Welcome to Gaia! ::

((.... XDDD I love Tuefel like that son I had once.

He's gone now.

TO POSTINGS!!!))

Lok more or less ignored Sally when she started blabbering about him dragging her. Though he did feel a little miffed that she thought that that collection of GAY was more handsome than he was... but then again he wasn't supposed to be handsome was he? He snorted and glared at Amleth like it was all his fault because he wanted someone to glare at.

Then Lucy somewhere in the background was being sarcastic. Lok smirked. He thought she was funny... and then Sally was talking about colds and he nodded his head figuring he'd agree with her, but when she stepped closer he jumped, released her arm and scurried Amleth's other side.

"Don't DO that!" Lok growled, looking particularly on edge. Of course it hadn't been her. All of his senses had been focused on hearing, seeing, or smelling anything wolf related... Sally had scared the CRAP out of him.

Now he just looked embarrassed with himself, but didn't let it bother him long. He strode ahead of the group eyes and ears wide open.

When they arrived at the castle Lok ignored the cold. He felt used to it. He'd been here many times before, fur coat or no it always felt the same. It settled right in his bones and festered there.

He titled his head a bit as Lucy mentioned Wolves. Sally was unafraid. He grinned a little. Amleth however was quite nervous about it, in fact he went on a little tirade about it that sounded AWFULLY familiar.

"OY! Who do you think you're TALKING about?" Lok barked at the pigman. "I oughta..." His face reddened underneath the cold and he felt oddly hot. "SHUTUP." He bit out as he stomped through the cold. "How'd you like it if I described you as a snuffling fat man who's only here for the purpose of comic relief? What THEN, Ammy? What then? You're like... PLOT DEVICE."

((... ahahah, that was pitiful, LOK! PIIITIFUL! We both know Amleth is the hero AND the sexy one.))

When they arrived in the courtyard Lok's human eyes glinted in his face sharply. He was looking around the frozen palace in quick racking glances. His shoulders hunched and his body tensed.

He knew they were there.

"Sh." He whispered to Peter and backed up a step. His boots echoed sharply on the frozen floor and carried from statue to statue in a haunting din.

They didn't come silently. Their claws clicked on the icy floor, and their smokey breath carried into the air. They saw their reflections before they saw the mangy beasts. There were five baring their teeth in a semi circle around the group and one seemed to be smirking.

They were all mean looking creatures with looks of half starved beasts that wouldn't think twice about spilling blood. They were the kind of animals that had seen a world too cruel to obey the laws of their kind anymore. Their eyes were bright even in the glaring white of the ice kingdom and their teeth were gnarled and yellowed. A collective growl carried from their throats rumbling like a laugh or a snicker. Clouds of smokey breath obscured their cruel faces.

"Seems as though we have some guests." The smirking wolf rasped in a voice that scratched. His tattered fur blew in a gust of Arctic wind. He didn't shiver.

The others paced and circled with cruel smiles on their evil faces.

"Well boys... not the usual prey." The corners of his crooked mouth drew up. He rolled his shoulders and some scars rippled oddly along his boney back. "But this new girl... she smells good." He said in a dark voice while licking his chops.

"I like the pig." Another one spoke up. He was behind Amleth and licking at his heels.

Lok made a snarling expression and kicked out at the wolf. He caught the beast on it's sharp snout and it scurried away with a cry.

The other wolves laughed coldly.

"Who's this, who's this?" The lead wolf chuckled darkly and sniffed at Lok's boot. He dogded as he kicked out at him again. "He smells like a wolf, but he doesn't look like one... maybe this is where Morgrim's voice has gone, eh boys?"

"Morgim is a sap!" A female cried. "Following after the Queen like a puppy... it's disgusting."

"You'll watch your tongue! He could have your throat in his teeth in an instant, Torana." The leader barked. and sneered at Lok. "You're him aren't you...?"

"I was." Lok agreed, his eyes jumping from one wolf to the next. "What of it?"

The wolves paused and sneered. "Can we kill him?" There came a whisperings amongst their ranks as they circled and paced through statues and pillars.

"You'd kill who was once you're own leader?" Lok cried in a commanding voice. His feet were planted firmly and his snarl was proud on his face.

"You're human." One began.

"You're human." Another took up.

"You're human." The others echoed until the room was full of nothing but their voices.

Lok backed up a few steps, standing before his friends in a protective stance... they saw the movement and with a snarl that echoed and roared through the courtyard they pounced.

Lok dropped to all fours like the wolf he'd been once and met them halfway.

((hhahaha, it was getting too long... so I stuck with that.. OH NOES! WHAT WILL HAPPEN! OOOH FRICKIN'... NOEEES.... but I think I have plans biggrin ... hahahaha, lok. wtf. He doesn't know how to fight any other way... *is like... cracking up*))

((... It's probably best IF I CLEAR THIS UP A LITTLE afore other people post... OH YES! READY GOOO!!! *wiggles her bum*))

Lok had been certain even in this form he could have taken them. Not because he wanted too, of course... but because he needed to. His friends couldn't have fought them... none of them had any weapons. He was the only one who could protect them.

He supposed he was being noble.

It sure felt odd. Perhaps the prince felt the same.

Though just as he was about to face the jaws of his once comrade Sally threw him to the side and stood in front of the beast. It halted in surprise, claws catching on the ice. A terrible growl roiled through him as the others came to a sudden halt behind him.

"What IS this?!" He growled viciously. A strand of drool dripped from his crooked mouth. "A girl?! Morgrim... you've really fallen low without wolf within you." He laughed and then stopped suddenly, baring his fangs hard at Sally. "Fine. She'll go first."

"DON'T!" Lok bellowed as tried to leap to his feet, but his feet had no grip on the ice. The wolf had leapt at her already and the others moved into the group snapping and biting at their prey. They were growling and howling in fierce voices.

Lok growled as the beast knocked Sally to the ground and in a few quick strides he grabbed the monster by the ruff of his neck and his tail and hurled him into a frozen statue. The wolf let out a cry and fell still to the ground.

Lok stood over him and panted, but quickly turned and ran to help to others.

He couldn't take them all. He knew. Even as he ripped and tore at their fur and heaved them away. Even as he caught one in the mouth sharply with his boot so that blood pooled onto the ice and melted in a hiss.

He couldn't take them all... and he couldn't protect all his friends.

He found himself with one in the crook of his elbow and another tearing at his thick coat to get to his flesh. The other one he couldn't stop. He fought fiercely even when he felt a set of canines rack his scalp and face and knew he couldn't stop the last wolf.

"DIRTY BASTARDS!" Cried a strong, but somehow unsure voice from down the hall. There was the snap of a bow string and a whistle as an arrow planted itself in the wolf on Lok's back. It let out a low, painful howl and fell back writhing onto the ice.

Lok shook his shoulders and held fast to the beast wriggling to get free of his strong arms. He looked over his shoulder.

"DIRTY, DIRTY BASTARDS!" Cried a girl with long brown hair and a slightly awkward gallop as she ran down the hall. There was a sword strapped to her waist as well as a quiver of arrows on her back. "PETER!" Susan called. "TAKE YOUR BLOODY SWORD! It's PRETTY BLOODY WELL HEAVY!" She took the weapon into her arms and with all her might she heaved the weapon to the prince.

((Hahhaha, there we go...... HOPEFULLY THAT'S ENOUGH FOR YOU GUYS TO WORK WITH!... I left that last wolf for everyone to play with biggrin YAY!))


((EDIT: I realized last night that Amleth should have an epic battle biggrin ... so... THE LAST WOLF IS GOING FOR AMMY. HOSHITTE!... hahaha so smile )

"Here piggy, piggy." The remaining wolf growled, eyes flashing dangerously. "No need to run to market."

((ho. shiny. I'M SO CLEVER... psssht. *flops over laughing*))

Sally had been sure she wouldn't get hurt. In HER story when she had been eaten, she just woke up in her house again. Or if it was the other way she'd have gotten an idea of getting out of trouble and never getting a single scratch. So when the wolf lunged towards her and slid his claws across her face she fell back like a sheet of paper. Her knees buckled and the wind knocked out of her, leaving her gasping on the cold icy ground.

As the others fought she had pushed herself up against a stone statue, blood leaking into her eye, stinging a good deal. She had never bled before. This red liquid was foreign, causing her heart to battle to stay at a normal pace. She could hear the beat in her ears, drumming away.

Lucy nodded to Peter quickly, patting her thick fur pocket. Her eyes darted around, smiling proudly at Susan as she came galloping in. "Susan! Oh I'm so glad you're alright!" She cried, joy swelling in her chest. She'd save the greetings for a safer time though. Wolves were being thrown around, people huffing and puffing and when it grew a bit quieter more voices emerged and a stifled sobbing leaked into her ears.

Her blue eyes flickered to the side of the scene to see the annoying girl from earlier trembling, face bloodied with deep, nasty looking scratches. She looked as if she were losing her mind. Had she not seen blood before? Just as she was about to go over there she jumped up, giving Lucy a startle.

Sally limped towards the group of wolves, teeth barred as if she were a wolf herself. Anger and terror made her cheeks burn, where they already weren't, and her muscles harden. These things had hurt her, hurt her friends, and maybe slowly killing her. The red stuff, she knew, was from her melting. After all, her skin was leaking stuff, that's what ice did when IT melted, humans were likely the same. She might as well show these creatures who was boss before she was puddle and red gross liquid.

The blood on her face and teeth made her look scarier than normal, and her eyes were blood-shot. "I'll tell you why, you ********' bastards." She hissed, rubbing frantically at her face, the stinging still not settling and she had to squeeze her eye shut so she didn't have blood stinging it anymore than it already was. "Because we said so. And you know what? I'm sure we can kill all of you. I, alone, by myself, can kill all of you if I wanted. Because all you are are just some filthy dirty animals who have no heart." Suddenly she lurched forward, throwing her face close to the one who had spoken. "I may be just a girl, a stupid, naive, pitiful human. BUT I'll DIE before I let you sick things get in our way." Her bloody hand broke off a sharp icicle and pushed it close to the wolf's face. "Did you know an icicle is the perfect weapon? It leaves no evidence behind. As I've heard. It just melts away after puncturing whatever heart you have left. Oh, and you're right under a BUNCH of them, see?" She pointed a red finger up to the ceiling, where a good amount of sharp icicles hung, many bigger than their heads. "I scream loudly. Sound waves break things you know, I've done it before with glass. Ice is no different."

A giggle erupted from her throat, gurgling from the blood as she stared straight into the eyes of the beast. "So you either leave us the hell alone or I'll shove this into your brains. And there are PLENTY more ice where this came from."

Lucy gawked at the young lady, almost a tad scared for herself. Even if the girl didn't have wounds on her face and blood on her body she'd still have caused a shiver to run down a normal person's spine. "Ummm...what she means is...if you let us go, we won't bother with you anymore. It'd be a truce."

"Truce. No. We'd just let them go without killing them. Isn't life worth it? Even a heartless one like yours? You wolves don't scare me." Sally spat out, her good eye narrowed furiously onto the pack.

"Just let us through okay? You guys don't like the queen. We don't like the queen." Lucy said, trying to make up for Sally's extreme form of persuading. One of them would get through, right? It was a game of good cop, bad cop.

Sally smirked oddly and cleared her throat, spitting some blood from her mouth onto the wolf's paws. "In ten seconds, if you don't have this place cleared, I'm screaming." After she spoke, she began to take a large breath of air, showing she meant what she said, along with pointing the sharp ice directly at the skull of the wolf in front of her.

((Sorry. :[ It was too good to just wait...haha I have something in mind for the witch to do with Amleth after they get to her...so DON'T WORRY BOB! biggrin I just...wanted...to post and have Sally act like a crazy b***h. Lawlz. ))

((YEAH BABY! EPIC BATTLE WITH AMMY!...

I THINK THE WULF WON! D: That's just not kosher.))

Lok dropped the wolf from his arms as Percy slashed him. It fell to the ice with its tongue lolled out and blood generously pouring from its new founded wound. Lok paid it and the blood it spilled onto his front little mind and quickly got to his feet.

Susan smiled briefly and was quickly back to a rather comically stern expression, breathless and red in the face. "I figured if I ran around long enough I was bound to run into ONE of you." She stated and glanced around. "Who are all THESE people?" She indicated 'these people' with a flailing of her free hand. "That one is making me nervous... he fights like an animal or something barbaric like that."

Lok gave her a glower and a snarl and made his way quickly to the fallen Sally.

"... Did I say something wrong?" Susan wanted to know. She shrugged uncaringly as she joined her brother's side. "Like I said... I've been looking for you three... I'm very amazed I found you at all. After the first couple of days I was ready to give up." And she then gave him a very 'no duh' expression. "The wolves have been on my heels the whole time. No one is here to tame them... they've been running everything."

At the question of Edmund she bit her lip. "I was hoping he'd be with you." She admitted and worried at her bow string. However, she looked stern again as the 'leader' of the pack stirred.

At his words Lok snarled back. "You know the laws. You mess with humans and you die, Faror." He replied with a smirk. "Or without the queen did you become so stupid you forgot that?"

The pack leader snarled. "Morgrim-" He started to rumble, but there was then the issue of a rather sharp shard of ice near his face. He growled and leapt back. The few that remained alive gathered at his back. One was limping terribly from an arrow wound in their shoulder (they would die soon) and another one was pressed to his leader's side unharmed. They growled savagely as Sally ranted and raved in a voice that wasn't her own.

"Scream and I'll rip your throat out, child." Snarled the wolf who'd be dead soon. "I'm not afraid to take you with me!"

"No hearts?!" One cried. "What is SHE to claim we have no hearts?" It snarled viciously.

Faror stared evenly at the girl. "She's right. We have no hearts." He snarled through his crooked mouth. "It's how the story is written... but she has no brains! Kill us and you kill us ALL, you foolish child! Go ahead! Go ahead and scream! We go and YOU go too!" He roared back in a fearless voice. "Kill your friends! Are you not the good in story? What sort of MADNESS is this? Perhaps it would have been best if you had remained in your story! Morgim! You turn light into dark... just as you always will."

"GERO!" He cried. "We're leaving!"

The wolf licking at his bloodied chops froze mid stalk towards Amleth. He was inches from his throat. He snarled.

"GERO!" Faror called again ore demanding and terrifying than before.

Gero bared his fangs hard at Amleth. "I'll be back to finish you one of these days..." He rumbled mockingly. He was smirking in his evil face. "Morgrim may have gone soft... but we like the winter here... never fade. We'll always remain this cold." He licked at Amleth's arm once and grinned a bloody smile. "Wait for me, Piglet... I will be your end." he then turned tail and galloped to his pack, supporting Faror on his other side.

"MORGRIM!" Faror cried as the wounded pack slowly began to vanish into the frozen mists. "If you are looking for the Queen you will not find her here... and know that if you return we WILL finish you." He howled at Lok once and painfully trotted away at his packs' heels.

Lok snorted and turned his back on Sally. His eyes were on Amleth.

Susan watched after the wolves warily.

"They won't be back." Lok said bluntly as he made his way over to the pigman.

Susan jumped a little, but then jumped more at the sound of Edmund's voice. She looked over to her brother and then let out a little cry. "EDMUND!" She said and rushed over to him to pull him into her arms. "Where have you been!?"

Lok glanced at the pair for a moment before looking back to Amleth. "Sorry." Is what he said and then. "Lay down." He looked over his shoulder. "PETER, or whoever you are... make your sister help this whelp."

((.... I am tired of typing now... so I made them go away.

WOLF PROBLEM SOLVED YAY! I think they will have another moment in this ting... BUT I DUNNO! Cos I kinda liked them biggrin Esepcially now that Gero has a GRUGDE! HE'LL COME BACK! AND AMLETH WILL BE BADASS... AND HE'LL KILL HIM IN THE BRAINS.

... yes.))

((Haha Super Amleth! BOOM BAM PUNCH KICK. *insert old Bat Man expressions* TADAH! The bad guy is dead once again, thanks to SUPER PIGGY! DA DA DA DUN!

That'd be awesome...))

Sally felt her stomach tighten as they walked away, a sudden wave of self loathing washed over her. What was happening to her? First she yells at them, next she's acting like a lunatic. Her eyes slipped over to Dash when he walked towards her, a crooked smile coming to her face just before his hand swept across it. She flinched noticeably, as if it was the first time in her life being hit...and it was. What had just happened? Her bloody hand lifted to her cheek and watched Dash walk away.

"I'm...I..." She mumbled, even though he was no longer there to listen to her. Her body shivered and she felt dizzy. Quickly she leaned against a statue and she turned to look over at Lok, but was only met with his back. "Lok...am I..." She faded out as he paid more attention to Amleth, not even mentioning her name. "Lok?" She sounded like she was pleading to him, her good eye hazy brown with confusion, but more than confusion, fear.

Lucy nodded to both Peter and the dark man as she trotted towards them. "You guys were awesome." She said with a playful smile. "When I grow up, I'm gonna be able to fight just like you." She put hand on the pig-man's good shoulder. "It'll take a second. You'll be good as new." Carefully extracting the vial from her pouch she opened it up. Just after she tipped a few drops onto his wounds they were healing rapidly. "See? Good as new!" Her blue eyes sparkled and she began towards Sally, glancing at the dark man first, wondering if he was hurt also. But her brother said to help the annoying girl first.

"Hey...let me heal you." Lucy said cautiously, holding a hand towards the woman. It was then she noticed she was crying. The wet tears mixed with her blood and Lucy, being a child, felt sudden empathy for her. "Hey...you okay? Let me see your face..." After Sally sat down for her, Lucy began to drop the healing liquid onto the girl's face.

"I want to go home..." Sally whispered to Lucy, her brown eyes wide with fear. "I get in the way here...some thing's wrong with me. All I do is ruin everything...I thought they needed me...I was supposed to make them happy...but I'm ruining it all." Lucy only listened, not sure what to say as Sally's face healed.

"I'm sure they need you...everyone has a purpose you know. Mine is to help people when they're hurt. My brother's is to defend and fight. You have a purpose too. And you may...get in the way...but you surely don't ruin everything. Maybe your purpose IS to get in the way." Lucy smiled gently as Sally rubbed the blood and tears from her face. "What happened...I dunno...but it wasn't you, I know it. I can tell your a good person...probably the purest of all of us."

"That was me though...I was angry...I never felt anger before...never...something is wrong with me. I felt I wanted to...oh god...I want to go home."

Lucy sighed softly and was about to answer before Edmund's voice made her jump up and whirl around, shoving the vial back into it's rightful spot. "Edmund..." She said, unsure if she was to be happy or angry yet. Her brother had a tendency to walk the borderline on everything. As she walked past Lok she tugged his sleeve and motioned towards Sally. "I tried to help her as much as I could. She's scared...and healing doesn't help what illness dwells on the inside. Only friendship and love can...I learned that from Aslen." She then walked back towards Peter, Susan, and Edmund, waiting for her brother to say something.

"I was worried about you Edmund...when you didn't come...I was scared...what's going on?"

((I suppose it's my turn!... uuuuh! *Looks thoughtful*... this'll be hard, methinks! biggrin ))

Lok backed off when Amleth was healed. Arms crossed he stood off and stared distantly. When Lucy tugged at his sleeve he looked down at her evenly. His eyes searched her young face before she walked off to see Edmund. He returned to staring, but his ears were fixed on those around him.

Edmund.

He felt familiar. All his jealousy, all his bitterness, and all his hate. He could feel it burning through the cold. His words might have once come from his own mouth. An obscure place in his heart felt for Edmund.

They were the same.

Susan looked hurt somehow at being pushed away. A hand was over her mouth while her eyes reddened. She was trying her best not to cry. Instead of letting her tears fall she swung away and folded her arms into her chest.

"Don't say things like that, Edmund." She said in her stern voice. "You're our brother..." Susan's voice faltered but she held it. Her tone turned angry as tones often do to hide tears. "After all this time... as many times as we've been through this story... you should KNOW better! That queen always lies to you... she just lies, Edmund..."

Lok glanced over his shoulder. "Damn heroes." He said. "It's a title any one of us could have just a easily... we don't need to be as handsome or as brave." He looked at Edmund briefly before looking away as though he wasn't all that interested in the young man.

"It just takes heart." He looked to Amleth and Sally crouched together and his eyes blazed. He caught Sally's face for a moment. "It just takes heart."

He looked to Peter too. "All that time you held that over me... so easily defeating me... it didn't mean anything... that title: 'Hero'. The stories are gone... you're just Percy now. That's all. And I'm just Lok. Not Hero and Wolf. The stories... are over... Amleth is just as much a hero... if not more than you ever were, Percival... We can be anything now."

He looked to Edmund. "Anything."

And then he laughed. "And it took me all this DAMN time to figure this out."

Susan blinked. She didn't know what he had meant by Wolf and then Percival. Who was that? However, she quickly gripped the retreating Edmund's hand. "He's right, Edmund! You can be anything... you can be what I've known you've been all along..." She sniffed a little.

Lok nodded his head and moved over to Sally's side. Crouching beside her he wordlessly took one of her hands in his own.

He could be anything.

((ahdoihas;idansodnasd I suck. ;_; Sorry J! Sorry Aka! Sorry Teufel! *falls to her knees and begs your forgiveness* I... Don't even have an excuse for not posting. But, here it is now, yeah? yeah! Woo! I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas!))

Dash, standing just to the side, remained rather quiet for a time. He looked at the hand he'd hit Sally with, almost glaring at it. Why'd he DONE that? He'd never hit a girl... Heck, he'd never hit anyone that didn't deserve it. And yet, he'd done it without thinking... That wasn't him.

He turned and quietly watched Lucy help to heal Amleth's wounds... Poor, poor Amleth. He'd helped drag the man into all of this, and look what it got him - a bunch of blood, wolves, and pain. Good job, there Princy. But even then, a bit of a smile escaped him. Amleth, yet again, had a point. MANY points, actually. He was one smart little pudgy guy.

Then Edmund spoke up. And as always, the Queen had deluded his thoughts... had talked him into thinking that his own siblings were the bad guys. "Edmund... Come on... We've been through this..." He paused, realization coming over his young face. Did his brother know that this was no longer the story? "So you want to leave the story?" He asked carefully, "If you don't want to go with that plot you were told, then DON'T."

He might have said more, but Lok, in his usual grumpy tone, spoke up. "Heh, I think you're right, Lok..." The prince agreed quietly, a soft, but amused expression on his face. "There really was no 'you.' no 'me.' It was just story... All pretense... We just did what had to be done... What we were TOLD happened..." He shook his head, running frozen fingers through his blonde hair, "We kept saying we wanted to escape... Well, I think we CAN now." He offered a bit of a smile and leaned against one of the statues, eyeing Lok and his proximity to Sally, and just how determined Amleth was now. Yeah, they'd make it now. They would.

Flexing his injured hand, Dash pushed off the stone figure and stepped forward, and asked, not in a commanding tone, but one that called real input, "Shouldn't we leave then? We're still caught up in Story... And frankly, it's cold. I'd like to go somewhere warm..."

((Ehhhhh, even when I try, it's still so SHORT! *flopz over* I suck.))