Illusion Vale: A Spirit's Cry

[Wolfsister]

Jay and Coudron

Coudron raised his brow, he would have raised his eyebrows, but he had to make do seeing as he didn't actually have any. The reaction of the horse was actually rather funny, but to be completely honest, Coudron was sadly familiar with this treatment. Many people did exactly what this horse was doing when they first met the fire elemental. It wasn't his fault his mother had mated with an earth elemental. He grimaced as he idly imagined giving birth to a firey rock. Ouch.

*It's gonna eat me....*

"Whoa there lil fella," he blinked as he saw the irony of the remark he had just made, "I ain't gonna eat ya. I hate horse meat. Actually hate meat all together," he rumbled in his gravelly voice, trying to sound gentle.

"Don't be frightened lil horsey, me name's Coudron. I know I ain't the prettiest, but I ain't scary neither,"

To prove his point, he took a step backwards and plopped on his arse. Crossing his bulky legs as well as he could, he sighed and placed his chin on a hand, his elbow propped on a knee. "I can sit here all day and not be scary if you'd like,"

 

[DarkPhantomLynx]

Kat/Rylia

Her voice was low, throaty and laced with a gentle kind of menace as she spoke, "Ah, it is good to see you. You've finally come to save us,"

It was hard to keep the sarcasm from her voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kat looked up to see this monster striding towards her over the sand. She held her ground her head lifting as she waited to see what happened. All she wanted to do was scream and run but working around the inmates she had learned showing no fear gave you the better chance of survival. "What and who are you? What do you mean come to save you? I dont even know where I am or what I am. And What am I doing naked on a freaking beach in the middle of the night?" Slowly standing she looks a the creature,,half,dark elf was she and half spider? God what kind of dream was she having. Did some idiot slip something into her coffee? Her eyes noting the evil glint in the woman's eye she wonders what exactly to expect for her own fate."What do you call yourself creature? " She lets the rock remain between them as she waits her answer. That annoying tail keeps swishing around and tapping at her. Good lord a tail of all the things to dream of having on her body,,and horns? What in the devil made her think of horns? Suddenly her eyes widen she steps away from the rock and wanders over to the little tide pool looking into the water seeing the form looking back at her. Oh good lord she was some kind of demoness! Looking up she starts to babble and stumble backwards landing on her rump. "Holy shit this can't be happening, that cant be me,i mean that wasnt me i saw in that pool what is going on?"

 

[Optimas]

Dinnie and his power

Dinnie moved like lightening, his body moving free and with hidden power. He could sense the lay of the land before he even laid eyes on it. a couple of times even jumping over ditches or animal warrens without a second notice.

He began to smile he felt alive, more alive than he had felt in a long time. The imp on his back chittered nervously, this also made Dinnie smile, he wanted to see how scared he could make the little purple being, and he wanted to see what he could do. It was like finding himself all over again, having to retrain his mind to the being that he had become.

Dinnie eased through the gears and began bounding in giant leaps, he twisted and grabbed a branch of a tree mid jump. With a pull he launched into the trees and bounded between the trees.

Dinnie was lost to the thrill of the new powers, he only just felt Goreab slip from his back with a squeal. Dinnie dived towards his falling aide, and grbbed him mid tumble with his other hand he tried to grab a tree - but it was too big he knew he would fall as well. Dinnie had closed his eyes, when he opened them he looked at the the tree trunk his free hand grabbing it with a clawed hand in a wood-splintering grip. He then looked at the scared Goreab and back at his clawed hands, his feet were the same, he climbed down and placed the trembling imp on a branch.

"Im sorry Goreab I lost myself, but these powers. . . wow!" He looked down at his normal hands and feet, the claws had gone. "How far is left to go, and stop shivering like a wet fish, I saved you didn`t I."

 

[MilkManDan007]

Asterion Takes the Charge

The figure retreated into the mirror and all was silent again. A new world, a new chance at whatever he wanted. The small sliver of Todd Jones that had remained was slowly sliding away into the depths of his consciousness. The darkness in his soul, the darkness that had let him do all those terrible things, seemed to surge at the chance of revenge. It had been given new life and was not about to let it go.

So, this dark figure is the one who had pulled the needle from his arm and kept him from death. Maybe he would take the shadowy figure up on his offer and bring his own form of chaos to this world. In all reality, it was merely an extension of what he had been doing in Colorado. If these “Guardians” were from the world he had left behind, their blood could just as easily be spilled here.

Asterion bent and picked up the black axe. He had never used such an instrument in his former life, but it felt almost like a natural extension of his body as he hefted its weight. For something that looked so massive and cumbersome, it was very well balanced. The black blades and haft seemed to be forged out of pure shadow. No light reflected off of their dull surface. Asterion smiled.

“The otherss provides us well, we's should repay thems with usings this,” Fell said, hovering near the axe.

“Yes shadow,” Asterion replied, the darkness of his soul taking over, “we will have to repay them for this. But first, some scrounging.”

Asterion began to comb the area for anything else that could come in handy. There were several bodies already littering the ground, most likely just souls that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. His years on the street came in handy in knowing where to look for things that could be useful and finding new purposes for old and discarded items. He managed to find enough tattered leather to make a rough loincloth and belt. A longer, thicker band of leather, maybe an old saddle strap, made a fine fitting shoulder strap that held the axe flush to his back. He also managed to scavenge a few unbroken water skins and pouches, one of which had several coins in it unlike anything he had seen in the trashcans of his former life. The woods were silent and unmoving as the still and windless day went on.

As he walked, he began to swing the axe, feeling its weight and balance with each swing. The first few swings were ungainly, much like a youngster learning how to swing a baseball bat, but as the day wore on, he became more comfortable with it. Small trees could be easily be cleaved, smaller creatures like rabbits could be squished flat by turning the axe on its side, and the one deer that had the misfortune of stepping in front of Asterion had its head neatly severed by the black axe.

It was then he felt the pang of hunger. The last meal had been in the prison. The fresh meat of the kill had his mouth watering. There was no fire, and he was not about to just go the day without food, so he gnawed directly into the raw meat to slake his hunger. He ate as the shadow watched, as the shadow always watched as it hovered nearby.

The darkness and stillness of the dead forest began to fill Asterion’s mind. They had walked for a time, it was hard to measure the distance or time traveled due to the thick cover of branches above, but had hardly seen a living thing before coming to the mirror. It was almost as if this island, this Grolak Isle as the floating apparition had called it, was already dead. There must be more to this new world than a dead island, otherwise why would these shadowy figures have gone to the trouble of bringing him here? Asterion felt almost trapped on the desolate isle, as if he were in the hole back in prison.

“Fell!” Asterion belted, turning to face the floating darkness. “If I am to repay them for this gift, we have to get off this damned island. I was given a chance at revenge and I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend it trapped on a God-forsaken rock!”

OOC: Sorry for the absence, but I'm back!

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Eeth rolled to his right to avoid Rolyn’s downward strike. As he stood, he prepared to block the next attack, no matter what direction it came from. Then Eeth got an idea: divide the older elf’s attention between fighting and talking. “So, Rolyn, tell me about this Malas fella you mentioned earlier. Is there anything about him that I need to know?” Eeth asked. Time was that Eeth would not have dared talking, but he felt why waste the time fighting in silence? He needed information, and it might be awhile before they would take a break to chat. So, Eeth simply smiled, and waited for the next blow to block.

 

[ultimate_nerdslut]

"I imagine many thing will be new here for you, I was just talking out loud."

This made sense to Fay and while she knew that she had been very calm and understanding of this whole ordeal there was a part of it, she knew, that was just not connecting in her brain and the shock of it, no doubt, had simply not struck her like the large oncoming semi that it was. Eventually it would but for now she was safe.

"Best not to notice it."

Unfortunately, that was not the kind of girl that Fay was and so she watched wondering if the man was guilty or not. Obviously he was not going to be judged, fairly, by a group of his peers.. probably no one would ever see him again and there was that semi, barely missing her this time but it was a bit of a wake up call.

"Hopefully we'll have no reason to meet the Governer. He is responsible for managing Abark, but being the city it is. There is always someone wanting his power. He's just naturally paranoid, comes with the job, I suppose. Doesn't help that his life's almost been taken by assassins dozens of times now."

Fay noticed that they had taken only a few steps to get closer to the front of the line. The raven haired beauty ran a distracted hand through her hair as she watched an elderly woman get pulled from the line. "Now that makes no sense..." She said to Faelin watching the woman getting carted away and not noticing the guards staring at her.

It became all too apparent that something was bothering her wolf friend and when she looked to where the wolf was looking she saw a man made of... wood? She wondered why they were staring at her like that. Oh! Shit, that wasn't good at all. She didn't want to panick and seem suspicious so instead of looking away and whistling like all the other idiots would do she couldn't help but genuinely smile at the guard and wink flirtaciously.

Of course she knew that she wanted to keep the guards from noticing her, but upon closer inspection she was taller than a lot of the women here and she was beautiful... and she had wings. She was not exactly inconspicuous.

"Faelin... Should I be nervous?" She whispered so only the wolf would hear her with that excellent canine hearing of hers.

 

[Mantra]

Jay groaned and twitched, waiting to die. Mostly though, he was just trying to make his head stop hurting. It took a couple of minutes, but he finally managed to get his legs underneath him, even though he wasn't ready to stand yet.
Another groan and Jay's head more or less swiveled towards the giant monster he'd seen earlier. He's finally decided it wasn't going to attack him (probably warded off by his war cry) but his vision was still blurry. The monster looked like that thinking-statue-thingie he'd once seen in a art book.

*Oof... my head.... What happened? Who are you anyway?*

 

[rengadeirishman]

Michael tore into the food much as one would expect a famished werewolf to do. The beer was cold and delicious, full of hops, so he nursed it lovingly and lit his pipe. At Silas forgetting about the war with goblins he chuckled, Only Sila would forget an entire war.

 

[Wolfsister]

Kat and Rylia

"What and who are you? What do you mean come to save you? I dont even know where I am or what I am. And What am I doing naked on a freaking beach in the middle of the night?"

Rylia just laughed and shook her head, a spidery tinkle coming from her legs as they skittered over the wet sand, "So many questions! I guess its natural, coming from one such as you," her voice was just barely civil, the last comment could have been either a passing witticism or a veiled insult. Again, the demoness spoke, this time repeating herself.

"What do you call yourself creature? "

The Drider arched a delicately curved eyebrow and her mouth curled into a grin. "I am named Rylia," she took an odd bow, bending at the waist and dipping her front two 'knees'. "I am what you call a Drider. That is, I was born a drow, but a demoness," she grinned again, "Much like yourself, cast a spell on me. Now, I have the body of a drow and the legs of a spider," she looked down at herself.

The demoness didn't even seem to be listening. Instead she began to inspect herself and the drider couldn't help but loathe the casual attitude she took to her two very long legs. She started preening and the half drow quirked an eyebrow again as she seemed to do a double take in the reflection.

"Holy shit this can't be happening, that cant be me,i mean that wasnt me i saw in that pool what is going on?"

Rylia rolled her eyes and sighed, skittering forwards a little closer to her... charge. "You're in Illusion Vale. You're no longer the person you once were, in the world you once were and nor do you have the same purpose," her voice was crisp and her tone business like, yet that same undertone of danger still laced through her words.

 

[Wolfsister]

Dinnie and Goreab

Dinnie took off like a rocket and Goreab was reminded of exactly why he liked Wolfy better. Wolfy was smaller, furrier and a lot slower! Then again, he did have those really sharp teeth and really mean eyes. But... he had shared his meal with the little purple imp, so he supposed that that was going for the large wolf.

Dinnie squealed as the vampire jumped over animals, brush and generally just anything in his way. Dinnie continued squealing as he was rocked back and forwards, too afraid to cling on and too afraid not to. Occasionally he pointed in a certain direction when the vampire got lost, but mainly he just chattered to himself in his own little bizarre 'Goreab language' to keep his mind off of the dangerous trip.

All of a sudden he was falling. Screaming out in blind terror, he only just registered the impact of Dinnie's hands around his middle with a slight 'oof' of pain and then he was hanging. Whimpering and cowaring, he covered his eyes with his emaciated hands and shivered like a wet leaf. He barely felt himself being set down before the vampire spoke to him and he was forced to look directly into the eyes of the beast.

"Im sorry Goreab I lost myself, but these powers. . . wow! How far is left to go, and stop shivering like a wet fish, I saved you didn`t I."

"Wet.. wet... fish?" Goreab suddenly had a vision of a steaming pile of wet fish flopping around on the ground before him, an knife in the greedy imps little hand. "Mmm... wet fish...." he began to drool....

Shaking his head and finally remembering to be afraid of the vampire in front of him, he began chattering to compliment his shivering, "Not far. A week normal, maybe with you... four days?" He whimpered.

 

[Wolfsister]

Asterion and Fell

“Yes shadow, we will have to repay them for this. But first, some scrounging.”

As always, Fell just floated along at a respectable distance (it did not want to kill this creature; yet) and watched. Curiousity was nothing to the shadowy wraith as it deigned not to feel that particular emotion just now. It was content to just glide along after the resourceful minotaur. Just to watch and wait. It was what the Shadow Wraith did best.


“Fell! If I am to repay them for this gift, we have to get off this damned island. I was given a chance at revenge and I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend it trapped on a God-forsaken rock!”

True, the island was a little drab, but Asterion was seeing through both the night and evil eyes. Fell, itself, had no thoughts on the asthetics of the Grolak lsle but it seemed to nod, a folding of the top quarter of its inky form. "A chance we havess sssaid and a chancess we havess..." Then it took the initiative for the first time and floated past the waiting monster.

It took them back to the beach, refusing to either speak or make another noise before they reached their destination. It didn't exactly refuse, he just didn't do it. Personally, it didn't care if Asterion spoke, or what came in its way, it just made its journey inexorably towards its destination.

When they broke out of the forest and onto the shoreline, another large shadowy form could be seen bobbing on the tide. When they got closer, it was revealed to be a large sea ship, its sails at full length and its crew no-where to be seen.

It nodded towards the black ship, "We needs to gets on," then it proceeded to float above the water, sliding up the mooring ropes and positioning itself on the deck.

Only then did the crew manifest themselves. They seemed to creep from the shadows, the cabin, the wood itself. They were shadow wraiths, much like Fell himself, but there was a key difference. Instead of the glowing diamond eyes that Fell had, the other shadow wraith had nothing but inky darkness where their faces should have been.

Fell hissed, "We gets off this islandss now!"

 

[Wolfsister]

Eeth/Rolyn

Rolyn himself stepped forwards smoothly, coming up inside Eeth's guard and thrust with his knee towards the younger elf's stomach. Then he switched directions on his blade once more, bringing the point back around to aim directly at Eeth's side, aimed to slide between his exposed ribs.

He talked smoothly while moving, his attention having not been divided. In fact he approved of his pupil's bid to take the advantage from the seasoned fighter, but he also allowed that Eeth would have to do much better than that. For the moment though, Rolyn too decided that Eeth needed more information if he was to succeed.

"Malas," he almost spat, "Is an elf made in much the same vein as I am. He is smart, fast, cunning, a great fighter. He's also a heartbreaker, schemer and manipulator!" he growled. "To his credit, Malas is good man. But self centered,"

"He came into our lives, vowed to make things better and when he heard of the prophecy, we hoped that he was the one. But he wasn't. He gave us empty promises, lies and then left us when he failed, going to live with the Spirit, claiming that he was in love with her and that he would not fail again!"

Rolyn scowled, "He left us, left the queen's heart in despair and even took the prince to our realm with him!"

 

[Wolfsister]

Fay and Faelin

"Faelin... Should I be nervous?"

Faelin didn't want to risk speaking, but she felt that her response to the leering guardsman spoke volumes enough. He took another step towards the pair and the black wolf drew herself even higher, her lips curling back to expose all of her sharp teeth and her low growl became rather... louder.

The wooden man blinked, his brow wrinkling with confusion. "Ere! Whas yer name?" He directed this at Fay, and took another step forwards yet again, his indecent leer coming back.

Faelin's growl became even worse. Now people were actually turning around to cast quick glances at the new sound. Then they turned away just as quickly. They could not spare a part in this, they could see anything good coming of threatening a guardsman.

"Yer better take care of ye dog, lady. He's getting close to gettin 'is throat slashed," he fondled the pommel of his sword.

Faelin was soooo tempted to take a big juicy bite out of this man's jugular. Even if he wasn't too tasty, it would be satisfying seeing as he got both her gender and her species wrong. The line moved and another guard was making his way towards the little group. Faelin was inching forwards and the guard leered indecently at Fay.

Something was definitely about to happen...

 

[Wolfsister]

Jay and Coudron

*Oof... my head.... What happened? Who are you anyway?*

Coudron shook his head. Wonder of wonders, this horse could talk. Well, talk wasn't the best word for it. While he could hear whinneys and snorts on the outside of his head, in the inside, he could hear a voice. It sounded young and extremely confused. But where were his manners. It wasn't everyday that you met a lava rock that could talk either!

"My name's Coudron. I'm a fire elemental. Well... that ain't completely true... I mean. I'm an Eath elemental as well, I spose..." he trailed off. "Anyway, I'm me," he nodded. Then he added in a mock stern voice, "And I ain't a monster,"

He then scratched his bald head, the sound like stone grating on stone. "I'm here to help ya," he rumbled gently and shook his head, "You're here to save us. Well... me... well no. The Vale," then he gestured expansively around them, "This is Illusion Vale. Well no," he paused and frowned, "This is actually The Spirit Forest, but we're in the Vale,"

He shook his head, "This is kinda confusing, ain't it?"

 

[Mantra]

Jay tried to put his head in his hands but only succeeded in laying his forhead against the ground. At least it was cool and helped a little bit with the massive headache he now had as the whatsit droned on. He finally looked up towards the rock thing. He wasn't seeing double anymore, but he still looked at Couldron skeptically.

*You don't look all that firey to me...*

He groaned again and set his forhead to the ground.

*Maybe you should just start over.... What's going on?*

 

[MilkManDan007]

Asterion Leaves the Island

"A chance we havess sssaid and a chancess we havess..." said Fell, floating past Asterion and back towards the beach. Fell seemed like such an odd little creature, Asterion thought as he followed the shadow through the trees. It made hardly a sound, even when spoken to, and seemed to harbor no real emotion. It was almost a shell, fueled by only the darkness found in the depths of the soul.

“Where are we going now, Fell? This is an island and we’re not just going to walk off of it,” Asterion said to the shadow as it quietly floated. It did not respond. It did not respond and it did not even acknowledge that it had been asked a question. Asterion did not like being ignored.

“Shadow! I’m talking to you!” Asterion belted after several more minutes of silence. Again, there was no response. Asterion broke off a branch from a tree and tossed it at the floating phantom, hoping to elicit some form of response. There was none. The specter simply continued to float, slowly closing the distance between it and the sea.

Asterion was beginning to grow tired of this shade. It was unresponsive, uncooperative, and seemed not to care about anything. He was about to give the wraith the cold shoulder himself and simply set off in the world alone. Then they broke the tree line and came upon the beach.

The unmistakable form of the brigantine anchored just offshore was silhouetted against the dark sky. It was clear now how they would escape the island. As they approached the ship, its 90-foot length and twin masts became sharper and more defined. The square sails, lightly ruffling in the cool night breeze, were already raised, their guide ropes hanging slack. There was no movement on the deck as Fell passed over the water’s surface and slid up the anchor lines.

"We needs to gets on," he said as he neared the deck. "We gets off this islandss now!"

The shadows on the deck began to take shape to crew the boat. The same dark forms without the burning eyes. They were a ghost crew, damned to man a ghost ship. Asterion boarded the small skiff beached nearby and rowed out to the ship. The shadow crew moved as silently as Fell did, seemingly gliding over the deck as they prepared the ship to sail. Asterion was climbing the tied-rope ladder from the skiff to the deck as the crew began to draw up the anchor and tighten the sails. Even under a near windless sky, the sails snapped taut and began to pull the ship through the inky darkness of the water below.

The journey to the Vale had begun.

Asterion had never been one to sit around and do nothing, so he began to explore the ship. It was odd to be standing on such a vessel. Being constructed from wood, pitch, rope and canvas was a far cry from the fiberglass and steel boats that he had seen before. It was almost like an ancient artifact come to life and placed here, maybe by the damned souls of a forgotten age. The small passageways on the ship were a tight squeeze for his new frame. Several times he forgot about the horns and dug them into the ceiling, cursing as he backed up to dislodge them from the pine planking.

He continued deeper into the ship.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Eeth makes a move

Eeth stepped back with his left foot, and pivoted on his right, as he saw Rolyn’s knee come up. Eeth saw out of the corner of his eye Rolyn’s blade turn and come pointed straight at his exposed right side. He continued his pivot, putting himself inside of Rolyn’s reach, planting his left foot just to the left (from Eeth’s perspective) of Rolyn’s feet. He brought his right hand up to Rolyn’s shoulder, catching it on the inside. As he pulled Rolyn’s shoulder back, he brought his right leg around to sweep Rolyn’s legs out from under him. He moved with a remarkable speed and agility that he never knew he had. Time had almost seemed to slow down as Eeth spun. He doubted even Rolyn had time to react.

He was mildly disappointed that his bid to divide Rolyn’s attention seemed to have failed, but he didn’t let that bother him as he proceeded with the attack. He also continued to talk.

“Ah, so Malas is not well like here. No wonder he ran off to the Spirit,” said Eeth. “And he took the prince of the realm with him? Let me guess, Malas is the father of said prince, right? Have you tried looking for either of them?”

 

[ultimate_nerdslut]

When the wolf didn't answer she knew that that was a yes. He was suddenly very close to her and it was clear that he thought that she was actually going to do something. Oh... that look meant that he had his own reasons for stopping her.

"Ere! Whas yer name?"

She didn't like that look at all. "I-" She started not sure if she should answer but Faelin was growling louder and sounded as if she was downright rabid. Fay wasn't sure if she was supposed to answer or fight. Wasn't sure supposed to stay out of this and get in and get out? Her eyes were glued on this man.

"Yer better take care of ye dog, lady. He's getting close to gettin 'is throat slashed."

Watching him play with his sword like that forced herself to deal with the fact that this was real... She could remember the scraps and minor wonds she had gotten thus far. If those were real then this was. She put her hands up and actually stepped in front of Faelin. "Don't touch her..." She said sounding like she was surprised that she was doing this as well. What had come over her. How was if that she could talk to someone that could obviously kick her ass like this?

This was not good at all.

"She was sent with me to protect me..." She said sounding frustrated. "And who do you think you are to treat me like this... I want to go in, get supplies and go home," she said motioning back the way they came. Hopefully there was something back that way in those mountains that would make her story make sense.

The last thing she wanted to do was fight cause she was sure that she was not ver threatening waving her whip around erratically like she would be forced to do if they fought right now. "Faelin... Show him that you aren't going to hurt him..." She said hoping that would help her case.

 

[DarkPhantomLynx]

Kat and Rylia

Kat hearing the Drider’s tone looked up at the creature. “Illusion Vale where is that?” She stands up before Rylia, not wanting to show her fear or uncertainty. She shakes her head feeling as if coming out of a bad hangover so much to process. Her mind whirls over what she is told and looks back up at the creature. “A Demoness you called me, is that what form I’m in? And for what purpose am I here?”
She notices the more she directly speaks to the drider and seems to show her respect the more it seems to preen and feel self-important. She decides to feed it what it wants while getting the information she needs. “Rylia, you seem so intelligent, but then of course you’re also beautiful perhaps I can learn something from you. First, where might I find some type of clothing I’m not so comfortable to be walking about naked.” Her tone sounds so sincere and yet she feels her smile may be tray her as she looks at Rylia.
Her eyes scan the area looking for anyone else that might be around. Wondering if Rylia was here to help or to destroy her she is wary and cautiously watching the drider. She shakes her head raising a hand to run it through her hair feeling the horns again she grimaces. This couldn’t really be happening; perhaps she was having a nervous breakdown. She just walked out of the prison after nearly being killed by a patient, who wouldn’t snap temporarily. But until she figured out how to reconnect to herself perhaps playing along with this fantasy creature of her mind was the way to go. A demoness, of all the crazy things for her mind to come up with. Glancing down she looks over the muscled and toned body the tail that keeps whipping around long sharp claw like nails and of course don’t forget the horns. Sheesh!! What next doing magic and battling good against evil. As she sat there, a name whispers through her mind,,,,Kauket.

 

[Wolfsister]

Michael/Sila/Tula

Tula smiled and watched the werewolf eat. It was a heartening sight to see him ripping through his meat and vegetables. It meant that he was getting better. Sila, on the other hand, she worried about.

She watched the light of her life chew her mushed (my Tula's orders) food carefully; wincing with pain everytime she swallowed. She barely ate though and her attention was more on water than food. Tula smiled sadly and ran her fingers gently through Sila's wild purple hair. She noted the slight flinch as she began but then the young fairy settle down.

Her other hand curled in a tight, tiny fist. "They will pay," she muttered to herself, keeping that comforting smile fixed painfully on her face. She shook her head and stared out at nothing while they ate.

Sila's own mind was full of questions, thoughts, schemes, everything and anything. For once, the pain was not allowing her forgetful mind to actually forget anything. The pain overwhelmed her senses, making her relive waking inside that sack over and over again. Yes, she had been awake when the green monsters had attacked her. Unable to defend herself or even cry out, she had had to endure the sound of her bones breaking and the bitter taste of copper in her mouth as she bit on her tongue, bringing blood.

She had passed out, but the pain had lingered. She wasn't sure what was worse, the pain she felt now, or the pain she had felt then. Her normally cheerful expression was gone, clouded by the pain. Her mind sharp, but centered on what she felt.

But her mother was there, and her 'charge'. She had to put on a brave face. This was the most important mission in her lifetime, she knew it. She had to see it through. The thought that she had almost failed ripped at her heart.

Summoning up some sort of inner strength, she muttered herself, "I hope Michael ripped them to shreds..." her voice barely a whisper but the hate clear in her tone.

 

[Wolfsister]

Jay and Coudron

*You don't look all that firey to me...*

Coudrons massive shoulders shrugged and he picked up a nearby branch. Concentrating, a furrow in his brow, he pouted, almost comically. Gradually the branch began to smoke, flames slowly licking over the green stick. Then it burst into flames and incinerated. Coudron blinked and shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, "Whoops, sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen. Hmm?" he frowned as he inspected his hands and grumbled to himself. Then the horse spoke again,

*Maybe you should just start over.... What's going on?*

Coudron rolled his eyes and started again. Well, it was kind of confusing and difficult to tell. "This place is called Illusion Vale. The world we are in. You come from another world. I don't know what its called," he figured short sentences would get through better. It seemed easier for him.

"You were different before. When you came here, you changed because your form before wouldn't survive here. The Spirit needs help to save this land. She called out through the worlds. You answered and you came here. I'm here to help guide you through these 'strange' lands. And you're here to help The Spirit save the Vale,"

He nodded and crossed his arms. Not firey indeed!

 

[Wolfsister]

Asterion and Fell

Fell stood silently at the helm. Some sort of extra ordinary power providing it a way to steer the ship to the desired location. The other shadow wraiths silenly kept the ship from sinking and manned their stations. They were essentially the shadows of shadows. They had no feelings, no inspirations, no thoughts except to keep the ship going. Dark magic had indeed been employed to create both this ship and its ghost crew.

Fell for once did not follow Asterion below decks. It knew what he would find, and it knew that this would be a long journey. It would be at least two weeks at sea before it knew to call to weigh anchor. Ample supplies for the minotaur had been put on the ship for both the sea voyage and the travels on land when they finally reached the Vale.

Fell thought about the trip to the ship and rethought its tactics with the minotaur. It knew that it had been close to losing the monster and his usefulness. While Fell didn't openly show emotion, it was intelligent enough to adapt to situations and it realised that it would have to be more forthcoming with the dark soul it was to lead. It would have to... interact.

The journey would be a long one.

 

[Wolfsister]

Eeth and Rolyn

Rolyn didn't quite see Eeth's reaction to his latest attack. He had gravely underestimated the younger elf and chosen to press his attack, rather than measure his opponent. He tripped up at Eeth swept his leg beneath him and only managed to keep his footing with some fancy stepping. He tucked his sword back, close to him and nodded briefly in approval towards Eeth. There was a glint of something in his eyes.

"Malas is liked, don't get me wrong. He is smart, funny and the hero. But yes, there are some that regret ever meeting him; me included. We know where they are, but the prince is his own man now. He will not claim his birthright and we know it. He even calls The Spirit his mother, even though it was Ilandria that birthed him," his mouth twisted into a sneer, "We leave him alone and he leaves us alone, preferring the company of other races than his own,"

He shook his head, choosing not to attack and to wait for Eeth, speaking further, "That I know of, Varic is the only child of a Guardian in this realm. There is no saying what power he may have inherited from his father,"

 

[Wolfsister]

Fay and Faelin

The 'appreciative' glint in the soldier's eye was overwhelming and he was so focused on Fay's slight figure that he didn't notice his Sergeant walking towards him down the line.

"She was sent with me to protect me... And who do you think you are to treat me like this... I want to go in, get supplies and go home,"

He appraised the large black wolf at the side of the avian and grinned, "Oh 'he was sent was 'e?" still getting Faelin's sex wrong, "We gotta strange one 'ere!" he called out to no-one in particular.

"Faelin... Show him that you aren't going to hurt him..."

Faelin did no such thing. Truth was, the guard was well known to the wolf and vice verse. Oh, they knew each other and this was no game. The wolf and the soldier had clashed ever since meeting eyes. He knew very well that she was a 'she' and a wolf at that. And she knew very well not to let her guard down at the sight of him.
Her growling became even more rabid, the occasional 'bark' booming from deep within her throat.

A heavily scaled hand came down onto the man's left shoulder and he swung around, almost impaling his sergeant. "oh, was 'ther?" he asked in confusion.

Grinly paused and surveyed the tableau infront of him with quick assessing eyes. He licked his lips with a slightly forked tongue and nodded to himself. With a deep rumbling voice, he ordered Wickim away and sent the over zealous fool back to the front of the line. There were plenty of other women he could oggle at, he assured him. Looking down at the jet black wolf, he recognised her.

"Faelin, good to see you. Why didn't you come to the front?"

"I was hoping not to attract attention, Grinly," she spoke normally now, her snarling finished the moment Wickim left. Her tone towards the towering serpantile man was actually civil. She stepped forwards, coming completely out of the line and in front of Fay. "I've got business here that I would prefer to keep out of the governer's sight," she said in a low voice.

Grinly nodded his head thoughtfully, "Very well then. I'll try to speed the line along as much as I can, old friend. But I can't promise much. Just stay away from Wickim," he knew they didn't get along. Past history.

He took a long look up and down Fay, noted her wings and birdlike feet. He himself was so wrapped up in armour that it was hard to tell just exactly what he was. Needless to say though, the long snout, the razor sharp teeth, the scaly skin, he was a tough man. But it was clear to see that he was also a friend as he gave them both a genuine smile.

"Keep out of trouble. You know where to meet me, Sister Wolf," he inclined his head slightly and was gone, marching down the line once again.

Faelin sighed and sat on her haunches, licking her leg and gnawing on it slightly. It had started itching as soon as that fool had shown up! Between small bites of her leg, she murmured out of the corner of her mouth, "Good Fay. Now we have a friend inside the city. I had hoped not to get him involved, but," she shrugged her sinewy shoulders, "Just as well,"

She looked and saw the confusion on Fay's face and chuckled, "I'll explain later," she said quietly and moved down the line, closing the slight gap that had opened up when their... episode... had started. She licked a forepaw and continued to act as non-chalantly as possible.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

(OCC, sorry, somehow missed your return post).

Danae stood and moved away from the animals.

"Do I...keep the dress on? Or, you carry it for me?" She asked, plucking at the cloth. "And shall I swim up stream, or down stream from here. Shall we meet at noon, or sunset?"

A lot of questions, she knew...but she had one more. "What should I do if I get in trouble?"