In The Land of The Free...

[Witchblade]

((Closed))


The conflict was spreading. The ridiculous civil war that was slowly consuming Corone was now spreading into areas she thought it never would. She hoped it never would. It was leaking into the only place she had ever considered her home, Concordia. It was her haven, a safe place where she could hide from the rest of the world and where she didn’t need to have inner battles with a malicious thing inside her head just to survive from day to day. Only now it wasn’t quite so safe and quiet anymore.

Soldiers were prowling deeper and deeper into the dense trees searching for rebel camps she had long since found. Almost everywhere she went now there were traces of humans nearby or ones that had already been. Constantly was the time she came across families numbly trudging through the woods looking shelter because theirs was burnt to the ground. She offered them nothing but their lives as long as they left her alone. The soldiers were a different story though. She slaughtered those that wandered into her territory whether they are government or rebel. It didn’t matter to her. Their bodies she left on display hoping the stupid humans would think the woods were haunted and leave. It wasn’t working, but she wasn’t about to stop. If she had the strength within her, she’d litter the forest floor with the bones of every soldier in here.

Today had been no different. A scouting party of three soldiers had fallen victim to her claws. The sweet sound of their cries was still echoing in her ears as well as the rending of flesh and gushing of blood. The looks on their faces would remain for a little while longer, not that she could properly remember what they looked like. They were all uniform to her, and like little marionettes they were now nailed to various trees not more than fifty yards from here. If she tried hard enough she could still catch the scent of their blood on the air. Not surprising considering the area was saturated in it.

It brought a smirk to her face just thinking about how she had surprised them and slowly killed each one of them at her own leisure. Begging and pleading had done them no good and nor had screaming at the top of their lungs. Sometimes it was best to crush the windpipe when they did that. After all, she had sensitive ears and there were the screams of the dying and then there were those who screamed to be heard.

Now it was approaching dusk. She could tell as the atmosphere in the forest changed around her. The shadows were lengthened as they turned into the darkness she loved so much that blanketed the light. Witchblade was after all a creature of the night. The noises of the day were slowly quieting down as the birds and most other animals journeyed to that land of sleep she was never afforded. There they would stay until shortly before dawn. But until that time the nocturnal creatures came out to play. The predators came out to hunt and stalk their prey and she planned on being one of those. After killing those few soldiers this morning she was feeling a little restless and another battle might just be the thing to clear it away. Not that it was going to be much of a battle. After all, these soldiers only knew how to shakily hold and point a sword at a person not really use it. Their skills were mediocre at best. Perhaps if one of these sides decided to hire some real warriors and fighters this war would be over much sooner.

Perhaps she should consider joining one of the sides and actually getting some kind of reward for the killing she was already doing. Yet that would mean following orders and the halfling had never been one to follow orders very well. She did things her own way. Just like she was doing them now. She doubted either side suffered any from her little past time. Still it made her feel better. Tonight might afford her something different and far more entertaining too.

[Artifex Felicis]

"Goddamnit."

Leon stood in front of the second corpse that night. Wicked cuts, up along his chest as well as arms and legs, littered his body. The grass before him was dyed a crimson hue from the life blood dribbling out, and the cat boy's eyes picked out a few organs he knew were supposed to be under the skin. He tapped the red jian against his foot, utterly sure that the body in front of him was not dead long and that he probably was not the only one. He already found one other body, and both wore the rank of private. They would need a commander somewhere and that poor bastard was probably torn up just as badly.

He sighed, taking the body down from the meager rope holding it up. It wasn't difficult, as the jian his hand still retained the thin edge from when he got it. The body he left by the tree. Whoever it was, Leon had a few reservations about them. For one thing, they were terribly sloppy. Nearly every single one of the cuts he had seen so far, including the last few days, was not clean. They were rough and jagged, as if it was done with a rusty and dull sword. Whoever did the work wanted the victims to feel pain and suffer, rending bone and flesh when simply slitting their throats could have done the job much quicker and cleanly. He turned, going back from his spot and following some of the foot steps that led away from the pool of blood. He paused for a moment, wiping his own feet clean on the grass.

Most of the soliders Leon didn't even care about. Morrigan's home was incredibly well hidden to anyone who didn't know it was there. According the the smaller nekomata, not even N'Jalin spider mages could break in, if they ever found it. Nevertheless, every once in a while Leon found the bodies on the trees and he was slowly making it into his own personal mission to stop it. If anything, then simply because he was tired of suddenly seeing a mutilated corpse on beautiful trees. It would even have mattered to the cat boy if it was done cleanly. From what he could tell, none of the other animals so much as sniffed the bodies, leaving them to rot. He had taken to burning the bodies after sometime when even the rats left them alone. He was fairly certain someone not human was doing the killing at the very least.

The sword trailed along his side as he trudged along, yawning slightly. He had woken up not that long ago in the safety of Morrigan's embrace. He left not long after dressing, leaving her sleeping body with a note saying when he would be back. The girl slept a lot more then her roommate and Leon didn't really complain much about that. There was a certain freedom in leaving for several hours and finding your loved one barely moved four inches. Morrigan almost seemed to dance in the cat boy's mind as he walked through the dark forest, keeping perky ears ready for any sound out of the ordinary.

[Witchblade]

The darkness was growing thicker. It was a fact she would barely notice if not that the sun was irritating to her sensitive eyes. After all, she was equipped for the night. Sometimes she wondered what the night looked like to normal people, because for as long as she could remember she saw perfectly in it. The only time she couldn’t was when there was a complete absence of light. Nothing for her eyes to catch and use, which only happened underground or in sealed rooms. During the new moon her vision was a little less than perfect, but she managed. It wasn’t a new moon right now it was a sliver. Waxing or waning she didn’t know and she didn’t really care either. It’s light filtered through the lush canopy of leaves like the bright light of the sun, illuminating the forest floor in a lovely blue. It was so much softer than the sun.

She could hear the crickets emerging to sing throughout the night and the almost silent steps of some wild animal as it stalked another. The night was dead to most, but only because they didn’t know how to see the life that thrived in it.

Ahead of her, Witch could sense the energy of many people. She knew there was no village or town in this area, or there hadn’t been the last time she’d been here. And that hadn’t been too long ago, so there was no way a village with that many people could appear so quickly. It was such a massive amount of energy that she couldn’t tell how many people there were. Considering the circumstances, it had to be an army camp. In the back of her mind she wondered if it was government or rebel. Did it belong to the soldiers she had slaughtered earlier today, or perhaps was it an encampment they had been spying on?

Questions she would never bother getting the answers to. Still she’d wanted some fun and a place to stretch her muscles. Perhaps she should terrorize the camp for a little while. She’d have to be smart about it, strong she may be, but she could still be overwhelmed. After all, she was only one and they were many, as the saying went.

Witch only made it a few more feet before she caught scent of something on the wind. Something that tickled her memory yet could produce no images. She knew this smell, but from where and when she couldn’t say. It was just familiar to her. Whoever it was, they were heading in her general direction and it appeared as if he—for it was certainly male—was coming from the area she’d left those bodies on display in. Indeed, the smell had almost been overrun by the stench of blood and death, but she had caught it. If she hadn’t now, she would have later because he was upwind. Were he to have any of the same senses she did, he wouldn’t even be able to sense her until she was practically on top of him. But what to do about this familiar scent?

Stopping her advance, the halfling took a quick glance at the trees around her. Finding what she wanted, Witch grabbed a hold of a low-lying branch and pulled herself up into the tree. From there, she jumped from branch to branch until she found one that suited her, one with thick leaves that hid her. It would also help that the cloak wrapped around her had a slight chameleon affect, which allowed her to blend in a little easier.

For minutes she waited, perfectly still. Barely even breathing. She even lowered her energy just in case. After all, the scent might be familiar but that didn’t mean it was someone she took a fancy to, or them to her. Finally she heard the sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs. It was faint at first, but slowly it grew louder until he came into view. She didn’t recognize him at first. Her mind drawing a blank until it clicked, just like that.

The Citadel.

She had fought and lost to him. And not only had she lost, but she’d had her throat eaten out by that despicable cat thing. A loss was a loss in her mind… but to be violated in such a way…

With narrowed eyes and a growl barely contained in her throat, Witchblade watched him, stalked him as he walked within feet of her hiding place. Then she shifted ever so slightly, her hand moving within the confines of her cloak to produce two Titanium throwing daggers. With a quick flick of her wrist, she sent them sailing through the air and towards his open back.



(After Arty blocks, or dodges or even trips and the daggers miss him, you can bunny Witch dropping down out of the tree like a minute later. After he's had a chance to look around, I guess.)

[Artifex Felicis]

Leon was just about ready to go home now. He hadn't found much else in the way of bodies, though he would be able to now. With all the blood spread around, there was no way to sniff them out from under the musk. He sighed, resigning as the shadows grew much longer. His eyes worked well enough in the dark, though they were far from perfect. The trail back to his home and to Morrigan was easy to follow.

The knife that hit his back stung, even through the armor plating hidden within his black jacket. The cat boy however was able to swat the other one away, plating it blade down in the dirt. He whirled, searching as best he could and trying to suppress the growl he felt building up in his throat. His tails remained deathly still in the night, and his grip hardened on the sword in his hand. He kept watch, but even the winds themselves seemed to have died down some. The seconds Leon waited seemed to turn into minutes, ready to move at any moment he heard a blade descending from the trees.

He heard the drop before him though, and he couldn't help but smile as his eyes made out the shape. The nekomata always made it a point to remember those he had bitten, and the girl before him was no exception. Of course, he was a little bit more primal with her then he had been with anyone else, but all the same he remembered her. He kept his distance however, as her anger was as bright as the sun through the dark forest.

"I remember you," Leon said aloud. He grinned, a bit unsure if she could see him. "How've you been? The monks heal your neck alright?"