Fantasy Miasma

[Baphomet]

"Hey now, Cynthia, calm down. I know we've had our differences in the past, but I've changed, I swear!" Heolstor Sceocca called out to the miasma.

The miasma was everywhere. It surrounded Heolstor. Though, he didn't mind. He has survived quite well in The Wastelands for many years. He has spent many years alone which has lead him to personifying the miasma. The miasma tended to shift colors, though it was currently a dull yellow mist. A thick wall has started to roll in. Heolstor wore a small black gas mask. It had no eye covering, but covered his nose, mouth and cheeks, with a strap to hold it in place. He had several masks, but this one was his favorite. Although he had recently changed the filters, miasma that thick was bad news. To further protect himself, Heolstor wore large, slightly baggy clothes. His dark cargo pants helped carry items. His thin, light-blue, long-sleeved sweater was mostly to help him pass his arms off as normal. They lay coiled up within the sleeves. He also wore a dark green hooded cloak, as well as a large backpack with various supplies.

Heolstor backed up as he continued to try to plead with the miasma, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, now, you listen here, OK? I'll give you to the count of three, then you better have calmed down!" The miasma lurched forward as if in protest. "One!" The miasma lurched again. "Two!" The miasma would take another step forward, rebellious. It was now inches from Heolstor. "Three!" At the count of three, Heolstor turned and bolted down the only path available to him. He could have ducked into the forest, but that was generally a bad idea with mist moving this fast.

Heolstor was currently running through the forest. The trees here were larger than normal. They have been transformed by the miasma. Heolstor was just glad these ones didn't move. He's been attacked by a tree once. Or so he swears. Animals may not have realized in the early days of the apocalypse, but most creatures tended to avoid the miasma now, when possible. This meant things were relatively quiet for Heolstor.

Heolstor felt no fear as he ran from the miasma. In fact, he felt free. He loved running. It helped clear his mind. Everything made more sense when he ran. It was also the solution to all his problems. Miasma coming in? Run. Swarm of creatures attack? Run. Bandits attack? Run. A person becomes annoying? Run. Heolstor believed he was the fastest man alive. Some would call him a coward, though Heolstor would never accept that. He considered himself a survivor. The small orange atop his head would bounce violently as he followed the dirt path. He came to a small clearing only to nearly collide with another person.

"Woah there, who invited you to this tea party?" Heolstor would ask the woman. Heolstor wouldn't notice the horns or tail just yet, as he was preoccupied with keeping his balance after nearly bowling someone over, while still trying to run. Heolstor could certainly outrun the woman, but he slowed himself to match her pace. He figured there was nothing wrong with a little conversation if this was to be their last day alive. The miasma was quickly setting in. It moved so fast that it forced them both down the same path. Heolstor gave himself a silent pat on the back for not choosing the path through the trees.

 

[XANDERREN]

Olivia was making her way through the forest, placing a hand on each tree as she passed through them, her hand clinging onto the texture of the bark. She looked up, the leaves calmly falling down around her, she took a long inhale through her gasmask that she was wearing to the protect herself from the mist, the mask itself was painted with two greys of different intensities, it had two orange filters to clean out the air, and goggles that had an orange tint attached to it to match.

As Olivia admired the trees, more specifically the leaves that scattered throughout making the roof of the forest, she brought her hand up to fix the lapel of her greyish-brown coat that had it's sleeves rolled up till' her elbows, under it was a sleeveless white shirt and under that was a long sleeved, thin, black turtleneck. She wore a chest belt over all that with a bag holding several contents attached to the back of it, the chest belt makes it harder for the bag to fall off during the journey, and so it won't get snagged if she crosses paths with any annoying thieves. She also has a belt around her waist, with a smaller rich brown bag with a golden lock clipped onto it. And for what she wore low under, it was a sturdy dark grey polyester hiking pants with brown boots the matching color as her coat.

Olivia had her guard down for the most part, the forest was calming, the sound of leaves rustling and the noises her boots made when she took steps on the grass made her ears twitch, she was enjoying it for the most part. But it didn't last for too long, she turned her head towards her back as she felt the atmosphere getting dense around her body, her tail flicked the moment her eyes locked onto the miasma that was quickly covering the trees. The trunks closer and closer to her being engulfed in a dull yellow mist for each second that passes by. She didn't hesitate as she immediately turned her head back to her front and ran, avoiding the branches and stepping over the giant roots that spread all over the forest floor, she remembers the dirt footpath she took when she first entered, recalling that it would be a direct path out of here, she swiftly steered into a different direction, searching for it to get out of here before the miasma got near to touching her.

"I was having a good time too, Goddamn miasma trying to ruin everything." Olivia thought as she maneuvered through the forest, a grunt escaping her gasmask and her brows furrowing as she continues to think about how the miasma won't let her have a break for once, after a few seconds of running she emerged from the trees, landing onto the dirt path and continuing to run out of the forest from there. Olivia was planning to stay around the forest for a while, harvest a few fruits even, or try to find anything of interest, though the miasma had other plans.
As the path let Olivia reach open space she was almost startled by a voice appearing right beside her.


"Woah there, who invited you to this tea party?"


Olivia raised a brow at the tall man who was running alongside her, 'tea party?' she repeated to herself in her head, "Myself, why? Did I have to pay for a ticket or something?" Olivia answered through her gasmask, she eyed the man up and down as they ran together. Despite her goggles making it harder for her to actually know what his colors were as it made everything orange to her, she took note of his clothes, the backpack, the hooded cloak before she spotted the the small fruit that was bouncing along with them, Olivia looked at it, somewhat amused but not mentioning anything about it before she fixed her eyes back onto the path.

 

[Baphomet]

So, Heolstor thought, she invited herself? "Ah, well, I'm glad you were able to make it. You see, Cynthia is angry, so, she's retaliating against me. I probably forgot to do the chores or something. She started chasing me when OH MY GOD! You have horns!" Heolstor's speech had been interrupted once he looked over and saw the woman's horns. "That is so weird!" he said with incredulity, "Was your father a goat, or something? I mean, it's kind of cool, not gunna lie, but, you look weird. I wonder, was the birth difficult? I imagine it was OH MY GOD! You have a tail!?"

Heolstor, with seemingly no concern for the incoming miasma, would continue his ramblings until he was interrupted. Despite running and talking at the same time, Heolstor would never seem to run out of breathe, nor things to say. None of which would seem to make sense. As they ran from the hungry mist, Heolstor would hardly pay attention to their path. He was so fascinated by this woman. She looked something like a demon to him. Secretly to himself, as the miasma crept closer and closer, he wondered if he could keep pace with the demon while running backwards.

 

[XANDERREN]

Olivia was focused on the path, only glancing at the man running beside her, she was thinking of where to go to from here, not really paying too much attention until she heard him exclaim.

"Ah, well, I'm glad you were able to make it. You see, Cynthia is angry, so, she's retaliating against me. I probably forgot to do the chores or something. She started chasing me when OH MY GOD! You have horns!"

Olivia looked at him, with an annoyed and confused expression while he continued. Confused because- "who the hell is Cynthia? Was someone following them or something?" Olivia's ear twitched, trying to hear for separate footsteps if anyone was in fact following them, but she could only hear their own.

"That is so weird!

"And that orange on your head is not?" She thought, looking over to said fruit that's been bouncing since she crossed paths with him. She'd rather not reply while running from the mist, only giving him looks as he rambled.

"Was your father a goat, or something? I mean, it's kind of cool, not gunna lie, but, you look weird. I wonder, was the birth difficult? I imagine it was OH MY GOD! You have a tail!?"

Olivia shook her head as a respond to the question about her father, "Is this the first time he's seen a mutant?" Admittedly, these horns did always make people curious, to the point where they would poke and pick at them without her permission. Normally you wouldn't see horns on a human lady would you? "And very bold of this guy to assume I was born with them- wait, was he born with the plant on his head?" She questions how it would work, but stopped before her thought went deeper, bringing her focus back onto something much more important, the miasma.

She checked to see if the miasma was still there, it was, surprisingly closer than she had thought. She put more energy into her legs, breaking into a sprint to create some distance. Not caring whether or not the person babbling right beside her would catch up.

 

[Baphomet]

The woman's silence did little to stem the onslaught of words as he kept an easy pace with the woman. Heolstor seemed hardly concerned with the encroaching miasma. Wisps of it started to claw at his feet. Though, it seemed, the woman was certainly concerned as she redoubled her efforts. Heolstor would continue to keep his spot beside her as he continued rambling, "...and that's when the creature tried to give me a hug. But, you see, I couldn't let it, it was-"

Heolstor was interrupted by a rather rude branch that decided to smack him in the face. Without losing pace, he gave a soft grunt, spitting out leaves before continuing his speech as though nothing happened, "covered in spikes. It would have turned me into a pincushion!" Heolstor just had a brilliant idea, "Ah, I know!" He pulled his backpack around to his front. He reached in and grabbed an orange. It looked identical to the one bobbing above his head. He replaced his bag and held out the orange in front of the woman. "Are you hungry? Do you want an orange? I promise it's not poisoned! Though, I suppose that's what someone who poisoned it would say. Hmm. Quite a conundrum we have here."

Even as the miasma started to grab at his shoulders, Heolstor would continue to appear unperturbed as he ran with the woman. He could have outpaced the mist if he wanted, but he was quite entertained at the moment. Besides, Heolstor learned long ago that dying isn't quite such a simple and easy task. Just as the mist was about to engulf them, a strong gust of wind rushed by, halting the creeping miasma to a crawl. Heolstor skidded to a halt. He turned back to face the cloud, "Well, Cynthia, it was nice knowing ya." He gave a wave towards the yellow fog as it struggled against the wind.

The two of them were forced into a small clearing in the forest. Though it didn't seem to be a natural clearing. A large swath of the area was torn apart. Trees were uprooted and ferns were trampled. Not much further ahead, the likely culprit could be spotted. A massive boar. It was clearly mutated from the miasma. It had huge tusks, and thick, matted bristles. It was angry and appeared as though it were angrily chasing something. High pitched screams could occasionally be heard between the snarls of the beast.

Heolstor looked up at the creature, "Well, perhaps he's angry he wasn't invited to the tea party?" A moment later, a child could be seen running through the trees, desperately trying to dodge the behemoth. The child saw Heolstor and the woman and started running for them. It sounded like they might be saying something, but it was difficult to make out. As they approached, it became clear is was a young girl. She wore a cheap gas mask. Her blue dress was filthy, as though she were rolling around in the mud. "Well, she's dead," said Heolstor flatly. He spoke to the woman next, "Looks like we should make a run for it. This way goat lady, there's a town this way." With that, Heolstor turned on his heels and started to run.

 

[Baphomet]

The woman's silence did little to stem the onslaught of words as he kept an easy pace with the woman. Heolstor seemed hardly concerned with the encroaching miasma. Wisps of it started to claw at his feet. Though, it seemed, the woman was certainly concerned as she redoubled her efforts. Heolstor would continue to keep his spot beside her as he continued rambling, "...and that's when the creature tried to give me a hug. But, you see, I couldn't let it, it was-"

Heolstor was interrupted by a rather rude branch that decided to smack him in the face. Without losing pace, he gave a soft grunt, spitting out leaves before continuing his speech as though nothing happened, "covered in spikes. It would have turned me into a pincushion!" Heolstor just had a brilliant idea, "Ah, I know!" He pulled his backpack around to his front. He reached in and grabbed an orange. It looked identical to the one bobbing above his head. He replaced his bag and held out the orange in front of the woman. "Are you hungry? Do you want an orange? I promise it's not poisoned! Though, I suppose that's what someone who poisoned it would say. Hmm. Quite a conundrum we have here."

Even as the miasma started to grab at his shoulders, Heolstor would continue to appear unperturbed as he ran with the woman. He could have outpaced the mist if he wanted, but he was quite entertained at the moment. Besides, Heolstor learned long ago that dying isn't quite such a simple and easy task. Just as the mist was about to engulf them, a strong gust of wind rushed by, halting the creeping miasma to a crawl. Heolstor skidded to a halt. He turned back to face the cloud, "Well, Cynthia, it was nice knowing ya." He gave a wave towards the yellow fog as it struggled against the wind.

The two of them were forced into a small clearing in the forest. Though it didn't seem to be a natural clearing. A large swath of the area was torn apart. Trees were uprooted and ferns were trampled. Not much further ahead, the likely culprit could be spotted. A massive boar. It was clearly mutated from the miasma. It had huge tusks, and thick, matted bristles. It was angry and appeared as though it were angrily chasing something. High pitched screams could occasionally be heard between the snarls of the beast.

Heolstor looked up at the creature, "Well, perhaps he's angry he wasn't invited to the tea party?" A moment later, a child could be seen running through the trees, desperately trying to dodge the behemoth. The child saw Heolstor and the woman and started running for them. It sounded like they might be saying something, but it was difficult to make out. As they approached, it became clear is was a young girl. She wore a cheap gas mask. Her blue dress was filthy, as though she were rolling around in the mud. "Well, she's dead," said Heolstor flatly. He spoke to the woman next, "Looks like we should make a run for it. This way goat lady, there's a town this way." With that, Heolstor turned on his heels and started to run.

 

[XANDERREN]

Olivia didn't mind- well, more like didn't care to listen as the man continued to ramble while they were still running away from the miasma. It was a waste of her time, and even if she did listen she wouldn't be able to make sense of half of the words or stories he's talking about, plus, who thinks it would be a good idea to chatter on about nonsense while a large wave of super deadly mist was chasing after them? Wouldn't you rather.. I don't know, RUN away first? Olivia only continues to think about how weird this whole interaction with this man is, all while trying to keep her attention on the area.

Though it's very hard keep your attention on something when you glance to your side to see the man get hit by a branch, "Ha, deserved." She thought, putting her attention back onto the path, only to glance once more to see that the man that was spouting nonsense moments before has suddenly held an orange out to her. Olivia responded with a shake of her head, her refusal becoming more and more justified as she hears him mention that he didn't poison it, only to say that that's something someone who would've poisoned the fruit would say, she agrees.

As they they were striding between the trees, Olivia felt the mist against her tail, it made attempts to flick it away but it was only futile as it was stronger. Olivia then felt relief as she sensed the sudden strong gush of wind flow past them, she looked over to see that it's enough to have pushed the mist back, a sigh escaped her gasmask as she slowed her pace, eventually stopping to take a few breaths and swiping off any sweat that formed on her face. She stretched her arms and legs, watching the mist struggle to push against the wind, she took the time to check on the man that accompanied her as they escaped, realizing that he was waving at the.. miasma? Hearing him call it Cynthia- wait? That's Cynthia? Olivia gave him a puzzled look, what a very weird man.

Olivia felt something off about the place they ended up at, she looked all over, analyzing their surroundings, the uprooted trees, ruined plants, it looked like something was making a fuss around here. Olivia's ear twitched as she heard a noise, a snort a boar would make. She looked up, spotting the mutated animal and it's exagerrated features and messy appearance, Olivia gained interest, carefully making her way to the beast, hiding behind some of the damaged trees as she creeped closer to the creature, trying to not get spotted by it.

"Well, perhaps he's angry he wasn't invited to the tea party?"

 "I don't think creatures like that would be interested in having civil tea parties." Olivia scoffs, "Not like the one we had was any type of civil." A snort escaped her as she left the stranger to venture further into the trees.

Olivia noticed the girl, realizing she was in trouble. She waited for a bit, taking the time to get closer to the boar. Oliva could hear the man mention that the girl's dead, aswell as telling her that a town was in a certain direction "I'm not letting that happen." She mutters to him with a glare, "Feel free to leave if you can't handle this, maybe you can find someone else to offer your poisoned orange to." Olivia replied with a smirk, putting her attention back onto the boar.

 

[Baphomet]

Heolstor had only begun to tighten the muscles in his body in preparation to run when he stopped. "How dare you suggest I can't handle such a creature! Why, I'll have you know, hey, wait, where are you going?" Heolstor found himself rather irritated that this woman would dare think she had more courage than he did. While her focus was on the boar, Heolstor figured he'd show her up and launch the first attack.

When he was sure no one was looking, he uncoiled one of his arms. His vine-like arm whipped out, launching four daggers simultaneously at the beast. One dagger missed entirely, while another bounced harmlessly off one of its tusks. One more would bury itself in its shoulder, though it seemed to care little about it. The last one though, that lodged itself right in its eye. This caused the beast to stomp furiously in blind rage. Although it made the beast arguably more dangerous, it did allow the girl to place some distance between them.

"Ha! What say you now?" Heolstor boasted. He recoiled his arm and took a superhero stance, placing his hands on his hips. He hoped the woman would look in his direction and feel awe. He pictured stars replacing her pupils as she gazed upon his greatness. People often found it strange how he could throw so many daggers so quickly. It's one reason he tries to launch them when no one is looking. He thinks it makes him seem cooler. He kept his stance as the boar rampaged, "I bet you feel like taking back your earlier suggestion of my running away, now, don't you?" Heolstor called out, despite him being the one who suggested running away.

 

[XANDERREN]

Olivia watched as the daggers whizz from the corner of her eyes, she watched it plunge itself into the shoulder and the eye of the beast, looking over at the daggers that missed as well, somewhat disappointed but not surprised. As the beast stomped at the sudden dagger that rudely punctured it's eye, Olivia looked over her shoulder, at the direction where she noticed the daggers were shot from, to see a man posing and boasting like an idiot.

"Ha! What say you now?"

Olivia rolled her eyes, nothing too noteworthy about what he did, she could imitate the same effect with throwing a rock, could have been easier that way too, as she was about to ignore the idiot to finally do something about the beast, she was interrupted by his annoying voice again.

"I bet you feel like taking back your earlier suggestion of my running away, now, don't you?"

Olivia raised her eyebrows, she didn't suggest that- this guy confuses her more and more.. She stared at him for a second and scoffed, "Lots of talk for someone who only landed one shot." She shrugged at him with a smirk on her face, she took the opportunity however, seeing as now that the boar has gained a blind spot thanks to the man's pitiful attempt at damaging it. Olivia sneaked closer to the boar, hiding under trees and cluster of torn off trunks, branches, piles of plants and so to not give away where she was. She kept a close eye on rampaging creature, trying to find the perfect opening, and then as the beast turned it's back on her, she poured all her energy into her legs and sprinted towards it as it was the perfect moment to strike, not wasting a valuable second.

She held her arms out behind her, her hands gripping tightly as if holding something invisible, then within mere moments, her ring glowed and a mallet formed between her hands. As the boar was distracted, she slammed the mallet right into it's lower half, the impact being strong enough knock it off it's balance and launch the beast backwards, the beast skidded across the floor, stumbling from the sudden force. Though she didn't stop to look as she hit it, as she saw it hurl backwards, Olivia quickly fitted her mallet under her chest belt around her back and rushed over to the girl that was being chased by the beast, who stopped to watch the entire thing, grabbing her by the sleeve of her dress and tossing her over to the man for him to keep her away from the boar.

Despite her strong attempt at one shotting the beast, she could hear it's hooves tamper against the grass as it gained the energy to get back up once more, Olivia didn't look upset over it however, in fact, she seemed excited to see it didn't back down so easily. "Another chance to show off? I'll take it." She exclaimed, glancing over to the man to make sure he heard him, Olivia grinned as she pulled her mallet out from her back, taking it up with two hands and she watched the boar get back on it's feet.

 

[Baphomet]

"Lots of talk for someone who only landed one shot." came the rather ungrateful voice of the woman. Heolstor quickly retorted, "Hey, there's one in his shoulder, too!" The audacity of that woman, Heolstor would think to himself. He began to pace as he started to tell a story, "You know, my gram-momma once took down a beast twice that size. All she had was a pocket knife and a roll of bread. So, she took the bread and-Oof!" Heolstor's very important story was rudely interrupted as the young girl was tossed at him. He replied, "Ya know, you're lucky I'm so manly and talented that I was able to catch the girl unharmed!" He wagged his finger disapprovingly at the woman.

The boar, though it seemed shaken, managed to stand back up. It appeared to regain its composure as it focused on the woman with the mallet. The boar really did not like getting smacked around. It was clear the woman had managed to damage it. It staggered for a moment before rearing it's head in preparation of a charge. "Another chance to show off? I'll take it," exclaimed the woman. She seemed rather excited for the battle. Heolstor saw an opportunity for some payback. Payback for what? No one will ever know.

Heolstor looked down at the girl. She looked frightened. Heolstor had an idea to cheer her up. "Wanna see something cool?" he asked. He didn't wait for the girl to respond, though she gave a giggle when she saw the bobbling orange atop his head. He took off. He positioned himself behind and to the side of the woman. Once more he would try to launch daggers from her blind spot. Though the young girl's attention was on him now.

A dozen daggers would find themselves slicing through the air. Their target was the roaring boar. Heolstor had unraveled his arms, which seemed to astonish the young girl. He raised both arms and then brought them down in his usual whip-like motion. Like his first attack, one bounced off the boar's tusk, as well as one missing. The other ten dug deep as they found a nice patch of flesh to put down roots in. One landed in the beast's other eye, adding insult to injury and fully blinding it. Several buried themselves about its face, while three cut deep into its throat.

In the beast's death throes, it made one final charge at the woman. It would never make it. It crashed into the ground, sliding to a stop in front of where the woman was standing. Blood poured out of the beast, soaking its fur and watering the grass. Heolstor took up his previous superhero stance, though his face held an even more smug appearance. "I guess we know who the real hero of this story is, now, don't we?" The young girl was in shock. She couldn't believe her assailant had actually been taken down. Though, no matter how much Heolstor boasted, the boar was already suffering from dangerous amounts of internal bleeding. Though it definitely looked good for him. Or so he thought.

 

[XANDERREN]

As Olivia stood still, gripping onto her mallet, her ears flickered, hearing the sounds of daggers being launched. When Olivia looked up, she saw the dozen of daggers fly from behind her, her eyes following the motion of each one, seeing one bounce off another tusk, another miss, but seeing the remaining ones strike and embedded itself into the boar, one even finding it's way into the beast's remaining good eye. Olivia was feeling a mix of annoyance, but also somewhat impressed.

Seeing the beast attempt to charge at her didn't make her hesitate however, she knew it would collapse, with injuries it received it just received, it's expected it wont last another 10 seconds. As the beast crash and slip onto the ground, a gush of wind that was made from the motion blew against Olivia, she releases the tight grip on her mallet, letting her ring make the weapon disappear into thin air as it recollects it back into the ring. Olivia brought a hand up to run through her hair, only looking to her back just now to see the man do the stupid stance once more.

"I guess we know who the real hero of this story is, now, don't we?"

"I'm not interested in your children book fantasies, fruit head." Olivia responded, crossing her arms as she made her way over to the man. "It was too easy for me anyways, I'd rather fight more challenging things than a stupid boar." She scoffs right at his face before walking right past him, hitting his shoulder with hers on the way, damn right that boar is way too easy for her. She's fought harder things, she didn't expect the lunatic to come out useful though. Made it so she didn't have to get dirty at all.

Olivia looked to the direction she could recall the man previously mention to have a town in, it could be a lie. She thought, but eh, not like it's going to kill her. Olivia stretched her hands out, popping her knuckles as starts making her way towards the path to the town, leaving the man and the young girl behind, not a second thought about them at all.

 

[Baphomet]

Once the woman bumped into his shoulder, Heolstor responded with a scoff of disbelief, "Why, that is certainly the wrong way to show your gratitude to your savior! I think- h-hey!" The woman seemed to care about him not one bit. She continued on towards New Cantor, the town he had previously tried to lead her towards. He looked at the little girl with a look of incredulity, "Women, right?" The little girl looked back with awe. She didn't quite catch what he said. She was still in shock, as well as in disbelief that her saviors were apparently superheroes.

Heolstor looked towards the mist, a serious look in his eyes for just a moment. The wind had died down, but it also seemed to have tired out the miasma. It was still creeping towards them, but it was moving at a much more reasonable pace. He looked back towards the girl and said, "So, uh, you'll be good on your own, right? So, yeah, have a good one. Don't go getting eaten by boars, now, ya hear?" It was clear the girl couldn't defend herself. She had no reason to even be out here on her own. Though, Heolstor didn't think that that was his responsibility. He gave the small girl a salute and then retrieved his daggers from the boar. He then turned and took off, following the horned woman towards the town of New Cantor.

The sun was already beginning its downward trek. Heolstor caught up to the woman with relative ease. As he approached her, it was like he was telling a story and was partway through it, even though there was no way for her to have heard the beginning. "...where the wind turned it all to snow. Anyways, I noticed you were headed to New Cantor. It's a great place. You're going to love it there. So, since we make such a great team, figured we can travel there together. It's always great to have someone as upbeat and charismatic as you on the team. It'll help us deal with any ne'er-do-wells we may meet along the way. Also, do your horns grow? I figured you scratch them against trees and rocks to shave 'em down." With his last statement, Heolstor reached to touch the woman's horns. "Oh, yeah, I'm Heolstor Sceocca. You can call me Heo. What's your name?"

 

[XANDERREN]

As Liv made her way down the path, trying to think about where to stay, how long she'd stay in that town, her next destination, all sort of things, completely brushing past the event that had happened moments ago, though her train of thought was interrupted when her ears fluttered as she heard footsteps approaching her, a quick glance to confirm what she thought, it's that annoying moron. Great. Liv didn't give him any more than that glance when he approached, hoping he'd just leave her alone after they reach the town.

"...where the wind turned it all to snow. Anyways, I noticed you were headed to New Cantor. It's a great place. You're going to love it there. So, since we make such a great team, figured we can travel there together. It's always great to have someone as upbeat and charismatic as you on the team. It'll help us deal with any ne'er-do-wells we may meet along the way. Also, do your horns grow? I figured you scratch them against trees and rocks to shave 'em down."

Liv barely paid attention to whatever he muttered, the words coming out of the man passing through her as if it's just another ambient sound that she can push down as she pondered about her plan for the remaining day, she couldn't continue however, as another distraction appeared. As the man's hand reached to touch her horns, Olivia abruptly grabbed at the limb, tossing it back to the man with force.

Liv didn't seem to like that, and you could tell by the glare she had at him. Liv heard him mention his name, asking for hers as well. Liv responded, with a hint of agitation in her voice, "Heo was it? You can call me Liv." because of the gasmask, you couldn't see it clearly, but she had a toothy grin that was formed from the annoyance Heo gave her, she doesn't know exactly what is it about this man that made her want to ball her fist in anger, but she just wishes he'd leave her alone.

 

[Baphomet]

The woman, who'd Heolstor would come to learn was named Liv, was quite strong. It took all he had just to keep his arm from unraveling when she tossed it back. He thought it would have been quite embarrassing if she were to learn about his rather noodley arms. He was also rather disappointed she didn't let him poke at her horns. He was deathly curious as to what they felt like. He allowed himself a moment to daydream about it. Perhaps, he thought, they felt like sculpted marble. Or, maybe they didn't feel like they appeared at all. Maybe they felt like felt. He was quite intrigued. He also made a mental note as to their length so he can keep track of if they grew or not. These were very important things to learn.

"Liv," said Heolstor, tasting the name. "Quite a lovely name for such a demonic looking creature." Though it came off as an insult, Heolstor sincerely meant that as a compliment. Heolstor thought a bit of trivia about the town they were traveling to would entertain Liv. He was quite familiar with the area. "Did you know that New Cantor isn't named after any other Cantor? It's quite odd, don't you think? It's also known for having a motley assortment of rings for sale. Many merchants travel to and-" His sentence was interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves and breaking branches.

Heolstor twirled around to get a bead on the sound. His body tensed, he was ready to run at the first sign of danger. He was certain it would be a gargantuan beast of epic proportions. He figured it had heard of the legendary hero known as Heolstor and had come to challenge him to a fight to the death. Heolstor wasn't about to give the creature the satisfaction. Though, it turned out that the dangerous creature happened to be the girl they had saved just earlier that day.


A shadow foretold her presence as she popped into view. She was casually walking along, following the pair. Her eyes were trained on the ground, watching her footing, so she hadn't noticed that she had been spotted. She looked up, meeting Heolstor's gaze, frozen mid-stride. "Well, lookit that, you're not dead," said Heolstor casually. He was pleasantly surprised. "Are you headed to New Cantor as well, little lady?" The young girl nodded slowly in response. "Well, don't be shy, join our group of merry men." Heolstor waved her over. She obediently followed his command. Heolstor turned towards Liv, "Is this your daughter?" he asked.