Ikiluk's Story

Ikiluk had a rough night, a chilling night, with a strange foreboding keeping her awake to just before the sun broke through the darkness. Her transformation had lasted longer than normal, and no sleep had come, even at the price of hours as a monster; last night had been the strangest since she was first cursed.

The sound of the wind, or maybe a cold laugh, still whispered in the back of her mind as a memory she would rather forget, but she simply couldn't. Ikiluk was beginning to wonder if a small, snowy town was right for her. Once again, her inactive nature had put her in an uncomfortable position. She kept thinking back to the chills that the wind had brought to her -- she refused to believe that a laugh alone could make her shiver -- and what had caused a gust to induce anxiety.

She went through her usual morning routine and prepared for the day to come. Her small house was cleaned, and her dishes done; her closets were checked and her shirts shaken; her laundry was completed, and everything was set out to dry. By the time Ikiluk was finished, a storm was pouring down.

Looking out the window while shrugging on proper clothing, she made her way out and went to see what was going on. In her lethargic cleaning, it seemed a large portion of the morning was already gone. Ikiluk closed her front door and leaned against it, letting the elements hit her as she examined the world.

She felt all the more uneasy the longer she stood there, helpless, against a flimsy door. Ikiluk looked in the direction of the clearing, squinting to attempt to see further. It was pointless. Her thoughts began to drift to lack of sleep; her mind had to be playing tricks on her.

She ran a hand through her hair, glancing back up at the sky. It was hard to think that, in that little town, thousands of little scenarios were playing out at that very moment, some connected to others, and others connected to none. She had a bad feeling, but there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. Her scenario would just have to be executed without hesitation.

Ikiluk pushed herself away from her door and slowly walked down a road, taking in her surroundings. She felt like she should have fled the area, as she had so many times, but there really was no fun in that. Every fleeing led to her being alive and well, in a new small town, living a new life. Maybe she had just eaten something odd. Whatever it was, she was sure that it would pass.

Br'nard paused in his stride as another figure appeared on the track ahead, this time walking towards the Einherjar, apparently lost to the world.

The Warrior tilted his head to one side as he watched the girl approach, he could tell she was not human but beyond that...

Br'nard inhaled deeply once more, scenting the air, there was a sense of magic about this creature, perhaps a skin changer of some type?

The Warrior sniffed again... Ah Water sprite he decided, silently, the same creature that had once warned the Hero Sigurd during his great saga.

Standing in the centre of the path, legs planted firmly apart, The Barbarian waited for the girl to draw closer before raising a hand in greeting,

"Hail Nixe,"

He greeted her with a nod, before jerking his head towards the distant rooftops of Elkhunt,

"Do ye ken much about the town over yonder?"

Ken. The corners of Ikiluk's lips twitched up as she came to a stop. That was one (easy) way to break her from her train of thoughts. The old language wasn't lost on her, but it was more comfortable, for her, to use modern speech patterns. She simply hoped the stranger understood her words as well as she understood his.

"Yes." Ikiluk inclined her head in confirmation. Greetings seemed like too much trouble for the moment. Ken, if she wasn't mistaken, came from the Scots, but whether or not the male in front of her was Scottish was another story completely.

He clearly wasn't human, or, at least clearly to her. She wasn't exactly sure what he was, but, the longer she stayed near him, the more she was sure that he wasn't exactly there. He was clearly there, physically, mentally, enough to have a presence and intelligence, but there was just something not right about him.

Ikiluk began to think back to Norse Mythology, being Norse herself. Einherjar briefly passed through her mind, but she tossed it aside. It was silly to think that he was an einherjar, just because she was a nixe -- yet another creature of Norse Mythology.

Br'nard looked the Nixe up and down as he folded large arms across a broad chest...

After a moments silence, the Warrior tilted his head slowly to one side and continued to peer at the Rhinemaiden, the elusive creatures were known to be helpful to travellers only when it suited them... And often the old legends had them down as tricksters and temptresses.

Finally, Br'nard shrugged his broad shoulders and stepped past her, knowing that if she intended to give him a proper answer she would have done so by now.

"Till we meet again then, Rhinemaiden,"

The Einherjar spoke by way of farewell as he passed the Sprite upon the path and resumed his measured stride towards the town, the rooftops of which loomed ever closer now through the gathering dusk.

Alone again. Ikiluk inclined her head just a bit and turned, walking a ways behind the barbarian. Though neither of the forces she felt were particularly comforting, the one from last night left her feeling strangely vulnerable. She hadn't felt like that in over a century; the nix still had yet to decide if this was bad or not.

She came across the scene of two figures and the barbarian -- whose name still remained a mystery to her -- and she backed off, settling in a place to watch the fight. She had heard legends of those who would fight non-human creatures for "higher beings", but never had she seen an actual fight. This was a once in a hundred life-time chance, and she was going to take it.

Again, her eyes drifted to the figures, particularly the girl. She felt her heart drop. Would she get hurt in the crossfire? Was it worth it to help her? Perhaps not. Ikiluk straightened her posture from her watching place and tensed in preparation to run. To fetch her or not to fetch her was a difficult question.

Mentally hitting herself, Ikiluk edged around the fighting duo and went to Leli, giving her no time to ask questions. She tugged her away from the fight. There was no telling how bad it would become with divine and darkness fighting. The clash was older than any of the creatures in the town, and it wasn't her place to leave someone in the middle.

Nerwen
"Savages don't know how to speak proper!" She shouted. "Like you!" She made a move to slap him. "My physical form has only known 174 years, but my astral form has linked with nature and nature sees all!" She screamed at him. "Your powers died with your people!" She stepped back, she knew she should stop but just couldn't and was sure the man was provoked. Then she heard the girl shouting at the man too, hopefully he would listen if more than one person was shouting at him.

Morwen
Morwen could hear her sister's shouts and jogged to where they came from. She recognised the samurai and man but there were others now, a large Viking, who was leaving, a little girl, she had the aura of a shifter, a Nix, by the look of her aura, a very elderly man and a taller man. Nerwen was standing shouting at the man from the forest, his aura unrecognisable. "Nerry what have you done now?" She sighed as she looked at the strange man.