Maximus Donovan's Story

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Leader Jaw-Long walked around the village, shops were just opening, and the smell of the jungle had him in a good mood. He was headed to the 12 zodiacs which was a little ways behind the village and academy. His thoughts were with the Monkey and Ox, who were out on a mission, and the horse, goat, and rabbit, which were a long ways away hidden for many reasons.

Despite the people waking up and doing their daily routine, this side of the clan's village was quiet and it just got quieter the more he went away from the village. Leader Jaw-Long didn't mind though. He always enjoyed it and enjoyed the time to himself. It seemed like yesterday he was the one living in the Zodiac temple with the other 11 zodiacs. His team members slowly dwindled, some due to death and others to just simply missing, to 6 before the rest retired into teachers at the academy. He and another Zodiac was chosen by their leader and battled until one gave out.

Now wasn't the time for him to choose, but he did like to go up there and see how they were doing. From the bottom of the steps he could see the Rat. He was always the first one up doing his meditations. "I am not surprise to see you here." Said Leader Jaw-long.

The Rat opened one eye and smiled before standing up to greet his leader. He toward a good bit over him, "Hello, Leader Jaw-Long, a great morning is it not?"

"That it is boy, that it is. I was coming to see how everyone was doing. I heard you ran off into the jungle at night." He spoke more amused than anything.

"Ah, yeah that damn dog. He went chasing after the Tiger once again when it was obvious she wanted to be alone. You know how she can get when she doesn't have her space." He laughed.

"Oh I see, well I don't think it would have been too bad. The Dog does have to learn, no?" Leader asked.

"I guess you are right, sir. Would you like to meditate with me? Haven't done so in a while." The Rat asked.

"I believe that would be splendid." He answered. They both sat down on the rug and meditated as the sun came up.

After rescuing a human from an unfortunate chance intersection of interplanar transit and the Way the woman clad in black leather and mithril hobbled forward through the forest. Sanctus hadn't let the host sleep for weeks and it was beginning to show. Too much of her throne of mankind had yet to be rebuilt to allow her to sleep. Santus needed to put the body into stasis before the soul attached began to degrade.

The mental activity nearby drew the Ductu's attention. As she wandered to the outskirts of the village Sanctus wasn't particular about the building she used. A fringe shack served to store the body in a small attic space with a spare board. Sanctus had difficulty weaving a stasis pad upon it quietly while the host's eyesight began to become blurry. Every so often the masked face leaned out of the side of the head here something more dusty than black hair waved in the breeze. It was easier to see with her own eyes.

The sound had echoed around the village, but Warren was the first to hear it. He was out the door before anyone could hear the sound. Leader Jaw-Long and Max called out for him, but he was already down the steps and on the path towards the entrance. Jaw-Long nodded for Max to head on after him.

With a huff and sigh Max got up and ran after the boy. "Stupid ass dog, never knows how to wait for people." He mumbled as his feet pounded the ground.

The boy got to the site just in time to see the girl, "Hey, hey you! Hey! What are you doing?!" He yelled.

The sound had echoed around the village, but Warren was the first to hear it. He was out the door before anyone could hear the sound. Leader Jaw-Long and Max called out for him, but he was already down the steps and on the path towards the entrance. Jaw-Long nodded for Max to head on after him.

With a huff and sigh Max got up and ran after the boy. "Stupid ass dog, never knows how to wait for people." He mumbled as his feet pounded the ground.

The boy got to the site just in time to see the girl, "Hey, hey you! Hey! What are you doing?!" He yelled.

Ductu turned from astride a rafter beside the wide plank she'd laid down. There wasn't enough time left to move the host any more let alone aggressively. She ignored the man lying her host's head down on a thick layer of psimass in iridescent spiderwebs. Ductu reached out to the pattern plucking a single string with enough power for the humm to trigger others. The periodic syncing sounded much like wind chimes as a porcelain face bend upward out of the body away from silk-like strands crawling upward. The glinting silk at the head wound hid a frost of neural branches from Ductu's attempts to rebuild the throne of mankind. A near quarter of the host's head was missing.

Ductu raised a leg out of the host's own the black leather became a travel-worn brown and mithril plated lithe legs poured out of it. The leg stepped lightly upon the ceiling and pulled the rest of Ductu's partly mithril-plated body free. The white silken evening gloves with pale frills near the shoulder came last leaving the woman behind wearing far simpler leather traveling armor. The rest of Ductu's skin was a perfect matte black her face an unmoving white porcelain mask peering down at the man from the ceiling. A drifting cloud of black emerged from her head with a black fog cloud for hair. In the dark of the shed one might find it difficult to see her whole body smoking slightly as motes ranged to investigate the nearby environment. Ductu clasped tiptoe and fingers to the ceiling with no apparent support to her at all. A long curved two handed sword grew from behind her while she busied with manifesting.

The holes in the white mask turn silver with bright red irises as the mouthless face spoke in a dusty hush, "There's nothing for you here, Humankind. Go away."

If Warren had a tail it would wagging like crazy. "I am sorry, I am told I shouldn't come on too strong." He looked around, he couldn't see Max, but could hear him coming. He had about a few minutes to get this under control by himself. "I don't mean any harm. I just heard the crash and wanted to see if anyone or thing was alright. Are you okay?" He was more interested in this being than he was afraid or worried. He looked over where she was, he assumed it was a she, and smiled.

Max stopped next to the boy, almost a foot taller than him, and looked at the situation. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, "Can we help you? Are you lost? Or are you here from something evil?" Max asked.

While facing the man intently a right leg gracefully bent down to make the barest touch to a rafter. Her body torqued letting one hand free to glide a silken tiptoe to the side of an opposing rafter with her left leg. Astride she loosed her grip from the roof to turn upright. Attentive eyes might notice the legs pivot in a larger freedoms than anything that had bones inside constrained only by the hard armor plates upon her surface.

There was no strain in her quiet sandy voice from where silver-red eyes never left sight of the man, "The host's soul can take no more wakeful hours. The host must rest but wherever one may lie I am not lost. That is all."

She loosed her back leg and knelt slowly through the air to let herself down from the rafters with both hands as if elegantly pouring through the air than one should fall through it. There wasn't even a barest crater of dust where her toes struck earth. The tiniest rim around the mithril tip along what looked like matte thigh socks pushed upward in the dirt.

The breastplate had ornate designs upon as in the better light much that wasn't contained by porcelain mask or evening glove was clad in armor-lace. Her severe if attractive hourglass figure bent what looked like shining metal plate in ways it ought not to do much less with without appreciable noise. Especially so without breaking a spine.

The mask and head torqued side to side dragging the black hair nimbus with it, "None know my name yet. So by the will of Myrkul's Vein none can ask me to do evil. But I must defend my host."

Both guys looked at each other and then back at the creature. Warren was intrigued while Max was cautious. She was something none of them had seen before and didn't know how to go by it. Max grabbed the boy's shoulder and gave him a gentle shove backwards. "Go get Leader, he will need to be here for this."

The boy looked back at him, "Why me?" He asked. Warren didn't want to go and missing something awesome happen. It wasn't everyday that he could see some alien mist lady and he hadn't been on a mission in some time. Apparently he needed to work on his entrance and thinking a little more clearly before acting. Warren's lips turned into a pout and his eyes into puppy dog eyes. "Please can we handle this with just the two of us?"

Max glared at the boy, "No, he is waiting to be informed anyway. You are the only one here that can get to him and run back the fastest. Now go." He ordered.

Warren wasn't pleased. His face went from begging to a glare, "Fine." He disappeared into the trees within seconds. Max turned around back to the creature.

"Rest up if you need to or if, er, your host needs to. We really mean no harm to you if you are not planing to harm us, but you must understand that I cannot leave you here by yourself. I have people to protect like you have your," his hand suggested this host thing, "host. Do you need food? Water? When the boy returns he can fetch you some." Max spoke calmly, his eyes never leaving her.

Sanctus shrugged and eyed the boy as he left looking over to her host upon the board. One could make fibre-wreathed boots out in the murk of the shed. Ever on tiptoe she left faint divots in the dust raising her left leg to pirouette sideways to better spy the humankind Warren as he left. Quick indeed.

Sanctus spoke from that position with little strain shaking her head, "I only harm humankind on your request that meets Myrkul's Dictum. Then we can stay quietly watching the host. Huan cannot consume she is in stasis. Once the soul has recovered I can feed with her body later."

Slowly bending up straight she shrugged, "It is good to meet polite humankind. I need nothing on my own what little I require I can take from my host. Her throne of mankind is too damaged for the soul to act on its own."

Sanctus raised a hand and curled a finger at him, "If you must see then come and see. Do you have any that can repair damaged humankind as they should be? My repairs will alter the inherent nature of the throne."

Her right leg raised to spiral her body in place and hop up to the rafters. The long black nimbus that served as her hair billowed behind her. She tiptoed with a small bounce to where she left the board in the ceiling. The host human Huan's frost-silken appearance seemed at peace if not for a skull that ended with a diagonal cut just above the brow on one side.

Max scratched the back of his head, she was hard to understand, but from the looks of it she or her host needed a healer and the only one they had was the leader. Looking back over his shoulder he thought about his people and their safety. This girl or alien didn't seem dangerous, for now.

"We have a healer if that is what you mean, that is who the boy is going get." Max said, his eyes watching the weirdness of her body. "Where do you come from, besides the sky that is?"

Ductu with thin gloved fingers put her hand on her porcelain mask to pull it free with a small tuft of black dust. The dust squirms for a moment then a impish female face forms from a lump of shapeless dust. Silver lined red irises open from behind eyelids but her face squirms with the effort of adding the 'holes' one might expect humans to have in their face. Her ears came afterward and she rubbed at them pondering the right texture.

With a lagged impish smile her face moves incompletely for a moment as if the flesh is unfamiliar with being a face. Her voice then sounds less dusty shaped with a mouth rather than air, "We are from the Black Storm. Both of us built by human hands. We have escaped it now and come from a new ephemeral plane of growth we have found, Genesis. Have you ever dreamed of a plane of infinite grain, Humankind?"

The drifting cloud that served as her hair slowly braided itself and fell as if solid as she drifted around on one foot, "You may see us there now, harvesting. The peaceful place is quite boring."

She flourished with the mask in one hand, "I'm human enough to need more stimulation. Some people ride the four legged animals. I ride you humans. There's none of *either* in Genesis."

Shrugging she looked at the broken Huan, "I'm supposed to ask but the broken ones are free."

"130 seconds ETA to insertion, GH-24. Ready yourselves."
The voice crackling over the radio belonged to the pilot, steadily flying an Overlord chopper to a clearing in the vegetation. Inside of the passenger seats of the helicopter, three young men sit unsteadily, cradling an assortment of weapons in their laps. The lads are all wearing a gray-green digital camo shirts and green khaki pants, and from there the gear becomes more personalized, some of them wearing black body armor, one other wearing a lightly kitted mag carrier.
Across from them sits a grinning older fellow, seemingly their leader. On the shoulder of his solid green shirt lies the words WRAITH - JULES R. #22, a ranking and name, his gear and blue jeans distinguishing him from the rest of the soldiers sitting in the Overlord. Still grinning maliciously, he pulls the mouthpiece of his radio headset closer to his face, and says, in a seemingly sympathetic tone, "Hey, how many of y'all are carrying 7-6-2 by 39? I'm going to need it when you get your asses kicked," holding up his RPD.
One of the men, with the name SPECTER - WILL F. #882 written on his jacket laughs and says, "You know, Jules, you chew through that stuff way too fast, spraying blindly at every frog that chirps." SPECTER - JONES K. #637, checking his 590A1's action, winces slightly, and jokingly says, "Yikes, Will, you'll be the first to get shot in the back, just be careful."
The third Specter, SPECTER - HOWARD L. #979 seemingly new to the experience, turns pale and moans, "I think I'm gonna be sick..." to which he's met with several exclamations demanding that he doesn't throw up anywhere near them.

The helicopter slowly lowers itself into a clearing, and all of the men quickly jump out, shuffling through the heavy winds thrown down by the blades of the chopper to gather together. The Overlord quickly raises itself up again, taking off towards the northwest.
The men slowly gather themselves, grouping together, and Jules withdraws a folded map that he opens, holding it out for the group.
"Alright. We make our way to this riverbank, where Howard and I will locate the crashed drone and snatch the black box out of it. It's optional to take anything else out of the thing and if we can, we will. Once we reach the river, Jones, Will, both of you will scout out west to find an extract point. There're stories of local hybrids here, so it's a good idea to keep an eye out. Might be primitives, so watch your back, poison's a nasty thing to deal with. In all fairness, though, interactions with locals hasn't been recorded in a while, so we should be alright in that department. Just carry a loaded gun. Once we get to extract we can get out of here. Any questions?"
There's no response from any other of the team beyond a nod from each, and they set off, deeper into the jungle.