Ruins of the Past...and Future

[Karuka]

((Closed to Witchblade, bunnies approved over IM or PM.))

A lot had changed about Karuka Tida since she'd squirmed her way out of a little cavern in Alerar a little more than a year before. She'd stood toe to toe with mythical beasts and powerful people, and had come out relatively unscathed. She had a new scar or two, and a fresh appreciation for life, but she could still walk the strange and wonderful world that she'd been set upon. That counted for something. She was healthier, a little taller, and had a lot more confidence beneath her sweet and brassy demeanor.

But the one thing that hadn't changed was that she hated traveling by boat. She'd actually tried her hardest to avoid travel by boat, having gone to Alerar from Corone, the shortest distance by boat, even if it would be many months travel to Dheathain on foot.

Gods alone knew why she'd been told where she was going, letting her try to take her own slow way...but it had allowed her to be back at the little cave in Alerar on her anniversary of coming to Althanas. And she'd met a very interesting man...but she didn't really want to think about Kor. He scared her a little bit. But he'd walked a while with her, and not long after they'd parted, she'd been directed to get right back on a boat.

Now she was stepping off the old, creaky barnacle-trap after a couple weeks of blissfully uneventful travel, and into the port of Talmhaidh. She'd loved the sound of Dheathain. She loved how the names of its places rolled musically off of her tongue like the words in her native language. She'd listened to tales of the Fae and Draconians, and they sounded like the stuff right out of legend from her own Ireland.

Stepping off the boat and into the city was actually something of a disappointment for the honey-skinned red-head. She'd been expecting to see the rolling green hills of her homeland, graced with leprechaun palaces, fae circles like the grand Stonehenge she'd been bounced through on her way to an Fraing*, and dragon caves with their hordes of money.

Instead, she found herself in a port town. It still smelled like day-old fish and rancid booze and sweaty sailors intermingled with local and foreign spices and wood smoke coming from deeper within the town and various types of food cooking at vendors' stands. There were still the crowded streets and cramped buildings abutting the docks. It was almost exactly like any of the ports she'd been through already.

But there were two noticeable differences, ones that made Karuka's disappointment melt away and turn into a type of wonder. It wasn't an assortment of humans that walked the streets, with the occasional Elf or dark-skinned Svaltar providing a contrast. Rather, tall people with scales and other lizard-like features dominated the crowded city-scape, with shorter humanoids with dainty wings walking among them. The HUMANS were the oddities in the scene.

The other difference was the language. Merchants spoke tradespeak with foreigners, but amongst themselves, the people spoke in the musical, lilting, flowing tongue that she'd grown up with. She could understand bits and pieces of conversations as she passed by people on the cobblestone streets. A father was looking for a present for his son, a mother was muttering a grocery list -- so utterly normal, and yet in a world where the common tongue was so different from her own, so utterly fantastic!

As she walked along, she heard someone calling out to her, and she turned to see a Draconian man motioning to her. As she approached, he held out a tuber to her with a grin.

"Now, lassie, ya look like a girl who could use a p'tata."

"P'tata?" Karuka shook her head and switched over to Gaelic. "But...what would I do with a nightshade plant?"

"Nightshade? Nightshade? Ah, lass..." the man laughed. "A potato is some of the best food you can eat. Humble in its origins, and bountiful in its gifts, you can steam it, boil it, fry it, put it in a stew, or bake it over a bed of hot coals like I've done here. I can't believe a good Dheath girl has never had a potato before."

"Dheath? Oh, I'm not from around here. I'm from somewhere else entirely. But the language is similar, by the grace of the gods."

"Somewhere else?" asked the man, leaning back in his chair. He gestured to a seat across from him and split open the potato, sprinkling some salt and pepper on it and handing it over to her.

"I'll treat you to lunch if you treat me to your tale."

Karuka looked down at the potato the Draconian was offering, as though he was a grandfather selling persimmons to pass the time, and had run across a particularly interesting child. Since she saw others wandering around with potatoes in their hands, she slid onto the stool and accepted the offering. The spud, which had fit easily into his hand, filled both of hers, and she took a tentative bite, surprised by the rich, full flavor of it -- moreso than bread.

"Well, the tale starts in a place called Ireland..."

~*~

After having told the Draconian grandfather her tale, Karuka had bought some more potatoes from him to cook and eat on the road, and had been treated to another hot one with salt and pepper. He'd told her to take care of herself on the way, and to be sure to come back and tell him if she had any new adventures in Dheathain. She'd also taken the opportunity to re-fill her empty two-gallon jug with ale from a local establishment, so she was as set for adventure and happy about it as an Irish lassie could be.

After some wondering, she found herself at the edge of town, looking at a bulletin board that offered various jobs, from hunting down people and creatures to searching ruins. She doubted that she'd take any of them, but some might be interesting. And it had given her something to look at while deciding whether she could or couldn't down more than a few bites of the massive potato she held.

Deciding she was still full from lunch, Karuka carefully wrapped the tuber to save with the others. It was a happy feeling, knowing that she didn't particularly have to worry about her next meal.

But what she would have to worry about was her next adventure...


*France

p'tata = potato.

If you want anything changed, PM me, and I'll fix it.

[Witchblade]

On the outside it looked like any other port city. Yet the longer she watched it and the people, the more she realized it operated differently. Boats came in and out with their varieties of fish and other aquatic animals. Merchant vessels made port, with fat men at the helm, rubbing their greedy hands together as they attempted to pilfer whatever goods they could from the region. There were small shops and stands set up all along the main street. Whatever words of persuasion the human merchants were using seemed to do them little good. Most of the Dheath people would not trade with them and those that would made it rather difficult. It brought a smile to her face. They may not hate humans as much as she did, but they appeared to have a general dislike towards the merchants. Regular humans they had no problem interacting with.

“Phuurrrieee!”

Sighing, the halfling sat up from her prone position. She had been comfortably lying on a large and mostly flat rock by the docks. With the sun high above her in a clear, blue sky and the gentle lapping of the ocean feet from her feet, she had been blissfully enjoying herself. That was until her familiar let out a rather distressed call for her. She couldn’t wait to see what kind of trouble he’d gotten himself into this time. What she found when she laid her eyes upon Daegun made a genuine smile crack through her stoic expression and soft laughter bubble up from her throat.

Her little pet dragon had certainly got himself into a sticky situation. The last time she’d laid eyes on him, he’d been chasing around some kind of hard-shelled blue creature with claws and lots of legs. Ugly looking thing really. Now he found himself surrounded by about ten of them. All of which seemed more than happy to turn him into their dinner instead of the other way around. That’s what he got for playing with his food, which apparently had a few friends lying about the area.

Daegun could growl and bite at them all he wanted to, but they would just continue to attack him from all sides. No matter what way he turned there was always at an unprotected area to attack. It didn’t matter that he was bigger and stronger, they had numbers and he flinched every time one of those claws tried to grab one of his white scales.

“What am I ever going to do with you?”

He didn’t necessarily respond to her, but he did let out another cry for help.

“All right, all right. I’m coming. I should allow them to attack you, maybe then it would teach you a lesson.”

He was so naïve. He couldn’t see the dangers in the world around him. Then again, she didn’t want him to. Witch would always be there to protect him so he didn’t have to look at the world he way she did. He could continue to watch it with wonder, curiosity and excitement in his eyes. It was almost impossible for him to stay like that forever, but still…she just wished he could.

Pushing herself off the rock, Witch walked over to Daegun, who still continued to dance between swiping claws that probably couldn’t even hurt him much anyway. She didn’t have to do much to scare off the creatures. Just step on one of them and the others all quickly fled the vicinity. Of course the sound of the thing crunching and then squishing beneath her boot was rather gross. Nothing like the sound of breaking bones. When she lifted her leg, a mass of goo and broken red shell were all that remained of the thing.

Now that they were once again scared of Daegun, he wasted no time pouncing on one and ripping its head off. This he quickly ate. Then he began feasting on the rest of the creature, her ears easily picking up the crunch of the shell as his teeth broke through it. Disgusted, she turned away.

It might be time to move on and find something to do. The port was calming, especially the sounds of the waves, but she couldn’t lay here forever. The halfling did happen to notice some kind of job or bounty board near the entrance to Talmhaidh. Perhaps she should go see if there was anything interesting on it. Then again, the last time she took a job it hadn’t turned out so well. But she didn’t want to think about her visit to The Iron Fort and the knowledge she had been gifted with within.

Waiting until Daegun finished his meal, Witch allowed him to crawl up onto her shoulder as she headed back into the heart of the city. Normally she stayed away from the main streets. There were too many shops, too many people and too much noise. However the streets here were different. There were still crowds and an overwhelming sense of jumbled speech, but the shop owners weren’t spewing forth meaningless words every second. In fact everyone was more laid back, as if they had all the time in the world. Of course she had heard that both the Dheath races live to be quite old. Would they outlive her?

Even here, Witchblade received looks from the locals. In other cities—in human cities—it was fear and apprehension. Though she mostly looked human, any human with a grain of common sense could tell she wasn’t. These people looked at her with curiosity, whether they thought she was human or not. She was not the norm here. And the fact that there was a white and silver baby dragon with pure black eyes perched on her shoulder and holding onto her head probably didn’t help.

“E-excuse me lady… but what are you?”

Witch stopped in her tracks and turned around to see a small Draconian child looking up at her with large black eyes that held no fear. Behind her was a group of her friends, totalling five that all seemed rather eager for her answer as if she held the mystery to life.

What should I tell them? That I don’t know…I’m not entirely sure? I’m some kind of mix between a vampire and another race I haven’t quite figured out yet. Is that a good enough answer for your curiosity?

It still bothered her that she didn’t know her own race, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had given up looking for her past. It was lost to the ages and years of searching had yet to reveal it. So why continue to torture herself and keep trying?

“I am nothing…”

The halfling turned from the children and continued to walk through dirt packed streets, passed beige stone houses and towards the edge of the city. All the while repeating that innocent question.

What am I?

She was so lost in her thoughts she had forgotten about the world around her. Only when Daegun jumped down from her shoulder did she return to reality.

“Uhh… Daegun!”

He didn’t stop. His little paws kicked up loose dirt and dust as he ran ahead of her towards a human of all things. He stopped at the edge of her feet, sniffing the area around her. Whatever it was he smelled, he clearly wanted. Before she could catch up, he was trying to grab a hold of the woman’s rucksack.

[Karuka]

Karuka had been about to turn around and wander away when all of a sudden a little dragonling scampered up and started sniffing at her bag, before grabbing hold of it and trying to rip it open. Startled, the red-head backpedaled, taking the bag out of the little troublemaker's grip before he could tear her only means of storing her possessions.

"Easy, easy there, wee 'un," she coaxed, and when the little thing scampered around her, still after the bag, she stood tall over him and told him commandingly to get down.

Perhaps the little guy was startled at the sternness of the tone, perhaps he just decided to switch tactics to better get what he wanted, but the white dragon with shining black eyes sat down and gently rubbed his nose against Karuka's leg, looking up at her pleadingly. This rather amused Karuka, since the last dragon she'd come up against had seemed more interested in trying to eat her than in begging for something in her bag, and she leaned down to scratch the little guy's head.

"Yer ay an odd 'un. Kinda cute, though."

Daegun nudged her bag with his nose again, whimpering softly, pleadingly for the morsel of food he could smell within. His tail swished back and forth in the dirt as he did his absolute best to be too darned cute to deny, and his efforts paid off when the red-head rolled her eyes and took out the potato, unwrapping it and handing half over.

"Best fer some'un t' enjoy i' while 'tis still warm," she said with a mild grin.

Daegun didn't need a second invitation, grabbing the first half and stuffing the whole thing into his mouth, and then grabbing the second half and scrambling back over to Witchblade, who Karuka hadn't noticed until the little dragon started running toward her. It was actually a pretty funny sight, a little dragon with stuffed hamster-cheeks scrambling up to his owner's shoulder and hiding behind her head, clutching half of a potato.

Karuka's grin widened as she stood up, brushing herself off.

"'Tis a right wee feisty 'un y' got there," she said, addressing the pale woman with dark hair and eyes. "Good thing he's a cute wee thing. I'm Karuka," She said in introduction, taking a few steps toward the woman while extending her hand to shake.

"Easy there, little one."

"You're a strange one. Kinda cute, though."

"Best for someone to enjoy it while it's still warm."

"It's a right feisty little one you have there. Good thing he's a cute little thing. I'm Karuka."

[Witchblade]

For a human she didn’t seem too bad. She treated her dragon with respect, even though he was a mythological creature that most humans looked down upon. After all, they assumed dragons to be a scourge on the earth. In their minds, the creatures’ horded money in caves and killed all of those who attempted to take it. The truth was far from that. Really, what use would a dragon have with a pile of gold, jewels and intricate armour anyway? It’s a dragon, it’s not as if it could really use any of that. Humans just feared things they didn’t understand and couldn’t control. Thus they killed them, because if they feared it then it couldn’t be natural. In their minds, anything that wasn’t natural deserved to die. Perhaps it was a strange way for her analyse their pattern of thinking, but it made sense on certain levels. This human though seemed a little different.

She smelled the same and looked the same, but she took the fact that there was a small, baby dragon attempting to claw her rucksack open in stride. In fact, after some pleading from Daegun, she even handed over whatever it was he’d wanted. Witch had no idea what the food item was, after all she didn’t eat, but Daegun sure seemed to be enjoying it. He shoved the entirety of the first half into his mouth, making it puff out on both sides. Then he grabbed the second half from her hand and ran all the way back over to her. He did have a hard time climbing back up to her shoulder with the brown and yellowish-white thing clutched in one of his paws.

“You better not get crumbs on my shoulder, or you can walk the rest of the way.”

He didn’t respond. Then again he probably wouldn’t be able to with all that food shoved in his mouth. Food he was quickly trying to chew and attempting to swallow. If he wasn’t careful he was going to choke and she didn’t know how to help him if such a thing happened.

The halfling’s attention snapped back to the human as she addressed her. Her tone polite and cheerful, but her voice was dripping with this strange accent that made her roll her r’s. In fact, it kind of reminded her of the way the Dheath people spoke. Taking another quick sniff of the air, she confirmed for herself that this Karuka was in fact human. Perhaps, the small chance that it was, she had grown up here.

When she moved towards her though, with her proffered hand, Witch took a step away. “Do not touch me, human. I don't like...to be touched.” The words were telepathically spoken. Her lips never moved, not that they really could as they had been long ago sown shut by a madman.

Witchblade absolutely hated that custom among humans to shake hands. She didn’t even understand the meaning behind it. One could converse and introduce oneself without touching another, so why did they feel the need to do so? Even other humans from different cultures all had a different way of greeting each other by touching. Some hugged, some clasped each other by the forearms. They were only a small handful that she had seen with different types of bows or other hand movements that didn’t actually involve physical contact. If she wanted to touch someone—which she clearly didn’t—she’d let them know. The likelihood of that happening was rather slim though.

Her eyes wandered away from the girl and towards the large board that was behind her. As the fates would have it, the very job postings she had been searching for were now behind the human. Brushing past her, her eyes tried to survey the board but she couldn’t read anything that was posted there. It was all written in Dheath.

“Damn…”

Now was one of those times when she cursed the fact that she couldn’t read other languages, only Common and Tradespeak. There was normally never a need for it. After all, she could use her telepathy to traverse into the minds of others and figure out what they were saying to her. So why would she need to understand their language? Well, for times like these when it was written and there was no mind for her to pilfer, only words left on pages nailed to wood.

“So much for picking a job up…”

Perhaps there was still something interesting she could find to occupy her time. She hadn’t gone treasure hunting in a while and that always had its moments.

[Karuka]

Karuka had backed away a step or two when the woman snapped at her, and then stood pondering a moment while wondering how she'd heard the words when the woman's mouth was sewn shut. The red-head had come across a telepath before, but it was only once and long enough ago that it set her aback a moment. She glanced from the pale, dark-haired woman, to the ground, and back again, wondering if the dragon's owner had actually spoken with her mind or if she herself had just imagined a verbal component along with the death-glare she'd been shot.

She watched as the woman's eyes skimmed over the various fliers on the board, and noticed the flickers of irritation and dismay that passed through the slightly taller woman's eyes. Karuka knew that same frustration from times she'd looked upon text in languages she didn't know. This dragon-tamer couldn't read Gaelic.

Deciding to be diplomatic about it, Karuka skimmed over the various fliers herself. There were several jobs, some asking adventurers to go save kidnapped or runaway children, others advertising that whatever treasures adventurers found they could keep. There was even one advertising a reward for killing a dangerous beast. That didn't seem quite fair to Karuka. If one stayed away from such creatures, they'd generally keep their distance from people as well...but once they got a taste for man-flesh...

Karuka half-turned toward Witchblade, her boot making the slightest of crunching sounds in the dirt of the well-traversed path.

"Are y' thinkin' o' takin' one? There are some interestin' ones...that one in th' top corner is beggin' fer someone t' find a wee runaway girl, b'lieved t' ha' taken off wi' a band o' nomadic travelers. An' th' one in th' middle is interestin', too, wi' th' offer o' keepin' anythin' y' find in order t' bring back information on a beast within th' ruins. And this one here on th' bottom...huh..."

Karuka stepped forward, gently gripping a piece of parchment.

"A lot o' people ha' gone missin' while explorin' some ruins in Luthmor rainforest. This 'un wants th' reason t' be foun' an' destroyed if possible. No traces o' th' victims ha' been found in th' fores' surroundin' th' ruins, nor in th' ruins themselves, an' nae ev'ry'un who goes there vanishes. 'See employer fer details o' pay, provisions, an' th' mission.'"

After another moment, Karuka let the slip of parchment go. She remembered going underground in the ruins of the castle in the Liviol Sanctum in the first month she'd come to Althanas. Only a few people that had gone in came out alive...and she could well understand why the employer would want to send someone else. She just wasn't sure if she wanted to be the someone else.

Subconsciously, her hand slipped into her rune pouch and she dug out the first rune that her slender fingers closed upon. Looking upon it, she saw the stylized R that meant a journey. She, at least, was being told to go.

"Are you thinking of taking one? There are some interesting ones...that one in the top corner is begging for someone to find a runaway little girl, believed to have taken off with a band of nomadic travelers. And the one in the middle is interesting, too, with the offer of keeping anything you find in order to bring back information on a beast within the ruins. And this one here on the bottom...huh..."

"A lot of people have gone missing while exploring some ruins in Luthmor rainforest. This one wants the reason to be found and destroyed if possible. No traces of the victims have been found in the forest, nor in the ruins themselves, and not everyone who goes there vanishes. 'See employer for details of pay, provisions, and the mission."

[Witchblade]

Witch glanced towards the human from the corner of her eye. Interesting, at least she was proving useful, besides the food for her dragon anyway. She was also quite surprised that her initial comment had not sent the week female scurrying away in abject fear or terror, or even discomfort, whichever she preferred. Most people stayed as far away from her as they could once she snapped on them like she just had this one. Apparently she was not so easily deterred and she could read this blasted language as well. Maybe her skills could come in handy, or maybe she would just annoy the halfling to the point that she slit her throat while she was sleeping. No, that was wrong, she’d do it while she was awake and watching so she could see the death before it approached her.

It was always better that way. The way their pupils dilated, their heart sped up and the adrenaline was released into their system. It was as if the body inwardly struggled knowing it was going to happen and hoping for enough of a push to get out of the way. Sometimes it worked, most of the time it didn’t. But now was not the best time for her to be thinking of such things.

“The mission in the Luthmor ruins seems interesting. There nothing like a mystery and an extremely powerful monster, demon or spirit to kill, most likely. After all it’s been a while since I’ve bloodied my hands.”

That probably wasn’t entirely true. It had most likely been a month or less since she’d bloodied her hands, so not really that long at all. But still, the mission intrigued her and once her curiosity was peaked there was little anyone could do to convince her not to go on her merry way. It just so happened she was asking the human to accompany her this time around. In a rather strange manner than most would, but Witch rarely came out to asked one for assistance. There might be more of this infernal language at the ruins though, not to mention they needed to get directions to Luthmor. She had no idea where the hell that was or if there was a quick way of getting there.

“What do you think, Daegun?” He was still attempting to eat that thing he’d wanted so much from the human. When he tried to purr or growl or make any kind of noise around it, it came out as something muffled and strange sounding. “I’ll take that as a yes, I suppose…” Se gave him a quick scratch under the chin and he quickly went back to stuffing his face. Whatever that was she hoped it wasn’t going to upset his stomach. After all, she mostly fed him meat, not…brown things.

Turning from the board, the halfling began heading away from Talmhaidh and into the grasslands. She didn’t really know where she was going but standing there was not going to get her to Luthmor any faster so she might as well start walking. Witchblade was—after all—not one to ask for directions. She tended to wander around on her own until she found the appropriate place. She had all the time in the world, until the mortal girl she had been conversing with. She had what? 60? 70 more years if she was lucky. Though if she were an adventurer, she’d probably die long before then. One of these days she’d slip up and then that would be it.

“Come human, if you want.”

Okay, that wasn’t really that subtle, but oh well.

[Karuka]

((I translate for people that don't understand Karuka-speak.))

Karuka looked up as Witchblade started walking away, and then glanced at the sign above the road. It didn't tell the way to Luthmor, but it did say that the vampire mix was going somewhere else entirely.

"Yer ay goin' th' wrong way," she called after the woman's back. "That way t' Donnalaich. We ought t' go talk t' th' person who nailed th' mission t' th' board. Th' paper ha' an address an' everythin', an' 'tisnae too late."

Witch glared once more at the red-head, but it lacked the sheer amount of venom it had when she'd tried to shake hands, so it didn't deter the red-head or make her follow meekly along. Then again, there were very few things that could cow the brassy teenager into being meek.

Why waste the time? The question flitted through Karuka's mind in a voice not her own, laced with irritation and venom. Karuka figured it was probably the tone of voice the woman was used to speaking in, and instead of getting defensive or meekly backing away, she laughed, a merry, bell-like sound.

"If we go an' ask th' employer, he'll ay probably tell us everythin' he knows so tha' we can be best prepared, an' he'll probably either give us a map or a good set o' directions."

The logic was impeccable, but Witch really wasn't one to ask for directions, and Karuka tried one last argument.

"Perha' there are things t' kill in Donnalaich, but I dinna think y'll get paid fer i'. C'mon."

She turned, gently tearing the thin vellum parchment from the board and looking at the address, before moving into town, followed not long after by a mildly exasperated Witchblade, with Daegun purring as he finished the potato.

~*~

Talmhaidh was a grand city in the way only the Fae and Draconians could make it. The buildings and streets seemed to entwine organically with the native plant life, and vibrant colors were used liberally on houses and shops alike. It was such a city that didn't quite make Karuka feel closed in on all sides, something that still had the heart of the little Druid village she'd come from while pulsating with all the glory of Radasanth.

She'd only needed to ask directions once, stopping a Fae mother with three hyper children in order to find the street that the address was located on. From there, it was just a matter of reading the graceful letters on easily-located signs to find both the street and the house.

It was an affluent neighborhood, with two-story houses boasting their owners' prosperity. The two women drew a few curious looks from residents as they passed by, but Karuka paid them no mind as she made her way to a cream and green house on the left side of the road. The letters painted on the front of the house spelled out "Aldair," and Karuka checked to make sure she had the right house before going up to the door and knocking.

They were greeted by a matronly Fae, and Karuka introduced herself and Witchblade as coming to answer the job request, and were quickly shown in and served some of the spicy local tea while the housekeeper went to go get her employer. The sitting room they'd been settled in had a homey feel to it, arranged with enough furniture and rugs to be comfortable. It also had an abundance of books, written in Tradespeak, Elvish, and Dheath. The titles Karuka could read were mostly treatises on the geography of Dheathain and the ancient secrets it was supposed to contain. Their employer was obviously a learned man -- or that was what he wanted his guests to believe.

It wasn't long before he came down -- a well-dressed Fae with a nervous habit of fluttering his translucent wings and a slight stutter. He introduced himself as Cargan Aldair as he took a seat in one of the low-backed chairs across from the two women. His speaking voice was lilting, not unlike Karuka's, but his accent was more cultured and not half so thick.

"Yes, you both come in response to my little advert, there. Neither of you is Dheath, I'm guessin'? No? Right. Well, it's like this, ya see...ach...where to begin?"

His wings fluttered rapidly as he thought of a good starting point for his tale, and hastily poured more tea for his guests.

"W-well, it-it started out when a group of friends and I wanted to go exploring in Luthmor. Luthmor's home to great treasures an' historical artifacts, an' bein' a scholar with an interest in history an' such, I said to myself, I said 'to Hell with the dangers, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.' And so a group of us, about seven in all, well respected archaeologists and historians all, we go into Luthmor. There, deep within, we find a castle in ruins, but it stands well enough that we know it was a grand place in its prime.
"We split off into groups, two to guard the camp and a group of three to search the lower half, and myself an' a friend t' search the upper. We were supposed to meet back at camp at sundown, but when myself and my friend returned to camp, the two that were supposed to be there were gone, and there was nary a sign of the three in the lower levels.
"It's fine, we figured, the other two just went to fetch water or something, and the other three just lost track of time. They'll be back. But the hours passed, and night came to mornin', and no one came back. We tried looking for them, but there was nary a trace. Instead of getting ourselves lost as well, my remaining friend and I made our way back to Talmhaidh. We put up the request for a strong set of adventurers to find and hopefully take, but he died not long after of a fever acquired in the marsh. So I'm the last of the survivors, and I want to know what happened back there. Are you ladies sure you wish to go? It's a job I'm sure you'd be more comfortable leavin' to a big group of strong men."

His nervous eyes flitted between Karuka and Witchblade, not seeing how they could be of real use to his quest, when five men had vanished and another been conquered by death in Luthmor.

"You're going the wrong way. That way's to Donnalaich. We ought to go and talk to the person who nailed the mission to the board. The paper has an address and everything, and it isn't too late."

"If we go ask the employer, he'll probably tell us everything he knows so we can be best prepared, and he'll probably either give us a map or a set of good directions."

"Perhaps there are things to kill in Donnalaich, but I doubt you'll get paid for them. Come on."

[Witchblade]

She didn’t sit. Not to be rude but because she felt more comfortable standing while the others had their little palaver about this mission and just how dangerous it was going to be. She only half paid attention to what was being said her interest lying not in the story behind the mission but in the mission itself. The death of his friends bothered her not. It had been their stupidity. For someone who liked to believe himself such a learned man, he should know that monsters breed in and infest ruins the majority of the time. They’re dark, they’re damp and stupid adventurers seeking fame and fortune like him wander in their all the time to line their stomachs. If you’re going to go explore a ruin you better go prepared for anything, even certain death as that is what accompanies you half the time. Witch didn’t know how many ruins she had explored in her lifetime for she had lost count, but in almost every single one someone had died and in quite a few she had come close to losing her life as well.

Her mind was snapped back to the conversation when she heard the male Fae said ‘they’d be more comfortable leaving it to a group of strong men.’ Statements like that made her sick. They also made her want to grab his head and crush it against the wall she was leaning upon. However, that wouldn’t exactly produce the desired effect of this little gathering. After all, she was looking for work and if she killed him, well then she wouldn’t get the work and it was safe to assume news like that would travel extremely fast in a place like this.

“I’m sure if a Draconian female heard such words like that you’d no longer be breathing and be thankful you still are at this moment. Sex does not define strength, Fae.”

If she could have snarled the word at him with more disdain she would have, however she didn’t think it possible. She hadn’t had any problems with the races of this region until this moment. To think that he lived alongside Draconian females who could probably rip him limb from limb and he had the audacity to suggest such a thing to them. Perhaps he thought her just as weak as the human sitting down and sipping afternoon tea with him. Fool. That’s what he was, a fool and almost no better than a human in her mind. Perhaps the Draconians were the only great race to live in this region. They did not judge based on sex, they left it up to the battlefield to determine who was truly strong and who wasn’t.

The Fae seemed slightly shaken by her words, perhaps because they were spoken within his mind more so than exactly what she had said to him. She didn’t care as long as he was going to pay her for this and as long as there was enough excitement to alleviate her boredom for the next fortnight or more.

“Ahh…y-yes well, I apologize. I just meant—”

“I know exactly what you meant.” She cut him off, tired of this little charade. “The little females aren’t strong enough to do this job for you. After all, if your group of archaeologists and learned historians couldn’t defend themselves then what would two women carrying weaponry know about fighting and defending themselves? Let’s cut the bullshit here and get down to the point of this matter. We’re here for a job, your job, you can either accept it or you can wait for another few weeks until the next warrior comes along to your liking.”

Witch was not normally one to talk so much. In fact, she was usually the one that remained quite silent and content in the back listening in on others conversations. Whether or not she was just growing tired of this or what the Fae had said had truly just pissed her off, she wasn’t too sure but she had just spoken quite a mouthful if she could have used her mouth to say it to begin with. Even the Fae seemed quite off put by what she’d said. His eyes were a little wide with a bit of shock and his mouth just slightly open as if he wanted to say something but the words wouldn’t come out. Good, maybe from now on he’d think before he let the words just flow out of his mouth. After all, they could get him in trouble.

It took him a few moments, moments that were spent in silence before he finally decided to say something to the two of them. His back straightened and he finally closed the gaping hole in his face attempting possibly to recover his bruised ego and pride. After all, he’d just been shot down by one of those not so strong women.

“I suppose if the two of you want to take the job then I have no problem giving it to you.”

She could still smell his unease. It was filling the air like a fetid odour and she could barely wait to get out of this house.

“Luthmor is not hard to find, all one needs to do is head North East out of Talmhaidh and continue to head that way.” He wouldn’t really look at her when he spoke. Instead his eyes kept going from his cup of tea to human’s face. “It should only take two days of travelling to get to the forest depending on how fast you are. You can’t miss it, it covers the area like a great blanket and the massive trees can be seen for miles around. Once in Luthmor you should change directions and head East until you hit a river. Follow the river upstream until you get to a boulder formation that looks like a great cat. Turn South from there and you should hit the ruins by the following day.”

She memorized the directions in her mind easily enough, they weren’t that complicated and she did better with directions than a map. Though not something she easily admitted, Witch could very rarely understand let along follow a map. They confused her more than helped her and more often than not she was better off without them.

“What’s the pay?” There was no point in being polite about it. He was hiring them to do a mission and he was going to pay them for it.

“I-I have a few synthesis items I was going to pay with, plus some gold. 500 Gold, a never-ending rucksack and two escape talismans. Of course the pay can be negotiated should you return with the information I’m looking for.”

Of course it could.

“Fine.”

It was good enough for her. She didn’t entirely know what a never-ending rucksack was, or an escape talisman but the names gave enough of their meaning away for her. She didn’t know about her travelling companion, but she didn’t really care all that much either.

“Anytime, human.”

[Karuka]

Karuka hadn't expected anything less from her companion than her outburst, somehow. It seemed fitting somehow that she wouldn't accept being underestimated by anyone, especially not a Fae that knew nothing about keeping himself safe. Perhaps someday it would also serve to get her killed, but Karuka had done many things in her short life that had had the potential to get her killed. Perhaps she and the woman with the dragon weren't really that much different.

She stood, setting the teacup on the table. "We'll ay be back soon," she assured the Fae, her sweet, lilting voice providing a sharp contrast to the barbed thoughts that the other woman used to communicate. The Fae nodded, and Karua followed Witch out of the house and through the streets. The sun was already on its downward trend; a bad time to start a journey, but her companion seemed so bent on getting underway that she wouldn't argue just yet. Not until dusk.

Daegun was easier to understand than his keeper. He was a baby that wanted love, fun and food more than anything else, just like any other baby. The fact that he was incredibly cute only helped him get just that.

By the time the sun started sinking over the horizon, the two were already several miles out of Talmhaidh. There hadn't been much in the way of conversation; this woman was one of the most taciturn people she'd ever met, and the raw hostility that seemed to roil off her kept even the normally chatty Karuka subdued, but the close of day broke her silence.

"How abou' we settle fer th' nigh'? I'll make up a fire an' cook up a p'tata t' share with y' an' th' wee un. Best t' travel in th' day, anyway. Fewer roamin' predators. An'... I dinna think I got yer name."

"We'll be back soon."

"Why don't we settle [in] for the night? I'll make a fire and cook a potato to share with you and the little one. [It's] best to travel in the day, anyway. Fewer roaming predators. And... I don't think [that] I got your name."

[Witchblade]

The few hours of journeying they had managed were quiet hours. Surprisingly the female said nothing to her, even though Witch was rather certain she was the kind of human who rarely kept her mouth closed. After all, she’d had no qualms about talking to her before, yet now when they were alone, her voice was strangely absent. Not that she was about to complain. After all, the halfling valued silence over a lot of things in this world. She hated the unnecessary chatter that many races thought were a necessity. There were plenty of things in this world that could be expressed without the use of words, because in the end words were just that, words. They accounted for little and meant nothing. It was actions that always managed to leave a lasting impression on someone, though words did occasionally come in handy, like they had back in that Fae’s house.

Finally it seemed that the human had once again found her voice and suggested that they rest for the night. Witch had barely noticed the change from day to night due to her night vision, but this was not the first time she had travelled with humans. Their eyes were not as good at night she could only imagine this slowing down the girl more than helping their progress. Plus, the human needed to sleep and regain her energy for the journey. And as much as Witch liked to push her own body passed its limitations, resting would probably be a good idea. She didn’t want to tire her legs, which would only make the journey uncomfortable. Besides, there was no rush. The Fae were not going anywhere. In fact they were probably already dead. She had seen the inside of countless ruins and new the dangers that lay within them. Nests of monsters, ancient traps and crumbling walls too old to sustain the weight placed upon them. True there were sometimes great riches within them, but the stories told to young children were greatly exaggerated. Most ruins were picked over long before they became too dangerous to traverse, thus these expeditions were usually fruitless.

What the Fae had failed to tell Witch and her companion was that between Talmhaidh and Luthmor was nothing but rocky grasslands. It was certainly not lifeless for she had seen the traces of many different kinds of animals as they walked, but it was certainly much harsher than she would have expected from the region. It was not a great place to rest for the night, completely exposed to any kind of animals or predators that the human seemed so worried about. As her eyes scanned the area, she saw what she was looking for. Some distance ahead of them, there appeared to be a small area of growth where some thin looking trees and brushes were struggling to survive. Her guess being there was a small stream there.

Without stopping or saying anything to the human she kept going, changing her direction slightly to head in that direction. Somewhere around ten minutes later her suspicions were confirmed as she looked down at the water, clear during the day but blackened by the night sky. It wasn’t very great cover, but it was better than being completely exposed on the open plains. Plus, the trees and bushes supplied dried wood for a fire.

Daegun jumped down off her shoulder and quickly went off to explore the area as she moved around collecting what dead branches she twigs she could find. It didn’t take her very long to have a small pile of it, enough to keep a fire going for a few hours. Clearing an area, she knelt down and placed some of the wood into a small pile and then held her hand up. Snapping her fingers, a small sphere of blue flame erupted in her open palm, hovering just above her leather-clad skin. Setting it against the wood, she waiting for it to catch and then closed her fist over the flame, extinguishing it. Though the fire she created was blue, once it began to eat away at the wood, it turned the natural red colour most people were used to seeing.

Stepping away from the fire, Witch sat down near the edge of the stream, resting her back against a large rock.

“I am not hungry, but I’m sure that Daegun is…”

[Karuka]

Karuka had half-expected her traveling companion to want to make further promise, and she was glad when she saw Witchblade starting to set up camp. Too much longer, and she'd have been absolutely useless - she was the type of person that got up with first light, ready to go all day...and started dragging as the light started fading. Ideally, she'd have been asleep by now, but "ideal" rarely happened when one traveled in groups.

Since she knew that people and dragons do not live on potatoes alone, and that it was probably best to conserve the food she could carry, the red-head made five snare nooses, twining them quickly and then setting them in the grass some distance from camp. With any luck, there'd be a rabbit (or its equivalent) caught in one of them in the morning, and they'd have some protein energy to keep going on.

That done, she returned back to camp, dousing some leaves in water and wrapping the potatoes in them to nestle in the hot dirt under the fire. That done, she leaned back and watched the distant figure of Daegun flitting through the grass, playing and having fun.

"He's a right energetic thing, yer wee 'un," she said with a grin. "How'd y' come across 'im?"

It was worth a try, starting amicable conversation. Maybe then she could get to know her traveling companion, maybe even understand her, making their task that much easier. Besides...she was willing to make all the friends she could, odd people or not.

[Witchblade]

The human was persistent. Most were quelled rather easily by the halfling’s steady stare and the threat that came along with it and Witch was rather certain that if she didn’t answer this question she might just give up and stop asking from now on. But what was the harm in answering a simple question? Besides, it wasn’t exactly about herself and curiosity did come quickly on the heels of the baby dragon. She did not blame the human for taking interest in the creature’s origins or exactly how Witch had come into possession of it. In her mind it was not an extremely exciting story or even a very interesting one. She had done something and been rewarded for it and that was really all it came down to. The fact that the reward was a living creature was of no consequence to her. It was still a spoil of war.

She didn’t answer for a time, her mind going back to memories she had long since pushed beyond remembrance. It was like opening a journal once written as a child and remembering all the small things that had been lost before. Only these were not so clear. One could say they were muddied by time and neglect for much of this was things she didn’t bother remembering.

“He was a gift, given to me by an old…ally.” Metal Drago, though she commonly just referred to him as MD or Drago.

She could not recall the last time she had heard news of him or his wanderings around Althanas. There was a good chance her old ally was long dead and that thought evoked little to no emotion from within her, even after all they had been through. He was just another warrior amongst the many she’d known throughout her seemingly never-ending life for she had yet to age a single day for as long as she could remember.

“He was essentially a spoil of war for my part in a long ago battle.” It seemed that even Daegun was taking a bit of an interest in the conversation at hand, as if he knew it was about himself. She didn’t doubt it; the little guy was quite intelligent. His small white body a beacon in the darkness as his head perked up over the grass and turned towards her and the human, making his large black eyes reflect the dancing light of the fire. “I received him as an egg, though it took him at least a year to hatch oddly enough and he hasn’t really grown much since then. That was over five years ago I believe, though I am horrible at keeping track of time. He should have grown by now…”

Witch could not entirely interpret the exact look he was giving her at the moment but it almost seemed like annoyance. She did not entirely care. It was true. He should be a nearly fully-grown dragon by now but he was still a baby and showed no signs of changing. Then again, she was always the one to wish him to stay like that forever. Innocent of the world and the things that went on in it including the things that she did in it. If only that were possible though.

[Karuka]

Karuka grinned, taking a stick and a sharp rock and starting to whittle the tip of the stick into something that would be sharp enough to let her skin a rabbit. She knew that getting one question answered hardly made her and her companion friends, but there was at least someone the raven-haired woman cared about. So long as there could be affection, trust, comeradship, or love, a person still retained a soul. And souls are funny things, by all accounts.

"I' dinna hurt th' wee bairn to stay a wee 'un for a bit. They grow ay all too fas', an' change...an' then y' wonder what happened t' th' toddler wi' th' tosouled hair an' big smile."

Karuka's hands kept working, her eyes down and her face contemplative. "Y' wonder why th' merry laugh is a cautious chuckle...why th' warm embrace a cool nod...I s'pose yer wee 'un has none o' that...but I think yer more happy t' enjoy wee Daegun as he is than wishin' he'd become an' ay big dragon more quickly."

The stick sharpened, Karuka thrust the tip into the fire, pulling it out before it caught, dunking it into the water, and repeating the motion.

She wondered what had turned her thoughts to her younger brother, Cael. He'd been content enough when she left the village; the eldest son of a powerful ruler. But he had loved her as a baby, and even as a small child...but then his father started teaching him loathing of the different. It wasn't pleasant to think on, and Karuka switched her topic back to the little white baby dragon that was coming back to the little fire for the potatoes that were starting to smell good.

"More joy t' hear th' wee 'un purr than th' big 'un growl, I think," she said, digging one out and breaking chunks off for the little dragon to eat in bites at a time, rather than letting him swallow it whole.

[Witchblade]

There may be truth within the words of the female human. Or there may not. Witch wasn’t going to bother acknowledging either of them out there. She did enjoy Daegun’s company the way he was now and knew she was still enjoy his company when he was full-grown. It didn’t matter to her either way when it truly came down to it. He was company; he was the one force that kept her sane when she endured all the solitary nights and the constant voice that tickled the back of her mind. He was more than a pet, but she was not about to reveal that to the human. She was not about to reveal any of her current thoughts to the human. She didn’t know her and didn’t trust her. Plus, Witchblade’s problems were her own and no one else’s. She did not rely on others to solve things for her. She solved her own problems and pulled herself out of every situation she got into, half dead or not.

Turning her eyes from the fire and the woman to the sky, the halfling was silent for a time. Allowing the sounds of the night to calm her in ways that nature only seemed capable of. She didn’t know what it was about nature but she always felt much more comfortable within it than the bustling city of humans, elves or otherwise. She had no explanation for it and never bothered to find one and she highly doubted it had something to do with the races that lived within them. Though Witch was a solitary creature that just didn’t seem like the reason she detested them so much. There was something else she never bothered exploring or analyzing about her nature that kept her close to Mother Nature.

“Get some rest… I’ll keep watch.”

She wasn’t being kind or courteous. Not in her mind. The human needed sleep and Witch did not, so while she was resting the halfling would keep an eye out on whatever predators may roam the plains and the rocks. This was foreign land to her and she had no idea what may be lurking within the darkness. Not that her eyes couldn’t pierce through this thick veil of black rather easily. It would take a lot for someone or something to sneak close enough to their camp without her sensing it.

[Karuka]

A couple of days was all it took for the two women to put the rolling grasses between Talmhaidh and Luthmor behind them and breach into the jungle itself. The thick foliage of the canopy all but blocked out the light from the sun, and the roots of ancient trees erupted from the ground at irregular intervals, sometimes high enough to duck under.

She hadn't succeeded in making much progress with Witchblade, but she had, at least, gotten the other woman's name. Deagun, on the other hand, loved her immensely, if only because she was more than happy to feed him and play with him on the daily march, but he still hung close to Witch.

Walking in the jungle was much more difficult than through the meadows, and it was another couple of days before they were able to penetrate deep enough to see the ancient temple. Something about its structure nagged at the red-head, as though she'd seen something very much like it at some point just beyond clear memory. She couldn't remember the exact structure that had been like this, but she was sure it was on Earth. And if it was on Earth, then there was only one place that she could have seen a building in this style.

Scotlan'. Her Scottish relatives had lived in a castle a lot like this...it had been thirteen years since she'd been there.

The building was ancient and crumbling, some of its walls completely gone, other parts of the structure standing almost solidly, as though it had stood abandoned for many thousands of years.

"I s'pose this is th' one he was talkin' about," she muttered to Witchblade, keeping the noise down to not attract predators. It would likely take hours to search the entire place for a hint of where the explorers went, but Karuka wasn't patient enough for that.

Taking her pendulum from around her neck, Karuka let it swing for a moment. Once it had its direction, she set off, heading into the lower section of the ruins.

[Witchblade]

“Stop!” The words were growled into the mind of the human.

Looking around the vine covered ruins, the halfling tested the air. There was something wrong. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach and it the air around them. It was like it was laced with something, something not quite tangible that she couldn’t explain or even understand herself. Even her nose picked it up. After travelling through the forest for days now she was used to it’s sights and smells and something about this place stuck out.

There were no monsters, no animals, nothing. Even the sounds of the birds had since ceased in this area. The ruins themselves remained a solitary beacon that attracted only two figures, Witchblade and the human woman. And Witchblade had gone treasure hunting enough in her life to know that this was wrong. There should be signs of life. Animals loved using rotting and decaying buildings to live in and when the animals left the monsters moved in. They bred in the dark and damp depths and most wouldn’t dare traverse. But here there was nothing that her keen senses could pick up on. Just this feeling, almost as if there was an energy in the very air, one that was quite possibly coming from the building itself.

Just what were those Fae here for?

She moved passed the human, her steps taking her down what was left of a crumbling staircase held together by the dirt it sat upon. In the lower section of the ruins she could see that this had once been more than just a single building. It had most likely been a small town at some point in time but most of it was lost to the jungle. Thick green vines snaked their way around almost anything they could, disguising the grey stone and making it hard to tell just what this had been at one point in time. Walls remained, freestanding and falling apart. They marked what could have been homes to a race long since forgotten in the pages of time.

In some places, the halfling could see remains of second floors and in others nearly the entire structure was still intact, protected from the elements by those around it. But they were few and far between as most of what had likely been a beautiful city was destroyed. Time had destroyed any evidence of what might have taken down this civilization though, whether or was war or something else Witch doubted anyone would ever find out. Just another mystery in the vast many that Althanas carried.

The halfling didn’t bother to motion for the human to join her, that spunky little ball of energy would probably be quick on her heels the moment she saw her moving in. Oddly enough, she wasn’t seeing any evidence of the Fae that were supposed to have been here. Though she had not seen much of the place yet, people usually left evidence behind.

Turning around, she noticed the human quickly catching up to her with something odd in her hand. Witch had seen jewellery like that before in shops and such, but she didn’t know what the human was doing with it in her hand.

“What is that?”

[Karuka]

Karuka had been making her way through the waist-high grasses surrounding the ancient ruin as fast as her pendulum would lead her, keeping pace with Witchblade easily enough. It was then that the halfling took an interest in something she was doing for the first time since they'd started walking together, and she paused, looking down at her hand. Working with the pendulum was so natural for her that she often forgot she was holding it, just going on by the gentle pull at her hand.

"Ah, this? 'Tis a pendulum. Been handed from mathair t' nighean fer cùig...uh, five, generations now. We use it t' find d'rection an' such. We ne'er get los' with i'...we jus' might not know where 'tis we are."

She grinned, taking a step and stumbling as her foot caught on a rock. Since she'd been led over all the rocks thus far, she crouched down and pulled the grass away from it, looking for anything that might make it special. It was covered in dirt, but was obviously a pale white, like pure limestone or maybe rare marble. The rest of the stone in the area was common, if sturdy, and the inconsistency only sparked Karuka's curiosity more.

Golden hands brushed dirt away until the faintest tracings of writing could be discerned on the face of the stone, which had obviously been part of a much larger stone. She could see already that the faint, time-worn writings were names.

"An Ogam..." she murmured, squinting to look at the specific names. When she was able to make them out, she let a curse fall from her lips as all the blood drained from her face. "MacRaiten..." The name was the same as borne by her Scottish relatives...this was the same memorial stone that had been put up in the wake of the tragic boating accident of her fourth summer.

"MacRaiten daingneach...I know where I am. An' I know what happened...an' where th' wee Fae like found 'emselves t' be..."

Still she sat there, disbelieving. How had the entire castle been pulled to Althanas, unless Althanas was the Fae world and the banishing portal had swallowed it whole? What did all of it mean?

"Ah, this? It's a pendulum. It's been handed down from mother to daughter for five generations now. We use it to find direction and such. We never get lost with it...we just might not know where it is we are."

"MacRaiten castle...I know where I am. And I know what happened..and where the little Fae likely found themselves..."

[Witchblade]

The woman needed to stop switching over from Common to whatever kept spewing from her mouth. It was annoying to have to use her telepathy to find the correct words rather than her ears. Why she couldn’t just say it in a language she knew Witch would understand was beyond her. Humans. Then again, she was the one that found the piece of rock. Witchblade probably would have walked on by without giving it a second look, and if she had she wouldn’t have been able to read what was on it anyway. The problem with being telepathic was one could understand any spoken language, but written ones needed to be learned just like every other person. And though she had a lot of time on her hands and sometimes patience as well, learning how to write and read different languages was not something that interested her.

Folding her arms under her chest, the halfling sighed. “Well, if you know where you are and where all the Fae went, what are you waiting for? And what the heck are you mumbling about anyway? Talking nonsense with this ‘Scutl’nd’ or however the hell you pronounce it.”

She didn’t feel like waiting around here until some kind of earth shattering moment in time when all would be revealed to them. She just wanted to get this mission over with already, get back to that damn Fae and collect her reward. Show that cocky bastard that two women—even if one was human—could handle themselves just fine.

[Karuka]

Karuka slipped her mother's pendulum back around her neck. Although she hadn't been to the castle in thirteen years, she remembered the important secret it held, and where to find it. All kings of respectable status across the Celtic lands were charged with keeping the balance between humans and otherworldly spirits. To do this, they employed Druids to preform the rituals that could return unwanted visitors back to their realm, but not pull someone back.

It had been known, on occasion, to backfire and suck a human over to the other side. Only rarely did anyone manage to return. The revelation of where she was had thoroughly unsettled Karuka. No wonder she'd been brought here - that cave in France must have been abandoned in the middle of a banishment ritual, probably due to Christian persecution. She'd just been unlucky enough to walk through the still-open portal and complete the spell. No wonder there hadn't been a door that let her back to Earth in the little cave in Alerar. It was strictly one way.

Standing up, Karuka brushed off the ancient dust from her knees and turned herself square to the castle. It made sense that the two Fae from upstairs hadn't been effected, but the ones that had gone down had been taken. Apparently, the castle's portal had backfired enough to suck the entire thing all the way to Althanas - meaning they'd been sucked to Scotland. The ones guarding the camp had probably been picked off by a predator, doubtless there was some sort of residual encampment not far away, unless there'd been a heavy rain in the interim.

It seemed such an imposing building, and Karuka wasn't quite sure she wanted to face the truth, or her relatives. Surely they still remembered her for the terrible accident, and it wasn't as though she could hide who she was. But there wasn't much choice. If the Fae hadn't been returned to Althanas by now, her Celtic relatives would be of use in locating them and sending the Altaneans back to Althanas, and she could continue on her way to India.

Steeling herself, she walked toward the castle, hesitantly at first, but growing more resolute with every step. She led Witchblade past the crumbling outer walls and into a much more solid inner structure. She walked through the expansive entrance halls that she remembered had once been home to bright tapestries, roaring fires, and more food than anyone could ever eat. Now the fireplaces were dark, cold, and home to vermin or worse, and the tapestries had rotted into nothingness years before.

It bothered her that the castle looked so much in disrepair after only thirteen years, maybe less, but she had no explanations or theories, so she kept her mouth shut and kept walking.

After the long walk through the entrance halls, she and Witchy ducked into the throneroom through a giant hole in the door. The room was totally deserted, and Karuka didn't blame any monsters for not wanting to make their lairs within. The place felt like it had stood for centuries, letting some sort of powerful magic accumulate, and it made the hairs on the back of Karuka's neck stand on end.

She didn't know exactly where to go from here, just that the path would be hidden and go down. It wouldn't have done to have a lay person find it.

Once again, the pendulum came off of her neck, and it led her to a little niche in the wall behind the throne. A hard shove pushed back the hidden door, and Karuka led them slowly down an ancient set of crumbling stairs into a secret cavern. At one end of the wall, she found a segment of wall fashioned into a simple corbeled arch, which she assumed to be the gate. Maybe it would take them back over, if she could figure it out.

She could sense Witchblade's impatience as she dug around in her satchel to find a little bell that had been clamped around her neck once in a goblin cave. Giving it a good shake, she shed a little light on the area and finally saw the inscription beside the portal.

"Here's what we need," she said, gesturing ahead before stepping forward, hoping to figure out what she needed to in order to take them to Earth to rescue the Fae - if they hadn't already been sent back and conquered by the jungle.

She read the inscription aloud, the ancient words flowing haltingly off of her tongue. There were some unfamiliar words, and by the time it dawned on her that she hadn't read instructions, but the spell, the last syllable was falling from her tongue, and light lashed out of the portal, swallowing both her and Witchblade into a spinning white abyss.

[hr]

When the world cleared again, Karuka was standing next to Witchblade on the crest of a craggy hill. Karuka thought she recognized the landscape, but she couldn't see the lake anywhere, and all around her she heard a sort of buzzing hum. The air was thick with a dirty, oily scent, and she almost gagged on it, but a wall of trees prevented her from seeing what she'd really stepped into...

[Witchblade]

The halfling was not usually one to blindly follow closely behind at someone’s heels. She was the one usually doing the leading in such situations, but this time, she allowed the human to take over. It appeared she knew something of these ruins and what might have happened to the other Fae, not to mention arguing with her would probably get them nowhere fast. Sometimes it was better to just let others take the reigns and follow, even if those others happened to be a human that she wasn’t entirely sure if she could even stand yet. Days of travelling together had yet to sway her mind and every time the human opened her mouth to say something or ask her another one of her silly questions, she felt herself cringe on the inside. Maybe she should just start giving her stupid answers, like her mother was a dragon and her dad was a God and one day she would rule over this land and crush people like her for fun. Oh, wait; she already did some of that, minus the ruling part.

As she followed Karuka down the set of stairs and then further into the cavern, she couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. The feeling she had sensed within the air itself was stronger down here; in fact she was rather certain it was coming from this cave. It radiated out in pulses, like the beat of a heart and for the first time in a long time she shivered. She was not cold and she was not scared, but something about the energy sent the chills straight down her spine and made her hair stand on end.

Following the human, she noticed the carved archway and the inscription neatly placed upon the stone in fluid and artistic letters that she could probably never copy. Not that they meant anything to her, but apparently they did the human. They were what she needed, according to the words coming from her mouth and producing a bell from her bag, the halfling watched as she shook it and shed light in the area. Growling, Witch raised her hand and shielded her light sensitive eyes from it, eyes that could cut through this paltry darkness as if it were nothing but a pale morning. Then she began reading the inscription aloud as if Witch really wanted to hear it and would somehow grasp what was really being said.

Growing annoyed, she was just about to turn away when the human finished and a blinding light enveloped the two of them. Pain exploded from within her head as she slammed her eyes shut too late and raised a hand to cover them. Then the sounds of the cave changed and the smells changed and the very air she was breathing into her lungs became a convoluted and poisonous concoction that left her choking. Opening her eyes she found herself starring not at the darkened and mould covered walls of the cavern, but instead at a grassy hill surrounded on all sides by thin and sickly looking trees. There were no sounds of chirping birds and animals, no instead there was this constant buzzing that rang right atop even the wind whistling through the leaves. And in the background she could hear the some of something, something she couldn’t quite explain. It was like fast moving wind rushing passed.

Turning her eyes to the human, Witch grabbed her by the cuff of her shirt and nearly lifted her right off the ground.

“Where the fuck are we!”

[Karuka]

"Scotlan'!" The sudden change of scene and the threat of violence had Karuka leaving behind more of her sense of composure than normal. She hadn't been expecting the sudden transportation, and hadn't been prepared for it mentally or spiritually, and she doubted that Witchblade or the Fae before them had, either.

"We're in Scotlan', on Earth. There's a wee loch no' far...but...'tis ay differen' than I r'member... Can y' put me down? If th' wee Fae came in through here, then we can start from here an' fin'...what th' Hel?"

The low hum that had barely registered to Karuka's senses had been getting louder, and all of a sudden it burst over the clearing with an intensely loud buzz. Karuka's attention was drawn up to the impossibly large bird that had no head and didn't flap its wings as it passed over them, and stared after it when it left.

"This isn' th' Scotlan' I saw...lis'en, I din' know what's happen', but...if we can fin' another circle, I can get us back. A' leas' we'll ha' answers...I'd take us back from here, bu' th' circle is broken. I din' e'en know how we go' through this 'un. But I know how they work, an' I wan' t' get us back. Bu'...I can' no' through this. Maybe we can e'en fin' th' wee Fae an' bring 'em back t' Althanas."

It hadn't donned on Karuka that she could maybe find family on Earth, but she was too disoriented from the transport and too afraid of what this world might have become. She didn't even know when she was, but she could already guess that it wasn't her time.

"Scotland! We're in Scotland, on Earth. There's a little lake not far from here...but...it's very different than I remember... Can you put me down? If the little Fae came through here, then we can start from here and find...what the Hel?"

"This isn't the Scotland I saw [last time I was here]... listen, I don't know what's happened, but...if we can find another circle, I can get us back. At least we'll have answers...I'd take us back from here, but the circle is broken. I don't even know how we goth through this one. But I know how they work, and I want to get us back. But...can't through this [one]. Maybe we can even find the Fae and bring them back to Althanas."

[Witchblade]

Earth, no they couldn’t be on earth. That was impossible, that was ridiculous and it just couldn’t happen. Earth was not a place that one could travel to, earth was not a place that she could travel to. She wasn’t real, Althanas wasn’t real, people who did not exist outside the minds of their own creators and those that helped create them could not travel to a place that was real. It made no sense. Then again, did any of this make any sense to her at all? If the words of the female were correct, than her creator was somewhere within this despicable place, perhaps even in the Scotland, or whatever the woman had called it.

Feeling her anger and her frustration only grow, the halfling was about to tighten her hold on the human girl and perhaps start strangling the life out of her. It was her fault they were here in the first place, if she hadn’t read that stupid inscription on the wall than neither of them would be here in this haze filled shit world called earth. No wonder the pathetic, stupid humans created the world of Althanas to slip away into if they lived in such a place as this. She hadn’t even seen much of it yet, but she could barely stand breathing it. And that hum, that noise was so overbearing to her ears she could barely stand it. All she wanted was for it to go away and stop ringing.

From beyond the tree line, Witchblade watched in amazement, shock and fascination as some kind of gigantic animal flew over their heads. The sound that came with it was deafening and ear splitting forcing the halfling to release her hold on Karuka and instead grip the sides of her own head, trying to block the noise out. It wasn’t working though. It seeped through the meagre protection of her hands and barrelled into her eardrums.

As the sound finally lessened and the giant bird or whatever it was, passed them by, the halfling slowly lowered her hands from around her head. When Karuka started talking to her though, she could barely hear her as her ears had yet to readjust from the sound blast. She could grasp most of what the human was talking about by peering into that thick skull of hers though, a skull she should have smashed against the side of a rock by this point in time. Why was it that every time she ran into a human she always ended up in some kind of situation she’d prefer not to be in? It was like they just breathed trouble or stupidity or something. No wonder she hated them so much.

“You better go hope you can bring us back, because otherwise I’m going to thoroughly enjoy ripping you to pieces.” The halfling growled into the human’s head.

Still rather pissed off and wanting to get her point across, she attacked the human just a little from the inside of her own mind. Not enough to actually do any damage, but just enough to feel like the source of a pounding headache, one that could easily explode and grow much worse with nothing more than a simple thought.

Knowing that staying still would not get them anywhere, she started heading towards the forest. The sound of that fast moving wind was coming from beyond it, but she didn’t really care. She wanted to get out of this place as fast as possible. Tracking down Megan and perhaps giving her a nice little welcome had never even crossed Witch’s mind.

“Start moving!”

[Karuka]

The sudden headache was more annoying than anything, but it did disrupt her concentration. It was hard enough trying to figure out where she was in Scotland and which way she was supposed to go already. The guiding, living force of the land, its vital background hum was almost too faint to hear now. She was used to hearing it - well, sensing it - wherever she went. It was so normal that she didn't even take note of it...until it screamed, like it had at the Liviol Sanctum...or until she couldn't feel it.

"Stop that," she snapped at Witchblade. "If y' want me t' move, I ha' t' know where I'm s'posed t' go. 'Tis hard t' e'en breathe here, an' if y' wan' t' keep that up, I'll not be able t' fin' th' neares' circle an' y'll ne'er get back t' Althanas."

Glaring at the half-vampire to make sure her point had been made, Karuka took a deep breath, shaking her head and kneeling by one of the old rocks. It took a moment of focus, but she managed to get a sketchy idea of where the nearest circle lay. If the ruler of the area didn't catch them or bring in old tribal grievances, there wouldn't be any difficulty in reaching the circle that bound Earth to the Fae realms.

Standing, she headed off through the trees. She remembered there being a road nearby, worn down by carts and feet. What she saw as she breached the treeline made her eyes go wide.

The little road she remembered was still there...but it was vast and covered in a strange rock she'd never seen before. What appeared to be horseless carriages sped along it, on their way to their various destinations. Suddenly, the sense of a mere dozen leagues seemed a lot more dangerous.

[Witchblade]

Witchblade balked at the massive, horseless carriages that she saw speeding along the smooth, black road. The sound of whistling wind that she had heard had been coming from them, their forms were moving so fast that they made this whizzing sound as they passed by her and Karuka. There was kind of organization to the chaos that they seemed to be, their forms staying steady within lines predesigned into the road or by some kind of rule she didn’t quite understand. There were also two separate directions that the carriages were going on, four lines speeding off towards the north and another four towards the south.

What in the name of the Thayne...

Just what kind of world was this that large pieces of metal could travel so fast without the assistance of beasts? What did they use to move? It wasn’t magic because she couldn’t sense any coming from them. In fact, that rancid and choking smell seemed to be far worse the closer they got to the road. Perhaps it was coming from these travelling...things. The halfling couldn’t help but think about Koran as she moved closer to them. They had a similar smell, of oil and metal and other things that she couldn’t quite name. Perhaps they were...machines like him. She’d heard that Alerar was growing rather productive in its technology, but she doubted they had anything like this.

Turning her eyes towards the human, Witch saw the same shocked and amazed expression upon her face that she was sure lined her own. No words passed between the two of them, instead they both stood there for a few minutes and watched as the machines raced by them, rumbling along the road. But Witch was not content to just stand there gawking, she wanted out of this land and back in Althanas. At least there she understood things and she knew how the world worked, even if it wasn’t real. If this was reality, she didn’t want to be a part of it.

“Let’s keep moving.”

Her words seemed to jar the human out of her reverie and she once again she began leading the way. They wouldn’t be able to cross the stretch of road though with all the carriages on it, so instead they began heading along the side of it. The road branched off a few times in different directions and they found themselves following it, the longer and longer they walked the fewer carriages that seemed to line it. Roughly a half hour later, Witch and Karuka came upon something that looked mildly familiar, a city. The houses were built of red and brown stone that was identical to the one before it, creating a strange pattern to her eyes. They were built close together, in fact most of them looked squished against one another and they were taller than most houses she had ever seen. In the background she could see even taller buildings rising towards the sky, possibly even high enough to scrap against the clouds.

People milled about the uniform ground and the neat stones placed upon it. Their clothes looked rather odd to the halfling. The women were not wearing the plain dresses that she had seen upon many of the peasant humans. Instead they wore tight and at times extremely revealing clothes. Shirts low enough to nearly allow their breasts to spill out and pants that looked more like undergarments. The men were no better, though they covered themselves up more they also wore rather baggy clothing and on more than one she swore their pants were falling down. Why they didn’t just pull them up was beyond her. It had to be very uncomfortable walking around like that.

Not entirely paying attention to what she was doing, Witchblade walked right out into the middle of the street. With her eyes to the buildings and to the people, she didn’t realize one of the horseless carriages was heading right for her until two different screeches rent the air and her sensitive ears. Clasping her hands over the sides of her head, the halfling turned just as she saw one of the metal contraptions feet from her. Without the time to move or react, the low end front of the thing slammed into the sides of her legs and sent her rolling over the front end and slamming into what sounded like glass. She could hear it break and crack until her impact as her shoulder slammed into it and her body continued rolling. The sound of hollow metal bending followed and then she was in the air. Twisting her body around, she landed roughly on her hands and feet, feeling the scrap of the rough ground rip through her pants and dig into her flesh.

Growling, the halfling slowly came to her feet. Her shoulder felt as if it had been slammed against a stone wall, she could feel blood running down the side of her face and numerous other areas of her body felt battered and bruised like she had just been through the fight of her life. Hearing a similar screeching sound cut through the air, she spun and turned just in time to see another of the metal monstrosities heading towards her.

Not this fucking time.

Releasing the clasp of The Rot Slayer, Witch felt the weight of the weapon drop from her back and impact on the hard, stone ground. Turning she grabbed the blade and ripped it from the black stone and then spun back towards the machine. Just as it came within feet of her, she brought the massive sword down on the front end, cutting it right down to the ground. The thing swerved away from her at the last second and then died a few feet away.

[Karuka]

As Witchblade slew the abominable road monster similar to the one that had hit her before, men in uniforms that had been approaching to make sure she was all right pulled out their weapons, aiming them at the raven-haired woman with a sword.

"Pootcher han's in tha air, lassa, an' non' get hert."

Traffic had stopped, the monsters that had been approaching stalling at the prospect that their lives were actually in danger, and many were backing away and turning along the lines that they seemed to be limited to. Indeed the humans of this Scotland must have had powerful magic if they could keep such massive beasts contained within the streets, and still have safe walks for their people. She could only assume that the roaring creatures were predatory, when they could get a person, since a man in a suit stumbled out of the one that Witch had slain, looked back at her, and started running.

Wheels, though? What curse an' what curser coul' make somethin' like this happen? 'Tis an ay great evil here...

She started to step forward, into the street to try and coax Witchblade back to the safety of the sidewalk and maybe help pacify the men she had to assume to be local law enforcement, only to hear a click from a few paces to her left. "Hal', lassa! Are ya weeth 'er there?"

"I...ay, I am. I don' see what she did wrong, though. Th' creature had eaten a man!"

"Kreetchur? Are ya daft? We've a ravin' looney!" He yelled out to his fellows. One of them started speaking into a little box, and Karuka bristled.

"I'm no sech thing as daft," she snapped, tossing her head like a rebellious filly, "an' I don' see how any'un coul' be so heartless as t' let a man be eaten an' then point a gun in some'un's face." The gun didn't waver, despite the fact that uproarious laughter ran through the three or four men around. The pistols pointed at Witchblade weren't wavering, either.

Scottish accent translated in thistle purple

"Put your hands in the air, lassie, and no one gets hurt."

>>>Wheels, though? What curse and what curser could make something like this happen? There's a great evil here...<<<

"Halt, lassie! Are you with her, there?"

"I...yes, I am. I don't see what she did wrong, though. The creature had eaten a man!"

"Creature? Are you daft? We've a raving looney!"


"I'm no such thing as daft, and I don't see how anyone could be so heartless as to let a man be eaten and then point a gun in someone's face."

[Witchblade]

Things were quickly spiralling out of control faster than she could calculate. Men, covered in uniforms of white and black were surrounding her and Karuka. They brandished weapons that she rarely saw on the face of Althanas, guns. Their blackened metal absorbed the light of the sun as she stared down at the first man, the one who was currently arguing with Karuka. She could hear the beat of his heart thudding wildly within his chest, taste the slightly stench of fear that was beginning to flow from him and in the light of the sun she noticed the perspiration that was beginning to grow on his brow. He was nervous, even with such a powerful weapon clasped in his hand and pointed towards her face, he was nervous.

The Halfling didn’t understand the point of acquiring such a weapon if one was so unsure and uncomfortable about actually using it. It was like procuring a sword only to hang it above the fireplace. One needed the resolve in order to actually use the weapon, carrying it around on their person only worked to deter weaklings who were scared to put their lives in their own hands. She was not one of those and she never planned on being one.

“If I thought you’d listen, I’d tell you to put down your weapons and put your hands in the air, but I get the distinct feeling it’s not going to happen.”

He seemed confused for a moment. As did the human’s partner, her eyes only counting two of them. Easy pickings, even if the human wasn’t going to help her here. She seemed more inclined to argue with them than actually use her skills to rip them a new breathing hole. That was just fine with her.

He seemed to fumble for words as his thin fingers gripped the handle of his gun and his dark brown eyes searched uneasily to those of his comrades.

Don’t look at them, she thought with a smirk. keep your eyes on me. You never know what I’m going to do.

“Pootcha swerd dun!”

She smirked as her fingers gripped the handle even tighter and pulled it once more from the ground it had become embedded within. Pieces of the weird stone fell from the dull Titanium chunk of metal that comprised of the blade. “You mean this?”

“A-aye! Pootcha dun!”

When she moved to swing it onto her back and sheath it, despite the fact that she’d love to rip through his body with it, something that wasn’t supposed to happen, happened. A loud sound, like thunder ripping through the air rent her ears and caused everything to suddenly muffle and grow quiet. Screams echoed in her ears and the humans that had been curiously watching this scene unfold began to scamper away. The noise was followed by a sharp and hot pain in her left shoulder, a pinch that made her fingers reflexively drop the sword back to the ground. The sharp end of the tip dug into the ground and stayed there as her face twisted into a grimace.

Looking down at her right shoulder, she saw the wound that lay within the skin and the blue blood that was beginning to pour out. She could also still feel the bullet within her body as her natural healing abilities already began kicking in and trying to force it back out the way it came.

Fucking trigger happy, disgusting bag of flesh!

Her next set of movements were a blur to the eyes of the human. She reached with both of her hands into the depths of the cloak and tensed the muscles in her body. Her boots dug along the rough rock and propelled her forward just as another shocking boom resounded through the air. This one missed her, if it had been aimed at her at all. Before another could be heard, she was standing before the uniformed human whose eyes had gone wide and jaw had dropped, leaving a wide mouth, gaping expression. Warm blood was flowing over the fingers of her left hand as she twisted the dagger further into his stomach.

“If you’re going to shoot someone, you better fucking make sure you kill them with the first shot. Otherwise you’re just going to really piss them off!”

She ripped the blade from his stomach in a spray of blood as she turned around to face her human companion. As the human slipped down to the ground, two more shots rang out throughout the streets of the town and Witch tensed her entire body, jumping out of the way and turning her crimson eyes to the human’s partner. In the distance, her ears could pick up the sound of weird, screeching birds or perhaps a battle horn that seemed to be growing closer to their position.

[Karuka]

Sorry for the long wait and short post.

Karuka had flinched back when the shooting started, lowering her staff - enough of a surrender for the officer holding her up, and he shot two rounds off at Witchblade as she disemboweled his partner. In his haste to shoot, however, his shots went far wide, and Karuka wasn't about to let him get his aim right.

A swift whip of her staff to the back of his head sent the officer crumpling to the ground, and the red-head bent swiftly, grabbing his gun from the light gray sidewalk. She'd only seen a couple of guns before, and only on Althanas, but if both members of the street patrol had them, it would be safe to assume that most fights in this strange Scotland used them - and no bloody wonder, with the great metal monsters they had.

She whipped around at the sirens. There was something vaguely familiar about them, the same sort of sense to them as the bugles and pounding drums that had called out 'danger,' to villages in her day. Only this tie, she was not the one being warned - as an outsider who had been involved in a fight, she was the one being warned of. And the sounds were only drawing closer.

She looked at Witchblade, then around at the buildings and other streets that branched out. Those were dangerous, too much so.

"This way! Run!" She glanced at Witch once more, to make sure she'd follow, and then ran at a fence, using her staff to propel herself over. She was leading them out of their way, but right now it was more important to remain free and relatively intact.

[Witchblade]

She hated the idea of fleeing. It disgusted her and went against most of who she was and what she stood for. A strong part of her wanted nothing more than to ignore the woman and keep fighting and see what warriors this place could throw at her. Another, much smaller part of her argued with that instinct and that urge to kill, the one that these very humans had awakened within her. It argued and won and the halfling knew her best option was to turn and show them her retreating back. As strong as she was, even a firearm could kill her if the correct shot got off. Not entirely sure where that correct shot would be, Witchblade was in no mood to find out today. She’d rather live to rip these men apart another time.

As she turned, her eyes caught sight of three more of those metal monstrosities careening down the street at a surprising speed. They were able to move much faster than she initially thought and part of her was quite curious and intrigued. They fell easy to the blade of The Rotslayer, but just maybe they had some interesting power within them.

Turning her eyes back to Karuka, she started running towards the woman. Stopping on the way to grab The Rotslayer, the halfling was halfway to the woman when she heard a screeching, tearing sound from behind her. Glancing back for a moment she saw that all three of the metal things had come to a complete stop and more gun wielding humans were pouring out of them.

Fucking cock sucking bags of flesh don’t give up.

Several more of those ear splitting bangs cut through the air and towards her, deafening her sensitive ears slightly. Reflexively, she jumped to the right to avoid them. One ripped through her side anyway and warm, blue liquid flowed across her pale skin and soaked into her black shirt. Growling and holding her hand over the wound, Witch slowly stood and looked ahead to the fence that Karuka had jumped and then back towards the humans attacking her. Though she could feel her claw itching to rip into her flesh, she tensed her legs and started sprinting towards the fence Karuka had jumped over once more.

Once she started moving, they started firing again. She zigzagged, trying to avoid them where she could but several grazed her arms and her legs. Then she stopped. Something sharp exploded across the back of her skull. She crumpled to the ground, skidding along the hard stone as the weight of The Rotslayer pressed down on her body. But she didn’t feel it. Couldn’t feel it. Eyes closed, Witchblade lay motionless on the ground as blood poured from a bullet hole in the back of her head, leaking out into her hair and the dripping into a puddle on the ground below.