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Running to Nowhere

Started by DragonSong, December 06, 2017, 09:02:26 AM

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DragonSong

@Salzem



A dry branch snapped loudly under her foot and Jasper hissed, going very still as her eyes darted around the trees. Much as she might occasionally wish otherwise, she was a city girl at heart, and she had no idea what might be living in these woods.

Bears seemed like the most likely bet. She swallowed thickly and crept forward again, more careful of her step.

She just needed to spend a few days out here, then she could get back to civilization. Just long enough to make sure no one was really after her, that was all. Just a few days...

A yawn rippled through her and her tread grew steadily heavier, almost stumbling as she trekked through the exhaustion setting in. How long had it been since she slept, a day? Two? Gods, she just wanted to rest. Maybe if she climbed a tree- that would be fairly safe, right?

She sort of stuttered to a halt and glanced around, looking for a likely candidate. A massive oak with low, forking branches seemed promising, and she started toward it.

Salzem

The dark wolf stalked through his forests with the silence of darkness and the skill of a seasoned hunter, carefully checking through the brush to see if any of his traps had killed yet... So far, he hung at least three rabbits from his belt, their necks mangled by the rope-traps he'd set, and held a fox in his other hand. That stupid animal tried to steal on of his rabbits and now... it'd serve for breakfast too.

However, all was not right with the forest. The silence of the creatures as they cautiously observed the newcomer eventually reached the Salzem himself, indicating to him what was obviously true:

New prey...

A forest doesn't simply fall into silence unless something never seen stumbles into it's bowels, each creature growing wary with the constant hunting and poaching within. And there WAS a new hunt to be had...

The werewolf slipped through the forest almost like water, cleaning and quietly, following a scent-trail that didn't belong in his territory.

Humans... or something like them at least... Suitable prey for a hunter to sharpen his claws on... The wolf came to a halt several meters back, his presence and form obscured by the forest brush as his sanguine eyes peered out and observed the woman. She was easy prey... unsure of her movements and with no apparent destination in mind... She began to head towards the tall oak that marked the beginning of the forest, the Wolf smiling crudely through his contorted, semi-human features. She just walked herself into a trap...

Should she attempt to climb the tree, she'd find a good many of those branches had been clawed by something... strange.... to the point that they were whittled down at the base, unable to support her weight. If she tried to climb anyway, the branches would snap, sending her falling back down to earth, hopefully maiming her in the process.

DragonSong

Jasper started to climb- and halted. This felt wrong. Maybe it was that damned inner city girl again, but she was suddenly nervous. Branches bent and creaked worryingly under her weight and she held very still, hardly even daring to breathe.

Quiet. Why was it so quiet? Had it been like this the whole time. She could have sworn there was birdsong earlier...

"Hello?" Careful not too move too much, she twisted her head to look out into the forest and reached out with that corner of her mind that had called stray cats and city pigeons to her as a child. "Is...is someone there?" Magic tingled under her skin, sensing a threat she was still oblivious to.

Salzem

Not a sound returned to her, only the noise of the creaking branches beneath her weight acknowledged her presence.

The werewolf could smell the fear in her, the anxiety as did all the creatures that felt his teeth in their necks. It made one wonder why such a large and powerful beast wouldn't just close in for the kill right now, where his prey was fearful and anxious, looking every way but where he was...

Because he wasn't ready yet, that was why. A smart prey can escape the hunter if he didn't choose the right spot and/or time to rend her flesh. Granted, so far all she seemed to be was an emotional human running from one danger into the arms of another, showing just how little she knew about the forest...

Perhaps he didn't need to go through all this trouble to stalk this woman. Perhaps he could just through his massive wolven frame out and rip her to pieces right there among the branches. He could... but Salzem decided to wait, wondering if she'd trigger the tree trap...

DragonSong

"I'm losing my damned mind," Jasper muttered to herself as she looked back to the tree and started climbing again, more cautiously this time, testing each branch before she put her full weight on it.

And a good thing too, because one of the damn things gave out under her feet. She shrieked and backwheeled frantically, clutching at the trunk of the tree while one leg swung out over empty air and the other scrabbled for purchase on the branch below her.

She had just enough time to shout a hurried spell before she toppled backward. It was sloppy and imperfect, but was enough to cushion her fall. She hit the ground with a thump and a groan, sitting up slowly and rubbing the back of her head.

Salzem

Salzem snorted in disappointment as the woman hit the ground much softer than he'd desired, the woman rising with little more than a bump on the back of her head for her troubles. She should be three flavors of dead right now and yet, here she was complaining about her pain when she should be quiet and dead, a smashed skull, snapped neck or broken spine instead. She was either a lot tougher than he first thought... Or she was using magic...

He supposed he'd find out if the woman continued deeper into into his forest. He had plenty more traps for someone like her... others that would test her skill far more than her ability to conjure up a break to a fall.

The werewolf contemplated if she'd try to make for the tree again or if she'd continue deeper into the forest... Which one indeed would be the smarter option? She already knew the tree was a dangerous climb, so perhaps she might refuse considering she could misfire her spell and die. Then again, if this was the first of the dangers, the girl might stay here with the one trouble she knew of rather than risking the search for a safer place...

The werewolf moved ahead a couple yards, careful not to disturb a single dry branch as he prepared his next trap. Heavy brush was ahead both above and below, both low branches and high bushes, making it hard to travel through normally... But the Werewolf had made use of this... Cattletrops coated in a sticky resin rested against the branches and twigs of these trees, acting as a premordial version of a barbed-wire trap. Unless she had magic that could force through the vines, branches and leaves ahead, the werewolf didn't see much of a way she could get through as unscathed as the last trap.

DragonSong

"Well this is bullshit," Jasper muttered, wincing as she got to her feet. She glared up at the tree. "You are an asshole," she informed it, and had to resist the childish urge to kick the trunk.

With a sigh, she glanced around at the ever darkening forest. She was under no illusions about her ability to travel the trees in the dark. Honestly her safest bet would probably be to make camp soon.

Or...here. Gods, she was just tired of walking and climbing and running.

Here seemed like as good a place as any.

"Fuck it," she muttered, and set about pacing a circle around the trunk of the tree. Her fingers sketched runes in the air as she muttered an incantation under her breath, green and gold magic hovering in the air as the patterns she drew for a few moments before fading.

Once the warding was finished and she was content enough with it's strength, she sank down among the roots of the damned tree and leaned back against the trunk, eyes closed.

Just an hour or so. She'd just take a quick break, then keep moving...

Salzem

The moment the girl closed her eyes was the moment she made a mistake. A big, dumb, fatal mistake... The werewolf growled in confusion at the girl, perplexed that she would sleep under a tree that very nearly injured her. Did she place that much trust in her environment? If that was so... then he might've been wrong in thinking she was worthy of his hunt. Well... now that he was here, he'd at least get more meat off her than he would of the other animals he caught...

The werewolf inched out of the brush, careful to keep the rustling of the branches and leaves to a minimum. His breathing was stunted, quiet, taking in barely enough to keep his lungs from burning... His steps were as quiet as a mouse's putting just enough weight on his paws to keep his balance and move on to the next step...

He stalked the girl quietly, watching, staring at the rise and fall of her chest, seeking any indication she was still awake. The wolf was still well outside the bounds of the runes she set, whatever they were for, cautious about making the killing bite...

No... Not yet... He didn't trust her magic to be as weak as she was... Instead, the beast reached into his skinned-leather satchel, pulling out a small handful of cattletrops. With a roll of his mangled fingers, he set them free, letting them fall all around the girl's perimeter before slipping back into the brush to watch... and wait. He didn't need to sleep... His healing factor would keep him going for a long time coming.

DragonSong

Jasper had no idea how long she was asleep, but when she opened her eyes sunlight was filtering weakly through the leaves above her head. She sat up slowly and arched her back in a stretch, rolling her neck and grumbling.

Damn. She hadn't meant to stop so long. She needed to get moving. She scrambled to her feet and moved toward her warding, hand outstretched and the incantation already forming on her lips to take it down.

But then she paused. Something was close, or had been. She could feel it. The hair went up on the back of her neck and the sudden, intense feeling of being watched crawled down her back.

"Hello?" Her voice didn't echo, falling into the empty spaces between the trees. She swallowed thickly. "Look- I'm not in the mood for games. Who's there?!"

Salzem

Yeah... being stared at for hours on end would do that to someone... Even with someone's senses as meager and undefined as this woman's would eventually come to realize that there was another presence here... something far larger and with dangerous intents. The girl called out, demanding whatever was watching her to show itself, but Salzem suspected even she knew it was futile. No hunter in his right mind would show himself at his prey's request... But he would let her know he was there... Psychological torture often made creatures like humaniods paranoid and afraid... Fear lead to irrational decisions and those decisions often lead to mistakes...

Which lead to death...

Salzem glanced down at his belt, grinning cruelly at one of the dead rabbits hanging by it's neck. wrapping his mangled fingers around it's tiny body, the wolf ripped the creature's torso from it's neck with a swift *SNAP*, almost like a twig breaking under someone's foot. With a mere flick of his wrist, the bunny's headless torso would fly through the air, landing hard at the woman's feet before bouncing and rolling a short distance past...

A display of what he'd do to her.

The Wolf would then slowly begin to back off into the brush if the woman would approach, tensing his legs in anticipation to strike.

DragonSong

Jasper's face went pale.

Turning on her heel, she started running, muttering a spell and sketching runes in the air as she vaulted over the roots of the tree she'd camped under and just ran.

Whatever sicko had thrown that rabbit corpse at her must have been in the direction it came from, right? So she was running away.

Gods, and I thought the worst I'd have to deal with in Connlaoth would be the mordecai!

Salzem

A loud howl would echo out seemingly through the entire forest as the woman ran, everything else falling completely quiet... afraid of the monster than now came... Salzem dashed out from the brush behind the woman, running on all fours and catching up to her easily. With his inhuman, wolven attributes, closing the short distance between him and her was hardly anything of a task. Poor sap was also running on two legs as well, further decreasing her chances of escape.

The wolf would snarl as he raised his claws up high, bringing it down in a slashing motion at the woman's back, attempting to cut her down right there with one fluid motion. If this succeeded, he'd pounce upon her, bringing his snarling, wolvish face up to her ear, snarling as bloody saliva dripped from his mouth and onto her shoulder.

He had to have a little bit of fun with this worthless animal... She wasn't good enough for his gauntlet after all.

DragonSong

Street instinct more than anything else probably saved her life. Jasper suddenly pitched forward, somersaulting over the forest floor as she narrowly avoided swiping claws before springing back up to face her attacker.

Gods. Swallowing down fear, she threw her hands up and shouted, "Ar ais, é a fháil amach, tú féin a chosaint!"

Golden green light burst into being between her palms, spreading over and around her until she was encased in a gently glowing bubble of pure magical energy. The shield buzzed and sparked to the touch- she knew from personal experience this particular spell delivered a nasty shock to anyone who tried to cross.

Which wasn't to say it was invincible, but it would do for now.

"What the hell are you?!" Jasper barked as she glared at the creature. She allowed a bit of her beastspeaking to enter her tone, just in case her hunter wasn't entirely lucid to human language. "Get back!"

Salzem

The wolf snarled in frustration as the woman rolled under his swiping claws, the woman rolling to her feet to face him. He could see the fear in her eyes... the scent of it was potent... The woman spouted some magic gibberish, a glowing bubble of energy forming all around her, it's power gentle but steadfast... Nothing that would hurt him too badly if he clashed against it, so his senses told him. His healing factor would make sure of that. The wolf glared at his prey through her puny protective barrier, raising his arms to either side of him as if telling her there was nowhere to run, each of his 10 twisted claws pointed at her worthless body.

She demanded to know what he was in two different languages, demanding he stay back but the wolf was hardly daunted by her threats. Why would he be? She was only making herself seem less and less like a threat. The wolven-beast growled lowly, swiping his claws along the barrier's face... Only for his body to be delivered a PAINFUL magical shock that left his skin seared and burnt, the scent of burnt flesh and hair filling up this section of the forest. Salzem was hardly deterred though, his healing factor kicking in almost instantly after he sustained this damage. The pain only fed into his desire to watch this woman fade away to her death as he ripped her to pieces.

DragonSong

Jasper had to fight the urge to wince back, though she knew the strike wouldn't hit her. "Stop." She put as much power into her voice as possible. "I know you can understand me," she said, a little softer. Magic still tingled at her fingertips, ready to leap to life. "What are you doing? Why are you hunting me?"

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