Caught Between Shadows }{ -Very Open!-

[Wewt]

OOC: Anyone can join this. All the other threads seemed a bit full, and I hate barging in and making a nuisance of myself.

IC: The sun was beginning to come up, casting a strange pink and amber glow across the horizon. The new light cascaded over the slight cloud cover, illuminating the darkness and giving everything a blue hue. The dragon was finding it harder and harder to keep away from the human village. The group of people was so different from anything he had seen previously. They held a similar kind of companionship as the wolf pack had, where he had learned so much about survival. The main difference was that this group was stationary. It was odd; how had they learned to survive? How had they built such caves, rising from the ground like they had?

He sensed unrest in the village. Had they noticed his presence? He was sure they had. The calm that seemed to surround the village at night when he first arrived was not mixed with unrest and fear. He tried his best to be good, to go unnoticed as he inspected objects and feelings he had never before encountered. Being a curious creature was dangerous. Even now he was looking at some sort of metal dish that had been set next to a pit. The pit smelled of fire, and the coals still smoked and held a cherry hue even after being left all night. Soon the humans would get up and stoke the fires for their day of work ahead. He sniffed the metal and turned it over with his snout.

The metal pan turned over and fell, landing upon another metal instrument. A loud clang was heard, alerting dogs from the buildings to sound an alarm. Frightened, Rukkus dashed away. He scampered behind one of the houses, and into a throng of trees. He pressed his belly against the cold dirt, trying to blend with the quickly vanishing shadows.

[tazmaniondevil]

A loud clashing noise could be heard through out the whole forest. Birds fled deeper into the forest at the frightening sound. Fawns sprinted into a safer distance at the disturbing noise. Xatu awoke, opened his eyes speedily and looked around swiftly as if he had never gone asleep and was already active. He leapt down from the tree he was napping on and grabbed his staff he had rested on the lower branch as he slammed into the ground. Standing up straight Xatu let out a loud screech “GYAAAOOOO!” He stretched his wings out as he did this and shook his head after. Remembering which direction the noise came from, Xatu began walking quickly towards it.

Whilst he sensed he was close, Xatu heard another noise. The sounds of startled and aggravated people became louder and louder as defining barks were heard. Xatu remained perfectly still and calm as he saw three vicious dogs speeding towards him. Convinced he had not been spotted but heard and smelt, Xatu dived behind a large tree. He cursed his luck as he looked up to see no low enough branches for him to jump to.

Xatu took a peek from the tree as the dogs had reached the area and began sniffing and growling. One began to get closer to the tree. Finally he was so close he was almost sniffing Xatu’s foot. Before the dog could have looked up Xatu slammed the spiky end of his staff into its head and piercing through a hole in its skull. Xatu smoothly slid it out after it reached the brain. In alarm the other dogs came running towards him full of rage. In one strike Xatu quickly sliced the sharp end of his staff along the ground in front of him. The dust flew into the dogs faces and the earth that was beneath the staff flew towards the hounds crushing them.

Xatu bent down to inspect one of the dead dogs and shook his head in sorrow “Why does it have to come to this…” He heard more barking and panicking getting closer. He began running away when he stopped in his tracks. “Hmmm… I sense something…” he commented searching through some trees behind a house to find a small dragon cleverly camouflaged on the ground. Realizing it was the dragon making the noise, he spoke sharply “Greetings Dragon. I would like to explain more but the sound you made earlier has alerted some aggressive humans. We must make haste out of here before they catch us. Trust me…” He paused as he looked up from the undergrowth “There is no point hiding, they have guard dogs…”

[Wewt]

The scene unfolded in front of Rukkus like that of some strange dream, except much more vivid and quick. The oddest creature that the young dragon had ever come across appeared before him. It resembled some sort of bird-human, and held a long stick in his hand. The bird-man took no notice of Rukkus at first, and he did his best to press his body deeper into the shadows. Angry barks drew closer, and the sound of paws approached, beating the ground in their running. The bird-man was prepared. In a flash, one dog was dead. Then, in a cloud of dust, the other hounds that were immediately in front of the bird-man were quickly taken care of.

When the dust settled the bird-man stood victorious, inspecting the dog which now had a hole in it's skull. He looked saddened, and Rukkus carefully let his telepathy out in order to absorb the emotions around him. He sensed the death of the dogs, the adrenaline in the bird-man, along with a hint of sorrow. The bird-man then looked up and spotted Rukkus in his hiding spot. He spoke words in the same tongue as the humans. He didn't really understand what the bird-man was saying, but he sensed that the creature meant him no harm. Slowly Rukkus rose up onto his feet, being about the same size as a horse.

He came out of the shadows slowly, dawn rising fast. He glanced back at the humans, and his thick tail twitched back and forth. Then he looked back at the bird man, and trotted over to him, long neck held low, as if he wasn't conspicuous at all. Rukkus trotted quickly up to the bird man, being much more quiet than the dogs had been. He then sent out an emotion of trust, and fear, hoping the bird man could understand and pick up on the emotions.

OOC: AAAH! Why do people not tell me we're leaving for the weekend? I shall be back Sunday. Sorry!!

[luke]

Rudi looked up slowly from the small amulet he was inspecting. Rudi's sharp ears picking out the dogs running along and then suddenly a crunching sound. Rudi knew that all three of the dogs were already death. Rudi had seen to much death in his time to stand idly by whilst three more beings were plucked from existence. Raising to his feet, aided by his staff, Rudi began steadily walking fast enough to get where he wanted but slow enough not to be noticed among the crowds. Approaching the outskirts of the village, Rudi looked around and from his position just seeing the dog with a giant hole in its head.

Bringing himself round the small building at speeds, Rudi pivoted on the end of his staff as he went, landing himself so he could easily see where the person or people who had done this were. Instead he saw an amazing sight. A man with bird wings and a small dragon the size of a horse seeming to be talking with each-over. Well, the bird-man was talking to the horse-sized dragon and the dragon was kind of standing there looking puzzled and obviously only understanding the bird-mans meaning and not the actual words.

Making his decision in a snap-second, Rudi decided these beings were deadly. The bird-man with the staff who had killed the three dogs seemingly easily possibly more dangerous than the dragon, but most likely not by that much. By some miracle, Rudi hadn't yet been noticed and therefore was free to walk to each dog in turn, the one with the whole in its head first. Muttering a short blessing, Rudi made the symbol of one of his own personal gods, the god of spirits, and willed the dogs spirit to pass through into the realm of the beyond where it can rest in peace. Rudi did this to each of the dogs in turn before turning toward the two beings standing before him again.

Walking steadily toward them, Rudi arrived set slightly back from the two others, where he could watch them both but still hear what they are saying and also for them to hear what he says. Coughing politely into his hand, alerting them both to his presence, looking from one to the other, he stands straight showing that he means no harm but will not hesitate to defend himself.

Turning to the bird-man first, Rudi spoke.

"Good evening. Do you mind telling me why you saw fit to pluck three beings from this small world?"

[Summerchika]

((OOC: I hope I'm not replying on a thread that no one will reply on?? I dislike entering long threads that have already decided on a plot as well, so if I may join with you all in this one...?))

Finally deciding to visit the place that she had feared and been curious about ever since she could climb to the tree tops and see it on the horizon, Ainutsa made her way to the edge of the village. Here she hesitated, suddenly overcome with uncertainty. Would she blend in or stick out too much? Was she even aloud in? Were her clothes too... woodsy? Oh, that's silly. She had worn one of her adoptive mother's simple dresses that she had found in the old, hidden cottage she hadn't visited in years. So why was she so nervous? Had she forgotten something? Her stomach flipped uncomfortably as her mind went through the myriad of nervous questions about herself and the village.

Deciding she was acting silly, even for her personality, she took a deep, calming breath. Taking a step forward, she slowly began to come closer to entering the village. Soon, she came upon an unwelcome sight. Dead animals. Again. She took another breath and examined the dogs. After a few minutes of mourning the death of the stranger dogs, Ainutsa began to sense other presences near. Only a few seconds of hesitation passed before curiosity overcame her uneasy feelings, and she went to investigate.

An even stranger sight met her not too far away from the disturbing sight she had just left moments ago. Close enough to see and hear, Ainutsa tried to find a hiding spot in the unfamiliar territory, finding it rather difficult. Gathering shadows around her and hoping it was enough to conceal her, Ainutsa watched the strange group - a black dragon, a red bird-man, and another man who was, at this moment, speaking to the other two. "Good evening. Do you mind telling me why you saw fit to pluck three beings from this small world?" he asked. Ainutsa tilted her head in thought. So the bird-man had killed the dogs; did that make him cruel? No, Ainutsa didn't know the circumstances under which he had killed them. And then the man spoke weirdly, kind of philosophically. She stood there, watching in interest to how the first thing she would see in the village would unfold.

[luke]

((OOC - Seeing as I seem to be the only one replying in this topic I guess I can say its ok seeing as I myself did what you've just done))

Rudi stood their patiently, waiting for an answer from the Bird-Man and the mysterious dragon-like fellow. Looking around at what he could see of the outskirts of the village past the bird-man and the dragon-man, Rudi grew impatient and slowly tired of the silence. Exasperated at the fact the dragon-man and the bird-man seemed unwilling or even unable to talk, Rudi let out a long sigh.

Turning 180 degree's on his heels, Rudi turned to face to wards the surrounding landscape, away from the village. Noticing a flicker in the shadows, Rudi's hand grasped around his sword, pulling it in a quick motion from the scabbard. Moving to wards the area of shadows where he had seen the slight flicker out of the corner of his eye, Rudi gripped his sword and maneuvered his weight into a defensive stance, balancing on the balls of his feet.

Rudi's eyes slowly adjusted to the shadows. Seeing the girl, Rudi instinctively jumped back, bringing his sword up in front of him. Seeing the girl had no visible weapons drawn, and was not in an offensive stance or anything, Rudi quickly slid his weapon back into its sheath underneath his cloak. Grasping his staff in his normally manner, Rudi took a proper look at the girl.

The girl had Blond hair that fell down to her mid-back and was unevenly cut. With green eyes and what vaguely looked like a dancer's build, this 5'4 girl looked roughly 15 to 16 years of age. Despite her dancer's build, she had a full form.

Noticing the girl was still standing there, Rudi snapped out of the trance induced by his marveling at this girl. Nodding to the girl, Rudi quickly regained his composure.

"Err... Hello..."

Never having been terribly good at speaking to girls, Rudi mentally cursed and kicked himself for not saying something better.

[ladyazuri]

Azuri strolled throgh the village at a slow pace. She rarely ever came here, she mostly just stayed in the forest, or her elven town. The only reason she was here was because she needed to buy some supplies she couldn't find in her town.
She stopped to she a bird-human and three dead dogs. She felt sympathy for them. Then, in the shadows, was that... a dragon? She forgot about it, knoing it was none of her business.

She enjoyed this place, it was very different from her large city. She was glancing around when a small boy ran smack right into her. Azuri cursed silently. The boy looked at her, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry!" He said, then took off.

Azuri found the items she needed, then, eager to return home started to run at an inhuman pace. She saw a boy and a girl talking, but didn't stop to hear what they were saying. All she heard was "Err... Hello..." She smiled, then she ran faster.

About halfway home, she glanced to her side, to see a small rabbit. Azuri stopped to test her skills at hearing the thoughts of animals. She was surprised at how intellegint the animal was. Suddenly, before her eyes, the rabbit transformed into the boy who had run into her. "A shapeshifter..." she whispered.

[Summerchika]

((OOC: Oh good, I was hoping to roleplay more : ) Perhaps we should wait a little before more replying to see if the other two will continue? I think they are probably on vacation))

Seeing the other, weird-talking man come toward her, she held her breath, willing herself to not be seen. It was not meant to be. Stupidly, Ainutsa didn't draw her sword - which she had slung around her hips with the belt that she had also found in the cottage. Instead, Ainutsa tensed for escape as the man came closer, his own weapon pointed at her and her shadows. Despite the weapon pointed at her, she knew that if she ran, she wouldn't come back to this village; she would be too scared. So instead, she prayed silently, hoping that the man was not going to attack her.

When the man's eyes adjusted to her shadows, he jumped back, seeing her, and raised his weapon. Quickly deciding this was the moment to escape, Ainutsa braced for an attack, ready to evade and then flee. Just as quickly, however, the man sheathed his sword and replaced his staff in the normal standing position. Wearily, Ainutsa watched him. She knew she should take this opportunity to run, but instead she stood straighter, no longer ready for battle. She would overcome her most prominent fear today; she would go into the village.

Standing there, unwilling to move away from the village, but equally as afraid to move toward it, Ainutsa was stuck in a rather awkward situation. The man in front of her stared at her, and she at him, although wearily, watching for any sudden movements. His clothing consisted of mage robes, which seemed to accent his light build. He did not look strong, but Ainutsa knew that she looked very weak as well, but she considered herself strong for her size. He looked near her age, despite her first impression of him being someone much older than herself. She tilted her head to the side in thought once more. She let go of her now-useless shadows, despite her self-consciousness and growing unease at the lack of conversation. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a woman run past with a smile on her face. Distantly her mind gathered that the woman was running really fast, but that was all that was processed right then and there. A little delayed, Ainutsa processed what the man had just said. "Err... Hello..." he had said to her.

Finding this funny, Ainutsa bit back her smile. The reason he had seemed older to her was because of his speech, but now his speech betrayed his younger age. Not doing any better, however, Ainutsa replied, "Hello?" ending in a kind of question. Frustrated at her lack of words, she realized she should apologize for her eavesdropping. "Uhm, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude by hiding..." she offered no explanation, just a simple apology. Her questioning eyes flickered to where the dragon and the bird-man stood.

[luke]

((OOC: Sorry if Im abit late in replying. Haven't had time to come on these past days.))

Rudi's mind raced as the girl hesitated in answering him. What did she think of him? Did she think he was a wierdo? Rudi hoped not. Rudi just stood there like a thicko waiting for the girl to say somthing. Rudi saw her mouth open and close but it was a full minuite before he processed what he had actually said. "Hello?" Rudi almost laughed at his own stupidity. Rudi had thought she would of said somthing like "Go away wierdo." or somthing like that.

Hearing her next sentance, Rudi knew that he had been wrong about her and that she wasn't the type for going around calling people wierdo's. "Uhm, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude by hiding..." Again, the words took around a full minuite to process but by the end of them Rudi was almost smiling. Almost. Wondering what to say, Rudi realised for these past 5 minuites he had been standing there staring at her. Embarrased, Rudi quickly glanced down to the floor. Finding somthing to say at last, Rudi looked back up at the beautiful girl and simply said.. "Yeh, erm, its ok, don't worry about it..."

Again kicking himself for saying somthing that crappy, Rudi looked again to the girl. "I'm Rudi..." was all he managed to come up with. Rudi waited patiently but frantically for an answer, still worried she might call him a wierdo and stalk off.

[Summerchika]

Definitely feeling self-conscious and still amused, Ainutsa watched the man's reaction to her apology.Did I do something strange? she wondered, seeing that the man was looking at her strangely. He had what might have been a smile, but was hidden by what was... nervousness? At this thought, she herself was nervous, thinking of why she would make him nervous. Do I look funny? Is my appearance different than what's custom here? She went over all the things that might be wrong with her and then she realized that, once again, she was being absurdly silly. She couldn't do anything about her appearance now. But as he stared at her, she couldn't help but feel very self-conscious and a little fidgety.

As he belatedly accepted her apology, she felt relief that he hadn't told her off for her eavesdropping. When he looked back up at her, she tensed in surprise, wondering if he was going to tell her off now, but instead he introduced himself. Realizing that he was not going to be mad at her and that he seemed truly kind, she smiled. "Hi Rudi, I'm Ainutsa." she said, wondering elatedly if she was making another friend.

Glancing again at the bird-man and the dragon, she wondered if she should simply continue on her way into the village. This was, after all, not her business. She looked at Rudi and asked, "Do you live here, in Tamasha?" The name was foreign on her lips, it being one of the first times she had said it aloud.

[Wewt]

OOC: Sorry about not posting here! I was waiting for the dood who plays the bird to get off vacation. If you don't mind, I'd like to jump back in. XD

IC: All at once the scenery changed. Out from the shadow came a strange man, holding himself up with a stick. He did not seem like a threatening being to Rukkus, but he had been wrong before. So many changes had put him on edge, and he turned to face the new intruder. If this man was dangerous, he didn't seem to want to hurt anyone else. It seemed as though he was conversing with Rukkus'... friend-- but he could not understand what was going on. Instead he watched, huge eyes open wide, as if drinking in information through them. After that, another being appeared. Everything was changing so rapidly, Rukkus had to get away.

Their attention wasn't focused on him, anyways. They were now focusing on some sort of small animal, for what reasons Rukkus could not understand. He slowly began backing up, not wanting to mingle with such strange creatures. Why had they all appeared so suddenly? Were they planning something? Whatever their reasons, Rukkus didn't want to be apart of it. He turned, after backing up, and began loping away. He'd have flown, but the trees and brush around him wouldn't let him open his wings a decent amount.

[luke]

Rudi waited for the girl to reply to him. Only managing to watch as her beautiful face slowly changed through emotions. Was that puzzlement? No.. It must be nervousness. But why would she be nervous? Such a beautiful face, a slender body and what already was looking like such a great and kind personality. Whilst here was Rudi, hardly ever having spoken to a girl of her age in his life. Rudi felt slightly happy that he hadn't been slapped or told to go away yet, as he was led to believe girls usually did to people like him who didn't have practice in talking to them. What was she thinking of him? Was she going to slap him and stalk off like he thought? Why had he been so forwarding to wards the girl? Would she think of him as a pervert?? With all of these thoughts running around in his head, Rudi waited for her reply, fearing the worst.

Hearing her voice answer him, Rudi marveled at what a beautiful and elegant voice she had. Then her name, Ainutsa, such a pretty name. Wondering if he should say something else, Rudi then heard what she said next. Just about resiting the urge to laugh at how it sounded funny when she tried to say Tamasha with her accent, a small smile spread upon Rudi's lips.

Not really knowing how to accurately respond to her question, Rudi had to think it over a moment. The simple answer would be no, but even with Rudi's poor social skills, he knew that just saying no is abit of a conversation stopper. Whilst Rudi pondered what to properly say, he heard the slight sound of somebody moving off. Rudi suddenly remembered the Bird Man and the small dragon were still standing there. Glancing over at them, Rudi just saw the small dragon going off around the edge out of the corner of his eye. Deciding that talking to Ainutsa was more important than following the small dragon, Rudi turned back to the girl.

Finally deciding on something to say to the girl, Rudi looked once more to Ainutsa's amazingly beautiful features. Realizing he was gazing at her again, Rudi quickly looked away, only looking back to say:

"Errmm. No. Well. Kinda. I sorta just travel around places all of the time..."

Deciding quickly to move the conversation off the touchy subject of his true home, Rudi followed it up with a question of his own.

"What about you? I mean, erm, where are you from?"Sorry if I dont post back straight away, I am kinda addiicted to a new game I got for my PC, although I will try and check back atleast once every two days. Sorry. -

[Summerchika]

((OOC: I'm sorry I haven't been on in a long while! School has just started for me recently, and I've been getting into the routine again :/ so much work! I hope to be on more often now, however. ))

When Rudi smiled at her when she said the village's name told her that she had said it wrongly, and she blushed in embarrassment. She watched as Rudi thought about his answer. She was puzzled, and a little worried. Had she come upon a touchy subject? She hadn't meant to. She hoped he would forgive her. She had just found out that careless words on touchy subjects could induce a lot of pain with Cordana and Talwyn. She didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Sensing the leaving of the one of the other two, Ainutsa looked around Rudi to see the dragon leave. Again, Ainutsa's curiosity sparked and she watched the dragon leave with open interest. She let her mind open to reach the dragon like she would do to any other animal she was curious about. She had done it enough times in the forest where her only source of entertainment were animals and nature. However, this touch had even more curiosity behind it. She was so very curious; she hadn't seen anything like him before. She had read very few books about dragons.

She put on hold her curiosity as her eyes and attention moved back to Rudi as he answered her question. His response confirmed her suspicion of the touchy subject. She gave him an apologetic expression, as if she were saying sorry. He then asked her a similar question, and she gave a small smile. "I travel, like you, but I've only been in the forest. This is my first time outside of the Selkia forest." she admitted, with a little shrug of embarrassment.