Fantasy The Aspect Saga

[LazyDaze]

Grim walked timidly, hugging his cane as he scanned the burned ruins. Suddenly, a man eating bear made of steel didn't seem so bad. "Well its as they say, out of the frying pan and into the fire. Who knew they would mean it literally," Grim said whilst studying a warped pillar carefully. His playful nature did well to hide his attentiveness...he did not like this place. The animal companions of the group seemed uneasy, or at least happy to get out of the cramped up in. Consequently, Seren seemed to be losing her end of the invisible tug o war rope as she continued to chase Arwen. During his own short reconnaissance of the ruins, he overheard Kadri's story and gave it some thought before tipping his hat.

"Jeez, and I thought I was the storyteller...but from one story teller to another, I have heard the same tale myself."

After watching Arwen once again run off as if they were on a leisurally stroll, Grim held his hand to his head as he sighed. "Well, I suppose no one has read any thrilling ghost stories. Doesn't she know splitting up always results in the death of a party. In particular, the one with the most personality always bites the dust first...sorry Grey...may your troubled soul rest in peace," Grim said making a solemn gesture of condolence.

SilverFlight Baconhands Flutterby

 

[Goonfire]

Ivarr looked about the smoldering ruins, admiring the handiwork. “Suppose this puts a more literal edge to the phrase, ‘go down in a fiery wreck’,” he quipped, rather indifferent to the past carnage. He barely tapped some of the remaining brickwork, noting the heat. “You know how this ends, —“

His unblinking eyes snapped towards the second marten. The other dog then came into view, causing the assassin to start connecting the dots. “Bakrit, right? Let me make some educated guesses: we’ll be fighting copies of our animals, then ourselves.” He thought he was catching on quickly, that he was sharp. Ivarr then glanced over his shoulder, scanning for further threats as his hand drifted from his crossbow to his flamberge.

Rollo was tempted to bolt towards the giant dog. He loved dogs, so one of that size would be a perfect friend for him. He recoiled, however; the others were speaking of horror stories and people dying. “Can you not?” he implored, the morbid topic making him shift on his heels uncomfortably. “I’ll go after Seren,” he offered breathlessly before excusing himself.

A big, strong man like Rollo was thought to be scared of nothing. However, this place was a ghost town, one of several things that made the wrestler uneasy. He crept through the streets of the ruined city in search of the woman. “Seren?” he called out, withholding a whimper.

Baconhands LazyDaze Flutterby

 

[Flutterby]

The horse gave a soft nicker, as if greeting the dog. It turned its attention back to Kadri, this time attempting to snuffle the neckline of her tunic.
Its muzzle inched closer and closer to her, almost brushing her skin, but first touching the chain that held the amulet around her neck.
The horse recoiled with a snort, and trotted several strides away with flaring nostrils and a raised tail.

The dog whimpered, and lowered its tail, watching between Kadri and Ivarr, who was obviously arming himself. It took several steps back, and gave one sharp bark. It seemed to echo for miles over the empty landscape, bouncing off of the smoldering ruins.

At the edge of the group, there was a rustling in the grass, and the heads of two rabbits appeared from their apparent hiding place. One completely snow white, one white but with purple ears, the exact shade of Ivarr's dyed hair. Both had red-pink eyes, and started to make their way very carefully, noses twitching softly, toward their human clones.

***

Seren slowed to a jog, her breath coming a little more heavily now. The martens had both disappeared from view- another quick turn and into an area with denser ruins. They could be behind, in, under any one of them. Arwen wasn't growling, barking, nothing.

"Arwen?" Seren called softly, feeling the hair on her arms start to stand up again. She shouldn't have strayed so far from the group. She knew that. But to lose one's companion was.. a great dishonor, and she wasn't willing to risk that kind of wrath for her or her family. From somewhere nearby but not in view, she heard her name called, by Rollo. Her face twitched, something between a smile and a grimace. It was sweet, really, that Rollo wanted to come after her, but it would make getting Arwen back that much harder.

 

[Baconhands]

When Arwen ran off, Kadri's eyes went wide and she prepared to follow right after Seren. Grey's comments were met with an apologetic nod, though as she turned back to chase the Fenn, Kadri stopped mid-step as her path was blocked by a horse, its coat almost the exact opposite of Aezi's. Quick glances were thrown to the rest of her companions, and Kadri registered that at least one other creature had approached the party.
Processing Ivarr's comments, Kadri was tempted to agree, but something felt off to her; this encounter felt different to the metal bear's. "A possibility," she conceded after a moment. "But they don't seem hostile. Yet. Weapons away until - do you mind?"
The horse hadn't gotten uncomfortably close, and nervous electricity began to crackle along her forearm. She dared not move away, for fear of angering the creature, but when it interacted with the amulet, it backed off, every fiber of its being now filled with aggressive tension.
As another two creatures approached, Kadri's fingers began to twitch with anticipation; every instinct was telling her that it was probably best to strike first. At the same time, if a fight could be avoided, then why risk having her companions harmed?
"Don't panic, don't do anything stupid. We're the trespassers here." Kadri asserted.
SilverFlight Goonfire LazyDaze GamerCarrot vantanamo

The marten's head appeared in the entrance of the closest ruin to Seren's left. A large, circular building made of marble and limestone, its exterior was decorated with half-destroyed copper engravings of Bakrit, her First Born, and events from several dozen myths and legends. The marten's eyes were narrowed on the human, but its expression was soft, and to an extent familial. It appeared for only a moment, making sure that Seren had seen it, before it ducked its head back down and headed deeper into the ruin.

The ruin opened into a large atrium, illuminated by an unnaturally bright sky that seemed to chase the shadows from every nook and cranny. The ground was uneven, sunk dozens of feet in some places, and covered in fine layer of ash that hadn't quite disappeared. The marten was standing in the middle of this atrium, as if waiting for her to emerge, before it continued to the other side, gracefully making its way over the uneven terrain as if it were flat. It ducked into another room, light radiating from its entrance. This room was far smaller, a simple chamber, with an old stone desk in its center upon which the marten was now perched. Behind it, a simple chair, worn down by the ages, bearing on its back a cloak, a sun seemingly embroidered in the center on its back.
Flutterby

 

[Flutterby]

Arwen rounded the corner of a squat pile of stones at full speed, determined to catch up to the other marten. But she had to come to a sudden halt when, instead of the other marten, she found herself at the feet of the grass-man, Rollo.
Arwen looked up at him and gave a soft snarl, scooting backward quickly before turning to look for her prey. After a few seconds, her searching became more frantic, punctuated by soft, short screeches, almost like a kitten's cry- her person wasn't behind her any longer, and was no where to be seen.
Goonfire

Once at a safe distance, the horse watched Kadri with bright, intelligent eyes. Its gaze followed her every move, and its ears flickered back and forth with the rising and falling of her voice. It didn't charge, didn't run away, but every muscle was tense beneath its coat.
The dog had taken up a similar posture- its ears and tail had fallen, and the happy panting had been replaced with the alert gaze of a predator. Even the rabbits quickly picked up on the tension, and stopped, standing half-way up on their hind legs to peer at the intruders.
From somewhere, echoing like the dog's bark had, Seren's voice could barely be heard, calling once for Arwen.

***

The tension in the air was too much for her to take, so she shouted for Arwen this time to try to break the spell. But nothing changed- and Seren's palms began to sweat.
After several heart-pounding moments, Seren finally caught sight of something. The marten had disappeared into that domed building, which had to mean Arwen was in there somewhere. It had to. It just had to.
The young woman took a steadying breath and stepped forward, picking her way over the blocks of stone scattered in front of the entrance.

As she stepped into the atrium, she instinctively squinted, but realized a heartbeat later that she didn't really need to. Every hair on her body was standing straight up now, and there was a tingling in her spine. It felt like the moment before Kadri's lightning had almost hit her.. but like it was coming from the inside instead.
The marten, the illusion one, was there, and scampered away as if walking across a sheet of glass. As Seren stepped forward carefully, not quite sure if the floor was flat or not, she called for Arwen again, softly now. Surely, her real marten was just cowering in some corner, right?

Seren followed as quickly as she dared into the next room, placing her feet carefully to make sure she didn't misjudge the depth of her step. The room had to be a study, and looked like it had been used up until the moment of its destruction.
"This wasn't fun, little beast," She murmured to the marten as she walked slowly forward, approaching the side of the desk. "I really can't lose Arwen, and I didn't really want the others to know who I am."
She studied the beautiful sun on the cloak, one hand reaching out and brushing the fabric, as she spoke softly to the illusion.
"What do you want, little beast? Is that it?"

 

[Goonfire]

Ivarr loosened his grip on the sheathed sword. “Fine... but don’t blame me if this goes awry,” he stated under his breath. The assassin didn’t feel safe merely sitting there. He barely and subtly inched away from the approaching bunnies; they were still closing the distance, but at a slightly slower rate. His trajectory was towards Kadri, who was getting harassed by a horse. That thing’s predatory gaze sent a chill down his spine.

Meanwhile, Rollo crept through this wasteland in search of Seren and her companion. The real Arwen—or so he would assume—jumped out, forcing him to muffle a yelp with his hand. “Don’t scare me like that,” he sighed in relief. Rollo beckoned the marten to come along as he proceeded nervously to find Seren. His best guess was that she went towards the largest building. A cloud of dust had been kicked up from the resettling rubble on the stairs, and there was a clear-ish path up them. Following said path, he began a careful climb to the top.

 

[Baconhands]

The creature studied Seren closely as she lectured it, its head tilting out of curiosity, as if misunderstanding what the lineaged was trying to say.
As she approached, however, and reached her hand out toward the fabric, the marten bounded over to the cloak, placing its two front paws on the garment. It stared intently at Seren, its eyes intense, almost as if it were pleading for the Fenn to take it. The marten impatiently nodded its head, indicating to the cloak almost every other second.
Flutterby

Kadri's head perked up; a she swore she had heard a voice echoing throughout the ruins. Her eyes scanned from building to building, but she was consistently distracted from her limited search by the creatures surrounding them.
"Did any of you hear that, too?" She asked, her hands almost trembling by her side. "Let's... we need to get moving. The longer we stay here the further Seren and Rollo are going to get away from us."
The lineaged glanced around, searching once more, this time her eyes were drawn to a ledge on one of the ruins. "I'm going to try and teleport up to there," Kadri proposed. "If the creatures follow me, make a break for it; find Seren and Rollo and meet me back here."
Kadri didn't wait for confirmation; she uttered the spell under her breath and in a flash of lightning she was gone, reappearing up on the ledge.
Goonfire SilverFlight Flutterby LazyDaze GamerCarrot

 

[Flutterby]

Arwen followed along behind Rollo, a steady stream of indignant chatter coming from the little creature, almost as if she was scolding him for not being Seren. At the temple, she paused and tipped her head to the side before following up the steps. The chatter crept upward in pitch, and the marten started to drift closer to Rollo.
***
The instant that Kadri used her magic, the horse let out a shrill neigh and bolted away again. The dog began to bark viciously, and the rabbits flattened themselves to the ground as if trying to disappear into it.
Then, from behind another ruin, several yards away from where the group had condensed, came a low, undulating growl. A soft thud, and then another. The barking dog fell silent.
Out stepped a massive wolf, with a coat so white it seemed to sparkle like snow. The light rippled across its fur as it moved, gleaming off the ridges of muscles, disappearing into the valleys. The blue of its eyes matched the wild sky above them, and betrayed the intelligence of the creature. Something about it was different. It had a depth, a solidness, that the other animals had lacked.
It locked eyes onto the group, and growled again. When the group turned to look to see the reaction of the existing animals, they were gone.
It was just them and the wolf, and it did not look happy.
***
She took a deep breath, and shared another look with the illusion. She hesitated- she thought she heard something.. an animal, maybe, outside the ruin. It might've been a dog barking, but she knew it was too far away to be an immediate threat. Seren glanced behind her, and held her breath, but didn't hear anything after the barking stopped. She waited a few extra seconds, but no new sounds came.
"Okay, okay, I take the funny cloak," Seren muttered softly. The illusion marten clearly wanted her to, but even if it was the piece they were looking for, what would happen if she did pick it up?
She took a firm hold of the cloak, and whisked it off the chair and onto her own shoulders. It settled over her, nearly weightless, and Seren felt something.. click into place, like a puzzle-piece being pushed into its rightful spot.