It's a Wonderful Unlife }{ (Open)

[deraj]

"Now if you dont mind im going to get more..."

Deraj emerged from the cave, the dark energies following behind him like a mist. It clung to him like his cloak that he forfeit earlier in his attempt to save the stupid harpy. He was back in control of his body and it was well evident. He exuded confidence. His presence was terrifying as he strode out of the cave and into the eternal twilight of the forest.

“I can’t let you do that.”

Without breaking eye contact with the chimera or breaking his strong expression he sent thoughts at Vexxus through his bound soul that she still wore. “ I can't express how I have missed you and how overjoyed I am to see you again. Forgive me for putting that burden upon you. I cannot begin to fathom what you have endured for my sake but I cannot allow this Chimera to continue. She was hurt and scared. Conscious monster or mindless fiend, it still seeks to harm a weak girl. She has suffered enough. I can’t ask anymore of you but I can’t in good conscience allow this thing to hunt her down.”

[Vexxus]

“ I can't express how I have missed you and how overjoyed I am to see you again. Forgive me for putting that burden upon you. I cannot begin to fathom what you have endured for my sake but I cannot allow this Chimera to continue. She was hurt and scared. Conscious monster or mindless fiend, it still seeks to harm a weak girl. She has suffered enough. I can’t ask anymore of you but I can’t in good conscience allow this thing to hunt her down.”

Vexxus looked at him and confirmed her agreement with the situation by moving to his side; then sending another wave of thought for the beast.

"You had your chance."

She launched a stream of blue fire directly at the feet of the Chimera.

[Alchemister]

He snorted somewhat. Ignoring the fire and stepping over it with ease. He wasn’t to bothered by fire. He continued after the tracks. Brutos seemed after the girl but he was fallowing the animal tracks that fallowed along after the girl.

Monster. Monster. Monster.

Being talked to like some animal irritated him. He was annoyed at constantly being thought of as a blood thirsty creature. People screaming and running. He vaguely remembered when he was human he was very popular in a positive way. Soon he just grew down hearted and stopped along the path he was walking.

Monster…

He ran it trough his mind a few times. Soon muttering about eating a rabbit or snake instead. Walking away from the easy tracks to fallow. Going off towards the trees.

[Vexxus]

Vexxus watched as the Chimera changed demeanor from a determined beast into a daze-like state, and stopped following the tracks. She watched him disappear into the woods.

When she was sure it was safe, she shrank to her normal size, and allowed the shadows to recede from her into the snow.

Her time spent wandering she was always in the shadow realm, and returning to the real world was more of a shock than she thought. She winced, fell to her knees, and let out a small, but painful moan. Her body trembled, and she closed her eyes tightly as if to attempt to dispel the consequences.

"Damn it..." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

[deraj]

He was enraged as the beast merely ignored him and walked away. Deraj would rather a kill a man than be subjected to his rudeness. This beast was already low on the ladder of honor without this act of disrespect. Just when Deraj was about to release all of his newly discovered fury, Vexxus went back to her normal form and let out a moan. He turned to her and tried to catch her before she fell to her knees.

Ashamed at his vehemence before, he began, “The girl can wait. You are more important to me. If she has called this her home for as long as it seems, she isn’t so innocent. She can handle herself. I won’t leave you like this.”

Helping her up he continued, “Come, you can rest better in the safety of her cave. If nothing else it will block the wind.”

[Vexxus]

He assisted her in rising.
“Come, you can rest better in the safety of her cave. If nothing else it will block the wind.”

Vexxus went, stumbling alongside Deraj, until they reached the cave. She sat leaning against the pile of furs.

"I'm sorry...It was just going to drain me further if I stayed in the shadow realm-" She winced, and grabbed her left arm. Her faintly glowing blue blood leaked out of the runemark; which wasn't normally visible. She knew Deraj would be alarmed at her blood, so she reassured him. Her voice was weak, but audible. "I'll be fine....with time. You can go find her- oh, here," With a great effort, she pulled up the amulet from her cloak, then suddenly her eyes rolled back, and she fell limp on the furs. Lingering shadows rose from her pale form as streams of dark vapor.

[deraj]

He saw her blue blood. Is it coming from that rune? He was about to say something when she interrupted him.

"I'll be fine....with time. You can go find her- oh, here,"

She was in the process of handing his phylactery back to him when she appeared to pass out. “Sure you’re fine.”

He moved the furs around to prepare her a makeshift bed and adjusted his amulet back around her neck. Realizing that she may not be able to hear him anyway, he spoke aloud as if she could. “You can hold on to this for a while... If it wasn’t such a burden, I’d tell you to keep it.” He liked how it looked around her neck. For the first time in ages, he now had someone that he could trust. He put everything on the line and she pulled through. He even gave her his soul to keep safe and she did. From the looks of it, she may not have slept in days as she tracked him down in this inhospitable wilderness. He was proud for her to wear his amulet around her neck.

She seemed to give off an energy. The wisps of shadow did not surprise him as much as they probably should have.
“You just rest. After all you have done for me, I can’t just leave you vulnerable only for me to run off and attempt to save a woman who moments ago had intended to eat me.” He sat down beside her and looked at the open mouth of the cave.

[Vexxus]

(Yaaay another ThreadArt i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc141/Kairi-Naami/Vexxuswound.png)


Vexxus had entered a trance, a sort of auto-defense against exhaustion. Although at first she could hear everything, she soon after fell asleep. She remembered him saying “Sure you’re fine.”, but nothing after that.

After several hours, she awoke. It seemed there was a great weight holding her down when she tried to sit up. Deciding that it was probably best to wait a bit before trying again, she rolled onto her side instead. Jeez...how long was I out?....I haven't felt like this in forever... She opened her eyes slowly, and was somewhat surprised to see Deraj's form sitting next to her, his face lightly illuminated by the moon. He hadn't noticed she was awake yet, as he did not move, nor speak.

A faint glow caught her eye, and she glanced down to see that his phylactery was still around her neck. She smiled, and looked at her trusted friend. Once again...couldn't just leave me. He really is different. I wonder what he's been doing this whole time...What he's been thinking about...

[Alchemister]

He smiled some. Why not show what a true monster is. He may have gone into the trees, but his scent tracking was amazing. He went after the wounded woman. Though kept out of the sight of the others. Easily speeding off through the snow. Lunging over a few old fallen tree trunks and snatching up a few rabbits. Though he didn’t wish to be called a Monster.

Maybe.. If I just help the girl maybe I could get a meal without being attacked…

He thought to himself, smiling some at the thought. He was nearing the girl, and once he was close enough he moved on out of the trees. Making his way on towards the woman, sniffing about at the air. Than looked around for the bloody prints. He was in quite a hurry, he knew the other two will be showing up soon.

[Willowsong]

Willowsong waited, and even though her heart had decreased in size to fit into an , it still managed to beat quite rapidly in fear as she listened to the noises of the forest. More than once did she see a squirrel run by, and Willowsong dared descend twice to catch a mouse and eat it, before returning to her place. When it became dark, her vision became even better. It was impossible not to praise the adaptions a raptor was capable of, her green eyes easily piercing the oncoming darkness. It was even easier with the white snow that lay over everything, giving off a subtle glow from the moonlight.

And in the darkness, Willowsong managed to almost disappear and a feeling of safety returned. That was when her instincts suddenly warned her of something coming. Snow fell off the branches above her, and Willowsong puffed herself up again as she shuffled uneasily on her tree branch. And there it was - the chimera. Willowsong had never seen one, only a drawing of one. This one didn't look too much like it, but Willowsong's only description of it would have been... Chimera.

Still believing it was a servant of the necromancing demon, Willowsong's fear returned as she pushed herself close to the tree trunk, figuring that the Chimera wasn't able to reach up here anyway. Besides, how would it know Willowsong was a shapeshifter?

Thus, the witch continued to watch, pretending to be just another animal of the forest. And to be honest, Willowsong believed that she was. It was others that thought her to be different.

[Alchemister]

Brutos continued walking. He grew irritated, the dark leaving him practically blind. But also even harder to hunt. His eyes and jaws glowing brightly in the dimming light. His nostrils flared as he breathed in the cold air. He’d get no real clue, having lost the trail a long ways back. He tried continuing by scent, but the cold air burned his lungs.

Probably should have thought this through…

He grunted to himself. Looking about in the snow, pawing up a few piles of it. Eating rocks, bugs, grass, sticks, and even biting bark off a tree. He was quite . Seeing as though he wasn’t going to get a decent meal that night. And only proved the fear in him apparently.

[deraj]

Deraj watched as the last rays of the fading sun brought out the best tones in everything. Even the sunset now seems more precious, thought Deraj. He watched as sun left along with the few precious blotches of colors in the winter landscape. Eventually, everything just changed to shades of grey and then there was silence.

For the first time since he began his change he had a time alone to think undisturbed. He now felt no need to sleep nor was he . The full implications of these things hit him for the first time. He now had all the time in the world to do with as he pleased. However without the distraction of physical pleasure, Deraj could not help but to reflect from now on.

He gave little thought to the chimera that, in all likelihood, was wreaking havoc somewhere and the strange cave dweller. They were fleeting and inconsequential. Those two were gone from his life for the moment and perhaps forever. Who could say? Deraj accepted that whatever would come would come.

He would continue to sit and keep watch until Vexxus awoke. Deraj thought it was appropriate that he held vigil on this night of all nights. A new life would come with the dawn and so he spent the rest of the night meditating on how he would use it.

He was so involved in his meditations that he did not notice when she awoke.

[Vexxus]

Vexxus watched Deraj, with a new fascination for the being he had become. He sat motionless, no warm breath left his nostrils. He did not blink, or shift his position. His face was an almost unrealistic work of perfection, and there was something in his demeanor that made him seem like a fallen angel; yet he was also fairly intimidating. After what could have been hours, or minutes, and much internal debate on whether to speak or not, Vexxus began,

"I honestly didn't think you'd stay." She said. Her voice could have been the wind whistling past the opening of the cave, or simply something you would imagine hearing after sitting alone in the ambiance for so long. She propped herself up on her elbow, and glanced out the opening of the cave. The bottom of the moon was just touching a distant mountain. She looked back at Deraj, and waited for him to respond.

[deraj]

"I honestly didn't think you'd stay."

He thought he heard her angelic voice but as pleasant as it was to hear her again it seemed soft and distant. It was true that he had been sitting there for a while and it could have just been wishful thinking. He didn’t know for certain if she was really there or still in that sleep-like state but in that moment, it didn’t seem to matter. Without turning around, he spoke.

“How could I do anything else? After all you have done for me, I couldn’t just leave you vulnerable and defenseless as i run off and try to save a woman whom only moments before made plans to eat me. She couldn’t possibly be defenseless if she has lived out here long enough to call this her home… I can’t begin to imagine all that you have suffered for my sake alone. I gave you my soul to protect and you have done just that. If it wouldn’t be such a burden, I would tell you to keep it. It makes me proud to see it around your neck. Perhaps for the first time, I actually have someone I can trust. I’m not about to betray that.”

[Vexxus]

“How could I do anything else? After all you have done for me, I couldn’t just leave you vulnerable and defenseless as I run off and try to save a woman whom only moments before made plans to eat me. She couldn’t possibly be defenseless if she has lived out here long enough to call this her home… I can’t begin to imagine all that you have suffered for my sake alone. I gave you my soul to protect and you have done just that. If it wouldn’t be such a burden, I would tell you to keep it. It makes me proud to see it around your neck. Perhaps for the first time, I actually have someone I can trust. I’m not about to betray that.”

She sat, listening, and thinking. The words echoed in her mind, and tears began forming. She blinked them away.

"I've been through worse...It was a pleasure to be able to defend you with my own hand; even if it's the least I can do. I would gladly have braved three times all I have endured for you." She was somewhat surprised at how much she felt she owed him. Even though she didn't have any debt to him, she felt that he was the only one she ever wished to serve. "If ever you need assistance, I will gladly offer it. I would like you to know that you will never owe me anything, it is not about debt. No matter the circumstances, I will forever be your ally." She sat up slowly, breathed deep, and exhaled. She looked at her left arm and the rune that had bled, then slowly waived a hand over it, clearing it and restoring the skin where it was.