[i][b]Edward Vates – 8 months ago[/b]
Vates darted along the long corridor, each step throwing him forward with fierce determination and causing the small puddles to explode under the power. He wasn’t thinking. Instinct had taken over and his eyes barely registered the sights around him, it was just a long blurry tunnel to him with the promising light shining at the end of it. As he neared the door he forced his muscles to work that extra bit harder, to go that tiny bit faster, and a coarse sound escaped his lips as he did so. 

As he pierced through the exit into the light he was blinded for a moment, his eyes unable to adjust quickly enough. As he raised his right arm to shade his face he felt a horrible sensation and noticed his next steps found no ground. He was falling head first and time seemed to have slowed down. It was only a moment before he hit the ground that his brain acknowledged the agonising whip he had received. As Vates had exited the building something had lashed across his legs from the left and with his sprinting momentum had sent him flying forward. Due to his raised arm him he landed in more of a roll than a crash, grinding along the rough gravel floor beneath yet another puddle. 

[b]“Edward we need to get up!”[/b] warned Janus instantly, the shock of falling having not affected him as much. Janus took control for a moment and caused Vates body to begin climbing to his feet, relinquishing control quickly and subtly so that Vates did not even notice. [b] “The hatchet”[/b] whispered Janus, causing Vates to remove it from his belt; it was the same one he had taken from the large scruffy man that morning. 

“What do we have here?” said came a sickly voice from behind a beaming smile. It was the moss draped beast he had seen in his vision, the cause of the growths all around the area. His appearance had changed slightly from before: he was now bigger, both taller, wider and with more flora; his eyes had grown even more yellow and were now completely inhuman; and most troubling of all was his arm which was now shrinking from a long vine whip back into a ‘normal’ arm. “I can smell my spores all over you; they drew you here didn’t they? Yet you’ve turned and begun to run. Only a kage could resist such a pull… you’re a host!” The conduits eyes widened and a long black tongue licked his lips. [/i]