Fantasy Don't Open The Damned Box

[DemonRider404]

Character Sheets Page: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/dont-open-the-damned-box-cs.294990/

Places Page: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/dont-open-the-damned-box-places.294991/

 

[DemonRider404]

~Prologue~
​

Leaves and loose rocks crunched under the lone man's feet. The afternoon sun was glittering through the treetops, the air was warm...it was a perfect day to be walking through the woods. He smiled to himself as he carefully stepped over some larger stones, bracing himself on a large boulder beside him. He had strayed a little ways from the set path, but it was alright. He knew these woods like the back of his--


The once-steady stone gave out from under his hand. He cried out as he fell to the forest floor, where he lay stunned for a moment or two. He pushed himself up off the damp ground, and checked himself shakily for wounds; he found that his palms were bleeding from some jagged rocks on the ground, but other than that he seemed physically sound. He looked around, trying to piece together what in the world had just happened. He gathered that he was in...a cave? Where had this come from?


A glimmer of light caught his eye. Natural human curiosity kicked in, and he slowly walked toward the back of the cave. There appeared to be something set into the wall of the mysterious cave, set neatly into a little niche...a box. Wondering how things could get any stranger, the man reached carefully for the box. It was small--it looked like it could be held with two hands--but when he pulled it out of the wall, the weight of the thing nearly pulled him to the ground. How could something so small be so heavy?!


After regaining his bearings, the man turned toward the entrance of the cave to get a better look at this strange little box. It was covered in elaborate etchings, what looked like...runes. Elvish, maybe? Oh, what did it matter? This thing was gold-plated...or maybe even solid gold, considering how heavy it was! He could make a fortune off of this! He had to run back to his house, take it to Lyngcaster, see if he could sell it.


A quiet clicking noise stopped him. He looked around frantically. The clicking and mechanical turning noises continued, but he couldn't locate the source of them. Then...he looked down, at the heavy gold box in his hands, noticing the blood from his hands smearing its shiny surface. The runes had begun glowing.


The box was opening itself.


He threw the box to the cave floor and ran as fast as his legs would carry him, tripping over rocks, plants, and his own feet trying to escape. Some ways down the path, he heard a muffled "boom," and seconds later, some invisible shockwave knocked him forward, and the impact with the ground rendered him unconscious.

 

[Cakepan]

It was a wonderful day to be outside, the sun was shining directly onto the elves body, his face lighting up with a bright smile as he was wandering outside by himself, gathering food for himself. Hunting down boars and gathering berries so that he could cook for later. He wasn't always fighting, well, not all the time at least. This is what he'd do whenever he'd have his off times, hunt for meat and gather herbs and fruit to cook, and oh boy did he love it.


Vallarians ears twitched when all of a sudden he'd hear a boar snort just a few feet from him, it was the perfect chance for him to kill it. The boar would be chewing at the luscious green grass beneath him, right next to a little creek. Vall snuck lowly behind a bush, his armor clanking only slightly but not enough to scare the boar away and have him run off. He'd be angry for sure if that thing got out of his grasp.


Just as soon as he was about to strike, all of a sudden he heard a faint 'boom' noise in the distant, his ears twitching rapidly as he looked around. That wasn't an explosion was it? Did someone set up bombs as a trap for the local soldiers patrolling about? He had thoughts about it, but he wasn't scared. The boar had lifted it's head up off the ground, stopping its little lunch time to look towards where the noise came from. Valls head continued to scan, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. 


He thought everything was okay, until that invisible shockwave knocked him down to the ground, his armor clanking against each other. The boar didn't fall, it stumbled but held its ground, before squealing and running off. Vall picked himself off the ground, holding at his waist ready to attack at anyone trying to stir up trouble, but alas there was nothing. He looked around once more, his head scanning much more furiously. He was confused, alert, and ready. "The hell was that?" He didn't see anything unusual, the trees being shook by the shockwave that had took place. He'd watch the loose leaves fall to the ground, before they eventually stopped. 


"Better head off to Lyngcaster, see if anyone else heard that noise. Or got hit by that inviso-wave. Tch." He shook his head, making his way for the main city that was just a few minutes away from him.

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice groaned. The bay-colored mare beneath her tossed her head and nickered worriedly; Alice responded by weakly patting the horse's neck. "Don't worry, Astra," she muttered. "I'll be okay."


Even as she attempted to comfort her animal companion (who sighed in a very human manner), Alice reached up and felt the place where her right wing had broken. She hissed in pain. That damn shockwave--what had it been? Earthquake? Magical backfire?--had knocked her off a fairly high tree branch while she slept, and her wing had paid a good chunk of the price. Her almost-signature riding cloak was hurting the hell out of it, but she refused to take it off while in the open.


Another thought came to her as the great central city of Lyngcaster rose up on the horizon: she'd have to take it off if someone was going to fix this thing. She internally cringed at the thought. Alice never took her riding cloak off. She considered setting and caring for the wing herself just to avoid having to go into this massive city, but one touch of the injured limb, and the searing pain that tore through her, told her that wasn't happening.


So, she sighed, pulling her hood up and ensuring her bandage remained over her eye, and resigned herself to facing some stares for the sake of her health. She would be in and out, no problem, and go hide in the forest as she always did. Now, to find a doctor that wouldn't discriminate...or completely screw this up. This was gonna hurt enough as is.

 

[Cakepan]

It didn't take Vallarian long till he eventually got through the large gateway of the city, it was open to the public since it was a public market and a home for nobles and villagers who seeked out to have extra protection. He gazed around the city, people rushing about the streets as they talked to one another in a panic, not screaming but just scared. Had they felt that too? Did they hear it?


Vall was here to find somebody, someone who can give him answers. He was going to seek out the head guardsman, the commander of him and elite squadron. As he walked about the streets, heading towards the center which where the barracks were, he saw people running with baskets full of fruits and some women with their children in their arms, holding them near and dear. 'This isn't the end of the world. Is it?' Vall quietly thought to himself.


Eventually he walked up to the barracks, opening the wooden doorway with ease. He spotted his commander at the far back of the room, not many soldiers were in the barracks at the time, but the few that were, were either resting on their wooden beds or talking to one another. Seems like everyone felt it. "Oi, Ramsel." That was the commanders last name, they only knew him by his last. He was a human, just as tall as Vallarian but with much shorter hair than he did. "What was that shock all about? Also that.. Explosion?"


Ramsel had no clue what it was. "If I knew, I'd already be telling the entirety of the city to evacuate into their homes. For now, all we can do is sit and wait."


"No one's going to do anything about this?" Vall replied to him, confused and shocked that the commander wasn't taking any action. Odd.


Ramsel just shook his head in return. "I'm sure the rogues quarter will send some people out to investigate it, for now, we'll wait to get word from whatever it is. There's no threat here, not yet at least. So for now soldier, just sit tight."


"There's people running out there like it's the end of the World. Are you sure there's nothing we can do?"


"If you're so persistent about doing something, why don't you head down to Docs office. I'm sure there are a couple wounded that have injuries."


Vallarian groaned, waving his hand as he began to exit the building and make his way towards the west pavilion of the city. Making his way down to the Doctors office. Maybe there was some people in need of medical help, although not his specialty in healing or anything like that, he was the type to seek out anyone in need.

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice looked around at the minor chaos spreading through the city. Not that Lyngcaster was usually calm and quiet, as big as it was, but right now...children ran screaming, mothers chased after them, groups of maidens and of young men whispered furiously to one another, small animals scrambled around in a panic...it was like (at least to the children) the whole damn world was falling apart.


"Did you hear that?"
 


"Did you feel it?"


"Are we at war?"


"Are we gonna die?"


All the unusual commotion was making Astra nervous; Alice ran her hand along the mare's neck soothingly. With as much as she should have been panicking with the rest of the populace, she couldn't help but be relieved that they weren't paying attention to her.


Her relief was somewhat short-lived, unfortunately; she did find a medical center, but it was almost as busy and chaotic as the city square. She pursed her lips and sighed. Astra responded to the gentle tug on the reins, standing still and patiently awaiting Alice's decision--to go in and wait, or to turn around and...hell, she didn't even know what she'd do. Though it wasn't immobilizing like it had been previously, the pain was still agonizing. Plus, the damn thing wouldn't be of any use if it healed crooked.


She scanned the crowd, taking a general census of races. There were, of course, humans, some elves, what looked like a few halflings, and other assorted creatures (some of which she couldn't name...and of course those sturdy dwarf bastards were probably okay). But none with wings that she could tell. She wondered--as she dismounted and started to tie up Astra's reins anyway--if she could maybe catch a doctor at his least busy, ask for some privacy...hope it didn't come off sounding too strange.


Alice tied up her horse, patting her neck a couple of times and murmuring that she'd return, and made her way toward the disordered crowd of wounded. Fussing with her hood and cloak, she observed the crowd and the surrounding area, looking for some sign of order or...something. She did notice, though she didn't think much of it, an armored elf heading toward the throng.


Gods, her wing was hurting...

 

[Cakepan]

Vall saw the commotion up ahead, he knew the doctors and the nurses were having a hard time keeping up with all the people rushing inside, trying to seek attention for whatever it may be. Well, if he wasn't going to help healing he was going to help the healers.


He noticed the girl standing by the doorway with her hood over her head, strange. He thought to himself, who is she? He didn't bother to ask, he only observed her. "'Scuse me miss." He'd walk past her, taking a look back to glance down to see if he could look at her face. Of course it made it hard for him with her hood down, but he good only see her mouth. For now. 


"Alright alright ALRIGHT!" Vallarian yelled inside the building, people cluttering against each other before they heard the deep and commanding voice. "Settle down! You're giving these nurses a hard time. If you're going to be chaotic like this, you're not going to get ANY treatment. Now SIT DOWN and RELAX. Let these nurses aid you one at a time. Now line up!" The nurses looked with disbelief as they thought they wouldn't listen to Vall, but the assortment of people actually listened to his voice! They began to funnel backwards, creating a line outwards so one by one they could get some healing done. 


"That's much better." Vallarian took off his helmet, shaking his long black hair about as he went over and sat down on a chair on the opposite side of the building, just watching the people being guided to beds and being aided as he watched. 


His eyes drifted towards the doorway, trying to see if he could see that girl with the hood again. It was no use, she was far behind in the line if anything. 


A nurse walked by and patted Vall on the shoulder, thanking him for bringing order into the medical hall. He would simply smile and nod right back. 

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice glanced around. Things were calmer now (that voice had even spooked her a little...) but the wounded were still too busy bemoaning themselves to worry about anyone else. She peered around the line, scouting out the entrance. She saw the soldier sitting off to the side, keeping an eye on things, wondered if she could sneak past him. This was a fairly long line...


She supposed she could wait patiently, but the longer she waited here, the more anxious and frustrated she would get. It would be much too complicated (and far too risky) to try any form of magic. It wouldn't take long for people to start noticing someone in a dark cloak standing around. The break in her wing ached. What to do, what to do? Go around the back, maybe? Try to sneak past then? Hmm...


She stepped out somewhat from the line to scope out the area and figure out what to do. Instinctively, she pulled her cloak around her. The fabric tightened around her wing and she hissed in pain, garnering a couple of concerned glances. She bit her lip and sighed.


What to do?

 

[Cakepan]

Vallarian smiled as he saw that order was restored, things were calming down. Glad he could help with that at least right? He watched the wounded being treated one by one, he never understood healing and really had no interest in it. He didn't get hurt often, yet the scars on his body say otherwise. Of course once he got hit he just got back up, nothin' stopped him.


His ears twitched up as he saw that figure step out of line, was it the girl again? She had the hood on, so it must have been. He squinted, looking back at that girl in the hood, he still couldn't get a good read on her face. 


"Oi, you in the hood. Come here will ya?" He rose his voice that way she could hear him. He meant well, but his tone was that of a soldier, intimidating of course.


Other people glanced around for the person in the hood, though they just went back to their line waiting and being treated. Vall crossed his arms and awaited the girl to approach him. None of the people inside the line would patronize anyone if they were being called up now would they? 

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice's heart about jumped into her damn throat. That soldier couldn't be talking to her...could he? She glanced around quickly; she was the only hooded person that she could see. Gripping the front of her cloak and swallowing, she looked up at the man who had called her, considering her options. With use of only one eye, it was difficult to gauge his exact height, but he was certainly much larger than her. And running would only garner more attention.


Besides, what did he want? She couldn't have done anything wrong. She sighed and made her way in his direction, quickly running her fingers over the bandage.


Standing directly in front of him, Alice had to crane her neck to look him in the eye. She was fairly tall for a woman, but this soldier was indeed much, much taller; she guessed over a head height.


"You called me, sir?"

 

[Cakepan]

Vallarian squinted as she walked near him, he could start to see her face more clearly. He stood up from his chair, he knew he scared her a bit but wanted to ease the tensions. Him being a big man and a soldier didn't help all that much. He stood up from his chair and looked down upon her. 


"What are you in here for? Also." He would flick her hood just slightly, not enough to move it off but just enough to gesture it. "Take this off will ya? It makes ya look like a shady person." He snickered quietly to himself.


While those two were beginning to have a little conversation, the nurses and doctors continued to take each patient one by one, treating their wounds and letting them out the door back into their homes. The city began to become more quiet now, there was no threat here of course, not yet at least. People were calmed however to see that nothing was happening, so they continued about their days.

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice gave the elf a quick once-over, then, deciding he wasn't an immediate threat, smiled slightly and pulled her hood back.


"Forgive me, I'm not much for people," she quipped. "Force of habit, I suppose."


She glanced back behind her at the line, then looked back at the soldier. "I'm here for the same reason as everyone else; I've been...injured." The now-aching pain returned to her attention; she had forgotten it in her panic earlier. "It's just that I may need a...er...specialist?" She chose her wording carefully. He may not be a threat, but she still didn't need him knowing about the extra appendages she was the not-so-proud owner of.

 

[Cakepan]

Vall looked down at her as she took off her hood, shock hit him as he saw a beautiful face underneath that hood. How could someone so stunning hide their looks like that?


"Force of habit..?" He raised a brow, his tone trailing off as he just stared down at her. He felt his heart bump out of his chest, she wasn't like any other woman he'd seen no, she was different. He felt an aura come off her, but whether it was good or bad he ignored it for now. His eyes would shimmer with frost magic, glimmering with excitement but alas, he calmed. 


He shook his head, ears twitching as he heard her spoke. "Hurt where? Might I see? Healing isn't in my pay-roll nor is it my interest, but I'm around here to help around. Depending on how serious it is I'll see if I can get the head Doc to help you out." He was confused at why she wanted someone special to help her, was she hiding something? He couldn't tell, but didn't cross that barrier just yet. He knew she was here like everyone else, and she was going to get treatment for whatever she needed. He was just.. Still sort of eyeing her up and down. Weirdo.

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice bit her lip, pulling her cloak around her instinctively, and hissing in pain again as the fabric tightened around the broken wing. How did she keep forgetting that? Damn it...she swallowed and looked back up at him.


"Well...it...it's fairly serious. I'd rather not let the people here see," she admitted. "It might be, ah...disturbing." She gritted her teeth. She was not making this sound any better. It was true, but...still.


She couldn't help but notice there was something different about this man. She couldn't quite place it, but there was something in his appearance, his presence...his eyes, that told her he wasn't just a mindless brawn-over-brain soldier. There was something else there. Hmm...oh well. She couldn't concern herself with it now. She had more urgent (and painful) matters to attend to.

 

[Cakepan]

Vallarian could still feel his heart thumping out of his chest, what was with this girl that made him like this?


"Well I can't really do much for you if I don't know what it is. If it is severe however, I'll let on of the nurses know, but even then they need to know what it is." He stated clearly, there wasn't much he could do, if he could heal he'd do it right away. He couldn't, he only knew the exact opposite of that. Kill stuff and create hell for his enemies. That in itself wasn't hard for him at all.


Something about this girl off-put him, she was elegant in her own way, her face lighting up in his eyes like she was the sun to him. 'This can't be that love at first sight crap, is it?' He thought to himself, who knows. There was something.. Different about her, he just couldn't put his finger to it just yet.

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice groaned internally and bit her lip. She saw the look in his eyes; it was all too familiar to her. She could practically hear his heart beating. This was why she kept the hood up. She knew what she was, and what she could do, even without trying; to any other living woman on this planet, this would be a gift, a superpower, but to her it was frustrating at best (and the secondary bane of her existence at worst). Still, she pushed it to the back of her mind. She was at least glad this soldier could hold a conversation and not lose his damn mind like any human male she'd ever met.


"It's a broken bone," she finally said. "Fairly important bone. And it's been absolute hell on me all morning," she added, turning slightly to glance around at the crowd, although for no reason in particular.

 

[Cakepan]

Vallarian raised a brow down at her, he could tell something was off, but he decided from asking anymore questions. He would motion a nurse right on over. "This girl has a broken bone." "What bone is it?"  The nurse looked to Vall, then back to the nurse, before looking right back at Vall with a confused expression. "Well, she said it's a pretty important bone, so just take her word for it." 


The nurse would nod in understanding, motioning Alice right on over to a fairly far bed in the back of the building. While they began to walk, Vall kept his eyes on the girl, watching keenly. What was going on with his head? More importantly, what was going on with his heart? 


Whatever it was, it was a good feeling. Right?

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice followed the nurse to the back of the building, where she perched on an open bed. She avoided eye contact with the nurse even as she began asking questions.


"So, what appears to be the problem?"


She bit her lip. How to explain...? "Like the man said, I broke something."


"Arm? Leg? Tailbone?" The poor woman, Alice thought. She looked like she'd seen too much today already.


"No." She sighed. "It's...a special case. Can't I just see the doctor?"


The nurse gave her a look. "I at least have to know what to tell him. Here, I can feel around and try to find it if you won't show me."


She didn't like the idea, but hated to argue with a woman who looked so damn tired already and it was too late anyway; the nurse began gently grabbing and pressing around her arms, ribcage, and shoulders, looking for a break or any sign of pain. Alice was just thinking the rest of her left side was bruised all to hell when the nurse inadvertently grabbed onto the broken wing, and Alice gasped in pain.


The nurse's face turned into one of shock and understanding. She looked at Alice, then where she realized the extra body part was, then back to Alice, and started to back away slowly. "I'll...get the doctor for you."


Then she pulled the curtain closed and Alice heard footsteps half-running in the other direction. She groaned. Why couldn't anything be easy?

 

[Cakepan]

Vallarian couldn't help but watch the two walk away, admiring the girl from afar. He was curious what was wrong with her however, but he'd just stand and wait, staring over in that direction. 


Once he had saw the nurse close the curtains and dash quickly away, he couldn't help but wonder. 'What exactly, is she? She can't be human, can she? No no, I felt something, like magic. Almost too strong for it to be a humans.' He had so many thoughts running through his head, he wanted to find more about her, who she was, what he name was, what she did. 


His mind was going crazy with thoughts, was this truly love at first sight? Or was this the magic? He couldn't tell for sure. His began to walk ever so slowly towards the curtain, not enough to be close enough to it, but just to find out soon enough what she was.

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice waited anxiously for what felt like several minutes for the doctor to arrive, the terrified but curious nurse close behind him. The doctor was an aging man, who appeared to be a mixture of permanently tired and unamused. Placing some papers on the bedside table and rolling up his sleeves, he muttered something to the effect of "well, let's see what this is all about..."


Mimicking the previous movements of the nurse, he felt around her upper arms and shoulders. Alice pulled away before he could reach the actual wound; the damn thing was so sore.


"Here," she sighed exasperatedly, "I'll just show you. Is there a back room or something, or will this curtain do to prevent prying eyes? I want this over with as quickly as possible."


The doctor appeared a little stunned at her audacity, but after a few blinks, he assured her nobody could see through the curtain. Taking a deep breath, she stood from the bed, untied the cloak, and let it fall to the floor, freeing the black feathered wings, and pointed out the visible break in the right-hand one. The doctor let slip a brief look of shock, though not to the extent that the nurse did (dear Gods, she looked like she was going to faint), then ordered her to sit back down.


"Well, let's see what I can do," he muttered, sending the nurse off for supplies.

 

[Cakepan]

Vallarian saw the doctor walk back to that curtain along with the scared nurse, he kept creeping forward veeeery slowly. He was too curious as to what she was. 


Vall eventually reached the curtain, listening to them converse for a moment before he peeked his head around his eyes reaching the edge of the curtain before he could finally see what she was. He looked behind his swiftly to make sure no one was peering in that direction, before taking the curtain and sliding it off to the side, swiftly stepping into that little quarter of the room where Alice was getting checked up on. 


He quickly closed the curtains back, eyes widening as he saw those black wings before him. "What.. What are you?" He eyed her up and down, eyes widened with surprise but not one to start freaking out over the entire situation. There was still something about here that he could see in her.. But what?

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice looked up in surprise at the intruding soldier, feeling the blood draining from her face. This was exactly the conversation she was hoping to avoid. She gritted her teeth and bunched up the sheets beneath her in her fists. She opened her mouth to answer him, right as the doctor pulled on the wing to set the break. She couldn't stop the brief cry that escaped her, but quieted herself immediately and blinked back tears.


"Does it matter?" she finally gasped.


"Don't worry," the doctor said behind her, "that was the worst of it. Now to put this here to hold it in place..."


Alice ignored him. She looked back up at the elf who was looking her over and set her jaw. "I'm sure it's obvious I'm not quite human."

 

[Cakepan]

Vallarian still looked shocked, looking behind the curtain just incase if anyone tried to sneak a peek. "Well." He made gestures of wings, bringing his arms up to his sides. "YEAH. Kinda obvious you're not."


He was confused, anything else but scared. For him to be scared if she was such a creature of any other form was out of his judgement, he didn't care if she had sprouted wings out of no where. They were actually quite nice, well, to him at least. "So, can I ask again, what ARE you?" 


He held his left hand up to his forehead, rubbing it as he let out a relived and surprised sigh. The breath was icy, freezing cold. As he exhaled there was visible frost coming out of his mouth, his eyes glimmering with frost as well. His ears flickered back and forth, back and forth.. He was interested, confused, and sort of excited. 

 

[DemonRider404]

Alice raised an eyebrow, though only the one was visible. The doctor folded her wing into its natural position, and had her raise her arms so he and the nurse could wrap a bandage around her torso to hold it in place, as she assumed one would do with an actual bird.


"Looks like you're not completely normal yourself," she noted, recognizing the frost magic that was almost literally pouring out of him. She glanced around, and lowered her voice. "Listen...since you seem so terribly determined, I might tell you. Maybe. But not here." Too many prying eyes and ears, she thought.


Affixing the new bandage in place, the doctor had Alice look at him and make sure she could still breathe and move the other wing. "What happened to your eye?" he asked. She cocked her head slightly.


"Lost it," she lied. "Hunting accident a few years ago." She extended the unrestrained wing for emphasis. The doctor gave her a skeptical look, but ultimately nodded and let it be. He handed her some herbal potions for pain and instructed her on how often to use them and to keep the wing restrained for a few weeks. She nodded, the doctor and the nurse left, and she began to carefully put her cloak back on. She looked over her shoulder at the elven soldier.


"You should really consider whether you actually want to know," she told him, a bite of cynicism in her voice.

 

[Cakepan]

"Yeah, though I don't really hide my powers." He lifted his hand and pointed at the girl, shooting a tiny beam of ice at her shoulder, winking at her. "That's the difference between you and I. Well, that and you have.." He let out a heavy sigh. "Wings." 


After he had taken a good look at her, he could see her eye was missing, he couldn't tell from before because he was too busy staring at her face and body. Weirdo. He admired her, wings and all. Maybe this was his chance to get to know her better. "Yeah, I do want to know. And yes, I'm different. I'm a frost knight, not many out there but, I'm one of a kind."


He flashed his pearly whites at her, his teeth glimmering with frost as he smiled brightly. "Maybe after this whole fixin' ya up thing you could tell me a bit about yourself, eh?"