Finding a Purpose

[NightCast]

Open to two other people. This starts ten minutes after the end of my history, so see there for referencing.

The rain continued pattering as Morgoth lay beneath the tree. Never before had he felt so beaten. Never before had he lain in this manner. Never before had he felt so alone. This was a time of firsts for him and frankly they all sucked. Anger suddenly surged through his body. Anger for the betrayal. Rage for the loss. Indignation for the pain. How could Nenal betray his master to his brothers? Why were Seraphiel and Lucifer working together? Why had DarkStrike given him such importance? Too many questions with no answers. Too many mysteries, with no motivation to solve them.

Wearily, without lifting his head, he saw that the red glow of his markings, which had again sprung into life at the recent flood of anger, was strangely subdued and dull in color. He imagined his eyes must look the same. His face collapsed into the mud, back into a normal position, with a soft squelching sound. His thoughts raced in an endless loop, never once stopping to allow him room to maneouver them into a reasonable pattern.

"Son of a Mother Fucking Bitch..." he whispered, trailing off at the end.

What the Hell was he supposed to do? He could go and actively try to find DarkStrike, at least there he had a lead. The "Void" was what he had to search for information on. Of course, if Lucifer hadn't been lying he could lie low for a while, gain back some strength and let DarkStrike return on his own. Hell, with how weakened he was now, it would be virtually impossible to detect him in the universe. Also he had some time, while he had given them wounds they wouldn't be forgetting any time soon, they certainly weren't mortal for an angel, let alone a Seraphim.

But he wasn't one for sitting around and doing nothing. He would find a way, perhaps lie low for a while and milk the strength that he would gain as his master drew nearer. Every bit would help. Now to get himself off the damn ground. Groaning slightly, he stood and looked to the east.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, " DarkStrike had once told him. So it did indeed. He took a step forward and began to stagger towards an unseen and unknown destination.

Wow, this didn't come out nearly as good as I had hoped. Ah, well maybe once I get into the swing of things around here my writing will too.

[Seraphima]

Sara wouldn't really mind the rain if she was in a town. At least in town, the rain made definitive sounds against streets and buildings. Here in the woods, it dampened the roads, making her uncertain if she had sure footing in the slick mud. It also fell in a soft hush, which was quite soothing, but hid other sounds. Actually, it hid other sounds so well that she felt like she walked in a void. For a blind woman in the forest, slippery footing and sensory deprivation could be as good as a death sentence.

Sighing, the blind woman turned her head down to her left, where she knew her dog would be. He whined softly, giving her an auditory reassurance that he was still there beside her.

"Where are we, Maurz? Near anywhere or any one? It's so cold, Maurz...so cold in the rain." Futilely, she wrung some water out of her long curly hair, and brushed some away from her dress. "I guess...we should keep moving."

As she reached down to grab her dog's harness, Sara paused as she felt a familiar tightness grip her lungs. Before she could stop it, she was doubled over, coughing so hard that she had to brace her cane hard into the muck in order to not fall over. She could barely hear Maurz whimpering at her side as cough after cough wracked her frail frame, sending fresh jolts of agony through her at every lung-ripping cough and every burning breath.

Finally the fit stopped, and she stayed hunched for a moment, breathing heavily. The touch of Maurz's tongue on her hand brought her back to herself, and she patted his wet head, smiling painfully.

"I'm all right, Maurz. And your fur...gets so very stringy when it's wet. We'll brush you once you dry off some, after the storm."

She smiled as the dog barked, and laughed as he shook. "Hey! I'm getting a bath too! No need to share." Scratching him briefly behind his ears, she picked up the lead and started prodding her way forward again. "I don't know, Maurz...should we have left home?" Home was in reference to the home of an elderly couple who had cared for her. It was her earliest memory, and only barely a year old. "Everything was easy then. Stupid me and my pride, wanting to find my own way..." she sighed softly.

After a few minutes, she heard a groan from up ahead, and then a few splorch sounds as someone staggered to his feet. He didn't sound in the best of health, either...and she was almost sure it was a man. Or it could be no body, and the rain could be playing tricks on her mind.

"Umm..." she ventured softly, with her soothing dove's-hush voice, "excuse me? Are you all right? ... Is anyone there at all?"

[Christoph]

Christopher trudged miserably through the rain, a bundle of sticks under his arm and his white, wet, weather beaten chef coat sticking to his torso like an extra layer of skin. The muddy earth threatened to devour his feet as he continued back to the road. He hadn’t heard the rumbling of thunder yet, but he could feel the energy in the air. In truth, he was going out of his way by returning to the road; however, he couldn’t afford to get lost, and the road would lead him back to his camp reliably. Wet or otherwise, his fire needed more wood if it was going to last the night.

On the bright side, this was far from the most miserable point in his journey through Corone. There weren’t any zombies trying to eat him, he wasn’t being robbed, and he wasn’t being held in a cold cell like a criminal. He was just freezing down to his core as he trudged through the rain with soaked firewood. The chef assured himself that his trip was nearing its end. He’d just left Underwood and was on his way back to Radasanth. Over a dozen contracts had been worked out with all manners of merchants, warehouse owners, and ship owners in Corone, all of which would benefit his mother’s Inn. Soon, he could go back home.

Chris finally reached the road as the first bestial growl of thunder emanated off in the distance, muffled by the massive, ancient trees that surrounded him. The entire scene reminded him far too vividly of his encounter with the undead within the forest. He assured himself that the zombies he had faced in Concordia were far away, even if they were still shuffling about. This did little to reassure him. Were he wrong, there would be no one to help him this time.

Setting off down the road in the direction of his unoccupied camp, the chef desperately hoped that his large fire was still alive. He doubted that even his magical fire would be enough to bring it back to life with the rain intensifying. It was just him, alone with the sounds of his own cracked leather shoes grinding atop the mud and rocks that made up the forest road. He was on his own; just himself, and the soft female voice coming from behind him -- wait!

Christopher spun around to see a form that appeared to be a man staggering down the road. He appeared exhausted, and possibly injured. A slender woman was coming up behind him. Through the rain, he could make out a stick or cane of some sort in her hand and a large, shaggy dog at her side. The chef moved toward the two cautiously; the gods only knew who were bandits and who were honest travelers.

“Are you two all right?” he called, cursing his own good-natured foolishness. Still, he couldn’t very well just leave them to their own devises, especially when he had a relatively warm camp already made. As he grew closer, he realized that something the woman looked familiar. He would have recognized that blind girl from Scara Brae with the bandage around her eyes and her dog anywhere. But what were the odds of that being true? Surely there were many blind females in the world. “Do you need any help?”

[Samoa]

Landlocked air tastes different, he thought. Soil, trade and women. The smell of these things is almost foreign.

It might have been that he was grateful for the steadiness that today settled firmly under his feet. Upon closer inspection, however, the old wrinkles on Wrae’s young face provided another argument. These were wrinkles born from wind and rain, but today especially, of restlessness. It was someone’s birthday, and songs played in and out of his ears, invisible and inaudible to anyone but him. Wrae Launcey, forced from his seaborne home for another week of mending and foraging. Worse, he couldn’t remember just whose birthday it was.

The weather had been difficult lately. Three days ago they’d lost a sail to the wind and they had cursed. There was nothing they could do or say. Wrae thought it looked rather like a kite.

We are all, he thought, subject to the same great forces. Not the strongest sailor, the bravest soldier could outmuscle the clouds of change and fortune. Good and evil, these words meant nothing under the heat of lightning. Right or wrong, these ideas wilted under the face of the constant sun.

His introductory paragraphs completed succinctly, Wrae tuned his attention to his surroundings. His feet were wet from weeks of seawater, and his hair was matted down the sides of his head with the unrelenting encouragement of the rain. Turning his face toward the sky, a smile wrote itself across his face at the winking stars. There was nothing quite comparable to a walk in the forest.

Athi floated down with a whisper and Wrae put out his hand. The gold-brown owl gave him a collected glance as it swept by and rose again, reassured. The sky was safe, but friendship made a stronger bond. Wrae had often stroked the proud bird’s chin feathers and lifted it to his shoulder. Two sets of eyes probed the glistening greenery ahead and below.

A soft voice to his left stirred Launcey’s senses. A hushed hoot overhead indicated that roving Athi had also noted the irregularity. An uncomfortable feeling welled up in Wrae’s stomach, and he regretted having had such a good time the night previous. With a staid pace, he made his way between leaves and bushes. It was the unknown nature of life that so thrilled him. It was that which could not be mapped, even in the most mundane of locales.

(Edit: corrected punctuation)

[NightCast]

Hey, look, I ask for two, I get three. I must be so damn popular :-p Well, Ranger was going to jump in on this quest too, he's still more than welcome, but otherwise no more people please ^.^

The sighing of the trees was audible to the weakened Morgoth. Great oaks, maples, and other mighty symbols of the forest towered above him in regal grace, while he covered in mud that, even now, slid silkily off of him as the rain bestowed its cleansing grace upon him and the rest of these woods. These thoughts invigorated the distraught beast and he felt himself become more than just a single beast in a universe, he felt himself become connected and a part of something greater than he. Joined with the rabbit who cowered in its home avoiding the gaze of the ever watchful eye of those that prey upon it. But were his actions really necessary? Would the worlds not continue to exist without him?

Insignificance...

This single word, not spoken once, but hovering above him like a vulture, brought his spirits, which had momentarily soared, crashing down to the earth once more. No longer did he feel connected to the rabbit. No more did he feel to be a part of Nature. Sighing deeply, he froze when he heard someone call out. Turning on his heel slowly, his claws lengthened and the glowing tribal markings lit up. Almost directly behind him, but little ways back was a woman, a bandage around her eyes and a dog. Morgoth had seen the likes of women similar to this one, blind people who used animals, usually a dog to guide them. The dog would probably start to growl, alerting its master to his presence, which was something he didn't want. Drawing attention to himself this early in his stay on an unknown planet was not something that appealed him. For all he knew the people here ate things like him for breakfast and shot laser beams out their asses. He reckoned that that would cause quite a few forest fires, in which case, why...

Focus, he thought. He didn't need to lose himself to a bunch of puddlefuck ideas.

Hesitating and wondering whether he should answer, another man approached coming in from the side, near the woman. This one appeared to be normal, though Morgoth had seen incredibly weird things happen so he wasn't going ot make any real judgments just yet. First on his 'To Do' List was getting out of sight. Morgoth walked slowly to his left, hoping to remain in the sailors blind spot, willing the glowing to die, which it did instantly, and retracted his claws. He found shelter behind a tree (go figure) slightly off to the left. He didn't know if the dog would try to lead her over to him, but either way he wasn't in a particularly good position. Time would dictate whether he would be discovered and survive.

[Samoa]

The forest itself bristled with movement. Each blade of grass against its neighbor, each leaf singing in the gently increasing wind. The browns and greens gathered themselves into a curtain impenetrable to all but the most thorough of searchers.

Like the compass in his pocket, Wrae instinctively spelled his way forward in a pattern of planned footsteps. The barometric pressure was rising, and his skin seemed tighter across his blemished shoulders. Not another human sound rose up to lead him.

Crouched at last behind the immense stump of some fallen tree, Wrae was not startled to find Athi already perched on a low branch next to him. Ahead, the rain blended the hues of the forest into a wash of running colors. In the midst of this pool of greenery was the pale form of a girl. Almost glowing, fancied Wrae. His stomach continued to curdle even as ideas tossed in his head like a forbidden salad. Launcey sighed at his sailor’s psyche, and stood to absolve himself of secrecy.

In that second, several things took place.

A young man about the age of the girl stepped out from his own cover to Wrae’s right. This new presence, dressed rather blearily in a stained white apron that otherwise shouted fine dining, threw a whole new set of variables into the situation. In social dilemmas such as this, Wrae was unspeakably uncomfortable. Strangers in the woods. He recoiled slightly.

In the same moment, Athi abruptly made his appearance, but in fact flew directly over its master’s head and to an especially thick portion of plant life. A confident hoot floated down on them all, but Wrae’s intestines lurched. Hot uncertainty rose in his throat, and his palm tingled. A smaller form also caught his attention as it moved across the ground. It was a dog, and with such animals he was inexperienced.

Something was in his soul. Smells of home and hurt and nature filled his heart. Something as empty as the nightmares in his sleep crept only just out of reach; his sister wept anew in the clouds. The sensation was as intense as it was painful.

Wrae knew instantly he would need to override his trepidation if he was going to get the most from this dual encounter.

“Excuse me,” he stumbled, “I’m… lost.”

Godammit. He knew exactly where he was. Lost! The concept eluded him.

“What the hell,” he mumbled as an appendix.

[Seraphima]

She'd thought that she'd been hearing things for a moment -- the rain tended to do that to her, especially in unfamiliar places. Much to her relief, though, she heard a schlork from a bit farther up ahead, and another traveler started calling to her from up ahead. And he sounded familiar.

She felt her posture relax and a smile come to her face, and she prodded forward a little more. "Hello! Do you..." suddenly another voice came from her left, a presence she hadn't been aware of before. "Oh...hello. I'm lost, too."

She could only imagine what she looked like to the two men -- half drowned and cold as she was. "I'm Seraphima, but that's something of a mouthful, so I go by Sara...and my dog is Maurizio -- also something of a mouthful, so he goes by Maurz." The dog wagged his tail and shook again.

"I'm all," suddenly she felt the tightness return to her lungs, and her next words were punctuated by deep coughs that were still milder than what she had been suffering. "All right...just a...a little damp. I thought I...heard some....someone over there." She took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself as the coughing stopped. Maurz nudged her leg gently, and she patted his head, giving him the reflexive reassurance that they both knew was a lie.

"Excuse me," she said, dismissing her coughing to the two men before moving back to her previous subject. A small frown formed across her delicately sculpted features as she gestured a few paces ahead, where she'd thought she'd heard footsteps. "Was there someone there, or were my ears playing tricks on me?" Her head turned back to the man on the road. "And...do I know you? Your voice sounds familiar...but I can't quite place you."

[Christoph]

No sooner did Chris step out and call to the pare of ragged and wet travelers on the road than did another seemingly random man pop up out of the darkness. The only word that could come to the chef’s mind to describe the newest stranger was “brown.” Through the pelting rain, that was just about all he could make out.

Of course, Chris thought. As usual, I go to offer help to someone, and then every random person within five miles is drawn right to my location. Still, he didn’t really have the will or energy to complain. He grew closer, the first man he’d seen scurried off the road. Of course, it was completely useless as a measure of hiding, since Chris was watching the entire time. At last, he came to a stop, turning to face the blind-folded girl. He was sure that he recognized the pretty face and the dog. At that moment, though, he didn’t make a strong effort to place where and when he’d seen her.

“We... may have met,” the chef replied, obvious uncertainty in his voice. He glanced around, taking a tally of everyone. There were four of them including himself, five if he counted the dog. The slender blind girl looked pale and sickly, almost ghost-like, and shivered in between fits of coughing. In addition, even without her eyes, a disoriented look was obvious on her face. She was probably trying to figure out where everyone was, and the rain and everyone’s movement was surely hindering. The soaked chef decided to try and resolve her problem.

“All right, everyone stop moving around for a second,” he said, his voice full and loud enough to be heard by everyone. Even so, his tone was calm and more soothing than agitating. He touched the girl gently on the shoulder to hold her attention before speaking up again, his voice slightly softer, though still perfectly audible. “All right... I’m standing in front of you, this other man is right next to me, and the first man that I’d seen you standing with when I stumbled onto the road up ahead shuffled off into the woods on your left for... some reason.” He paused and glanced around again like a shopkeeper doing an inventory.

“Okay, I think that’s everyone. Except for your dog, of course. He counts, too.” Chris lowered his palm in front of the dog’s nose, allowing him to get a good sniff. He sighed wearily, unsure of why he’d felt the need to try and take charge of the situation. He marked it off as just being his constant need to be doing something. “Listen, everyone who may or may not be lurking about for whatever reasons: I have a camp set up a quarter of a mile up this road. I hope to the gods that the fire is still going. If anyone would like to share in the warmth, feel free to follow me."

[NightCast]

I need to make a few changes here, but I won't be changing the core of it. Most likely I'll be adding on at a later date more to how he got there. Post fucking sucks as it stands

He was gone.

Moving swiftly away from the site of his dismay, Morgoth wandered blindly through the foilage. He had used the talk and the dog's growling to conceal his departure through a tight web of green leaves and thin vine-like flowers. He had no intention of being discovered, nor did he have the strength to fight three not including a ridiculous amount of pets. Damn animals, flitted through his mind like the whisper of a silk cloak and it was all that he thought of for the time being. Despite trying to pick his way through the undergrowth with care, he found himself wondering if he could possibly make anymore noise. The cracking and crushing of leaves and sticks was thoroughly irritating for one who, at the height of his power, could slip through walls and go undetected in the most heavily guarded place in the universe with relative ease. Yet, here he was traipsing through the ferns, grass, and other odd assortment of bio-life forms like an unorthodox knight in iron armour. As far as he knew, it couldn't get much worse than this.

But as the old saying goes, once you had hit rock bottom, someone always tosses a bundle of dynamite in after you.

And so when a particularly thick vine did not give way when he tried walking through it, he toppled forward, crashing through the small lower limbs of the surrounding trees. Scrabbling to grab onto something, his claw-like hands found a seemingly sturdy vine, that just happened to be a snake. A small shout later, he wrenched himself away from the snake and crashed intoa small clearing landing on his back. A campfire burned lightly, with a lot of smoke from the rain. Angry and slightly scared, Morgoth rolled over and collapsed into unconciousness.

[Samoa]

Wrae felt more at ease once the girl had responded to his awkward introduction. He had an unco-operative tongue, but she had a kind spirit. The sailor was also concerned that she might be sick.

He shook his head as the girl suggested the presence of a fourth party.

“I don’t know,” he answered indistinctly.

The cook and the pale girl exchanged preliminary greetings, and Wrae attempted to re-locate his faithful scout. The bird had dissolved into the vertical lines of rain and moonlight. Wrae searched visually through the crowding bushes and stooped trees, but found little more than several shades of black and green. The leaves were curtains between him and so many secrets withheld.

“..feel free to follow me,” the cook was saying.

Not having paid proper attention to chatter behind him, Wrae turned back around to face his companions.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “You have a fire close by?”

He paused to consider the situation. One thought in particular seemed more important than the flood of nonsense that seemed to be running down his scalp.

“Perhaps we should make shelter? I don’t think you’re well,” he addressed Sara.

Wrae didn’t particularly mind the rain himself. Fresh and cool, droplets fell rapidly from his nose and chin. His throat constricted slightly as a faint turbulence reached his ears from out ahead of the small party.

“I think you’re right,” he added quietly, and took a few steps in the general direction of the disturbance.

Wrae dug his nails into his palm impulsively. Tight and tighter, like the sensation in his chest. The drenched navigator finally eased his fist to reach for the reassuring chill of the knife at his hip. Dense, warm fluid bled onto the hilt, and he winced.

Taking a few tentative steps forward, Wrae strained his hearing to the limit of feasibility. Not a god-forsaken snap of a branch. Healthy verdure rose like a tangled archway around him. His slender body found a path nevertheless. Brushing past peeling trunks and over fallen trees slick with moisture. He was not a hunter, but he could hold a direction.

Several moments later, Wrae succeeded in stumbling directly over what seemed to be a tangled mound of shadow. With a curse, he tumbled into the flickering orange aura of a campsite.

The huddled form could have been a man. Unsure of how this would play out, Wrae tensed his body and crouched on the edge of the sporadically lit clearing.

"Who is it?" he inquired instantly.

Dark and difficult to define in the half-light, the creature was stirring.

[Taskmienster]

This thread has been sitting since before the beginning of this year (2009). Since no response has been made to create activity I am going to be moving this. If you would like it to be reopened please feel free to PM myself or another admin and they will be able to move it for you back to the Peaceful Promenade.