Abandoned

[Distarius_WhiteRobes]

More than a year ago an RP entitled “Shifting Terrors” was created by Kokoryuu and Distarius, and was quickly accompanied by Jareena Faye. However, due to several internal affairs within the group, of which I will not go into now, the RP died when it was approaching its ending.

 

Distarius has taken it upon himself to finish what was begun… and probably Jareena, too. I don’t know about Ryuu.

 

My way of ending things is way better than the complicated story they had planned, anyway.

 

So… yeah… I think it’s supposed to start now.

 

 

Distarius

 

Wake up.

 

Wake up, your foot hurts.

 

Wake up, your foot hurts, your head hurts.

 

Wake up.

 

I woke up with a sudden jolt of my neck. I looked down; down to where my mind was telling me. As I did, my foot stopped hurting. I’d call it miraculous, that is to say if I had a foot at all. It had been severed just above the ankle, wrapped in a crude bandage torn from my own robes. Now my leg?

 

“Augh” I let out as I reached down past my knee, grabbing my calf. My leg hurt, a lot, and that’s probably what had incapacitated me. I remember coming to this cave in a dazed state, thinking I might take a rest after such a long hike. How long had I been running before I stopped here? Hours? A day? More? Did I eat? Did I drink? Are they still chasing me? Is he still chasing me? All of these questions I had, none of which I could answer.

 

And then like an arrow it struck me. The memories of my last struggle, the losses I had seen, all rushed forward in my mind, toward my eyes. I yelled out as they hit me, hard as they did.

 

Kokoryuu shifted into a griffin, her mid-sized fighting form of choice. The eight legged monster that readied itself for battle in front of her hissed, and she growled back. The two were in a lock of claws and teeth before I could look back, and I had no clue who was winning. My attention went back to the Syrakk creature in front of me. I was unarmed now, my staff lost in the last skirmish. It was just as well, I assumed, since I had forgotten how to use magic long ago. Still… the blade incased within the handle would’ve proved useful now.

 

I shouted a swear and pushed with all my might against the screeching Syrakk. It buckled now, its exoskeleton carrying little traction against the hard stone of this lair.

 

“This lair?” I asked myself. The reason of the fighting had left me at this point, I suppose. It didn’t really matter anymore, so why worry about it?

 

I managed to get the Syrakk on to its back somehow, yet had unfortunately tumbled with it. Funny how it was one of the few protecting this place, I thought to myself as I scrounged on the ground for anything to kill this creature. I finally found my resources in the body of its partner, a Syrakk now suffering from a slight case of death. I reached in the dark over its body. My hand landed on its thorax limb, a sharp spike of a hand, and I pulled. I pulled until sinew and muscle had snapped, and plunged it with another scream into the living Syrakk’s chest. It died instantaneously.

 

I fell backward now, looking up at the ceiling lit only by a glowing blue crystal.

 

I’ll be damned if I can tell you what half of this stuff was for; Jareena and Ryuu seemed to grasp the situation much better than I did, going off in endless rants about the hierarchy of the demons descending upon us. I never paid them much attention.

 

My head turned in a sudden curiosity of Ryuu’s status.

 

I can’t very well describe what I saw.

 

The death of a shape-shifter is brutal. It looked as if she had tried to take the shape of about ten different things in an effort to stay alive, ranging from her natural dragon form, to her human form, all the way to her fox form. The in-betweens were gruesome, not to mention her fatal wound which to me seemed unnecessary.

 

I fear I can not go into this. Suffice is to say her spine was no longer in place, and her air supply had been cut off. You fill in the gaps.

 

Fear, love, anger, instinct, illness… all of these things rushed into my soul at the sight of her. Fear; where was her opponent whom I now hated more than anything else, ever. Instinct; the instinct to flee, hampered by a sickness of which I could not comprehend. Love; underneath it all was the truth I had failed to realize until this moment, this moment which now left me incapacitated. I threw up.

 

So how did I get back to the castle? Were we fighting at a castle? Was it a church? How had they lost so badly by the time we got there? How did Jareena get there? No, that I remember; we had told her to run back before going deeper into that lair.

 

So how did I get back to the castle?

 

Did I fight that eight legged creature? Did I kill it? I did. I did kill it, I remember. I slaughtered it with a hatred I had blocked out until now. I’d kill it again if it were here.

 

So how did I get back to the castle?

 

The castle was almost rubble by the time I saw it. The Syrakk had decimated what was once the cornerstone of culture among the southeast land. A few pockets of soldiers remained, including Colin Ap Warren and his tightly knit bunch of men. Jareena was there, too. They looked happy to see each other. Just as well, I was too frustrated by the death of one love to start thinking about another.

 

Why is that the thing I remember most clearly? They smiled at each other. Despite all of the death happening around them, they smiled. Why do I remember that? It holds no significance.

 

The soldiers fought bravely. I remember that man. The “demon”, they were calling him. He suddenly landed before us off of what used to be the second floor library.

 

What was his name? It started with an E, I think.

 

Warren was dead in an instant. I’ll miss the dullard. He was tossed far out of the castle by the demon, and if that’s not enough he was on fire. Jareena screamed for him. She, I, and the rest of the soldiers were huddled together against him.

 

I know Jareena died. I can’t remember how. I can’t remember anything after that. I would love to be able to say some of the other soldiers survived, or even one, but I rest unsure and doubtful that was the case.

 

So what happened next?

 

I ran as fast as I could, one leg complete with a foot. I imagine the blood trail alone would’ve been enough to track me down, but I didn’t care. I ran until I heard nothing but my own breath. I ran until the sun was up and down again. I ran until that town was far away from me. I ran until that plague was in my past. I ran until I had all but forgotten the friends I had witnessed dying.

 

It’d be nice if I could still say I didn’t remember their deaths.

 

You know? My fire is still going. I think I’ll go back to sleep.

 

Sleep is good.

 

The Next Morning

 

Elinthar. His name was Elinthar. He wasn’t human there, either. When we fought him he had morphed into something much more devious, much more his true nature. I also remember that the priest had attempted to save us. I can only pray it was enough to save him.

 

My leg still hurt, but I managed to get up after a half-hour of struggling against the back wall of the cave. Apparently I had already crafted myself a crude crutch out of a tree limb during my run, so I grabbed it and started toward the mouth of the cave, leaving the fire burning.

 

As I emerged the sun hit my skin. All of my skin… I was naked. That was an interesting discovery, and for a moment I was glad I hadn’t died in my sleep in the disrespectful cult of the nude. Save grabbing for a few large leaves off of the lower limbs of trees, there wasn’t much I could do. I had never operated with only a single foot before. Imagine that.

 

I spent the next couple of hours trying to figure out where I was. No matter which direction I faced I could find no single scene which looked familiar, and my leg was killing me, so I headed back for my cave. Tomorrow I would start looking for food and water, I told myself. Maybe in a few days I’ll look for a civilized town.

 

All of those plans, however, were destroyed when a woman with an easy decade over me approached the cave. I would later come to find this woman preferred the name of (and far be it for me to judge) Mynx.

Edited July 1, 2004 by Distarius_WhiteRobes

[Mynx]

i couldn't help it. curiosity pulled me to the cave after i saw the boy go back in.

i climbed up to the cave and, leaving some clothes in teh opening of the cave, waitied for him to wake. i felt he would appreciate me giving him the privacy.

it was late into the next morning before he crawled out. he looked surprised to see me but at least he wasnt naked anymore

"good to see the clothes fit" i commented

he looked surprised and glanced down at the garments he wore

"um...thank you. who are you?"

i sighed. not what i wanted to discuss

"you can call me Mynx. but im not going to stay and nurse you back to health. sorry. but i have other places to be."

"so why help me?"

i grinned at the boy

"the day you understand my mind, i will bow down and call you sir. but for now, i have to go"

he seemed to panic a bit at this "wait! where is the next city? is there a town nearby? i havnt anything! who are you?"

"i told you. my name is Mynx. now i have to go. i have other matters to attend to"

i turned and whistled and waited for Nero to come out of the thickets. the boy looked taken back by my black steed

"this is Nero. he will take you where you need to go. there is food and money in the saddle bags. the rest is up to you. though i have no doubt you will see me again. take care of my horse. i will come back for him"

"...but how will you get out of here with no horse?"

i grinned at the boy "a horse is not the only means of tranportation. and now i bid you good day"

i turned to leave and turned back as another thought hit me

"one more thing? when u get to the next town, ask for the doctor by the name of Wesley. you need to get that foot looked at. tell him i sent you."

having said my piece, i disappeared once more into the bush...quietly wondering if the boy could use only one stirrup...

[Distarius_WhiteRobes]

Distarius

 

He's chasing me. As I run through the thicket, he's chasing me. His face, it seems to confront me no matter which way I turn. I can't look him in the eye, it brings with it such a sense of fear and another underlying feeling I can't quite articulate. I pick up my pace, yelling out at every chance I get to try and chase him away. It makes no difference.

 

I'm running faster than I ever thought I was capable of, yet still he chases me. There's a clearing in the thicket, and he presents me with the body of Kokoryuu, grinning sinfully. I turn and try to go back the way I came, yet I'm led into another clearing which couldn't have been there before. He presents me with the bodies of Colin Warren and other dead soldiers. I turn and try to get away once more, and a third clearing gives him the opportunity to show me the murdered Jareena Faye. He seems to laugh the most at this one.

 

Genuinely screaming now, I run back into the thicket. The trees morph into his massive claws, and he grabs me. I try to escape, but I can't. He grabs me and pulls me up to his sharp, twisted, demonic teeth soaked in blood. He laughs once more and opens his mouth wide.

 

And then I woke up. Was that the first time I had that dream? I don't know. It doesn't seem like it; there was a strong sense of Deja Vu when I woke up, and then it was gone. Where was I? Oh yeah, the cave. Had my leg stopped hurting?

 

"Ack!" I let out as a sharp twist of pain shot up my calf. At least it wasn't bleeding anymore. I can thank one of the fires at the castle for that, I remember.

 

After another half-hour battle with gravity I had managed to get myself back up. My leaves were drying out and I figured I'd attempt to gather more to fashion something a bit more sturdy than this psuedo-kilt I had established. Maybe a vest, I thought to myself as... well there's a pair right there, at the mouth of the cave. Are they mine? No, they can't be. Can I take them? Who's going to stop me?

 

The only thing I can imagine more comical than seeing an amputee try to stand is seeing him try to dress himself. After I got the shirt and pants on I looked down at the vest and boots, swore at them, and exited the cave with my crutch under my arm. I was very soon confronted by a woman.

 

After I explained to her that my clothes had been ripped off during the run through all of the thicket and thorn bushes, explaining all of the scratches I had aquired as well, she gestured to the bushes and presented me with a large black horse, calling him Nero. Strange that she would do this, as I had only met her minutes ago, but she explained that she didn't need him. Furthermore she promised that there was food and money in his saddlebags. I protested, but I think she knew that inside I really wished I could take that horse. She disappeared before I could talk her out of it.

 

The ride into the next town was relatively straightforward after we got onto the trail, save that with every stride my leg ached. The town's sign read "New Haven", quite a welcoming name, so I wasted no time in riding all of the way in. Traffic was light in and out of this place, and they were quite surprised to see someone in my condition roll into town. You see, from the looks of this place they were mostly farmers, and had no sense of war.

 

I landed in front of the town hall, nothing more than a cabin. Along the way I had seen at least a dozen houses, and I was sure there were more past eyesight if this was truly a farming town. There was a tavern, a healer's den which I passed, a meat shop, and finally this town hall. I dismounted the horse and tied him out front, grabbing for my crutch. Inside it was very nearly empty, save one woman slightly older than I. She was a dark haired girl, on the heavier side of thin but by no standards big.

 

"My Lords!" She exclaimed as she hopped out from behind her slab, scattered with papers. "What happened to you?!"

 

"Uhm... accident," was all I could muster. She quickly got behind me, leading me back out the door.

 

"We've got to get you to the healer, Wesley. He handles all our problems," she said. "What be your name?"

 

"Di...Lance," I covered. "Kyle DeLance." I'm not quite sure why I felt I needed to hide my identity; it just seemed... safe.

 

"Well I be Sara, stranger. Have you been riding with that wound long?" She asked, turning back to my horse as she lead me down the dirt path.

 

"A while," I said, and it was the most I could say as I didn't remember anything more.

 

As we came to the healer's cabin, the tavern across the way suddenly errupted in chaos as its doors swung open. Two men, obviously officials as one's dress was identical to the other's, were leading a drunkard out of the tavern. He was protesting with all of his strength, but two men are stronger than any one man, and soon they had him out on to the street, past us, and into the woods.

 

"No! No!" he cried as I watched in wonderment. Sara simply put her head down, avoiding eye contact with him.

 

"Where are they taking him?" I asked. "Is there another building back there? To hold him?"

 

Sara avoided the question for a moment before looking back up to me. "We don't talk about such things," she said. "Now come, let's get you looked at."

Edited July 1, 2004 by Distarius_WhiteRobes

[Distarius_WhiteRobes]

Note -- Yes, this is a private RP and anyone interested is certainly welcome to e-mail me.