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Post by yagei on Apr 2, 2006 1:38:36 GMT -5
A faint, barely visible trail led to De Barren. The once prosperous city, now naught but ruins, was coated in a permanent layer of dust and sand. Crumbling arches were homes to cobwebs, shady overhangs were a resting place for an assortment of creatures. Once, the town had flourished, an elegant trades city for anyone passing through. But when a particularly ferocious wave of bandit attacks began, De Barren was the main focus. Most citizens had packed up and left, but a sole few somehow managed to survive on the outskirts of town, where a meager stream trickled by. The sun beat harshly on the hieroglyph-coated stone, warming snakes of varying types. A pathetic inn, built of bleached wood, surviving on the welfare from larger cities and the contribution of passerby, sat in the old town square.
Koei Ookami sat dully on the peak of a pillar, half buried in rough white sand, feet dangling off of the cracked brown stone. Hands spread palm down behind him, he gazed into the distance thoughtfully, a small gust ruffling his hair. Almost unconsciously, his hand rose to his throat, and tentively touched the small depiction of a wolf. A drifter of sorts, he had come from the north, from a farming village called Alsdune. He would've stayed there contently, finding trouble to sort out, if it hadn't been for the local gossip. The old woman had spotted him, duster off, helping a farmer's wife out in her fields. More importantly, she had spotted his neck. Before he had chance to show his peace, the boy had found himself locked outside the gates. Gates he would have willingly protected. It would seem to be fate that would encase a Demon in a kind soul, wouldn't it? he mused, watching a light sandstorm kick up to the west.
He would have sat there until the next day, perhaps, thinking, but the hunger finally got to him. The kindly woman he had been helping had offered a share of vegetables for his help—but he had never finished it. Jumping lightly from the crooked pillar's peak, he landed with slightly bent knees. A quick look around seemed to urge him towards the inn for dinner and lodging, but the last thing Koei needed now was another person running from him screaming in fright.
“That's what collars are for...” he murmured to nobody.
Walking doubtfully to the pale white wooden doors, he pushed one of them inwards. A small tinging introduced him to the place. A small, shabby bar sat off to the left, and two sets of stairs, one going up and one down, were on the right. In the space between were three tables, and up in the very front sat an abandoned stage.
“Wa' chu need?” slurred a diseased voice from behind the counter. Eyes downcast, Koei sat at one of the rickety stools, boots placed on either side of the wood...just in case.
“Heyla sir. Just a basic meal and drink, along with lodging for the night, please.” he said lowly, keeping his age a secret from the greedy old man.
“Aye. Tha'll be fi' siller pieces.”
Rummaging briefly in his money satchel, the boy brought out a bright gold chunk. Eyes showing pain, Koei sat the money before him on the counter-top.
“Take it all, I've no need for it.” he explained. He didn't need to say it twice.
The 'basic meal' turned out to be a slightly molded block of cheese, with a stale hunk of bread to accompany it. To drink was cider that tasted as if it had been kept in a barrel for way too long. It didn't matter; Koei had long gotten over what he ate, so long as it kept him alive. After polishing off the brick-like bread and swishing around the dregs of his beverage, he stood up. Assuming that the downstairs was the cellar, he clambered up the other staircase. A surprisingly average bedroom awaited him, with a mattress that hardly smelled and sheets that had been cleaned recently.
From his observations, Koei noted that there were only three bedrooms, with two mattresses in each. He shrugged off his water-proof coat and set his revolvers to one side of the mattress before heading slowly over to the window. The lopsided glass was filthy, and Koei had to fetch water from the bathroom to cleanse it. Watching eons on waste slide down the windowpane, he took another look. Odd. I must imagining things... he thought uninterestedly, unable to shake a feeling of being watched. As long as nobody can sense my power levels, I should be alright. he reasoned. He slumped down onto the pallet, a loss for anything better to do.
OOC- Please try to post at least moderately~This is one of my more serious topics, you could say. Thank you!
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Post by notbanned on Apr 2, 2006 5:53:02 GMT -5
OOC- Assuming there's a lotta sand around BIC- Zakks stumbled through the sand, holding a cloak tightly around himself. A harsh wind was blowing right at him, kicking up sand into his face. The pounding heat was really getting to him. He needed somewhere to stay, but where? There were no buildings around, and even if there were he doubted the inhabitants would allow him to stay for long. He cursed slightly under his breath, pulling his cloak up to shield half of his face. Suddenly, his foot caught a stone, and he fell, landing face first in the sand. "Stupid bloody fucking sand..." He said to himself, trying to push himself to his feet. He tried once, but his arms gave way. He tried again, but the wind knocked him down again. The third time, he expected to fall and was half-willing to knock himself down. However, the wind let down for a second, and he could get up safely. Pulling his cloak back around him, Zakks continued to make his way. Zakks stopped suddenly, as he heard something behind him. Instantly, he drew his guns and turned on the spot, aiming at whatever might be there. Looking down, he saw a wolf. Breathing deeply, his holdstered his guns. The wolf looked fairly beat. It had scratches all over its body, and was staggering along. While Zakks watched, it collapsed. Zakks quickly ran over, and picked the wolf up. Now he really had to hurry to find somewhere to stay. "Damn flying rules," Zakks said to himself. "I just had to say I can't fly in sandstorms, didn't I..." He fastened his cloak around himself again, and started running through the desert. After just a few minutes, he saw a tall-ish building, with a few floors. Zakks shook his head, just to make sure he wasn't imagining it. It was still there. He ran faster up to the building. As soon as he reached it, he pushed open the door. He'd apologise to the owner later.
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Post by praetoritevong on Apr 2, 2006 7:26:10 GMT -5
Foxy rose and twirled sharply from her seat as the stranger entered, as though expecting a fight. But this man, she immediately saw, was no immediate danger. Thinking quickly, she thrust one hand out towards the direction of the man, but instead of aiming it at him, she aimed behind him. She was able to seal the door with a temporary vacuum to block out most of the sand from the sandstorm, before too much got inside. As the man closed the doors, she dropped the vacuum, and air rushed in again. Briefly, she cast her eyes around to inspect the sand. It wasn't too bad.
She saw that while the man himself appeared to be unharmed, if a little tired, from fighting the inexhaustible winds. But the wolf he carried in his arms was in worse shape, with a wounded leg and numerous scratches, presumably from the sand. Hurrying over, she took the wolf from the man, letting him catch his breath, before laying the wolf gently on the floor. Ignoring the approaching bartender, she gently reached out a hand and placed it in front of the wolf's nose. Tiredly, it raised its head to sniff her, before dropping its head again. It did not struggle as Foxy opened its jaw gently (whether it knew Foxy was helping or just too tired to do anything was debatable) and summoned a trickle of water, which it swallowed greedily.
"Poor thing," Foxy murmured. She proceeded to do the same with a few of its bigger wounds, to wash them. A little bit of blood and water trickled to the ground, but Foxy was not too concerned with that. Instead, taking her large scarf, she ripped off a strip.
"...Cheap scarf," she muttered to herself. She really ought to get a good scarf.
Casting her eyes back on the wolf, she looked at its leg for a moment, and shook her head. Gently, she stroked the wolf. "I'm sorry, this'll hurt a little, darling," she murmured caringly. Coarse sand had gotten into and roughened its normally smooth fur. As gently as she could, she raised its leg without touching it, and put the scarf beneath it. Then, taking both ends, she started tying the knot. Then, at the last possible moment, she gave it a solid tug to tighten it. She could feel the wolf's jerk of pain, and it wailed miserably, twitching in defiance. Tenderly, Foxy put its leg back, and, lowering her head, gently looked into her patient's eyes. She smiled apologetically, and the wolf quietened.
Only then did she address the bartender; though it did not take a genius to work out what the angry man's main concern was. She flipped him a coin.
"Sorry about the mess," she said coolly.
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Post by yagei on Apr 2, 2006 15:32:45 GMT -5
"Go, monster!" the man bellowed, his face controted in fear.
Koei took a step back, pain flooding into him as the townsfolk advanced, each carrying a type of weapon. His old duster lay to one side, torn in half. Slowly the boy raised his arm to cover the damned insignia. Too late. A small boy, one he had been playing with just a few hours ago, cringed and fled to his father.
"Wait, pl-"
"Go!" This time it was the old hag who had revealed him.
It always happened. No matter what happened, he either let his guard down or rumors caught up. He shivered in a mixture of sorrow and unusual rage.
"Why?"
The voice wasn't his anymore, cold and uncaring. A few people stepped away as Koei's eyes faded from murky gray to a deep red. His ears grew pointed and shaggy. Wolf ears. He looked up again, an eerie grin etched on his face. The symbol on his neck was darker, a jet black that seemed lifelike. He laughed, and cast his gaze to the people. Somewhere a voice was saying to leave.
He snapped his fingers, a pillar of flame exploding from the thumb. He lunged suddenly, fire leaping forth--
With a wrench, Koei awoke. His head was on fire, and he doubled over. He tumbled off the mattress, ears listening.
"Sorry about the mess."
When had someone else come? Usually his senses would have awakened him. Usually. Now that he was aware, Koei could sense three new scents in the cramped shelter. One was...
"Wolf." he whispered.
He lunged towards the doorway, remembered his neck, and did a back handspring. Tugging on the light duster, he shuved his maigc-powered revolvers into his belt. Afterwards he shot down the staircase, coming out on an odd scene.
A woman sat, doctering an injured wolf. Next to her was a man that seemed to have encountered the storm he had witnessed previously. Behind them, with a coin in hand, was the bartender. He glared at the wolf darkly before turning away.
The wolf. It had a deep injury on it's flank, and was otherwise coated in scratches. The small bandage on its leg was muffling the pain, but there was a risk of infection. In connection to the canine, Koei stumbled in pain. Eyes clouded, he collapsed next to the woman, and laid his head next to the bedraggled wolf. It looked at him momentarily before snorting a greeting. He nodded sickly. Very slowly he placed his hand on the bandage.
A small, pale blue light flickered from his fingers, and he winced as an overwhelming pain tore through his own thigh. He forced himself to watch as the wolf's leg wound faded, and nodded dazedly. Shuttering as the wretched headache dampened slightly while his leg made up for it, Koei lifted himself to his feet.
Feeling violently sick, he stumbled out the door into the sandstorm. Falling facefirst into the wild sand, he began coughing. After awhile it faded. He just sat there.
"They probably think something's up now." he grumbled into the grainy sand.
OOC- I had company over, orry for the horrible quality of the post. Also, I still want more people to join if they want ^.^ I just am in a 'RP!' mood~ PS- I'll post at my top quality next time (the house is distracting right now ^^)
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Post by ch00beh on Apr 2, 2006 21:56:33 GMT -5
A few hundred yards away from the inn, a figure suddenly appeared as if it had come out of the sand dune behind it. In fact, the figure had simply walked through the sand dune. As the silhouette drew nearer, an observer (who would be crazy enough to be outside in a storm like this) would have noticed more and more that it was actually translucent, almost ghostly. The silhouette's cloak also seemed to be unaffected by the howling winds and simply dragged behind its owner.
Rie yawned as she walked through the sands. Earlier, when the storm started, she had phase shifted to avoid the inconvenient winds and blasts of sand that would normally wittled an unprotected person to the bone. Now, because she was only half interacting with the physical plane around her, the winds and particles of sand went straight through her and anything she put the phase shift bubble around. Rie only kept the soles of her feet in the physical plane so that she wouldn't sink into the Earth and its core, which would be a bad thing.
Hungry, tired, and in need of a job, she walked up to the inn. Inns were notorious hang outs for bounties, people that paid for bounties, and of course, bounty hunters. Rie stepped up to the door and started to push it open, completely forgetting that she and the door weren't on the same plane. The girl fell straight through, but she quickly and instinctively shifted to the right plane and rolled out of the fall.
"Oops."
With that, she calmly walked up to the bar. Rie didn't mind that people were probably watching her. The bounty hunter nodded to the barkeep, who nodded back. "Hullo Death, how's business coming along?"
NOT SO GREAT BECAUSE OF THE STORM AND ALL. YOU?
"So so. I haven't had a good bounty in a while, so money's kinda tight."
AH, I SEE. HERE, I'LL GET YOU A DRINK. IT'S ON ME.
Before Rie could protest, a scumble slid across the table and stopped perfectly in front of her, without a drop spilled. She took a sip and let the insanely strong alcohol slide down her throat.
Koei and the others may have just seen a regular barkeep behind the counter, but that's because they weren't expecting Death to be serving the drinks. Anyone who wasn't expecting it or anyone who didn't want to see it would have seen the 'normal' version of the barkeep serving up drinks, heard his slurred voice, and tasted his normal drinks. Anyone who knew better would see the real thing. It might have seemed unusual to most, but Death enjoyed taking a break from his trademark business to mix drinks.
Rie had gotten to know Death quite well, actually. She was, after all, a bounty hunter. She specialized in death, and eventually, she eventually developed a kind of sixth sense to 'see' Death. Fear came the first time, then she realized that Death was actually a pretty funny person once you stopped to have a chat with him.
OOC: just a note, Death can be autoed by anyone, if he or she wants. Also, Death falls under the "joke" section of the character power list, so he can't participate in the topic except for talking and drink serving purposes. Yes, he's almost all powerful, and that's why he's in that section.
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Post by prime on Apr 4, 2006 17:46:05 GMT -5
Drake walked calmly in on the scene, the storm outside staying outside the inn's door, due the the fact that he was transmuting the air around him into a shield. He looked around taking in the strange ground, then leaned back out of the door and pulled another man inside. "You really shouldn't stay out there, if the sand storm doesn't get you, the heat bloody well will." He said calmly, then walked over to the wolf. "Jesus, but your in a rut. What the hell are you doing in a desert?" He said, mostly to himself. He took a marker out of his pocket, and drew a transmutation circle around the wound. Putting his marker away, he reached out with one hand and activated the circle. Lightning and bright light filled the room for a moment, then the wound sealed over, a bare patch of healthy skin. He did the same for a few of the other scratches.
Sighing, Drake straightened. "Alright, I think it best we get some food in you." He looked at the barkeep, then nearly shat himself. He went white in the face for a moment, then slowly returned to himself. Giving a bit of a cough, and shaking his head. A simple barkeep stood in front of him, looking at him concernedly, though Drake could've sworn death was standing there a minute before. He shook his head again, then "Sorry, seeing things I guess. Can you bring some steaks out here?" The barkeep nodded, and Drake thanked him, passing him a few silver coins. Drake looked around the room again, then said, "Hi. I'm Drake Shining, and you people are?" He asked calmly, accepting the steaks as the barkeep handed them to him, and passing them to the wolf, who knawed on them hungrily. "Drinks for everyone, I think, while we're here discussing why we're all in the middle of a god forsaken desert." He said, passing a few more silvers to the barkeep, and handing out the drinks.
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