Are We Awake Yet? (Upbeatdown and Castael)

[Upbeatdown]

Snow fell gently against the knitted wool of his black winter cap. He hardly noticed, none of them noticed. They were lost in some fit of laughter. Aerik couldn't even remember what was said to make him and his friends lose their minds in good humor. But there they were, all of them, holding their splitting sides through the dense fabric of their winter coats. Just the three of them, standing alone in a stark white wintry backdrop. When did they get outside? When did it become winter?


But then like the abrupt scratching of an old vinyl, no one was in good spirits anymore. Aerik's friends stared at him with cold, blank eyes. Eyes colder than the snow that now seemed heavier than reality. When did it become winter?, his mind wandered, and when he was done his friends were no longer there standing near him. There presence was instead replaced by a shadow that slowly loomed over Aerik's entire being, over the entire scene. Slowly, Aerik turned his head and stared into an abyss of darkness, cut into the figure of a cloaked being. "Are you awake yet?", its voice boomed, sounding full of static and distortion. A truly horrible noise. "You've got a biiiiiig surprise comin' to you".





The sound of his own heart thumping seemingly against his ears woke him from his dream. Something was off. He did wake up, right? Aerik had those types of dreams before. He called them fake-outs. Groggily, Aerik planted his hands weakly against the surface he laid upon. An expecting hand groped for the familiar feeling of his bed sheets, but was instead met with the loose smoothness of grass. His eyes seemed to widen, as if they weren't open at all seconds ago. He looked down, and nearly stumbled back in shock. It really was grass, a whole bunch of it. Aerik felt his heart in his ears again, and he only just then took the time to look around.


On all sides, he was surrounded by dead and decaying trees, their branches completely devoid of leaves. All of them. As far as his eyes would allow him to see. The grass itself seemed to be graying with a sort of imminent mortality. The area was aglow with an unnaturally bright moonlight. This had to be a dream, a nightmare even. He remembered yesterday, clear as day. Aerik even remembered climbing into his bed, throwing his warm sheets over his body. No, this was a dream. A very very real dream.


Aerik stood up with great haste, cowering back from the dark and horrifying woods that locked him in this small clearing of dreary decay. It was then that he felt an unfamiliar weight pull against his body. His eyes glanced down, his mind prepared to witness his own body decaying along with everything else. But what he was instead met with was what looked like tough leather clothing. It was padded slightly at points, like it meant to take a beating. How did he get in these strange clothes? No one has worn clothes like this in literal ages.


"H-Hello?", Aerik attempted, coming out raspy and choked. "Hello?", he repeated, this time sounding like he actually understood English. To him, it took a lot of courage to call out like that. he had no way of knowing what might answer him.

 

[Castael]

The barren landscape echoed, a harsh wind cutting through the decrepit flora. While not exactly cold, there was a sort of presence in it that chilled the spine and made one's hair stand on end. It almost howled as it whistled on the gnarled trees, as if there were banshees just beyond sight. A slow fog rolled lightly along the distant ground, carried up in plumes and wafting lightly on the breeze.


This haunting scene almost peaceful in its rest, until that is a great beast lunged out of the looming darkness. At first glance seemed to be some sort of wolf, it had a tail and it's hind legs showed similar shape. However, that was until the fog parted around it and revealed its twisted form. This creature snarled lowly as with any feral beast was not a wolf at all, rearing up and standing on its hind legs. It's face was human though it's body was black, defined as though its skin were stretched too tightly over its muscle and bone. This creature stood tall, nearly seven feet in height. The most prominent feature of this monster though were its long and shark claws that dawned the fingers of each hand.


The beast panted, its piercing golden eyes and slit-like pupils not even glancing at the boy behind where it stood. So intently was it fixated from where it had emerged just beyond the mist. At a second glance it was now apparent that the creature was bleeding, wounded terribly though it showed no signs of backing down to whatever it had been in combat with.


Past the creature, a shadowed figure now shown in the fog. With the swift swing of a sword the mist was wiped away to show it as a much more human figure and quite a bit smaller as it couldn't have been much taller than five feet. Carrying a blade in both hands they stood firmly in the distance. This person, their size and shape led one to think of a small male human. Though it was hard to tell with their body covered in a cloak and their face, not only shrouded by its cowl, seemed to be covered from the top of their nose down as well.


The smaller being, waited but a few seconds before the large beast lunged. The human prepared, their stance sturdy, professional. They held both of their swords ready to face the creature, engaging with it for only a few moments before jumping back away from it. The monster fell to the ground, exhausted but breathing. It would soon bleed out and pass on to be just as dead as the grass it lay upon.


The person however, now kneeling a ways off sheathed their blades. The mask of cloth over their nose and mouth torn and a shallow wound now bleeding down their face. A cut through their right eyebrow which narrowly missed the eye and continued down the cheek. It was unmistakable seeing their face though, regardless of their flat chest this person was in fact female. The girl didn't open her right eye, trying to keep the blood out of it as it continued down her face. She sat down, sitting on her knees and pulling down her hood which let her blue-black hair show. It was cut short in back though oddly long in the front, her bangs resting chin length and tucked behind her left ear while the hair over her ears rested down at the middle of her chest.


With a sigh, the strange warrior pulled up the frayed and torn portions of the bottom of her cloak and tore them, bandaging her face for the time being just to keep the wounds somewhat clean and the blood from messing with her vision. The fighter, though she seemed to have not shown it in the fight was now apparently fatigued. Her breathing was heavy as her shoulders heaved with deeper breaths. Finally she looked up, right eye still slightly more closed than the other as she stared at him with brilliant orange orbs. She wondered, would he too attack her?


Only one our before had she awoken in this strange place, with her hair cut differently and its hue entirely changed. These odd clothes, ninja-like with thin plating on her arms and hips. Though she didn't complain about the beautiful weapons she had found lying at her side, two gorgeous Japanese swords, one slightly longer than the other. All of her physical differences aside she couldn't prepare herself for this place she was in, it did not cause her fear so much as a sense of unease and confusion.


Furthermore, even before she could really take in all of what this place was she had been attacked by a group of whatever manner of beast she had just slain before the ivory-haired humanoid before her. She wondered about him, did the fact he appeared more human mean he was less likely to cause conflict. Within her mind she calculated for a moment before standing up and placing one hand on a blade, the other making sure her impromptu bandages were holding. She pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes, "Are you here to attack me too?" she asked, not moving against him but instead waiting to see if he was in fact hostile.

 

[Upbeatdown]

The commotion in the distance had Aerik's mind completely wiped of his confusion. When he saw it, leaping out of the brush with blood sliding down its seemingly mangled form, he felt his stomach heave in his chest. Oh god, the very sight of that thing. It looked human, tall and naked, with long and lanky limbs. Its skin seemed to stretch in an effort to accommodate the size of its bones. Several long strands of grayed hair hung from its otherwise bald head, like heavy webs from a spider. The things eyes were sunken deep into the skull, and they appeared feral, looking at the world with vision that scanned only for flesh. Human flesh, no doubt.


Aerik was convinced, at that moment, that he was going to die. That thing towered over him, and while no visible muscle showed on its body, it leaped from the brush so suddenly, so hastily. Its long arms gave it so much reach, perfect for grabbing and choking the life out of cowering fools like himself. But then something, no, someone, jumped out after the thing, driving and slashing furiously. More blows caught the things body, sending waves of dark blood into the air and against the dying grass. It wasn't long before it came down with a low crash. It breathed heavily, not quite gasping but certainly feeling labored.


Aerik looked in shock at the person standing a distance away from him in the clearing. Whatever it was, it held a humanoid appearance, and donned clothes suited for a human body. Aerik couldn't make out much else about the figure behind the dark and concealing clothing and armor. In the person's hands were a set of two blades, each drenched a fair amount in the dying creatures blood. Through the darkness of the fighter's clothes and dimness of the pale moonlight, Aerik saw eyes staring daggers at him, daggers surely sharper than the blades used to cut down the thing clinging desperately to its life.


Then the person spoke, and Aerik felt his body move back involuntarily. A hand was resting on one of the figure's blades, ready to strike at a moments notice. But how could this person ask him that? Did they not see that he was a human? Just a normal human, cowering in a field of decaying plant life and brandishing armor out of some crazy medieval fantasy world. In a matter of seconds, the world seemed to collapse back in on Aerik, and whatever trance had him had now disappeared. He felt a heavy weight in his hands, and very much to the disliking of his survival instincts, he took his eyes off of the assailant before him. What he saw, he couldn't believe.


In his hands, Aerik wielded a blade made purely from stone. Its blade was wide flat, extending a couple feet in length. His leather gloved hands gripped the hilt like it was an extension of his body. His feet had changed positions, one now standing before the other, his back straight, and his knees bent only slightly; a defensive stance. When did he have a sword? It wasn't there just a moment ago. And when had he learned how to hold it, what stance to have when wielding it? Aerik was beginning to feel less and less like himself the more time went by in this hell.


"D-don't you come any closer", Aerik finally spoke, trying to keep his cool and failing miserably. He held the stone blade out in his front, the tip facing the direction the cloaked figure. "I don't want to fight, but I will! I swear!", he halfheartedly threatened. His eyes glanced down at the beast, still breathing heavily as its life slowly faded away. Oh god, that's going to be me, isn't it? That's gonna be me, left to choke on me own blood after this guy's through with me, his mind raced frantically.

 

[Castael]

The girl looked him over, watching his body language as he dawned a fighting stance. As he spoke she heard the trembling of his voice, glancing to his blade, his body, then back into his eyes. Her own a piercing gold glare as she finished sizing him up. "Don't attack me. I won't attack you." She said bluntly, pulling out her sword and running it through the beasts skull to make sure it was dead. She then cleaned it once more and placed it back in its sheath before glancing at him and taking a step back. She truly seemed to have no will to fight him unless he struck first, that said it was apparent that she also had no intention of turning her back to him.


After that single step back she paused, turning her head a bit to glance around them. The air was dead with silence, even the soft breeze made no sound as it swept through the blackened grass and dull, decaying tree branches. She seemed to be thinking, taking a moment before looking back at him, "I'll make you a deal. Lay down your arms and I will split the kill with you." she offered, motioning to the beast lying dead between them. "It's clear there aren't many options for food otherwise, but I can make a fire and that thing is mostly muscle. Even if it tastes like crap food is food." she said, wondering if he would agree to the peace offering. Though it was not a one-sided gesture, she had her own reasons for inquiring as to whether he was willing to be civil towards her. Really she could have given this one to him, as there were two others dead back beyond the trees, but scavengers may have already moved in on their corpses and she didn't feel like risking another fight when there was still one before her.


In truth, she had nary a moment to take in her surroundings in this place before the pack of were-beast jumped her. It was only now that she was able to process the lack of edible flora around them. More so, she was curious about this person, he was at least human in appearance and capable of speech. If this boy was from around here it would be worth getting information from him on just what was going on. There were only two things she was certain of, this place was not home and humans certainly were not at the top of the food chain.