| | | Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) |  |
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Stormkatz
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|  Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen)  Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:30 pm | |
| Rhys’ head cleared a little with the clear air, and a little ‘hair of the dog’ in the form of the smallest sip he’d ever taken from his usually well stocked skin full of whiskey. He must have had it filled last night some time, because it seemed heavy again, and the taste combined with his tender stomach made him shudder. Good stuff then. He snorted with laughter at the suggestion of fruit however. “I eat the odd apple to keep my own teeth, but a nice crusty end of bread sounds much nicer!” He caught himself fiddling with the new silk scarf and forced his hands down to his lap. The silk hadn’t dried too badly, but it had a crease down it now, and he was still uncomfortably aware of the stretch of time it had been lying on his bed that morning rather than sitting in its rightful place on his neck.
His wish for a good bit of bread was granted quickly, and a little plate with a still warm crusty bun was placed in front of him, along with a baby pat of butter and a wedge of cheese. This was practically fine dining compared to the usual he managed to eat while he was working. He would most definitely have to thank someone. Maurice put his hooves on the table and tried to steal the cheese, using Rhys’ blind spot to get almost all the way to the food before he was swatted away, but Rhys couldn’t understand why he wanted it anyway. The unicorn had already demonstrated that all he ate was meat –he would have spat out the cheese anyway. “Pesky creature.” He cursed, but a small smile had crept onto his face all the same.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:48 pm | |
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Zeke laughed at Maurice’s attempt to steal the cheese right from under Rhys’ nose. “You know, I think he may just be doing that to get back at you for holding him down earlier while I put the cream on.” Grinning at the innocent looking unicorn, Zeke shook his head. What an odd trio they made.
Turning his attention on his own plate, which he had not even ordered but which contained exactly what he wanted to eat, he quickly dug in, devouring the eggs, bacon, bread and cheese with gusto. “Wow, this is amazing! It’s been a while since I’ve been to any kind of pub or inn with this good a cook. It’s almost a shame this is not a place we can visit regularly.”
He was honest about the ‘almost’ part though. As fantastic as the food was, he didn’t feel quite as comfortable around the fairies as he would with a couple of burglars and thieves surrounding him. At least with that sort of crowd, he knew what to expect.
Once they had polished off their plates, Zeke stretched a little and let the food settle down for a while before he took a deep breath. “Alright, I think it’s about time we get moving again. Mystery and mayhem, here we come again!”
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sun Feb 03, 2013 7:16 pm | |
| Rhys couldn’t help but laugh. “I think you might just be right there,” he grinned, letting the unicorn lick his fingers. He guessed that, behaving like this, he wasn't going to shrug the nickname ‘mummy Rhys’ off any time soon, but he didn’t mind so much. The three of them were an odd group, but over the course of the journey at least Rhys was happy enough to play families with the unicorn.
As Zeke’s meal arrived, he couldn’t help but stare. It was huge by his standards, and smelled delightful. “Yes, a good cook is rare in a pub, but as you may have noticed I prefer to drink before eating.” He beamed. Despite the headache, he was in a good mood that morning. It must have been the night indoors. Although this little adventure had been good for him, and his paralysing fear of the outdoors had lessened, he wasn't exactly keen still. He was still convinced that he couldn’t handle a walk in the woods alone – not yet.
“Mystery and mayhem, yes.” Rhys laughed, “Unless we feel like choosing a new letter someday. I can’t think of any more with an ‘m’ now – I was almost out after ‘magic’.” His vocabulary had once been rich and scholarly, but since dropping his former job as a scribe and letter carrier, he hadn’t kept it up. Now he rarely used words with more than six letters.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:48 pm | |
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“Ah yes, a new word. Maybe we’ll figure something out soon enough. Who knows?” Zeke said cheerfully as they packed up and made to get back on their way. As before, a fairy appeared out of nowhere to escort them down the stairs and back onto their tracks, and this time it was actually the fairy who had found them in the first place.
“Thank you very much for your hospitality!” Zeke made a small indication of a bow as he thanked the fairy, who graciously nodded her head to them. “It was good to have you with us, and I do apologise once again for the behaviour of the trees. They will no longer bother you as long as you are in this forest. Nor will anyone or anything else. The rain should stop in a couple of hours, so if you have business outside of the forest’s boundaries, you will be able to move onwards with dry clothes in not all too long. The canopy will keep the rain from you until then. Have a safe journey.” And with that she turned around and moved back up the stairs without any sort of effort at all.
“Honestly, it seems as those stairs do not require the tiniest bit of strengths from those fairies, it’s amazing! Of course, I guess if you have to walk up and down a flight of stairs like that at least once a day, you’ll be fit in not too long and won’t even notice the strain, but still.” It really did amaze Zeke how little it seemed to bother the fairy that those were stairs and not just a straight walk.
Shaking his head, the young man looked at his two- and four-legged companions. “Well, then. We’re off to see the world! Or something along those lines at least.”
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Wed Feb 13, 2013 8:41 pm | |
| Rhys nodded and mumbled his thanks as Zeke spoke to the fairy, standing carefully. He didn’t bow though – he couldn’t, and besides: he didn’t think he wanted to. He patted down all his pockets, making sure everything important was in place, and grinned. “So, no more rain, a full belly and some cream for our little balding friend here. I’d call that a success.” He commented. Maurice chirruped, as if he knew Rhys was talking about him, and grumbled happily. It seemed like they were all about ready.
“Yes, off to see the world.” he repeated. Rhys wasn't sure how pleased he was to be leaving in all honesty. It had been nice to have a proper bed, and a decent meal, not to mention actual walls around them. However he was well aware that the outdoor world was doing him good, and there wasn’t really any choice in the matter.
Maurice head butted his calves, deciding for him, and Rhys headed for the unending staircase. “Yes, it’s annoying how little it troubles them.” He grumbled, looking down. It had been difficult to get up them, but the way down was easier, so he didn’t have to stop for breath. “So, which way now?” he asked after a moment, looking down into the forest happily.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:34 pm | |
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As promised by the fairy, the trees left them to their own devices and the young man couldn’t say that he minded. Being hung upside down from a branch had been an adventure Zeke wasn’t very keen on repeating any time soon, if at all. However, apart from a couple of roots protruding a little more from the path than necessary and making them stumble – whether it simply was their natural way of growing or whether it was on purpose because they couldn’t do anything else to the group, Zeke couldn’t tell – the walk was a very pleasant one. The rain had mostly ceased all together and left behind a wonderful smell of wet pines, leaves and freshly washed earth.
“Nothing like a walk through nature after a good shower,” Zeke stated enthusiastically. “Don’t you agree? It all smells so lovely and refreshed, as if the rain has washed away anything bad.”
Soon after they already emerged out of the forest and Zeke was instantly blinded by the intensity of the sunshine on the open field. There was not a single cloud in sight and all they could see as far as their eyes could see was the wide open greenery spreading out in all directions. “What a sight for sore eyes,” the young man muttered as he smiled contently.
Maurice seemed to think along the same lines, expressing his joy to be out of the forest in a few wild bounds and galloping around in the grass. “Well, there goes another patch of fur,” Zeke grinned as yet another piece of fluff detached itself from the unicorn. “I really hope that cream will take effect quickly enough otherwise he really will be bald very soon if he keeps this up.” It was a funny thought though to have a naked unicorn as a companion but he was sure that it couldn’t be too comfortable on the unicorn.
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:17 pm | |
| Rhys wasn't sure he agreed with Zeke about the lovely smells or whatever after the rain – all he noticed was the mud. The path wasn't all that bad really, but every now and then his boots would get a little damp as he stood in a particularly muddy patch, and he’d even slipped once. Rain, he had concluded, was not his friend. It did all look a bit greener and brighter though, which wasn’t too bad. “I think Maurice agrees, at least, but I’m not too sure about all this mud.” He grumbled, The unicorn seemed to be enjoying dirtying his brightly coloured fur by jumping in puddles, splashing Rhys in the process.
The edge of the forest came as a blessed relief. Although the trees had been well behaved, Rhys had still felt a little tense under their cover – especially when they rustled about above them. The open air was wonderful. “We can even see the path now,” he commented with a grin. It was surprising how nice it was just to see the sky.
Maurice’s fur was a slightly more concerning matter. “Hmm, yeah, I hope so. I do wonder why he’s losing so much though. ‘S not even like his skin’s scabby underneath.” He replied. Maybe that was just normal though – after all, weirder things had happened since meeting the little furball.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:32 am | |
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“Maybe he’s just shedding to get some new fur soon?” Zeke suggested, though he wasn’t sure whether it could be possible or not. Maurice was a unicorn after all, but he had been mulling that particular thought around for quite a while now. Maybe it really was just like with several other animals, losing old fur to grow new fur. Like a snake would skin itself.
Zeke was just about to happily march onwards when he picked up the sound of thundering hooves. Looking out towards the east, where there was a tiny bent in the field – or he had thought it was tiny – he wondered what was coming towards them. All of a sudden, shouting and yelling got thrown into the mix and the young man felt himself chill down to the bones. “Bandits!” he hissed and immediately began to usher Rhys and Maurice back into the forest. “Quickly! Get out of sight before they’re up around that hilltop. Quickly now! Go go!”
He might be mistaken and completely overreacting but after his previous encounters with bandits, he wasn’t very keen on meeting a band again any time soon.
They had barely slipped back past the edges of the forest when a group of six or seven riders appeared over the peak and came to an abrupt halt, scanning the area and soon spreading out as if searching for something.
“What are they doing?” Zeke whispered questioningly, his voice barely audible as he didn’t want to draw any attention to their presence. If the bandits came any closer to their hiding place, they might have to retreat even further back into the forest.
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:38 pm | |
| “Hmm, maybe.” Rhys mumbled, distracted by the bright sunlight. In fact, he only really started listening when Zeke told him to get under cover again. He didn’t need telling twice. For all that he wasn't sure being killed would trouble him, the word ‘bandits’ sent shivers down his spine. Bolting towards the trees, he stumbled and clattered into the undergrowth, cursing under his breath but struggling to stay hidden. He’d never moved so fast in his life.
As the figures appeared over the hilltop, Rhys’s breath caught in his throat. The left side of his body burned as if the huge, ungainly scar remembered how it had been put there, and for a moment he couldn’t breathe through the heavy, disturbing memories laying themselves over his vision. When he finally regained control of himself, he was sweating and cold. The bandits were looking around, but didn’t seem to have seen them. Thank the hells for small mercies. He felt so helpless – he couldn’t use a sword if he tried, and the flail he used to defend himself back home was still with the Circus. He slid one foot backwards to creep further into the undergrowth, trying to get into a slightly more secure position…
SNAP! A twig cracked under the dead weight of his boot. Rhys froze, holding his breath and praying that the bandits hadn’t heard it. The Gods didn’t usually side with him, however, and this seemed to be no different. The leader of the group turned his head towards the woods and grunted something – Rhys couldn’t hear what over the rushing in his ears.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sun Feb 24, 2013 7:07 pm | |
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SNAP!
At the sound of a twig breaking underneath Rhys’ foot, Zeke almost jumped seven feet in the air. The look of panic on his face spoke volumes and immediately he retreated a little further into the forest, grabbing Rhys along with him.
However, the problem always was with hasty retreats that they made more noise, especially when the thugs one was hiding from were already alert to one’s location.
Already the leader of the bandits was shouting orders at his men, two of them instantly urging their horses in the direction of where the travellers were hiding, desperately trying to avoid detection.
Much to Zeke’s annoyance, their attempts at going unnoticed were futile and soon enough they were spotted by the first of the bandits, who instantly called back to the leader, pulling the whole group towards their spot.
“I don’t suppose you can sprout wings?” Zeke whispered to Rhys, the wheels in his brain churning and desperately trying to find a solution. “Maybe we should try and run, I don’t see any bows strapped to their saddles. The forest doesn’t like strangers entering. That just might be our chance.”
Already Zeke was turning on his heel, again pulling on Rhys’s sleeve to make him move along with him. But he didn’t make his plan with Maurice. With an incredibly loud and shrill whinny, the unicorn launched itself in direction of the bandits, the first two of which were already starting to make their way into the forest.
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sun Feb 24, 2013 7:57 pm | |
| Zeke grabbing at his sleeve forced Rhys to snap out of his terror-induced daze and scramble along the ground again. They had been spotted, so there was no point trying to stay quiet. He was all set to just run and leave when Maurice barrelled out of the trees, which stopped Rhys dead all over again. He couldn’t leave the poor little thing, so he was going to have to go and fetch him. Maurice, meanwhile, was doing just fine by himself. He had caught up with the first bandit (who looked more than a little surprised by the creature) and kicked him hard, before sinking his teeth into the second bandit’s leg. A howl went up from the man, who kicked Maurice off and limped backwards, looking a little scared. Rhys grabbed the unicorn as he landed in the undergrowth and turned to hightail it out of the way, but the bandit was behaving strangely.
The others were slowly moving in, clearly having heard the noise of the two travellers escaping, but the first one had gone quite still. His leg was bleeding from Maurice’s bite, and the skin on his leg had gone oddly grey. Rhys had made it back into the cover of the trees by then, but the lack of an attack made him turn to watch, his curiosity momentarily defeating his fear. The greyness on the man’s leg spread slowly, until his face fell into a cold, emotionless expression. Quickly a small patch of hair fell out, and he slumped forward.
Stunned, Rhys looked down at Maurice. His eyes were bright red, and his mouth frothing ever so slightly. When he locked eyes with Rhys he chirped, and licked his lips happily, but Rhys couldn’t help but stare at the mayhem the magical little creature had caused.
The man he had bitten looked dead to Rhys, but after a moment he rose to his feet. His eyes were the same manic red that Maurice’s had been, and his tongue was lolling out of his mouth. Something wasn't quite right there, that was for sure. “Zeke,” Rhys whisper-shouted, still not sure he wanted to give away their position but urgent to get his attention, “get over here, you have to see this…” What in the world had happened? The first man (that Maurice had kicked) stood up properly and went to see what was wrong with his companion, before shouting in alarm as he noticed what had happened. The bitten man groaned and swiped at his companion with his nails, forcing the others to retreat a little way to get out of range. Rhys fixed a cautious eye on Maurice and watched – dumbstruck.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Mon Feb 25, 2013 3:35 pm | |
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The surprised yelp of joy that wanted to escape Zeke’s throat when Maurice managed to stall not only one but both of their pursuers died in his throat at the sudden change in complexion the bitten bandit suffered. It was just too odd not to stare and Zeke couldn’t rip his eyes away no matter how hard he tried, and he wasn’t the only one as Rhys remained utterly still as well.
Zeke finally managed to tear his gaze away from the now slowly, and very oddly, advancing bandit to look at Rhys and Maurice. Rhys seemed just as perplexed, if not even horrified as he himself was as they were now both staring at the unicorn, happily licking its chops. Was this why Maurice liked fresh meat so much? Was he…?
But no, no no, the young man refused to make the connection and didn’t want to think any further on it. Later! There would be time for that later. They needed to escape now, that was the most important.
Upon Rhys’ call, Zeke shuffled closer to him, not quite sure whether he wanted to see what was happening to the bandit now, and when he saw what Rhys was pointing out to him, he knew that he hadn’t wanted to know. The red eyes were very disconcerting, to say the least, and the fact that every single one of the other bandits was now upon them was well clearly did not improve the situation.
At least for the time being, they were occupied with trying to figure out what to do with their companion, but how long that was going to keep them occupied, he couldn’t tell. Just as he was about to speak to Rhys again, he noticed his companion’s stare and followed it. Maurice! ‘Oh my…’ Zeke hadn’t even noticed the animal’s eyes until now and he was just as dumbstruck as his friend.
The unicorn seemed to strangely hum with pleasure at the whole situation, still licking the blood from his lips from time to time, his eyes fixed on the man he had bitten. On the man or on his wound, which incidentally wasn’t bleeding anymore, even though it should by normal standards. The man was still swiping madly at his companions but two more had now spotted Rhys and Zeke. Making a large circle around the wounded fellow, they were cautiously making their way towards the two men, apparently not seeing the unicorn lurking in the undergrowth. They were very cautious however, wondering what it was these two harmless seeming men had done to their companion.
Once again, Zeke was just about to pull Rhys backwards a little when Maurice readied himself for an attack. It was strange and this time Zeke really observed the happenings but he still couldn’t quite understand. All he knew was that the unicorn was hellbound on clamping its teeth down onto flesh and blood. The agonising scream of the third bandit as he was bitten as well were echoing through the forest for quite a while. The fourth bandit made for a hasty retreat, Maurice hot in pursuit.
However, the strange behaviour of the unicorn was not everything that had Zeke rooted to the spot. The forest had begun to react to the disruption, and it was clearly displeased. The branches had begun swishing back and forth angrily, not yet doing anything but making their presence known, though the bandits did not realise it. Before Maurice could sink his teeth into the fourth bandit, several branches swooped down and yanked up the bandits within their reach. All but the one who had turned an ashen-grey with crimson eyes.
Zeke could barely hold in his scream as those eyes suddenly looked at him.
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:54 am | |
| Rhys watched, in a combination of sickening fear and vague interest as the man slowly changed. He had been holding Maurice, but as the other bandits got to near the unicorn struggled, and Rhys didn’t want to get in the way of those teeth. He let the unicorn go, and the third bandit screamed. This was getting worse by the second. It didn’t look like any of the others were changing though – maybe the unicorn hadn’t actually bitten them yet, or maybe it just took a while to kick in. Rhys didn’t know. The rescue mission from the other bandits removed them from the scene quickly enough, leaving the two travellers, the angry forest, the terrifying little unicorn and the transformed bandit. The bandit looked up, clearly looking for them, and rose to his feet awkwardly. He began to walk slowly towards the woods, then picked up his feet and got gradually faster…
“I think we should probably run…” Rhys said softly, in a state of near-shock. Maurice didn’t seem too keen on attacking the same bandit again, so he was no help either. Yes, definitely time to run. He stood freely, since the odd, cold-coloured man with the red eyes already knew where they were, and began to back away, fumbling for his flask. He upended it, gulping down as much of the fiery liquid as he dared, then turned and ran. He always felt he could run faster after a stiff drink, and if he hadn’t had that particular one, he was worried he might unman himself.
As an afterthought, he remembered their unicorn. Maurice may be frothing and foaming and generally being a terror, but he was still theirs, and Rhys couldn’t bear to leave him. He wondered if he would come when he was called. It worked with horses, but that was a whole other ball park. Well, it was worth a try. He pursed his lips, brought his fingers to his lips and whistled loudly for the unicorn. The noise was a little hollow – it had been since he gained that horrible scar, as it had cut though his cheek a little, but it was still a shrill noise. Hopefully that would just work – he was NOT turning around now!
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:58 pm | |
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It was just too odd, the situation quite simply was just too unrealistic and surreal and impossible – all at once! What was happening here?! Zeke had always figured he wasn’t one for panicking, but at that moment, he wasn’t quite so sure because every fibre of his body was telling him to pick up his feet and run the hell away. Or maybe that was just survival instinct.
That was when Rhys’words reached him, and all he could do was nod frantically, still frozen in shock as he stared at the rapidly approaching bandit. Too rapid, for his taste. Soon the man would reach them, soon he would be able to touch them, and ... Zeke didn’t want to think about it, shaking his head to rid himself of the idea that something bad could happen. He wasn’t the pessimistic kind, there was always a way out!
“This is not the time to be drinking Rhys, especially when you might still be hungover from last night.” Zeke finally regained his senses completely and was now alert to every movement. His words were almost lost in the dustcloud Rhys kicked up as he suddenly made a beeline back into the trees. Maurice stared after him and Zeke merely shrugged at the unicorn and picked up his feet to follow suit as quickly as possible. He figured the unicorn wouldn’t be dumb enough to stay behind anyways, and as soon as Rhys’ whistle sounded, Maurice joined in the race.
“Let’s separate but stay in eyesight,” Zeke suggested, already moving a little ways away from Rhys. “It might confuse the bugger enough to make him give up.” It was a distant hope, but it was a hope nonetheless. Zeke would probably never forget those eyes and he knew he would have a couple of nightmares from them sooner or later.
However, as much as he had thought it would be a good idea to run, Zeke soon realised that it wasn’t. The zombie was still after them, and to make things worse, the trees were growing restless around them again. Despite the assurances of the fairy, the young man began to wonder whether they were not going to end up in deeper trouble again after all. He hadn’t even finished the thought yet, when he slammed head-first into a tree and with a groan fell backwards onto the ground.
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:02 pm | |
| Rhys almost laughed. Not the right time to drink? Rubbish. They were being chased by a zombie, who had been infected by their little pet, who happened to be a rainbow zombie unicorn, through a magic forest. There was nothing about that situation that didn’t mix well with alcohol. “It’s always the right time to drink,” Rhys said (or rather, panted) at last, “And I’ve always favoured a hair of the dog over a good lie in.” That was as much as he could manage to say rally, before he had to focus all of his attention on running. He was really out of shape, he realised, and he only hoped that the bandit wasn't much better than he was. Speaking of…
Looking around was the worst idea Rhys had ever had. Rhys’ relationship with fear was a little complex, and he wasn't scared of anything that might kill him usually. However, he was scared of things that would make him scared, and those dark red eyes definitely scored amongst the scariest things he’d seen. Maybe he could run a little faster after all.
Split up. Got it. That just meant continuing I a straight line, just a slightly different way, and that was easy here due to the many small tracks. Maurice stayed close by Rhys’ heels, and seemed to think the whole thing was a great big game of chase. Maybe it was.
The forest seemed to have a grudge against Zeke, and Rhys clearly heard the crack as his companion hit a nearby tree. Rhys groaned and ran to help, panting along his way. The zombie bandit was gaining on them, but the undergrowth was slowing him down. It didn’t seem like the bandit could think much in his newly Maurice-ified state which was a small blessing at least. “Come on!” He panted uselessly, holding out an arm to help, but doing no more than that for fear that he would lose his breath again.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Fri Mar 22, 2013 8:13 am | |
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It took Zeke quite a few moments to regain his focus. His head was spinning and he could feel the bump forming on his forehead where he had slammed into the tree mid-run. Groaning and slightly disoriented, he took the hand Rhys offered and, digging his feet into the ground, used it to pull himself up.
“That thing is a quick learner,” he muttered as he briefly looked over his shoulder before pushing Rhys forwards again, and taking up a stumbling sort of run himself again. Whatever it was the trees were trying to tell him, he was sure it wasn’t that they were overly fond of him. So much for the fairy’s assertion.
“You should be barricading his way!” Zeke shouted at them as he once again looked over his shoulder at the now far too quickly advancing bandit. “It’s not our fault that bandits are trying to kill us or worse.” If they couldn’t keep up their speed, the thing would gain on them rather sooner than later, and the young man really didn’t want to know what would happen then.
An angry scream from further behind them made Zeke stumble over a protruding root once again but he resisted the temptation of looking back, increasing his speed instead, though there was not much more to be increased. He was running with all his strength already and wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer.
Another scream sounded this time closer, thus Zeke finally gave in to curiosity and turned to look. “Oh shit! Run, Rhys! Run faster!” The other bandit who had been bitten by Maurice had been dropped by the tree, which had suspended the man from the ground, seemingly for the same reason their pursuer hadn’t even been picked up in the first place. The distinctive colour of his skin and the piercing red of his eyes were visible even over the distance that was still between them, even though it was dwindling quicker and quicker.
He was fast, that one.
Very fast.
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:00 pm | |
| Rhys held his side for a second, panting, before nodding and beginning to move again. “They’re trees – I promise they won’t listen.” He gasped, moving fairly slowly until Zeke’s expression struck some terror back into him. He turned to see what was happening, and saw the second zombie immediately. “Shit indeed…” he curse, before turning and doubling his speed. This zombie was faster than him – he could tell as soon as he saw it, and annoyingly they didn’t seem to get tired as quickly as normal humans. This was bad news if you were a slow, unhealthy, slightly podgy man of almost 40 with a hangover, so Rhys didn’t fancy his chances in the woods for too long. If only there weren’t so many goddamn trees in the way- wait! That was it! The trees…
Panting hard, Rhys threw his right arm in the air and caught onto a low branch. The tree it belonged too began to shake, starting at the top, as if to throw him off, but he wasn't letting go. Grunting as his feet left the ground from the momentum of his run, he swung around onto the branch. His side was agony where the old stitches had been pulled tight, but he was off the ground. Grabbing the next quaking branch, he let the infuriated tree’s motion carry him upwards, hoping he would be safe and the zombies would run past.
“Zeke, up here!” he shouted, suddenly remembering his companion. He realised the trees seemed to have a personal vendetta against the other man, but although Zeke was faster that Rhys, he wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave him to face the zombies alone. The unicorn on the other hand could look after himself…
The tree stopped moving abruptly, giving up Rhys assumed, and Rhys collapsed against the thick trunk, sitting on a wide branch high up. It was a good think he had had this though when he had, because his energy reserves were now empty, and if he had been on the ground he could guarantee that would have meant falling, and therefore becoming the zombies’ dinner. He didn’t need that – not today.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Tue Mar 26, 2013 11:34 am | |
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They were getting closer, so much closer, and so fast! Zeke was panting and felt his sides burn with the exertion but still he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop, because if he did, he would fall into their clutches. In a moment of panic, he looked around for his companion, but in vain. “Rhys!” Where the hell was he? What had happened to him?
That was when he heard the trickster call out to him from somewhere above. Briefly looking upwards, he saw the man gesturing and though he wasn’t sure this was the brightest idea they had had, he didn’t see a reason why not to try it. In the worst case, it would fail and the zombies would follow them up, but the zombies were going to catch up with them soon anyways. No harm in trying to drag out the inevitable. One could never know. Maybe fate had something else in store for them and by a sudden magic trick the zombies would disappear into oblivion.
Following suit, Zeke climbed the nearest tree he could find, trying hard not to be put off by the tree’s attempts to shake him off. Just like Rhys’ tree, this one stopped its wiggling almost at the same moment and Zeke immediately took advantage of this and climbed higher in a few quick moves. Not too far away from his friend, he called out to the latter: “And now what? What about Maurice?”
The unicorn was prancing below the trees looking up at them with confusion clearly written all over its face. There was no way the animal could climb up to them and Zeke felt a pang. He should have scooped Maurice up even if climbing would have been a pain. But it wasn’t fair to leave the unicorn behind, especially after it had tried to defend them. He didn’t want to think about how this had been accomplished and about the fact that this had caused zombies to chase them.
However, the zombies could not be forgotten. Roaring in anger at having lost their prey, they were banging around the forest, ripping at bushes, clawing at tree trunks to uncover their hiding victims. Zeke didn’t want to think about what was going to happen to them if the trees… At that moment, an enormous tremor went through the forest and as one, the trees began bashing down onto the zombies, wrapping roots and branches around flailing limbs. So many plants and trees were in on this fight that Zeke’s view was completely blocked. Though maybe that was just as well.
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sun Mar 31, 2013 8:10 pm | |
| “Now… I catch my… breath, and we hope… they go away.” Rhys panted, his sides burning. Damnit, he must be getting old – he felt like that chase had killed him. He had to admit he felt bad about leaving the unicorn down there, but Rhys was sure he could look after himself… besides, he was in no fit state to go and get him. He could barely keep his grip on the tree trunk.
The trees finally seemed to notice the monstrous zombies, and began to attack them even more violently than they had attacked Rhys and Zeke when they arrived. This all seemed like a good thing, until the tree Rhys was sat in decided to join in the fun. Rhys swore, clinging onto the bark with his fingernails as the branch he was sat on upended itself. Eventually he ended up with one arm hooked over the moving branch, and the rest of him dangling pitifully below it. Well, at least he had a good view of another branch cracking the first bandit over the head, sending the bandit sprawling in the undergrowth. Suddenly he was glad that he and Zeke hadn’t actually damaged the trees – they were lethal!
As his tree changed position again to take a full swing at the zombies, Rhys spotted Maurice, hiding under a tree root from the chaos. The tree swung down, letting Rhys’ feet touch the ground for a second, and he held out his free arm to the unicorn. Maurice bounded over and jumped, clinging onto Rhys pathetically. So he wasn't scared of zombies, or bandits, or anything else that was actually scary, but the moving trees were terrifying..? Actually Rhys understood that right then.
The tree didn’t stay for long, having battered the zombie nicely it began to straighten up. Rhys wrapped Maurice in his coat and dug his fingernails into the bark. It hurt, where his weight threatened to break his nails and scrape the skin off his fingertips, but he wasn’t about to let go. This adventure business was getting too much for him – he needed to take a step back…
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:49 pm | |
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The whole scenario was terrifying to say the least. With everything Zeke had already seen on his various travels and adventures, nothing compared to this. Really nothing. Zombies, murderous trees, nutty fairies, the weirdest unicorn to probably ever have walked the earth..
When Rhys’ tree moved to join the fray, Zeke had a brief moment of panic that his would do the same but it didn’t. It was rocking about a lot but it wasn’t actually moving away from its spot. Wondering why this was, though he was just as glad that he didn’t have to hang on for dear life like his friend had to – who finally had managed to get Maurice up into the lofty heights as well – he looked up into the higher branches. They were pointing and waving frantically back and forth, almost as though... yes, almost as though Zeke’s tree was orchestrating the whole attack and directing the others.
“Hold on Rhys! Not for much longer!” Zeke called out though he wasn’t sure whether the trickster was able to hear him over the noise the trees were making. At least, they were finally moving back to their original straight and unmoving postures, leaving two completely broken bandits behind. From the way they were lying there, the young man was quite certain that they were dead, but how much deader could a zombie become? Then again, they had been infected, they hadn’t actually died. And the worst part about this was, they had been infected by Maurice. Was that what Maurice really was? A zombie? What would happen to him then?! Maurice had bitten him quite a few times, though not lately. Would he change to? Why hadn’t it already happened? It had been so fast for the bandits.
Forcing himself not to dwell on such thoughts, Zeke put his hand against the tree’s bark. “Thank you, you saved our lives.” Without further ado, he slid down the tree as gently as he possible could, no reaction coming from the tree. “I think we’re safe now,” he called up to Rhys. “Maurice, if you promise not to bite me, I’ll catch you down here.”
Since the unicorn had often enough proven that he seemed to understand what they were saying, he had no doubt that it would understand this to. He wasn’t certain about Maurice’s behaviour anymore, but they had been there when it had hatched, and he couldn’t just leave the little one behind, as weird as the beast was.
“The others seem to have run off, well as best as they could anyhow. And I don’t think they’ll be coming back to this place any time soon.” Not that he could blame them. “I think we should follow their example and set off. The trees are still restless and despite promises, I don’t want them to feel pressured into doing something where we might be at the receiving end. Are you alright?”
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:34 pm | |
| ‘Hold on’, excellent advice. Not like Rhys was going to do anything else. He clung on, hugging Maurice into his coat, until the tree finally straightened up, and dropped him gently onto the branch below. He slumped down on the branch, knees trembling, and caught his breath properly before even thinking about getting down. When Zeke shouted the all clear though, he felt as though he really ought to climb back down. He was only a couple of branches up now, so it wasn’t far to the ground.
He slid down to the lowest branch (which was somehow higher than it had started, but that was the least weird thing that had happened all day), and unwrapped Maurice from his coat. The unicorn had found something edible, probably a tiny scrap of the salt pork from before, in his pocket and was chewing away happily, as though nothing had happened. Freaky little creature.
“Zeke, I’ll lower him down to you, okay?” he shouted down, his voice all gravelly from panting for breath. He leaned forward, holding the unicorn carefully, but the muscles in his side spasmed, and he slipped. He swore and leant further, but he’d lost his grip on Maurice. “Zeke don’t let him fall!” he yelled, digging his nails into his palm with worry. No matter how many bandits the unicorn had infected, he was extremely over-protective of the little fella.
The extended position was too uncomfortable for him to stay there and watch, so he straightened up, clamping a hand over his painful muscle. He squeezed his eyes shut and cursed to himself, just for the sake of cursing. He would find a reason later, he was sure or it. | |
| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:53 am | |
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“Oh shit!” Zeke called out as Rhys suddenly slipped and Maurice came tumbling down. Trying desperately to judge where the unicorn would fall so he could catch the beast, Zeke fidgeted around until he decided to just stay where he was. It wasn’t all that high, he couldn’t really miss catching the unicorn, now could he?
Of course, it was much tighter though than he had imagined and Maurice was somewhat heavier than he had anticipated. When the unicorn finally landed in his arms, Zeke’s eyes widened and with a loud “ouff”, sat himself involuntarily down on the forest floor, uncomfortably hitting a tree root. “That hurt,” he said through gritted teeth, trying desperately to hold back on the tears that were threatening to pour from his eyes. That tree root, he was certain of it, had been put there on purpose!
It really did hurt like hell but at least Maurice was safe.
Putting the unicorn down, Zeke struggled back onto his feet, wiping his hands along his eyes briefly before looking up again. “Rhys? Will you be alright to come down from there? It’s quite unlikely that I can come up to give you a hand,” he added, feeling guilty for it even though there was no reason for such an emotion. At least he wasn’t that far from the ground anymore.
Maurice, done with whatever he had been munching, was now happily nibbling away on Zeke’s pant leg, for whatever reason, but at least the unicorn wasn’t chewing on his skin or flesh this time round.
As soon as Rhys was down from the tree, Zeke didn’t wait around much longer for them to ease their pain or their breathing much more. It would slow while walking as well, and he had really had enough of this forest and wanted to bring as much distance between them and the trees as possible! Once they were out of the trees and a good way away into the field beyond, he exhaled a sigh of relief. “Wow, that was an adventure I really could have done without! Do we still have all our fingers and our toes?”
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| | | | Stormkatz
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Sat Apr 13, 2013 11:52 am | |
| Rhys couldn’t help but look down when Zeke swore. Damn, that had to hurt… he was certain that the forest had a personal vendetta against his travelling companion now. But Maurice was safe, and he still hadn’t bitten either of them the way he had to those bandits, so that had to be a success overall… maybe…
There was the small matter of getting Rhys himself out of the tree now. His side was still twitching intermittently, but it looked like there was no easy way to do this. Damn he hadn’t though this through. He wouldn’t be surprised if he needed another goddamn stich in that old scar by the time he got home, the amount of times he’d overstretched it during this adventure. Gritting his teeth, he hooked his right arm over the branch and swung his legs over the edge. Then, holding his breath, he swung down, his right arm taking the weight for a second before he dropped inelegantly to the ground. He landed in a crumpled heap, but righted himself quickly, dusting down his jacket as though nothing had happened.
Rhys trudged along behind Zeke, just glad of the chance to catch his breath. When they finally broke the cover of the slightly grumpy (but at least not murderous) trees, he finally relaxed enough to speak again, although it took Zeke’s voice to actually convince him to say anything specific.
“Hmm, yes, I definitely could have done without that one.” He shook his head, smiling a little to show that he wasn't angry about it at least. He knew his fingers and toes were all accounted for, but he did stop for a second to give himself a thorough once-over. He had grazed his palms on the tree branch, and he was certain he had done something to his old scar, but he wouldn’t check until they finally stopped for the night. Everything else seemed to be in order, and the zombies had scared the last of his hangover off, so he was as close to rights as could be expected. “Yep, fine here, you?” he asked, ducking down to ruffle Maurice’s remaining fluff. The redness had faded from his eyes, and Rhys hoped that it had just been a trick of the light earlier, but for some reason he was fairly sure that wasn't true.
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| | | | Eldarwen
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| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Mon Apr 15, 2013 1:00 pm | |
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The feel of the open space around them did wonders for Zeke’s mood. Despite the fact that he was rarely cast down, this latest adventure had been somewhat taxing even for him and had dampened his mood a little, but it was swiftly coming back as though nothing bad had happened or could occur. Of course he knew that wouldn’t be the case, after all he was a bit of a trouble magnet, but it certainly couldn’t be that bad again, could it? Not so soon, at least.
Inspecting his own miserable self, Zeke nodded. “Yup, all accounted for here as well. Scratches and bruises, but nothing overly bad, though I’m definitely going to have a few sore muscles tomorrow morning.”
As Zeke’s gaze followed Rhys’ hand down to Maurice, the young man couldn’t help, once again, but wonder about their curious little companion. Like his magician friend, he was glad that the unicorn had somewhat returned to normal, at least as normal as a rainbow coloured zombie unicorn could ever be, but he knew this hadn’t been the last of it. On the contrary, more would follow. After all Maurice had proven to grow gradually weirder the more he grew up.
“You do realise we need to talk about this, right?” Not quite so sure himself whether he had meant Rhys or Maurice, he wasn’t even surprised when the unicorn looked up at him before averting his gaze again and slashing its tail around once. Zeke wasn’t quite sure whether he was supposed to interpret that as a “fuck off” or a “you’re right”. Shrugging, he dismissed this and looked at Rhys with a questioning look.
Sundown came quicker than expected but they had managed to wiggle their way towards a river, which was abundant with fish and the fresh water was bliss when Zeke stretched his naked toes into it. “Shall we just make camp here for the night? I’m not sure we’re going to find anything more suitable around here anyways. It seems that these fields are stretching for many more hours.” Plus, a night spend underneath the stars, in complete freedom, sounded like a wonderful thing, especially after what had transpired in the last two days and seeing that the rain clouds had all completely disappeared since the previous night.
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| | | | Stormkatz
Member
Things that I am : - ME Meercat
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Loveliness : 16
Join date : 2010-11-07
Age : 27
Location : My house, in the middle of my street.
| | Subject: Re: Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen) Fri May 03, 2013 9:45 pm | |
| Once they were what Rhys considered a ‘safe’ distance from the odd forest, Rhys sat himself awkwardly down on the ground, wincing as he moved his muscles into place. His side felt damp, and he was certain it was a years-old stitch that had finally given up the ghost, but he was still in about the same amount of pieces as when they started. Well, at least he had a chance to properly catch his breath, which seemed to take a little longer every day.
“Talk? I suppose, but not yet…” he hesitated. He didn’t like to think about their pet’s dangerous side, and he was certain that was the only thing Zeke could have been talking about. Maurice certainly didn’t think it was the right time to talk, from his reaction, so all they could do was continue onwards, into the possible safety of the distance.
After his moment of rest, Rhys rose to his feet and followed along beside Zeke, keeping pace with the younger man just about. They didn’t talk as much as usual – both of them had clearly had their spirits dampened by the whole ordeal. Rhys was certainly in a bitter mood, but he was doing his best to cover it up. He usually didn’t mind people thinking he was a grumpy old git, because it was entirely true, but he was actually enjoying his journey with Zeke, which was unusual for him but not something he wished to jeopardise through behaving badly.
When the sky grew dark, they came to a halt, by an idyllic stretch of river. It was a pleasant evening, for the first time in what felt like weeks, and sleeping under the stars didn’t seem too depressing a thought for once. The grass was cool, the air still had a breath of warmth about it, and the shrubbery seemed much less likely to kill them here. “Yeah, this looks about as good a place as any.” He grinned, settling down with his back to the sunset. “I don’t think Maurice will ever hurt us,” he announced, “We’re like his parents, looking after him and that. I mean, he’s a little grumpy sometimes, but I think he’ll keep us safe more than anything.” The unicorn had fended off the monsters in the woods (admittedly he had also created them, but that was beside the point), and no matter how much he pretended to dislike Zeke, Rhys was convinced that underneath he liked the man. Thinking that set his own mind at rest, at least, so he was going to continue to do so.
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