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 Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:32 pm
"You really...you really don't remember," Rabid murmured as her physical appearence slowly changed back to normal. So he had been posessed...controlled...somethng of the type. Silent tears began running down her face, and she released Julian. She then bit into her wrist and let her own blood drip onto his wound, healing him to make up for nearly strangling him.
"You're in a wood by the mishaps HQ. That squirrel is my son, and we have to get out of here. We have to find your sister...and you're niece." She offered her hand to him.
"You're their only hope. No pressure or anything."
Malachi stopped abruptly when Mummy began crying. What was going on? At the sight of her red stuff, he shrank back and whimpered. Once she offered her hand to the Bad Man, though, he became quite confused.
"Bad man okay now?" he questioned, only mildly concerned, as things dulled, "What did Bad Man do with Crow-lady and Len?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:53 pm
Taking a deep breath and sitting up, he rubbed at his throat gingerly to make sure nothing was too badly damaged.
"Yeah, no pressure. Just gotta rescue the only sane member of my family and her kid."
There was a brief pause.
"Wait, her kid?" His deeply puzzled expression turned venomous. "Whose the father and what's he been doing to my baby sister?"
He turned to look at the squirrel-child, vague memories flitting through his mind before settling just beyond his reach. He knew them both from somewhere, he just couldn't recall...
"I didn't do anything, kiddo. Well, technically I guess I did, but it wasn't me that was actually doing it....Jeez, I'm making myself dizzy." He pinched at the bridge of his nose wearily, shaking his head again. He felt sick, exhausted and empty, and violated down to his very bones. Something had used him like a puppet, and had not been particularly gentle when they finally cut his strings.
Standing up on shaky legs, he brushed himself off and brushed the hair out of his eyes. Holding out a hand to Rabid, he inclined his head gravely.
"Well, I'm sure I made a bad impression before. My name's Julian. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He paused a moment. "Again."
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:02 pm
"The name's Rabid, and my first impression of you was...not good. Called our children...god, I don't remember what, and being a general asshat to me. Oh, and you called your 'baby sister'...a dirty whore," she shook his hand, "and there isn't a father. They're mishaps. Magical mistakes. Adopted children. You mean you don't know Lenore...?"
She thought for a moment.
"Oh, Gods...we've really got to get going. Do you remember anything at all from your...rabid puppetry?"
Malachi leaped onto Mummy's back and watched inquisitively. He still didn't trust Bad Man...especially Shirtless Bad Man. He wrapped his arms arounf his mother's neck and glared inconspicuously at Bad Ma--nonono. Julian. Evil Julian.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:28 pm
"Lenore...? No...doesn't ring a bell. Ishta, but Crow's gonna kill me for that whore comment."
Julian's shook his head in horror, muttering to himself in Rijani. Man, that was going to require some heavy explaining...
"Caalsta blazeh. Uh, anyway, Rabid, I'm sorry if I was a jerk. No offense intended."
Motioning for her to lead the way out, he looked around at the clearing. The bright afternoon sunlight didn't seem to touch this place, and it was too cold to be natural. Shivering and crossing his arms over his bare chest, he looked down dully at the ring of symbols that marred his flesh. Foggy memories of begging and a blade tracing shapes across his skin flashed through his mind's eye, making him feel nauseous.
"My memory's in bits and pieces. The last thing I remember clearly is being in Fisk...after that, hardly anything at all. Well, a lot of screaming, but that might not be anything important..." he trailed off as he felt the hostility coming from Malachi.
"I won't hurt ya, kiddo. I promise."
"Liar."
Julian jumped nearly out of his skin as Cole trudged out of the shadows, Sadako clutched in his jaws. The doll's eye fixed on him coldly as the dragon growled at him aggressively. The doll turned its head slowly to Rabid.
"Beware." she said simply.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:36 pm
Rabid heeded the doll's warning, but made no move to show that she had.
Ike's eyes grew wide as the doll spoke and his ears folded back as he shank down behind his mother. The speaking toy didn't phase him...it was what it spoke...
"Fisk..." Rabid muttered, thinking and leading them out of the wood, "You said something about...bringing Crow back home. Fisk...Rijan...yeah...that's it. You asked me to go with you. Do you think...we should look there?" She shuddered at the thought.
Ike whimpered and looked down to Cole. He dropped off of Mummy's back and moved close to the dragon.
"Keep me safe. We finding Len," he murmured.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:56 pm
Hmm. Talking doll. Creepy.
"I wanted to bring her back to Rijan? Cripes, that'd be the same as sending her to Hell. Whoever wanted her must've been excessively evil..."
He had no love of the place himself - only something as drastic as this could force him back there.
"If you're willing to stick by me, and provided I remember enough so that we know where to look, we're gonna have to go there."
He ran a hand through his hair and pointed out randomly into the bordering woods.
"Could we get outta here, now? I'm starting to get the creeps from this place."
As he glanced around the clearing once more, something shiny in the fire pit caught his eye. Kneeling down and sifting some of the ash out of the way, he found a dagger-like feather, chipped and criss-crossed with frost. Holding the icy thing delicately, he gave a heavy sigh and held his head in his hands.
"We have to find them."
---
"OOF!"
Crow landed on the cold stone floor heavily, shivering violently. Her breath rose in clouds as she looked around warily, taking in her surroundings. There was a torch on one wall - other than that the place was pitch black. Getting up unsteadily to her feet, she turned and bumped into something solid and very, very, very tall.
Looking up warily, she cringed and drew back from the massive cloaked and masked figure. Its head bowed down to inspect her, breath rising from the mouth hole in its gilded mask.
"Welcome home."
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:16 pm
Rabid gave a convulsive shudder and quickly exited the wood. She tried her best to recount the events from their first meeting.
"Sure. I'll do anything we need to. Crow's my best friend..."
"You said," she finally uttered as she exited the wood, "You said that...you were bringing her back home...to...."
"Rijan," Malachi piped up, remembering every word, "Evil Julian said she hadda family better than Len and they loved her and she'd be better off and then that they'd be going back soon and she was in-vin-tiv and he would never stay here for more than a week." He grinned broadly, liking the idea of helping Mummy remember.
"Yes," Rabid agreed, surprised, "Ring any bells?" She glanced around the yard, as if Crow and Len would appear from the shadows, boasting some insane practical joke. Alas, she knew they wouldn't...
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:01 pm
Julian gave Malachi a blank look.
"Well, don't bother to sugar-coat it." he said wryly, scratching at the stinging burn unconsciously.
He wracked his brain for memories as they trudged through the yard, Cole breathing down his neck and Sadako muttering in backwards whispers threateningly, her eyes still fixed in him.
"I remember being sick, and a name...Charlize? No....Chanile...Charla...Charlotte. Yeah, Charlotte. Other than that, just a big, painful blur."
Toying with the cold feather silently for a second, he winced as its serrated edges bit into his skin.
"I can get us to Rijan fairly quickly, if you're up to a bit of unconventional travelling," he said, watching the thin trickle of blood paint his palm scarlet. Watching as the sunlight made the feather shine, but still not thaw, he gave a heavy sigh.
"They're gonna hate me now..."
---
Crow simply gaped up at the giant figure, unsure how to reply. The creature took her silence in stride, grabbing her roughly by the wrist and dragging her along with it as it glided through the dark.
"Hey! Let me go, ya freakin' son of a b***h!"
The creature's masked face whipped down to her eyelevel quicker than she could follow. Fetid breath rose in a pearly cloud in the inch or so between them, stinking of rotted flesh.
"Be silent."
Crow opened her mouth to argue, but all that came out was a rattling croak. She couldn't speak. Grabbing at her throat with her free hand, she glared at the masked thing with a mix of fear and rage. The thing straightned and continued its gliding path, caring little that Crow had to run to keep up with its smooth pace.
Ye gods, it's hit the fan now, she thought sourly to herself. When she got home, there was going to be a massive brother beat-down/shaving in Julian's future.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:06 pm
Charlotte.
The sound of Rabid's real name echoed in her ears. Great, so she shared a name with some kid-posessing nutjob. Perfect.
"Yeah, yeah...unconventional is always good," she muttered, pulling nervously at a curl. Things were just getting stranger and stranger...
"Ike won't then," Malachi scoffed as he began walking in pace with Mummy. Stupid Evil Julian...
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:27 pm
Barely noticing Rabid's sudden nervousness, he fiddled around in his pockets briefly. Possessed or no, he wouldn't have gone anywhere without it...
Something smooth and cool brushed against his fingertips, pushed far down into his pocket.
"Ah, got it."
He stopped and pulled the thing out of his pocket, brushing lint off it halfheartedly. The red jewel, set on top of a gold-toned stone, shone in the sun, throwing rainbow glints off its perfectly cut and shaped surface. Twirling the feather absently between his fingers, he stared at the jewel with contempt.
"Well, if you're ready to go, let's go."
And with that, he pressed the jewel down into the stone. There was a far off sound like a car alarm being clicked off. Stowing the strange little object back in his pocket, he drew the ragged remains of his shirt around his bare chest, hiding the ugly marks from view.
"It'll be here in a couple minutes - overseas travel takes longer than on-continent summoning," he said in a bored tone, eyeing Sadako with apprehension.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:34 pm
Rabid picked up her son and held him close, suddenly nervous. When people referred to things as 'it's, they generally weren't safe.
"It?" she asked curiously, "And who said I was ready to go?" She laughed lightly and chewed on her lower lip. Sure, Crow and Len had to be found...but she wasn't quite sure what she was going to have to experience on the way.
Ike clung to his nervous Mummy, but kept a half an eye on Evil Julian at all times. he still didn't trust him at all...
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:56 pm
"Well, she, if you wanna get technical."
A whooshing sound filled the air, which seemed to ripple as though with heat. The rippling split the air in two with a loud crack, and a strangely cephalopod-looking thing propelled itself out of the split hovering over the grounds silently. The rip sealed itself up behind the thing, the air seeming to stitch itself back together.
Julian surveyed the hovering thing with something that could have been affection.
"'Lo, Helnila."
The thing let out a chime in greeting, landing on tripod legs and opening a small sliding door in its side for him. With a halfhearted, sheepish smile, he turned to Rabid.
"I'm not sayin' you have to go. I can go it alone, if I have to."
Turning back to the pod-thing, he paused, thinking that some kind of explaination was in order.
"Uh, this is Helnila. She's a sort of biomechanical...well, car, really. Everyone in Rijan has one. Say hi, Helnila."
Helnila made a sound halfway between a chirp and a horn beeping. Julian motioned to the door, clearly impatient to be off.
" 'Nila can jump between here and Rijan in a space of a few minutes. You can go between here and there any time you want - though jumping can be a little...uncomfortable, if you're not used to it. So, what d'you say? Are you in?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:12 pm
"Hallo, Helnila," Rabid said quickly, and then made her way to the door, "You bet your rear end, I'm going. We wouldn't want poor little Julian getting all smashed up, would we?" She gave a smart-aleky smile and waited for the man to enter, all the while trying to not think about how she was within a giant living car.
Malachi leaped down from Mummy, his eyes wide and ears folded back.
"Julian's car is kinda scary," he murmured to nobody in particular and peered around nervously.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:39 pm
Julian smiled wryly at Rabid.
"Well, then, let's get to it."
Tugging his ragged shirt over his chest again, he climbed through the doorway into the pod. Settling into the pilot's chair and strapping himself in, he flicked a few switches and pressed a button. A holographic display flickered to life, scrolling Rijani text flowing over the static.
He was motioning for Rabid to strap herself and Malachi into the web-like seats behind him when Cole clambered in. Julian made as though to shoo him out, but was silenced by once aggressive growl. Cole melted into shadow, leaving Sadako behind, and crawled over the floor before disappearing into the darker shadow cast by one of the consoles.
"Huh. Okay, then."
Sadako scuttled over the floor and secured herself under the passenger chairs, still muttering ceaselessly. Making sure nothing else was trying to force their way aboard, Julian closed the door and began flicking more switches. Straps wrapped securely 'round Malachi and Rabid, securing them into their seats.
Not bothering to look at them, Julian smiled as Helnila hummed loudly and drifted upwards, vibrating slightly.
"Get ready, now."
And with the push of a button, the universe seemed to rip apart.
---
Five minutes later, Julian practically fell out of Helnila, clutching his already aching head and groaning.
"Cripes. I forgot how much jumping sucks..." taking a deep breath and wiping the cold sweat out of his eyes, he spread his arms wide and gave a slightly mocking bow to Rabid.
"Welcome to Rijan."
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:32 pm
__Part 25 (PoD1)
Lenore gave a low moan of pain and sat up. Everything hurt. Bright light was beating down on her, making her eyes water and smart. She was covered in bruises, scratches, and half of her razor feathers were chipped, loose, or bent. She was a mess.
"Ouch."
She dared to open her eyes a little wider, ignoring the pain of it as her pupils constricted against the excess light. It took a few minutes, but she managed to get a decent look around.
She had seemingly been spit out of the white fire into the middle of a rainforest. The place was huge - even the undergrowth towered over her. Umbrella-sized flowers hung from vines and grew in drifts in the brush, a delicate scent of honey and lilac pervading the still, comfortably warm air. Shading her eyes with a hand, she darted through the plants and between the elephantine tree trunks. She ran for an hour, leaping through the growth and gliding from tree to tree as far as her damaged feathers would let her.
"How do I get outta here?" she muttered to herself grumpily. All this tropical perfection was starting to try her temper. There was a snatch of chiming birdsong somewhere above her. a beautiful sound that seemed quite unnatural for a bird. Peering through the giant leaves and branches eagerly to see the source of the sound, she felt her jaw drop as she saw the singing creature.
It was a beetle.
The jewel-colored creature seemed to sense her stare, and it fluttered down to her on giant multi-colored wings. It scuttled across the mossy forest floor and chirped eagerly, its blue-hued compound eyes sparkling in the patchy sunlight.
Lenore sidestepped away from it, particularly weirded out. The beetle chirped again and fluttered away, seeming unperturbed by her rejection. Taking a careful look around, she started running it again, wary of any more musical insects.
---
She finally managed to get out of the forest a few hours later, coated in golden pollen from the giant flowers and particularly irritated with the world. Brushing off the fine powder with a few grumbled curses, she wandered on the newly-found cobblestone path aimlessly. She was hungry, thirsty, angry, and lonely, and in no mood for surprises. So, the giant bats flying about with golden reins and saddles and richly-dressed beggars sitting on the sidewalks sipping pina colada was not particularly well received.
She was getting quite a few sidelong looks, and could have cared less.
"What in th' bloody hell are YOU lookin' at?" she snarled at a small child drinking a marshmallow-and-strawberry milkshake. The child merely smiled and giggled, tugging at his mother's sleeve and speaking in a fluid, chiming language.
Lenore paused and looked around the crowded street, listening for a snatch of a familiar language. something, anything remniscent of home. She tugged at her blood-vial pendant miserably, snuffling as she thought of Deimos, Osso, and Malachi.
And Crow.
"Now what am I gonna do?"
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