BunniesOfDoom

Would you like to dance with me? (adults please)

@Risk
That sounds like you and I have a lot in common. If you want to pm your ideas, we can see if we can make something work.

Would you like to dance with me? (adults please)

Guess it's that time again. I'm bumping it up!

Blackguards of The Moonsea

The door to the building she was in opened and quickly closed. Serphia's eyes flickered to the door for only a moment. She saw Malcador and her eyes quickly flicked back to the demon, only to move back to the wizard in surprise. Well, that solved one problem for her. At least he was safe and judging by the large book he kept crushed up against himself, he found a spellbook.

As the surprise passed enough for her to turn her eyes back on the devil, it had taken her distraction to close the distance between them. She cursed as she flung herself back as claws swiped at her chest. She braced herself on the ground with an extended arm as she brought the dagger up to slice at the creature's arm. She would have gone in for another strike but the hairs on the back of her neck rose and she dove to the side just as the magic slammed into the devil. The creature slammed into the ground just where she was previously. Arloke worked quickly to start covering it in web to try and lock it down.

She moved quickly. She would not waste a chance to bring this fight to a swift end. She pulled her sword and without waiting for even a moment, she drove it through the creature's back, right over where she knew hearts in non devil creatures were. Just to be sure it would not survive, she brought her dagger down and across its throat, cutting it open. Even if its heart wasn't in the typical place, no creature could survive bleeding out. The devil thrashed for only a moment before it stilled. She sent a kick to the creature just to be sure it was dead. When it didn't react, she pulled the sword free from its back and wiped it on the web before sheathing it once more.

“You.” She said as she turned her lavender eyes on Malcador. “You ran! Like a coward!” She wiped the dagger on the web as well before she flipped it in the air, catching it in a backwards grip. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just end you now? I had given you one rule. One! And you couldn't even follow that!” She sheathed the dagger with a grumble before she looked him over with a quick scan. He seemed safe at least. “At least you managed to not get killed. A Blessing, at least.”

She turned her eyes on the disemboweled man the devil was eating before she dropped in through the window. It looked like some kind of guard. She stepped over to it, ignoring the stench of stomach acid as she dug through it for anything useful. She found a pouch of coins on his hip. She pulled them free before casually tossing them over her shoulder at Malcador. “We may have just gotten lucky.” She said as she dug through the man's armor for anything useful. She found a ring on his finger. It was of silver with some kind of seal on it, possibly a family crest. She slipped the ring off his fingers before tossing that over her shoulder at Malcador too. “Do you know that crest?" She asked without even looking to see if he caught the ring.

She rolled the body over and a sword clattered to the ground. She picked it up, noticing subtle runes carved into the blade. She gently ran her fingers along them before sliding the blade to the side. She would have to find an enchanter to look them over to figure out what they did. Until she did, it was best to leave the blade unused. Whoever this man was, he seemed to come from a wealthy family.

She didn't find anything else she could use. She did turn to look at Malcador and scan him up and down, gauging his size. She then looked at the man before beginning to pull his armor off. He seemed to be close enough size to Malcador that he could probably make use of it, if he wanted.

She undid straps and buckles. As the pieces came off, she stacked them in a pile. A few of the pieces were covered in blood and bodily fluids but that could just be cleaned off. “Let's get you in this armor and we can get out of this hellhole.” She bent over the body and undid the last few pieces of armor before finally turning to Malcador expectantly.

Blackguards of The Moonsea

When Serphia finally stepped out of the back bedroom again, she found herself face to face with a marauder. She let out a groan as she scanned him up and down and he did the same to her. Of course the wizard couldn’t handle the mercenary. The whole reason they were in this mess was so he could get a spellbook and her weapons and armor. Speaking of armor, her eyes settled on the armor the man wore. It would be large on her, to say the least, but the more flexible pieces could work for her. A dark grin crossed her face as she pulled the dagger from her waist. One simple mortal man was not a problem for her. Thankfully, the second one had tried to follow Malcador, leaving this one alone to forage through the house. With a click of her tongue, she got to work.

Armed to the teeth, well more like tooth. She would rather have more weapons than the, now, three she currently had on her belt and in her grip, but those three would be more than enough for now. She had taken the shoulder pieces off the man, along with his gauntlets. She had even managed to strap his skin guards onto her legs. She was sure she looked a fool with her mismatched outfit and armor pieces but she didn’t much care. She may look like she didn’t know what she was doing as she stepped out of the longhouse but the armor and weapons made her deadly as she slipped through the shadows of the town like a reaper of souls. Devils and humans alike fell under her blade before they understood what the stickiness was that had covered their nose and filled their mouth. She didn’t even bother trying to hide the bodies as she went. The longer she took to find the wizard, the more likely she would find him dead or captured. She needed to move quickly.

Up ahead, there was a large group of mercenaries. She stepped into a shadow of a building, pulling it around her to hide and her Arloke as she watched the group parade down the town street like a morbid celebration of slavery and slaughter. She saw children, women, and barely able to walk men chained along in a line, being led by a few mercenaries and a devil or two. For a moment, she considered freeing them from their fate but then chastised herself. Bothering to try and free them would only end up getting her killed or worse, captured. If she ended up getting captured by the end of all this, her pride would never survive it. Who were these people to her anyways? She was here to find a weapon or two along with getting a spellbook for the wizard. That was all this little mission was supposed to be. So she remained hidden in the shadows, watching as the parade made its way past and turned down the street to vanish behind buildings.

She moved quickly through the shadows, her indigo eyes ever scanning her surroundings as she went. She had no idea how she was going to find this damn wizard. If she could just find any sign of where he went, then she could start tracking him but at the moment, all she saw were devils, mercenaries, and dead villagers. When a squad of marauders came down the street she was currently on, instead of picking a fight, she slipped into the broken window of the building next to her. Her bare feet crunched down on the broken glass as she quietly dropped into the house. She froze against the wall when a devil’s head snapped up from his meal. A disemboweled man lay dead at the feet of the devil and the creature had his arm in its mouth, chewing lightly as its dark eyes scanned the room for the source of the sound. This devil’s body was completely covered in spines and its sharp claws were covered in blood from the person it was using as food just a moment before.

When its eyes locked on Serphia, she snarled. One of these days, she was going to be able to get through an area without having to fight to the death against one of these damn creatures.

She held out an arm, allowing Arloke to remove himself from her back and finding a place on the wall behind her. She flipped her dagger in one hand while bringing the sword up in defense. She considered running. The vicious spines along this creature was going to make fighting it a huge pain, especially for her dagger attacks, but if she fled, it would most likely only follow her and track her down. So she prepared for another fight as she wondered for only a moment if Malcador was facing such frustrating situations and surviving.

the Alliance of Liberty City

Eris stalked towards the doctor in her cell, her eyes dangerous and madness dancing at their corners. ”A week!” She roared out as the ground in the cell began to ripple under her feet. ”A week, you left us in here, listening to those incessant machines. No entertainment, not even music to listen to. Taking your notes on your clipboard! We’re human, damnit! Not some fucking labrat!” She reached out to grab the doctor by the throat when an all too familiar voice cut through the chaos.

Crimson eyes flashed to Queen as she cut down the door to her cell. Her hand froze as the doctor took her chance to run. Her gaze flicked between the two before she finally settled it on Queen. She rose up to her full height, staring the woman down as she stood into the doorway of the cell. Her eye moved past her to the doctors as they ran out of the room. Then it was just her and Queen.

She turned and began to pace, her crimson gaze locked on Queen once again. ”You let them take us.” She moved like a predator staring down a prey, just waiting for it to make the wrong move. ”Here I thought you were different but the moment you saw the chance, you let those doctors take us away. Let them lock us up in here. You let them drug us. I don’t know what they did to us when we were unconscious!”

She clawed at her head, pulling on her hair. She was still in the hospital garb and she reached down to pull on it. ”Look at us! Look what they have us in! Like we’re some labrats that they need to learn from. Notes! They took so many notes. Just like mother used to do. Just watching us.” Her nails dragged along her face, drawing blood in long streaks. She shook her head, pacing in the cage once again. ”You let them.”

She moved quickly, suddenly upon Queen, a hand going out to grab at her throat. ”I thought you were different!” The ground under her rippled and became unstable as her power flared out, dousing the area in red.

@Finetales

In Secret We Lie: False Gods & Human Servants

A number of things seemed to happen all at once. When Getsuy stepped out into the garden, he was bombarded by a sensory overload he had not expected. The scent of Melion, though it had been what initially guided him to that spot, was not the only one in the area. There were two others, a seal and the one he was seeking earlier, the deer. Smell, also, was not the only sense he found triggered upon stepping into the garden.

Music, sweet and alluring flowed through along the flowers like a calming tide. It swept through him and wrapped around him like a soothing blanket. Between the peaceful aura of Melion and Roshan’s music, Getsuy felt his knees attempt to buckle under him. He reached out and dug his claws into the doorframe to keep from falling. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Getsuy felt fear. The hunger that was an ever constant pressure in his chest that threatened to consume him at all times, was gone, simmered down to such a low boil, he could not feel its pull anymore. He felt human again and it scared him.

He more saw his form shrink than felt it. Claws extracted from the doorframe and reduced down to simple fingernails. Digitagrade legs straightened into thighs, shins, and calves. Deer skull and antlers fell away to a human face and hair black as pitch. His deerhide skirt hung loosely from his waist and he had to reach out and grab it, else it would fall to the floor completely. His bloody cowl was far too large for his now human shoulders and felt more like a cut off poncho, its hood devouring his head almost entirely, leaving him blind to the world around him. He felt small and vulnerable.

With a buck of his head, the hood fell away and brown eyes looked down to bare human hands, not a claw in sight. His breathing quickened, coming in with short, fearful pants. He didn’t- couldn’t understand what was happening to him. For centuries he was a ravenous beast that roamed the land looking for its next meal and yet, he suddenly wasn’t anymore. He began to hyperventilate as the panic grabbed a hold of him and threatened to not let go. Then came his soothing voice, a calm call on the tide of music. ’It’s calm here, don’t you think?’ Between one quick inhale and the next, Getsuy felt his chest loosen. Melion, his silent companion, beaconed him. The fear he felt fell away with his next exhale, an inhale filling him with the soothing scent of honey and flowers. The music continued and Getsuy practically swayed on his feet as he took a step to the open space Melion offered to him. A second step, then a third. He felt like he was in a dream, one that had been a nightmare just moments before.

He came to settle down on the ground in front of the bench, his back pressed gently on the seat’s edge. Not a word was spoken as his brown eyes gazed out into the garden ahead of him. He wasn’t sure how long the sensation would last. Perhaps when the music stopped, he would find that hunger once again. Only time would tell and it was time he was going to spend in the presence of his dear friend.

To Hold Back The Dark

Sorry! I'm still here! Just been a chaotic time on my side with my mental health.

the Alliance of Liberty City

It had been a week, a whole week locked inside the cell, her hands bound in shackles that rose almost to her elbows with multiple connection points between the two. The machines around her dinged and chimed from time to time. She hadn’t slept except for the times when the doctors deemed it necessary and drugged her. She was terrified that if she closed her eyes, she would open them to carnage.

When Kersey woke in the hospital just after the fight, strapped to a bed and surrounded by multiple heroes, she had panicked and they sedated her. When she woke again, she was in some kind of cell in the back of a truck, being taken somewhere. Eris had really done it now. She knew it was probably only a matter of time before they had captured her and locked her away. Now that she was, she wished only to be let free. Every day was a struggle to stay in control. The doctors could tell she wasn’t mentally well but the personality difference between her and the villain who had attacked the compound were so dramatic, they weren’t sure they even had the right person at first. After a few days of verifying and digging into her identity, they discovered her name and history. When they found out her adoptive parents had gone missing when she was younger, they put two and two together. She was to be held in the special jail until they could dig up enough evidence on her to lock her away for the rest of her life. It wouldn’t be hard. Eris didn’t exactly hide her destruction.

She was sitting in her cell, staring down at the floor in a delusional state. It had been three days since the doctors had last forced her to sleep with sedation and she was finding it hard to not hallucinate. She could see Eris, physically see her leaning against the wall in the corner of the cell. "You’re weak.” The Eris hallucination said to her while glaring. "A foolish child unwilling to let me get us out of here.”

"Shut up.” Kersey whispered, shaking her head lightly. ”You’re not real. I’m hallucinating.

"You know I’m real.” Eris said as she pushed off the wall and walked towards the shackled girl. ”You’re afraid. A coward. A little chicken shit. I could get us out of here, easily. I could free us with just a snap of my fingers but you fight me. Every hour of every day we struggle with each other for control until the doctors come and sedate us. Again! Do you enjoy the pain? The headaches? Let. Me. Out.” Eris growled into her ear.

"You’re not real! None of this is real. I’m delusional. Hallucinating from lack of sleep. Soon the doctor will come in and he’ll sedate me again and I’ll sleep for twelve hours.” She slowly rocked in place, shaking her head as she tried to ignore Eris next to her. She would have brought her hands to her ears but she couldn’t reach both of them with the shackles on.

"I’ll kill them. Every single one of them. I’ll sink them so far into the ground, they’ll hear the screams of hell itself. And I’ll kill you too. Make sure you can never take back control from me. Ever. Again. It’s only a matter of time, Kersey. You can’t hold out like this for much longer.” She hissed. Eris began to circle Kersey, picking at her, prodding her with sharp fingers.

Kersey flinched from Eris’s prodding and poking. She knew that it was only a hallucination but man did it hurt. It felt like needles pricking her skin over and over again. "Leave me alone.” She said quietly.

“Let me out.” Eris replied, now physically smacking Kersey on the back of the head and across her face. Kersey flinched from the strikes, visible red marks forming on her cheeks where Eris’s hand has slapped her.

"Leave me alone!” She said louder. She heard a door open at the front of the room and could hear people talking as they walked in.

“Kersey,” one of the doctors said as he walked up to the cell and peered in at her. “Kersey, who are you talking to? There's no one there.”

Kersey didn't answer him. She just shook her head, closing her eyes as Eris growled at the doctors. “They're all going to die when I finally get control, Kersey. Look at their faces. Remember them. They'll die like the rest and it'll only be you who remembers them. So remember their faces.”

Kersey continued to flinch as Eris resumed her violent barrage on her. The doctors watched her quietly as red marks continued to form along her skin. They spoke to each other quietly as one took down notes, like she was some science experiment. Why weren’t they coming in and sedating her? Why were they just letting this happen to her?

One of the machines next to her cell began to beep in alarm and the doctors looked at it before looking at her. “Kersey, you need to try and calm down. Your heart rate is beginning to spike. You know what happens when that happens.”

"Look how they don’t help you. They just watch as you suffer. Look at them, Kersey. They are just as evil as our parents.”

The machines next to her cell began to alarm with a high pitched ring. The doctors began to move now. One went to the side of the room where a station was located. They opened a fridge and grabbed out a jar of medication. “Kersey, your heart rate is rising too much. We’re going to sedate you now. When you wake up, we’ll get you something to eat. Okay? Don’t worry, Kersey. We’ll get this under control.”

"They only decided to help after you showed signs of being a danger to them. Look how they scramble to get you back under their conrol.” Kersey watched the doctors with sleepless eyes. She couldn’t help the rage that boiled in her chest. Eris was right. They were willing to sit there and evaluate her instead of help. Doctors and heroes were all the same. They didn’t care about them. They only wanted weapons that they could use. Her eyes slowly fluttered closed.

As the doctor typed in the code to open the cell door, her heart rate started to settle down. “Seems she’s starting to calm down. Still sedate her, just in case.” The head doctor said to the one in the cell. The woman took a few steps towards Kersey but froze when the shackled woman began to laugh.

"The world was whole because it shattered. When it shattered, then we knew what it was.” When she opened her eyes, they were a blazing crimson. The doctor in her cell gasped in surprise before she turned to run towards the cell door. The other doctors promptly shut her in the cell with Eris, securing the door with a loud click. The woman stared at them in horror as the metal shackles on Eris’s arms began to melt away. “You believed you could contain us. Contain me. How naive and foolish you all were.” She stood up, her magic flaring behind her like thrashing tails as she looked at the doctor locked in the cell with her. The alarm of the building sounded as she took a menacing step forward. "Tell me doctor, do you bleed?”

Blackguards of The Moonsea

It wasn’t much of a battle after the things wings were bound. Its morale plummeted once it couldn’t use a main concept of his battle strategies. She could see when the switch was flipped. It began to grow frantic, its attacks sporadic. It lashed at her at every chance it got, no tactics or strategy behind it. In one way, this was better for her. She could taunt out attacks and strike when they were vulnerable. In another way, it was dangerous. A cornered animal will fight with everything they had to flee and that was exactly what she was currently dealing with.

She jumped back as the creature slashed at her with its claws, ducking under another swipe as she brought her blade in and dug it into its side and slashed it across its ribs. The devil hissed out and whirled, bringing its spiked tail up and at her. She sidestepped it and bright her blade up in a sweep, slicing across the tail. The devil cried out as blood splattered from the gash. She took the chance to dive in close, bringing her blade up in a vicious slash across its abdomen. It wasn’t as deep as she liked and had to back away as the creature slashed at her with its claws. At this point, it was bleeding from multiple locations and its movements were beginning to slow.

She stepped around the thing, throwing her hand out and releasing a low whistle. Arlocke let loose a long line of silk that grabbed a hold of the devil’s wrist. She gave it a tug as she planted her foot directly between the creature’s shoulder blades. She heard a pop as she dislocated that arm and the creature thrashed under her. She kicked it to the ground before slicing through the silk, severing it. She stalked around the creature as it tried to get back on its feet. Whenever it looked like it might actually succeed in getting off the ground, she sent another kick to it and forced it once more to the floor. She could end this swiftly or she could let it bleed out. She wasn’t sure which she favored more. It had killed the girl she had set free and in a way, that bothered Serphia. She had gone through all that trouble to rescue the girl and he ruined it all with a snap of her neck. Then again, she had to go find that stupid wizard. She had told him to stay by her side but the moment trouble arose, he fled like a coward. She should leave him. Let him die in the damn town. She gave him one rule. One! And yet, she found herself sighing in frustration as she dragged her hand along her face. She had to go get the idiot. She looked down at the dying devil with a frown. First, she needed to handle this thing.

She circled it like a vulture watching a dying deer. Her face was serious and stern as she stepped around it. “Return back to the fires of hell.” She said as she finally stepped up to it. She grabbed the spines on the back of its head and gave it a quick twist. A loud crack sounded as the creature’s neck snapped under the pressure and it dropped to the ground in a heap. She allowed Arloke to drop down from her shoulder and feed from the creature as she went about the room, looking for anything useful. She pulled open the wardrobe and found women’s clothing. She began pulling the outfits out, one at a time before throwing them to the ground behind her. These wouldn’t be useful in a battle. She needed something better.

She pulled out one outfit that looked to be made of a shimmering fabric and was rather narrow. She allowed an eyebrow to raise as she looked at the dress in her hands. If this was as snug on her as it looked, this would do. After some modifications of course. She pulled her tunic off and slid the dress down over her head. It was just as snug as she had hoped. She smiled lightly as she brought the dagger up, cutting the dress short just above her bellybutton. Then she cut the skirt short as well, just barely at midthigh. The skirt kept trying to slip a little further down her butt than she would have liked so she dug through the wardrobe again until she pulled out a sash. She made a slit through the skirt in a few places then threaded the sash through. She tied it tightly around her waist and was pleased to see that it didn’t want to slide around anymore. It stayed snuggly in place on her waist. She strapped her dagger’s belt on as well before sheathing the blade.

By the time she was done making her new outfit, Arloke was finishing up with the devil. He pulled his fangs out from the creature’s side and got to work on cleaning himself as she turned to him again. “Alright,” she said as she held her hand out for him. He jumped onto her arm and moved along her form until he settled on her back in his usual position. “Let’s go find that fool.” She left the bedroom for the second time that day, snatching up the sword that was left behind earlier. She would go find Mal and then rip him a new one for fleeing like a damn coward.

To Hold Back The Dark

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Location: Stronghold of Mistmoor

Interactions: Erik Elfhame Ostriecher V (@IAmTheIsland);

Eboshi Himeri (@Amatiramisu)

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Terran stared at the sword as it pierced through the gate, her jaw clenched tightly in- what? Frustration? Rage? Fear? Possibly a combination of the three. She clenched her fists at her side. When Eric pulled his sword and readied his shield, she cursed. “Gods be damned, Erik!” She turned to the man who was opening the gate, a snarl on her face. “You close this gate when we are through, do you understand me! Brace it with everything you have! Someone get that damn weaver here!” The man at the gate nodded to her and Terran took a deep breath before she pulled her dual blades free. She bounced on her feet as if trying to bring herself to move before she rushed through the gap of the gate.

She had not expected Erik to have only stepped a few steps past the gate and almost barreled directly into him as she came out of the opening. “Erik! What,” her eyes fell on the woman and her words died in her throat. The lavender skinned woman with her yellow eyes made her incredibly nervous. Was this what a greater Grim looked like? Mostly human? She could almost pass this woman on the street and wouldn’t even blink an eye, almost. Her skin tone and horns gave her away.

She slowly stepped around Erik, blades held at the ready. He was talking to her like they were enemies at a treaty meeting. She didn’t like it one bit. This was a Grim. They weren’t supposed to negotiate with them. THey were supposed to cut them down the moment they saw them and leave nothing left to strike again. The fact that he was taking the woman’s words to heart, even sheathing his blade to show he meant it, Tarran’s chest tightened. Here she was, outside the gates that had now closed behind them, no armor, two swords, facing down a Grim who wanted to- what- talk? She wasn’t going to sheath her blades. Not unless the woman did it first.