggled against his bonds. "Now... I have a question for you..." He shuddered. "I realize I... am not in a position to ask... but who summoned you?" His mouth curled into a smile. "You... clearly aren't from this world either..."
"You think you can tell the difference?"
" Or are you just guessing because everyone you have encountered are weaklings?"
Having trapped her opponent Ric went back to the corpse of her prey and began eating once more. A bear with two cubs lying dead. This annoying critter, how dare he presume on someone else's origin and be right.
Centurion thrashed around, making quite a cacophony of chain sounds before settling. "Can you at least... throw me some meat?" He managed to slip a claw out of the chain and he stared retracting and extending his claw in an attempt to cut through the chain.
" LIGHTNING!"
Another round of electricity to make him squirm, how dare he ignore the questions when she held him within her grasp.
Destiny plow her if he could track down other dimensional travelers she might find others like her. Maybe even a way out.
"Answer my questions worm and I will treat you in a more hospitable manner."
"Can you track down others like myself if you knew the scent?"
Centurion howled with pain as he got electrocuted again. "Perhaps...!" He gasped. He hung there limply, markings dim again. "Depending on how old the scent-trail is... I may be able to do it..." He spit up more black ooze. "But I'll need time to... heal... I don't work well... While injured..." He looked at the girl, an amazing feat for him considering his state. "If you're considering making me a pet, forget it... But if it is a mutually beneficial relationship... Then you'll have a deal..."
"Maybe is good enough."
"Tell me what you want from me in return for enduring a temporary leash then. "
Ric ripped off and tossed one of the cub legs up to Centurions face. As if she would let the creature loose on his word that he would behave? If his only purpose was to hunt and grow then she would have to be incredibly gullible if not outright stupid to trust anything the creature would say.
"I can swear on Chaos herself, as one of her champions. Are you just a mock creature from some nightmare realm? with a myriad of your kind just waiting within it?"
Centurion quickly devoured the leg, using mandibles inside his mouth to hold it in place. Once he had cleaned the leg to the bone and let it fall. "I am not a mock creature from any realm. There are many of my kind within the Void..." He thought for a moment. "As for what I want from you for enduring a leash... I want to be able to do things on my terms... and receive a decent payment for doing jobs for you. Food, armor... And so on. And I'd like to get down from up here..." It was clear he was regenerating quickly enough if he could speak in longer sentences without pausing.
Such a quick recovery from eating a small cubs paw, dangerous, very dangerous. On top of that such an alliance, Rics past self would have been infuriated.
"I do not have a lot of coin on me right now. I spent most of it on booze around about a month ago. Most of the meat that is left in this cave lies here as for armors I don't think the people here make anything that would fit. I could, but as I am now it would be pretty shitty even with all the material in this cave. I only have enough to power out a pair of shitty casting gloves as you can see."
Ric giggled like she had heard a great joke while showing off the darkness gloves, lined with green energy currents it had a focus on the knuckles before ending abruptly at the wrist, in an unfinished pattern. Just barely enough of a glove.
"If you can find others like me then I will give you what you want. It will take some time though and i will have to leash you so that while travelling together you will not be able to eat anyone you please."
Centurion growled. "The leash won't be necissary... I'll only hunt with your permission or if someone heckles me to the point I snap." He struggled. "Can you let me down now?" He let out a slight growl as he struggled against the chains again, creating another cacophony of echoes through the cave.
(short post is short.)
"And you wonder why I haven't let you down yet?"
Angrily Ric released control of everything. The cave went back into a dim and boring darkness, having spent some time illuminated in a bright green color scheme with intricate sigils, runes and power lines the difference was to be noticed at the least.
"I will eat this cub, take the rest."
This fight had really pushed her to the edge and she could feel the effects now while devouring the previously killed bear cub for some meager amount of energy. Beats going hungry at the least.
"You know the area right? Do you have spare clothes hidden somewhere?"
Centurion crawled over to the meat and started devouring what he could. After a moment, he raised his now bloodstained face and replied, "I have no need for clothes, as you can see... But I may be able to get you something." He quickly ate his fill before dashing for the entrance of the cave. "Give me about..." He looked to the sky. "When the sun is just above the trees I'll be back. Don't worry... You effectively have me leashed and I have no choice but to come back." With that, he shut up and bolted.
(After you post, we can timeskip.)
"Well just bring me something to wear, running around like this is embarrassing."
She watched him bolt with no more words exchanged. This creature claimed to have been "leashed" by his own words but it was impossible to trust in such a blanket statement.
Either way she was feeling tired and their fight had scared off all the other animals so there was nothing else to do but waiting around once all the food was eaten.
Yawning and stretching Ric found a good spot to sit, tossing the now ruined clothes in a pile she sat down on it. A chance to find her teacher and the rest of her classmates. She would have to power back up. Somehow.
<Looks like you are finally going to participate. There are four of you left in this dimension. you are still the weakest. As you have been since the beginning.>
The dark passenger spoke it to her plainly, yet leaving an echo inside the mind for her to ponder over while waiting, eventually falling into a light dreamless sleep.