Witch // Attire // Hex: #800000
Don't count me out, Just cause I'm down
Boy I've been down before
Fate has a way of playing games
And I've been keeping score
The days that passed by after Alex had stayed the night at Jaiden's were, long to say the very least. The moment Alex left her home, everything seemed to come crashing down around her. Jaiden was told about what the meeting that Neden hadn't wanted everyone to come to, was about. Jaiden knew there was a reason that she ignored the message and didn't go, and it was when she was told by one of the others that it all made sense why she felt that way. Neden had betrayed them all. Lied to them the entire time. Lied about who they were, nevermind what they were. Jaiden didn't care that they were an angel, or whatever they were. It was the fact that they were part of the Branded. The same group that not only attacked them twice by this time, but had killed so many they cared about, including Aurora. There was no forgiving that. Sure, Neden may have left however long ago, but Jaiden didn't care. At one point or another, they were responsible for the hunting, torturing, and slaughter of who knows how many of those that were like them.
When Jaiden received the letter that was left for her from Neden, she took it, barely read it as some was scribbled out and re-written entirely, all she saw were the words, Jai, I'm sorry, and watched as the letter quickly caught fire and burned to nothing but ash and dust in her hands. She didn't care. Didn't care if they claimed to have changed. Neden had been responsible for so many deaths and pain, and she wasn't going to forgive them for that.
The weeks that passed by after that were long and tiresome. Jaiden spent more time learning and controlling her powers and abilities, spending more time with more witches that helped her harness her powers better, learned to control her temperament, which was something that unsurprisingly helped her control her connection to fire. She too practiced with knives and swords, as well as simply her fists as she practiced with the patrols as no one was really left in charge of it as Neden left. Jaiden wasn't leader material, and she simply gave someone else the position and helped with the sidelines of things. Helping when and where she could, if she was able.
Everything seemed to finally go back to being as normal as it could as the weather began to become warmer, somewhat. The sun was out more, something that Jaiden could appreciate. She spent more time with the others when she could, occasionally checking on Phoenix and Alex, making sure they were okay. But for the most part she was by herself, or was helping Zoe around town as she was still new to the town, and didn't really know anyone. She got to know Zoe more, some of her interests and likes, what life was like in Arizona, etc. It was nice being able to connect with someone again, and it didn't hurt that they had some things in common.
Things passed by and was slowly getting better when she found herself walking around town with some of the other witches when a few familiar figures appeared before her. Spriggans. The ones that had spent a lot of time with Neden, if she recalled correctly. "What's up, fellas?" she asked with a small smile. She had nothing against them, and if anything, in the past few weeks she grew closer to the tree-folk as they seemed to be rather lonely in the few weeks since Neden left. She didn't understand what they were trying to say, but one of the other witches, who was also a pyrokinetic like her, explained that there was something she had to see. Something was left in the woods for her, but it was told to bring others with her, as she would need company as Hunters had been seen. The Spriggan didn't explain who told her, or why. Just that it was best to go and see for herself. Jaiden was on edge, but was all too curious for what was there for her to see. Four of the witches agree to go with her for safety reasons, bigger groups were safer than being on her own. The walk into the woods wasn't as long as she expected, the small group talking amongst themselves as they made their way into the woods. Walking past a few large trees, Jaiden stopped in her footsteps, as an all too familiar figure was hunched over by a tree. Clearly tied up and still unconscious. Jaiden slowly made her way over to the unconscious woman, crouching down infront of the woman, Jaiden picked her head up as she grabbed the woman by the back of the head, making sure to hold tightly.
The woman left out a soft groan as she was slowly coming to, blinking in the morning sunlight as she cursed under her breath. "The fuck do you want from me, hu-" and stopped, as she looked up at Jaiden. Those same, big brown eyes. Once were filled with fear and pain, were now filled with anger and hatred. A smile spread across the Hunter's face as she looked at Jaiden with a sickening grin, the same grin she had on her face that day of the first attack. "Well hello." she said with a tone of innocence. Jaiden rolled her eyes, trying to contain herself as she looked down at the woman. "I have so many questions for you...But not now. It can wait. But first-" Jaiden said as she made a quick strike with the side of her fist against the woman's temple, knocking her unconscious yet again. "Bring her with us. I have questions for her, but it's not safe here. Let's go." Jaiden's tone was one not many people had heard before, one of anger and even resentment. The witches made sure that the Hunter wasn't going anywhere, as one of the Spriggans appeared next to them, and helped carry the Hunter back to town with the small group of witches.
The walk back didn't take very long as they were on edge and guard, as there was obviously more Hunters to be around somewhere. Alerting everyone as they made their way deeper into the main part of town, they had to know. They needed to. Everyone needed to have a fighting chance and be ready. Jaiden almost walked into someone as she turned around, stopping just mere inches before she entirely walked into them. "Oh shit, I am so sorry-" Jaiden began to say, before seeing that it was Zoe. A smile crossed her face as she looked at her. In the few weeks that passed, the two of them had gotten rather close, and Jaiden was rather fond of her, even if she didn't want to admit it. "Oh hey, Zo." Jaiden said with a smile, and started to walk with her, but first turned back to the group she was with prior, "Take her to the town hall and keep her there. I'll meet up with you all shortly. I promise. Be safe, everyone." Jaiden turned back to Zoe, her smile faltering for a moment as she remembered that was slowly turning to shit now, "Uhm...Zoe? I would like to continue talking to you and everything but...Hunters have been seen again in the woods and, the others need to know. This...This isn't a good sign. What I'm trying to say is, we need to be careful now. You can either stay with me and the others, or be safe and hide. Okay?"
Revenant // Attire // Hex: #422c63
They tried to tell me I was lost in the forest
Like a cub with no mother when I actually was where I wanted
Bite off the venomous head, Follow the chemical scent
Look for the hole in the fence, Take everything you demand
The days that passed by after Violet had last seen Neden went by slowly. She stayed by herself, and stayed at her grandmother's home, but stayed somewhere she wouldn't be seen. She just needed time to comprehend everything, and process what actually happened. It was only when it was two days later that Violet heard what happened, Neden packed up everything and left town, leaving letters for some people. Violet understood why she didn't receive one, she had been one of the last people to speak to them, or even see them before Neden left. They said everything they could have, it was enough for Violet. She didn't blame the angel for anything as she slowly processed it all. Unlike some of the others, like Phoenix and Zada, she wasn't angry anymore. She was just sad. But not for the reasons people may have thought.
Violet didn't know what it was, but whenever she was around Neden, she felt something. She didn't understand what it was, or what those feelings were, but she understood Neden. There was just something there between those two. They weren't exactly close, but as time had gone on, they were very close, and Violet felt like she could have told them anything. In fact, the day before she confronted them, she was going to ask Neden if they knew what she was. To help at least help her understand everything about her, and what she became. But seeing how everything happened, everything was ruined and just too much. It was two days after that they were going to speak and talk to Neden, about everything. Get a clearer picture about everything about them. Possibly see if she could have done more. But when she arrived at the small home in the woods, the door was locked. And no one was there. There wasn't any sign of Neden having been there in days. Which caused a pit to form in her stomach. Did Neden leave town? Because of what she started?
It was only when it was confirmed later, by Rosie that Neden was indeed gone, and left letters for some. She didn't know what was worse, the fact that Neden had left without a word, without saying goodbye to anyone that she knew of, or that it had been her fault. None of it sat well with her, and Violet made sure that she only kept to herself. She needed time to rethink things, but the more she was by herself and stayed away from everyone, she found the mark on her arm starting to turn into a burning sensation. It didn't normally feel like her arm was on fire, but the longer she stayed away, the worse it had gotten. It was only then, that she had enough. She needed to know what she was, and she only knew of one person in town that would have known, or even had a sliver of knowledge that could lead her in the right direction. It was only when she was asking around town if anyone had any knowledge of the darker things, mainly pertaining to ghosts. She spent hours and even days asking, only when she was told that Maria, an old necromancer would know better than anyone. She immediately knew what that meant, and who that was. She rolled her eyes, she didn't want to have to speak to him to know if his grandmother would know.
So Violet skipped the middle man, and found herself at the doorstep of Maria Garcia's home. She knocked on the door, and after a bit of waiting, the door opened to reveal a stern, but friendly face, that seemed to light of when she saw Violet. She was quickly let in and was offered some tea on instinct, but Abuela quickly apologized, which Violet merely chuckled at and said it was okay. The two sat down in the living room, and eventually, the old woman asked why was she really here. The room remained silent for a moment before she explained everything. First asking how extensive was her knowledge of the undead was. This only resulted in a loud laugh from the old witch, who merely shook her head before she calmed down and began to answer her question. With a bit of snark that Violet always appreciated. She explained that she knew most things, if not all, but why was she asking? Violet then went on to explain the real reason why she was there, along with the strange mark on her arm. Going into detail about everything that had happened since the first attack. The weird ghostly world where she was with Alex, and where the two got separated during the first attack, and ever since then things had been weird. With how she was now, and how she was scared. So scared. Specifically going into detail that, Violet wasn't even sure of how much time she had left, as every day that passed by, the mark on her arm only grew more painful in nature.
The old witch sadly gave Violet a look that Violet had been sadly anticipating. Abuela wasn't entirely sure about everything, all that she knew, was that Violet was considered to be a Revenant. Which was someone that had passed on, and by different various ways, came back as something else. Something, less than human, but not entirely undead. But made sure to give Violet a warning, that whatever happened for this to happen to her, wasn't good and if anything it was a bad omen. She was given some old books that may have had some more information on what she may have been, or possibly any connections she could make of her own if she really was curious. Violet thanked her, and after a short few more words Violet left with more questions than she originally had, but may have had some answers due to the books she obtained from Abuela.
Violet wasn't sure how many days had gone by, or how much time she spent going over the books, but all she knew was that she had been at the town's library for far too long. She had gone through all of the books by this time, and had spent countless hours writing down notes and looking at other books that had anything to do with Revenants or the undead. She had learned a few things that she didn't know, or was even told about by the one she made the deal with in the first place. When she thought back on about it, she hadn't seen him in weeks, nevermind even felt something that made her go back and talk to him. For the first time in months, she felt relieved. Maybe the deal had been broken off on his end? But that wouldn't have explained anything. As some of the things she learned was, if a Necromancer makes a deal with an unfortunate soul, then whoever was under their contract would either revert back to how they were before, or cease to exist entirely. Neither of those were the case. But she too learned something else, something that had taken far longer to read about. It was very vague, and even to a point, forbidden. As it was considered too dangerous to even pull off, nevermind even consider. But, there was a possible way for one to break the deal, via soul transference with a vulnerable and unsuspecting host. But it was far too risky of something to even attempt, nevermind something Violet would ever consider.
With no real leads, or anything as helpful as she would have liked. She returned the books back to Abuela. Thanking her for the help, as some of it was helpful, but most of it was pointless ramblings. The next few weeks that passed by, Violet spent with some of the others, trying to help the town go back to how it was. But things never sat right. Even as the weather began to become warmer and the sun was starting to come out from the clouds more, things didn't feel right with her. Like something foreboding was hanging over this town, and Violet didn't like it. But as she aimlessly walked around the town, she saw a small forming group of people begin to crowd around a figure dressed in black, with plenty of weapons on their person. She didn't know who this figure was, but if she wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened, or any misunderstandings were avoided, she found herself quickly jogging over to the group to investigate what was going on.
Fallen-Angel // Attire // Hex: #a39d9d
Fast as you can, And run for your life
Run for your life, Don't show your face
They'll lock the cage, If you're an easy mark
I made a plan, Of sweet revenge
I want to take it too far
The morning air was crisp and cold as the wind blew passed the trees and into the town of Greythorne. The sun had risen and was castly a golden glow over the town through the trees as wild life began to chirp and whistle amongst the woods. Everything was as peaceful as ever in the past few weeks. Nothing seemed a miss. Not until there was the sound of a twig snapping, and what followed was a rubble of foot steps as multiple figures darted through the woods, making their way towards the town. Animals ducked back into their holes in the earth, or their nests in the trees as the Hunters encroached the end of the treeline to the tiny town. "Fucking freaks." one of them muttered as they hid along the backside of an old and fallen log.
"You know the drill, we get in there...And we light them up with everything we got. We've been too nice in the past." said a female voice, who was clearly the leader amongst the small group of Hunters. Two of her men gave all too large of smiles as they seemed all too giddy. All fell silent as they waited for their mark to reak havoc on the town, and without any warning, one of the Hunters was torn away from the others and pulled up into the treeline. Disappearing from sight. The remaining Hunters withdrew their weapons, backs against each other as they continued to circle around, looking for whoever had made a move against them. "I thought we took care of that one-" one of the Hunters began to speak, but was silenced as the woman raised her hand. The woods fell silent again as they waited for a sign of anything to attack or give chase to. Before they had any warning, one of the Hunters reached for their shoulder as they felt something land on it from above. Feeling it to be something warm, liquidy, and fresh. The Hunter looked down at their hand to see a dark, maroon-colored liquid was coated over their fingers, slowly looking up as he let out a gasp. The sudden action caused the two other Hunters to turn and look upwards, into the trees, both gasped, covering their mouths as nausea overtook them. Up in the trees, was a form hanging upside down with a freshly slit throat as blood emptied out of the gaping wound. Whatever had done that to the Hunter had been swift and it one motion, as the wound wasn't from a claw or even possibly an accident.
With two of the Hunters distracted, one of the Hunters fell to the ground, going lifeless as two arrows found themselves lodged into the Hunter's body. One in the head, and the other square in the chest. "What the fuck is going on?" one of the Hunter's called out, clearly frightened. One of the older ones looked at the Hunter that yelled, grabbing him by the throat, "Don't wimp on us now, Matthew. Or so help me, I will feed you to those freaks myse-" the older Hunter was cut off, as a throwing knife had found itself lodged into the back of his throat, spirting blood out of his mouth as the Hunter fell to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Three Hunters down, two to go.
The female Hunter grabbed the younger one, who's name was apparently Matthew and pulled him to his feet. "Looks like it's just me and you kid. Now let's go." she said as she turned, grabbing their weapons as they began to run. The two Hunters didn't look back as the sound of running footsteps was slowly closing in on them. The Hunters stopped in their footsteps as a large, cloaked figure landed in front of them with impossible speed. The dirt and leaves around their feet scattered away from the figure's feet due to the sheer force behind their landing. "What do you want from us, huh? We're just trying to get back home." the woman attempted to a plea, trying to gain a sense of sympathy from the unknown figure. From which, the figure only let out a low chuckle as they slowly rose to their feet, unsheathing two large Seraph Blades from the placement on their back. Dark green eyes peered out from under the black hood as the figure stared down the Hunters. An emotionless face stared back at them. "This...This isn't your home." the figure said softly. The female Hunter let out a chuckle, silently unsheathing a knife from her cloak as she continued to stare down the figure, "But it soon will be-" she managed to say, before the figure lunged forwards, tackling the female Hunter down to the ground, and onto her back, getting in two good punches, before looking up to see the younger Hunter begin to make a run for it through the woods.
The cloaked figure reached into their cloak, quickly retrieving something from their pocket, and with ease and precision, tossed what looked like metal wire that wrapped itself around the Hunter's legs. Causing him to fall to the ground. As the figure began to make its way back to the female Hunter, another Hunter who was hidden from behind a tree went for a surprise slash with their own knife. But as the Hunter did so, a twig snapped, causing the cloaked figure to twirl around and with immense strength caused one of the Seraph blades to pierce their abdomen all the way through, bringing the Hunter all the way to the hilt of the blade, before removing the weapon from the Hunter's body and watched as it collapsed to the ground. Unmoving.
Slowly turning, the cloaked figure looked back at the female Hunter who began to speak up again, "We're going to burn down your town, freak and when we do-" she began, but the figure only picked her up with ease, using one of their hands to reveal a large burn scar that ran along the Hunter's forearm. "You're coming with me." the figure said, and quickly brought both of their heads together, knocking the woman Hunter unconscious. Dropping the body to the ground, the figure slowly made their way to the young Hunter, who looked on in fear at them. Kneeling down, they retrieved a small pocket knife, "Matthew, was it? Do one thing for me? Get the fuck out of here, go back to your leaders, and tell them that they fucked up this time. And that, is a very deadly and stupid thing to do." the figure finished, and with a quick flash, the wire was cut from around the Hunter's legs, and watched as he ran like his life depended on it as he ran out of sight.
A small exasperated sigh escaped the figure lips as they turned back around to see the female Hunter was still unconscious on the ground. Making their way back over, a small groan escaped their lips as they picked up the woman and walked over to a large tree, placing her down and quickly tied her hands behind her back, keeping her kept snuggly against it. This Hunter wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Slowly rising to their feet, the hooded figure touched their side, a small gasp of pain escaped their lips. They didn't have time for this. Turning, they made their way towards the small town that stood just outside of the woods.
A few figures rushed out and looked at the cloaked figure that slowly walked through the streets. One wearily stepped forward, a Spriggan by the name of Percy stopped the cloaked figure with a hand to their chest. Urging them to turn back, they weren't welcomed. Slowly, the figure removed the hood. Revealing dark hair that was held closely and neatly to the back of the person's head by a short ponytail, pale skin and dark green eyes greeted the Spriggan with a friendly, but rather annoying smile that they had seen many times before. "It's not safe, the woods aren't anyway. I took out some of them in the woods. One got away, and there's one more. She's tied up to a tree, will be out for another hour or so. Let Jaiden know she has a gift in the woods, she's going to need company." the individual said, two of the spriggans Spriggans quickly took off in the direction of where Jaiden was last seen, knowing full well that someone else needed to know that they were back in town.
A familiar face was in the group, looking at the figure, "I thought you were gone forever...The others, they need to know you're back. Percy, tell Rosie and the others." she looked up at the figure with a smile, "It's good to see you back here, Neden...I uh...I am so-" the angel gave her a small smile and embraced her in a tight hug before Violet could finish her sentence, "It's good to see you too, Vio...But now isn't the time. I don't know how much time we all have but, Greythorne isn't safe." Neden said with a tone of exasperation as they backed away, before holding their side as they did so. The shorter woman gave a nod as their eyes locked onto each other, a small smile appeared across both of their faces, but soon disappeared as Neden began to hobble along. "We need to go...Now. This can wait, warning others can't. We need to find the others, and let them know before it's too late." Neden made mention to the wound at their side, their tone was urgent and serious, a tone that didn't come from them very often. Something had changed about Neden in the past few weeks since they had left, and Neden hadn't planned on talking about it, not now. Important matters lied ahead, and they weren't going to make the same mistake again. Violet gave Neden a small nod and quickly ran off in the opposite direction, she needed to warn others so they had some possibility of a fighting chance against the Hunters. Warning whoever she could as she ran through the town.
What people hadn't known, was that Neden had been back in town for two days prior to now. They made sure to keep an all too low profile, only come out when they really needed to. They weren't sure how people would be of their reappearance back in town. The only people that had seen Neden since they came back were Kaylessa and Hayden. One of which, was ironically the last person Neden had seen before they left all those weeks ago. Their conversation was short and to the point. Asking if Neden was still the same, and if it was true that they had been a Hunter. Neden confirmed it, but ensured that they weren't that way anymore. Part of Neden was happy that Kaylessa had forgiven them, but another part of them still hadn't sat right with them. Neden had hurt people like everyone here, even killed and tortured some for the 'better of humanity'. It was a lie, brainwashed to believe that they were the worst the world had to offer. While, if anything, it was humans. But now, Neden was back and this time they were going to make sure they did what they could, but first, they needed to find the others, and warn them before it was too late.
With a small hobble as they held their side, they would need to tend the wound when they actually had the time. Which, wasn't now, they made their way through the town's streets. Not much had changed in Greythorne in the amount of time that they had been gone, which was roughly over a month or two, things were still the same. Still the same, peaceful town it had ever been. Something they appreciated. The walk back to the small house that was once their home ever since Markus-They brushed the thought out of their mind, was a rather quick walk. Slowly they stepped through the trees and bushes, stopping as they saw two figures approach the small home. Neden peered through the brush, trying to see who it was. A small sigh escaped their lips as they only saw that it was Hayden and Kaylessa. A small smile creased their lips as they slowly walked out from the cover of the brush that was previously hiding them. "Hayden? Kay? What're you doing here? It's not safe to be here." Neden spoke with a hushed voice. "I've already taken care of a few Hunters in the other end of the woods...I may have been patrolling the woods out of habit and came across a few. I don't know how many there are but...I have a feeling this isn't just a small scouting party." the angel looked around before walking closer to the two, handing Hayden a rather large dagger, with the same strange runes that covered their own blades that were strapped to their back, next to their bow.
The blade was oddly light compared to its appearance, which one may think was heavy and sluggish. "I am going to want that back by the way, elf boy. But for now, I hope you know how to use one. Let's get going, we're already behind on time." Neden said as they motioned to Hayden and Kaylessa to follow them, "So what's the update?" the angel asked as the three began to make their way back into town