Verai
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You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on Apr 19, 2023 2:35:33 GMT 9
Verai had wanted to get away, but perhaps this was too far. Kitten and Kitty were at his feet, staring through the trees curiously. This was a clearing, adorned with a single torch bandedonce in red. It was distinctive.
"C'mon," He ordered, the pokemon sticking close as Verai moved down one of the paths, walking straight and unerring, the clearing always at his back.
Save for when he stepped into it, arriving in the same clearing, with the same torch, and the same banding. "Damn it!"
Kitten looked up at him, eyes wide. <Are we lost??> She asked, not judemental but curious. Verai sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.
"Yes, we are."
[Prompt]t4Zs7nmQ1d100
1d100
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
|
Post by Verai on Apr 19, 2023 6:27:00 GMT 9
Kitten had gone quiet and contemplative, and over his own disparaging thoughts, Verai heard talking. Was it foolish to try? Was it foolish to not? He bent to scoop up the cats, and cautiously headed towards the talking.
Forest gave way to a dock, as mired in fog as the rest, a group of fishermen sitting, with two standing, arguing viciously. Verai lookedover the water, dark and unyielding. He knew there were lakes, here, but surely this water was too vast to be a lake... was he still in the timberland?
"What's going on?" Verai asked, before he realized he didn't care- he needed out of the woods.
"There- do you see her? The Final Catch!"
On cue, a massive shape drifted under the water, only a single fin cutting the waves, notched and torn with age and survival. The fishermen cheered at the sight of her.
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 5:03:41 GMT 9
Kitten squinted up, trying to see what Verai was looking at. "Incredible.." He murmured, turning back towards the fishermen. For a creature like that to survive... she was old, and crafty. One of the fishermen reached out to Verai, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Maybe you can be the one to catch her!" He laughed.
"Me?" Verai asked, glancing towards the water again.
"Of course! You've caught fish before, haven't you? By hand, right? You seem the type!" The man smiled, and gestured towards the water. "Go on- give it a shot!"
Verai looked at the water again, and without hesitating, dove into the mirror-still waters.
[Prompt]_1PTLucy1d100 1d100
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
|
Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 5:31:05 GMT 9
Verai surfaced, gasping for breath. The docks were gone- Kitten and Kitty standing on the bank, instead. Verai blinked, confused, hauling himself from the lake. "What-" He grunted, trying to wring out his hair and clothes.
<I don't know!!!> Kitten said, sounding almost scared as she threw herself at Verai. <You were talking to us and then you were talking to no one and then you went in the water!!! Don't do that!!>
Verai frowned, looking over the water again. Kitten wasn't the type to make things up- so... what had happened? The fishermen and that giant fish... were they even real?
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 10:28:31 GMT 9
"We still need to find our way back," Verai said, pulling his gaze from the water. Everything felt fuzzy... But Kitten and Kitty nodded, starting to lead him away, like they were the concerned parents. They walked further into the mist, the cats pressing closer with every step, until Kitty let out a little gasp, and froze.
Before them was a clearing, and at the center a patch of dark earth. It was ringed by bone-white stones, decorated with dried flowers and thick incense. There was a rock, curved in its edges, marking a headstone-
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
|
Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 11:24:09 GMT 9
Verai just stood there, unmoving, for several long moments. His breathing was calm and measured, not by any internal peace, but by practice. Panic and recklessness was death, after all.
<What does it say?> Kitty asked, voice quiet. It echoed through the emptiness, and at it Verai drew in a sharp breath. "It's a memorial."
<To who??> Kitten moved a bit closer, sniffing at the rocks lining the edge. <Champion...? Of what? Was he the strongest?>
Verai didn't answer, hand clenching before he forced it loose. He knew what was buried there. And-
Still, he moved forward, stepping over the incense and stone, and started digging at the soft earth.
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 11:48:52 GMT 9
Kitten was the first to join in, now heedless of any danger, paws scampering at the dirt to get through it. Kitty had no such thoughts, keeping well out of the way of the dirt.
Verai kept digging, dirt under his nails, roots and rocks scraping his hands, until he found cloth. He kept digging, until the full form was revealed, wrapped in a burial shroud.
Verai sat back, a bit, looking at it, feeling his chest tighten. Kitten stared at it, wide eyed. <Oh, a dead guy!!>
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 11:58:31 GMT 9
"Be respectful." Verai's voice was sharp, and Kitten instantly flattened into the dirt. Verai's eyes never left the shroud. His heart thrummed in his chest, and he reached to unwrap the cloth-
At his touch, though, the fabric simply shimmered and vanished, leaving only an armored skeleton beneath. It was human- or human-like. It was predominately a person, but with bones stretching out into wide wings. Over the main body was armor, thick and gleaming, looking polished and cared for despite the skeleton it covered.
It was silver, with garnet and rubies, and the swirling design of some flying creature.
<Who was it?> Kitten asked, in an attempt at a whisper.
Verai reached, slowly, to touch the armor. "It's... me."
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 12:13:04 GMT 9
Kitten squinted, and looked at the body, and then Purrai, and the body, and Purrai again. <Huh???>
Verai stood, and as he did so the armor on the skeleton was gone, and he was wearing it instead. It fit him perfectly- it always had.
Both cats were staring at him, with something like wonderment. <You look so cool!!!! Are you gonna fight something? Huh??>
"I pray not."
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 12:59:50 GMT 9
The incense snuffed out, and everything suddenly went pitch.
<PURRAI??> Kitten's wail was panicked, and Verai quickly hushed her. He reached, remembering where she was and scruffing her, and carefully moving to where Kitty had been, scooping her up as well. The darkness was unnatural, thick and oppressive. Whatever was happening- they needed to leave.
He felt it- a charge in the air, the sharp whistle- And Verai jerked to the side, pulling the cats with him, hearing the solid notch of something sinking itself into the nearest tree.
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 13:38:57 GMT 9
Verai had fought in darkness before. Not in the arena- people only liked betting on shows they could see- but when trying to escape. He was still at a disadvantage, but not helpless. He stilled his breathing, and closed his eyes. He could tell by the sound of it hitting roughly what direction the attack had come from. In between him and there was the headstone.
The armor had come with a sword.
Eyes still shut, he moved- spinning and slamming the flat of the blade against the stone, the sound ringing out like a chime. It hit the soft but sturdy trunks of the trees, eaten by the loam- and by something else, too, a big form softer than tree bark or stone, huddled at the edge of the clearing.
At the sound, it started moving- towards him, footsteps heavy- and Verai moved in turn, swinging the blade to strike whatever it was-
And as dim light came back to the clearing, there was nothing there at all.
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
|
Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 13:51:10 GMT 9
Verai sucked in air, looking at the empty space before him. The blade was slick with- not blood, but ichor of a sort, shadow-black feathers stuck to it. What had it been, then, that had stalked him and the cats?
<Purrai?> Kitty asked, a soft mewl. <Is the darkness coming back?>
"I don't know," He answered honestly. "We'll need to be careful, and leave quickly."
<How?!> Danger apparently gone, Kitten had no need for keeping her voice down any longer. <We're still super lost!!!> She threw herself down in the dirt, and let out a huff.
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
|
Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 14:08:46 GMT 9
Verai looked over the misty landscape- Every patch of trees offered as little as the other. There were no signs of tresspass, no paths or disturbed underbrush. Just trees, and fog, and an ominous air.
And the looming thread of the creature, and the darkness that had brought it.
Shaking his head, Verai looked to the earth again. He would not make a decision at random- He needed guidance. Reaching to the dirt, he pulled free a bone, wide and flat.
It was cruel, in a way, but it had not bothered him in many years. There were many things that no longer bothered him.
Taking the ichor from the sword, he began to write on the bone. North. East. South. West. North-East. South-East. South-West. North-West.
"Kitten," He asked, turning a bit. "I need a fire." She blinked up at him, all too eager, and moving off the mound made a little fire for him, sitting by it proudly.
Verai offered a little prayer, and cast the bone into the flames. When it cracked, the noise sharp, Kitten fished it out at his behest. HE waited only for it to cool to the touch, and picked it up to read it.
"This way," He said, leading the cats through the mist once more.
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
|
Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 14:20:23 GMT 9
They made it to another clearing, this one smaller. There was even light, to keep the darkness at bay- a tall torch, adorned once with a red band.
The clearing they had started in.
Verai let out a small sigh of relief. This, at least, was something. It wasn't great, but it was workable. He looked around for anything- a trail, a sign, something- but there was little in the clearing, save for the one torch.
He looked at it- Bria had said, before, in one of her many unprompted talks about video games, that distinctive items were often important. If something stood out- an item that shouldn't be where it was, a place where something should be but wasn't, or a solitary object- it was important to moving ahead. And... the torch stood out.
Grabbing the shaft, he pulled it from the ground. The flames swirled as it was moved- but not as fire should. He had heard of priests asking questions, casting slips into the flames to see what shapes the sparks took- but this-
The flames morphed, forming a bird-like creature. But the edges were not soft, like feather or flame. The edges were harsh, rough, jagged like stone or ice-
Or the massive shape that had been burned into his eyes against a backdrop of lightning, at the Surge Steppe.
Verai shook his head, to clear it, and when he looked again the fire was normal, soft and flickering.
What was going on?
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on May 7, 2023 14:38:00 GMT 9
<Purrai?> Kitten looked up at him, eyes wide. Verai looked down at her. How long had he been in his thoughts?
"We'll get going," He assured her, setting the torch back into the ground. The flame flickered, embers flitting, carried by the wind... Verai followed them, turning to lead the cats towards the wind. Perhaps they were closer to the edge of the timerbland than he had realized...
As they walked, Verai could sense it- the growing pressure in the air, the spark of static against his skin, the low rumble not in his ears, but in his bones.
And, well before they crossed out of the fog, came the loud rush of heavy rain. And every few moments, a rush in his chest, followed by the snarl of thunder.
They crossed into the Steppe once more.
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