[Kodai]

Light from the waning moon filtered in through the cracked and broken panels of stained glass, dappling the floor of the ancient cathedral with hazy pools of color. Even though it was a few hours to sunrise, everything in this dismal place seemed shrouded in darkness except for the patterned floor, over which clacked the stone-worn claws of an odd sort of Lucain. He was completely furless, covered with a sickly grey-green skin marred by strange scars that seemed to form complex patterns. Gold bands were wrapped around his wrists and neck, and the symbol of the Triumvirate hung from both his ear and the gold neck band. Slowly, he paced the rows of damaged pews and the area before the altar, occasionally glancing up towards the light.
How long... How long has it been...?
The Lucain came to a pause at the altar, lowering his head and sniffing at scents long ingrained there, now ingrained in his memory. It was the only way to remember... Everyone else had gone, but he had remained, bound here by the powers of that priest, forced to serve and protect the cathedral until his ending... whenever that may be. This existence was a long and lonely one...

[BaalsBaby]

The stale air. The rotten debris. The trees that bore no life.

He was loathe to return to this place, but duty and necessity had called him back to his place of origin. Every fiber of his being was lit afire from within as he raced through the blackened trees, knowing exactly which way he was heading, his breath coming rapidly. There wasn't much time. He had to hurry.

The humanform Calamikuhna bolted past a ravine, no water running through the streamline, his boots leaving gashes in the dry soil. The man had white hair with green streaks, donning a dark leather coat that concealed a few assorted weapons. Around his neck, he had a silver cross necklace that bounced against his heaving chest. Clutched in one hand was a strange handgun, a blackened Desert Eagle that was engulfed faintly in darkened mist. If one stared just long enough at it, one could see a faint image of barbed wire wrapped around the gun, though of course, this was only an illusion. Most likely. The barbed wire matched that of the line of wire wrapped around the man's right arm, tied there as an act of repentance. He'd gotten to the point where it's presence was hardly felt anymore, even so.

As he paced through a particularly dense copse of trees, Straiph could see the rising, immense form of the dilapidated Lya Pointa. Home of sin... A coldness ran through him at the very sight, but nevertheless, he already could see the dark, lithe form scrabble it's way out of sight on one of the remaining rooftops of the cathedral, a brick falling from it's place to shatter on the ground. He had to hurry. No time to lose, no time to lose. "Please..." he breathed, though to whom he spoke, he did not know.

[27]

[Kodai]

The Lucain was brought out of his memories by the sound of falling mortar and the crash of a brick upon the hard ground. Deranged spirits were nothing new to this place, but normally those were found inside, harassing sightseers or other trespassers. This sounded like something was crawling about outside... on the roof, perhaps? His expression growing stern, the Lucain stalked off, going back to the inner areas of the cathedral and ascending forgotten staircases until he appeared from a hidden door on the roof. Perhaps once it had been used as part of a maintenance system, but it was obvious from the appearance of the cathedral that the door and connecting passages were no longer used for such. Deftly picking his way over the crumbling tiles, the Lucain sniffed about, his nose being much more useful in this pre-morning darkness than his eyes. Something definitely wasn't right up here... Not only did his nose tell him that, but his entire being. His skin prickled uncomfortably, and he felt a great uneasiness steal over him.
There must be a powerful spirit up here... he thought as he crept along. Only a spirit can cause this sort of fear and unease, and a spirit would need to be able to touch the corporeal world in order to cause a brick to fall... I must remain hidden and try to keep the element of surprise, or else it may get the best of me.

[BaalsBaby]

Straiph had arrived at the old, dilapidated entrance of the cathedral, one of the huge wooden doors completely missing as he'd remembered it. The thought of setting foot across the threshold repulsed him, but he quickly swallowed that feeling and entered, gun drawn and aimed. If he remembered correctly, there had been a stairway to the roof but who knew if the monster had moved. So he kept his gun drawn and pointed ahead of him as he found the stairs, trying to keep his footsteps muffled and silence his approach. Each stair was taken with a patient, careful haste, as he smelled... something up ahead. It wasn't quite the creature's scent either.

Up on the rooftop, unseen by the pursuing Calamikuhna, a lithe form scrabbled awkwardly across the brick tiles, clawing a few out as it went. It's skin was made of blackened scales that pulsed occasionally with red lines of light, quills decorating it's spine and arms. It looked vaguely like a reptile of some sort, a long lizard-like tail curling around it's back leg. It had two sets of arms , it's second pair hugged against it's stomach. The creature, in full view of the canine of Lya Pointa, came to a stop against a smaller, dilapidated bell tower and dropped whatever it had had in it's mouth. It had it's back hunched over and there was something between it's two front claws.

A child. Whose right shoulder was bleeding from what looked like a bite mark. It was most likely how it'd carried the child, the red soaking into the young girl's baby blue shirt. The child was awake but was staring straight out into the forest from the rooftops, her cheeks dirty with paths where past tears had fallen. The creature purred and  petted the child with a bit of a rough swipe over the girl's golden hair. "Shhh.. shh...hsssss." the monster growled in what seemed a forced whisper. It didn't seem to have noticed the Lucain's approach yet. And from behind the Lucain, there came the hushed steps of what seemed to be a more humanoid visitor...

[28]

[Kodai]

As soon as the Lucain saw the child, it took him every ounce of willpower to stop himself from attacking the lizard-beast outright. He even had a difficult time suppressing the growl that was rising in his throat. If there was one thing that brought this Lucain's blood to a boil, it was the sight or even idea of an innocent in danger. However, he realized that rushing at the creature was a foolish idea and could endanger the girl even more. It hadn't noticed him yet, which was good; maybe he would be able to creep up behind it and... Quite suddenly, the Lucain sensed a presence behind him, barely hearing the sound of footsteps. Swiftly he wheeled his head around, not wanting to risk shuffling another brick loose and thus loosing his element of surprise on the lizard-beast. He was very surprised, to say the least, to see that a human had followed him up to the roof -- no one else knew about the secret paths, and no one should have been able to discover the back passages that quickly. But then the faint breeze that blew at these heights shifted direction, and he could catch the slightest scent of this newcomer.
I know this scent... But that's... Can it really be that he's still alive? ... I am still alive, so it must be possible. It can only be... He let his thoughts trail off, turning back to confront the threat that still crouched on his roof. Straiph had not returned to this place in many years, so for him to be here now... The Calamikuhna must have pursued this beast here, and if he had done that, he must know how to fight it. Perhaps it would be best for him to stand down and let Straiph initiate the battle, and only dart in if the Calamikuhna required assistance or if he noticed a good opportunity to rescue the girl.

[BaalsBaby]

When the Calamikuhna had left the dark passage up onto the roof, he saw then that the scent had been one that belonged to... a shadow of his past. He would have hailed the canine, if just to alert him that he was there so as not to startle the dog, but it was most likely that he knew he was there already. ... Kreuz.. that was his name.

He pulled the gun up to his line of sight and crept over to Kreuz, making sure not to step on anything that felt too loose beneath his boots. When he came up beside the dog, he put a finger to his lips in an effort to keep the Lucain as quiet as possible. Line of sight, he was about to pull the trigger, when he misread his footing and another old brick came loose. Straiph let loose a curse but didn't fire, as the creature lifted it's head and turned, hissing. Frillled spines flared out around it's face, making it look much more imposing (if it wasn't already), multiple red eyes training on the two.

"Youuuu.... ! Leave... sssssss... lone!" The creature spat, it's tail quickly whipping around the child and pulling the girl closer. She didn't seem to register it much, instead training her eyes to the sky now. It put it's claws on her shoulders, almost protectively.

Straiph snickered once. "As if." To the Lucain at his side, he spoke a little softer, never letting his gaze leave the monster who looked like it wanted to flee again. "What's up. Sorry to drag you into this, but you can just hang tight if you want." He hadn't seen the dog in years. In fact, he hadn't honestly expected the Lucain to still be here but there he was. Either way, it wasn't... really fair to ask for Kreuz's help unless he wanted to. Considering their past relationship being a bit shaky and all. Straiph no doubt, in his human form, looked a couple years older, though he hadn't aged visually as much as he should have. Blame the blood coursing through his veins. "Just... let the kid go, and we'll talk about it, kay? I just need the kid...."

It was the monster's turn to snicker. It didn't look like it was going to do so willingly. Though for what reason it was keeping the child was still yet to be determined.

[29]

[Kodai]

Oh, Straiph had miscalculated and shifted another brick loose... Now the beast knew that they were there. Kreuz did his best to return its gaze, but it was difficult to do so -- the stare of those fierce red eyes was unnerving. To alleviate his senses, the Lucain looked aside to Straiph. Quietly, in the hope that the lizard-beast wouldn't hear, he murmured, "I'll ask you what's going on later... Tell me what I should do, though. I'll help you save that girl." Mustering his courage, Kreuz turned back to the beast and moved forward a bit, stepping around one of the smaller spires. There wasn't much he could do to make himself look more intimidating, but maybe his appearance would put the beast off its guard, even if for a moment. A moment was all they needed...
"What do you want that child for, anyway?" he barked, his voice somewhat hoarse from years of not having spoken, and certainly not loudly. "Something like you... We can't let you just spirit that child away!" He began to cough, but as he did, the idea to keep talking struck his mind. Yes, he should say anything that came to his mind that would incense the creature, make it angry at him... Maybe if he did that, the beast would become more focused on him than on Straiph, and the latter would be able to strike first. As soon as the coughing stopped, he continued. "Stealing a young child away from her family... and what are you going to do with her? I bet you're going to take her back to your lair and eat her! Monsters that eat human flesh... They make me sick! Do you hear me? You're a disgusting monster!!"

[BaalsBaby]

What was he doing? Was that dog wanting to piss it off? Well, he supposed it would make for a great distraction, which could of great use, but if the dog got hurt... well. That was another problem. If he remembered correctly, Kreuz was a bleeding a heart, wasn't he?

"Got it," Straiph whispered, acknowledging that he'd heard the canine at his side, who was coughing for some reason, his voice hoarse. If he kept that up, it sounded like his voice would go out fairly soon. Either way, he was waiting for the right moment now.

The creature hissed, it's glowing eyes becoming a deeper red with the rage it was feeling. "Monsssser? Monsserrrrrrr? Issss tooo judge?" it spat, crawling over the child a little now and tensing in the Lucain's direction. It's tail was around the child though, so it still had somewhat of a mind towards it's possession. "Not eatingggs............ fleshhhh...." It didn't look like it appreciated being accused of such things, stamping one forelimb on the roof and cracking a brick in half.

The Calamikuhna smirked again, speaking to the Lucain. "You think you can hold it off long enough for me to grab the kid?" Well. It was worth shot, and it was already staring the Lucain down. It wasn't too smart of a critter, he reckoned, so at hopefully it would just concentrate mostly on Kreuz. Then something else came to memory. "Oh right. And.... don't let it bite you." That would be bad.

[30]

[Kodai]

Kreuz gave a slight nod to Straiph, both as confirmation and to tell him that he had heard him. Gaining a purpose, he stepped forward a little more over the crumbling bricks of the roof. The fear he felt in approaching the monster was, for the moment, overcome by his desire to help Straiph save the girl. Coughing some more to clear his throat, Kreuz continued his rant, hoping that the Calamikuhna would be able to get this over with quickly. "I bet you're lying, because you monsters do that, too. You lie so innocent, gentle people will trust you. That's probably how you got this girl to come with you -- you lied to her, and told her that you could grant her wishes, or give her special powers, or that you were cursed by someone and needed her help to break the curse!" Cough, cough. Naturally, Kreuz didn't believe any of what he was saying -- he wasn't the sort to just blindly group creatures together in categories if he didn't know them. However, the fact that Straiph was here, after this creature, and trying to rescue the girl told him that the beast was definitely up to no good. "So now you've got this girl, and since you didn't do any of what you promised her you would do, she knows that you're really a monster that's just going to eat her! I've fought off monsters before, you know, so don't think I don't know what you're like! You're all the same! You're all horrible, evil, terrible, awful beings!!" Kreuz coughed again, but he stepped forward even closer, to keep the beast's attention on him. "You should be ashamed of yourself! But I guess you can't be ashamed, because you'd need to have morals for that. You'd need to have a soul! And you don't have one!"

[BaalsBaby]

At all of the accusations, the creature just began to rage more, hissing and flaring the spines around it's face and neck. It's tail unwrapped from the child, spittle dribbling from it's razor-edged teeth as it growled. "Do not knowwwwwww of what ... sssspeaaaaks!" As the Lucain continued to bark it's threats, the creature perked and it looked almost as if it was grinning. "Foughtsss? Foughts monstersss ...... as.. me?" It said, fumbling it's words but still the message came across. It was challenging the canine that stood in it's path. As Straiph predicted, the lizard became increasingly focused on the dog and before he could even think, the lizard charged. It hissed as it went, all six limbs clawing against the rooftop now and leaving the girl exposed. There was a slight gap in the rooftop that it had to jump.

This was it! Seizing the opportunity, Straiph dashed forward and transformed as he jumped parallel to the creature across the gap. His humanoid form became that of a large, tiger-sized beast of a Calamikuhna, almost all semblance of his human assets gone in the flash of black smoke. Two legs were too slow to make it in time,so four would have to do. Muscles rippled under glossy black fur striped with deep teal and red, as his paws carried him to the girl just in time.

"NOOO!" the beast cried, landing on the rooftop nearest the Lucain but turning to see the Calamikuhna snatch the girl up in two human arms again. The monster skidded to a halt, ripping the roof beneath it's feet to the wooden supports, it's back to the canine.

[31]

[Kodai]

Kreuz braced himself to receive the monster's charge, but inwardly, he was grinning. This was it! The opening Straiph needed! And the Calamikuhna seized the opportunity flawlessly, pouncing across the distance and reaching the girl before the beast had a chance to turn around. Now the monster had his back to Kreuz, which was a mistake on its part. Obviously this fight wasn't over yet -- they still needed to get the girl to safety, which most likely meant either disposing of the beast or otherwise incapacitating it. While it was still lamenting its loss, Kreuz sprang into action, leaping upon the back of its neck and sinking his fangs into it. He would attempt to hold on to it while Straiph either finished it off or got the girl off of the roof. Hopefully, if Straiph chose the latter option, he would return quickly, as Kreuz wasn't entirely sure if he would be able to prevent the beast from moving if it decided to give chase. With any luck, the monster would be too concerned with dislodging Kreuz to worry about going after the Calamikuhna. Still, why not add more distraction? Snarling through his teeth, Kreuz began to insult it again, though it was difficult with a mouth full of scaly skin. "Oou in' oou're ooin' oo eal 'er a'ain? 'Ell a' on' a'en! Oo'id on'er! Oo a' ee 'o 'eal i'!" At that, he began to pull at the skin, just enough to agitate the beast and not lose his grip.

[BaalsBaby]

Enraged and caught off-guard, the beast felt the sharp pain of Kreuz's grip on the back of it's neck and flailed as best it could to try and dislodge the offending mammal off of him. "SSSSSSS!" To add insult to injury, the dog spoke through his grip and though it was hard to understand, the monster felt it enough to grow ever more angry. It flailed furiously, multiple claws trying to grip the dog to no avail, then try to roll to get the dog off. If it worked, the spines would impale his enemy, but the footing was also very shaky on this dilapidated rooftop. "Let me goesssss! No no noooooo!"

Straiph yelled across the way, "Hold on! I'll be right back!" They couldn't fight with the girl being on the roof, so hopefully the Lucain could hold it off long enough for him to put the child somewhere relatively safe. So without any hesitation, the Calamikuhna in humanform jumped. Right off the side of the building, onto a secondary rooftop, and then down to the ground at the side of the church. He landed with a dull thud in a crouching position on his feet (all cats landed on their feet right?), wincing and letting a curse loose. He wasn't one to really sensor himself, even in the presence of a kid. "Yeowwww... ouch." He took a second to recover, then strained to get up and run inside the church, placing her on a table near the alter. The table and the irony of the action hit him for a moment, but he had other things to tend to right now. "There you go kiddo, stay right here. I'll be back," he said, looking into her glassy eyes as he said this, receiving no reply though. Now his priority was getting back to the roof in time.

"You don't knooooowww.... ssss. Stay out of... isssss!" The beast wailed as it tried to dislodge the Lucain, scrabbling around in a fury. Even it's tail wrapped around the canine's back leg defensively, but the grip wasn't concentrated while it was in a panic. "Is starving... Starving! Sss . nothiiiiing!" It said brokenly, not very practiced at speaking this language.

[32]

[Kodai]

Instead of loosing his grip, Kreuz only bit down harder, more so that he wouldn't fall off the beast (and thus the roof) than from any intent to cause injury. His lithe body was a lifesaver here, able for the most part to shift with the beast's motions as it tried to both navigate the roof and shake him off, but during all the frantic writhing the monster was able to pierce some spikes through Kreuz's loose skin. Of course, this only made Kreuz bite down harder in his pain, continuing the cycle. Hopefully Straiph would return soon... Then the lizard-beast said something that incensed the Lucain, a mention of how it was starving. Since his jaws were clamped firmly on the monster's neck (which was causing a vile-tasting blood to pool in his mouth), it was nearly impossible for Kreuz to speak. He could only growl deeply in his throat and try to pull at the beast's skin while shifting around for dear life.
Starving?! So you were going to eat that girl! How could you?! Anything that eats the flesh of humans should be ashamed!

[BaalsBaby]

"Ssss..... wroooong...... stupidddd!" the beast roared, panting hard as the black ichor what was its blood leaked from the wound on its neck. Bricks continued to tear from their place, shedding light into whatever dark spaces they'd been hiding before, illuminating the dank, still places of the cathedral. It was just the creature and the Lucain for now, the former still trying to grab or wrestle the dog off of it somehow. It's many arms couldn't bend enough to latch onto any part of it's attacker however, so it was beginning to tire without result. "Not ... girlllll............." It hissed, stopping to bend over and pant, dribbling black spatters onto it's supporting claws.

Straiph was on his way up the same way he'd come before, himself panting from running pretty much a marathon through the forest. Stairs were the worst of Zu'hai's creations right now. He got to the top just as the creature fell to the roof on it's arms weakly. He could see now that he was closer, that the monster's limbs were shaking, it's stomach lean as it pushed its breath in and out. Straiph drew his gun up though, approaching the beast and coming up in front of it so that it could see he had a weapon trained on it. "Alright beasty, time to call it quits. Say your prayers," he chuckled a little, training the sight on the gun and staring down the muzzle at the creature's bowed head. The black-scaled monster said nothing, most likely accepting its fate.

[33]

[Kodai]

Kreuz continued to growl, though he was growing tired... and confused. It was still denying that its plans were to eat the girl? But it had just said that it was starving. Hmm... Naturally, it could be lying, but it could also be telling the truth. Maybe it had a master that had sent it to kidnap the girl, and it would get fed for bringing her back... Like... what Straiph used to do... However, that didn't make the situation right. The Lucain didn't accept it then, and he wouldn't accept it now. Killing and kidnapping innocent people in return for food... That was just going too far in his eyes. Now that Straiph had returned, Kreuz released his grip slightly so that he could speak. "I unno 'at oor 'i'ua'on i'... 'ut 'ealin' 'il'en 'o oou 'an 'a'e 'oo' i' o' 'igh'." He turned his gaze to Straiph, lingering long on the barrel of the gun. "...'a'e i' 'as'." Kreuz steeled himself as best he could, pressing against both the roof and the beast. He had learned what guns were, once... and he would never forget.