RolePlayGateway™

{OOC:http://www.roleplaygateway.com/the-new-adventure-begins-moved-from-multiverse-cafe-t34096.html}

Zola stepped in through the dark portal that Tyro had created.
I wonder where Tyro made this one lead to? she thought mindlessly.
She looked back to find the entrance of the portal and was saw that it had closed, the light from the multiverse cafe disappeared before her eyes.
She looked around, suddenly feeling anxious. Where was Tyro? she thought.
Slight panic kicked in as darkness swirled around her. This is just a transportation portal, she reminded herself, if I just stay still, it will take me to whatever place Tyro decided.

But still, seconds seem to slow down into lengths of hours as she floated in the darkness. She scowled at the vortex surrounding her. The nothingness unnerved her. It reminded her of that... being...

Zola shuddered, not wanting to think about that at the moment.
Instead she kept her focus, wondering where the portal was leading her in the silence.

"Hello there Zola, we haven't spoken for a long time"

She froze, her eyes narrowing. It was that voice. Again. Memories flooded her as dread filled her heart.
It had come to haunt her again. Why couldn't it just leave her alone? Forget about what had happened?
She gritted her teeth and glared around, drawing her sword quickly.

"You again! What do you want?" She snapped.

The voice in the darkness laughed. "What do I want? What kind of question is that, Zola?"

She held her sword so tightly that her knuckles were white.
"Show yourself!" She said coldly.

The voice just laughed cruelly.
"I already have, Zola. Haven't you realised yet?"
The silky voice was mocking and Zola felt a bead of sweat run down from her forehead.
"I am the Darkness around you. I am the very being of Darkness. I live all around you. I am all around you. And now, I live in your heart. Always."

Zola felt anger fill her. "No you don't! You don't know anything about me!" She yelled, "Stop lying!"

"Oh, so I'm lying now?"
Zola froze as the same voice now suddenly rang through inside her head as if it was within her.
She cringed as a chill rippled down her spine. Her head rang with cold laughter.

"Tell me, Zola, what are you going to do with the Light stone after you fight the Demon Lord with it? What are your true intentions?"

She scowled. "That's none of your business." She said coldly. "Why does a being of darkness care about what I think?"

"If I remember correctly, Zola, your business is now every bit mine now."
The voice was soft, but threatening - a silent reminder.

She shuddered. "I take that all back now!" She shouted, "I never wanted your help!"

"And yet you borrowed my powers. Tell me, did you not love the feel of the power of darkness coursing through you? Did you not?"

Zola paled slightly. She did not answer, but kept her mind steady and alert for any danger, ignoring the question.

"But don't worry," The voice purred in her head, "I will make good use of you soon. I have great plans for you in the future. And then you'll have all the power in the world."

Zola let out a frustrated cry. "No one controls me! No one! Do you understand that? And no one ever will!"
In terrible rage she swung her sword around dangerously in the darkness, as if trying to slice a being in half. But her weapon just cut through the vortex and empty air.

The being of Darkness laughed.

"Do you not realise it? How stupid can you get, Zola? Did I really help someone like you?" The voice paused for a moment, considering something. "And yet, you long for power. It's here within your heart... I am within you Zola. And soon, very soon, I will be you... Once I drive out all the Light and Hope within you. Darkness will rule your soul..."

She screamed in rage as a strange, cold pain filled from her chest. She struck empty air again with her sword; her silver eyes slightly crazed. "Never!" She screamed. "Never!"

"You wanted my help... You agreed... We made a pact then, Zola... I keep my promises... You should keep yours..."
The voice was beginning to fade away and Zola breathed heavily, willing it to go.
"But until the time comes, Zola, if you ever decide you need my powers earlier, I'll be more than glad to lend you some and keep my side of the pact we made years ago..."

She closed her eyes as the voice faded away into silence in her head. She felt rough wind hit her face as her body speeded along the portal to its destination.
Then she felt her body hit the earth with a thud, lying face down on the ground.
She felt exhausted and kept her eyes closed, listening for sounds. Were the others close by? Had they all arrived safely?
Until then, she wanted to rest for a bit. Her encounter with the Darkness again had drained her of energy.
She sighed inwardly. She knew she had to hurry on her journey.

Her past was catching up to her...

But first, she had to wait for the others.
Zola had to gain their trust, before her past revealed themselves...

A lump of winter wear flopped into the snow and rolled uncontrollably until everything stopped. Pulling his muzzle out of the snow, Tyro scanned the tundra. They appeared to be in a small group of trees, buried in a duvet of snow. He looked down at the snug fit, black parka, overalls and boots that fitted his paws perfectly. He'd have to find Nyoko and thank her. His paws made a noise similar to crushing gravel as he moved towards Zola. He crouched next to her, shaking her with his mitten.
"Hello? Its OK to feel nauseous. Everyone does on their first go."

Zola had her eyes shut tightly, trying to block out the memories of the ringing voice still within her head. Then she heard crunches of snow as someone moved towards and knelt down beside her.

"Hello? Its OK to feel nauseous. Everyone does on their first go."

It was Tyro, shaking her gently.
She felt relief. So he had arrived as well. But some part of her was still filled with anger and annoyance.
She pulled herself up slowly, feeling the icy air hit her lungs.
She looked around to take in her surroundings, feeling slightly disoriented.

Zola clutched her head for a moment, ignoring Tyro's pitying gaze.
"I'm fine." She said shortly, in a detached manner.
She turned away from him, looking around, wanting to change the subject.

"Where are we?"
"Where are the others? Are they nearby?"

Zola looked down at her right hand, suddenly remembering that she had not sheathed her sword yet.
She hastily placed it back in her scabbard, not wanting Tyro asking questions.

"One way to find out..." Ha said as he cupped his hands around his mouth, his weapon hanging on a mitten.
"Hello?! Nyoko!? Rose!? Thorn!? The other guy..."

The first thing that Thekherham noticed when he and Kykherhenha emerged on the other side of the doorway was snow. It felt as if he had returned to his homeworld, but he knew Tereskàdhar looked nothing like this.

He had arrived on the other side in time to hear the fox-like being call out names. The other guy? he thought. He realized that he had not introduced himself and Kykherhenha, because until now he did not have a chance. He would have to do something about that.

He walked up to the fox. “I guess I should introduce myself,” he said. “My name is Thekherham, and this is my… symbiote, Kykherhenha. We were on our way to Tereskàdhar… that’s the planet where I was born, but somehow I ended up in the café.”

"Uh huh...So your denifiately not a Kitsune then. Alright." He said as he turned to the newbie. He extended a mitten in greeting.
"Well, I'm Tyro. Pleased to meet you. Glad your following us."

He was relieved that he wasn't the only fox for once in a little group of travelers. Although, of what kind, Tyro couldn't say. He would have said he was something he knew if Thekherham didn't have black tips on his tails.
"Have you seen anyone else?"

Rose and Thorn seemed to be having trouble, arriving in such a plain of existence from a previous one. There was no sign of either of them, all until Thorn suddenly fell out of the sky and landed flat-faced in the snow; Rose simply glided down after him, sighing, "Well, that's what you get, isn't it?" she spoke out, brushing down her own dress, "[/color=red]Maybe next time, relax instead of panicking?[/color]"

Thorn let out a gasp as his face emerged from the snow which now covered his fur, "Hey! It's not my fault! I swore there was something else in that portal!" He stood up and brushed down his fur, trying to get out all the clumps from it. He didn't look very happy but simply looked around at the others in bewilderment, "This looks like the place...now! Are you sure about helping us with this? It may be called a 'yeti' but it's a yeti in their native tongue...it's huge!"

Zola stood in the snow, feeling numb still, but steadily calming herself back down. They were just threats, she thought angrily, I shouldn't be affected by mere threats.

She glanced around as Tyro called out "Hello?! Nyoko!? Rose!? Thorn!? The other guy..."
Then she saw the newly joined person of their group walking towards them.
“I guess I should introduce myself,” he said. “My name is Thekherham, and this is my… symbiote, Kykherhenha. We were on our way to Tereskàdhar… that’s the planet where I was born, but somehow I ended up in the café.”

She quickly smiled at him. "Nice to meet you Thekherham..." she glanced at the dragon. "And... Tereskàdhar"

She then saw Rose and Thorn fall through from the sky. And they were fighting... as soon as they landed... typical.

Zola's face clouded when she heard Thorn say, "Hey! It's not my fault! I swore there was something else in that portal!"

She turned away, not wanting to think about it anymore.

"Are you sure about helping us with this? It may be called a 'yeti' but it's a yeti in their native tongue...it's huge!"
She heard Thorn say.

Zola hugged herself, smiling a little.
"Of course, did you not hear me before? The bigger the better."

"But first, we have to find Nyoko. Where is she?"

“Hello,” Thekherham said to the others. “I’m still not sure what we’re doing here, but back in the café I heard you talk about a… Light Stone and… a yeti? If there is one… characteristic Tereskàdians have, I guess it would be curiosity.”

He turned to the fox. “I’m not sure what a kitsune is, but I am sure I’m what you would call an alien… a being who lives on another world. The fact that I look like a fox was totally unplanned on my part.” He laughed. “You can blame my parents for that.” He hoped the others could tell that he had said that in jest.

I think that female with the silvery hair just called me… Tereskàdhar?

He looked at the girl. “Excuse me,” he said, “but my whistling dragon’s name isn’t Tereskàdhar. It’s Kykherhenha.”

Kykherhenha spread her wings, eager to fly, but Thekherham told her to wait. More people were supposed to show up, although he did not know how long that would take.

A sharp gust of biting cold wind was ruffling Kykherhenha’s and his fur. He didn’t mind this at all, as long as this place wasn’t home to blizzards. He hated blizzards. The white death, as it was referred to back on the island where he was born and grew up.

“While we’re waiting,” he said, “can somebody tell me what a yeti is.”

(OOC: Tyro!! you stole my chance at making a joke! D:< I was going to offer you a fox-fur coat with five tails...)

“While we’re waiting, can somebody tell me what a yeti is.”

"A yeti is a two-legged two-armed creature which lives high up in the mountains where it is very cold... beyond that there are many definitions depending on the area." Nyoko's voice said clearly from directly behind Thekherham, though the snow around her bore no footprints to indicate she had walked there.

Looking over at Thorn's snow covered figure, Nyoko chuckled, "Rose is partly right you know... I prefer using the Light element as the primary element of my portals, and since you are a being of darkness my portal scanned you to see if you had a pact with darkness or not, if you had remained calm it would have gotten a good reading more easily and you would have come out on the ground... but there is 'something in there' so to speak."

Turning back towards Thekherham and Kykherhenha, Nyoko bowed, "Ishikawa Nyoko. a pleasure to meet you."

Smiling slightly as a thought came to her mind, Nyoko chuckled then spoke, "If this Yeti is riding a bull and carrying a crane and an eel... then it is destined to die by drowning in a specific time and place, and can't be killed any other way." Nyoko's smile remained unchanged as she considered the part of the multiverse she was thinking of... who knew? maybe the yeti they were hunting really was the same yeti that was destined to drown in that spring... even though it had already happened, time was mutable to a degree after all.

(Really? I'll keep that in mind.)

Tyro stuffed his mittens into his pockets. He looked around at the group they'd assembled. Well, he thought, this'll be fun.
"As far as I know, a huge creature like a yetti will have a place to sleep out of the cold if need be. Lets find some caves or something." He then pointed to Thekhenham.
"Can we not shorten your names to 'Thek' and 'Kyk' or something. Partly becuase I'll remember it better and partly because we'll be trying to grab a light stone and playing keep away with a demonic overlord. The chummier we are, the better. Let's get going." With that said, he began to tred through the snow, carrying his weapon ready. He tried to highten his other senses. How? He was clueless but worth trying. He sniffed the air for anything that might be big and hairy.

"Excuse me,” Thekherham said, “but my whistling dragon’s name isn’t Tereskàdhar. It’s Kykherhenha.”

Zola smiled apologetically. "Oh, I'm sorry. I still feel a bit foggy after that teleportation method..."

Zola heard Nyoko explain what a yeti was."A yeti is a two-legged two-armed creature which lives high up in the mountains where it is very cold... beyond that there are many definitions depending on the area."

"Rose is partly right you know... I prefer using the Light element as the primary element of my portals, and since you are a being of darkness my portal scanned you to see if you had a pact with darkness or not, if you had remained calm it would have gotten a good reading more easily and you would have come out on the ground... but there is 'something in there' so to speak."

Zola stopped, looking away from Nyoko. She didn't want to hear anything more about darkness. She was glad that she hadn't gone through Nyoko's portal. If she had, all that trust she had built up so far would have been ruined... That experience in Tyro''s portal had reminded her of that... She closed her eyes briefly, not wanting to think anymore, but the mocking voice of the darkness still rang in her head, "I am within you now... Always."

She was so busy thinking that she missed what Nyoko said more about yetis.

Realising this, she quickly focused back her attention on what others were saying, distracting herself from her own thoughts.

"As far as I know, a huge creature like a yetti will have a place to sleep out of the cold if need be. Lets find some caves or something. Let's get going." With that said, Tyro began to tred through the snow, carrying his weapon ready.

Zola followed. "Wait- where this you last see this monster, Rose and Thorn? Can you guys remember? If you direct us close enough I might be able to pick up some sense of it on the wind itself." She glanced around, feeling the wind direction. "The wind is strong here, and its travelling fast. It would have seen anything that came across this area."

Rose and Thorn both stared at Zola, analysing the question before looking between each other. Neither looked sure about their whereabouts, having been transported in a way than either of them preferred. Thorn looked off and around himself, simply taking pieces of the landscape and trying to match them with his own memory. Rose flew up just a few feet further than what she was, giving the mountains a quick look before finally pointing towards the south-east, "Most likely that way, judging by the direction of the shadows are facing", she spoke, eventually lowering herself down to the ground, "It's our best bet...but, yes...the weather is horrible here."

"Easy for you to say...you can't feel the cold!" Thorn raised his voice as he rubbed his arms, eventually wrapping his cloak around his body more, "The weather wasn't bad until that thing appeared...but that was probably just coincidence". He began to wander off towards the direction that Rose pointed in, obviously trusting her judgement.

“It’s good to meet you, Nyorko,” Thekherham said, looking at the young female with the pale skin and the jet-black hair. She was small; she would hardly reach Thekherham’s chest, and there was something unusual about her. He turned to Tyro. “Ordinarily, we are very strict about abbreviating our names, but under the circumstances, you can call me Thek*, and my whistling dragon, Rhenha."*

He looked at the other girl, the one that had come with the strange creature. What was it? They seemed to be together all the time, just like he and Kykherhenha. He wondered if they were linked; if they had to be together or if they chose to be together.

Tyro was already on the move, his weapon ready. He didn’t know how long they would have to trudge through this snow before they found the yeti, but he didn’t think the creature would be found soon. Kykherhenha was flapping her large black wings, and finally took to the air. If she saw anything, anything at all, she would show it to Thekherham, and he would tell the others.

(*The names are pronounced Teek and Ree’ nah. Hopefully, shortening the names in this manner will help.)

"As far as I know, a huge creature like a yetti will have a place to sleep out of the cold if need be. Lets find some caves or something."

Listening to Tyro speaking, Nyoko nodded, "Yes, a Yeti generally has a cave to lair in, they are still warmblooded creatures after all... even though they are well adapted for a cold environment they would freeze to death in a bad blizzard without some form of shelter."

"The wind is strong here, and its travelling fast. It would have seen anything that came across this area."

Sighing as she heard Zola, Nyoko shook her head, "Strong winds often herald a storm..." she muttered before speaking louder "Look over there." she said as she pointed to the mass of clouds approaching from the horizon, "That doesn't look too bad as snowstorms go, but the winds inside of that will be chaotic enough that it will be next to impossible to track something even by magic... the scent will freeze, tracks will be covered up, visibility will be poor, the winds will be fighting eachother, joining up and splitting apart, any images on the winds will be fragmentary at best and probably won't give a sense of direction... on the other hand, the Yeti is rarely reported as being seen when the weather is clear, so assuming we can find it, the yeti will probably be wandering around in it."

"Most likely that way, judging by the direction of the shadows are facing, It's our best bet...but, yes...the weather is horrible here."

"Easy for you to say...you can't feel the cold! The weather wasn't bad until that thing appeared...but that was probably just coincidence".

Amused at the Demon's outburst, Nyoko decided to mess with the demon's mind a little, "If you are cold I can conjure you a coat at the least... or full winter gear if you want." she offered before frowning, "As for the weather getting worse when it appeared... lets hope it isn't actually a frost giant... the ice magic they have often causes the weather to turn worse and they are sometimes mistaken for particularly large yeti..."

Turning to smile at Thekherham, Nyoko nodded even as she waited for the demon's reaction, "It's Nyoko actually, there is no R in it." she said, though her tone didn't indicate that she had taken offense.

"I'm sorry," Thekherham said. "I must have misunderstood. Nyoko... Nyoko. Lovely name." He didn't know why he said the latter. He wondered if she cared about that.

You got excellent hearing, Kykherhenha sent, and you misunderstood? She was hovering just above him, looking remarkably agile, despite being the size of a large tiger.

It happens, Thekherham sent back defensively. Have you spotted anything yet?

In this weather? There is nothing but white as far as my eyes can see.

Zola listened quietly to the other's conversation, heading towards where Rose had pointed.

Her attention refocused on what Nyoko was saying.
"Look over there." Zola looked to see where Nyoko was pointing- a mass of clouds approaching from the horizon, "That doesn't look too bad as snowstorms go, but the winds inside of that will be chaotic enough that it will be next to impossible to track something even by magic... the scent will freeze, tracks will be covered up, visibility will be poor, the winds will be fighting eachother, joining up and splitting apart, any images on the winds will be fragmentary at best and probably won't give a sense of direction... on the other hand, the Yeti is rarely reported as being seen when the weather is clear, so assuming we can find it, the yeti will probably be wandering around in it."

"That's true..." Zola mumbled. "But it's still worth a try..."

She focused her attention to the winds around her. Her vision blurred away from the present as well as her hearing, and she stumbled a little as she walked, unable to see. But her eyes turned golden as she scryed the winds passing by.

Images flashed by her so fast she could hardly make any sense of them. Her eyes watered, but she kept them open, trying to piece all the fragmented images together.

Snow.. snow.. more snow... A picture of a quiet, small village carried by an easterly wind... Trees... Trees.. more trees covered in white... A cave... A cliff...

Zola stopped. Cave? She hurriedly called the previous wind back into her vision.

The picture of the cave again. She focused on it with all her concentration, trying to see the details.
She saw white on the ground. Snow? Her blood ran cold. It was bones. Human bones. Piles and piles of them.
And there was blood. Lots of blood.

She released the wind and rubbed her eyes, returning to reality. She looked around and found that she had strayed from the group from her lack of vision.
She walked back, slowly.

"There's a cave ahead near a cliff." Zola said to the others quietly. Her voice was muted by the roaring wind. "I don't know if it's a yeti, but there's some monster living there. I saw bones... and blood..."

Kykherhenha was showing Thekherham what she was seeing, and he saw through her eyes. What was here except snow? An endless ocean of snow. It reminded him of home, but he knew this was nothing at all like home. If he and Kykherhenha had been on the island back on Tereskàdhar, he would have seen small villages, he would have seen Tereskàdians, he would have seen whistling dragons in the sky. But here... wherever ‘here’ was, there was nothing but the monotonous whiteness of snow.

He looked at the girl with the silver hair. What was she doing? She seemed to be looking off into the distance, as if she were seeing something no one else could see. She was wandering off, and he wondered if she even realized what she was doing. He didn’t know if he should get her attention, but he decided to leave her alone. Something might happen to her if he suddenly disturbed her.

Kykherhenha swooped down and hovered in front of him. He didn’t have to tell her he wanted something to drink, because she knew. So he took her left teat in his mouth and drank the only liquid he could drink. He closed his eyes, and hoped he would not be disturbed.

You didn’t see anything? he asked.

Nothing but snow, she replied.

He let go of the teat, opened his eyes, when he heard the girl say, "There's a cave ahead near a cliff." He didn’t know how she knew, but nothing surprised her about this strange girl. But what she said after this frightened him, even though he knew he had nothing to fear, having the poison in his claws. "I don't know if it's a yeti, but there's some monster living there. I saw bones... and blood..."

For some strange reason, he began to fearshiver, and his tail wanted to dip between his legs, something he refused to let happen.

Tyro turned to Zola with her sudden announcement.
"Really? Where?" He said, then gestured sweepingly to somewhere behind him. "Come on then. Lead the way. The quicker we deal with this, the quicker we can go and find Light Stone and argue about what to do with it."

"Really? Where?" Zola heard Tyro say "Come on then. Lead the way. The quicker we deal with this, the quicker we can go and find Light Stone and argue about what to do with it."

Zola frowned, trying to concentrate again. But the wind blew too strongly into her eyes and all she could scry were blurry visions. And she felt so exhausted still...

"It's just up ahead, near a cliff. Rose pointed to the right direction," Zola murmured, struggling to force more strength into her voice.
"I can't guarantee it's the yeti, but the blood on the ground is fresh. A monster is definitely in there."

A chill rippled down her spine, but not from the cold.

The winds were agitated. They were afraid too...

She rubbed her eyes again with a gloved hand.
"Its a large cave." Her brows furrowed.
"A large cave... means a large monster."