Whispering Woods

Millicent Bale grasped idly at the edge of his hammer and nodded. "I understand," he stated simply, "Please, lead the way. I could use a tavern after skulking through these woods for the day. I happened upon bandits earlier, but the weight of my armour meant I was unable to give chase I had desired."

Missin:
BLAK KAT
Ansers to:
SIRETH
Last seen:
WHISPERING WOODS

A cloaked figure shot an arrow into the wood. Upon hearing it make contact with a tree, which would later reveal itself to be an ancient sequoia, the figure fled. The arrow was finely crafted, the figure had made it itself. Silver tipped, the shaft was carved with tiny paw prints. Cat paw prints? The feathers were that of a sparrow, a raven, and a humming bird.

Pierced by this fine device was apiece of parchment. On it was a crude message, but one certainly readable. On the back of the message there appeared to be something else.

Maybe a map?

A deep shadow fell over the woods as a thick blanket of fog swallowed the underbrush. Hushed voices and distant wails of agony drifted through the branches. Thunderous rattling, the clashing of steel, and muffled shouts whispered across the breeze. As the eerie sounds of battle intensified, a runic pentagram was slowly etched into the dirt. The earth blackened, withered, and died from the chaotic energies that resonated from the rune.

Let us see if you can tame the Bird of Hermes!

The demonic blight crept across the ground as the rune took shape. Crimson streaks of lightning danced between the lines. Shadows writhed in the presence of the emerging dark power.

Your blood shall open the gate... and your life essence will be clay to be molded like steel in the furnace of Hell!

... Now... You're mine...

Cosmic energies began to swirl and fold, escalating into a swirling vortex of purple, blue, red, and gold that forged a violent tempest. The energies and darkness churned, gathered, dissipated, and thundered like a raging sea storm as a funnel in the fabric of space and time formed. Shadows shuddered in both fear and reverence around the maelstrom. The silhouettes of numerous figures formed within the vortex.

Paragon and the Bird of Hermes were not the only ones who had been transported from that roof top in the city. There still stood at the edge of the pentagram the silent figure draped in shadows. He was the one to act now for to delay any further for the hopes or actions of others would be folly, the desired outcome and fork would fall from his grasp, his purpose would be unfulfilled.

That man's foot slammed the earth, cracking about the rune even as it took shape and he leaned forward, his left arm darting up to throw the chain forth, one of those spikes leading the way. Lightning arced between ground and linked cord, splitting the air with liquid flame in its wake as the object tore across the short distance. It was not through added skill, trickery, or some supernatural property of the chain that the metal stake dragged lightning and fire in its wake. The sheer speed and force of the throw caused it to split the air so violently that these two symptoms were the evidence of weapon's passing. The dirt melted, glassed to red as the chain passed over it.

The metal stake was not alone in its violent press forward. The cloaked figure followed it, another spike held in his left palm, cracked earth, lightning, and fire also dragging in his wake. He would attempt to force it through the vampire's stomach, just after the thrown stake would pierce the creature's left breast if the assault was left undefended.

Re-forged from single link of a chain originally fashioned and employed to bind an entity far more malevolent, malicious, cunning, and powerful than the Impaling Prince, the chain's holy metal would cause the vampire terrible pain but it could not kill him for Alucard was truly immortal. It could be that Alucard would survive unto the end of this reality and beyond it but just because something could not die did not mean that it could not be held forever in chains. That implement was the perfect tool for capture for whatever form this Monster of Monster's chose to take the links would hold him. The bindings would contain him for they had been tested by the craftiest enemy over millennia. So it would be if this man who was obviously not a man had the mettle.

The whole of the ruined circle shook and shifted violently under those within it, rotating nearly a full quarter turn so that one of the points of the pentagram faced north. This act completely reversed the meaning of the rune. It was now a holy symbol embodying connection of five interconnected virtues tied to a group of five. Though some may recognize the connection to the Five Wounds of Christ, the five virtues of knighthood, or the four elements with the fifth: spirit, bound together with a circle. They all resided now within the field of a holy symbol containing and constricting unholy forces.

Paragon leaped back as Dyew made his sudden and unexpected attack. He was still breathing heavily, though he was no longer bleeding. The hex teleport had taken a considerable toll on his energy reserves, and he was in little condition to spar with Vladimar as he had previously. Still. He'd done it. He'd literally just sent them all warping through an alternate dimension. Only God knew where they were now...

The moon warrior quickly set to finding the human that had been unfortunate enough to have been caught in his spell. The mental strain of warping so suddenly would have had an injurious affect on his mind, and he may have been unconscious.

As the High Warden did battle with the foul vampire, his connection to his blood tithe hopefully severed under the ungodly psionic weight of his recent transdimensional leap, Paragon set to work in the shadows, hissing only slightly as the pentagram was inverted into a symbol of holy goodness. Though no friend to chaos, Paragon was neither a creature of the Light. Holy energy maimed him just as it would any other demon.

"Are you... are you alright?" Paragon asked Vicar once he'd found him, if he'd found him.

Vicar's brain filled with disbelief and a quiet unyielding anger. His prison buddies bearing down upon him, each with a shank in hand and the blank prison walls constricting him too his fate, they'd gotten sick of his blind preaching, his wanton violence against the others and now they had him in his grip.

Just like that, it was over, and he was back in the worlds of living. The missionary had been whispering lines from the poem in his forced sleep and his entire body stung and stunk of ozone and wreathed in the fallen leaves until something sounded above him.

Vicar suddenly remembered the active grenade he had primed and wondered where it had went, they might've been deities beyond his mortal comprehension who would be immune to such folly, but he wasn't. Vicar looked to his right hand and signed in relief as he grasped and flexed his fingers that surprisingly lacked the object of his worry.

"Cyka." Vicar breathed back, grinding his teeth and he held up a hand to his god, hoping he'd help him up.

Vi opened her eyes to the woods around her, her head hurting as her nose twitched. The smells were different here, fresh and crisp as she turned her head, looking around. She was in some sort of woods, the green trees around her swaying softly as their whispers brushed past her ears. The sky was bright and blue, so bright it hurt her eyes. She closed them, rolling onto her back as her fingers sunk into the damp earth. Her nose took in the tang of the grass below her as her wounds stretched tight. The scabs didn’t pop as she pushed herself up.

Her vision swam as she stood softly, her knees wobbling under her as she steadied herself on a tree. The back of her head hurt, but not like someone had struck her, more like there was something magical working through her body that made her want to go back to sleep. Slowly she shook it off, her gold eyes surprised to find a backpack. She didn’t remember having one, but it smelled like her as did the things she found in there. It had to be hers then, right? Even if it wasn’t there was no one else around that she could see or smell. Her ears twitched as she looked up and around, slinging the pack onto her back before staggering off into the woods. She headed with her back against the sun, leaning on trees as she made her way deeper.
She had a name, it was Vi. Her brows crinkled in confusion. She didn’t know who had given her that name, but she knew that’s what people had called her. That and a number. 7 something something. So where were they now? And where had she come from? How had she gotten here in these woods? And even more pressing, where was she going?

Her hand reached up and grabbed hold of the necklace tight around her neck.
“Guide me home,” she whispered softly.

His face dipped into the water, gulping up any and all of the water that happened to fill his dry, thirty mouth. When he pulled up, it splashed and threw itself over and dripped from his hair and chin and down his clothes.

He didn't care, though. To have gone so long without water? It was bliss to be able to soak himself in it. Still, he couldn't take long. They would be on his track, without a single doubt. They might even be within the mile range, meaning he had but minutes to continue running.

He pushed himself up, then waded through the river to get to the other side at it's shallowest point. Once there, he rushed on forwards, not stopping until he suddenly collided with a girl who had appeared out of nowhere, and sent rolling into a tree.

Vi gasped, her body already unbalanced as she was hit. There was no warning except for the splashing of water which had driven her closer to the river in the first place and now this. Her hand clutched her head, as she let her body slump back against the roots of the old tree. It hurt. Her head swam and her butt was sore from its sudden smack against the ground, not to mention the bounce against the roots of the tree as her tail crimped between her legs.

“Oww,” she moaned softly, the sudden urge to vomit passing through her thoughts as she took a couple of deep breaths, head touching the ground softly as she forced her body to kneel. Breathe. In and out. There we go, nice and steady. The bile that had worked its way to her throat she forced back down, looking upwards and around to see exactly what had hit her.
It wasn’t like her much. It had a body like hers only different; no tail, no ears. She cocked her head, blinking a couple of times to copperhead that it was looking at her too, soaked through with the sweet smell of water and wild. Something about it triggered a memory, though it was more of a feeling, and she shuddered and cringed away from the tree, the scar on her shoulder twining with the memory

“Who-What are you?”

This forest was alive with a multitude of enticing voices and pale light. But Kalla felt the Force here in surplus as well, it energies drawing her deeper into the woodland fortress, where so many souls had lost their way stumbling upon a path that only led further within the maw of this deceptively gorgeous forest. Kalla kept her focus on the call of the Force, which guided her across the forest floor, keeping her mind clear of infestation from the beguiling whispers that echoed through the foliage about her.

She had abandoned her armor in favor of something lighter, so she could stay relatively cool in this dense catacomb of trees and brush. Her mind was ever-attentive, in tune with the living Force at work leading her to the woodlands' source of its awesome power. She'd heard rumors of an abandoned temple that this forest used to harbor, now a hallowed shell harboring a forever lingering abundance of Force energy. Whether this temple ever existed in the first place or not was of no consequence to her; her task was to scout out the origin of the radiating Force energy within these woods, and to effectively regulate it with her own energies.

The daylight outside the leafy abode seemed to never fade away, although not much of it was bleeding through the treetops either way, casting a rather dim light in the atmosphere. This place, eerie as it was, harbored a wondrous element about it. The scenery was gorgeous to behold, and the creatures within its embrace seemed to be creatures of myth. But it was mostly the whispers, as misguiding as they were, that truly gave this place a sense of true magic.

Kalla pressed on, utilizing her Force Halberd for a traveling cane, allowing it to help her with her balance and footing on the narrow and worn path. Leaves fell from the trees, gliding serenely to the dirt-laden ground beneath her moving feet. The flowers about her seemed to glow with a white phosphorescence, pleasantly shining in the pale solar rays that seeped through the blocking trees that towered over her.

And the further she traversed into these woods, the stronger the Force's mighty presence became, almost unbearably so, rendering the source of it's presence more difficult to attempt to locate. She continued down this path, hunting this fabled temple she had been instructed to find. Should she encounter it, it would make her task as a Seeker that much easier. Should she not, then locating where the powerful abundance of energy was emanating from would be quite the challenge indeed.

Patraeko wondered through the woods, his face full of boredom and annoyance. Not far away sat a massive battleship, Patraeko's ship. It was shaped like a colonial battleship with four sails designed to convert the gases of the atmosphere into a fuel called 'blutrinium'. It had about forty weaponry on both sides with another ten at the front and back, it was obviously designed for warfare. However, it also seemed like it had seen better days. Scratches, dents, metal patches were littered around the hull. Showing that this ship is either old, or has been in war. Of course, there were a massive amount of people manning the ship. Numbering up to around five hundred, all of the people were of different races, ethnicities, skills, etc... This was the important factor of the Payemyndii Clan.

Anyway, we were talking about their leader, Patraeko, who had left the ship to go for a walk. Being confined in the command room does need to be treated by good fresh air and a walk. We don't want the cybernetic implants to seize up now don't we?

Without a word, Patraeko glanced to a being who was also wondering around. A female, with ears. She wasn't part of the clan of course. But, she may be able to know of some edible foods to feed the crew. That would be very helpful.

And so, he walked over to the strange female. Calling out carefully. "Hey there! I kinda need some help, are you native here?"

A voice, calling out to her as Vixey turned her head. It was another man. Her skin crawled as her ears fell back against her head, her body shrinking visibly as a tail wrapped around her midriff. No-she was not a native here, she'd just gotten here herself. How she still had not managed to figure out. Her back was against the tree, blinking as she shook her head quickly, finding that her voice had refused to work once again. Why was it always--wait. What was that?

She stepped forward, slowly cautiously, looking off into the trees. Holy shit. Was that a boat?! She'd heard of boats and how they had big sails and beautiful movements on the water. But there was no watter over there. Was it a land boat?! Her nose sniffed the air and she cocked her head, for a moment all fear of the person with black hair and metal smell gone. Curiosity had the better of her.

"Is that a boat?" She asked, voice dancing across the air across from them, tinkling like a melody of bells and musical notes that had no sign of fear unlike her body language.

The strange character seemed scared... Well, that makes sense. Seeing a cyborg suddenly approach you in the middle of the woods with a massive spaceship in the background would be quite scary. But, she isn't a native. Damn, well it is worth asking anyway.

But wait! The strange tailed girl had broken her fear at the sight of the ship! That, doesn't make sense. Unless she is quite.. unfamiliar with spacetravel. It's best to be nice, don't want to have many tailed people coming after the small clan.

"It's more like a sky/space boat. Do you like it?" Patraeko giggled at the girl's curiosity, that voice was beautiful. Where Patraeko's was deep, boring and showed hints of insanity.

"I need your help though... Do you know where I can get a large amount of food? Oh yes! How rude of me!" Patraeko interrupted himself and held his cybernetic arm out, gesturing for a hand shake, "I'm Captain 56, of the Payemyndii. Who're you?"

Her eyes were wide, looking over at the ship. How marvelous. How splendid. How...big. Her attention turned to the meltal man, his arm was out, hand open. What did he want? She shrank back, tail curling back up as he back hit the tree and her heart skipped a beat. She quivered, but the tone in his voice was so low and so soothing that she let him approach.

"Vixey," she said for the first time declaring the name she called herself. Around her neck the metal collar flashed and she cautiously took his hand in her own. "You said there are others like me?"

Well, it seemed that this woman was amazed at the ship. Is she some kind of mechanic or something? That would be helpful, might as well try to recruit her. The more the merrier. And then they shook hands, well it seemed more like aimlessly holding hands... This girl obviously has no idea what's happening.

"I did? Well, there are many people with me. Thousands of different kinds, and they all work for me!" Patraeko smiled as he spoke, feeling higher than anything around him, well that was what's expected of a king. "Would you like to see my ship? Vixey? It should be refueled and ready to go." He smiled once more.

How could she say no? Her head bobbed and she nodded, releasing his hand to walk forward. Her few belongings were slung over her back, the tank top and pants dirty and filthy as she lead the way. Her hips wiggled and her tail acted as an extra balance, going from light to dark in the most unusual way. She cast a small glance back at the captain, a small smile on her face, her pointed teeth showing as she suddenly sprang forward, waving in and out of the trees like a ghost, not even a rustle of movement betraying her position. And she didn't stop till she stood at the front door, jaw hanging open.

Patraeko giggled at Vixey's actions, she seemed very excited to see that ship. But those movements, they were majestic and well controlled. If he didn't know she was there, then he would not even know of her existence, if he ignores the infrared of course. Might as well catch up. So, Patraeko broke into a run to catch up with the strang tailed girl to see her standing in the middle of the encampment, gawping at the ship.

The other Clan members were too busy packing up and reloading the ship to pay attention to the girl, but as Patraeko walked through, they all somehow saw him. Casting him their greetings, acting excited to have their leader smile and reply back.
The ship itself seemed even more bigger. About the same length as the city of New York. Massive legs held the ship upright as several openings were seen with large catwalks to allow entrace and exit to the ship. On the side of the hull were the words "Seishaw", the name of the ship.

"Ain't she a beauty, Vixey? But, due to my people's position, it has to be a secret. And so, would you like to join me and my people? Our quest is to find peace in the multiverse, and our next course is Misrana."

Being who she was she had no issues walking almost all the way up to the ship, her feet just lingering in the grass below one of the metal ramps that lead into her belly. People paied her no mind, she was still invisible to most of them—as any fox or animal could be when they needed too—and so she just took it all in. The ship was very big, surely there had to be a hundred-no-a thousand working parts in there, all doing one job or another to do—what? He said that this thing could fly, right? How excellent. Her eyes roamed hungrily over the hull, scathing over every ding or nick the ship had. Why it pained her to see such awful patchwork was beyond her, but it looked sound enough. Her eyes fell to the name, “Seishaw”. She had seen some war, this ship, or she was very old—either way her fingers began to twitch with the urge to do something. That’s when people started to take notice, but not of her—of their captain.

Vi looked up at Patreako, the captain, her captain maybe? Was he really offering her a chance to get off this place? To run away with him and his crew? It sounded dangerous. She didn’t much like danger, but the offer to get aboard the boat-ship was too much and she nodded excitedly. Green eyes marveled at the size of the ship, all the workings, the hum of energy from her hull and the glimmer of power and awe. Then turning back towards his metal arm, leg, and eye. Her normally shy demeanor disappeared and she grabbed at his automail, twisting her head left and right.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

The fox girl seemed excited to be invited to join the Clan, and the nod was an obvious yes. That's great! Another person to add more fun to the great group of extremists.
"Well, there are alot of things to go through, but we have to get off this planet. So I'll question you about the gift later." Patraeko spoke, showing that there is a lot for him to do by spreading his arms, symbolising that he has to look after all of the people here.
But then, the girl grabbed his arm. What the hell? Why would she do that?

"Doesn't it hurt?" The girl asked him.

"No, it doesn't. It hurt when I first lost my limbs and eye, but that's all." He smiled, slowly placing his biological hand on her's, pulling it away from his arm.

"I think you would like a tour of the ship, right?" Patraeko asked, without waiting for a reply, he called over a couple people. "You two, give this newbie a tour of the Seishaw. Be nice to her. I have things to do."

Vi walked forward, accepting the tour as either woman fell aside her. She was nervous and she waved softly as they waved back. "So-erm- where do we start?"

"Hey there, I'm Jo and this is Xer." The human spoke to Vi as she leaded the two up the ramp and into the bottom storage floor.
"Oi, don't think that your all special because the King recruited you. I know it's rare for him to do that, there's only 4 people who have been personally recruited and they are members of the special ops." The insect-like being spoke to Vi, seemingly angry and full of insults.

Vi blinked, her eyes blinking to adjust to the sudden dimness around her as she suddenly shook her head. "N-no miss!"
Xer clicked her tongue and continued walking, silent. "This is the storage, it's where we keep all of the weapons and ammo, sometimes the King comes around and does some of his experiments." Jo explained as they walked through the dimly lit bottom floor of the ship, dodging around the other clansmen who were still loading up the ship.
"Experiments?" Here she paused, her eyes going wide as she stopped. Her hand reached up for her collar, fingers stroking the numbers engraved there.

"Huh? Yeah, it was where two of the special ops became weapons. With the successful experiments, one guy managed to rip a hole into a planet, causing it to loose 2/5ths of it's mass and the other will not die." Jo explained, not noticing anything in the darkness. The three had reached some stairs which led to the next floor, inside were a large amount of large cannon-like weapons poking outside the hull with ammunition spread around the area. "This is the first layer of guns."

"So many," she said, wrinkling her nose at the smell. "Why?"

"Why? Because this is a major battleship. Stolen from the Payemyndii's main enemy. The Shadonian Empire." Jo answered, a bit confused at the silly question. The three reached another set of stairs, before walking up, Jo pointed to the back of the floor. "That's the engine room." They then headed up the stairs, another similar room which was almost identical to the first floor of guns

She said nothing but continued to walk with them both, her eyes soft and wide.

The three got to the layer beneath the top deck, the area was filled with large farms, UV lamps and housing rooms. "This is the living layer, where the members who do not fight work to help the clan survive. I'm one of them, my husband fights for the clan and since we're always on the move, me and my kids were given a room to live in. If you noticed outside, the engineers were working on some sheets of metal to build another ship for housing. They will have to continue inside the ship anyway. We would steal another ship, but we lost over 1000 members from the last time we encountered the Shadonians." Jo explained, she then pointed to the ceiling. "The top deck just contains more guns and ammunition along witht he shield generator." She then lead the three to some stairs near the back of the ship. "Up here is the special ops rooms, tactical planning room and the captains quarters. Head to the top floor and knock on the door, that's where the King is. You should tell him that we've given you the tour."

So my brother bought a minecraft server.

Woo

A rather small, delicate ivory skinned girl wandered throughout the lively woods, her delicate, small feet padding across the soft, dewy grass. The trees seemed to whisper to her of their many secrets, as the always had. 16 years she'd been lost within this dreadful haven, 16 long, uneventful years. The Woods kept her hidden from anyone who decided to pass through, kept her within the shadows, kept her safe. Yet, Akane Masame felt only a sense of dread within her still beating heart. She sang to the trees, to the strange birds soaring overhead, always soft, always without meaning. It was this day she longed for meaning as she lay beneath a tall, withering tree.

Silence was dawning on the occupants of the heavily modified BxG interstellar rocket. A underlandian interstellar drive. A gift that is much cherished by the people of dread, without it, space travel would have been even more difficult if it hadn't been there. The underlandians had gave the Dreadians so much, and there president had vowed to repay them. Let it be with gold, or caps. The vessel was even out fitted to be even bigger to carry more cargo, and even more passengers. This was not only a scout ship, but was a colony ship. Most of the passengers were sick of the death and despair of Dread, and Black Rock. Most of the passengers shivered at blackrock. They remember how close to annihilation, to an unknown enemy, known as the Aschen. They would have died if it wasn't for the underlandians help. As the ship neared the surface, the passengers were looking at the trees with astonished faces and raised eyebrows. Even the elite power troopers were stunned, and they thought they seen it all. Especially Kevin, one of the generals of the ship, tasked with keeping the colonist safe, and locating valuable resources such as coal, oil, and uranium. He suited up in his high standard X-09 power armor, with a built in energy shield. It was high grade, being able to withstand heavy fire to most firearms, and even some gauss weapons. He watched as his men suited up. They were going to be the first to head to the surface. He watched all 3 of his men wear the lower grade, but still very protective, T-97g power armor. No energy shield would be on them. All the soldiers had custom color for there armor, all with the UCN logos on there shoulders. Kevin cleared his throat for the briefing as they all grabbed there flintlock auto rifle, and Kevin grabbed his plasma musket, he named the greenshot.

"Ok boys, were preparing to enter a relatively unknown planet, with unknown resources, and a unknown atmosphere. Our job is to collect data to see if it is suitable for the colonist to live here any questions?" Kevin said quickly.
A woman in pink and white armor raised her hand. "Do we have tooo?" She said jokingly. Her name was Ashly.
A man by the name of Grunt, in Black and blue armor looked at her, and grunted, "Yes, now quit your belly aching"
The last man was wearing orange and green armor, and said nothing, but sharpened his standard trench cutlass. They were obviously ready. Kevin spoke again. "Alright, set your seals for your helmets, and lets go." He said as each one of them, one by one, jumped into the clearing of the unknown forest, ready for anything.

Akane rested beneath the tall, withering tree, its spindly limbs outstretched into the slowly darkening sky as dense clouds swirled overhead. The trees, sensing a particularly large group of unwanted individuals, began to whisper softly to the sleeping girl in an attempt to have her remain asleep. "We'll protect you", one ancient tree whispered, "We'll make sure these pests don't get you..." The woods observed Akane, this...young, delicate girl. Without a doubt they knew she would be taken from them, taken out of the Forest. But for now? They would keep her safe, protected.