ENDLESS JOURNEYS (O/A)

[PixelMuse]

Nova Blancke

"Damnit Sil! What the hell am I supposed to do with you?! Killing you feels wrong but letting you go seems even worse!"

Trinity couldn’t help but felt that Nova took the word right out of her mouth. Despite having different stories and what she did to Alec she couldn’t help but felt that this was wrong.

Then the madness began with the cackling as she revealed her face to her. She’s faced her share of monsters in her lifetime but this face will haunt her. Trinity kept wondering what made this being think she was the cause of her suffering. She started to back up then closed her eyes and covered her ears as
Silhouette started sounding the whistle. Yet still that wasn’t enough to block sound out. “AGH!” Nova, what’s going on? I never met this creature before…
She sensed the concussive blast and was thrown down. She reached her hand in the shadows and drew her glaive. She breathed out as she stood up to find herself surrounded by a sea of appendages.

“You want me to suffer? Take the first strike!” She wanted to be sure that she fought in self defense. If in Sil’s story she striked and it made her lust for vengeance then perhaps this would help quell it to some.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec looked down at Kerana and smiled. He was about to express how happy he was that she was awake, but a shadow began to appears around them. He snapped his head back around and saw a massive tendril bearing down on them.

He wrapped his arms around his beloved and grit his fangs. He concentrated a body sized whirlwind underneath them and used it to lift off the ground. He then summoned two encircling winds around his lower legs and rushed them away from danger just as the trunk sized limb came crashing down.

He brought them to a stop by hefting them upright and dragging the claws on his feet against the ground. He put Kerana on her feet and held his hands on her shoulders incase she was still woozy.

"Are you alright? Can you stand?" he asked with deep, loving, concern.

The creature's limbs waved around wildly and attacked indescriminately. Home's, crops, cattle, people, it didn't matter.

It's main body leaned down and opened it's bottomless maw at Trinity . It began to inhale slowly, but it's action caused a powerful vortex to draw objects toward it. It wanted Trinity, but it would take everything with her if it had to.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec stepped aside so that the massive horror, and it's thrashing limbs, were in clear view to Kerana.

Alec quickly rattled off, "Quick sum up: Keleth smashed Shade in the chest with her hammer, Nova melted Shade's shadows with light, revealing a glowing rock in her chest, that rock absorbed sunlight and turned her into that thing."  

[BeaMichelle]

Keleth twisted her hammer around in her hands and hunched down at the ready. She didn't know where to hit first, but when all you have is a hammer, everything's a nail.

But then her thoughts went back to just a bit ago during the hunt. When she went in alone it resulted in broken ribs. The giant thing in front of her was going to break more than a few ribs.

She looked to the group senior, Nova, to see what he was doing so she could work off of his lead. But the the suction vortex forced her tositch gears and play on the defensive.

She turned away from the monster and swung the spiked end of her hammer into the ground. She hung on for dear life as her feet were pulled off the ground, her hair pressed against her head.  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

The creature's limbs waved around wildly and attacked indiscriminately. Home's, crops, cattle, people, it didn't matter.

Its main body leaned down and opened its bottomless maw at Trinity. It began to inhale slowly, but it's action caused a powerful vortex to draw objects toward it. It wanted Trinity, but it would take everything with her if it had to.

Trinity couldn't help but worry about the people affected by the beast's attack. Then she found herself facing the maw of the beast as the vortex began Trinity quickly stabbed her glaive to the ground and held tight as it drew thing into its maw. She struggled to keep herself out, one hand lost the grip, she tried to pull herself toward her glaive close enough for her other hand to reach. But the force was too strong. She looked to the Maw and one thought did occur to her. All it is, more shadow... I think I can work with that

This was a crazy idea, but it just might work. She took a deep breath and whispered under her breath, "her goes nothing..." Trinity let herself get drawn into the vortex and into Sil’s Maw.

[EDITED]  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

The maw clamped down behind Trinity and closed off any escape.

The shadow realm around her was quickly becoming darker and more ominous as her fall continued. Creature's that normally remained hidden from thoze that would travel the shadows emerged and watched Trinity's decent. Soon nothing could be seen. At the deepest, darkest, and most foul point of the shadow realm lay the unseen ground. It was a part that felt like one was standing in eternity. There stood Silhouette.

She was adorned in a tattered and stained gown with flowing, wide sleeves. The glowing stone was exposed in the center of her chest and giving off a malevolent mist. She used shadows to cover the decayed parts of her body, leaving only her sick eyes, mouth, and skin visable.

She grimaced at Trinity as the girl was allowed to gently touch down. She stepped up to Trinity and stopped when they were about a spears length apart. "To willingly be pulled to the edge of the shadow realm takes bravery." she commented. "Here, no one can come to your aid. No one can hear your telepathic projections. The only way out, the only way to stop me from killing your friends and the dragon-kin, is through me."  

[PixelMuse]

Here goes nothing… As she sank she found that she was not really in control. That something was bringing her down, deeper into he shadows that she hasn’t been before. She heard something. There are creatures living down here? She wasn’t expecting anything living here, she wasn’t aware anything could live here. As she sank her green eyes glow constantly. There was nothing below her but she felt like she landed.

She gripped her glaive as Sil spoke. The Shadow Realm? This place…has a name? She responded, “If that’s what it takes to save them, then so be it.” She focused on the stone, something about it wasn’t normal and it was effecting her. Trinity took a defensive stance, she didn’t want to take the first move because it seemed to be for her what she did last time. She couldn’t help but notice the stone was in the same spot where she had the stabbed the beast. Trinity felt conflicted she knew what her eyes saw, it was a beast. Then again, it’s not like that this was the only time she killed in self defense. It could be possible someone, or something framed her. “Ready when you are.” She beckoned her to ‘bring it on’ with a gesture.

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Rikki Tikki Travi

 

[Nova Blancke]

Nova saw everything unwind. He screwed up. His own curiosity and desire had gotten the better of him. Now this....thing emerged. If he were alive he would have been able to deal with it one way or another. But now a good portion of his mana was focused on keeping himself bound to his body. He had turned off his pain receptors earlier. One benefit of being dead.

He too struggled against the suctions of this black hole. His mind was racing while the Dragon-Kin seemed to evacuate. Yes, they were warriors but they have also never seen anything like this before. Wisdom came with years of experience of hunting. To never dive in without observation. A few warriors did their best to distract the tendrils.

Then he saw what Trinity did. Had she lost her marbles as well?

"Trinity, wait!" He managed to shout before Trinity vanished in the maw as it closed. That did not stop the rest of that thing from going insane. At least the suction had stopped. From the corner of his eye he saw Kerana essentially doing the same thing. Fearless or not, the girl was an idiot! Just because you don't have fear doesn't mean you don't have normal reasoning!  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Kerana

Kerana’s eyes looked upon the horror. Instead of running behind Alec she didn’t react. She headed toward it like it was a normal thing. “She must pay for treating Alec that way.” With that comment she clenched her fist and engulfed it in flames. She was heading toward the center of it all, figuring that is where Sil would be.

Alec forcefully grabbed Kerana by her upper arm as she tried to walk into the fray. His tone was now firm and commanding as he shouted, "Don't you dare! Attacking that thing wont do any good. Shade's scent is gone. That thing is just a giant shell. She's probably hiding in the shadows the way Trinity does."

That's when he realized that he couldn't smell Trinity either. He looked around frantically for a momemt before he calmed himself by figuring that she had followed Shade into the belly of the beast.

"I know the deal you made with her, but we can talk about that later. We aren't strong enough to fight that thing. Let's work together to aid the Dragon-kin. They're going to need your magic and my medicine."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

PixelMuse

She gripped her glaive as Sil spoke. The Shadow Realm? This place…has a name? She responded, “If that’s what it takes to save them, then so be it.” She focused on the stone, something about it wasn’t normal and it was effecting her. Trinity took a defensive stance, she didn’t want to take the first move because it seemed to be for her what she did last time. She couldn’t help but notice the stone was in the same spot where she had the stabbed the beast. Trinity felt conflicted she knew what her eyes saw, it was a beast. Then again, it’s not like that this was the only time she killed in self defense. It could be possible someone, or something framed her. “Ready when you are.” She beckoned her to ‘bring it on’ gesture.

The Ancient lifted her right arm.
From the sleeve emerged a dark blade the size of a longsword and etched with an unknown language.
She then raised her left arm. Five writhing tentacle like appendages erupted from that sleeve. They dripped with a malicious fluid as they slithered and squirmed almost a two feet in length from her sleeve.

In a moment of clarity, she realized irony of her weapons of choice. They truly represented what she was and what she had become.

With a mad screech, she dashed at Trinity with frightening speed while striking vertically downward with her blade.