Fantasy The Chosen of Seven

[Syvas]

The night engulfed him, wrapped around his form as a cloak and concealed him, the thick intertwined branches over head created a veil that even the light of the full moon could not pierce. The life of the forest cried out as he crushed dry leaves and snapped fallen twigs underfoot, if there had been an attempt at stealth it had surely failed. The birds sang of the intruder from their nests high atop the redwoods, in the distance, even his human ears could hear furry creatures scatter and flee at his presence. He felt alive.


Destin could feel his blood begin to warm, his heart pounded in his chest so furiously that it rang echoes as war drums in his ears muting out any other sound. His entire body craved the change, he held out for what seemed an eternity before giving himself over to the hunger. Once again his bones broke and reformed, muscle stretched to the point of tearing and regrew anew, that same lush eternally black mane flowed from him and even further camouflaged his frame. The shift complete, the wolf drew in a deep breath, his muzzle lifted toward the sky, and with the exhale let loose a howl that would carry for miles.


He could still smell her on him. Her scent tugged at his senses as an irritating reminder of what he could not have. But he wanted her, he wanted the chase, to feel her struggle beneath him, her heart beating in time with his own thundering heart until he forced hers to stop. Though there was something else, another emotion that had entwined itself with this longing to taste her, something foreign to the wolf in this mindset, and it bothered him that he could not place it.


He traveled for some time completely enveloped in his thoughts of her, unaware of his surroundings or even the direction of his travel. Those padded feet needed no guidance to swiftly carry him over the forest floor without a sound. He wove through trees and underbrush, years of instinct guiding him to the path of least resistance. The pale moons light in places broke through the trees to create an almost mystical glowing pillar in the darkness. The beauty of the journey was lost upon him.


A familiar scent reached out to him from just ahead in the trees. This smell he had trailed countless times, and many of them ended with a full belly. The wolf crouched and inched himself forward through the brush. A lone doe stood just yards from the tree line, munching on a berry patch. He readied himself for the charge, his muscles flexed and those fierce brown eyes narrowed. He was poised to strike.


"I'm a giant deer" He recalled Phoebe answering. In his minds eye, where the doe had been just moments before, she now stood. A white gown flowed from her shoulders nearly dragging the ground, and seemed to glow in the light of the moon in contrast to her olive hued skin. Those large doe-like eyes seemed to sparkle in the dim light of the moon as she looked right at him, popped a berry in her mouth and smiled.


The momentary loss of concentration proved to be disastrous, a twig snapped under his weight. The doe before him snapped her head in his direction and, sensing danger bounded off deeper into the woods. His chance at that meal was blown.

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Chilali tugged on her face mask as Sylvanus responded. She gave a small nod at his suggestion. She didn't mind sleeping outside either, but after the bandit attack, perhaps a tavern would be safer. She had enough money to spare anyway. She hadn't slept in a bed for a while, so it would be a welcome change. As they neared a building, a sign came into view. Chilali looked at it in slight confusion. Why someone would use a spider for a roast was beyond her. Especially considering they had little to no meat on them. She opened her mouth to voice this to her travelling companion before remembering who it was.


She almost suggested they camp outside, but worried that it would insult the hybrid. Even so, she felt almost guilty for him having to go there. "It does not look all that friendly, but I suppose a bed is a bed." She took a deep breath and headed for the door. Opening it sent the smell of food and booze to her. She walked straight to the tavern keeper, ignoring all the other patrons as best she could. "Do you have two beds available? Separate rooms are fine." She asked after giving a polite greeting.


@minismurf

 

[SepiaInk]

Phoebe Silva

​

As soon as she got back to their spot, she shook off the load of branches, sticks and twigs off her antlers. Ears moving, she scanned the place with her large dark eyes. The clearing was the same as she had left it.


Her nose twitched as it shifted through the layers of smell that coated the air. The night was humid and stale on the banks of the Lake of the Fallen, no winds to carry any sort of scent down the hills and towards her. Still, she kept her head high as she paced along the edge of their camping spot, hoping to catch a familiar scent or sound.


There was no sign of the wolf.


Shifting her stance, she let out a deep grunt and went still as she waited for a reply. Hearing nothing, she relaxed and lowered her head, using her antlers to strip the bark off a couple of thiner trees along the edge of the clearing. Satisfied with her work, she made her way back to the lake, hesitating for a fleeting moment before stepping into the cold waters.


It wasn’t long before her antlers receded into her head, where a curtain of dark hair began to grow, bones rearranging at the same time as fur sunk in to reveal olive skin in their place. With a gasp, Phoebe feel to her knees, hands clutching the smooth pebbles on the lakebed bellow. Staggering back to her feet, she dragged herself back to their camping spot. Nose, cheeks, forehead, she rubbed every patch of skin she could get at and breathed a sigh of relief when she found nothing amiss. She was herself once more.


Slumping down, she leaned back against a tree and exhaled, a trembling sigh that rose in the cold air. It’d been a long time since she’d felt so jittery in her animal form. Was it the forest? The Lake? What was troubling her animal form?


Destin.


The thought of her travelling companion popped up in her mind and it made her muscles tense up. She looked around, combining the night vision of her deer form with the visual acuity of her human one to take a better look at her surroundings. There was really no sign of him. Where was he? She didn’t know much about hunting, but it shouldn’t take this long, should it? She had definitely been out for a quite a while, and was sure that she’d find Destin waiting for her in the camp.


Did he get hurt? It was unlikely, since she hadn’t heard anything when she was grazing, but the thought still made her heart clench painfully. It was a matter of pride, that’s all. After all, what kind of travelling partner would she be if she let her companion get hurt? An incompetent one, of course. And she couldn’t have that, now could she?


Huffing a lock of hair away from her eyes, she stood up and went to grab the dead birch wood she’d gathered for their fire. Since they couldn’t exactly be next to each other in their animal forms, maybe it’d be best to make one after all.


Now, how does one make fire again? She was sure she’d read it somewhere.


Phoebe bit the tip of her thumb as she stared at the bundle of branches. She didn’t want to make a fool of herself, but she’d rather drown than leave the task to Destin. That’s right, she didn’t need any help, she could do just fine on her own. Let’s see, if memory serves her right, she was going to need rocks…

@Syvas​

 

[minismurf]

As soon as Sylvanus entered the tavern he could immediately feel that many eyes fell onto him, nearly the entire tavern was staring at him, and none of the looks were very pleasant, he cleared his throat in order to try and break the awkward silence that rested heavily in the room, however to no avail. A large and bulky man stood up and approached Sylvanus, he felt that the man certainly had all of the intention to kill Sylvanus. The man's voice sounded like a rumbling mountain as he spoke "Oi, Spider, we don't take kindly to your kind around here, I reccomend that you go ahead and keep walking down the road and find a different place to rest" Sylvanus turned and looked up at the man, "And how far would the next tavern be then my good sir?" The man glared at Sylvanus. "Well I dunno how far the next tavern is, could be a few metres, or a couple of miles, however knowing your kind you could just simply make yourself and sleep in a hamock made of your own semensilk, huh?" The man looked back towards where some other men was sitting, they all started laughing at the man's apparent joke, soon the entire tavern was rumbling with with laughter of all kinds of men and hunters inside. Then the man spoke again, now it there was a sense of spite in his voice. "Or, you could just simply go to the nearest village and kill the men, rape the women and kidnap the children and sleep on top of the mountain of corpses" The man turned back towards and swung a punch towards Sylvanus with his right arm which was thick as a treetrunk. And it certainly felt like one when it hit Sylvanus's spider limbs as he attempted to block it. The impact sent his body flying, straight through the tavern wall, Sylvanus could hear the female barkeep yell at the man. "Hey Mark! If you're going to kick that disgusting creature out, at least use the window, that's cheaper" Sylvanus hissed in pain as he regained his balance and stood up, he felt that three of his limbs had broke from the impact and one more from going through the wall. He was going to call to Chilali and tell her to stay out of the fight, however that could lead to her becoming a target by the other men, Sylvanus just kept staring at the man, preparing for his next attack. As the man charged Sylvanus just stayed and when the man reached Sylvanus he obviously swung against him again with his lumberjack arms, Sylvanus leaped over him, throwing his limbs into the man's back, tearing through his shirt and digging into his back. The man screamed in pain as Sylvanus tore his legs further down the mans back, leaving deep wounds going down from his scapula down to his tailbone. Sylvanus pulled out his legs and the man spun around, now he was truly furious and started swinging furiously towards Sylvanus which was excellent, his wild throws maybe had power, however they lacked both aim speed, Sylvanus could easily dodge them and started throwing his own sharp legs at the man, digging deep into his arms. After a while the man stopped swinging and stopped to breathe, blood poured from his arms and Sylvanus was covered in it from all the swings, however he too was a bit tired from all the constant movement and his broken limbs did not help. "Heh, I have to say that you've got spunk for being a filthy spider, however I think it is time to end this" Said the man as he pulled out a humongous hammer which was covered in blood. "Not many have seen ol' Betsy since most of them have just simply been killed before they could realize that I hit them, however the ones who have, never lived to speak about it, and I'll make that you won't either" The man swung with the hammer towards Sylvanus's head and he dodged, however as he did he still felt the hammer hit him, a cruching force that trembelled throughout his body and then he flew. The man had hit Sylvanus's loose limbs, they weren't able to go along with Sylvanus's speed and they'd stayed in the air as he'd dodged. Sylvanus felt himself hitting an oak, his chest hitting it first and his ribs breaking inwards and his consiousness faded away.


@KiKi Kitsune

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Chilali felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as hostility grew in the room. She had to hold her tongue from snapping at the man who was being rude to her travelling companion. Sylvanus remained calm and polite despite that. It meant the mage would do the same. She would remain calm no matter- semensilk? Really? Chilali pondered the insult for a moment. It made her question the validity of the statement. Where did the silk that Sylvanus made come from? She considered what little she knew about normal spiders. Perhaps the man wasn't far off.


Her thoughts were quickly brought back to the present situation as a fight broke out. Chilali cursed her wandering mind. If she had been paying attention, she would have been able to prevent this from happening. Or at least been able to block the attack. She would have been able to help in some way. Now Sylvanus was outside with a hole in the wall showing his method of exit. She had let her travelling companion get injured. One of the Chosen, no less!


Despite her anger, her body refused to move from her spot. She could only watch as the battle waged on and Sylvanus slowed. It was clear that a full day of travel and their previous battle was taking its toll. Still her feet stayed where they were. Was it because of the distrust of the spider that niggled at the back of her mind? As soon as she asked herself that question she knew knew the answer. She didn't trust Sylvanus and wanted to see what he could do. Some part of her mind believed that seeing him fight would answer other questions she had about him. What Chilali did know made her want to trust him less. He was strong and killed his siblings. Even after Goddess Lacus spoke directly to her, Chilali couldn't find it in herself to blindly trust this stranger.


Reminded of her encounter with the water goddess, the mage returned her attention to the fight. However, it was already over. Sylvanus now lay unconscious by a tree with the man slowly walking towards him. The man's intent was clear. Something inside Chilali's head snapped. Her eyes glowed blue as she called on her magic. A thin layer of ice seeped out from her feet towards the man. The sound of her blade being removed from the sheath caught the man's attention. "Sorry lady, you want to finish him off?" He said with a smirk. His smile faded as he noticed the ice now surrounding him. "What the hell?" Chilali stepped out of the tavern and towards the man. "Mark, was it? Why do you attack someone for no reason?" Her glowing eyes narrowed. "And you continue when it is clear they can no longer move? You are a criminal."


Without any more words, Chilali pushed against the ice allowing her to reach Mark in far less time than the man was expecting. She swung her blade and cut deep into her opponent's arm. He retaliated, but the icy ground made getting power into his swing difficult.


Soon, another fight was taking place. However, it was quite one-sided. Chilali had the upper hand from the beginning thanks to Sylvanus wearing him out so much. The man was unable to continue after a few moments. The mage pointed the tip of her sword right at her opponent's jugular. "Should I do to you what you were intending to do to my companion?" She asked, her tone surprisingly innocent sounding. She tilted her head to the side before sheathing her blade. "You've embarrassed yourself. It would be far more entertaining to not kill you." She stepped back before the growing puddle reached her feet. "Choose your fights more wisely in the future."


With that, she turned and went over to the downed hybrid. He seemed to be having trouble breathing. Probably a broken rib or two. It wasn't something she would be able to fix. She needed to get him to a doctor of some sort. Unfortunately, Sylvanus was taller than her. Chilali clicked her tongue in irritation. After some difficult manoeuvring, she managed to get the spider on her back. Her frost lion pelt was tied around their torsos to keep Sylvanus from falling. With her arms hooked under his knees, at least his feet weren't dragging on the ground. Her feet began moving. She soon realised where she was headed for.


A sigh escaped the ice mage. At least she knew she could count on there being good healers there. They had saved her life on multiple occasions.


@minismurf

 

[minismurf]

Sylvanus opened his eyes and looked around, he did not recognize his surroundings and there was an extreme pain in both his chest which made it hard to breathe for him. A multitude of his arachnid legs were also broken, he gasped for air as the pain stinged in his chest stopped him from sighing. He then noticed that he was being carried, his vision was blurry so he couldn't see who it was. "Wh-who are you?" His mind was completely in a jumble from the pain and wondering where he was. "And where are you taking me?" He wanted to try and escape the person's hold, however he lacked the energy to move properly and since he was still alive he doubted that the person intended to hurt him, he laid his head on his carrier's shoulder and breathed slowly, hoping that his horns wouldn't hurt them or be in the way, whilst waiting for an answer.


@KiKi Kitsune

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Chilali craned her head around slightly when Sylvanus spoke. "Chilali. Do you still remember me, Sylvanus?" She responded. She didn't know the extent of the hybrid's injuries. His memory could have been damaged as well. That would be far more difficult to fix if that was the case. "We are going to the Water Mage School. They have some well trained healers there and it is nearby. We should get there shortly." The mage kept her voice monotone. Too many of her own memories were linked to the school. The last thing she wanted was Sylvanus questioning her. It would only cause unwanted thoughts to resurface.


She continued her careful trod towards her destination, trying to jostle Sylvanus as little as possible. Soon the towering spires of the mage school came into view. "We will arrive in a few minutes. Just hang on until then." Chilali stated. Having him die on her would put a damper on her day, to say the least. Well, what was left of the day. The moon was already visible and casting an eerie glow on the white stone walls. The large, dark wood doors were guarded by a surprisingly scrawny man. "Halt, state your name and business here." He called out.


"I am Chilali Ursa, Frost Fang of this school. My comrade has been wounded and we seek medical aid." The guard's eyes widened. "Frost Fang? Come in. I will send for a medic immediately." The guard opened the door for the woman to enter. Chilali nodded her thanks. She headed along the familiar halls towards the medic bay. Soon, Sylvanus was being treated by one of the best healers in the school.


@minismurf

 

[Ariel]

Mayweather glanced up at the fading light in the sky. The day had certainly been eventful. She could still seeing the monsters piercing venomous eyes glaring at her. Perhaps 'Monster' was a childlike term, but it made it just a little bit easier to digest. The moment May remembered it was a living, breathing creature who probably-- She immediately squashed such thoughts and smiled to herself as a sort of self encouragement. Monsters. They were monsters who hurt other people and needed to be stopped. That was all.


She glanced down at the sleeping raccoon laying on the horses back in front of her. He was tuckered out and he hadn't even done much of anything since the trip began! May affectionately stroked the little animals head and sighed. Speaking of the trouble earlier, she still remembered Severis' wound. She bit her lip, remembering how he wouldn't let her touch it or look at it earlier. Would it heal on its own? The human body was always good with such things, it was a remarkable thing how fragile yet strong it was. Surely it would be alright. May would rather not stress him out or anger him by insisting or pushing him too hard.


She did make a mental note to keep an eye on him, though for a while, at least to be safe. That was just how Mayweather was. She looked ahead at Severis back and spoke. "Should we stop soon?" She asked softly.


@The J

 

[minismurf]

Sylvanus remembered the soft voice of his companion and he managed to relax a little bit, knowing that he wasn't being carried by someone that wasn't going to gut him alive. "Ah yes, Chilali, I remember, what happened? I was fighting someone, and then everything turned da-" Sylvanus got cut off by another sting of pain in his chest, enough to make him lose consiousness again before hearing Chilali's answer about their destination.


When Sylvanus opened his eyes again he found himself inside an unfamiliar room, at first he was a bit intimidated by the new scenery, and he couldn't see Chilali either as he sat up. His groaning from the pain that was caused as he sat up made a woman soon approach him, the woman seemed pretty indifferent about him being a hybrid, which showed by her lack of reaction as Sylvanus stretched his limbs, making the ones on his back twitch. "Where am I?" He asked the woman with an unsettled look, "And where's the woman I travelled with?"





@KiKi Kitsune

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

The woman took Sylvanus' arm and checked that no blood was seeping through the clean bandage. "You are in the Water Mage School. Miss Frost Fang went to get herself food. She will return shor-" the woman was cut off by the door creaking open. Chilali stepped in carrying two apples. "I'm back Maya." She then noticed Syvanus. A smile could be seen thanks to her face mask being down. "You're awake. That was far faster than we expected." She walked over in no particular rush and offered Sylvanus one of the apples. "You must be hungry."


Maya stood to leave. "Chilali, don't forget that the head will want to see you. Your teacher as well. They have been looking for you since you left." The reminder caused Chilali to wince. "I know..." Maya looked at the other girl. After a moment, she just shook her head and left. Chilali watched her feet. Footsteps could be heard outside. Chilali's head snapped up as someone called her name from outside the door. "Sylvanus, listen to me. If he comes in here looking for me, I'm not here." As she spoke, she frantically looked around for a hiding spot. The best she could do was a wadrobe across the room. Soon after, a lean man, around Chilali's age, sauntered in the room. "Oh, hey. Sorry to disturb you while you're resting, but have you seen a girl around here? Wears warm clothing a lot, covers her face. She has bright blue eyes." He peered around the room while he spoke. His pose was relaxed, with his hands resting in his pockets.


@minismurf

 

[TerraBooma]

Romon had the last watch of the night, and thus so had started breaking camp quietly as he did so. All his gear had been neatly folded and stashed away where it could be traveled with comfortably. Romon's possessions were...limited at best. As a drifting warrior there was little time that he had to collect trinkets or anything heavy. As such the most weildy thing he carried was his old blade. He debated snuffing out the fire, but figured it wouldn't take long once they actually had to set out on the road again.


He had managed to catch some more small game that wandered too close to the campfire in curiosity. Two large Rabbits and a Squirrel. Animals had a hard time running when roots themselves were Romon's traps after all. He cooked them all up after gutting and cleaning them and, as the sun came up awoke Adruo and served her some food. Romon was feeling pretty good for himself, even if the fight last night still left him a little sore. He wasn't going to say anything but Romon had put up quite the fight, he hadn't been sure he could off a tie if they were in a noholds bar contest...or a real fight.


After making small talk for some time the pair broke camp for good and started off on the road again, Romon having a determined side of his steps. He wanted to get to this library and defeat the demon god, how hard could it be?


He decided not to think too hard on that question.


"So hey, Adruo." He glanced back curiously. "What's the library about anyway? I know it's a big one, and from what I've heard pretty eccentric, but that aside I haven't learned many facts...peasants love a tall tale as much as an elder after all.

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Adruo woke up feeling well rested and ready for the day. After using so much energy the previous day, she slept like the dead. She noticed that Romon was already packed, so she hurried to do the same. Some sand was thrown over the dying embers of the fire to kill it completely. With that done, they set out. The sun was only peeking out over the horizon as they continued their journey.


The dragonkin walked half a step behind her companion. She often glanced at the floor to try spot any things that may cause her to trip. Even so, she stumbled slightly every now and again. "Hm?" She looked up to Romon when he called to her. "The library?" Adruo furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Well, it's a library like any other... well, maybe not quite." She glanced back at the floor quickly before resuming her explanation.


"The Grand Library is what its name entails. A library of grand scale. It is by far the largest library in the entirety of Pangeros. While it has the usual fictions and biographies and whatnot, the reason it is so famous is thanks to the history stored within its walls." Adruo's grey eyes gleamed with enthusiasm as she spoke about the library. "It has almost every event recorded from the past five-hundred years! It is a treasure trove of knowledge. You can read all of the tales I know and more. If I knew just a fraction of what the library has to offer... My grandmother would be impressed, to say the least." She flashed Romon a wide smile.


Adruo's smile faded. "I don't think we can afford the luxury of reading though. Who knows how difficult the puzzles are and how long they will take. I was told that the previous owner of your weapon was the one who set them up with help from Animus."

 

[Syvas]

And so there he stood, motionless, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. This simpler version of his mind raced to make sense of the event that had just played out before him. The change came upon as it always did when he willed it so. His human self stood now looking still at where she'd been. He began to resent himself, he felt defeated and useless. "A wolf that cannot kill is worthless." He spat. This will not happen again. He silently vowed to himself.


With each step he took back toward camp he seemed to grow more furious. His anger and resentment now finding a new recipient. It is her fault! The gods have sent me upon this journey to mock me! Not only was it enough rip me from my home, to make me forsake all I've known for a war that isn't even my own. No, I must be insulted at every turn. Well i'm done with it and with her! Even while these thoughts arose within his mind he knew how he felt about her, that he would no sooner want to leave her than he would want to forsake the task handed to him by Semino himself. His anger for the time blinded him to these things. It wasn't long before he broke the tree line and could see their make-shift camp.


His pace quickened as he seen her trying to build a fire. Stomping his way over to her, he kicked the stacked branches sending limbs flying off in every direction. "I can stand no more of this human nonsense!" He shouted as he destroyed her efforts. Satisfied that he had sufficiently ruined her plan, he turned to face her. "And i'll tell you something else, I killed a deer tonight. Not to eat her, just because I wanted her to die! And do you know who I was thinking about the entire time I felt her struggle beneath me?" He took a step closer to her. "It was you!" He proclaimed, his tone so serious that he even began to believe the lie he'd just spoke. "But at least that animal knew what it was. It wasn't some confused half-wit shifter that wished it were human." He could not explain why he said such things to her, why he was trying this hard to hurt her when it was the furthest thing from what he wanted for the both of them but he was unable to stop himself. His chest heaved from the short burst of fury he'd released upon the pile of wood

 

[minismurf]

Sylvanus let the woman check on his arm and as Chilali entered the doors, he felt a slight sting as the nurse let go of his arm, making him flinch a little. "Oh, was it that bad huh?" Sylvanus grabbed the apple and looked at it, it was bright green and noticeably fresh, he took a bite out of it and felt the sourish taste fill his mouth, just the way he liked it, he felt a small surge of energy go through his body.


As the nurse left Sylvanus threw a questioning look at Chilali, "Head? Teacher? You've studied here huh? What made you leave?" The answer he recieved made him even more confused, "If who comes?" His thoughts was interupted by the man entered. "A girl? No, not really, apart from the nurse I haven't seen anyone, why do you ask?" Sylvanus was curious over why the man was looking for Chilali, and why she absolutely didn't want to be found.


@KiKi Kitsune

 

[The J]

Severis didn't miss Mayweather stealing glances at him as they rode beside one another. She was still worried about the damn cut he'd gotten. His blood was fortified to resist disease, a scratch like that couldn't trouble him. However, he didn't imagine explaining that to her without revealing his unsavoury employment. She was an overly gentle soul - she'd doubtlessly balk at that, probably running off in horror. He wouldn't be surprised, that much was certain.


He supposed that it was becoming dark. "So be it. I see what looks like a suitable site about... fifty yards ahead." He said, gesturing to a lightly wooded area that was fairly flat.


As they approached it, Severis dismounted, but as he did so he stumbled, bashing his shoulder on a tree. He hoped that May had not seen that.. it was rather undignified. Why had he lost his balance, though? He assumed that he had tripped on a rock or such, and thought nothing of it.


"We're probably still in what was those bandits' territory, and they're dead now. It should be safe enough for a fire. I suppose you can put to use those cookery skills of yours while I retrieve firewood."


Without waiting for a response, he went off, and began searching for and collecting deadfalls, branches broken off of trees lying on the ground. he would remain in May's sight mostly, but soon enough went out of sight.

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

The man frowned and scratched the back of his head. "That's weird. I'm sure they said she was in the sick bay with someone she brought in..." His eyes widened as he realised something. "Oh, you probably think I'm pretty sketchy." He gave a nervous chuckle. "Don't worry about it. I'm one of Lali's friends from when she was staying here." The man offered Sylvanus a warm smile. "And a friend of Lali's is a friend of mine." He laughed again, more naturally this time. "I'll go look for her elsewhere. Sorry again for disturbing your rest." And with that, the man turned and left.


Once the footsteps had receded out of earshot, Chilali poked her head out from the wardrobe she was hiding in. She peered around the room and - noticing that only Sylvanus was there - let out a sigh of relief. "I wasn't expecting word of my arrival to spread so quickly that Dallas would know." She cursed under her breath. She quickly remembered herself and shook the thoughts out of her head. The ice mage made her way back over to Sylvanus. "I apologise for that... Both the sudden encounter and my rather pathetic display." Her head hung in shame. "As for your questions, I'm sure you have plenty. However, I'm assuming that the man just showing up is one of them." Chilali took a deep breath. "None of what he said is a lie. He is a friend of mine. He is not a threat to your well-being. If anything, he will likely help you if you are in need of anything." She nodded to herself. "You can trust him."


The female looked away, out of the window nearby. She had pulled up her face mask at some point. "As for me..." She breathed out a sigh. "I told you some of my past. I was close to raised in this school. I left and hadn't returned since the indecent at my home town. I was meant to return within a week..." She let out a sad, somewhat bitter laugh. "I can see why the head and my teacher would be irritated. I'm over five years late, after all." Her icy blue eyes closed. "They will have a pile of paperwork waiting for me." She finally looked back at Sylvanus. "But you need not worry about that. You must regain your strength. We should be back on route as soon as possible."


@minismurf

 

[minismurf]

Sylvanus just remained quiet as the man spoke, taking a bite of the apple Chilali had handed to him, and looked at him with a bit of suspicion, even though the man said that he was a friend of Chilali's so didn't Sylvanus have any evidence to base that theory on, he could be someone out to assassinate miss Chilali for all he knew.


As the man left Sylvanus looked at Chilali as she exited the wardrobe on the other side of the room, it had some kind of window shutters on it so he assumed that she'd seen the man that was now gone. "I understand that you're a student of this academy, however it seems like there's some other reason why you're hiding, I've never studied myself, however I don't think that skipping school would result in that much of a punishment, even if you've been gone for five years, and still, we won't be able to stay here for much longer, we need t ocontinue our mission for our weapons as well" As he finished he threw what was left of the now finished apple in the air, letting his arachnid limbs trap it in the air with some web. Or so he planned, he hadn't paid much notice to his extra legs yet, however as the apple fell down onto his head he looked behind him a bit, seeing every single one of his limbs being near to restrained in bandage. "What the hell is this?! Why are my limbs restrained like I'm some kind of psycho?!" He immediately started squirming with the legs, however that seemed to just make things worse, the bandages now started to get stuck in each other, and with that, so did the legs.


@KiKi Kitsune

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Chilali looked away. "I suppose you could say that Dallas is... I have my reasons for hiding from him." She took a moment to consider what she had said. "I think that might cause misunderstandings. He has done nothing wrong, but I simply would prefer not interacting with him for the moment." Her eyes dropped to her feet. "I'd rather face my teacher and the head at the same time." The mage mumbled.


She was caught in her own thoughts until Sylvanus's sudden yell brought her back to the present. "Sylvanus, please calm down!" She hastily moved to stop him thrashing. Cold hands were placed on the hybrid's shoulders. Chilali looked at the restrained limbs which were now rather tangled. "You aren't the most perceptive person, are you?" She stated without thinking. "Ah, I apologise. You are probably still sore from your injuries. You most likely had other things on your mind." She stepped back, looking at the tangled mess again. "Your limbs were badly wounded. We did this to keep weight off them so they could heal better." Chilali tugged at her face mask as she spoke.


The woman was about to try fix the mess that had been created, but froze. She had seen how sharp those limbs were. "Sylvanus, may I try untangle this? It would be bad if they remained in this position for too long." At least if she gained permission, Sylvanus would hopefully keep his legs under control.


@minismurf

 

[minismurf]

Sylvanus twitched as Chilali's cold hands reached his shoulders, however only for an instant,since he soon realised the source. He calmed down and relaxed in his nursery bed. "Fine, just, hurry up ok? I've never had my limbs restrained like this and I absolutely hate it" He sat and muttered as Chilali untangled his spiderlegs.


Once she was done he stood up and stretched his limbs, however he only got halfway before a pain in his chest forced him to bend back down, and when he looked up he noticed that he was standing almost dangerously close to Chilali, he could see straight into her bright blue eyes between her mask and the pelt she wore, and he now noticed the tattoos she had on each of her cheekbones.


@KiKi Kitsune

 

[SepiaInk]

Phoebe Silva

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Spoiler

For almost a full minute, neither of them spoke. Phoebe was in shock. Even as she attempted to break the silence, the words stayed stuck in her throat, mouth moving but no sound tumbling out. She took a step back, arms that had been shielding her face lowering to her sides.


“… Y-you,” she stammered, staring at the mess of sticks, dirt and rock at her feet. All that hard work ruined in a matter of seconds.


There was this suffocating heat growing in her chest, bubbling up her throat and painting her mind red. Something in her had begun to stretch itself too thin, and if she didn’t let that energy out, she felt like it would just snap.


“Halfwit,” that word came out in a heated breath, her voice breaking as she forced it out of her throat. “How dare you call me a halfwit?! I made a choice. I turned my back on my own family and it broke what was left of my heart, but I made a choice!”


Stop talking.


“I was tired of being hunted down. Of being seen as nothing more than a demon that deserved to be wiped out, or an object only worth the money that its parts could get on a black market. Oh, and now I can add food to that list!” she spat, turning enraged eyes towards Destin.


Stop talking, Phoebe.


“I made a choice, a hard one. To live my life as a human, because there was nothing but pain and darkness waiting for me as an animal. I have no pack. My family would die and I would be the only one of my species left in the world. And you!” She turned to point a finger at the wolf-man. “Do you not hear the hypocrisy coming from your mouth? If you’re tired of all this 'human nonsense’, then why did go to Eden? Why did you leave your pack? If you are an animal, then you owe nothing to anyone, not even deities. The gods have no use for mindless beasts!”


Just shut up!


Phoebe froze when she noticed an odd look on Destin’s face, holding her breath even as her lungs screamed for air. Eyes still fixed on the other shifter, she lifted a hand to her cheeks. Her fingers touched something wet.


“No,” she blurted out, taking a step back. “No, no, no, no!” she repeat over and over, hands rubbing her cheeks, franticly wiping out the tears as if they burned her very skin. But they just kept gushing out. “Stop!” she screamed, as if that would physically stop them in their tracks.


Her body felt like it was splitting apart. She could feel the antlers growing on her head and bursting out of her forearms. Something shone through the blurriness of her vision, and she knew it was her blue fire. But this time. This time it burned.


Give up. Give in. Those words caressed her thoughts, drawing her into the dark pools in the deepest corner of her mind. All it would take was a dive and all the emotions would disappear. She couldn’t take it any more. It was too much. So she gave in and shifted.


In a flash of burning white and blue, she was in her animal form, glowing as bright as the moon, its antlers towering over Destin. In its presence, the forest grew as quiet as the dead lake.


But something was wrong. The deer’s body was still shacking. The flames were too big, too strong, too hot. Her animal form had felt her stress, and it interpreted that as a sign of danger. Flight or fight. There was only ever one or the other in this form. And if flight was not an option…


No! I don't want to hurt him!


The giant deer shook its head, eyes flashing back and forth from red to black, and began to back away from the other shifter, edging closer and closer to the banks of the lake.







@Syvas

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[KiKi Kitsune]

Chilali had instinctively moved closer when Sylvanus looked like he was about to fall over. She put her hands out, ready to balance the hybrid if necessary. "Are you alright, Sylvanus?" She asked with worry. Bright blue eyes scanned the arachnid for any signs of reopened wounds. Seeing none, she looked back up only to notice their close proximity. Blue and green clashed for a moment while Chilali tried to analyse the situation. Once her mind had worked out what had happened, she took a few hasty steps backwards. "I apologise for that. You should return to bed and rest some more."


The mage gave a cough to clear her throat. "I'll leave you to get some sleep. I best speak to the head as well." She gave a nod and hurried out of the door, closing it behind her. She took a deep breath only to freeze in place. "Chilali!" Dallas called loud enough for half of the school to hear. "Uh, I- Um..." Chilali's eyes darted around. "I'm going now!" With that, she turned tail and ran. Dallas, rather surprised, ran after her. "Hey, Lali, wait up!" Their footsteps receded into the distance, leaving the sick bay in relative silence.


@minismurf

 

[minismurf]

Sylvanus sat back down on the bed, "No need to apologize" He said before Chilali ran away again. As soon as she exited Sylvanus could hear the voice of the man Chilali had recently hid from and soon after he could hear them both running to somewhere else, anywhere else most likely in Chilali's case. He smiled for himself and stood back up, he then remembered, he had a mission, both him and Chilali, he didn't have time to remain in bed, wounded or not, they had to return to their mission. He walked out through of the nursery and looked down the corridoor where he'd heard the two run off. He sighed and then started following the corridoor down through the academy.


@KiKi Kitsune

 

[TerraBooma]

Romon sighed. Puzzles, great. "No time for reading eh...looks like we're going to be in a bit of a rush then." He shrugged. "Can't be too difficult if they've been solved before, there's no great hints or solutions in the stories of the past?" He raised a brow. "I know they tend to get distorted by fiction but there's usually a basis of fact in there somewhere...even if it's been hidden rather deep. There's always a hint somewhere." Romon shrugged and continued to lead the pair on.


A couple of hours later the pair had started to come close to what was a series of buildings in the distance. It seemed they had come across a village. Romon looked back at Aduro, a grin on his face. Still...something about him had changed at the sight of civilization again. He seemed more...rigid almost. His demeanor had shifted back into city-Romon.


Proper and precise, every step seemed measured and calculated, eyes scanning the horizon...Romon was back in business mode

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Chilali had her back pressed against a wall. She had pulled her face mask down so she could catch her breath more easily. She peered around the corner. Seeing no one, she slid down the wall. After a minute or two, her breathing had returned to normal. The ice mage touched her forehead. Her fingers came away with little droplets of sweat. It was no surprise considering she had sprinted across half the school at full speed. Her muscles would have been protesting, but Chilali didn't notice.


However, the sweat was a problem. It meant she was overheating. It didn't happen often thanks to her choice of magic. Not that it mattered much at the moment. She took off the pelt that usually covered her head. She would cool down fast enough with that. With the pelt off, she could run a hand through her rather shaggy hair. It was a bit knotted from being under the pelt for so long.


With a sigh, Chilali rose and looked around again. Only, this time, there was someone in the corridor. "Sylvanus? You should be resting." She said before noticing something. Hastily, her face mask was pulled back into place. Her brows furrowed together. "Actually... Would you mind accompanying me?" The mage requested as politely as she could. "I think the head would like to meet you."


@minismurf

 

[KiKi Kitsune]

Adruo opened and closed her mouth a few times before finding the right words. Romon seemed a little... disappointed when she mentioned the puzzles. "Actually, uh, the puzzles haven't ever been solved..." The dragonkin took a breath. "The solution is only known by two beings. The creators of the puzzles." She held up two clawed fingers. "The god of mind, Animus himself." She now showed one finger. "The second is the previous wielder of the twin blades, Fahim Dheemant." Adruo lowered her hand. "Since Fahim is no longer alive and Animus would refuse to help, we are pretty much on our own."


She was paying close attention to the ground, trying to get some magic right. The ability to use the earth to sense many different things. Underground water, plant root systems, or even footsteps. It wasn't exactly something she was good at. Instead, she was pretty bad at it. That's why she took the silence to practice. Walking with Romon allowed her to feel his footsteps through the earth. She frowned when she felt them change. It was very slight, but his steps seemed... Stiffer? Adruo looked up to the elf. She then noticed the village in the distance. The dragonkin had remembered that Romon seemed to change when he had left Eden. Was he changing back now that they were near a village? She decided against bringing it up.


"Well, it looks like we should be able to get any last minute supplies we may have forgotten in Eden." Adruo thought back to their previous conversations. "Would you like to get some wood paint?"