[hr][hr][center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/191021/9587a7d46582276186f621ca19e71db3.png[/img] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/191021/8bcdbf4f977233584cefab4a72d40e2b.png[/img][hr][h2][color=9e0b0f]Collab Between...[/color][/h2][hr][@c3p-0h][b][color=PaleVioletRed][i]Kiri Hae[/i][/color][/b] [@NorthernKraken][b][colour=#88e312][i]Colin Rivington[/i][/colour][/b] [@MsMorningstar][b][colour=FF75E3][i]Eliza Chase[/i][/colour][/b] [@Almalthia][b][colour=aquamarine][i]Brighid O'Shay[/i][/colour][/b] [@RedVII][b][colour=a9a9a9][i]Zeke Midas[/i][/colour] / [i][color=ed1c24]Samiel[/color][/i][/b] [hr][hider=...can hold my body down][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGdbAcVnT4Y[/youtube][/hider][hr][h2][i][color=000000]300 Years ago...[/color][/i] [color=9e0b0f]The Final Battle[/color] [/h2][hr] [/center] There was a mission. This wasn’t unusual - there was always a mission. There was always some imposing danger, some threat that promised pain and death. But pain and death was the currency the Red Hoods dealt in. Kiri squinted through the downpour, blinking away heavy raindrops that ran down her face and into her eyes. Her grip tightened on her wooden staff, coated in watered down blood and ichor. She spun on her heel, boots digging into the layer of mud, arcing the staff in her hand and spraying pink droplets in every direction. The staff slammed down against the skull of a man with empty eyes and a red hood. He’d been a companion once. Now he was just a puppet with a crimson stain above his dead heart. Thud. An explosion of grey rot, Colin’s arrow through one of the creatures heads. It fell, limbs splayed out in the mud, but Colin didn’t notice. Metres away, another creature, closer and closer. Rotting skin sloughed off in the rain. Already, another arrow, another shot lined up. A breath. [i]Thwack.[/i] Black sludge dripped from its eye socket, tears, almost. Don’t hesitate. No matter what don’t hesitate. Fletcher said that when the undead horde was still just a horde, not a real, groaning thing ready to tear them to shreds. Colin wasn’t so sure anymore how good Fletcher’s advice was considering just hours later one of the ghouls had ripped his head clean from his body. (Don’t think about the blood, the snow, the blade-) Another arrow, another shot. They were losing ground. The magician was going to win. What the fuck would they do after that? The putrid sweetness of rot clung to the air, accompanied by the metallic tang of fresh blood. [i]Death[/i]. It was everywhere. Overwhelming, horrible, scarring. Eliza embraced it, danced to its heavenly song. The anguished cries of the fallen, the constant whistling of weaponry through the air. Thuds and howls as attacks met their mark. The deafening blasts brought forth by magic. It was a distant cacophony, all heard through the blood rushing past her eardrums. She was not the greatest fighter on the field that night. It was evident in the way the enemy broke through her defenses, in the way she was thrown back each time she attempted to advance, in the way she struggled to keep her balance. She was surprised to be alive. Perhaps it was the Goddess on her side. Was She embracing the souls of those who had fallen around her? Was it possible that they had been blessed that night? Eliza watched as a man beside her was knocked down and promptly taken out by an undead being. Quickly, she shifted and, cocking back her wrist, threw a charm at the skull of the undead who had maimed him. A word escaped her hoarse throat and the charm became a spike of earth, piercing the undead's brain. Behind her, she could hear the scuffling of another foe. The Goddess had abandoned them. They were as good as dead. Brighid grimaced as she swung the staff into yet another head. She barely registered the wet crack and thud as yet another walking dead fell. She was methodically working through the horde keeping the others in her group within sight. Her heightened strength and stamina from the change a distant thought. [i][b]CRACK[/b][/i] Another body fell as Brighid stepped over the finally dead she could see Colin fall into rhythm with his bow. The group had pretty well stayed together so she caught glimpses of Kiri, Colin and Eliza all fighting through the horde. Now and again she stopped to heal someone quickly only to have to catch up to the others. Brighid growled as something grabbed her cloak and she almost killed someone who was merely asking for help. She reached down and whispered a healing word as she pulled the man upright. He nodded his thanks and walked back into the fight. Brighid lifted her head and caught sight of the others. They were even closer to that perversion of magic that was being used against them. Skin crawling she quickened her pace over the body strewn battlefield. Brighid wished she had enough reserves to pull off a lightning spell but sadly her powers were more important used as a healer. The hell laid out before them reflected in Zeke’s eyes as he watched on beneath his dark hooded cloak. The numbers were not in their favor, nor was the finite stamina of their forces against the determined embodiment of chaos that controlled their enemies. Zeke sprung forward, each step landing with a hard thud. Two ravenous spawns of death lept upon one of the red guard, taking the armored brother to the ground. With his sizeable mitt, Zeke grabbed one of the ghoulish fiends by the skull, forcing it to give under his might before cracking completely He then raised his heel to the other, bringing it down upon its shoulder with enough force to roll the living carcass off of the soldier. His brother in red met his gaze as Zeke reached down to pull the man to his feet. At he looked back up, he realized his folly; while distracted by his comrade, he had allowed dead to surround them. Zeke’s fist curled up into balls, his fingernails piercing his skin. As his lips began to curl back, he let out a gruff and low rumbling snarl. A challenge. A plea. The response came in spades. Moving as one, the carnivorous carcasses sprinted forth with lethal diligence. The circle around the two shrunk almost instantly as gnarled teeth began biting into their exposed flesh. Within seconds, his battle buddy no longer had a face. Or, he did, it just wasn’t in one piece and it tasted delicious, if not a bit salty. Zeke began flailing back, successfully knocking back some, but not all the horde. They just kept coming back, kept getting up with their everlasting and insatiable hunger. This battle was as good as lost. Holding back meant surrendering. But Red Hoods don’t surrender. With nothing left to lose, Zeke spun with violent force, clearing them back by an arm’s length. His fingers began to bubble underneath the skin as its shape began to contort… elongate…. Even his nailed began to thicken, sharpen. As he grabbed at his cloak with a clawed hand he ripped it free from his massive body. As the rain continued to pour, he looked up at the moon with hate behind his eyes and howled. The musculature surrounding his bones tore and repaired before tearing once more. His mass, his shape, his pores… they all altered under the moonlit battlefield. With renewed fervor, he howled again. His human voice was gone. All that was left was the wolf. The very, very big wolf. Where once stood a man of nearly seven feet now stood a beast closer to fifteen. Zeke dropped to all fours and let out a roar usually seen out of lions and tigers. It was time. He charged forth, letting the dead fall before him. Snapping at them, he tossed their ragged bodies aside or simply broke them into halves. In a driven sprint, he made his way to Colin, looking to him with a wordless demand as he stared forth with lupine eyes before shifting his monstrous gaze to the others and then back to Colin once more. A shadow loomed over Colin, and he looked up. Dark fur, slick with rain, dripping with strings of putrid guts. The wolf towered, taller than anything living Colin had ever seen, teeth and claws that could kill him in seconds. His grip tightened around his bow. This was Zeke, and from the look in the eyes peering down at him through the darkness, he was ready for blood. Colin glanced at Eliza, Brighid, Kiri. They were going to die here. A familiar thought, familiar [i]fear[/i]. If the wolf was here, they weren’t making it out alive. It didn’t scare him. He met Zeke’s eyes, [color=#88e312]“After you.”[/color] Meanwhile Kiri’s staff spun, a blur that only materialized fully to crack against bone. She saw Samael. He was close -- closer than he’d been mere moments ago. Kiri’s focus was split, part of it on the horde around her, another on her companions, listening for their voices, watching for their figures, making sure they stayed upright, moving, [i]alive[/i]. She saw Zeke shift and contort. The roar of his voice rattled her chest like it her heartbeat. But she forced this new revelation to the side, not having the time to examine it. The last of her focus was centered on Samael. He needed to go [i]down.[/i] Kiri had been forcing her way forward, deflecting and dodging when she could, unwilling to lose time fighting the mass. She could only move so quickly when they swarmed around her, feet tearing up the saturated earth, their lifeless voices mixing with the rain and creating an endless buzz of whitenoise. Her heart pounded in her throat. She heard her breath coming in shorter, quicker bursts. The heavy air moved through her lungs like tar, burning her, stopping up her throat. She forced her aching muscles to propel her forward, closer to Samael. The dead lunged at her. Without stopping her momentum she plunged the end of her staff into the mud and jumped, swinging around it to land a kick at the creature’s head. The staff ripped from the ground with a wet [i]plop[/i] before swinging into the gut of another dead. Kiri pushed forward towards Samael. He was getting [i]closer[/i]. The clouds parted and the moonlight and Brighid could feel the caress of it on her skin. The shifting and stretching began. The pain and ecstasy blended into one. The change had been happening for months now and it still awed Brighid each time it happened. Fortunately most of her research she was able to understand how to relax into the change. It passed over her quickly but still felt like an eternity for her. As the shift happened Brighid tore her clothes off knowing that they would hinder the transformation and her movement after that. Soon enough there was a cinnamon colored wolf quickly advancing toward where Eliza was. She was the size of a small horse and tearing through the horde to get to Eliza was less trouble in this form. As Brighid closed in on Eliza’s location she snagged a couple of ghouls that were just upon Eliza’s back. Tearing the arm off one and knocking it prone she proceded to tear out it’s throat. Leaping at the other one she disemboweled it with her front paws as her jaws came around it’s head and a loud crunch was heard. Looking up from the dead body and at Eliza her silver gray eyes the only thing that seemed to express the humanity within her. Brighid whined softly and looked toward Kiri as if to say, “We need to help her.” Sometimes people understood her. Colin wasn’t fond of this form but seemed to understand her better than most when in it. When she could get him to talk to her. Which was more often than not in this form. Probably because she couldn’t lecture him as easily. Eliza spun rapidly at the resounding crunch just behind her. Her heart began to race, not at the sight of Brighid's inhuman form, but at the once undead corpses littering the battlefield mere paces away. She hadn't noticed those ones. Gratitude swelled within her, but she quickly swallowed it down in favor of indifference. She took in Brighid's sappy whimper, following the wolf's silver gaze to Kiri. The battle-hardened warrior, the cold, effortless killer. The hero. Always the hero. Eliza's brow furrowed. She didn't want to follow... Part of her, a small, pathetic part of her, wanted to watch Kiri die. Why? Simply put, spite. If she were to dive deeper, though--no, they had no time for that. Gritting her teeth, Eliza jerked her head in Kiri's direction, ready to follow her lupine friend into the fray. Meanwhile Zeke began huffing and puffing air out of his nostrils as the adrenaline shooting through his veins began to go into overdrive. He finally turned away from Colin and scanned the chaos for one individual in particular. His head stopped as soon as his eyes fell upon Samael in the distance. He could see the other Hoods fighting in the peripheral but his own vision began to tunnel. Their forms, the undead… all of it faded into black. All that was there, all he could see was Samael. Saliva dripped from his jowls as he let his tongue hang in the air, anticipating the taste. His clawed feet dug into the earth, creating a natural springboard for himself to launch forward. He could feel the change in terrain underneath him. The transition from the muddy ground to a platform of wet flesh. He didn’t swipe or nip. He didn’t care to. He just ran, Samael’s reflection in his eyes growing bigger and bigger. Finally, Zeke was there. He leapt up with his mouth agape, aiming for Samael’s head. With a word, with an instant, everything changed. Zeke was on the ground, Samael standing over him, clearly pleased with himself. The recently dead had made way for the beast, leaving a path behind him, but it wouldn’t be long before they closed the gap. Zeke looked up through the eyes of the monster at their foe. His body ached. His body [i]never[/i] ached. He managed to get up with a struggle before staggering back once more. Confused and surprised, the wolf didn’t know what to do. Kiri saw the monster -- Zeke -- sprint forward, cleaving a bloody, rotting path towards Samael, Collin following behind. [i]There[/i]. Kiri changed the angle of her charge, dipping under the swinging arm of a corpse. Soon enough she made it to the clearing, sprinting over bodies and mud. Kiri didn’t know how it happened but then Zeke was on the ground, Samael smiling down at him. Kiri forced herself to run faster, air like fire in her lungs, vision blurry through rain and exhaustion. A soft ringing in her ears had joined in the chorus of sound. She planted her staff into the ground and jumped, vaulting high over Zeke’s form. The staff swung up from the ground and over her head in a wicked arc, aimed at Samael’s head. Samael used his arm to shield himself, but the bone met the staff with a sickening crack. The dark wizard screeched in pain, his eyes wide with panic as he took in the sight of his attacker. [color=ed1c24]“You little c-”[/color] He repelled the staff back with his broken forearm, gritting his teeth through the pain and squared up on his stance. [color=ed1c24]“You don’t get it! None of you get it! I’ve [i]already won[/i]!”[/color] With his good hand, he made a gesture into the air that seemed to summon a nearly invisible blunt force that was on track to collide with Kiri’s body. Kiri was mid-swing, eager to [i]shut him up[/i] when suddenly a force rammed hard into her chest, knocking her back with a grunt. Kiri rolled through the mud, staff falling from her hand. All the air had been forced from her lungs. Kiri fought to breathe again, raindrops pelting her face. Zeke was down. Kiri was down. What chance did Colin stand? Hands cold and stiff, limbs shaking because of fucking course - [i]coward, nothing, useless-[/i] [color=#88e312]“Shut the fuck up you wanker!”[/color] He raised his bow, string taught, shoulders aching with the strain of the battle. The arrow sailed straight towards Samael’s smug fucking face. Sam moved his head at the sight of the bolt, but not fast enough. The tip of the arrow opened the flesh on his cheek as it grazed passed, passing through the skin of his upper ear. The sting was instant and the warm crimson fluid freely dripped down his skin. A flash of frustration fell over his face. [color=ed1c24]“I control life and death! I cannot die! Your effort will be fruitless!”[/color] Thunder cracked above, giving a terrible accent to the wizard’s words. Nevertheless, he was beginning to doubt himself further as more and more of the Hoods moved in. Brighid loped behind Eliza and covered her back. Taking down ghoul after ghoul as they wandered in on the pair. Keeping the way clear she saw out of the corner of her eye Zeke tear through the horde leaving a path that would be over come soon enough. Colin was clamoring over bodies and on his way to where Zeke now stood. Brighid snuffed and tugged on a loose piece of Eliza's dress to get her attention. She saw the flash of irritation in Eliza's eyes that was quickly hidden. [i]Great. Just what we need now, a moody Eliza.[/i] She sneezed at the look and lightly nosed Eliza toward Zeke, Colin and Kiri. Looking back over to the path as it shrank. Hearing the advancement of a couple more ghouls. [i]Dear gods there is no end to them. Our only hope it to kill the source. Eliza and I need to move faster.[/i] Brighid leapt up and tore off the closest ghoul's head with a quick shake. She leapt off the dead one onto the other's back knocking it on it's face just as it reached for Eliza. She tore through it growling as she lost herself in the beast for a moment. When she was sure it was not getting back up, she had torn off it's limbs and shook it by the back of the neck feeling the crunch of its spine, she looked back up at where the others were. She watched as Kiri’s staff almost complete the arc she knew that Kiri had started when she was dispatching the ghouls. Brighid’s sensitive hearing just caught the crack of bone breaking as the staff made contact with Samael’s arm. She heard him hint that he had already won and hit Kiri with some power that blew her backwards and Brighid let out a vicious snarl. Brighid turned toward Eliza and pushed her into a run that made it halfway to the others just after Colin fired his arrow. Howling in an unearthly way that raised the hairs on others she lept to face Samael. Snarling she snapped at his arm where Kiri had hit him. She’d tear it off and beat him with the bloody end if she had to. Samael screamed. Fangs tore through meat, tendons, and veins, crunching down around shattered bone. He raised his free hand, almost a claw. Magical energy swirled around his snarled hand, invisible and unmistakable. There was something wild in his eyes -- bestial. He slammed his hand into the thick fur of Brighid’s chest before releasing a pulse of magic. Brighid yelped and flew end over end as the magic hit. She landed on her side sliding in the mud crashing into a tree knocking her head. Stunned she staggered to her feet and shook her head only to fall to the ground dazed. Again she staggered to her feet and planted them wide shaking her whole body to settle her fur and sneezing in disgust. Brighid shook her head and sneezed again. Listing back over to stand next to Eliza and Kiri to protect them Brighid’s hackles raised and she growled looking around. Already Colin had another shot lined up, hand steady, three arrows notched, pointed at Samael. The bastard might’ve been able to dodge one, but three? Brighid collided with him, a blur of teeth and claws, fur bright in the gloom. Colin hesitated, muscles burning with held fire. Then Brighid was thrown backwards, and the arrows flew free. Eliza watched as attacks went through and failed in rapid time, as the crazed wizard shouted his twisted truth. It was a powerful display, truly. It made her wonder how a mage of his magnitude managed to slip under the radar for so long. Samael...the name had been unfamiliar to her not so long ago. As each attack was deflected and retaliation was doled, Eliza became increasingly wary. On the one hand, fighting magic with magic could be effective. On the other, it could be extremely disruptive. Out of the corner of her eye, Colin's arrows flew. She pursed her lips, deciding a large boulder in his general direction wouldn't be the brightest idea. In the end, she sailed forward, more as a distraction to allow Colin's arrows a chance to strike than anything else. Dagger in hand, she let out a terrible roar and clumsily pushed the blade toward his shoulder. Samael was a bloody, terrible, [i]vicious[/i] mess. The light in his eyes grew more and more unhinged, teeth bared, his arm a shredded crumple at his side. He saw Colin in the distance, arrows flying. He let out a manic bark of laughter. With his good arm he shot his hand up -- Only to be caught off guard by Eliza’s roar. His eyes widened as he turned to look at her just in time to get knocked to the ground with a shrill cry, Eliza’s dagger plunging into his shoulder. Colin’s arrows went sailing uselessly above them, missing by mere centimeters. He struggled and flailed on the ground, each movement nudging the dagger this way and that, cutting deeper into his flesh, towards his venomous heart. He slammed his hand into Eliza’s side, a violent burst of magic erupting from his palm. Eliza was sent flying, dagger ripped from her hand. She sailed through the air, straight into Colin. Samael scrambled to his feet, covered in mud and blood, rain making it drip and splatter to the ground. [color=ed1c24]“You -- you [i]insulant[/i] --!”[/color] Bony fingers wrapped around the hilt of the dagger embedded in his shoulder. He wrenched it out, crimson spraying through the air. Something shifted. A smile carved its way across his face like an open wound. A laugh cracked through the air. [color=ed1c24]“You’re worms! You’re in the ground, rotting!”[/color] An arrow shot through the air, swatted away with a burst of magic. He raised the blood-soaked dagger. It started to glow. The veins in his hand grew dark and thick, a black webbing that snaked its way up his arm. [color=ed1c24]“You’ve been dead for [i]centuries[/i]!”[/color] He thrust his arm out, cutting it vertically through the air. Magic, thick and heavy with crackling ozone, ripped and shredded its way into existence. Reality itself seemed to part. In its place was a tall gash, colors shifting so quickly they were impossible to define. It had no depth, no sense of solidity, defined only by the fact that it wasn’t supposed to be there. [color=ed1c24]“And I… I have all the time in the world.”[/color] Samael turned towards the portal and stepped forward. Kiri forced herself to sit up, rolling to her side. Her fingers clawed their way through the mud until she was on her hands and knees, coughing through rainwater and the pain still throbbing through her ribcage. She looked up, glaring through the wet clumps of hair that stuck to her skin. He was getting away. [i]He was going to get away.[/i] Her jaw tightened, her fingers clenching through the mud. She pushed herself up higher, feet slipping a moment before finding stability. Her heart pounded in her ears. Still in a half crouch, she pushed forward. Her hands stung where blisters had burst, mud seeping into her bloody palms. She could taste iron in her mouth, feel the bruises blooming on her body underneath her red cloak, clinging to her like a heavy, cloying second skin, pulling her back down to the corpses band the mud. Another step forward. Every breath was a stab wound. Her vision doubled for a moment before she forced it back into focus. Kiri was running. The world blurred around her, as indistinct as the portal Samael had summoned. She scooped up her staff as she sprinted towards him. He couldn’t get away, they had a job to do, [i]she had to --[/i] Kiri’s staff cut through the air, readying a blow. But she was too late. Samael was gone. Then the portal swallowed Kiri whole. Colin couldn’t hear the battle anymore. Time suckered, pinched, ripped. Eliza slamming into him. Mud (or snow, or mud, or snow-) soaking his back. Kiri running. Red. Kiri gone. Months ago. After. [i][color=PaleVioletRed]“Don’t pick a fight with me if you can’t follow through.”[/color][/i] It still burned, and like fuck was she getting away with it. He was already on his feet, slipping in the thick sludge, sliding more than running but as long as he [i]got there[/i] it didn’t matter. Metres. Centimetres. No more than a breath away, and then Colin was gone too. As Eliza sailed through the air, she considered death. Though her body was arched miserably, and an alarmed scream pierced the air around her, her mind was surprisingly calm. Death. Their new reality, she supposed. Would it be kind to her? Kinder than the life she had always known? A body, she had collided with a body. For some reason, she didn't feel it. She was just not in the air anymore. Her trajectory had been halted, but her body rolled a few times, coating itself in mud and gore. [I]Would death be kind?[/I] She scrambled to her feet with minor pain, and for a split second cast her gaze to the sky. She couldn't see the moon, the Mother. In that moment, she decided. Rushing forth with speed abundant, she watched as her companions were swallowed whole by the tear in the sky. She hadn't a clue what would be on the other side. Perhaps death would greet her. But she had already decided. Death would not be kind. It would fail her, as all else had failed her. Her father, her mother, her friends. With a release of breath, she too was swallowed whole. Brighid watched in horrified fascination as each of the friends that she held dear vanished into the swirling phenomenon that was born of twisted magic. She had no idea where the rent in the air went, or if it even went somewhere that they could all follow. Kiri, Colin, Eliza all gone. It was closing she could see it shrinking. Looking around she saw the others in the distance. Bartholomew changed and getting bogged down by making his way through. Loona flitting through the mass of people alive still healing wounded. Sadon. She watched him fight through a mass of the creatures and then fall only to rise again. Brighid was torn. Stay here or go on? The time to act was now. Casting a sorrowful glance back at the others, she turned and ran for the shimmering, swirling disturbance in the air. Leaping through she also disappeared. Then the portal disappeared and existence was whole again.