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 Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:08 pm
His smile lingured for a moment longer before he turned back to the tree, reaching a hand into the darkness of the shadow and pulling it open. This was going to hurt... but it would be worth it. Just as the shadow was wide enough for them both to go through, Demare flexed his wings before drawing them close to his back.
"Whatever you do, don't look back," he instructed her. "Keep your eyes forward, and just follow me quietly. Voices could draw anything out... And no matter the circumstance... don't stop."
Without another word, he began to run, pulling her into the darkness with him.
For Mayu, everything looked pitch black with faint red and gold glows in various areas, purplish shadows revealing portals in others. The shadows were like a mist that floated around the whole city, able to make out shapes of buildings and allyways. It was as if they were jumping from shadow to shadow, seeing only the parts covered by night.
And the strangest part if it all was that she and Demare were completely visible, like they had an aura of light surrounding them.
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:40 pm
Mayu followed swiftly after without making a sound, keeping her eyes in front of her at first. She resisted the urge to look around at first, eyes staying straight ahead as Demare had told her. But after a while, they began to wander, the curious girl as she knew she was.
She took in the new and strange surroundings slowly, eyes flitting back every time she realized that they were moving around without her intending them to. Idly, she wondered how long they would be running like this, and how much time had passed already. It was almost impossible to tell, running in the pitch black like this.
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:58 pm
Everything was running a bit too smoothly. Nothing was ever this easy when it came to this world, even for him, particularly as of late. They were getting close, but his legs were beginning to ache, his muscles tensing up once more. It took him a moment to feel a warm breath against the back of his neck.
s**t.
Cautiously, warily, Demare slowly turned his monochrome eyes to look over his shoulder. There was the shadow gryphon Demian had recently found, now completely grown... and looking rather angry.
"Mayu... RUN FASTER!!!" he cried, trying to quicken his steps.
The shadow beast screeched as it flew after them, slowed down by its massive size and the lack of room that was inside the cave that only the halfling could see. Master would be proud if it caught these two!
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:03 pm
"..Eh?"
Mayu only managed to get a small utter out before being pulled forward, running faster to keep pace with Demare while trying not to trip over her own feet. It was rather hard to run quickly when one was pulled into it quite suddenly, and even more so in the darkness.
"What's happening?" she cried, cringing slightly as she heard the screeches.
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:12 pm
"Don't look back!" he told her, trying to figure out what to do. He needed his left hand, but he didn't want to let Mayu's go. "It feeds off of fear."
Deciding it would be for the best, Demare released the girl's hand, hoping she would continue to run.
The beast began to swoop down, opening its sharp black claws toward the boy before it stopped, recognizing him. What? Master??? Why was he with another?
"Forgive me, but I have to do this," he said, quickly turning around and extending his left arm. A bright flash emitted from the palm of his hand, and the children were forced out of the shadows, the darkness lifting in a shower of lights.
And by forced, it was more like being thrown out, flying backward (or in Mayu's case, forward) a little bit before landing on the sidewalk, right into the light of a street lamp.
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:33 pm
Mayu kept on running, not even realizing that Demare had let go of her hand. It was a wonder that she had not dropped anything in the plastic bag that she was carrying, considering the speed at which she was running and how easily torn those types of bags were.
Being flung out of the shadows was a great surprise to her, and she held out her arms immediately to soften the blow on the rest of her body. It was a shock, being thrown into the light so quickly after that long moment of darkness, and Mayu found herself almost blinded by the white glow of the streetlight as she looked up to see where she was. It took her a few moments to get over the dizzyness of falling and for her eyes to adjust to the light, and she pushed herself up to a stand.
The child winced as she stood, having skinned her knees and palms on the sidewalk. She brushed her clothes off before bending down to collect the items which she had dropped, looking around for a moment before spotting Demare sprawled out on the floor closeby. She immediately rushed over to his attention, kneeling on the ground as she looked him over.
"Are you okay?" she asked, in a worried tone.
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:43 pm
The poor child was breathing heavily, having the wind knocked out of him at first and from all the running. Normally he would have been mostly okay, but since he hadn't completely recovered from the first attack...
"I-I'll be fine," he breathed, wincing as he got himself up to his feet, only to stumble and fall right over again. His legs felt like jelly, and he was a little dizzy. "Ow..."
His eyes searched the area for a moment, trying to figure out where they were. If this was the place he was thinking, then the forest would be about a block away and down a little hill. If not, then they could be lost.
"Are YOU okay...?" he asked, noticing Mayu's hands and knees, the boy frowning. "I didn't want to risk staying... I don't know that much about the gryphon yet, and after fighting that gargoyle, I didn't care to find out this soon..."
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:00 pm
"I'm okay, but..."
Mayu let out a small cry of surprise as she watched Demare fall after getting up to a stand, placing down her bag to hoist the boy up to a sitting position with all of her strength. She wrapped an arm around him to help support him, not wanting him to fall over again after she had managed to get him up to an upright position.
"Let's just rest here for a little while," she murmured, "you look like you could need it."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:57 pm
Demare hated being weak like this. Granted, it couldn't be helped, but it was still a burden to him, especially with Mayu worrying as much as she appeared to be. It wasn't until that moment that he realized why she probably hadn't told him about her cat, why she hid her pain from him.
Perhaps... in her own way... she was also proud, like he was.
"Just... just for a few minutes," he insisted, closing his eyes for a moment. "I can always rest when we get to where we're going..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 5:11 pm
Mayu nodded quietly, though she knew that he needed way more rest than "just a few minutes". However, she wouldn't sit there and try to change his mind --- she knew that if she insisted on staying for a longer time, Demare would say that he wouldn't need it. They would be getting nowhere.
She didn't like sitting in near silence, however. It was getting late, and the streets were almost devoid of people. Barton seemed like such a nice, quiet town compared to the bustling cities of Gambino or Durem. The Legend silently wondered why they had ever passed up such a nice place like this to live in such a loud and rambunctious city.
So... she would try to make conversation.
"So, tell me more about that place we're going to?" the child asked, looking up dreamily towards the sky.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:39 pm
"There's a clearing in the forest, around some of the ridges," he explained, opening his eyes halfway. "My... mother used to own a tarven burried deep in the mountains, and I've gone up there a few times to try to find it. I've never been able to get past the cliffs, though... It's not that far, maybe a 15 minute hike, but I always got distacted with thing there and just stopped."
Demare looked up toward the sky, in a bit of a daze.
"If I ever find the tavern, I'll take you there some time... I've been told stories about the things that used to happen there, how the place almost seemed to be like its own little world. Mom told me that if I ever found it, that I could keep it..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:55 pm
"It sounds really nice," Mayu smiled, eyes shut as she visualized the area in her mind. "Would it be anything like the clearing we visited in the park?"
Her eyes opened as she listened to Demare talk about the tavern, and she looked over with a bit of excitement in her eyes.
"Then let's go find it some day! We'll go together, and we'll remember to keep focused if we keep reminding each other. It'll be fun!" The girl clapped happily, getting a bit excited from her own words. It was a perfect plan! She could even get Kimiko to pack them a picnic to bring along!
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:10 pm
"A little bit," he replied, thinking about it for a moment. "It's better at night, but I guess it is kind of like that."
Demare blushed slightly at her words, a bit surprised that she would want to join him in his search. She was actually interested in finding it? Granted, the view was supposedly very beautiful, so it would be great to have her experience that with him, but for some reason he thought she would have found the hunt... boring.
"Well... okay, sure!" he finally agreed with a smile. "Next time I go out, I'll bring you with me. Maybe we'll actually find it!"
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:23 pm
"Well, let's go see it before we both have to go home, then!"
Though she did want Demare to get his rest, she also wanted to see the place he had described for her in detail before she had to leave. It had been a wonderful night already, but she was interested in prolonging whatever time they had left before they had to leave to their own respective homes.
"It's not a maybe," Mayu replied, "We'll definately find it if we work together." She grinned, grabbing her bag before standing up.
"Are you ready to go?" she asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked down at the boy.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:52 pm
He smiled as he rubbed his knees a little bit, as if that would help him get up. Cautiously, he stood, using his wings for balance this time, taking a few slow steps before deciding that he would be fine for now.
"Yeah, I'm ready," he said with a nod. "Let's get going."
Demare was right to assume where they were, the forest just down the small hill where the block ended. The darkness made it look a little creepy, trees towering over houses as if the forest were about to eat them. From there, it would be a short hike to the first ridge, which had a rope ladder hanging from it to make the journey a little shorter.
"It looks a little scary, but there's really nothing in there," he assured her, looking down at her for a moment. "Most of the wild animals live deeper inside, so there's really no danger."
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