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 Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:41 pm
He was content to not pay Eiry mind, now that it was said and done, instead attentive to the Frei on his arm. He was disappointed their conversation had to go by the wayside, but he often felt that was the case in all things when it came to the Minty Sigel. "Not well, no," he replied evenly, "I've not met him but a handful of times. He's a private sort." Zul offered a slight shrug, a crooked smile curving his lips. "But I don't feel I need to know him to see him home safely. I'd do the same for almost any other."
The demon was, for the most part, oblivious to the problems the humans were having, even with Doe's impressive hair transformation. When the brambles became high enough to threaten snagging his ribbon, he simply plucked it upwards and over his arm like a woman might hold a shawl, entirely unfettered. Like his companion, his skin was much cooler than the surrounding area and though the land they tread onwards into was more than ominous, he kept his aura as neutral - with a side of positive - that he could. If not for his companion's benefit, then certainly for his own, as the idea of dealing with four hysterical women was not something he was prepared for.
Alex, for her part, had already twisted her ankle on one sinkhole, the muscle tight from her quick recovery. It was on her bad leg, however, and she knew she'd be paying for that later on. She was silent, and not from necessity, but from concern: she was certain they had stayed to the map's locale, and yet, it didn't seem they were on the outskirts of the forest at all. No, it seemed like they were indeed moving inwards, and it was with some reluctance and constant checking that she lead them along the thread-bare path, hoping it was laid out as it was because Kyou had walked on it not that long ago.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 4:13 am
With a weary eye on all, but forgetful of the turf around them, Eiry kept a quiet mental tabs on everyone in their group. The demon was a few feet if not a couple yards behind him, with the aurora raevan in tow. The gentleman in Eiry wanted to make sure that she was well taken care of and smiling, his mind already picking out strands and snippets of poems that she might like, but Eiry would sooner burn a book than step near Zul. Besides, it looked like he was protecting the rights towards being a gentleman. There was nothing Eiry could do, but focus his efforts on the other ladies, which he gladly did all the same. One was already very dear to him, and the other was so cheerful, already convincing Eiry to smile and forget his weariness with the demon in his shadow.
The fire of Saint Elmo flickered brightly on his back underneath the shadow of the trees and Eiry bowed his head to Doe, smiling as he guided her as best he could through the brush, reaching out ever so often when there was something to step over, like a wayward root, or a stubborn stone. Unfortunately, he was not as quick to help Alex, who had stumbled and twisted her ankle, and moments later Eiry had supported her shoulders from behind, worried for her. Unable to find a place to sit down however, it was quickly decided to keep moving along, albeit slowly, until they were able to find a place to tend to her ankle should there be any real damage done.
Unlike the human members of the party, Eiry had no problem with the rising humidity. Not only was he naturally touched with a ghostly chill, but he had the soul of a will o wisp, granting him a high tolerance of marshy areas and humidity both. The surroundings strengthened him and if ever he had the need to draw for more energy, he would gently brush a dying branch or withering grass to satisfy himself, breathing life back into it as he ate up the death within it. However, in the peak of the summer and in a place as green as this, there was a substantial lack of dead flora. Eiry pursed his lips a bit at this discovery, already regretting not bringing more snacks for himself. He would make do and perhaps even break off some branches to let them die before he could eat. He had his ways.
Like Zul as they passed through the more troublesome part of underbrush, Eiry not only began to float a little higher to try and dodge the scrapes of branches from the wilderness, but he also tucked his ribbon up into his vest pocket, hoping to keep it safe and out of the way before it could suffer any more tears. Already his ribbon was a wispy thing with frays and notches and fly aways and the last thing he wanted to do was tear it anymore. He had no idea what would happen if he lost a piece of it, but he certainly didn't want to find out. Making sure it was safe in his pocket, he returned to conversation with Doe, this time offering his hand to Alex and rearranging the troop so that he was beside the leading lady and helping her with her recently twisted ankle as they traversed the unsteady ground. He kept looking back over his shoulder to Doe, though, determined to keep her in conversation with him.
"Oh yes! I do. I think very highly of my Isi indeed. He is a bit of a crab apple, but he is in no way malicious. I do wish I could scrub his mouth out with soap, for he so likes to swear, and in the most creative fashions as well, but it is so ungentlemanly of him and I'm sure he scares more away than he attracts! He's got a good heart, though, a kind heart. He's very diligent in his work and very focused and determined! My Isi would have probably come out here to help in the search if he wasn't already doing his part. Sweet thing, he!" said Eiry in fondness, giving a sigh after his guardian, before his pointed ears perked with realization. He turned again to Doe, giving her an apologetic purse of the brows, "My apologies, lady Doe! I did not mean to rant. I'm sure that speaking of someone who isn't here can only be so entertaining. Besides, I would much like to hear about yourself! What compelled you to join the raevan program and raise one of my sisters in kin? I would very much like to hear of your noble tale."
Then, having turned back and noticed how miserable Doe looked, the raevan deepened his worried frown. "Lady Doe, you look positively miserable. In fact, both of you dear ladies look positively plagued by this tremendous undergrowth! With all these branches and what not scraping against you all...Oh, I know! Lady Doe, come and hold onto me somehow, a hand upon the shoulder, like...what are those called...A conga line! That's it. Place your hand on my shoulder and I'll continue helping dear Alex with her twisted foot, and I'll make all three of us intangible to the forest that would otherwise molest us, hm? There, there, my wings don't burn! I'll dim them though, to ease your mind." With the focusing of his brow, the flames upon Eiry's back that marked his wings simmered down to two cute little will o wisps of flame upon his shoulder blades. When Doe came and gripped his shoulder, he focused again and with a relief of breath, he spread his innate magic between the two ladies so that they could step LITERALLY through the brambles.
"I can only keep this up for so long," Eiry said as they continued forward, "So we'll have to hope that we'll find some clearer path further ahead."
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Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:49 pm
As the group ghosts through the brush, a small path does reveal itself to everyone. It is an animal path, but there are no human footprints upon it. It winds through the brush and closely clumped trees, occasionally vanishing only to reappear again as if it hadn't been swallowed up to begin with. Eventually the path leads Team A to a clearing.
In the center of this open patch of land is a gruesome sight. A jungle stag lays dead in its center. His body is mutilated, and around the area his entrails are strung from branches like gory streamers. Even from a distance, one can tell his mouth is opened in what had been his dying scream, his maggot eaten eyes wide open to the dusky sky above.
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Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 9:13 am
At the sight of Alex’s foot taking an unfortunate detour into a sinkhole, Doucette made a sort of awkward noise, somewhat attempting to say watch out (though the event had already happened) and ask if she was ok (though the woman did not stop to complain) but managing neither one. As the dark haired woman continued on without comment so too did the redhead, watching carefully to make sure there wouldn’t be any more sinkholes for the group to be finding themselves in.
She was also ready to jump in and help Alex with anything should her ankle begin to bother her too greatly. Her pack-mule-ness was not quite at capacity and though the thought of adding something else onto her sweat soaked back did not make her giddy with joy, she knew it would help the other woman greatly. Additionally she was grateful for the spirit’s help with Alex, not feeling slighted by the other’s attentive attitude towards her, especially since he continued to include her in the conversation. It was not easy to walk in a clumped group, all chattering away happily, in such an atmosphere anyway.
“I suppose some people just have that sort of nature,” she said with a bit of a laugh, but it sounded strained even to her ears. The heat made her feel like she didn’t have enough air to laugh properly. Trox tended to swear a bit, and he was always apologizing for it, but though she wasn’t big on cursing, she never seemed very bothered by other people doing it.
In truth though, Doucette loved to hear about other people and would have been happy to chat with Eiry about his Isi for as long as he felt like ‘ranting’. Listening was easier than talking at this point anyway. “I’m not so such it’s as grand a tale as you’re hoping for,” she snorted, swatting some of the bugs away from her sweat-soaked features. Suddenly she felt very put on the spot and uncomfortable and latched onto his other words instead of going into the story of how she’d ended up with the Lab. Tentatively she put her hands on his shoulders and gasped at the feeling that seemed to seep through her, making her immune to the grasping vines and reaching roots.
After a few moments however she felt...simply uncomfortable and unnatural with the sensation. They entered the clearing soon after he told her he couldn’t keep the magic up long and she let go of his shoulders in response, thanking him for the effort. Now that they were in a clearing he could have a break and she could shake her hands out and –
The scene before her brought a sort of wheezing gasp from the woman and in a blink she’d crumpled to her knees. It was not exactly a faint, for she sat there, eyes wide and horrified and looking rather doe-like set in stark-white skin. Even her freckles seemed to have paled. The squeeking, almost whining sound that was coming from the woman was hard to place and though she wasn’t crying it certainly sounded like she was going to any moment. “Who. What. W-who would do something like this?” she finally managed, raspy.
Revontulet had listened to Zul’s answer with mild curiosity, her expression neutral as she processed the information. Part of her wanted to question why he would do such a thing for someone he admittedly didn’t know well, and that he confessed he’d do for others should they also not be his friend. The other part of her, however, realized that should she voice such an interest he may turn the question back around to her – a frei who did not even in the slightest know who the doctor was. Her selfish reasons for being on the search and rescue were not something she felt like divulging to the demon at the very moment and so she gave him a slight smile after a moment, warm around the edges but a bit lacking in the eyes as she continued to think.
Another question had come to her lips and she’d parted them to ask when they came to the clearing, only a few steps behind the others, in time to see Doucette crumble and voice her own question about the massacre within the glade.
The aurora dropped Zul’s arm and moved forward, as if she were going to help her guardian, but instead she moved forward towards the stag, her brows furrowed with interest. “Is that what it looks like on the inside?” she asked to no one in particular before casting her gaze about to the entrails that decorated the branches and splashed through the underbrush. “There’s a lot.”
The comment was simple and somewhat eerie compounded with the situation at hand.
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Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 10:09 am
Alex laughed softly, taking one of Eiry's hands from her shoulders and kissing the back of it fondly. "I'll be fine, Eiry, don't worry." She gingerly slipped from his grasp, not wanting the sensation of being intangible again; she never forgot what it was like to be inside the wall of the Delaran house, and goodness knows she didn't want a similar episode with some weeds or brambles that were harder to detect. She cast a tired smile to the other two, amused, until they found themselves in the clearing.
The woman stopped in her tracks, staring with a rather neutral expression that didn't quite fit the situation, but that was just how she dealt with shock. Green eyes quickly flit over the scene, accessing both what was before them and if there was any danger near by -- but quickly turned to Doe when the fair-skinned woman sunk to her knees, darting to her and kneeling with an arm around her shoulders. The question, though...that was harder to answer. "I can tell you it's not an animal," she responded evenly, glancing to the others to make sure they were okay. "We don't know anything about the people indigenous to this area, so -- it could be them warding off whatever they think is in the forest. We also have to remember Kyou came here for a fel essence, one that we don't know about and that possibly had a hand in his disappearance." The woman set her lips in a hard line. The scene was gruesome, but it was more disconcerting than cause for alarm, in her eyes. "We have no idea what he's up against," she finished softly. "That's why we're needed..."
"Be careful," he murmured softly to Revontulet as she disengaged from his arm and floated towards the scene. Like the Frei, he wasn't disgusted or afraid, but instead felt a darker brush of interest, floating after her. "I don't know, I've never seen a real deer," he answered Revontulet honestly. He rounded the disemboweled animal, bright eyes turning over each aspect of the damaged creature: the mouth parted in frozen death knell, the maggots that made home in sunken eyes, the mangled body set in disarray. None of the gore nor violence really disturbed him, but what did was the flickering thought of Cesc. Wasn't he a stag?
That thought unsettled him. Frowning, he 'kneeled' to look over the body, at all the damage done with the intact innards strewn all about. "Lex, what could cause these wounds and--?"
"--leave the insides undamaged?" Leave it to the demon to pick out the more unnerving aspects. "It could have been ritualistic." Or it could have been through torturous length of time to bleed the thing to death with the various wounds, though there was no way she was saying that out loud. Giving Doe a squeeze, she carefully got back to her feet, rolling her twisted ankle with sharp pain, clenching her teeth against it. "Nngh. We should keep moving. I don't want to camp near here at night, I don't know what it will attract."
Or what would return to play with it.
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Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:50 pm
Having lived with the woman for a period of time, Eiry knew that her strength of will often overcame her strength of body and in this case, despite her twisted ankle, she would press on nobly without his aid. He should have known that it was a lost cause, but at least he had attempted and offered. That's how he consoled himself as he worriedly watched her stumble ahead of him. Besides, he had to take care of the lovely Doe, who held onto his shoulder as they traversed the thickest of the weeds and brush. He did mumble to her, just in case, as she continued on ahead of him, "If it is your wish, my dearest Alex, but should you have need of any single thing at all, beckon and I will come. It is already so dangerous a place and so dangerous a task that we have set out to do."
So he set his attention to Doe, happily keeping her from the trials of crossing bush and bramble. She seemed so exhausted already and so hot. He wished there was a way to cool her down, but his powers did not stray in that area of expertise. He instead kept her company, chatting with her and egging her on for the story of the soul capture of Revontulet. He hadn't been able to get far in his begging before a most unnatural stench found its way to Eiry's nose. He crinkled his face, trying to focus past it or find its source when he felt Doe slipping off his shoulders. He took this as a cue to stop extending his intangibility and he filtered back into a corporeal body as well, shivering a bit as he welcomed the feeling of feeling solid, before he was suddenly struck cold at the gruesome sight before them. Doucette dropped to the ground, Alex rushed to Doe, Revontulet floated forward and Zul floated after her. Eiry, on the other hand, let out a girlish yelp.
"Oh, heavens!!" Eiry blurted, immediately throwing up his hands in front of his face at the sight. He had only managed a glimpse, realized what mess laid around them, before he tried to cover his face as quickly as possible. He felt his stomach flip within his torso, though, having already witnessed the gore and his mind replayed the images of the mutilated stag within his mind's eye, torturing his frame of stability.
Eiry, as a raevan, had a very interesting take on life and death. Firstly, he appreciated living life, and he greatly encouraged it, but he also knew that death was an inevitable adventure. Death, however, was not a finality to Eiry, but a transformation, and this he had come to terms with upon his later time as a frei. However, the means of death was something he was still coming to terms with, and in particular, the conjunction of blood and violent deaths. As a frei, he was never exposed to gore, having been too afraid of the technology hosting such movies scared him much more, and the books he read, while explicit in their horrific nature, left things up to his imagination which was always more naive than what was reality. It was a strange toss up. However, one thing he was aware of was that blood meant life force and the loss of blood meant a premature death, and ultimately an untimely and tragic transformation, and thus sparked his vivid imagination to spin a hypothetical situation in which he might also suffer from an early and violent death, thus leaving life un-lived and unfulfilled, which was, to Eiry, the greatest tragedy of all.
The long and the short of it was that Eiry quivered at the sight of blood, his memories thrown back into so many situations when he and his brother Rivener were somehow wounded and painted with blood, the fear that came with losing his dear brother or losing himself, or any other loved one. He kept his hands up in front of his face, trying to keep himself from seeing anymore of the deer's grotesquely mutilated body while he bowed his head and floated near the edge of the clearing, trying to steer clear of the powerful pastel portrait before him.
"What sadness!" the ghostly raevan bleated, floating closer to the ladies as he fought his tremendous urges of curiosity to see the corpse of the stag. He desperately kept his hands in front of his eyes, shielding him while his mind flashed from recent memories of a young rosy raevan with little horned nubs on his head, a being in the marsh, lost, a being in the library, searching...Eiry latched onto this pleasant image to distract himself from the scene. "Such a noble creature, made into such horrific forest graffiti! Surely, something as this is unnatural....The foetid stench offends the senses, but there is no need to stay near such unpleasant scenery, I hope? Lady Doucette must want to evacuate the grove. There is nothing to investigate and we must make way. Alex, my lady, yes! Perfect point. Let us travel far and away!"
Already convincing himself that they were leaving the scene, Eiry turned his back to it and started searching for a path to lead them onwards.
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Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 7:19 pm
As two parts of the party vote to leave the scene, two look over the stag, and one stares horridly, the mutilated corpse simply lies there, dead and unmoving as the sunlight continues to fade into growing night overhead. The shadows play among the trees around the glade and a breeze gusts through the leaf-heavy boughs, making them creak and sigh.
Other than that noise and the words of Team A though, it has gone quiet. Birds, bugs, and perhaps the distance voices of other teams elsewhere in the jungle...all gone. The beating of everyone's hearts is like to be in their ears now as the clearing grows eerie and unsettling. The feeling grows and grows as the silence presses in, finally breaking after five minutes of nothing into...
Chittering?
The skin of the stag begins to move, rustling over rotting skin and bleaching bone as though something - many things - is moving beneath it. The motion and the noise grows in volume until suddenly and with violent force the stag's skin bursts like a water balloon and millions of spiders come spewing out. Not only that, they come from every opening - mouth, eyes, nostrils, open belly hole - and not all of them are the tiny size that many are used to. The largest that come forth are the size of softballs, but no matter the size, all of them are scuttling toward those who have dared trespass into their home.
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 4:00 am
As Alex spoke to her Doucette began to nod, eagerly grasping at the words she wanted to hear, unwilling to understand anything that didn’t sound friendly or acceptable to her. Of course the people of the forest had put it up as some strange ritual. It didn’t have to be sinister. Just a custom she didn’t understand. Hadn’t there been many odd sacrificial rituals which the redhead had studied in school so long ago when she’d been a religions major? Yes, this was simply another instance of that. Another instance of something that was just different from what she was used to.
Taking a deep breath she managed to pull herself to her feet, still shaking quite visibly but more than ready to move on. “I think moving on is a fabulous idea. The further the better.” Doe gulped slightly, trying to calm her heart rate as a more attractive colour filled her cheeks.
Until she noticed Ren leaning over to reach her hand into the beast’s chest cavity.
“REVONTULET!” she basically screeched, her naturally high voice coming out strained and poorly pitched with horror at the frei touching the dead thing. “You don’t know where that’s been, and we’re leaving. Come on.”
The aurora had continued to drift closer as the others lingered behind, Alex tending to her guardian so she needn’t worry about the woman. All that interested her was the decaying beast sprawled in the middle of the clearing. “No?” Zul’s confession of having never seen a deer came as a bit of a surprise to her. The older sigel seemed so much more knowledgeable and worldly to her, it was hard to imagine that there was some topic he did not have the answers to. Her own mind did not drift to her pink-haired friend. Such a gruesome image was not befitting of his character and besides, this was not Cesc. The correlation was not apparent to the girl.
As Zul spoke to Alex, Ren coiled her ribbon slowly, until she was close to the ground, close to the stag. Reaching out she dipped her fingers into the sticky remains until she heard the shrill shouting of Doucette. Withdrawing her hand she stood up and turned to look at the woman expectantly, a touch of displeasure pulling down the corner of her lips.
Only a few inches had been put between her and the stag as she moved towards Doe when she heard it. The soft humming, a weird rustling noise. Distracted once more, Ren turned towards the stag, watching as the thing seemed to become reanimated for a moment before a black flurry of activity burst forth.
They rushed at her and the others, but the aurora didn’t move, an odd curiosity taking over her. Spiders were not a new phenomenon to her. There were the odd small one in the beach house and the dogs often freaked out unnecessarily over the small bodies and many legs. Doucette often scooped them into some paper and deposited them outside. Ren, for her part, took little interest in them. They reminded her of Anya, more than the stag reminded her of Cesc. Just then, the frei couldn’t help but think that Anya would have surely loved to see all these spiders.
Soon the spiders has begun crawling on her, some up her dangling ribbon and others using the force of their escape to launch themselves straight onto her lithe form. Their many legs tickled her as if from a distance and she lifted one arm to watch each leg skitter over her unnatural flesh. Some even attempted to bite at her, their small fangs finding no purchase on the moonstone.
Doucette for her part had once again lost the minimal amount of colour her pale skin normally held.
What. The. Actual. ******** hell-forest had Kyou gotten himself trapped in?! Whatever the reason for the dead stag, the spiders were going to be a definite problem. They were alive and they looked angry and some of them looked unfortunately big. Had someone asked her before, Doe would have said she didn’t have a fear of spiders. They were helpful, misunderstood critters that she kept out of her house for the sake of her pugs.
This, however, was the stuff of nightmares and it didn’t take someone to be afraid of spiders to be terrified of the scene before them. She could feel her legs propelling her backwards, away from the spiders, but she also saw Ren being enveloped by the first wave, the girl stopping to admire the critters.
“Ren! Ren! We have to go!” Doucette cast her eyes about for Alex, Eiry and Zul, trying to figure out what to do, which direction to escape.
Revontulet began shaking off some of the spiders, especially the bigger ones and the ones that tried to cover her face and invade her rune. At first they had been interesting, but now they were becoming annoying, their numbers overwhelming. With mounting frustration she folded her wings upon her back and moved close to Zul, following him in whatever direction he was moving, like a puppy with a bigger dog.
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:41 am
"Let us," Alex agreed easily, one hand gently resting on Doe's elbow, the other extending to Eiry. They'd get out of the clearing, away from the massacre-ritual-whatever it was and put it behind them. Move forward. Find Kyou. It was the way her brain was programmed to work when bad things started to happen, falling into a detached, calm logic that overrode her more emotional response.
But there were some triggers that needled beyond her airtight defenses, blacking out rationale and stomping their eight little legs on her FIGHT OR FLIGHT button in her. Unfortunately, the beasts with the greatest control over that button were making the stag's skin heave and stretch, ripping the once tawny hide and spilling forth like diseased tidal waves. Alex had only the briefest moment of clarity, a fleeting thought that this was not right, not normal, that things didn't work like this in the animal kingdom -- and then a spider the size of her two fists combined emerged and that button within her was smashed so hard that she was certain it broke. FIGHT OR FLIGHT was activated, and since there was no fighting a torrent of soul-sucking hellspawn, she firmly latched onto FLIGHT.
"Run," she whispered, eyes wide and glassy, not unlike the dead deer in the clearing. Not knowing if anyone heard her - not particularly able to care in that moment, gripped as she was - the fear flooded her in a way that mimicked the spiders flooding from the body, making her body feel light and her skin tingle with the sudden burst of adrenaline that struck her. There was nothing she could do, unable to even see her companions as her vision focused on the threat, and before the bane of her existence even crested the dead animal's body, Alex bolted deeper into the forest. Fear may have had her scrambling for safety, but she was not a base animal; with the map still emblazoned in her head, she ran deeper into their assigned area, barely able to breathe around the feeling of acid in her throat and the seizing gasp of her lungs. Roots and underbrush be damned, the Italian ran like her life was on the line, and for her, it damn well was.
The very second the first black creature popped out of the stag's body, Zul knew Alex was going to lose her composure. When the flood erupted, the demon actually feared for his woman's very sanity. "Lex--?" he called, but he had seen the life leave her eyes, the glassy look that removed the woman's awareness of the situation, and he knew they'd lost her. The Sigel couldn't help her now, but he was going to do his best anyway. With his ribbon still over his arm, he was out of range to be crawled on, but he wasn't going to remain so unaffected when he could help.
Without pause, the demon conjured the molten part of his essence in his palm, heaving it at the dead stag to cauterize the flow of spiders and remove any further surprises. Ren was closest, and it was to her that he floated, spreading his arms and paying mind to the Frei's seeming indifference. "This is going to be uncomfortable," he warned the aurora before he significantly raised the temperature of his body, radiating a hot aura to chase off or melt the spiders that were too close, whichever came first. Leaning down, he quickly swiped two rocks from the clearing, infusing them with his molten heat and throwing them in the direction he'd seen Alex flee, setting the dead underbrush ablaze. It wouldn't last, given the humidity and wetness of the area, but it would suffice.
"Go!" he called to Doe and Eiry, pointing one molten-coated hand towards the path. Zul couldn't risk getting close to them with his heat so intense, but the effects of the burning rocks and his presence would be enough to chase off the spiders, or so he hoped. He was certain Eiry would handle it from there and, turning back to Ren, he reached out to take her hand, dousing his infernal heat with a flash of ice, already used to the cool aura she put off in their brief travel. "I've got you," he called to her over the shriek of burning insects, making sure she was safe at his side and his plummeting body temperature before following the smoldering trail he'd made.
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 11:55 pm
Eiry was looking for a qay to progress through the forest, heeding Alex's idea of moving forward and away from the dreadful mess behind when there was a terrible sound behind them. It was a slow crunching, grinding, scraping sound, and Eiry, with the skew of his face, turned around slowly, a hand still in front of his face, and he peeked through his fingers.
Spiders.
Everywhere.
"OH, WILLIAM," shouted the sigel, jumping back from the sight and into intangibility, looking in horror at the sight. It was more surprising than most, and thankfully, Eiry had learned to deal with spiders since his room had always existed in the attic, a territory usually claimed by such creatures. He was more frightened by the fact that there were enough to carpet the forest floor beneath them, and even more frightened that Revontulet had stayed put, watching with vague interest as the spiders started covering her soft glowing form. He cried out for her, looking immediately to Zul to remedy the situation when, at the same time, he heard a whisper from beside him. It was Alex. Eiry had turned just in time to catch sight of her high-tailing it through the trees, disappearing in almost an instant. He should have known that this would happen. Alex had expressed this bone-chilling fear of the eight-legged little freaks when she was living with them at the old Delaran house, Isi's home. Eiry would hear an almaring (yet wonderful) scream from the attic, and float down, book in hand, already proclaiming his innocence, but starving to satisfy his curiosity, and he'd find Aphismet attacking the wall or the floor with a bundled up piece of paper towel and Alex no where to be found. This, however, was something that couldn't be taken care of with a paper towel. Eiry wasn't even sure if burning the entire forest down, at this point, would help quell Alex's terror or even when she would stop running. But separation from the group, he knew, would be more terrible than all the spiders in the world.
They had to go after Alex. Fortunately, Zul was like-minded and he was already taking care of the spider problem, slamming the corpse with a fireball from his fist and holding the stone to him to rid her of her many legged hitchhikers. Knowing that they were taken care of, Eiry rushed to Doucette.
"Come, come now, spit-spot! Together, we can be impervious!" he blurted, taking her wrist and wiggling his fingers into his hands, lacing their fingers together for as firm a hold as he could get, "We must away from this nightmare and after Alex! I fear for her if she should get lost! Hurry, now. Together, we must call for her, stop her fear!" Again, he willed his intangibility to pass onto her, feeling his energy drop which reflected in the dim light of his rune, but he convinced himself that he could eat when they stopped, when they caught up with Alex. They would be fine then. He would be fine. Everything would be just dandy.
Hearing Zul's command from behind him, Eiry turned to him and nodded curtly, watching him clear a path in the woods with the toss of his hand and the fire from his fingertips. Go, he had said. Eiry didn't need to be told twice. "Of course! Many thanks!" called Eiry to Zul, connecting his red eyes with Zul's blue ones before he turned to the smouldering path. "We'll try to catch up to Alex!" With a look at Doucette and a reassuring squeeze, he pulled both his and her intangible bodies through embers, rushing as quickly as possible after their leading lady.
"Alex!" Eiry called, beating his wings behind him to make botuh him and Doe move faster, "Alex, where art thou!? Halt! Please! Don't lose us!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:32 am
As Alex runs away from the scene, the ground beneath her feet starts to slope downward. Rocks and upturned roots mar the ground here and there and threaten to trip her up if she doesn't watch where she's going. Around her, the sound of many chittering spiders echoes, pressing in around her much like the trees as she flees further into the darkening jungle. As she makes her way down the hill, she runs full tilt into a large - mercifully empty - spider web spread out across her path.
Back with Zul, Ren, and the intangible pair of Eiry and Doucette, the spiders continue spewing out of the deer carcass despite the tan Sigel's flames. The ones that come forth after the blast simply go around the molten flame to attack whoever is in their path, and the ones dying within are not giving up their chase so easily. As Ren and Zul watch and try to leave, several spiders leap from the flames - alight and burning rapidly - onto the two Raevans. Immediately there is the pungent smell of burning hair as Revontulet's pretty locks become singed by one close brush with one fat, screaming arachnid before it burns up completely and falls to the ground dead.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 3:21 pm
The moment Alex took off Doucette looked to Zul for quick conformation that he would care for Ren. There was nothing she could do for her frei at the moment, nothing the sigel could not do a hundred times better. And it was obvious that the poor Italian was dealing with something very near a psychotic break with the expression that had taken over her features moments before she’d taken off.
Hardly waiting for Eiry, though doubling back slightly as she realized he too would take chase, Doe began what one could only call bounding through the forest. Unlike a graceful, sleek deer that she was nicknamed for, the slightly rotund woman was cursed with legs that didn’t quite pick up as high as they should or stretch out as long as was necessary. Instead she almost seemed to hop-leap from one foot to the other, charging in the direction the woman had taken.
It was a good and wonderful thing that Eiry still had his ghostly power, for it was clear the woman would have tangled herself and tripped within moments of giving chase, especially with the way the ground seemed to slope downwards, basically encouraging a face-plant.
Running was truly not the woman’s forte. In addition to her awkward run, the redhead was soon winded, compounded with the choking humidity. A stitch had made its way into her side and Doucette knew, she just knew that the moment she stopped a Charlie horse was going to put her out of commission for as long as it could. Despite this she pressed on, gasping for air. If anyone was going to call out Alex’s name in hopes of ensuring the two were on the right path, it would have to be Eiry, for Doe hadn’t the spare breath to spare for even one squeak!
Still attempting to brush the now unwelcome and aggressive visitors to her person off, Ren looked up at Zul’s words. Uncomfortable? The moonstone had never experienced anything which she would have termed uncomfortable in her life.
As the temperature around them began to rise and the smaller spiders began to recede and die, Revontulet felt a curious sensation. Distantly she could feel her own skin adjusting to the temperature, like the rocks he turned into nothing more than molten remains. With a shudder she was grateful the demon did not touch her while attempting such a mission. Temperature had never bothered her before. Cold and hot were relative, remote feelings that did not truly affect her. This heat, however, did begin registering on her uncomfortable scale. Thankfully they were leaving and Zul was already dousing his aura.
Now that her skin had heated significantly, his suddenly frigid touch brought a yelp of pain from the girl that she bit back before it turned into a scream.
Ladies didn’t scream.
Pulling her hand back abruptly from him, Revon cradled the appendage to her chest, attempting to rub the stinging sensation out of it. It was like nothing she had ever experienced before. Sharp and sudden, it was akin to being stabbed, though she hadn’t that specific term to equate it to.
The pause should never have happened.
She should have continued with Zul.
She shouldn’t have dawdled for even that short moment.
The smell was the first clue that something wasn’t right. Although she hadn’t noticed the exact culprit, the aurora now noticed the others that had begun launching themselves from the carcass, little flaming kamikaze. Reaching up her free hand, Ren felt where her hair had been singed and continued to blacken at the tips.
Although her features were naturally a bit firm, they were now downright hard. Murderous would have been a rather fitting description for the look in those neon eyes.
Fingers flexed in and out of fists, her mind racing. There was nothing she could do. Nothing at all. The aurora was weak, a new born. She could defend herself well enough, but she had no offensive. Ren was helpless and trapped in the anger that made her rune pulse into a sharp, bright blue.
It was likely that she would have stayed there, glaring and thinking for an eternity if Zul didn’t pull her away. Spiders continued to launch themselves at her form, the light parka she wore becoming dotted with singe marks, the stench of burnt plastic mixing with the smell of burnt hair as another flaming arachnid flew past her shoulder.
Should she scream? Cry? Run? Ren was at a personal impasse and it was not the time for one.
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Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:56 pm
No, no no no no no --
Even while she was fleeing, she knew it was wrong. The more she ran, the more her mind warred over the FLIGHT button being mashed, mostly because she was never very prone to running to begin with. Alex could hear the screaming bugs behind her, along with Eiry's distant cry for consideration, but her thoughts were jumbled and she wasn't reacting with swiftness or clarity in her mad dash through the forest. Spiders don't scream when hit with magma, she tried to reason, a distant inkling of a thought that was beginning to take root. Just like spiders didn't hole up in recently dead stags, the idea that the arachnids were resisting her ward's attack (for who else would produce molten lava in this wet mess?) was stirring her scientific mind. It was wrong. It wasn't natural. What was happening...wasn't normal. And in that sense, it almost wasn't real.
She didn't get to finish her thoughts as she stumbled into a clearing and - her gimp leg sore from the run and her ankle too weak to support her last jarring step - stumbled to the ground, not a moment too soon.
Because that
was a really
spider web --
"Scopare," she cursed in a wavering breath, using her shaking hands to grip the ground and hurl herself backwards and hopefully towards the encroaching group. Alex wanted to cry out for them to find her, but she knew screaming in horror stories never turned out well. Instead, she swallowed the enormous knot of fear that was still struggling to make her flee and backed up as much as she could, deaf to almost everything but the intense pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.
"I'm sorry--" he murmured urgently as she hissed and pulled away from his touch. The demon didn't have time for niceties and consideration while trying to save the lives of those he cared about -- Melisande had learned that the hard way. Zul barely had time to look at Ren before the popping spider did its damage, earning a briefly perplexed expression from the Sigel. He was no zoologist like his woman, but even he knew something was strange here. The demon didn't even hesitate to lift a hand and 'grab' the spider upon his dark skin, imploding it with a burst of lava. He turned and 'threw' the remains out in an arch, this time shooting out a blast of ice so cold that it actually seemed to hang in the air for several heartbeats before falling to shatter on whatever was beneath, icing the ground and killing what little vegetation was left from the lava.
Moderating his temperature, he deftly scooped the moonstone into his arms - no small feat, given how little of her there was to touch without accidentally getting her rune - and dashed off quickly towards Eiry and Doucette, not about to be left behind or be further separated from his Guardian. "Forgive me for my abruptness," was about all the manners he could afford as bone wings arched and flapped to deflect anymore jumpers, following the eerie light of the elder Sigel.
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Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 5:13 pm
Moving as quickly as he could, Eiry floated through the forest at high speed, his wings pumping fast behind him, their flames spluttering from one moment to the next like the flickering wisp his soul was filled with. He had Doucette beside him, extending his power to her so that she could fly just as quickly beside him even though her legs were fast tiring. He knew that he would have to slow down as well if he didn't want to lose her, but at the same time, he wanted to speed along as fast as possible to get to Alex. His heart was fluttering fast in his chest, his worry slowly but surely climbing as their group remained stretched apart. They had to keep together, that he knew for sure. In all the scary novels he had read, the worst mistake anyone could make was to fall apart, to separate, and that was exactly what they were doing.
"Alex! Alex!" Eiry called again, checking both before them and behind him as he moved. He kept an eye on Zul and Revontulet behind them, bringing up the rear. They were protecting their backs, freezing and melting any spiders that might chase after them and hopefully they were far enough away from the carcass that they wouldn't attract the horde any longer. Distance would spell an end to their spider encounter, Eiry was sure, and he tried to convince himself of that before he saw a silvery film flickering in the distance before them. Just as he began wondering what kind of forest entity could create such a strange hue, Eiry and Doe came upon Alex, who was scrambling back for them, her eyes ballooned with fear.
"Alex!" Eiry called out with relief, dropping his intangibility for he and Doe both. He was growing weak from the draining of his magic and he relished the breather. He turned to Doe, his red glasses skewed on his face, he nodded to her breathlessly, smiling that at least they had that many of their group together again, "Call for Zul and the Lady Revontulet so that they do not lose our position. Thank you, m'lady Doucette. I'll do what I can for Alex until Zul arrives!"
Dropping to the ground where Alex crawled towards them in fear, Eiry extended his arms, hoping to collect her within them and console her enough to calm her down. He had never, not in all his time with her, seen her so afraid. The fear was almost palpable. "Alex, dear Alex, we are all soon to be united! We are away from the spiders all, there is no need to fret or worry or writhe! We are saf..."
But as he attempted to complete that sentence, Eiry looked up over her shoulder, his red eyes locking on that silvery film that he had taken note of before, the very cause for Alex's renewed terror.
A giant spiderweb.
"...Great attercop," Eiry whispered, his mind launching to a similar happenstance in a book he had been advised to read not that long ago by his guardian. His mind started spinning, not unlike the great beast that might have sun this web, and he immediately looked around them, hoping to all the old poets that none of their party had touched the web and alerted the great lurking architect of their presence. "Do not dare touch the web, don't touch it, do not lay a finger nor breathe upon it! Alex, to me! We'll away from this great monstrosity as well. We'll away!" he promised wildly, trying to pick up the woman as he raised up from the ground. He looked to Doucette, announcing again, "Spare a warning for the rest of our party! Tell them not to advance any closer to the web!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:06 pm
The web itself proves to be as empty and harmless as any one web encountered on the first trek out the morning one awakes. However, it does mark an impasse.
The sounds of the spiders they had encountered before are gone - fully stopped by Zul and his ice or perhaps because the group has simply left the area of their nest. It is wholly silent again, this time without a breeze to offer some sort of comfort. The air is heavy and thick with humidity and what sky that is seen through the choking canopy is getting blacker by the moment. At the base of the hill where the team now rests the ground levels off and a worn path before Team A rises and splits into a two-pronged fork.
To the left, some of the trees are visibly - albeit thinly - strung up with a handful empty spider webs, and they glisten with silver light in response to any flashlight beam that passes over them.
To the right, the trees grow impeccably close and to the naked eye it seems as though the darkness inside that path is blacker and somehow thicker than the gloom to the left.
Going back is most definitely not an option given what has just occurred, but with danger out of the way and darkness now upon them, setting up camp and recovering from the spider attack offers up an Option C to the weary team.
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