Seeking Refuge.... (Open)

[Darkdestiny]

The sound of a stick tapping along the ground rapping against leaves, dirt, rocks, and tree trunks could be heard in the forest, as a young girl that looked to be around 18 years of age made her way through the area alone. She didn't know where her pet had wandered off to, nor where she was going; she just knew she was alone.

The girl was small and slim; her figure might be described as hourglass-shaped. Held tightly in her hands is an albino staff, which is what appears to be the 'stick' creating said noises as she swings it around carefully to feel along her path.

At the top of the staff is a beautiful red ruby, most likely worth quite a bit of gold. But Angela Ilene McCarthy could never sell this staff. It was the Sphinx Eye Gem Staff, a beautiful creation that bestows magical properties. What makes the staff so priceless to her? It once belonged to her Mother.

Even now, she remembers and has nightmares of the day her clan was attacked. The last thing she saw before losing the ability of sight was her Mother's corpse. And now, her once lively eyes are gray, and lifeless, as a single tear slides down her cheek.

Her ember colored hair waves out flowing down the center of her spin, bouncing on her shoulders with each step. Her skin has a lovely tan to it, a tan she'll have for eternity. Everything about her is a reminder of the day the Nobles attacked her once happy home.

Blowing in the breeze behind her was her Albino Cloak, which was snapped securely around her neck; going downward, her torso is partly concealed by a black belly shirt that stops a few inches below her breasts. Past her bare belly, blue denim short shorts can be seen, not leaving much to the imagination as her tanned thighs travel elegantly downward meeting a pair of black cowgirl boots which start at her knees and continue on down.

It was another beautiful night in this forest area; a night that Angela couldn't enjoy. She could feel the cool breeze on her skin. Yet, she could not see the stars or the moon high in the sky. She hadn't a clue if it was cloudy or clear. She only knew it was cool and crisp.

Her gray eyes stared blankly ahead, unable to see the path before her as the wind blew her hair and cloak out into waves behind her. A few twigs and leaves crunched beneath her boots, as she tapped her Staff around her gently, using it to guide her away from any danger. But when you’re alone and blind, anything can happen on a night this quiet.

[Slayer of the Rot]

Of all the beings in the world of Althanas, it was almost scientifically proven that human males had the foulest mouths. Every cuss under the sun was catalogued carefully in their minds, spilt forth by their tongues, often mixed together. That night, Dan Lagh'ratham was almost a hundred percent sure that he'd just heard them all in the span of the past hour, even some he didn't know existed.

These frantic, often blasphemous curses came sporadically from the dry and cracked lips of the lone survivor of a band of mercenaries intent on catching the bounty on his head. By this point, the slayer was just toying at him, smiling knowingly as the man's breaths became rough and heavy, becoming careless and sloppy with his strokes. He could almost feel the ache of the man's joints and muscles as he watched in seeming slow motion the steel longsword sweep up over the merc's head and strike the ground as Dan stepped to the side with ease.

Some bountyheads would become frustrated by the constant flow of hunters after their life and well being, by Dan didn't mind at all. It gave him a nearly endless supply of bodies to chop up, break, burn, shoot, tear, and altogether shatter, with no end as far as his sharp hazel eyes could see. No, he liked it best when the groups come. To see the horrific realization in their eyes one he began to swing the Rotslayer. To see the hopelessness but utter determination to avenge his men in the final victim.

As much as he enjoyed it, he could get so impatient so quickly. With a sigh, he grabbed the man's wrist as the merc swung with an exhausted swing that maybe a half hour ago could have had the power to disembowel, and twisted. It was an effortless gesture, like one turning a faucet, but the arm shuddered as bones twisted and snapped, bending at a wholly unnatural angle, a few tearing through the flesh and shining wetly with a pink tinge in the silver moonlight. There was nothing like driving a grown, gruff man to tears, and such a thing happened as the man's hand fell limp, the sword falling to the forest floor with a muffled thump. As he sunk to his knees, the slayer's grin grew to one of immaculate insanity, and his arms went to work.

Like plucking the wings from a fly, the task was made easy by his supernatural strength. He just grabbed at the base of the shoulder or thigh, and yanked. Hard. There was either a sickening pop or a muffled crack as the bone either broke or loosed itself from the socket, and then the sound of meat and flesh tearing, almost drowned out by the blood curdling screams. The kind that could turn water to ice, bring a child to tears. The type of scream that you didn't have to seek out the cause, you knew that the one screaming was being murdered. This chap, rather brutally. Now the blood was surging like fountain Place Félix Eboué in France; steady and plenty.

Dan stood and clapped his hands together as though he'd just completed a good day at the saw mill. The clouds parted from the moon, letting that old blind white eye look down at the bloody carnage strewn about the forest floor; bodies roughly cut in two by a tremendous blade, or black rimmed holes in the heads and bodies from point blank gunshots, and one lone, pathetic man, stumps where arms and legs once were, glistening with a stomachturning light, spitting up blood weakly as he drew his last. In the middle stood a tall man in a clean, smart suit, hair clean and well arranged, with a smile so happy it contrasted sharply with this bloody setting, hazel eyes at times seeming to reflect that moonlight.

The moon still sat high on it's throne in a kingdom of deep blue velvet, and the night was so young.
_____

"How rather careless, my dear. Out in the night all alone? Even with your little cat, that is certainly reckless."

His steps had been silent. The slayer could be quiet when he wanted to be. He stood off to the side of the trail the young woman was following, leaning against an old oak with his hands in his pockets and the ember of his cigarette cutting a red slash in the dark air as he spoke. The clouds had crawled back over the moon, but his eyes saw through the murk towards her and her quaint little fashion. Blue denim shorts, just a little bit torn, a black shirt, cut short to showcase the stomach, dark cowboy boots, knee high on her. Short for an average person's stature, grey and lifeless eyes. It wouldn't take him some twenty minutes of questioning to know she was the sort with a gentle soul and a soft voice.

"Haven't you heard the news from Radasanth? There's a murderer on the loose, a rather insane sort. It's very dangerous to be out and about like this. You never know when some band of depraved thugs will jump from the woodwork with twisted thoughts in heart."

'Frail, isn't she?' Adrammalech asked, his powerful voice rumbling the inner workings of the slayer, shaking the foundation's of he and the titan's entwined souls. 'Don't kill her.'

'And why not?'

But Adrammalech was silent. Still, Dan kept his good humor, that air of concern and quiet kindness. He stepped off from the tree, approaching her at his own pace, amiably smiling.

"I'm more than a match for anything roaming these woods. I'll walk you through and see you to your destination."

[Darkdestiny]

Angie hadn't heard a sound other then the crunching of her own footsteps, and the tapping of her staff. The sudden voice of the elder male startled her as she walked right into him soon after he had spoken, the force knocking her back and causing her to stagger off balance.

"Who's there?" Was her first reaction; and as he had assumed, the young Homo-Felinus did indeed possess a soft innocent voice. As the man mentioned a murderer on the loose, and it being unsafe to be alone, she spoke truthfully.

"A...a murderer? No.I haven't heard any such thing. In fact ... I... I haven't met anyone in 8 years. Not since...." Her voice trailed off as a tear slid down her face.

She seemed to be following his voice, as she turned her head toward him; yet her eyes gazed lifelessly passed his actual form. She seemed to not know where he was, aside from the fact of bumping into him.

She shook her head gently, pretending nothing was wrong and ignoring her unfinished statement. "I'm not really going anywhere actually. To be honest, I do not know where I am." She had a pretty face, yet her eyes were so lifeless, and empty inside.

From the way she never looked directly at him, and the nervous way her voice trembled, it should be quite obvious by now that the girl was blind; and possibly traumatized from a past experience she wished not to remember.


"My name's Angela. Who are you?" Her voice was still shaking slightly, and she clutched the staff tighter as it dug into the dirt. She looked like she wanted to run, but even if she did; she wouldn't get far under her circumstances.

[Slayer of the Rot]

After she so gracelessly bumped into him, any doubts that perhaps she was faking a malignant blindness vanished. Here, up close, he towered over her by a full foot. Despite her unseeing eyes, he kept his smile, though it's tones changed slowly. She was indeed a small thing, a bite size morsel for the predators of the world to sweep by and pluck off the silver platter. As she answered him, her tone quizzical, frightened, voice indeed as gentle as a lamb, Dan circled her slowly, looking her over, his steps careful and silent. Her features; hair, complexion, somehow even her eyes, described to him a fire of some sorts, though certainly not the sparks that burned in his soul. His were ignited by Adrammalech, a fire of war, the fuel to drive a juggernaut.

"Who am I? That depends on whose perspective you're looking from...no pun intended, my dear. There we...are some in Radasanth that call me a farfetched hero. It's something I like to shrug off. Others just call me a loose cannon with too much power in his hands. What's really important, Angela, is here, in such a dangerous forest, I want to be your friend. And after being alone for so long, a grinding and surely miserable eight years, in the world of Althanas, you can value all of the...friends you can get." He however, thoghtfully left out the known fact that he was also a wanted criminal, guilty of various offenses.

He stepped away from her, now letting his footsteps pad along the well worn, hard packed dirt path, stirring a few leaves here and there. He watched as her head turned to follow the sound, never really spot on. "My name, is Dan Lagh'ratham. You're currently on one of our country's many beautiful forest paths, rather near the capital city Radasanth. Furthermore, there are many dangerous men about. Highwaymen like to hide in the bushes, and when you get near, they leap out and rob you of everything you've got on you. A lot of the times, they shoot you to, BANG! Right between the eyes. Leve you to rot in a copse of trees. It's a sad thing, what some men fall too. Like that mass murderer, that struck in Radasanth a few weeks ago. They say he sunk a ferry full of people, and even attacked a member of the Assembly. Insane!"

Leading people like her on was simple. Especially when they haven't met anybody in the past year, or anyone they can trust on sight. The slayer was suddenly reminded of the old tale of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wold. Little Red set off to visit her grandmother, but was tricked into taking a different route by a devious, hungry wolf. By the time Little Red had gotten to her grandmother's house, the wolf had eaten her grandmother, and soon after, eagerly ate Little Red alive too. Here, timid Angelina, hair ember red like a fire, his Little Red Riding Hood, and he the Wolf, dressed in a handsome suit with a gun in his jacket and a titan sealed to his soul.

But there wasn't much sense in killing her, certainly none in eating her. He still couldn't see how the perfectly mad Valentina Snow had done so.

Well, maybe in a way he did.

"So then!" he exclaimed as he finished off his cigarette, tossing the still moking thing off into the woods. With any luck, it would start a goddamn forest fire. That'd be nice. "I think, with so many unsavory characters out here, in the night, we should get you to Radasanth, or wherever else you can sit down and rest and have a hot meal. That's only my opinion though. It's your choice to except my aid."

Really though, it didn't matter at all.

[Darkdestiny]

His words only seemed to make her more nervous, and as she heard his footsteps circling her she attempted to follow every motion, her gray eyes always being off by quite a ways. The scent of smoke reached her nostrils, and her heart began to beat faster.

Memories of her childhood, that day when she did nothing, could do nothing. Hiding, cowering in her room while her loved ones died. Putting a hand to her chest, she clutched the pendant tightly trembling, and just had to ask the following question.

"Are you a Noble?" She was afraid to accept his assistance if he was; for it was Nobles that hunted her kind.

She refused to be a victim like the rest of her kind. As far as she knew, she was the last Homo-Felinus alive. She searched for years, never once finding another. She feared she was and forever will be alone.

No sooner had she asked, Dan's wish came true and the cigarette he had tossed began to burn the grass beneath it; and a fire began to rise. The familiar warmth and smell began to terrify her, more painful memories in her mind.

There was a low scared growl as a Black Panther cub jumped out of the bushes where the fire was; whimpering came from the now panicked girl. Memories, pain, death, flames. The fire. Oh God, there's a fire!

She knew it; there must be, she could smell it, hear it, feel it. The warmth, the smoke, the crackling embers. Letting out a scream, Angie dropped her staff and fell to her knees.

"No! Mom, Daddy! Forgive me!" She cried out, cowering down lost in memories of that fateful day.

"The fire ... it burns ... the fire burns! Make the pain stop!"

Her cries of horror were out loud, yet the pain was all in her head, mere memories that have passed. The fire was beginning to spread; yet Angela couldn't move as she continued to scream and cry.

[Ran]

Sakura was so hungry, there were plenty of edible herbs and grasses but Kikos could never be vegetarians. The nature of the spirit foxes was that they needed meat and it had to be fresh and with a strong enough soul that some ki would linger before dispersing. And it was days since the girl actually had any meat, only berries to eat.

Lost again, thought the fox as she crept through the moonlight, normally the girl would travel with the light of the ghost lantern to really see where she was going and to keep the lesser predators away, except wolves who weren’t superstitious and mortal foxes that knew their spirit cousins magic. Magic had to wait; she was hungry and had to find a victim soon.

Luck stroke with one of the strangest creature Sakura ever seen. It had the look of a fat rat but the fur was incredibly spiky. An oni? the Kiko asked as she stalked the weird creature, it was food and whether demon or mortal animal she could eat it all the same. The hard part would be killing it, as its run was fairly slow and the Kiko was faster, but those spines must be some kind of defense. But then that didn’t prove hard as the girl had a staff that kept her well out of reach of the spines, one bop and the animal was out cold, too easy for an oni.

The way Sakura would eat her meal would have angered her mother, embarrass the girl and also made sure that she had to wash her fur. It was awful to eat like that but at least she was no longer hungry and there was a steam nearby.

Once Sakura found a stream she summoned a ghost lantern and went to bathe. Kiko had little need for modesty as their fur provided cover of the body parts that humans considered taboo. But still with the way wet fur clings to the body, Sakura was glad there wasn’t an audience.

“Great kami it’s cold!” The fox yelped as she lowered herself in the stream. It would have been better during midday when the stream would have warmed in the sun but then the mess would have dried and would be harder to clean. Still Sakura had no problem washing out her fur.

All way peaceful after the struggle with the porcupine and other than the nasty cold of the stream it was a pleasant night. But it ended with a scent of warning smoke and following cry, a girl’s cry.

“Sis?” Sakura asked herself with pause. How could it be her sister out in this forest? Sakura was looking for her sister but there was no evidence that she’d be in this forest and it didn’t really sound like Aiko at all, or did it. Maybe it could be? Maybe luck started to shine on the Kiko. Hope speared Sakura out of the water and forced her to dress hastily, tying the obi as she ran toward the fire and the screams.

“Sister? Is that you? Are you ok?” Sakura yelled towards the young blaze and unknown girl, getting ever closer to the source. Finally she could see two figures, one standing a large man and the other writhing and crying out.

[Slayer of the Rot]

It was the first time that Lady Luck had ever come through for him. After all, it seemed she struck more often for the opposite side of the law. Any time he made a wish, say, for his arm never to have been completely burnt off, even the bone, by Jaken, it never came true. Yet here was one, a fire spawned by a stub of a cigarette. A fire in the early morning, that would go unnoticed for perhaps a good half hour while it spread, a fire that would consume every living thing in the forest. It was beautiful, and his admiration reflected in his smiling eyes, as the fire danced there too. There was something positively attractive about the blaze, it's predatory nature alive and full in the ever changing, flickering, twisting flames. It was extinguished by many simple means, but how many people had it killed? How many charred skeletons had it left, scrabbling at a window? Far more than he, and any other murderer before his time.

Angela's cries and pleas were a world away from the transfixed slayer, as he stared down the fire. "No...I'm no noble. I'm the farthest thing from it..." His reply came several minutes later than it should have been if he had been paying any attention to her at all. If anything, her sobs seemed to heighten the fire's glory.

'Put it out.'

The slayer snapped back to reality all of a sudden with a jerk and a blink of the eyes, wincing at the peircing screams. He scowled when he realized how small the fire was. 'Fuck you! I'm enjoying this!'

'It'll do us no good if she's frightened of the fire, and not us.'

A long, slow grin suddenly dawned on his lips, which moments ago had been slack. 'Ohhh! I see now, you sly sonuvabitch. Okay, whatever.'

"Uhh, yeah, making pain stop. Whatever," he mumbled distractedly, still not full out of it and partially still entranced by the flames, most likely unheard by the young woman. Grudgingly, he approached the fire and reached up to the stars, summoning the Rotslayer. There was a faint oomph of air as the slayer's arm bent slightly from the sudden weight. Blood still shone upon it's great titanium blade. Twisting it around, he brought down the sword flat wise, snuffing out the fire. He sighed, disappointed that it hadn't the strength yet to rebel and keep living, keep growing. Keep eating. He dismissed the large blade and went back to Angela, who was still shouting, squirming about, trying to find shelter from the fire. Now, though, he heard the words. 'Well, ain't that cute,' he thought darkly as the Rotslayer vanished as though it had never been there. "All right, fire's gone, let's get you away from it. Calm down, and ev-"

Dan's eyes snapped up towards the left of the path, as another approached, a strange and unfamiliar face. He caught his hand just as it began to instinctively reach into his jacket. It was just another young girl, though her fur and the fox like muzzle on her face made him scowl. Another one of what those kids were calling 'em nowadays...a furry? They usually liked to be be called Coronian Homo - Animilius, or whatever country they were in at the time. The slayer sighed and kept his eye on the thing as he reached out to touch Angela, establish contact, attempt to calm her to some small extent.

'The killing's no fun if the heroes are none.'

'That's not a 'hero' in any sense of the word, or heroine at that. Just some creepy little fox girl.'

'Wait a while.'

[Darkdestiny]

Dan was lucky Angie couldn't see the Rotslayer as he summoned the blade using it to extinguish the fire. The girl's sobs and tears continued, as the black panther cub padded toward her nuzzling her arm with his head. "Rawr."

Her small fragile body sat there trembling as Dan approached her offering words of comfort. She continued to sob and shake as he offered her his hand; in which the small black cub swiped at it with a small growl. As Angie heard the growl, she felt around until she touched the baby animal petting his head gently.

Once the animal had calmed down, she took Dan's hand allowing him to help her to her feet. The tears continued to soak her lovely face as small sobs emitted from her lips occationally. She wondered if he knew what she was, after all she was in human form.

"W-what's going on? Is someone there?" Angie questioned, still holding his hand as his voice cut off and the sound of someone walking reached her ears. It sounded as if a girl was calling for her sister, but as far as Angie knew no one else was around here. Least not that she could tell. After all, she was blind, and Dan was the first person she encountered in years.

"My Staff. Where's my Mother's Staff?"

She reached around blindly trying to find the albino staff, as it lay on the ground between herself and the strange man before her. The ruby end of the staff was now slightly stained in dirt, but other then that, it seemed to be well kept.

[Ran]

Sakura slowed her pace so she wouldn’t scrape her legs on the tough underbrush of the forest. She had to see if this girl was her sister. Of coarse the chance was so small that it probably didn’t matter. The fire went out and the screaming stopped. Was the girl ok? Hopefully. The vixen finally got to see the source of the fuss, a man and a girl, not her sister though.

Sakura’s first reaction was to blush, whatever these two were doing was probably private, and she was not to get involved. But why was the cat girl crying out? A nightmare, perhaps, the girl had tears on her cheeks glistening yet she seemed to not mind the man she was with, perhaps he saved her from something.

The Kiko girl hardly got an idea of what was going on when she was forced to answer the tear streaked face of the girl who was looking at her but something was strange about the look. “Uh I’m sorry, I heard you call out and I was worried and thought you were someone else.” Sakura blushed and shivered as she felt the night air punish her for the bath she took, but it was better than having porcupine blood on her muzzle and the same scent on her.

The pair that Sakura saw she thought was fairly odd. The man was definitely a human with a grizzled look and strange foreign clothing, but there was something about him that was giving her a bad feeling. The girl looked to be a human but wore some really odd clothing, it even showed a bare tummy, which seemed odd for a furless girl to wear. But what was she to judge.

Sakura started to chastise herself for staring but didn’t get to finish the thought, as the human girl got frantic again, looking for a staff and making a spectacle of her self as well. The vixen moved to the girl as she saw the staff, it was really shiny and perhaps valuable, defiantly worth more than the simple fighting staff that Sakura kept. But still it was better to give it to the blind girl; it was her mother’s staff after all.

“Here you go.” Sakura picked up the staff for the cat girl and moved to hand her the rod. There was also a baby panther wandering around, seemed to be a pet of one of them. “I’m terribly sorry for this. I didn’t mean to cause a fuss, really.” Sakura said as she wrapped her arms around herself, why’d the chill breeze have to start up again, it was just getting nice.

[Slayer of the Rot]

The weather had been temperate and mild for the past few days, up until a moment ago. A breeze slid through the forest, quieter than he, and rattled the leaves, caused the dead trees to light shake in the wind on rotting roots. Perhaps, such an ill occurence was the god's way of trying to tell the girls of the demon whose company they were already in, but it didn't seem to work. If anyone had suspicions of what twisted, murderous intents lay in his sick heart, it was the little black panther club that stayed close to Angela's side. When he'd tried to help the young woman up, it had retaliated quickly, swiping a paw at him, it's little sharp claws raking across his flesh. If it hurt him, he didn't show it.

'And you had wanted to kill her. Now we have two, and they'll be all the more delectable when seasoned with absolute terror. The one in the white cloak is already started...delightfully skitterish.'

The slayer stifled a deep throated leaugh, and only smiled at Sakura as he realeased his hand from Angela's grip. His smile faltered as he looked down at the four long gashes cut across the back of his hand, but it did not continue to fail. As the two girls briefly conversed with each other, the barely bleeding flesh wounds closed slowly, the flesh reknitting under his scrutinous eye, and all that he had to show from the little bastard's attack was what little blood had leaked out before the regeneration of damaged cells had rapidly kicked in. His eyes went to the little cub, he stared at him with a disturbing intensity, and smiled. 'I hope this goes to show you, that when the time comes, you'll be no harder to exterminate than a fly.'

This new one, he wasn't sure how attuned with society she was. If suspicions held true, she was little more than some bastard daughter courtesy of a disturbing union between a very, very drunk woodsman and a fox. Not one to hold up to current events, but he didn't need the nigh unpredictable, 'Hey, you're that murderous psycopath!' "Don't worry, you're not interrupting anything. I was simply relating to this lovely young woman the dangers of the forest at night and the news from Radasanth." Dan reached into his coat, paused, and produced a pair of of glasses with a smoky bronze frame and dark, gold colored lenses. They were large, the kind known as Aviators back where he had been born, and would make it a bit harder to identify him, if the little Kiko could at all. He quickly put them on. "My name is Dan Lagh'ratham, and this is Angela...something. Angela has had the awful misfortune to have been stricken blind in...an accident of some sorts." The slayer was fleetingly frustrated on his lack of details, but his smile remained, all the same.

Glancing out into the dark woods around them, past the trees through a world once black with tones of bright white from the moon, now darkened with a gold screen, the slayer's smile began to falter. He let it now, as it did not pertain to the two closest to him. The woods were silent. Not a single breaking branch under hoof or paw, or a growl, a tweet, or even a single lousy fuckin' ca-caw from one of those goddamned crows always seeming about his vicinity. He had simply assumed it was the still lingering, almost phantom blood on his hands, that they could smell. The animals making their homes here in the forest knew about the murder, and they knew there was a new predator in the woods, one bigger and meaner than the rest.

However, there was one animal in these woods that didn't seem to get that message. That little damned panther cub curling itself affectionately around Angela's legs. What he wouldn't give to pull out his gun right now and blow it away. Knock it around like a big, hungry housecat with a mouse, put a fear of him into it. Make it know that he was at the top of the fucking food chain, not it.

"Anyways, may I ask your name, young miss," he said to Sakura as he turned towards her, breaking a moment of his own silence. His smile had, of course, returned. "After that, I imagine we should get moving. It's Spring, and the bears are just waking up. They're very tempermental this time of year."

'That's right. Lead them on.'

[Darkdestiny]

Angela gratefully accepted the Albino Staff from the girl, noticing her hands and arms felt furry as they brushed against her currently human ones during the exchange of the staff. Part of her wanted to change into her catgirl form, for better flexibility, especially for her ears. Having ears that can swivel to catch sound in all directions is useful. She was relieved to hear he wasn't a noble, but she was uncertain about revealing what she was.

Her staff hit the ground with a dull thud, now held possessively in the grasp of her delicate fingers once more. Although, something about this man unnerved her. Maybe she was being paranoid because he was a stranger? Either way, Shadow didn't seem to trust him; for at this very moment, the cub was staring right back at Dan as he stared coldly at him. Low growls could be heard, letting Angie know something wasn't right.

"Angela McCarthy. I am.... was the Princess of my clan. But that was 8 years ago. My position and situation have changed since then. This overly excitable cub here." She gestured at this point in the direction she could feel his body nestled against her leg. "Is my companion, Shadow. Please forgive him for clawing you, I'm sure he was just playing."

"Rawr. Rrrrrawrr." A series of growls emitted from the Black Panther, now known as Shadow, as the cub looked away from Dan and peered upward at Angie; who seemed to understand the feline tongue.

"Don't be silly, Shadow. It couldn't be him. And even if it was, I don't fear death after what happened to me. Being the last of my kind... I embrace it." A tear slid down her cheek. "I do not wish to live alone, traveling in fear, and unable to see the paths ahead of me. Constantly tortured by nightmares, preventing me from decent rest."

She let out a sigh at this point, seemingly forgetting Dan and Sakura were even there. But once she had snapped out of it, and back to reality, she decided upon herself they may be curious as to what exactly happened to her that was so horrible she'd welcome death so bravely.

"I suppose you two are curious by now as to the details of my past. My blindness, my fear of fire. I assure you, Dan, it wasn't an accident. Come, I'll explain on the way."

As the trio traveled, she walked between Sakura and Dan, with Shadow padding along behind her casting knowing glances toward Dan as he did so. Her Staff bounced over dirt and rocks in front of her form while she walked calmly, reliving her painful past.

"As I had said, it happened 8 years ago. I was 10 at the time. My Mother had called me in for dinner...."

"Angie, come inside, dear! Your dinner is getting cold!"

Shifting back to her catgirl form, the 10-year-old girl ran back to the mansion eager to eat whatever it was her Mother had prepared for them today. "Coming, Mom! What are we having?" She asked, changing back to her human form.

"Oh, you’re favorite, Chicken and..." An explosion followed by screams interrupted Angie’s Mother.

"What the hell was that?" Her Father had appeared on the top of the staircase that leads to the bedrooms and bathrooms, some traces of soap on his handsome human face.

"We're under attack! Ambush by the noblemen!"

As the town crier shouted, her Father did not waste any time arming himself and heading out to battle. The sounds of yelling, screaming, and explosions had the young girl terrified as her Mom held her close.

"Sweetie, go to your room, and no matter what, don't come down until I call you. The guards will be protecting us, no one will harm the manor, ok?"

Angie nodded, looking at her Mom once more before running up to her bedroom and laying upon her belly on the bed, eyes side covering her head and ears with the pillow praying for it to stop.

But things only got worse. The sounds of the villagers, and soldiers, both old and young, could be heard crying their last dying plea before becoming silent. Once everything had quieted down, Angie lifted her head and went over to look out the window.

As she peered down, she saw body and dismembered bodies; and amongst the dead was the corpse of her Father. "Daddy!" Her cry was in vain, for soon after an explosion shook the house and the child smelled smoke.

Leaving her bedroom, she ran down the stairs in time to see a huge fire trapping her on the staircase. There was a familiar scream, and the girl ran down the steps calling for her Mom. Choking and gasping on the smoke, she made her way through the searing flames, the fire licking at her body.

Once on the other side, she was startled to see her mother lying on the ground severely burned. Kneeling next to her body, Angie began to cry. "Don't die, Mom! Please! Don't leave me alone!"

"Angie....you must....be brave....and get yourself out....go....no...w....."

Terrified, and in shock Angela stared at the lifeless body of her beloved Mother. She put her hand on the pendent that rested nestled against her chest. A tear streaming down her face, she snapped out of the trance once she realized what she had to do.

Standing up, she grabbed her Mother's Staff, and turned toward the flames desperate to get out of the house. Holding her breath to avoid inhaling any smoke, she ran into the flames. It burned and seared at her flesh, causing her to hiss in pain; and half way through the fire, sparks flew into her face.

"My eyes!" Angie screamed, shutting her now searing eyes and rubbing the ashes out of them as she stumbled out of the flames.

Arm over her eyes, which felt like they were going to melt, she felt along the wall until she found the door. It was burning hot, but as she leaned on it, it fell through. Once outside, she crawled away from the house.

She had a few minor burns, but nothing life threatening. Her skin had later become permanently tanned as the burns healed; but for now, her nightmare had just begun. She crawled toward the fountain at the center of town, feeling her way up it until she found the water.

As Angie scooped up the water to wash out her eyes, to her horror, once the 10-year-old girl had opened her eyes; all she saw was blackness. The embers that hit her in the face had stolen her vision.

She was now alone, and blind. Unsure what to do or where to go, Angela stood up and ran away from the familiar lands she was raised on. She found herself to be in a forest or something of the sort as she could hear animals, smell bark, leaves, and fruits, as well as feel branches rubbing against her or hitting her.

She had spent 8 years on her own, struggling to survive, and fearing every sound she heard; until one day, not so long ago, she met a panther cub that was crying for his parents whom had just been shot by hunters. Adopting the young cub, she named him Shadow, and thus far, he's the only companion she has.

As her flash back faded, as did the story she was telling word for word. Once she had finished telling each moment in the event, detail for detail; even down to the searing pain of the scorching embers that the flames had spit at her eyes, she couldn't help but cry.

"That day... I lost everything. My clan... my family.... my sight. I've searched and searched for all these years, and not once could I find another Homo-Felinus. I fear the Nobles may of kill them all. And if they did..."

She couldn't say it; she couldn't call herself the last of her kind. There had to be another like her, somewhere out there. What she wouldn't give to feel the soft familiar warmth from the fur of another catperson. How her heart ached, longing for the love and comfort of another of her kind.

[Wilddeath]

Around this time a fair distance away was a creature whose thin muscular build seemed to enhanced by the red fur that covered his body the only exception of this being the grey patches on his ears and on his tail. His cat like ears swiveled in slightly as he prowled the forest a determined look on his face. His eyes were wild as he rose to his feet his and sharpened his claws on a near by tree.

“Yes there is no mistaking it… I smell another…” the Cat man said with both unbridled determination and childlike glee in his voice.

He prowled onward as he followed the scent of the female he had been tracking since the previous day when he first caught her scent. This Creatures name Was Derrick Yillian a former prince of his clan before the nobles decided to exterminate them. For eight years he has searched for another of his kind even if they were of a different clan than he. He had hoped for anything to be honest not caring if it was male or female that he found.

However lady luck seemed to be smiling upon him today for the scent he had caught was the unmistakable odor of a female of his species. It was at that point, when he first smelled her, that his animal instincts started to overwhelm his common sense. He had been alone for much too long seeking the company of another and now fate had given him a chance.

He had thrown caution to the wind and begun his hunt not even considering the possibilities that this could be a trap set up by the noble that hunted him. He neither cared nor worried about such things as the animal within him craved companionship.

As the wind carried the smell of smoke mixed in with the scent of his hunt he began to worry. Had she been caught, injured, or worse, had she been killed by a forest fire, that would soon engulf him?

He paused where he stood and listened to the sounds of the forest around him or rather the lack thereof and he slowly regained sense enough to turn into his human form. Slowly painfully his claws retracted into his fingers as fingernails formed over them his fur receding into and disappearing beneath his skin. His ears slowly vanished melding into his scalp his mane like hair growing back into his human hair. His eyes turned human like in appearance losing their wild animal like qualities, as his fangs became less dull and more human like. Finally he felt his tail shrink and disappears into his body a very painful process to have to endure.

He panted slightly at the amount of energy it took for the process to occur and he used a tree to support himself as he regained his breath. “She is not dead… I can still smell her scent even from here… she must be close.” He said to himself as he trekked onward using his training to avoid making any sound while he approached Angela and the two others that were with her…

(OOC: yea he shouldn’t be too far by now but I don’t think he’s close enough for any one to see him yet or else he would have seen them as well.)

[Ran]

There was something about that man that gave Sakura a shiver in her foxtail. There was one minute detail that gave her the creeps. He looked strong but that wasn’t it, she spent the last couple months around samurai who were often strong though shorter than this man, perhaps it was his height that was intimidating, no that was being silly. Perhaps it was that smile underneath the glasses that had this ‘I know something you don’t’… Yeah that was it, that smile was creepy.

He spoke well enough by telling that his name was Dan and the human girl was Angela. His smile faltered a little after that which gave the girl some small comfort though it returned and caused Sakura to unwittingly puff her tail before asking her name. “I, I’m Sakura. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” The fox girl let a nervous smile pass her muzzle.

No sooner than introductions were made, Angela started to reveal very personal information. She told a story about when she was ten, did she look that old back then too. Sakura wondered, who still had eight years to go but she only seemed to her self to be only slightly younger than Angela but she was much older than the little fox.

Sakura tried to listen though she found herself trying to straiten her tail while the woman related her story of atrocity. How could someone do such a horror that would leave this girl blind and alone? “I’m so sorry that happened…” Sakura said looking at the ground though she made a wary glance at Dan then smiled with embarrassment on her paranoia. At this moment she only wanted to comfort the girl, it reminded her of when Aiko got upset, though her sister was not even close to Angela’s age. Touch was the best thing for the upset sister, and it might help now.

Sakura made her movements slowly as not to startle anyone but shadow the baby cat made a growl to protect his ‘mother’ but Sakura offered her hand for the cat to sniff which calmed him down and after the vixen scratched the cat’s chin to ease out a purr she them moved to hold the crying girl in a platonic hug.

“It’s ok, you’re alive and that’s all that matter. I’m here, and so is Dan.” Sakura wagged her tail in hope that she did the right thing to calm the poor girl down.

[Slayer of the Rot]

Dan fished a small handkerchief from his pocket as the three finally got moving, putting the slightly charred brush behind them. "That's all right," he replied to Angela, wiping the errant blood from the back of his hand. Now where the cub had clawed him, were faint, thin white lines, perhaps which would have been scars, but even they were dwindling away. "After all, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. He smiled warmly at Sakura, who continued to steal glances at him every so often, glances highlighted with an ephemeral suspicion. In a way, he imagined that it was how the livestock wandered into the barn before a storm hit. Animals had always seemed to have an uncanny sixth about sensing danger.

'Maybe they suspect me?'

'Why would they? You've done nothing to be suspicious.'

He titled his head off to the left, away from the two, looking out towards the woods, hands in his pockets to stifle the urge to smoke. He scowled, for no particular reason aside from the fact that he was sick of smiling. It made his mouth hurt, simply because he rarely ever smiled nowadays. No reason to, though it wasn't like that made him sad. Sometimes, a smile meant weakness in this world.

He listened passingly to Angela's story. Everyone had their own sob story, his included. Didn't matter who you were. The root was always pain, physical or emotional. He'd been almost eaten alive by the walking dead once, had been shot up another time, cut and stabbed and impaled on numerous blades, had had his arm burnt clean off, watched his first love die on his own sword. Lost it all, found it again, then had it dashed against the rocks by the parasitical sonuvabitch inside of him.

'I am not a parasite. This girl's story, however, is fantastically horrific.'

'A real tearjerker, huh?'

'Indeed. 'Tis almost as traumatizing as your own.'

He realized for a moment, that the world had become hazy. Memories encroached at the edge of his mind, and he violently pushed them back. It was all old news, and it was useless to dwell on the past, even if yoou had just lived the past eight years of your life alone. He shook his head silently and looked over to the two girls. Huddled together, Sakura gave Angela alleviating words of compassion for her hardships. The Kiko's lively eyes turned away, Dan sneered in contempt. How...weak. Lately he'd developed an aversion to those that couldn't help themselves. It made him furious. In his worlds, it had always been I'm strong, you're weak, I'll survive and you'll rot away. When the kiko mentioned him, his now faint smile had returned, still with a hint of assurance. "Right. I'm here, nothing to worry your pretty little heads over."

Through these woods, a traveler would follow one man, simple path. It wasn't until perhaps two or three miles deep into the forest, one would come across a fork in the path. The fork offered two paths; the Way of the Screw, and the Way of the Nail. The Way of the Screw was a wide, winding, open path with sparse vegitation and almost always illuminated, either by sun or moon. However, it took far longer to get to Radasanth on this path, and many hours were often wasted here. The other, the Way of the Nail, was shorter, and straight forward for the most part, but was a narrow path with heavy brush and the trees had grown together. On this path, it took little more than two hours to make it to the city gates, but light did not often touch the path through the thick canopy.

"This is the one we should take," Dan said, gesturing towards the Way of the Nail. "It's a little dark, but we'll get to Radasanth faster. The other path is too open. It'd leave us too open for an ambush by some unsavory characters. This is, after all, their hours. This is the time they prowl." He smiled at them encouragingly, and gestured towards it again.

[Darkdestiny]

Angela appreciated the comfort as she felt Sakura embrace her in warm caring arms. It was the first time she had been hugged since, well, she can't really remember when. While the Kiko hugged her, and spoke words of comfort, the Homo-Felinus couldn't help but notice the soft warm fur coating of the girl's various body parts that were not covered in clothing.

She had instinctively run her delicate fingers along the foxgirl's body carefully, trying to imagine what the creature she had befriended looked like. The shape of her face soon leads upward toward fluffy animal ears. She couldn't really identify the shape, it seemed a bit fox-like from the angle and feel of the fur's thickness. The man on the opposite side of her had appeared human from his touch, and she was slightly uncomfortable around humans.

However, the girl was beginning to warm up to the pair, and seemed to relax somewhat in their presence. Shadow had apparently sensed the tension created by his 'Mom' fade out of existence as he too became slightly more relaxed; yet he would not leave Angie's side for a second.

"Thank you, Sakura. It has been a very long time since I had enjoyed the warm embrace of another. I appreciate and accept the friendship and assistance of you. Both of you." A soft smile crossed her lovely features, as she was released from the embrace of her female companion.

The staff had returned to its routine of feeling along the path as Angie held the upper part tightly. Her pendent shone as bits of moonlight reflected through the trees around them, as did the dirt stained ruby atop her Albino Staff.

Despite the tears, it had brought her some relief to finally tell her story to someone; she had kept it bottled inside her for so long. As it was, she wasn't accustomed to traveling with others, and it felt slightly awkward. Her attempts to not fall behind were somewhat embarrassing to her, yet she by some miracle kept up perfectly as her pace followed between Dan and Sakura step for step.

She had basically begun to follow their voice and footsteps along the path, and as the man she had unceremoniously bumped into prior announced the path that would be the safest, and easiest, to follow, all the girl could do was agree.

"I shall trust your judgment, Dan. As it is, I hope the path isn't too dark for you two to see, for I am unable to take the lead." She bowed slightly smiling as she continued. "I'll follow you two wherever you take me. After all, in time's like this, trust and friendship are important, do you not agree?"

[Wilddeath]

It was then that he spotted them the group of three that contained the target of his search. Derrick watched them move and listened to their conversations. He judged them by how they acted and wondered slightly if he had been wrong about the scent. He smelled the air once more only to catch the faint smell of the female Homo-Felinus mingling among the other smells. ‘Blood… Why do I smell blood?’ he asked himself as he followed them stealthily keeping clear of any loud brush or twigs. He looked at them all in turn to estimate what level of threat they would be starting with the man.

‘Yes… The smell of blood defidently comes from him whether it is his or not I care not. He is most likely the most dangerous of the three…’ He thought as he analyzed the mans build and his movements. ‘Yes I’ll wager he has killed before…’ He concluded before he shifted his gaze to the fox woman.

Her childlike manner and kindness was a bit foreign to him at this moment and he wrought instant dislike of her for the sole reason that she was part canine. ‘Great a Canine bred woman just what I need.’ He thought as he examined her gear gauging her very low on his threat scale.

Then his eyes fell one Angela and the panther cub that accompanied her. ‘A panther cub? That is an odd pet for a human… Could she be the one I have been tracking… her scent is faint and it is hard to discern whether that woman is her or not…’ He thought to himself calculating the best course of action for him to take.

He could just walk out there and ask her outright, but then what if this was a trap? He would be playing right into their hands if he did so and would be outnumbered and most likely out classed. He considered shifting into his cat form and speaking directly to either the cub or the woman to find the answers to his questions. That had a chance of success unless his tiger cub form brought about suspicion making them suspect him for what he was.

He expanded on the idea of communication and decided to try going on impulse. As he walked he shifted from his human form to his anthromorphic cat man form. As he walked his bones began to change silently but painfully his weak brittle human fingernails splitting open as his cat claws sprouted forth. His red fur sprouted from his body his hair growing wildly forming a mane like shape around his face. His nose shrank to a tiger like nose as his human ears melted into his skull giving way to his cat ears which sprouted from beneath his hair the fur turning gradually gray as it reach the tips of it. His hands became more muscular and his back arched in pain while his tail grew outwards forming a brush like shape.

Lastly his red eyes shifted from human in appearance to that of a wild animal dilating and shifting to a cat’s eye shape retaining their blood red color. He let out a soft growl as he got down on all fours cracking his neck prowling after his prey once more.

He realized now was his chance and he hid amongst the trees and using his feline communication skills he called out in whispers to the panther sounding just like an older panther to any one who didn’t speak feline. “You there, pantherrrr cub. Tell me arrrrre one of yourrrrrr companions feline in naturrrrrre?” He purred quickly changing his position after he did so in case the other members of the small party heard him.

He climbed a tree and hiding amongst its branches like the predator he was he called out again, “If so please tell me… I have been searrrrching forrrr so long for anotherrrr of my kind.” He watched silently as the party approached his tree his purrs audible to all who listened but only understandable to those who spoke feline.


He spoke once more and purred, "If not worrrry no more about my presence as I shall go as I came. I have no need for meat this day."

He watched and waited ready to escape at a moments notice if the need arrived…

[Ran]

Sakura smiled when she let go of Angela. It was so nice that the fox was able to comfort the girl in the least. She hated seeing people cry it sometimes brought tears of her own and could sink the heart but it seemed things were a little easier. Even Dan seemed to try to comfort in his own cold way. Some people just didn’t warm up to people and stayed distant. That must have been up with him.

But what caused him to be that way or was it just him? Sakura didn’t know but she did appreciate the man acting as a guide being she was new to the area and Angela was blind it was very helpful. Yet Dan had too much fondness in saying how dangerous the forest can be but Sakura stayed quiet out of politeness, until they came to the fork.

Path of Screw, Path of Nail were the trails, who would name a trail path of Screw? Was Screw some kind of Coronian hero. Still that one seemed better as the Nail would make flight difficult especially for Angela. “Uh I think the other one would be safer, I’m in no rush and it’d be better to have an easy escape if we’re ambushed.” Sakura gave her advice though something caught her ear. A large cat was sending a mix of growls and mews from the trees up above. Sakura was sure the large cat was following them.

Sakura took out her own staff; though its purpose was mostly fighting she could use it for extra support. The large cat was probably to cause a problem. “I’ll take Angela. Hopefully my fox magic will keep the Cat away.” The Sakura tried to stay calm as she moved to Angie; she didn’t want to see the blind girl hurt anymore.

Sakura conjured her second ghost fire for light and hopefully it’ll scare off the large predator. The pale blue flame was born with a small flash and hovered slightly above the fox girl. Sakura looked in the tress for the big cat as her tail twitched with fear.

[Slayer of the Rot]

'Kill them.'

They weren't even into the Way of the nail for a mile when Dan stopped in the middle of the path. Suddenly, it wasn't so quiet in this forest. In his head rose a cacophony of chaos; the gnashing of teeth, the roar of fire, the sharp continuous report of automatic gunfire, cries of those slipping into death, the shrieks and moans of those being butchered. He clutched his head in a cold hand that shined like metal, and doubled over at the waist, his knees buckling. He caught himself so he only ended up crouching.

'Kill them now! No second thoughts! Slaughter them like all those people in Radasanth!'

'It's different. The girl's blind. I won't.'

'They're parasites...fuckers tried to kill you.'

'Wha...'

He knew what he'd find when he turned around. It was Angela and Sakura, but warped by his sick mind. Now they were drenched in blood, his parent's blood, Meredith's blood. They held makeshift blades, a stop sign post broken and sharpened, a chipped kitchen knife. Wide smiles revealed sharp and gore caked teeth. There was a sudden moment of clarity when he realized tghat it wasn't real. Little Angela was simply staring blindly ahead, and Sakura perhaps standing nearby, concerned for the both of them. He knew that sanity was only a step away. This sickness was all the work of Adrammalech. This hatred of the weak, these bloody, psychopathic rampages, even the way he talked now, it was all the work of that parasite inside him.

'They're cowards. They'll drag you down. They're weak. Kill them now!'

As soon as he saw it clearly, he slipped back into the madness. But still he fought. It had been proven many years prior that he had a nigh undominatable will, otherwise his spirit would have been crushed eleven years before this. He suddenly became aware of a strange burning in his chest that soon began to amount into an agonizing fire. Still it built, and he realized with a start that he could taste the bitter, coppery flavor of his own blood. It spilled out from between his teeth and dribbled on the shadowed path before him.

'The girl's like me...lost it all...'sides, I told you, no women, no children, when you came along. You tiwsted my world perspective. Made me do it anyway.'

'It's different. They're not human, or anything else. They're just a bunch of filthy animals. You'll be doing the world a favor, killing these strays.'

He struggled to his feet, the blood strill dripping from his mouth. His hand clenched his chest, where the fire was the strongest. It felt like it was poised to eat him alive, then burst forth and eat up every bit of dry tinder and living being around. For some reason, amidst all the bloody chaops in his head, he could only think of the Rotslayer. Needed it's comfort. Needed it's power. Maybe it was Adrammalech trying to make him summon the blade to force him to kill them? He didn't lnow for sure, for the titan had stopped talking, but he couldn't stand it any longer. The humungous blade appeared in his hand, and it's sudden weight made him fall forward a bit, driving it's point into the ground, leaning against.

So here he was, the Destroyer. So why wasn't he destroying?

Before, he'd felt only a bit flustered at the lack of details entailing Angela, but now he found himself extremely frustrated with the lack of knowledge of his own mind and body worked anymore. As his hand wrapped around the hilt, and his burning body laid against the blade, devoid now of blood, the terrible things in his head began to vanish. Adrammalech's voice weakened, and the fire diminished to nothing. Maybe the Rotslayer, a vision of his marginally proud past, was some sort of talisman against the titan? As the native american's of his original home had stones to ward off harmful spirits? No, that couldn't be it. He'd been holding Rotslayer the entire time he'd been tearing a bloody swath through Radasanth.

It was at that moment, he felt something small and hard in his fist, where he he'd clutched his shirt desperetaly. The crucifix? A symbol for a religion he'd long forgotten? It had to be. Maybe the pair combined, kept the titan away. Happy for anything, he tugged at the thing and snapped it's chain, and wrapped it around his wrist, so the little cross fell into his hand. Groaning, he wiped away the blood at his chin with the back of his hand and spat, grinning grimly as he looked up at the girls. Brave. Didn't run or anything. "Sorry, little ladies, got demons in my head that make me do bad things. That's all right though. It's just like any other condition, I guess it can be treated. Think it's time I ought to be getting you two off to Radasanth, and out of these fucking woods. Too long in it, brings the worst out in people." Muttering something rather abrasive, the slayer slung his sword over his shoulders and limped forward, away from the Way of the Nail, and towards the Way of the Screw.

[Darkdestiny]

The growling of the larger cat off in the woods may of disturbed Sakura, but it didn't disturb the young cub and his Mistress. In fact, Shadow's head and ears perked up as he glanced in the direction of the growls. Angela heard them too, and responded in the same manner as her panther cub.

"Huh? You're lookin' for Cat people?" The cub trotted toward the voice, and peered up at the cat man whom was crouched down in hiding, ignoring the protective reaction of Sakura, and not sure what to make of Dan's little.... trauma.

"Hey! You're a Homo-Felinus! Angela adopted me when hunters killed my parents. She told me she was looking for another Homo-Felinus for a very very very very very long time."

While Shadow spoke to Derrick, Angela placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder, feeling around by chance of finding her friend. She did not hear mere growls and the sort, what Angie heard was words. "Sakura, I know that language. It's Felinus. I speak it fluently, being as I am a feline myself. Please allow me to find out who is out there before either of you do anything rash."

By this time, Dan had started to limp away; but Angie refused to follow him until she met the source of the voice. Her staff tapped along the ground, and she shapeshifted while she walked. White fur began to cover her body, her fingers developed claws replacing the once human nails.

Upon her shoulders, barely visible from beneath the sleeves of her belly shirt were black stripes; and even more black stripes appeared upon her inner and outer thighs. Her face became cat shaped; even her eyes became cat-like slits. Whiskers grew from her face, as her nose shrunk changing to a cat's nose. Even the nose appeared to be white.

Her ember colored hair remained untouched, yet her ears melted away, moving up the side of her head until they reached the top shifting into pointed white cat ears with black streaks around the sides and tips. Finally a long thick white tail protruded from her buttocks, complete with black streaks all the way down to the tip.

In was a painful process, but once it was complete, she was able to adjust the angle of her ears to catch sound easier. Continuing to use her staff for support, her ears perked up twitching as she slowly approached the source of the voice.

Her heart was racing; what if it was a trap? Nonetheless, she had nothing to fear. She was positive Sakura and Dan would protect her if it were. But as cat's do, her curiosity and excitement was getting the better of her. Hope was rising in her heart, as her gray eyes stared in the direction of the other feline, yet somehow they were not looking at him.

"Hello? Is someone there? My name is Angela Ilene McCarthy. Me and my companions mean you no harm."

[Wilddeath]

Derrick watched all of their reactions from his perch in the tree branches and he found much joy in the act of watching Angela change into her hybrid form. ‘I’ve done it at last. Another one of my kind after all these years.’ He thought happily as he dropped from his branch to the ground landing on all fours his eyes filled with pain and relief.

He slowly stood his tiger like fur a mess from lack of grooming. He looked her over and saw at once the odd discoloration of her eyes. It didn’t take him long to come to the conclusion that she was blind. “Well met Angela Ilene McCarthy. I am Derrick Yillian and the feeling is mutual.” He said as he took several steps toward her.

Retracting his claws he reached for her hand with his own slowly as if this was all a dream he did not want to end. “Are you truly a Felinus? Or am I dreaming again of what can never be?” He asked before he took her hand in his feeling the warmth of her flesh and the fuzz of her fur.

In that moment everything else ceased to matter to him, all that mattered was the feeling of the person’s hand, which he now held. He didn’t care about Dan or about Sakura; all that mattered to him was this moment, this person whom he had been searching for. For the first time in eight years derrick did something, which he thought he would never do again.

A wide joyful smile spread across his face and a tear streaked down through his fur. He stared into her eyes for a short time then realized she could not see him. He immediately took out his pendant and let her feel it let her see through her fingers the crest that he wore around his neck. The symbol of his clan the birthright of his family the proof of his existence all these things were evident in this one piece of jewelry.

“I have waited eight years for this day to come. Yet now I am afraid it is all a dream. Are you truly real?” he asked her and awaited her response in silence completely oblivious to all else around him.


OOC: Wow that was annoyingly short... ill do bettter next time

[Ran]

Angela acted like she knew what the big cat was talking about with strange cat noises and it seemed like she did. Sakura found it strange for all the Neko she met and heard about they were the farthest removed from the core species, even lacking fur except for ears the and tail. But then again they didn’t call each other Neko: it was homo felinus.

While it was nice to know that the cat wasn’t an enemy but Dan was acting really strange. Sakura looked at the man swishing her tail and giving the cats some time to show off their shape shifting magic. Dan’s movement was more peculiar, as if his head was having a fight with his heart. But when Dan brought out a blade that would take 3 or samurai to lift made the girl yelp. Worse were the words he said last that might’ve drained the color from her skin except one couldn’t tell. It was madness.

The vixen turned to see what Angela thought but it seemed like she was so wrapped up with her fellow neko. How could they not know that something’s not right with Dan? But the way the male’s eyes looked and the tone of his voice. Love and yearning was the answer. Sakura knew enough spring times to see what it did with her older siblings when they had a fox from another clan.

Better stop staring or you’ll get bopped. Sakura looked at the ground, getting bopped was the least she got when caught staring at her sisters and brothers exchange loving words. She also been tossed in the lake and hung upside down with the word ‘spy’ died into the fur on her belly.

Sakura left the two lovebirds to their ways; she had an idea what would be coming up and didn’t want to interrupt and get bopped, Angela seemed too nice to do worse. All that was left was to help Dan, if she could.

The large man was heading towards the path of the screw, Sakura made a quick step to catch up to the swordsman. “Dan is there anything I can help with?” Sakura although she had the feeling the answer would be ‘no’. But still she felt she needed to try. Something about that last motions he made felt like there was some pain in them and she was hoping that she could help as they walked to the city.

[Slayer of the Rot]

"Don't touch me," he growled towards Sakura, jerking his shoulder away from her, thoroughly pissed at the weakness he felt in his legs. While Adrammalech might be only on the fringes of his mind, and he was still feeling like his older self, he couldn't stand being touched by those weaker than him. Frowning a bit at his own rudeness, he shook his head and tucked a stray strand of hair back into place. "It's nothing you should worry about. Nothing you'd really understand, anyways. It's the work of men and devils, really."

'Look at them, the disgusting little cats. I bet if we weren't here, they'd be stripping each other naked and screwing on the forest floor.'

'That's enough. I'm in control now, and you're damned sure that I'm going to find a way to get you out of me. I won't be your fucking murder tool anymore.'

'You're weak. You could have the power to destroy nations and turn the seas red with blood if you'd let me give you power. Look at you, you're lucky if you'll be able to lift your sword.'

'I don't need you for anything. You really are just a parasite, you know that?'

'Enough of your prattling! Give yourself to me! Everything that makes you who you are! Your body and being!'

Deep within himself, a great red furred claw reached up and took hold of his consciousness. The titan held fast, pulled and struggled, dragging him down into the very pits of his mind that he'd thrust Adrammalech moments ago. The titan was right; in such a way he was weak. No matter how much he kicked and fought, he began to lose sight of himself, and who he really was, and by the time he thought to tell Angela and Sakure to run, his body was not his own anymore.

The slayer suddenly stood ramrod straight, completely oblivious to the pain he'd just been suffering moments ago. From his wrist, he tore the crucifix and shoved it deep into his pocket, where it would have no bearing. Turning then, the light of the moon caught his ghastly expression; a smile too wide to be friendly, teeth to sharp and oddly shaped to be human. They had an animalistic quality to them, but a far worse purpose. "Eight long, lonely years, has it been? Oh, how very distressing. But I'm afraid you'll have to wait for an eternity to see her pretty face again, because I'm going to split it right down the middle. But not before I have a bit of entertainment first."

Rotslayer vanished, and he took one single step forward towards Derrick and Angela, the action full of menace and purpose. "To break your legs and arms so you can't move, then tear your stomachs open and tear your organs out. First though, I want to cut off your fingers, cat boy, and stuff them into your little girlfriend's mouth. I want her to taste what makes you, you. Then I'll disembowel her, and I suppose that you can watch." By now, it shouldn't have been painfully evident that there was something wrong with him; the smile, the timbre of his voice, the gruesome threats, even the way he moved. "But I can be a sport about this, though. Maybe you can get to the city before I eviscerate you. After all, hunting is just so much more fun." With that, he dashed into the woods, disappearing into the dark within moments.

For a few minutes, the calm returned to the atmosphere. there came even the sounds of the forest fauna again, the occassional tweet of the bird, the garbled cry of some other animal, the muffled growl of a bear. Then, it was all shattered again as the sound of splintering wood and creaking tore through the air. Twenty feet behind them, a tall oak tree fell to the forest floor with a loud BOOM, scattering creatures from hiding. The thunderous noise echoed continuously through the night and ruffled the trees, but the truly worrisome sound came from above.

"Better start running."

[Darkdestiny]

"Yes, I am real. In fact, I was about to ask you the same thing." Angela told Derrick, purring as she touched his face running her hands up to his ears, feeling every bit of his animalistic qualities. His soft fur, his cat-like ears, his whiskers; she had finally found another of her kind, after all these years of being alone.

However the sudden change in atmosphere ruined the mood, slicing through it like a knife through butter. Everything went silent; and the next thing she heard was Dan speaking. But what worried her the most, he didn't sound like himself. His sudden tone of voice, and the words he spoke sent chills through her tail and up her spine.

Her ears perked up, swiveling toward his voice as she turned toward where the sounds were emitting. Did he just say he was going to kill them?

No, it was far worse then that. He was going to torture them, let them die slowly. But could she be hearing him right? He spoke of their fear, pain, and suffering as if this was a mere game to him. Life is a game, a toy for him to play with and break, as he desires?

Fear swept through her heart, and appeared within her eyes. He was a monster, her friend that had been so kind to her only moments ago was a heartless, murderous, monster.

Now lost in her own thoughts and fears, it took her a few minutes to register his voice telling them to run; and Shadow pushing the back of her leg pleadingly as he let out his shouts in his own language; which would appear to be small meows and baby growling sounds.

"Angie! Angie, run! Move it!"

"Run.... where...how...?"

"Transform and me Sakura and Derrick can help you! Hurry, he's coming!"

Angela barely had time to think, this sudden change in Dan frightened her to no end. Was she to die in these woods? Was it fate for the last two Felinus alive to meet and die together? No, it couldn't be so; however this 'game' was no fantasy. Lives were now at risk.

Within minutes, the young catgirl began to transform. Her muscles were changing, her bones twisting with an eerie and painful cracking sound. Her spine began to arch and change shape, her body losing its human-like shape as she shrunk in size.

The arch in her back forced her to all fours, causing her to cringe in pain as she changed into a small white tiger cub. Once the transformation was complete, Shadow pushed his body against the other cub nudging her in the direction he wanted her to go.

"Derrick! Get Sakura and run! We have to get out of this forest and to the City!"

Her voice was nothing but growls now to anyone that didn't speak Felinus; but nonetheless her tone sounds frantic, yet uncertain at the end. She was never in the city before; she never met other races outside of Felinus aside from Dan and Sakura. And even then, she had only just met them today; and had no clue what races they were for that matter.

She only knew they had to move and they had to move now. This situation was tedious to her, but her trusty companion wasn't going to leave her behind as he nudged her along and run ahead a ways telling her to follow his voice; returning to her side if she were to take a wrong turn.

The four paws of the Black Panther cub padded along the ground as fast as they could follow by the four paws of the white tiger cub. Angie's ears were erect, swiveling in the directions of Shadow's meows and cries as she attempted to keep up with him.


"Watch out!" Shadow shouted as he jumped over a low tree branch.

Angela could hear his warning, and heard the sound of the black cub jumping into the air and landing on the ground snapping a few twigs, and rustling a couple leaves. Unfortunately, her own timing was off as Angie jumped into the air too late, her left hind leg becoming snared by a few vines and branches.

"I'm stuck!"

"Angie! Hold on, I'm coming!"

Shadow growled, jumping over her side, chewing and ripping at the vines that had latched themselves around her ankle. His claws and fangs worked with all their might, but in his rush to get away from Dan it wasn't easy to get a good grip to free his friend.

[Wilddeath]

Derrick narrowed his eyes at the man everything happening too fast for him to do anything useful. He heard every vile word that came from the mans’ mouth and realized that the reason the smell of blood had been fresh was most likely because this man had murdered once more. He was disgusted that this man would treat people’s lives as some sort of sick and twisted play thing for his amusement. It reminded him of the humans who took pleasure in torturing him during his long years of imprisonment.

Before he could do anything the man had gone and Angie had turned into a white cub. Following Angie’s command he turned to Sakura and yelled, “Get a move on I don’t wish to be slain this day. I have worked too hard to survive to have it all end now at the hands of a lunatic!”

Quickly considering the dangers of each path and the advantages each would provide them as they ran from their predator Derrick made the best decision he could and ran towards Shadow and Angie. Extending his claws he yelled at the cub, “Move!” before he cut the vines and broke the branches that had ensnared Angie.

He then picked up both the cubs and holding them firmly in his arms he screamed to Sakura in a shaky voice, “Move it fox girl! Follow me if you don’t wish to be gutted!” He quickly ran down the path of the nail hoping that the darkness would give him a slight advantage over his enemy since as a cat he could see well in the dark. “Don’t worry you two I’ll get us out of this some how…” he whispered in the language of felines before jumping over a rotting log in his path.

Truly his agility would prove useful here but he knew he was no match for the hunter that now stalked them. He was no fool he knew that if they had to fight he would only be able to buy them a few seconds at best of time to get away. He prayed and he hoped that with his running speed he could make it to the town before Dan could do anything to harm them.

‘I will not lose her… I won’t watch any more of my kind be slaughtered by those who think that a life is something to be taken lightly… as something to play with as if it were the latest doll.’ He thought this as he ran barely taking any time to rest keeping his eyes and ears alert for any sound or disturbance in this path that could mean their death.

[Letho]

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