Die Anew

[Takhesis]

Celeste quickly closed up her blouse again to hide her wound. Wanting to know more about her current situation, she followed quickly behind. Even though his red eyes did unnerve her a bit, well red eyes weren't usually found in nature.

 

 

------------------

 

The being once known as Cethlenn came across some lost souls searching for Etolia. In her madness, she only saw these as nightmares of the past that needed to be shredded before they infected other minds. Her long claw like nails tore through the air as she threw herself upon them.

 

This far from Lyambo, no Nocturne was present to intervene. These poor souls were torn apart and scattered to the nether.

[Shur'turgal]

Eldunari was angry that the dragon had reacted so towards her, and she understood her worry, but she couldn't hold it all back, ' If I had crushed it so what, I'd find another to question , and keep your mug out of mine.' Eldunari took in the sight of the other dragon's teeth, which were bigger than her own but she was not frightened, she would stand her ground.

 

As the other dragon tensed, and informed her that the thing was a human, whatever that was, Eldunari became confused. She had never heard of these "humans" but the word itself rang through her and made her worry. She decided it was nothing and that she would seek out an elder later and ask about this.

 

Ask about my parents, What audacity! Eldunari felt rage well inside her as the other dragon continued speaking. She was so flustered that she found it hard to pay attention but she caught some of what the dragon said. 'Those..nightwalkers they started like this, but what..' she wondered to herself. She was filled with grief and felt so uneducated. As the older dragon turned back to the human Eldunari let out a screech of frustration and sadness, she lifted her head high and flapped her wings. Why should she protect this thing that had been spying on her and the other dragon? She needed answers from the elders but she was not about to leave and miss the information she could get from this human.

 

In a harsh mental voice she cast her thoughts to the dragon and the human, commanding, 'Tell us what you know, you puny thing before we decide you are of no use.' and to just the dragon she said 'Don't you ever speak to me of my egg bearers, they had no care for me when they bore me and are no where to be found now..' Eldunari returned her full attention to the human, and bore her eyes into it, waiting for a response.

[Shur'turgal]

(( Forgot to put Grimrr in my last post))

 

Grimrr lay on a boulder with his forelegs crossed over each other. Looking to the West, where the gates of Lyambo lay, he noticed some movement. He flicked his tail and perked his ears and narrowed his eyes. Beside a path where the nightwalkers drudged back into Lyambo, Grimrr spotted four hellhounds dancing about each other. He thought it might be fun to scare them a bit so he hopped off his boulder landing with a soft donk on the ground. He began to saunter towards them at a slow pace but then decided he wanted to arrive before they disbanded so he urged himself into a full sprint. The serious running ached his muscles since he had been resting on the boulder since arriving back near the city, from the wilderness, just a few hours ago. Soon he reached the other side of the path, opposite the hellhounds, and sank to a crouch.

 

Grimrr sat like that for a while, as nightwalkers flowed past him and waited for the hellhounds to notice him. Then and only then would he part the river of souls and shake up the hounds.

[Xarria]

((Nice name ))

Nyx was playing a mixture of tag and tug-a-tail when she noticed something different. A different smell. She sniffed the air and the other hellhounds cocked their head to the side. She barked at them to sniff and they smelled the air. They looked in the direction of the smell and noticed the giant cat. They cocked their heads to the side, but Nyx just kept looking at it. What is that? she thought.

 

[Shur'turgal]

As he sat watching the hellhounds, a smirk of satisfaction slid across his face. they had finally caught his scent. Slowly, stretching out the mystery of himself he got up and stretched. He sat back on his haunches and slid a paw across his ear. Then, unexpectedly, he leaped across the nightwalkers, up and over most of them. He glanced to see their up turned faces for an instant then looked back at the hounds.

 

As they looked at where he had been, he flew toward them and spread his paws, unsheathing his claws. He landed in the midst of their group, and let out an ear piercing yowl. His sound startled some passing nightwalkers, and he flattened his ears against his skull and hissed. He began to prowl through the group, enjoying his mischief and waited for their response.

[Xarria]

All of the hellhounds, except for Nyx, had ran away, going 'Yipe yipe yipe!!!'. Nyx just cocked her head to the side and sniffed the cats side. Nyx sat and her tongue lolled out as she watched the giant cat.

[Shur'turgal]

Grimrr watched in satisfaction as the dogs ran away, except for one. This one was lean and large, but much smaller than he. He bared his teeth as he felt a nose close to his flank. He whipped around, just in time to catch the last of the dog's tongue flicking out of it's mouth. Slightly annoyed by the lack of response Grimmr bared his teeth and swung an open paw in front of the dog's face. Quickly he jumped back and jumped gliding over where the hound sat, and landed behind the dog. He hoped for a fearful response at his display of his speed in cunning. Or at least a fearful response because the hound knew he could tear it to shreds.

[Xarria]

Nyx turned herself to face the large cat. She cocked her head to the side before lying down. She barked at it. It was acting weird...

[Shur'turgal]

Annoyed with the dog's lack of intelligence, Grimrr finally settled on staying alert but also trying to reason with it. In a mighty voice he hoped the dog would respond to he cast out his thoughts, saying, 'Who are you, hound? Where do you come from? And why are you so ignorant in your ways?' Grimrr sat and licked a paw as he kept his eyes on the dog's blank expression. If it didn't hear him then it was not worth sitting with and he was overly prepared to get up and walk away.

[Xarria]

Nyx heard the cats demanding questions and her ears pricked forward. My name is Nyx, and I have no home at the moment. I am not ignorant in my ways, I am just not an idiot, not afraid of anything that tries to harm me, and curious why you act as you do. And who are you, if i can ask? she said in her mind, hoping the cat heard it. Nightwalkers looked at the cat and dog briefly before continuing into the city.

Edited June 13, 2012 by Xarria

[Shur'turgal]

To his surprise the hound had heard him, and answered ! Her voice was slick like honey and sounded sweet in his mind, even though he could sense sadness in it. To her he said ' Greetings, Nyx. To have no home is a sad thing. Though, I understand for I roamed alone for many years of my life. My apologies for claiming you were ignorant, but it shows a bit, since you could not recognize I meant no real harm, I just meant to shuffle you and your friends up. Why I act as I do? I cannot even explain that. I am the way I am and I like it that way, with no explanation. As for who I am, that is a tale for a different time, on the contrary I would be honoured to hear your story Nyx, as I find you very intriguing, and that is an honour.' He lowered himself to the ground and settled into a comfortable position. He was happy Nyx was no idiot, and he needed to occupy his time before entering the city. Though, his opinion of this flame-pawed, honey-voiced hound, was no where near fully formed, and he thought it most likely never would be.

[Xarria]

Nyx looked into the cat's eyes.This cat was quite understanding, and she trusted it. Ah, well, i hope I'll be able to hear that story sometime. Either way, you want to hear my story? Well, It's quite a sad one, but here it is. I was only on the surface a couple years ago. I had been living there for quite awhile, with my human owner. But one day, that one man, changed the whole thing. her voice had gone gruff at the mention of the man. He was a robber, the man who broke into our house, and he had seemed well enough until i saw the knife in his hand. I knew he didn't mean well, so i started to get a little aggressive. He saw me and started to get wary, although he tried not to show it. He tried to calm me down, tried to make me leave him alone, but i just barked, alerting my owner to his presence. My owner came into the room and started shouting. I tried to bite the intruder, but i knew it was futile. The robber stabbed me over and over, but i stayed on him until the last breath. I heard my owner's scream before i died and whimpered before my world turned to blackness. a tear had slid down her cheek. And now i waste my time counting the dead coming in, because i have nothing more to do anymore. My life is a waste down here. Her head between her paws, she closed her eyes and whimpered at the memory.

Edited June 14, 2012 by Xarria

[FlowerOwl]

Stared at the two blankly, blinking every couple of seconds. From other 'watching' experiences she knew that the one who just had an outburst was Eldunari. Not somone she usually watched, but she had seen Eldunari two or three times. The other one though, she had no idea who she was.

 

Deciding to answer the one who had asked first, and not to mention kinder, she half choked half talked," I'mmm a Ni-night Walker.." Halting to look away from Eldunari, Scarlet continued much more smoothly,"I think I'm... ffine."

 

Turning to Eldunari, Scarlet said,"Uhhh..." Turning to get into a more comfrotable position since she guessed she might be here a while, and partly to look away from Edunari, she quietly moved.

[Shur'turgal]

Grimrr sat for a moment and took in this hound's tale. It was indeed a sad one, she had been given a chance at life again, but to her demise her life was no pointless. He could not help but feel sympathy for the hound. ' You will one day hear my tale, perhaps when there are more to listen with you. I understand your loss, as I have suffered greatly as well. But, you must not sit here and wallow like you have the past years. To get over your grief you need to put yourself to use. Counting the walking souls is no use for you. I see that you need an adventure to be started, as I have started mine. Maybe you could come with me on some of my excursions.' Deciding she could be trusted Grimrr gave her a key peace of information about himself 'I plan on entering the city of Lyambo without attracting the attention of the guards, as we creatures are not permitted to enter.' With a sly look on his face he asked Nyx one final ' Would you like to join me?'

[Shur'turgal]

Eldunari's head snapped back with surprise , 'She is a nightwalker?', but the other dragon said she was completely human, and to Eldunari's understanding nightwalkers were only half human, when they existed. So many questions swirled in her head, and with them emotions.

 

She straightened as the tiny nightwalker shifted and then she glanced at the other dragon. She decided to apologize as she had not been herself. 'My apologies, small one, but for all my knowledge I am very confused. I could not contain myself and you were the less likely of the two to attack. For taking out my rage on you I apologize but there are still many questions you need to answer. What questions those are though, I do not know.' Eldunari settled comfortably in a crouch, still ready to attack if necessary, and waited for the older dragon to pose more questions, as it obviously knew more about what to do than she. Silently she felt a bit defeated but she showed none of that,she only waited.

[Xarria]

Nyx looked up at the cat's words. You- you'd let me come with you? she stuttered. Of course I'd come with you! No need to ask me twice! Nyx jumped up, her tongue lolling out and her tail wagging. But then she sat, keeping herself calm. Besides, I've studied these walls to an endless extent, I know them top to bottom.

[Walker]

[i should probably explain the second kind of Nightwalker is not known among the majority of younger Guardians. The elders purposefully keep the knowledge from them, as they do many things. However, all Guardians know about the voluntary ones through the legends]

 

Lifaen growled low, suddenly on alert. A nightwalker? She'd heard of those, but only in the legends. The Nightwalkers were the reason they could no longer collect human souls like they should. They were unnatural beings, created through treachery and the abuse of the Nightwalker's magic. But if this was unnatural... why didn't she feel the urge to destroy it? Why didn't it make her shudder in her scales?

 

'We're taking it to the elders,' she told the other Guardian. The elders would have the answers that she sought. She shook her head back and forth angrily; she sensed that the elders had hid something from her. She always knew they had their secrets, but they had too many these days. Needless ones. Someone should teach the elders a lesson, but she needed their wisdom for now.

 

Lifaen turned her attention back to the young 'Nightwalker' at her feet. 'I hope you aren't what you claimed to be,' she replied, considerable sadness in her voice. It would mean the little thing was unnatural and might possibly need to be destroyed, but her instincts roared against that action. No.... This human couldn't be one of the evil Nightwalkers from the legends. It was a lie. 'Come with us. We will help you,' she offered.

 

............................

 

Amun walked through the residential district at a brisk pace. Finding another Nightwalker did put a wrench in his plans for the night. He wouldn't have time to play any music at the tavern tonight. He couldn't afford to lose the night's wages, but what could he do? As a member of the Gathering, he had to do his duty, and his duty involved trying to recruit new Nightwalkers to their ranks.

 

He rarely looked back to see if she was following. If he lost her, it was her own fault for not keeping up. Anyways, if she really was a thief it might not be such a great loss. Her afterlife was a fight for survival, and keeping up was just one of many things she'd have to learn to do. As he made his way deeper into the residential district, the frown on his face deepened a little as the streets became more familiar. He missed the days where he could live in nice houses like these.

 

Finally, he found what he was looking for. He made his way to the back of the large house, no different than any others on the street to the naked eye, but he knew from experience this was a safehouse. They were scattered all over the city, places for Nightwalkers to briefly hide if they needed the cover. Sometimes they were owned by Nightwalkers themselves, or sometimes by their allies. One of the first things he learned after joining the Gathering was where they were located. Stepping up the servant’s door, he looked back over his shoulder and waited for his new “friend” to hurry up.

Edited June 14, 2012 by Walker

[FlowerOwl]

(Sorry if this isn't that long, my baby brother is going crazy with the hose)

 

 

"H-Help?" She questioned, taken a back. Why? She wondered. Then the next question came up,"And to where?" She wanted to know where, no, she needed to know. Someplace not to crowded preferably, and somewhere where there's at least one nightwalker hanging around. But then, Scarlet thought, Wouldn't I be one nightwalker?

Edited June 14, 2012 by FlowerOwl

[Takhesis]

Celeste managed to keep up to Amun's brisk pace, but only just. She was out of practice, since her death she hadn't needed to really rush anywhere. Her work in the factories had kept her in shape and had helped to develop a fast walking speed - dodging the moving parts of the machines made that a requirement - that and a good sense of timing.

 

Unfortunately those instincts hadn't helped on the day she died - after all who could have known that the cart would have an accident just outside the factory gates?

[Walker]

Lifaen reached out her muzzle to nose the little human like creature, urging it back to it's feet. 'To the elders. They will know what you are,' she replied to it. She crouched on the ground and held out her leg, a stair for the thing to get on her back. Flying back to the summit would be faster than waiting for the little human thing to climb anyways.

 

'I will not let them harm you; you have my word,' she promised it. And she meant it. Her instincts told her the little human thing was not dangerous, and she was not one to question them. After all, they were there for a reason. If the memories of her ancestors did not tell her the human creature was dangerous, than she trusted them, even if the elders told her that she was one of the unnatural undead and needed disposed of.

 

'I will fly you on my back. The path is too long for you to walk,' she added.

 

.......................................................

 

Amun opened the servant's door and gestured for her to follow him in. They were in the back room of a well-to-do merchant, quickly rising in Viskran society. Although he wasn't quite 'rich' yet, he was well off enough to afford a decent size house and a handful of servants. The smells of baking food wafted in from a nearby room, assaulting Amun's nostrils. He shuddered and grimaced a little, reminded of his own degraded state. Whatever they were baking, he could tell just from the scent that it was fine. It had been a long time since Amun could afford anything but the cheapest of foods.

 

One of the servants of the household was in the back room, scrubbing laundry in a tub of water. When he saw the door open, he looked up and shuddered a little in fear at the sight of Amun. One of his people, he could tell by the shape of his face and his black hair. A flicker of anger burned inside Amun; most of the native Enzians in Viskra were slaves. It wouldn't surprise him if this one was too. The servant jumped to his feet, muttering to himself in his native tongue, and hurried from the room as if fleeing the plague. For a moment, Amun felt terrible, rejected even by his own kind. But what did the servant know about him, uneducated peasant that he was?

 

Waving it off, Amun stalked over to the vacated stool next to the tub of unwashed clothes and plunked himself down. Without looking at the woman, he stared at the wall, lost in the memory of when he'd first been found and recruited to the Gathering. "My name is Amun," he offered her. "I take it you've heard the legends about Nightwalkers?"

 

[Oh yes, should also probably mention Nightwalkers are not souls and souls are not Nightwalkers. There seems to be a tad bit of confusion about that X3 Souls are way more common and you'll only find Nightwalkers lolling around the Underworld during the day.]

Edited June 14, 2012 by Walker

[Shur'turgal]

((Acchh, okay, sorry about that. Well just take from my last post that I am confussed, that I apologized and am willing to learn))

 

Eldunari was surprised when all the older dragon had said was that they were taking the being to the elders. Thinking it could as well be the worst thing to do, as, she had a strange feeling the elders would not want it around and that her and the other dragon may be punished for contacting it. She sat silently though and waited for the next move.

 

Eldunari's scales itched as she sensed the older Guardian fighting with herself. Eldunari knew she was ignorant about most things but to see a dragon in such a fuss was something she knew could mean trouble. As the small creature replied she could feel the worry in it's voice, it was almost palpable. As she stretched out her mind the human's voice resounded in her head, but it only lead to more confusion. As exhausted as she was she withdrew her mind and ruffled her wings as the other dragon mentioned flight. Terror and excitement coursed through her veins as she loosened her wings and the dragon stuck out a leg for the creature. Eldunari stepped back and lifted her head in a movement of pride as she waited to see if the human would obey or run..

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

In his head Grimrr chuckled at the hound's excitement, and felt an urge to paw at her tongue when it unrolled, but did not. Then as she seated herself, trying to maintain stature he answered her question 'Yes, i would like you to accompany me. It is good that you know the walls well as we may need that. For a few minutes why don't you get closer to the wall and inspect the situation of the guards while I ... prepare.' With the elongating of his last word Grimrr slowly elevated. He started off at a comfortable run to the east, where the dog who stayed sitting, would eventually loose sight of him. He propelled hi mind back to the dog for an instant to give her a clue 'Watch for someone who stumbles for then you will see me.' With that he withdrew and continued galloping away from Lyambo

Edited June 14, 2012 by Shur'turgal

[FlowerOwl]

Slightly shivery, Scarlet stepped on. Not daring to make more contact with the dragon then needed to. She was sure that both of them were thinking about her, but the same thing was with her as well. She wanted to be out of here, out. Elders? She had thought,Old things who can hardly speak? Scarlet's only experiences with old people were with her grandparents. And then her great grandparents. She thought about one of her great grandmother's features and shivered. Her great grandmother's hands were like straight lines once they reached the knuckle. It looked unnatural. But then again, She thought, She is 93. That got her wondering to what the 'Elders' look like. She almost gagged at some of her thoughts, but stopped when she noticed Eldunari was looking at her.

[Shur'turgal]

As the human stepped on to the other dragon, Eldunari swelled with excitement. 'Alas, this night is turning out to be a rather fine one.' She thought, and as the human's eyes flicked toward her, she nodded her head in a sort of approval.

 

In a moment, Eldunari catapulted into the sky, too anxious to wait for the others. She hovered for a moment, savoring the sensation and then climbed the sky once more. Eldunari loved the feeling of the air on her wings as she fully extended them, again making that joyous leathery sound. As she waited for the two, she would fold her wings in, then hover then, swoop up again. All in anticipation for a meeting with the elders.

[Takhesis]

Celeste considered Amun's question. "I have heard tales of the Nightwalkers." She mused a little longer, "Most of those stories were told as tales to scare disobedient children, at least that's how my parents used them."

She eyed Amun then, "Are you suggesting that Nightwalkers are more real than just the old legends? Beings that exist, and not just in tales designed to scare?"

 

(Edited: due to typos..... )

Edited June 14, 2012 by Takhesis

[FlowerOwl]

Scarlet looked at the dragon not in the sky scaredly. She gave a questioning look that said,'Are we doing that?!' And then gazed back at Eldunari. Hover, Swoop.. She examined getting sicker by the minute. I am not doing this if I'm going to be riding something doing that, She thought. Her stomach turned as she saw that the dragon she was riding was going to take off.