Fantasy Till Darkness Comes l Closed

[IMthatGUY]

Welcome to the heart of the RP!
For More Info, Check Out The Other Tab Above For The Interest Check​

 

[IMthatGUY]

1). Nak​

"Well shit...." Nak sighed as the iron bars slammed shut and he was left alone to rot. The cell was pitch black, with a stench as thick and rotten as it was dark. Nak could feel a draft meaning there was a window at least but that would be no help on a night like this. A dastardly cloudy sky that intended not to let the moon or star shine through. He had a bad feeling about going out today....

Nak was part of a guild called the Black Dragons. Though he has the look of a small boy, Nak was quite the capable adventurer (like overlord, to keep it simple). Standing at 5'5 with a toned figures made for an assassin, the white haired pale faced young man was 256 years old with the appearance of a 17 year old. It is quite common that the demon race have such slow aging, especially in their human form. With his red eyes, a staple of the demon clan Bloodworth, he could strike fear into the most burly of men even without his demonic black magic. But as impressive as he might be, the boy sure wasn't feeling it right now.

The guild was, for the most part, empty when Nak came back from his last mission. After cashing in the job and chatting with the few guild mates that were there, he approached the quest board once again. After shuffling through the mundane quests and routine patrols, he stumbled upon one that was hidden under couple of newer ones. It wasn't much gold, probably why it had been covered up, but it was written in beautiful handwriting that spoke about villages south of the capitol that were having their strongest warriors abducted from them. They suspect it had something to do with a feared bounty hunter name Reggik. Nak has heard legend of the skilled assassin and slaver, and his staple nerve neutralizing poison mixed with a little bit of something else to subdue any attacker.

The thought of coming face to face with another poisonous-specializing alchemist even more skilled than himself had fascinated Nak, so with there no one really left to partner up with, he left by himself to investigate the southern villages.

"I mean at least I found him..." Nak whispered to himself before wincing in pain. They had busted him up pretty bad while he was unconscious. That legendary poison was no joke. He assumed the traders found him out to be a demon and thought to teach him a lesson while he couldn't fight back. Demons and humans far from get along. "Fucking cowards..."

Nak tried to use the spell scout to see how many people were around him; bad idea. A blinding pain shot from his chained wrists to his head which made him yell out in pain. So magic wasn't going to work... the cuffs were cursed. Cursing himself out of anger, he closed his eyes and concentrated, listening for anyone else around him. He was a huntsman after all. After around 30 seconds his ears focused on some breathing across the cell. All this time, Nak hadn't even noticed him. Impressive.

"Well hello there stranger. Quite the welcoming party, thanks..." he spit his word to the other side of the pitch black cell, testing the man. Aggression is always looked upon as a sign of respect. Aggression then politeness will show your firm but thoughtful, or so his sister had always told him.

 

[IMthatGUY]

2). Xack​

"T'sup" he said in his Mid toned voice. He blindly walked to his new cell mate, hands forward. He put his hands on the man's face and patted his head. "Not as big as the last one" he said. "He'll definitely last longer than the hobbit did" He heard Chassis's voice in the back of his mind.

‘Demon’ she said to Xack.

Xack smiled "Well if he's a demon maybe he'll last longer than the ogre" Xack plopped down with an unseen inquisitive smile. "So, what ya in fur?" He said in a mockingly farm town accent.

 

[IMthatGUY]

3). Nak​

"Don't you know it's not polite to invade people personal space..." Nak spat as the man took his hand off his head. The poison hadn't fully wore off, but it still took everything Nak had to keep himself contained. The young man in front of him seemed quite confident in himself, and his green eyes shown through the pitch black room like a hawk. 'Glowing green eyes, not human. But what?'

"I'm from the black dragons, a guild in the capitol north of here. And that's all I have to say to you about me. The hell are you talking about a ogre and hobbit for?" The white haired boy sat across from him with a smile that made him uneasy, he didn't like this guy.

 

[IMthatGUY]

4). Xack​

"Well, we tried busting out of the arena. Didn't work out that well, I got this nasty wound." He said indicating it even though the mancouldn't see it. "The hobbit made it a whole 4 feet out of his cell and the ogre made it to the door. I just walked back into my cell whenever they fell and the guards didn't seem to care" he scuttled around the cell kicking his feet "I'll get out." He said sternly. "Either soon or whenever this wound heals up."

 

[IMthatGUY]

5). Nak​

'Honorable huh...' Nak thought, 'Though I'm not one to talk. At least I'm not crazy. He got caught and thrown in here too, so he can't be all that tough.' But Nak wanted out as well, so this guy was his best bet. But he needed more information. "How'd you end up in here, and where is here?" Nak asked in a neutral tone.

 

[IMthatGUY]

6). Xack​

'He didn't answer us' Chassis said. "Um to be completely honest" he said "I was caught sleeping with a Nobleman's mistress and he put a pretty heavy bounty on me." He paused and leaned up against the wall. He was starting to get more antsy than usual. "He may have gotten mad about the house fire he made me cause when he attacked, but he attacked me first."

Chassis giggled internally. 'All's fair in love and war'

 

[IMthatGUY]

7). Nak​

"Fuck nobles am I right...?" Nak chuckled, thinking of his father and the devil kingdom his clan served. He hated nobility and they're smug easy lives. And he was just supposed to lay down his life for them because of their birth. Mid thought and chuckle, he coughed up blood. Internal bleeding. Painful but not deadly by any means. Demons aren't like pathetic humans.

"So what are they doing with us?" Nak asked more relaxed. Not worth the pain to act tough right now.

 

[IMthatGUY]

8). Xack​

He looked at the man, seeing the blood go down his chin. And he knew it was time to get serious, as He heard the footsteps. 'Here they come’ Chassis said.

"Its an arena" he told him.. "they throw us in in it twice a week to fight different monsters and each other." His voice drifted as he gazed at the man. "Only one of the chosen prisoners comes out alive out of the 10 they pick for each fight." The footsteps got closer and closer and the rattling of keys lifted Xack’s ears.
He looked at the man and outstretched his hand with a stern look.
"I'm Xack."

 

[IMthatGUY]

9). Nak​

'An arena he says...' Nak thought to himself. 'That's much better than I had expected. Doubt there'd be a basilisk but can't hurt to get some more experience'

As the sound of footsteps echoed and the rattle of keys grew closer, he could sense the outstretched hand of the newly introduced Xack.'Not much of an option is there...' he thought as he took the young mans hand with his two cuffed ones. "Name's Nak. It's quite awful to make your acquaintance." He introduced himself with half a laugh. Reaching for Xack’s outstretched hand, Nak hesitated. He could feel a light sting without even touching him. Not enough to hurt him, but just enough to annoy him. Like a little itch that won't go away all over his body. The feeling of a demon coming into contact with light magic.

Taking his hand and helping him up, Nak could tell it wasn't Xack’s magic. If it was, the man was as week as a goblin. No, maybe a magical item or something. Just something to keep in mind.

"Thank you." Nak said as he stood up, wobbling a little bit. The poison hadn't worn off completely. It was still pitch black but with the sun starting to peek through the clouds, Nak would get his aid soon enough. A man Nak presumed to be a guard walked up to the cell, grunting the usual "Don't try anything stupid" as he fumbled with the keys.

 

[IMthatGUY]

10). Xack​

"We won't this time Jed." Xack said to the guard the light began to pierce the building. Xack’s white hair glew in the light. "What's on the menu today Jed? Another wraith?" He asked. And looking at the guard. He shook his head yes. Xack smirked and looked at Nak. "I don't know if you've ever dealt with a wraith before, but their this Nobleman's favorite toy." He said. "Their essentially people who have been infected by a dark magic spell called 'Wailing Plague' and their limbs become elongated and they look like they haven't eaten in months and there mouths and teeth become huge. To infect you all they have to do is harm you in any way or vomit on you."

As he finished he looked down at himself. He had a serious stab wound from his second arena match that he had last week. His black shirt was tattered into little more than a simple covering and his black baggy pants were pure drab at this point. They didn't even hang over his ankles anymore. Most of his clothes had been soaked in blood of all different colors, some his and some others. Either way healing such a wound for him and Chassis was taking a lot out of him without any medical supplies. Jed tossed a sack at him and Xack caught it surprisingly, only to look in and find a pair of fresh clothes and a bandage to cover his stomach.

"Thank you." He told Jed. He could feel Chassis get warm and flustered with thankfulness.

 

[IMthatGUY]

11). Nak​

The dirty white haired young man started changing, looking like a kid in Christmas. 'Wonder how long he has been here...?' Nak pondered, though only for a moment.

"Umm, Jed is it? Could you take these cuffs o--," He was cut off by a snap of a finger, not Jed's, but a mage that stepped out of apparently nothingness. Which made sense, considering they had just had an attempted escape. Sending one guard to retrieve prisoners would be foolish.

The mage spoke from behind his hood as the cuffs fell from his hands, "My employer has never seen a demon in action before, so I do hope you tend to put on a good show." He chuckled before return to wherever he came from.

'I can't use my demonic powers though...' He thought, hoping he wouldn't have to show anything off. But now with his hands free he sat down and quickly pulled out a bag from a hidden pocket in his jacket where he keeps his poisons.

A spell, called stash by the thieves that most use it, allows the user to turn a pocket virtually invisible for a certain period of time. There is a limit to what can be stored and how big it can be but it makes it look and feel as if the pocket didn't exist. Perfect for thieves to hide their stuff when being searched by guards. Nak made sure to put arguably his most prized possession in there before every big fight, in case he were ever robbed. The spell had worn off a good time ago but fortunately was still active when they took everything from him. Something like this would fetch riches on the black market.

Pulling out a sparkly bright blue necklace, he tapped it repeatedly. "Hey, Puk. You there? I hope it's not
to early." Seconds later the necklace lit up, out coming a floating cat familiar that stretched its little body in the air before taking in the situation around him.

Spoiler: Puk

"Nak, where the heck are we?!" He said with a alarmed voice. "What in the world did you do while I was asleep?! I leave you for one night an--," Nak puts his two fingers on puk's muzzle to pinch his mouth close. The cat glares but silences.

"Look, stay quiet. We are prisoner in a nobleman's arena thing and I need your help, I don't think we have much time." Nak spoke as he stuffed the necklace back into his inner pocket and wiped his mouth from bloody drool. "I think it's just some internal bleeding, you mind seeing if you can stop it?" I whispered to him, loud enough so the guard wouldn't hear but Xack could.

The cat floated to Nak's shoulder and closed his eyes, pawing Nak's back while he mumbled a spell. "And are you going to introduce me to our new friend here?" The cat spoke from behind Nak.

"I wouldn't go that far... temporary partners. Apparently we might have to kill him at some point." Nak chuckled before coughing, this time without blood thankfully. "This is Xack. Pissed off the nobles." Xack had changed and was messing with his wound. "Puk, if you could, heal me enough so I can operate fine, then help him heal that wound. I'm not sure if you can do it all th--,"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do," he said coming up to Nak's shoulder and resting there looking at the wound. “I'll have you know your wounds were child's play, almost nothing to heal if I'm honest. More of you just being a big baby." Puk chuckled pouncing off of Nak's shoulder and moving towards Xack. "True, it's more than I can do in one day but I can help shallow it. There seems to already have some unnatural healing so that will help..." he said, words trailing off into thought. Looking up to Xack, "That cool?"

 

[IMthatGUY]

12). Xack​

Xack glanced at him and his mysterious creature, not quite long enough to catch the guards attention. He shook his head yes.

“Let's go.” the guard said. It almost seemed reluctant. Like Jed thought the. Inevitable was coming. Of seeing more prisoners die. Xack looked around the now brightly lit cells. True that some didn't deserve to be let out. But there were innocent people here who the nobles tossed in to the mix for no reason. A young girl cried from the distance as they made their way continuously to the weapons storage, where they'd get their weapons for the arena battle. The girls cries turned to merciful begging. Xack glanced into the direction they'd come from. And saw a girl being pressed against the wall. The man slammed her against the wall.

“AWW she's fuckin adorable, eh?” He shouted at her with her neck in His grasp.

His partner was only instigating the argument.

Finally, he took her off the wall and threw her in her cell.

“Do it now…” he said under his breath.

‘with pleasure.’

For the time Chassis only spoke to him. Until they were out of wasn't safe for any nobles there was a free floating Ezirian with an ethereal bond. He'd been fighting without her since he got there. But he knew he had to get out and free the innocent.

A small blade of light grew from his back. It was so hard to notice that it may just appear as a light against a piece of metal to the unknowing eye. But that's exactly where it went.

The light blade shot straight through the aggressive guards eye and he collapsed to the floor another one shot straight through the other guard.

No one knew what he'd done. Other guards panicked and ran to their helpless aid. But Jed just turned and looked at Xack.

“To the store room.” He said. “ that doesn't concern us.”

And they continued onward.

------------------------------------------------------------------

12.5). Nak & Xack’s Version​

Xack looked at the demon and his mysterious floating feline creature, pausing a moment before shaking his head in agreement so the guard wouldn't notice. The cat, introduced as Puk, started mumbling a spell as the guard spoke.

“Let’s Go…” He almost seemed reluctant. Like Jed thought the inevitable was coming. Of seeing more prisoners die. Giving the healer time to cast his spell, Xack slowly put his shirt on and stood up face away from the guard. Puk give the ok that the spell was set, Xack could feel a chill run down his spine. The pain had subsided and the skin around it felt like ice. Putting the bandage around it, he made sure to give Puk one more nod of thanks before the cat slipped back into Nak’s jacket.

He winced at the slight pain Puk,s magic had inflicted on him, but only briefly, as the familiar warm embrace of chassis flooded his entire body.

‘It’s ok’ Chassis told him.

He closed his eyes for a second and could feel her warmth. It felt like the beach on a warm sunny day.

‘Seems like the familiar uses a form of water healing.’ Chassis said. ‘It used water to cleanse the wound and ice to keep it protected. Only drawback being is that it stings a fair bit.’

She used her light to embrace him more.

No one could see her. Not even Xack, but he could feel her presence as she grew ever warmer. If she could talk to Puk she would thank her, for she had been worried about Xacks wound all week. She knew that the green pus bubbles meant infection. But even though Xack needed healing, he wouldn't let her sacrifice her own healing so they could focus on his alone. That was his biggest downfall. Whenever Xack took damage, he essentially took the pain of two people. She truly thought they would die together in that dark, dank and wet cell.

‘The worst way to go.’ She said to herself.

She wrapped him up even more, only to be rudely interrupted by the CLANG CLANG CLANG of Jed knocking against the cell, essentially telling Xack to hurry and get his shoes on. To her it’d been minutes, to everyone else it’d been seconds.

As they walked down the hall she kept her warmth on the wound, stimulating the stinging and allowing Xack to be comfortable again after the two long weeks in here. She was ready for the plan her and Xack had devised. Finally, the sweet sunlight outside of the dirty cell could cleanse them of the terrible things Xack had been forced to do in there to protect them both. He had not been able to use her power out of fear that the Noblemen would try and take her.

She looked at him, he was glancing around the room. She did the same, seeing all the tormented souls. Each one forced to live in a cramped space as they had. Some malnourished, some scarred, some even missing limbs and cowering in the corners of their cells. Some cells even had a pair of residents with only one being alive, and the other being forced to stare at their dead cellmate. She stared forward as the group treaded down the hall that constantly echoed of agony.

A young girl cried out in the distance some ways up the row of cells. With Nak following suit, Jed led them towards the armory. The closer the duo got, the louder the now merciful begging grew. Coming up to the cell, Xack peeked in to see two men in the cell with a frail looking young lady, not much older than the age of 15. One guard stood back watching, the smile on his face rotten enough to give the devil chills. The larger of the two stood with a handful of blonde hair clenched in his fist, the other fist holding her tiny hands together.

The tears came rolling down her face, voice giving out as she realized no one was coming to help. The goon with a fist full of hair slammed her head into the wall, “Where’d that beautiful singing voice of yours go, huh?” He chuckled, watching the dirty blonde hair start dripping with blood. Xack stopped walking, taking in the situation.

Xack sunk into his own soul. Walking away from a bastard like that was against his morales. The boy fiercely looked, through the corner of his eye, at the dirty guards that lay the assault, not fifteen feet behind him. A snow white beard with stains of fresh beer, balding head of hair, brown leather drab, he wasn’t much taller and he reeked of a disgusting aura. He was a putrid man, and his slim hairless mole rat of a partner was no better. Xack memorized their disgusting features and he let his hate filled eyes disappear behind his white hair. He took a deep breath and focused. He let out the breath and a smile returned to his face.

“So Jed, do they have my usual toys in the store room today?” He asked with the same previous charisma he had.

Jed said nothing to the boy, he only nodded his head yes.

‘Chassis’ He said to himself ‘We’re getting out of here’

‘It is about time.’ Her voice echoed ‘I was getting worried we may die in here.’

He confidently walked into the store room, knowing instantly where to go.

13). Nak​

'Oh.’ Nak thought to himself as he walked past the dying guard into the store room. 'So I guess he could've killed me at anytime huh?’ Nak took a mental note as he watched his newly acquainted partner look at the weapons that lines the ground and walls, looking at the swords and shields. There was no mistaking it, that was Xack’s doing. Whatever magic that was, it was powerful. Nak made a mental note of the offensive magic, knowing he might need to fight him one day. 'If only I could use my real magic…’ He thought, putting his hand over where he kept his necklace. Even though Puk had disappeared back into it, Nak said “Looks like you'll have to show him what you got, huh buddy?” Nak thought back on how they met, the day he left for earth so many yea--

“Let’s go…” Jed said from the other side of the room. More to get us to hurry up than come to him, Nak focused in on finding a weapon. The were surprisingly well made, with plenty of arrows to choose from. 'The nobles must really love this. How sick…’ He grabbed a black bow, made from ebony, it had the outline of a dragon on it. “Good enough.” He said under his breath, also reaching for a quiver of arrows. Never having fought a wraith before, he assumed poison wouldn't do much of anything. Walking over to Xack who had pick out a shield and was looking at swords, Nak took a look at the daggers. Nothing really stood out. Grabbing two longer blades, mix matched at that, he made his way to Jed. ‘This should be fun.’

 

[IMthatGUY]

Alright! Everything past this is starting the real story. I call this the Awakening because we did a final overhaul of the lore, characters, and writing style.

Some changes are:
Nak has Black hair
Puk is female
Nak is a Magical Archer

At first I was going to just do a summarization of these post above but thought it'd be too confusing so from this point forward the real story begins! Hope you enjoy!​

 

[IMthatGUY]

14). Xack​

The head of white, spiked and messy hair bounced between the weapon racks quickly. He continued his loud search, filled with metallic crashes of falling steel swords and wooden thuds of wooden shields. He caught a glimpse in his hurried travel of the demon looking over a bow. ‘Be more careful’ Chassis told him urgently as he almost ran into the wrong end of a
spear.

“No time to be careful” He seemingly said to himself as he avoided the sharp tip.

“Jed got us out early, so any minute now the other pris-” He was instantly cut off. He halted in his place whipping his head enough to almost cause whiplash.


The store room instantly ignited with chatter of all different kinds. Some screams of pain, others agony, anticipation and fear. The other eight prisoners had arrived. He hurried his pace even more, stumbling almost every step and catching himself every time. Finally he saw the yellow and white glimmer of metal behind a stack of broken and bloody weapons.

He ran towards it, only to be stopped by a tall dark skinned man. The man shoved him aside and plucked up the shield that he was headed for. The round buckler shield was lined with silver steel, and colored with a golden yellow paint and centering it was his personal insignia. It was the “Yin” symbol of ancient times, used by a culture called “The Chinese Monks”. It represented the light to the darkness.

“Hope you weren't wanting this sturdy piece, short stuff.” The deep voiced man said. He only had on a kilt like undergarment and a thin white tank top. His belly protruded past anything else and it lightly hung from under his shirt. He reeked of rats that he had probably feasted on prior and he could tell the man had been pulling his hair out, as it was patchy and torn.

“Oh snap!” he bellowed as he pulled out a glimmering shortsword from right under where the shield had been. It had a white handle with a shining yellow hilt. Each edge on the blade was lined with a white line. Again the Yin symbol rested mid blade. Only this time it was a subtle carving on each face of the blade.

‘YOU HAVE TO GET THE EXPLOSIVE POWDER OR WE WILL BE SO SCREWED!’ Chassis shouted through his head. Without thinking Xack grabbed a tall rusted shelf of weapons and toppled it onto the man. As the metal clangs and the mans angry shouts clashed, Xack reached for the shield. The firm hands gripped and tugged but the man had the shield fastened to his arm.

‘Well if i can’t get it all, I’ll just get the bomb!’ he shouted inside his head, only for him and Chassis to hear. He quickly reached for the hidden compartment in the interior of the shield that lay just below the forearm brace, popped open the clip and grabbed the small bag. As he smiled the shelf finished its decent onto the man and he let out a shriek of anger.

“YA LIL PUNK, IMA KILL YA FOR THAT” He shouted as Xack walked off half heartedly. He wanted his custom Ezirian shield and sword, but it would have caused the guards to get involved if he had of continued the confrontation, they were already giving him scolding looks.

“I wonder if that's how he became the ‘champion of the arena’ in only the two weeks he’s been here” Said one of the guards that had escorted in the group of prisoners “playing dirty before he’s out the door,” The scruffy boy went to stand beside Jed. As he approached through the bustling hoard of people he faked a fall, falling into Jed and slipping the bomb into his pocket. He then stood and smiled, patting Jed on the chest.

“Sorry about that” he said, now covered in rust from the weapons rack. He then looked over Nak again, taking in his choice of weapons. “He’s a ranged attacker” He said externally to Chassis.

‘Finally someone who can watch over your instinctual and rash fighting styles’ She giggled.

“Well it always gets the job done.” He said. They both shared a chuckle.

 

[IMthatGUY]

15). Nak​

Nak looked at the man beside him bewildered. ‘Is this guy freaking crazy…’ he thought to himself.

“He is a ranged attacker.” Xack said, seemingly to himself, before continuing with a chuckle, “Well it always gets the job done.”

‘Yeah, definitely fucking crazy…’ The demon thought with a shake of his head. Focusing on the objective at hand, he took in the room of prisoners. So these eight other people were his enemies, ‘Well nine including him…’ glancing to Xack, ‘Though he doesn't seem to see me like that. Good, lets hope it stays that way.’ Nak didn't want to fight him, whatever he was, especially with traces of light magic in his body. That spells death for any dark magic user, let alone a demon.

Getting up from his stupor of having a shelf toppled on him, the giant of a man glared furiously at Xack, every bone in his body telling him to pounce. Before he could decide the right course of action, a guard stood in the way, a long spear pointed at the giant as he shook his head. Spitting on the floor, the hunk of man turned around and exited out the store room, most likely making his way to the opposite side of the arena. All the while, the crazy man didn't seem phased in the slightest.

“Pissing people off must be his specialty, we got that in common at least.” Nak said under his breath. Hearing a chuckle from inside his jacket, Nak lightly thumped where he guessed Puk was hiding. With a growl for confirmation, Nak watched the rest of the prisoners, along with Jed who ushered them out, follow down a long curved hallway with many openings which could only lead to the arena.

Approaching the first opening, Jed nodded towards the arched entrance. Xack gave Jed a wink before starting down it, as if it were just another day. Shaking his head in the disbelief of this new crazy partner of his, Nak notched an arrow and followed him down the lighted corridor.

He had no way to enchant his arrows, no way poison would work on the dead. “That also means no life drain, cause there is, surprise, no life to drain.” The strategist spoke to himself often, it helped him sort out information that would often get overlooked otherwise. This wasn’t going to be an easy battle for him with so much of a disadvantage. ‘But what can you d---’

“I hope your not worried.” His thoughts were interrupted by the purr of his feline companion. “I could feel your heartbeat speeding up…”

“Not worried per say, don’t you worry…” He took a deep breathe, “Just taking in all the shit we will have to deal with.” He was happy Puk was there, one of the only people who kept him sane in this world.

“Good, cause you have a sister and a family to get back to and make proud. You can’t die till you show my true master just how strong you are.” She spoke proudly, reminiscing on the memories Nak’s sister and her shared. Violet had entrusted the necklace, and Puk, to Nak’s care before he was exiled from the underworld.

“Don't forget I'm your master too, ok?” Nak teased, loving the warmth of a happy cat in his jacket. Puk reassured him she was undyingly loyal, but they both already knew that; working through those problems a fifty or so years ago. “If you mean this much to my true master, then you mean that much to me as well, master.” She had always told him.

With their morale boosted and battle ready, Nak took the final step to catch up with his new white haired accomplice. They stood outside the arched corridor, facing a field with fresh dew on a worn battle-torn ground. The morning sun made the remaining grass glisten, but it also shed light on a giant metal cage in the dead center of the arena. Inside, six wailing monster Nak presumed to be wraiths, clicked and cracked and banged, looking at the ten prisoners that surrounded the cage as if they were dinner. A black mist oozed around the creatures, looking like bubbly tar, and a smell that curled the noses of most the prisoners.

“You ready?” Nak asked as he reached in his jacket. A nuzzled was all he needed to notch an arrow and pull it back, standing ready for whatever came next.

 

[IMthatGUY]

15.5). (B Plot)​

“Stay still, I can heal you when you squirm like that.” Her furry brown ears drooped in concentration trying her best not to hurt her comrad. The face that normally shined brightly, warming the heart of all that came across it, was now covered with worry lines and blood. Ignoring the crimson liquid dripping down her face all over her fluttery battle-worn cloaked holy armour, she tried her best to stop the bleeding rapid decay caused by a lodged poison arrow. Her magic and first aid knowledge could only do so much against poison she knew nothing about.

The victim being healed, a giant albino wolfman going by the name Sage, sat as still as he could, every muscle in his rugged body stinging because of the effects of poison. 'You’d think I'd be immune to poison all the times I've fought with Nak, the little runt.’ Keeping his mind on the Homeland and biting down on a leather pouch, he waited for his skin to stop falling off. “It's nof ike you aff the muss gentle tooch Mitt.” She was outlining the wound with divine magic, special to paladins only, but the decay broke through without stopping a moment. His lower abdomen was almost fully dark grey, spreading it's way up to his chest.

The Fox’s ears perked up coming out of her concentrated trance. “Oh shut up.” She barely got out before there was another giant fireball blast from behind them, blowing her blonde locks all over the workspace. Brushing her hair back, she called out behind her,. “Sis, I need more time! Angelo, get your ass over here!” Fire! Looking at her albino friend with a 'do you trust me look’, she cast a spell that brought out a white hot flame.

Meanwhile, a smaller fox girl, this one with beautiful white hair and amber eyes, was in battle a little ways away fighting off their adversaries. The group had been sent to dispose of a cult-like group, being ordered to bring them to justice for kidnappings and magical experiments on humans, as well as find any information about what the dastardly group was research if possible. They had infiltrated the camp the job had described, and with much resistance, had defeated the group and gathered some info.Setting up camp for night in a nearby cave, the adventurers were snuck up on with a nightly assault. Before the tiny beast-girl in her flowing red cloak was a monstrous minotaur, trying his best to block any incoming magic damage and catch the little weasel mages that lay siege on them. The cave was in a canyon, another poor choice by the adventurers. The minotaur roared, continuing it's attack.

“He doesn't have too much time left Mitt, he can't take but another two fireballs at most.” Little Remi yelled back at her sister, focusing her power to summon another familiar to heal the minotaur. Taking a few more second than it should have due to overuse, out popped a little water dragon Pina. “Sorry I had to put you away girl, Taur’s summon is extremely Mana costly. But you should be good now.” The little fox spoke to her friend. Remi almost never sent Aquarius back to her home world, they were inseparable. With a gleeful squawk from Aquarius, the focused on healing the Minotaur. “Mitt, cast Taur a magic defense spell or something real quick.”

Looking back at her sister, Mitt shook her head. 'It's not that easy sis…’ she thought, focusing on the continued spread of decayed skin. “It's way too big, I'd use up to much magic.” The blonde puppeteer Angelo swept to the opposite side Mitt, looking down at his friend.

“Sage, your not looking too good there buddy. What the hell they hit you with?” Angelo asked, knowing there wouldn't be an answer. “Wow, this decay rate is unlike anything I've ever seen for a poison.”

“I know and my divine magic and extraction spells are doing a thing.” Mitt finally wiped her face clear of blood and dirt, pulling her hair back once more.

“Well you know if you die I could make you into a wonderful puppet. You'd be stronger than any of my previous creations.” Angelo teased, his magic threaded stuffed puppets fighting and dodging attacks even while he was absent. He also has the ability to bring the dead to life temporarily to fight for him, like any typical necromancer. Sage tried to speak but winced half way through his sentence.

“Take it easy buddy.” He patted his friend on the chest. “What if this isn't poison? Where's the arrow?” Mitt handed the fair faced man the remnants of the lodged arrow. Angelo closed his eyes and focused in on the item. His grimoire flew into the air and started writing. After the writing commenced, the book fell to the ground and Angelo opened his eyes. Checking the book, “It's not poison, it's a curse. Necromancer magic. Thank goodness, I think I have a spell in here…” he trailed off flipping through the pages of his dirty green spell book. Finding it, he chanted the spell and the decaying fur stopped. Closing the book, he nodded to the two before jumping away to help Remi do battle.

“Thank the heavens…” Mitt exclaimed, performing her divine magic on Sage once again, this time healing him, slowly but surely.

 

[IMthatGUY]

16). Xack​

The prisoners spread around the large dome like structure. The arena itself was a perfect circle of two hundred yards in each direction from the center. Xack kicked the red dusty dirt and left his foots impression inside of it. The young man looked around and saw the cheering crowd. They drowned out all possibility of hearing his own thoughts, and to some degree he could hardly hear Chassis over them. Each one wearing bright colors, symbolizing there place in the higher classes. A few wore darker colored drabs, which meant they were simple common folk. Men, women and children alike. No one missed their chance to come see the arena fights in New Constantinople. They were always a sight to behold, thats why only the best bounty hunters worked on the collection of the participants. The battles fought here were always spectacular.

But only to those watching from the outside in.

To the fighters themselves it could be many things. It could be their time to show the noblemen that they were fantastic warriors. it could be a suicide attempt by an imprisoned soul. It could even be a new lead on the hunt for a specific Noblemen.

Xack scanned the ever growing crowd for his target. He aimed his eyes and focused on the Noblemen section of the stands. There he saw three Noblemen. The first one was Jezerrel Albinight, The Noblemen that oversaw the western districts in the fourth division. He wore extravagant jewelry, purple dress robes and an awkward chin which only shouted the word “Snob”.

‘He’s a long ways from home’ He heard Chassis say.

“Well when we rise to stardom in the ‘Explosive’ way we did, I’d only expect a special guest right?” He said to her.

‘THEIR!’ She softly shouted to him. ‘The one next to Jezerell!’

“That's him.” Xack spat, with a disgusted look. “Albito Kuriyama”

The husky man sat next to Jezzerel. He was not overweight but not quite slender. He wore red garments with beautiful yellow swirl patterns, he was bald and had a tattoo of an eye on his forehead. It was another symbol like the one from his equipment. A symbol of a civilization that lived over a millenia ago. ‘The eye of Horus’ was it’s name.

“We’ll get it back” He said to Chassis. He felt her warmth of agreement.

The beasts in the center screamed, Snatching Xack from his thoughts. their agonizing and tormented wails. Screaming as if the people they once were were still trapped inside. Their elongated fingers scratched at the rusted bars of the square cage. Each one roughly eight feet tall, ghostly pale, with thin long limbs and weak looking sinking torsos and long stretched mouths. Xack smiled slightly, getting ready for the battle. He looked at Nak, who already had a arrow notched and ready to go.

‘Is he going to be coming with us.’ Chassis asked warmly.

Xack looked at the man, who returned his gaze.

“If he chooses.” Xack said aloud, to both Chassis and the demon. “Be ready to high tail it out of here”

He then heard the trumpet marking the battle to commence, his ears perked up and his feet became ready to move. But he stopped suddenly.

Realizing he didn't have a weapon. He had been so fixated on getting the package to Jed he had forgotten to grab anything to fight with. He looked at Nak and smiled.

 

[IMthatGUY]

17). Nak​

“Are you….” Nak stared at the defenseless man. The demon rolled his eyes, speaking under his breath. “You have to be kidding…”

Puk peaked out of Nak’s jacket and snickered, “You really found yourself a good one didn't you.” Before being stuffed back inside. He had grabbed two daggers, knowing he wouldn't be able to use life drain. 'This dudes lucky…’ Nak thought has he took of the longer of the two and threw it to Xack. “Don't make me regret this ya loon.” He caught it, handle down, blade facing his body and took the stance of an assassin.

With the conclusion of the trumpets and a roar from the crowd, the mage from before appeared from thin air above the rusty cage. With that same deadly loud snap he had used to take Nak’s cuffs off, the cage doors fell. The crowd died down, completely engrossed with the fight that about to ensue. The black mist started to.spread out and dissipate as the wraiths slowly made their way out of the cage area.

The moment their slender feet made it passed the toppled cage doors, it was a bloodbath. One charged full speed at a crippled prisoner, as if know it's pretty would be an easy kill. The man fought nobly with a shield block to open his enemy up for a slash, but that just resulted in him getting drenched in sticky black tar. He let out a shriek before collapsing to the floor and wriggling.

Nak watched as the rest started following suit, making their way past the rusty cage doors and rushing the prisoners. Luckily, the cage door was facing opposite to the new duo, giving them time to learn and adapt a strategy. Glancing at the loon, he could see him talking to himself yet was drowned out with all the streaks. Looking around, he tried to find a weakness. Moving a little closer to Xack, he called out, “So you've fought these things before, yes? Is there some kind of weakn…”


He was cut off by the cry of a Wraith spotting the two warriors. It started rushing them, moving swiftly for a monster of it's elongated size. Nak gave a dash to the side, while firing 2 arrows rapidly back to back. One landed in the thigh, gushing out black blood, the other hitting the intended mark, it's knee, causing the monster to trip on itself before making it directly upon them.

Meanwhile, the battlefield looked like a swamp. A mixture of mist and pools of black and deep red filling up the holes in the ground. The crowd had started cheering once again, seeing prisoner after prisoner fall. Five remaining, including Nak & Xack, with only two of the four wraiths down. 'That's some progress…’ The demon though, sending another arrow into the monsters forehead. It did nothing. With a deathly screech it got back up, running for Xack this time. 'That arrow is going through it's head.’ He thought confused at how to kill these things.

 

[IMthatGUY]

18). Xack ​

As the other inmates fell, and wraiths overtook the arena, Xack took his time. Getting into an assassins stance, ready to pounce.


He immediately heard the wretched, blood curdling scream of a wraith. It appeared that Nak had shot an arrow into its head. Another one followed suit, this time going through the head completely. Still the beast got back up,with an arrow spewing its black, plagued blood as its own trail. Before another arrow could be knocked into its thick skull, Xack sprang forwards towards it, leaning backwards as he approached the wraith.

‘Be careful!’ Chassis shouted.

Xack only smiled.

His rough, leathery soul of his sandel hit the protruding end of the arrow, he finished lodging the arrow through the skull. His foot followed the Wraith to the ground. As he landed he jumped backwards off of it, landing nimbly on his feet. Xack looked around, knife in hand. He saw the gleam from his bright white buckler shield. The plump and balding man who had stolen it from him was in combat with a wraith. And losing.

The man attempted a block with the shield, only for the shield to be tossed roughly to the side. And since the mans arm was fastened into the shield, his arm flailed hopelessly broken. Xack sprang forward, towards the attacking wraith. With six long strides, Xack was within attacking range. The white haired loon reeled back the blade, and lodged it into the beasts skull with as much force as he could muster without using Chassis. The goo spread everywhere, covering the fat man, and getting into his mouth.

‘That won’t keep it down’ Chassis said worriedly.

“You worry to much” Xack said with a snicker. He glanced at the man and he held out his hand. “Give them to me or I’ll take them.” He blurted to the oaf. Without responding the man let out a wrenching scream and swung the sword, only for Xack to lightly step out the way.

The sword hit the red dirt, knocking dust and blood of mixed assortments into the air. Xack took his clenched palm and shot it towards the mans wrist at a terrifying speed. It hit with enough force for both the men to hear the shattering of the bone, the fat pig dropped the sword with a mortifying scream. Xack picked up the sword and removed the shield from the squirming and crying man. He fastened his gear to himself, the rightful owner.

“Alright, now where’s Jed.” He openly asked. He scanned the colorful crowd that was frantically screaming in joy, while they were screaming in agony. He saw a man with no chin, an anthropomorphic snail woman, but no large orc.

He heard screams from all over and out of the corner of his eye, He saw Nak precariously shooting arrows into and through, the skulls of wraiths, both the ones that had been given to them at the opening of the gate, and the newly rising ones made from the dead bodies of the other prisoners.

Without notice Xack was knocked through the arena, spinning and thumbing and rolling, kicking dirt up as he went. He finally steadied himself and looked at his attacker.

It was the man he’d just fought. The fat oaf had been transformed into a wraith.

Again, Xack quickly looked around. Seeing at least eight wraiths now, and one approaching Nak behind his Back.

“QUICK, ARE WE HURT?!” Xacks adrenaline was pumping so profusely he couldnt tell if they had been damaged enough to be infected or not. He lunged through the air towards Nak, with the corpse of the oaf in pursuit.

‘I DON’T THINK SO!’ screamed chassis back.

“CHASSIS, BLADE, NOW!!” He shouted as they came closer to Nak. the edge of his blade glew a bright yellow, giving the sword a seeming outline. Nak looked at the approaching loon and Xack landed shoulder to shoulder with the blade splitting the attempting assailants skull in two with their light magic blade. He huffed a few times. That took a chunk of energy to create since he was not back to full health quite yet.

“Look for Jed, the guard who escorted us.” He huffed. “He’ll be in the stands.” And the inevitable sound of the oaf stomping skittering towards the duo came into Xack's ears.