Hunter's Eve 2. (Open to one)

[Mutant_Lorenor]

(Continuation of the Hunter's Eve Saga)

The Concordia Forest by night surrounded the young immortal. It was as much a spiritual place as it was a physical hunting ground. One of its many predators, the hunter made his way through the Wild. He heard the sounds and calls of other predators hunting as he hunted. Only tonight he hunted for a very special sort of prey. Man.

The Undead were the anti-thesis of humanity. Making his way through the forest, Lorenor found himself upon a well-traveled road. Even by night some of the rogue carriages made their way into the forest. Concordia was a nesting ground for thieves. These days, highway robbery seemed like a common thing.

With the trees wrapped around him, the boy felt more like he was in a moonlit painting than a forest. He placed his person atop some sturdy tree branches, swaying in the wind. Waiting like a coiled snake preparing to strike, the boy observed dutifully waiting for his next meal to arrive. The hunter was in place, a trap to ensnare the innocent.

[Shadow Reaper]

Hope I'm okay. Something a bit different ^^

Night. Dark. Shadows..

K feels comforted, even with the darkness whispering it’s own words into the girl’s ears that only she can hear. Kinda odd to have a barefooted young lady walking alone in a forest that well, doesn’t house the friendliest of creatures. Then again, K’s not exactly your typical kind of girl.. admittedly none of them ever are.

Something strange about the forest, the white limbs stretching out, reaching for those who pass them by. Then there’s the creaks of the branches as they rattle against each other. Groans and squeaks of the Gods know what following the calls of the trees from out of the darkness. All those lovely little commodities that’d make any normal soul shiver and wish they were somewhere else.

K’s oblivious. She doesn’t know any better and she quite simply doesn’t carry those natural fears of such things most take for granted. No one, nothing’s ever told her such occurrences are reason to fear and she lacks natural instincts that would back up those who have followed such a situation themselves.

Perhaps she shouldn’t of left that caravan she’d been trailing on these winding paths through the forest? But she’d thought she’d seen someone, or something. The Dark Places had whispered their words and she’d followed them out into their depths among the trees. She’d kept her form, appearance, that of the young lady, messy blonde, white blouse, undyed leather pants and well.. not really anything else worth of note in the dark. Well, past being alone and what not.

The Dark Places continue to call, so K walks down among the trees and their grasping branches without thought or care as to where she’s going. She’s merely going. Shadows, moonlight, she passes through both without thought, slender form finding its way as if natural through the darkness.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

And then something pierced his sensory array. A powerful pull unlike anything that the boy ever felt before. His eyes darted towards the presence entering his dark domain when he caught it. A ghost-like girl made her way through the forest entering his hunting area. She permeated a sort of natural darkness that made the mutant hunger for it.

Inside his vessel, The Endless begged for such a darkness. They might make short work of it. Lorenor darted through the trees, keeping himself as hidden as he possibly could at this state. Once he got closer he saw the pale skinned girl with much more detail. The darkness felt stronger from her person and Lorenor figured that he might be able to talk to her and make an ally if possible. If not, he'd just kill her and allow The Endless to feed.

Lorenor waited until she passed just underneath his person, and leaped out in front of her. He landed with a small thud on the earth. Standing up carefully, he turned towards the girl with his usual corpse-like expression. His face wore a sad expression locked in eternity. A purple glow flowed out from his eye sockets where maybe eyeballs once were.

His face was hideously scarred. No nose, no eyeballs, no ears. The markings of a disciple of N'Jal. Lorenor tasted the darkness in his mouth as he got closer to her person. He circled around her for a moment saying very little and then decided to introduce himself. The small warrior was probably much shorter than the girl but nonetheless that didn't make him any less dangerous.

"What is a dear lady like yourself doing wandering around these parts alone? Don't you know bandits run through the Concordia Forest?"

The Predator's hunger affected him deeply but he wanted to toy with his food for a bit. He observed her quite carefully trying to discern any pertinent details he could. So far the most interesting one was her pale skin and the living darkness flowing from her person. Perhaps, she might make a useful ally of sorts. Or a slave. Either way she'd be a benefit to himself and The Endless if the battle of diplomacy worked out just the way he wanted. He'd admit to himself that his time in the Gol'bron changed his militant stance somewhat, all though not by much.

[Shadow Reaper]

BLIGHT!

A warning a moment too late as K suddenly finds a figure before her. Really, the Dark Places could do their job in this respect much better.

Unlike your average human K doesn’t take fright at the odd appearance of the man creature before her. She merely looks at them, red gaze wide and curious to this strange figure. Never has she seen a being like this before, not so featureless and lithe, slinking around her like part he’s part of the darkness itself. It’s very strange to have another with same affinity as her own this close.

Tingles run through her form, the shadows within the appearance of a girl shuddering slightly though not even a ripple reaches the surface of her form as the Dark Places whisper to her.

Watch.


Care.

Watch.


Hunger...

Hunger...

There’s danger here. The man has something wrong with him, something disagreeable. If only K had the experience to realise such things. She doesn’t even have the instinct to run with. Her only internal warning is that of wariness. An inclination she’s prone to ignore for not knowing what it is.

“I saw something. Off that way,” a hand waves vaguely to her left as she turns, following the man’s movements around her, “Through the trees. I wanted to see it.” Her voice is quiet, but friendly, open and inquisitive.

“Bandits?” she questions. Obviously there’s a lot of naivety within the pale girl. Anyone who’s lived out in the world at large should realise the dangers of her current position, especially in the presence of such as creature as is before her.

“You’re a strange little man..,” stranger still as the Dark Place’s become more insistent with their cries, a point they’re not prone to make of those she encounters.

Hunger...


Hunger.



HUNGER

K ignores their warnings, her curiosity in the man too much to give them pause. Eyes, death itself rimmed in red continue to watch, taking in all that they can. Depths endless, they take in much more than they give, hinting to the darkness that lays within the girl. Yet the innocent curiosity bleeds through stronger, almost completely masking what she truly is.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Lorenor saw the darkness that flowed from her person. Naye, he could taste it within his very mouth. Though he had no tongue, the metallic taste filled his maw making the creature hunger for the young one even more. He saw the vibrating energy pulse from her and this drew the small warrior to her even more.

His greed filled his stomach and his heart. Lorenor wanted to consume the creature before her, but first he needed to test her resolve. Typically, he didn't like to consume the flesh of humans. The darkness called out to Lorenor in an attempt to guide him in this mysterious encounter. The Endless spoke of diplomacy and spoke songs of a possible friendship. Though the warrior knew he needed to earn such a matter.

Moving in very close to her, the boy stopped within a couple of inches directly in front of her. He covered the ground between his last position and his current position somewhat quickly moving as silently as his undead form would allow him to move. The night sounds filled his ears as he moved and he looked about seeing the forest alive in the realm of the Dark Mother.

Attempting to stare into her eyes, naye, into her very soul, the creature was silent for a long moment. He interpreted her words as a vile attempt at humor and such a thing disgusted him. Still there was no need for violence--just yet anyway. The foul creature decided he would toy with his current meal first.

After many minutes passed, the creature finally responded to her words. He'd memorized every aspect of her appearance, burning that image into his brain.
Lorenor spoke in a deeply raspy voice.

"The realm of the Dark Mother hides many things You would be wise to stay in the Realm of the Light. Not wandering into the Dark Kingdom on your own. Many predators lurk in the shadows. That is probably what you pursue, one of my many kindred. You are foolish to walk alone in these places by yourself, especially during the time of the Dark Mother." Lorenor looked up at the sky for a moment and could see a star-field. He sought out the brilliant red star that marked the Dark Mother's prison. This caused a grim smile to appear upon his face.

[Shadow Reaper]

The Dark Places continue to warn, wary of this being before her. Yet still K merely watches, fascinated. She doesn’t even make move of stepping back as his disfigured features present themselves so close to her. For that matter she leans closer herself, those few inches between them becoming less as she takes his own approach as invitation to inspect him closer.

Gaze inquisitive she looks over those hungry features, not seeing them for what they are, merely a strange light and scarred surfaces. Looking into her eyes is like looking into Death itself. There is no end to the darkness that’s held within, there is no soul to catch upon, no landing, no end, no anything, just the forever that is the other side of life. Not that K realises this herself, she only knows that most cannot stand to look upon her so closely for long without becoming upset.

K doesn’t notice the time pass. She’s too interested in counting the scratches, scars upon the face before her. Watching the swirl and reflection of the light generated by those empty sockets, the flicker, dance of his hair in the light breeze that does neither to her own messy blonde locks or any of her being. For that matter the surrounds seem to do nothing to influence the girl, though she is influencing them. There’s not a bug or bird to be heard nearby, though to listen closely the sounds hang distant, there but far far away. Small lives avoid the presence of K, then again they’re likely avoiding the person currently with her too, just not to quite the same extent.

It’s with a bit of a start that K realises the man is speaking, that he had been speaking for a short while already by the time she catches onto his words.

To put it simply she goes blank, her previously light and happy face losing all sign of expression as she tries to work out what was said. The pale face scrunches up a little, searching through the words to work out how to reply. K is all of two and a half years old in human terms of time. Her knowledge is limited, such twisty words that would confuse even a normal human are too much for the girl and she merely does as best she can with what is spoken.

“I don’t like light.. It’s bright,” blinding, disappearing. As is perfectly reasonable for a creature based in shadowform K does not like light and it’s many different aspects. To be told she should be wandering towards it is quite simply wrong. So she stated as such.

“It didn’t look like you. Was white but dark.. it whispered, words up and down..” she thinks for a moment searching for the appropriate word, “It sang. I heard it through the Dark Places. I wanted to see it.” Not that she can currently remember what it was now.

A glance up and K follows suit, crimson gaze searching the world above for what’s being looked at. Is it interesting? What is it?

The farlights are shining, there’s some cloud.. a tree branch or two but nothing else. Perhaps she just can’t see it? Still, she remains looking up, watching, searching. She’ll turn back down again though at prompting via talk or otherwise.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Without realizing it too much the war of words became a soothing melody. A debate of sorts from one dark creature to another. Lorenor misunderstood her intentions at the onset of their chance meeting but that was all right. The boy had an eternity to make up for it. With the gnarled trees all around them, Lorenor did something slightly unusual even for him. He decided that for them to have a better conversation, he'd sit down.

Moving silently over to a nearby fallen tree stump, the creature sat atop the surface of the thing. The very embodiment of the dead, the thing stared at his pet for a long time. Interventions such as these were precious to him. For some reason, this event reminded him of something else that he went through long ago. Many life-times ago. The specter like creature contemplated how to approach next. He listened to what she'd revealed. Being a beast that hated the light as well, he understood where she came from. Perhaps--they were kindred spirits.

For a moment, the glowing purple energy vanished as he sat there in deep thought listening to The Endless. He communed with them and listened to their advice carefully. Once a conclusion was reached he had an idea of what it was she chased. Its quite possible that one of those accursed Thaynes tormented the girl. Lorenor placed a hand upon the large tree stump and patted it twice as if inviting her to sit down.

"I believe I know what torments you. You chase the lady of the Forest as many do. There are legends that abound these places. Legends of the girl of the Forest. Lady Y'edda they call her. They say to chase her is to chase wisps of smoke. I know this because The Thayne are my enemy. I've declared war upon them!" He knew that he spoke heresies, but he cared not. He stood up and clenched his left fist, anger poring from his very atma throwing the darkness around him in loops.

"They do nothing but bring torment to the lives of people." He said in a gravely sort of way remembering his own battle with Lord Draconus. Some scars never heal.

[Shadow Reaper]

The man moves, she follows.

There’s no crunch of leaves, no rustle of grass. K leaves no impression on the earth as she moves after him. Then again, passing shadows never do.

K’s too energised to sit herself, currently anyway. The night’s world about her, she’s at home, in her comfort zone and she doesn’t wish to be sitting still. So she hops upon the log next to the man and starts walking back and forth along it a couple of times before dropping down again to the ground and looking at the man. He’d gone quiet?

Wondering what’s going on she’s stepped up close to him again, closer even than he’d put himself to her before when standing. Her face is so close that were she breathing the air would be washing over his features. Of course, K doesn’t breathe so this doesn’t happen. The glow’s gone, that’s very curious for her. She wonders how he does that and a hand comes up to wave in front of them a moment, never quite close enough to touch. K doesn’t touch things and she makes all effort to avoid being touched herself, despite her habit of coming so close to others.

Words from the man himself keep the girl from spouting her own words of question and she’s forced to stop and listen, bringing her thoughts to what’s being said instead of what was previously buzzing within.

“Torments?” Question to a word she does not know, if only as spoken word and not in feeling.

“I like smoke.. It tickles and dances upon things. A shadow in the air, the dark free of being bound, hehe,” she giggles, as fingers follow the flow of an imaginary plume of smoke, her form finally moving back from his to do so.

A spin on the spot, arms moving as if to release the ‘smoke’ into a puff up above her head and then she’s back to looking at the man, head tilted to the side, eyes bright and curious. “Thayne? Enemy? War?” Too many words she doesn’t know or understand. For being a young lady in appearance, at least in her early twenties there’s the mind of child dwelling within.

The man’s anger makes the air ripple, the Dark Places speaking louder within her being of warning as they shudder at their homes being ruffled.

Anger.
Fear.
Loathe.
Fury!

Bad? Serious? The man’s tone is one she’s heard before, not a good one usually. Though few things truly bad have happened to herself by those who use such feelings within their words since her escape. The people within the ‘world’ do not seem to have the magic that had once kept her Bound within her place of creation.

Not knowing the meaning of the word torment, K cannot comment to the man’s last words, though had she known she’d of felt sorry for such people. Instead she changes the line of words.

“I am K. Do you have a name?” K, no other letters attached and the way she says it says as such. Her own question is curious, who doesn’t have a name in this world? Well, she didn’t for a long time.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

When his companion took control of the conversation this disturbed the small warrior a little. He eyed her erratic behavior for a time. Staying silent while she spoke he decided that he liked her, but wouldn't show it. There were places in the Gol'bron for a warrior such as her. The darkness seemed to flow naturally from her and maybe they were kindred spirits of sorts? Many thoughts like these haunted the young immortal. She clearly didn't understand what he'd said just then. Not many knew of the Cult of the Thaynes.

The boy thought of ways to explain things to her. What were The Thaynes? In many circles they were considered false Gods. How could he explain it to her in a simple way? Were the Thaynes even real? The boy touched his forehead and remembered his rape at the hands of Lord Draconus. They'd tried to pin him against his best friend back then. It was true, some scars never healed.

He looked down at the tree stump and identified it as oak. Just then she asked a single question that caught him completely off guard. She'd asked him for his name and at the same time revealed her own. K. A fitting name somehow. He gazed at her for a long time while he waited to try to form answers for her. She didn't ask questions and that bothered him. He continued to sit feeling the wooden texture against his bottom, smelling the scents of the night.

It was a calm night really, perfect for a meeting. The night creatures naturally avoided that spot except the ones that were attuned to the darkness generated by the two creatures. Lorenor waited a long time to pass before he finally had an appropriate answer to give her.

"They call me Lorenor young one. Apparently it is a name I was granted long ago. I know very little else about my past when I was alive. What I do remember comes in splinters. Fragments really." He decided he wanted to keep the conversation going at least for the sakes of entertainment. He liked the girl a lot. She kept his interest. "The Thaynes are a group of deities in case you didn't know and wanted to. Some people call them false Gods but that can be true of any religion or cult really. I belong to an organization dedicated to their worship though I hate them. I'm connected to one called N'Jal." The boy said the name matter of fact sort of way. He didn't care if she might react in a negative way towards it.

Maybe he purposefully tried to instigate her?

[Shadow Reaper]

Wary.

Wait.

Watch.


See.

Sure, the Dark Places can say all of that, but K’s getting bored. The funny little man has gone silent there sat on his dead tree. This isn’t really all that interesting and the girl requires things to keep her attention. So she turns away, looking up, down, left, right, all around to all the directions that she can.

Some clouds are floating by in the world above, occasionally masking the part moon shining the world below, a good thing. K doesn’t like full moons, she feels bare on those nights, like her world is being scoured by the day’s light where it has no right to be. The new moon’s been and gone in the past few nights, she wont be seeing it again for some time.

That distraction doesn’t last long though and her gaze comes down to the trees around them. Shadows flit, dance over trunks and branches, a couple of scraggly patches of grass and the attempts of a moon’s light to bleach the ground. Fingers twitch, dance at her sides as arms swing a couple of times, her form wanting to move, to dance, to do something other than keep still. Why can’t the man say something? Do something?

Finally words come and her head snaps back again, bouncy blonde following the turn in a wave around her face. “What a funny name.. Have you alwa-,“ he’s still talking, whoops. “-Oh. Well.. ” the words trail off into nothing as well, there’s nothing remaining in her mind to follow through with to keep them going.

“My mind does that. Bits and pieces of things.. from before. I can’t remember them all properly. It’s annoying sometimes.. not as annoying as the Dark Places,” a shrug, a flash of those pearly whites in a grin and she’s listening again.

“Deities? Gods?” More and more words follow that K has no understanding of and she goes blank once more. “N’jal? That’s a funny word. It’s connected to you?” Red eyes go wide as they peer over the man, observing every part of him to try and determine which part is this ‘connected’ thing called N’jal.

K is once more much closer to the man, examining everything about him. From toes to top, her eyes rove everywhere without the slightest hint of trepidation. The girl has few boundaries when it comes to others except anything to do with physical contact, which she completely abhors.

“Where? Is it here? This? Is this it? What about this? Here then? That? ..What about that thing? This?” and she goes on, pointing at this and that part of the man as she goes over them. From ragged shoes to curling nail, clothes to a weapon glimpsed at, nothing ever touched, she merely points and sounds her queries insistently, hardly waiting for his answer between one and the next.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Many questions bombarded the small warrior all at once, it became very difficult to keep up. He tried to sort out what he could from the young one's barrage of question. Mostly she seemed to ask questions in regards to WHERE N'Jal actually was. Curiously, she seemed to think that it was a part of HIM IN THE LITERAL SENSE! Lorenor observed that and took a moment to gather himself after the almost overwhelming wave of questions. His heart started to race and the urge to kill her came again so that he might rid himself of that annoying little brat.

He found himself thinking that just might be the easier path. Still, she seemed to behave like a child and he couldn't fault her for that. He formed the next part of his words very carefully so he wouldn't confuse her. He noticed that she seemed to keep her distance in such a way that they never actually touched physically. Maybe she doesn't like physical contact? Maybe she was more like him than she cared to realize? Or knew to understand? Questions filled his own mind about the child-like "K", but he doubted she'd have the mental faculties necessary to answer his own questions, so he kept on the offensive, versus the defensive.

He was trying to find out whatever details she let slip. K let out information in the midst of all her babble. She acted like a curious child would, new to the world, she spoke of a white being that she pursued. Possibly a hallucination of some sort or some matter much darker? She revealed that she suffered from a fragmented mind as well. THAT was something you never told a predator. The urge to arm himself suddenly came with an almost overwhelming desire. He wanted to put her down before she caused others any trouble with her babble. If she could SEE the Thaynes in their natural form, she might be VERY dangerous to Althanas.

Lorenor knew of only one person who could see the Thaynes in their natural form besides himself, and that was Ranger Nailo. Standing up and watching her dance, the small warrior quickly and stealthily picked up a nearby well-sized rock and placed it in his pouches. If it came down to it, he would knock her out and rip her flesh off until there was nothing left but charred bones for the scavengers to feed from.

"Okay there, slow down for a moment. First of all, N'Jal is an entity, like a person almost. She's not a part of me in the physical sense. You were just pointing out parts of my body back there which is considered to be very rude." He suddenly felt like an illegitimate Father trying to explain to his daughter about the basics of life in Althanas--something very wrong with that picture indeed. The thought made the boy shiver for a moment. "You asked me so many questions its hard to answer them all but I'll try. I can SHOW you where the Dark Mother is, she is very far away."

Lorenor moved towards her, very close but not quite touching her. He looked up slowly as if attempting to guide her with his actions and he hoped she'd catch on to what he did. Pointing up at the night sky, Lorenor traced with his extended index finger and made a line across the sky. There, he moved his fingertip slowly until he finally pointed at one particularly angry looking star. It was the only glowing red star in the night sky of Althanas. "THAT is the Dark Mother, N'Jal. She is a part of everything concerning the realm of the night, though I know for certain other deities of Darkness exist. Think of them as people, only much more powerful than we are. Many call them patrons and guardians."

He hoped that explanation would answer some of her questions. "All though my knowledge of the Thaynes is very limited. I only know of The Lady Y'edda and Lord Draconus from personal experience. N'Jal from a more intimate relationship I share with her. The other Thaynes I know next to nothing about besides names and old wives' tales. I've never actually encountered any of the others. Perhaps I am not in their favor." Lorenor said and grinned.

[Shadow Reaper]

“En-tit-ty?”

Wary. Wary.


Watch..

DANGER!

K’s head tilts as she looks to the short man curiously, completely ignoring the warning voices of the Dark Places as they react to his inner thoughts and feelings. “Oh.. it’s not.. on you?” is the general meaning she thinks he’s trying to get at. Well that’s.. confusing. She blinks.

That her entire conversation has been rude is completely lost on her, she still has yet to quite grasp the meaning behind the word and well, the comment flies right on past her. “So that’s not it? Or that?” and she’s back to pointing, though this time she stops after a half dozen places at the look upon the man’s face.

“Show? Really?” after more words come and she’s brightened up again after becoming unsure from his previous look. That he’s come closer to her makes her fall back a step. She hadn’t quite expected that and really she doesn’t like others approaching her so close, it’s only when vice versa that it’s okay.

Directions are indicated and finally she holds her backwards pacing, following along the outstretched limb to look up once more to the world above. Crimson eyes follow the angle, watching, waiting.. seeing nothing for some time. Then finally a glimmer, a spark in the darkness and her eyes go wide. Red!


Wary..

The Dark Places shiver as K looks up at this strange light in the world above. The words of the strange little man pass through her, only half heard as curiosity keeps her in place. What a novel thing it is.. She’s not noticed it before, not really. How long has it been there? Was it always there?

More words are mumbled, but she’s not really listening. The light’s so very pretty and it’s gotten her interest. She even takes time to wonder if there’s a way to get to it, doubtful but there’s always a hope.

The Dark Places growl, groan in the back of K’s mind as her thoughts drift, unconscious of anything but their own aimless wandering. Really, she shouldn’t be taken by flights of fancy like this so easily.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

And with that he knew he had her instantly. The moment of distraction was all he really needed to do the deed. She proved far too dangerous a creature for Lorenor's liking. Once she was mesmerized by the Dark Mother, the small warrior revealed his cunning. He'd planned the whole thing really to try to trick her into a moment such as this. He hoped her naivety would remain just long enough for him to do what he needed to do. N'Jal wasn't for a child-minded individual like her, he'd have to knock some sense into her.

Stealthily, with his opposite arm, he removed the small stone and took a step back while she stared in a daze at the Dark Mother. He took the stone in his right hand and suddenly thrust his arm with considerable skill in the general direction of the back of the girl's head. His purpose was to knock her out and take her to the Gol'bron's camp. There, he would be able to take her to someone who would further instruct her in the ways of the Thaynes. Such an interest in the lady N'Jal was dangerous and Lorenor knew this. The small warrior waited to see if he felt the impact of flesh against his stone.

[Shadow Reaper]

There’s no impact.

For a moment there’s contact, then it goes further as the hand and stone simply pass through K’s head like it’s nothing more than an image, which in many ways she is. Where you are a shadow creature in the literal sense and not just the figurative these sorts of things happen.

K’s frozen, the Dark Places screaming in her head as she realises something of what’s just happened. The man’s touching her! And not just a gentle brush, he’s put himself inside of her! Sure, that in itself isn’t exactly the most pleasant of situations in normal circumstances, but when you’re a creature like K and with all the self confusion of what she is and what she can do, well, these things just don’t work.

From inside of she can feel that want flare up, the want of further contact, to grasp at the Life she can feel pulsing within her from the strange little man. She wants to grab it, hold it, tug it, pull it, rip it out of him and claim it as hers. Feelings too strong, too confusing, all screaming different things within her.. The fear of it all overwhelms her and she rears away from the contact, spinning so his fisted hand passes through the side of her head and falls away.

Wide crimson glazed eyes simply stare at the funny little man for what he’s done. K’s pale, but not in the traditional sense, she’s gone grey instead of white, ivory skin, white shirt, tan pants, dirty blonde hair, everything takes on a distinctly grey hue. That is, all except the red irises that seem to stand out brighter against her faded visage.

NO!


TAKE!
TAKE!


TAKE!
The darkness around them shudders as the Dark Places roar their whisperings around her being, evidently disagreeing with her choice not to follow the instincts she denies. The air itself wavers for a moment as the roar grows louder.

CLAIM!


TAKE!

DARK TO DARKNESS!


TAKE!
K’s curled up on herself, arms up over her head and pulling it in closer to her chest. Small whimpers leave her curling form as she tries to shut out the Dark Places from her mind, to make them be quiet, to make them stop calling out at her.


'Shut up.

Shut up.
Shut up!
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up,
Shutupshutupshutupshutup..

SHUT UP!!'


The words don’t leave her lips, but they’re there on the air, the shadows around both figures reacts to them, shivering a final time before finally there’s silence within K’s head. Despite the silence once more returned to her, K remains curled up, shivering, shaking, holding her head as if there’s something still out there that she’s trying to keep out.

It’s been barely moments since the initial contact and here’s K just standing there, crouched down and curled over upon herself. No wonder she’d been avoiding touching the funny little man if things like this happen. Of course, things like this tend not to happen quite that often. K’s pretty good at keeping an eye on what’s around her.. usually, and avoiding the whole contact issue in general. When it’s unavoidable, well, she either adjusts herself or makes it no more than a brush and moves on as fast as she can. That Lorenor put his entire hand through her head, that was a bit too much. A small brushing of life she can withstand, the inner drives within her being, the instincts she doesn’t understand she can ignore from that minimal contact. It’s when she can feel, taste, touch, see the Life within the being touching her, can reach out and grab it within them.. that’s when she has problems.

K doesn’t understand herself enough, having been in existence for just over two years, half of that in captivity and never having been given an explanation of what she was, what she’s to do, to be.. Well, anything that garners such strong reactions as contact with the living has her freaking out.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

(That was a fantastic post!)

In that one moment, Lexxum and K sort of connected in a way previously unimaginable to the "funny little man." Absolutely stunned, Lorenor saw his hand pass through the specter in one final moment of completion. Their journey lead them to that moment. He stood there as K reacted and The Endless reacted. They shouted songs of intensified danger from within. The very darkness itself reacting as an elemental force to the two entities. Of all the things Lorenor expected of K, her being a phantasm wasn't one of them, and this complicated matters intensely.

The boy thought carefully about her reaction to physical contact. It nearly destroyed her, and perhaps that gave him a sort of advantage over her. Many thoughts and schemes of things presented themselves in the creature's mind but at the same moment all of them were quickly rejected. He'd caused this poor thing enough pain already and perhaps that gave him an edge in the confrontation as it was. He felt that he lost grip on his rock and it dropped upon the ground. Already, the stone was saturated with a ectoplasmic residue tainting its earth energies further.

Lorenor stole a glance from K to the stone and realized that it glowed heavily with various types of energies. The stone probably contained more than what the small warrior realized initially. He leaned down and picked it back up again quickly placing the augmented stone in his personal packs. He took a moment to assess the shock of what just happened. His hand passed completely through her person!

Instantly, he saw her reaction and it reflected his own. Shock of a tremendous elevation filled his gut, and the warrior listened to The Endless cry. From what he knew of Thayne-Lore, which was considerable, many dimensions existed in Althanas. These existed side by side to one another and its possible that this entity originated from the Antifirmanent. After spending time with the Monks of Ai'bron and his time with the Gol'bron, the small warrior picked up a bit of working knowledge of theology. After all, the undead had nothing but time on their hands.

Overwhelmed by the realizations of truth, the warrior looked up to the Dark Mother and thanked her for this mixed blessing. It was clear to the small warrior now that K possessed considerable potential, she could be a valuable asset to the Gol'bron. Ranger Nailo accepted beings of a darker orientation within the ranks of his Power Group unlike most Power Groups. Thusly, a solution to their dilemma presented itself. Lorenor wanted to gain a further understanding of K's existence, and not only that, find potential weaknesses to exploit.

The Endless continued to sing within his person and he listened carefully to their instruction. Rippling about the two of them, the Darkness became palpable. Lorenor would remember the location of this initial meeting. What was it that she said before? In their initial meeting she claimed she chased a white entity. He shuddered thinking about what such an entity might be, maybe she HAD actually seen the Lady Y'edda? The small warrior sat down casually trying to catch his breath despite himself.

"I can't believe that just happened."

Lorenor found himself whispering to nobody in particular. He sat down upon the ground for a moment, a few paces from K, staring directly at her. He clutched at the earth beneath him still shocked about his discovery. He knew now that he was destined to meet K. He doubted many others could appreciate the importance of such a discovery. A PHANTASM! And one that could manifest itself at will! His naturally greedy disposition burned with possibilities of reward for such a discovery. He looked at K and planned a scheme to get the naive child to join the ranks of the Gol'bron.

And spare everyone a dangerous thread like her wandering about unchecked.

[Shadow Reaper]

It’s some time yet before K’s able to bring herself together, to be able to hold herself in place and once more start to take input from the world around her.

The Dark Places are still whispering, coercing her of their own thoughts, but she has no mind to listen. They will not help, they will only lead her to more questions without answers, to more frustrations that build the confusion already rife within her. No, she ignores the everything, she needs to get herself figured out first, what ever else can come next.

Finally her arms start to fall away, her head coming up a little to peer up at the eyes staring so intently at her. Had she fur it would be bristling, not with aggression, no, she’s too shaken for that, it’s the fear of the unknown, the uncertainty that the strange little man represents. She’d felt the eyes on her for some time, had lent them no more thought than anything else in the forest around her until now that she’s looking up.

Apprehension grips her from within, through her centre the darkness swirls.

Such a look she’s seen before. The Woman’s gaze. The hunter to the prey, though she wouldn’t understand the reference she does know the feeling. The want of another for something she has, is. K doesn’t know what, not really. She doesn’t get what it is about her that makes others so strange... frightening.

She shrinks, even as she uncurls and begins to stand, stepping one, two steps away from the hunter’s gaze.

“...”

The pause is audible, filled with the sounds of words unspoken. K has not the knowledge, not the familiarity with words to know what she wants to say. There are things to be said, if only her open mouth could force the feeling within her being into sounds that could be understood by the man. Sadly she does not and merely steps further back.

K wants to run. She will run. The girl merely needs to pull herself away from the entrancing gaze...

[Mutant_Lorenor]

((My conclusion post))

And sadly the events of the night ended. Within the bosom of the Concordia Forest, the gnarled trees seemed to lean towards them sharing in the relentless sadness. Melancholy was not the right word to describe the scene as Lorenor extended his hand to reach out towards his Phantom. He knew there to be many mysteries in the wild places of Concordia Forest. Only fools believed that they explored every physical inch of the Concordia Forest. Many undiscovered places lurked within the vast wild land.

Doors that yet lay unopened. The night ground onwards towards the infinity leaving the small warrior alone. He felt empty somehow, now that K was gone and he had no companion to share his pitiful existence with. Still, she'd offered him a single moment of restitution

Feeling the weight of the guilt in his heart, he hoped that the Phantom could understand WHY he'd done what he'd done. He took the stone up off the ground and noticed something peculiar about it. The stone had a strange energy about it's form and structure that never lurked there before. Tainted with the shadowy properties of whatever K was, and the dark places surrounding them, the stone had its own mysteries waiting to be unlocked.

Lorenor took the stone and placed it within his travel pouches once more the texture feeling familiar in his hand. Once the deed was done, Lorenor decided on how he should spend the next remaining hours of the night ahead of his person. He decided to continue to explore this area until a meal presented itself before him. Once that happened he would call it a night and sleep for a time. The confusion of the night's event stirred in his heart gripping it like a vice.

And so, the dark hero faded off into the darkness of eternity in the exact opposite direction that K went.

Fin.

****Spoils Request****

Mysterious Small Stone--A common rock found anywhere with a typical make up of copper and other natural sediments. What makes this rock unusual is that its highly saturated with elemental darkness energy making it prime for use in Alchemy or Blacksmithing. Eventually Lorenor will figure out how to recover the tainted ores from this stone, but for now it serves as a charm and a reminder of his first encounter with K. Not sell able.

[Karuka]

Bleh, the screen died on me right in the middle of typing this up, so I'm going to skimp out on the detail. Any questions can be directed to me via PM, I have all my comments written all over the pages of this quest.

Continuity: 4

I didn't get too much about where either of you were coming from or going after. All I got was the distant past, and no knowledge of what exactly you were (Lorenor was more guilty of this) or where you were going.

Pacing: 4

Transitions. Transitions, transitions, transitions. All through the quest, all I got out of either of you was "one step backwards, then two forward." It's very jarring.

Setting: 6.5

You guys interacted with your setting quite well. I got a pretty decent idea of what was happening. Lorenor made a good choice in sitting on the stump.

Persona: 6

While I have to say that Lorenor confused me here, thinking of her alternately as an ally, food, and pet, Shadow Reaper was brilliant. I got to know and understand her fairly well. Good job.

Action: 5

Dialogue: 5.5

Lorenor's speeches felt stylized, but K's naivette played really well.

Mechanics: 6

You both had some comma errors, fragments, and awkward sentence structures. Nothing a little proof-reading wouldn't fix.

Technique: 5.5

I loved SR's present tense. It flowed really well with the style of the character, and this is from someone who is very insistent on the use of past tense in writing.

Clarity: 5

Wild Card: 5.5

Total: 53

Congratulations!

Rewards: Mutant Lorenor gets 480 EXP, 130 GP, and his shiny stone.
Shadow Reaper gets 450 EXP and 140 GP.

[Letho]

EXP/GP added. Mutant_Lorenor, welcome to the next level.