[center][b]Brown[/b][/center] A peaceful group of humans and some outcast hain used to inhabit this humble valley, they'd recently started to experiment with planting fruits and seeds and had seen some success thanks to their curiosity. It had been three months since the Beast devoured everyone. Or at least, everyone but three. A mother and her daughter and son, who were busy restoring their thatch hut. She knew that because she'd been watching them for a day now. Brown stepped up to the hut and cleared her throat, "I wasn't expecting to find survivo-" "D-Don't move an inch," said a woman from behind Brown, her heartbeat so out of control that her very voice trembled in rhythm. Brown turned around. [b]T'CHI[/b] A dull pain spread through Brown's forehead. An arrow. Small cracks appeared on her skin, which dissolved after Brown yanked the arrow out. The woman's grip on the bow wavered and she swallowed hard, brow twitching and hand going behind her back, definitely reaching for some unseen weapon. Of course, Brown didn't care much about that. "Calm down," "You're a demon-" "No, but the one I'm trying to kill is, and I bet he's the same one that burned the village down, isn't he?" The woman's posture changed completely. What could once be interpreted as complete fear, was now confusion. "He?" "It's hard to think of him as a he rather than an it, isn't it? After everything he's done..." Brown looked at the burnt huts and houses around. "You're talking about that [i]thing[/i]?" "Yes, and I wanted to ask you a few questions about it," Brown tilted her head. "Okay," The woman relaxed for a split second, but then a stone knife found its way to Brown's throat. it had no time to cut as a bright flash lit up the area. "AAH!" After the light receded, the woman was lying in a ball on the floor, weeping and holding her hand or rather, the stump left behind. Brown walked to the woman and pressed a knee to her side, hard enough to threaten damaging her kidney, "Listen woman, I'm not the one you want to play games with. Submit to my questioning and be done with it or I'll just withdraw what I need from your mind and destroy it in the process." Brown huffed and the woman whimpered. "F-Fine..." The woman sniffled and tried to wiggle away from Brown's knee to no avail. "Did you see the Beast?" "Barely." "What did he look like?" "Big, black, orange eyes... Mouth like an a-" The woman grunted and Brown eased the pressure, "An abyss with the colour of blood." "How big?" "I-I don't know!" "Think." "About three bears tall I guess?" [i]He's getting bigger, I can't just watch anymore, I have to do something... [/i]Brown thought. "Was anything accompanying him?" "N-No, but..." The woman hesitated. "Yes?" "There were these shadows, th-they-" She choked up for a moment, "They took people and they, they..." "They what?" "My poor Mato..." The woman sobbed. "Mommy?" A high pitched voice rung out from the woods, no doubt distressed after hearing the scream before. [i]Letting the child see her mother like this would be too much,[/i] Brown winced and with a flick of her hand, the mortal woman had her hand back. Still, she kept weeping. The only pain that plagued her now were her memories. "That is enough, you'll be safe in these ruins for now, but I'd suggest moving to a place under the protection of Lifprasil, that is, if he's still alive." And with that, Brown stood up and walked into the forest. When the girl found her weeping mother, the only thing she saw was a figure in a brown dress fade into the forest. [hider=Summary]Brown is still chasing the trail left by the Beast. He's grown bigger and deadlier after devouring dozens of souls and she realizes that she can't just chase after it any longer. Action must be taken.[/hider]