[Thunder]

Roraldi, generally, was a lovely place for tourists. Its fantasy features and talking Tali drew people from all around the world, making it seem like a rather cheery and energetic place. It was exceptionally so today with the bright sun shining, the birds singing, and puffy clouds in the sky. However, there was one being lurking in the woods who was the complete opposite of cheery and energetic.

(Human Form)

Tai sulked through the forest, glaring at every tiny rodent and songbird he passed by. He had recently been driven out of one of his hiding places by some villagers who were convinced that he was a demon. Well, they weren't totally wrong, but still. He hated it when others meddled with his life, which was the reason why he sought out safe and secluded hideouts in the first place.

The purple haired man had ventured into Roraldi thinking that it might serve as a good, new home for him. But oh how wrong he was. This place was much too pleasant, and he had passed by some noisy tourists already. Unfortunately, he couldn't really navigate his way out of the forest, for he had no idea where he was going. And so he was in a foul mood, even fouler than usual, but certainly not as angry and irate has he could get.

"Damn it all," he grumbled as he trudged along. He leered at a patch of beautiful blue flowers and promptly brought his foot down on them. "Damn it all to hell. Why did I have to lose that last place? Why?"

Having a nice day, are we? the demon that dwelled inside his body asked him.

"Shut your mouth. I don't need any of your sarcasm right now."

[ToxicShadow]

[Humanoid Headshot Sketch]

In the far deeper part of the forests of Roraldi, unwanted guests were few and far between, even tourists and explorers not willing to trudge into the generally unmarked, uncharted lands. If anyone had bothered to pay attention to the local rumors, venturing too far in was very dangerous, if not only for the chances of getting lost, but because, for some reason, a large amount of highly poisonous plants had sprouted up in the area over the last handful of years.

What most didn't know was that they were growing intentionally, lovingly cared for by an equally toxic sort of creature. Not only did they serve to keep people out of the area, but they were used in many strange concoctions created by the gardener's keeper of sorts. Outside of Toxicosis, as the Fellox woman was aptly named after the ailment, and her own adopted child, Yanora was the only other being that the Fellox permitted to handle her precious plants and flowers.

As usual, Toxicosis was making her rounds when she heard an unfamiliar voice, and then witnessed something horrifying. She located the owner of the voice from her nearby position just in time to see him trample some of her precious flowers and, although the woman was usually careful not to let her temper get the better of her, he had done the one that truly turned her irritation into anger.

Her presence was announced in the form of an array of needles hurtling toward him, not aimed to necessarily hit him, but more of a warning. "It's not very polite to trespass and ruin someone's garden," she advised harshly as she stepped out from the cover of the foliage. She was generally petite in her build, not exactly short or tall, but her expression betrayed her contained fury.

[Thunder]

Almost immediately after Tai snapped at his demon, there was a strange clatter behind him. In one fluid motion, he grabbed the ice pick that he always had on him out of his pockets and spun around, glaring around with his single good eye. Soon enough, a small woman emerged from the woods, and based on the angry expression she wore, the needles that were now on the ground presumably came form her.

The bandaged man was not particularly impressed with or happy about this newcomer. He scowled and raised his ice pick in defense. "Just when I thought I wouldn't run into any more people," he grumbled to himself. Then, to the woman, he said, "Garden? Who has a damned garden in the middle of the woods? Aren't there enough flowers and plants around here already? Or is this just an excuse to mess with me?"

Who knows? the demon mused. Perhaps someone does live deep in these woods, like a witch.

"Witch, bitch," Tai snarled seemingly to no one. The demon could only speak into his mind, and thus it appeared as if he was talking to the air. "I don't care. If this girl comes any closer..." He gripped his ice pick tighter as if to hint at what he would do.

[ToxicShadow]

"I'm afraid I don't have time to waste on such petty matters of just messing with someone," Toxicosis gave her rebuttal. "Although this may be a forest, that does not make every area open to the public. You are trespassing." What was worse, he even ruined her beautiful flowers!

The woman was seemingly unfazed by the man, his attitude, and even his drawn weapon. It wasn't like her to fear much of anything, with the exception of ending even more lives. Accidentally killing hundreds, well, it had left a terrible impression on her and had gone so far as to land her in her god forsaken shackles. Of course, that had been a long time ago, before she found the one person able to contact the cure for her poison. Now, although she had kept her distaste for fighting, she did not fear combat, being able to counteract the poison that entered into her foes.

His following words, despite his talking to himself making him seem like a nutcase, was further irritating, nonetheless. She growled, in a way that was almost not human, before giving a final warning. "Leave this place, unless you want to end up dead. If you pick a fight with me, you surely will die." Physical contact with Toxicosis or even her blood was enough to infect anyone and, instantly, the poison would begin shutting down the nervous system and eating away at the body from the inside out. Usually, though, no one was capable of getting close enough to make that mistake before having her needles deep within their flesh and, thus, already poisoned.

[Thunder]

Well, well. It seemed that the young woman was not scared of Tai at all, which for the most part was unusual. Most people, upon encountering the seemingly mad man, ran away in fear. It was rather admirable for the girl to stand up against him, but Tai definitely preferred it when people fled from him. It was so much less of a hassle. He gripped his ice pick ever tighter, stood his ground, and leered at Toxicosis. "On the contrary," he hissed, "it is you who will probably die if you choose to engage me."

So far, no one who fought Tai had survived. The demon inside his body gave him superhuman abilities, and he wasn't afraid to use them against the woman if he had to. Of course, he had no knowledge of Toxicosis's poison, though it was questionable whether it would be completely effective on him or not. He had another secret up his sleeve. Though he certainly looked like a human, Tai wasn't exactly a real one. He was an artificial man created to be a slave, so the properties of his body were not quite similar to those of a natural born person. Still, some parts of his body were real enough that they would likely be affected by Toxicosis's venom.

[ToxicShadow]

Given that Tai returned Toxicosis' threat and made no move to return to where he had come from, it was evident that the woman wouldn't be able to deal with the trespasser in a reasonable manner. If he continued on his way, deeper and deeper into the forest, she wasn't the only person  or creature that he would run into. Many of the others that guarded the mansion hidden in the forest were worse than she was. One of the actual guards, for Toxicosis wasn't actually an assigned guardian of the place, she was more or less the gardener since she detested fighting if she could avoid it, would stop at nothing to deal with a trespasser. Unless the mistress of the mansion stopped him, he would kill.

Those thoughts in mind, the woman made her decision. She would attack him, wait for her toxins to immobilize him, and then administer the anti-venom that Yanora had concocted. Even though she was unaware that this man before her wasn't normal in any means, she had never seen her toxins fail in effecting living creatures, living in whatever means they may have been, with the exception of others like herself. If things went as she intended, he would end up without truly being harmed, but, hopefully, putting him in a situation near death would get her point across.

Without a moment's notice, the woman procured more poisoned needles from somewhere on her person, presumably from within her sleeves, holding three needles in each hand, carefully between each of her fingers. "I see that you would rather have it the hard way," she said simply, her voice notably irritated. With those words alone, she was already in action, it all happening in a matter of seconds. Rather than charging directly at her opponent, she dashed around him, keeping her distance so that his ice pick wouldn't be effective. From different angles, she began hurling the needles, they seeking any place where they could reach through to the flesh.

[Thunder]

(Sorry for the delay! My muse hasn't been the greatest since returning to college :C)

As Tai predicted, the woman did not back down. She moved impressively fast for a mortal, and he only caught the faintest glint of light off of the needles as she withdrew them from her sleeve. Unfortunately, one power the artificial being lacked was superior vision, and it was just as hard for him to spot the needles as it was for any normal person. He managed to evade the first few that came flying at him, but inevitably, several of them punctured his skin and started infecting him with their venom. He began to feel a dull, burning sensation in the places they struck.

I shan't forgive you if you ruin your own body, the demon remarked offhandedly. I do need you to live, after all.

"As if I'd let that happen!" Tai snarled. He forcibly yanked out a few needles that he could reach and dashed at Toxicosis, ice pick outstretched.

But his mobility was swiftly cut short. In a matter of seconds, the poison's burn had grown incredibly potent, and he halted in his tracks, dropping his weapon. He hissed in pain and clutched his left arm, where one of the needles had embedded. The pain quickly gave way to a numbness that even he couldn't fight against. Tai had lost use of that limb.

Still, he was determined to off the woman. Snarling like a rabid beast, he shakily bent down to pick up his ice pick with his good arm, but his legs buckled from the effects of the venom. He grabbed the weapon and attempted to awkwardly walk on his knees towards Toxicosis. At this rate, he would be down in a moment, though perhaps not dead. The blazing rage in his eyes would not be put out so easily.

[ToxicShadow]

Only once Toxicosis knew, undoubtedly, that she landed several hits against her current foe, did she slow her movements and, eventually, stop dashing around. She wasn't about to approach him right away or let her guard down, though, knowing better than to approach a downed dog until it was completely subdued, so to speak. As his weapon tumbled to the ground, he losing his ability to even hold it with that hand, she smirked in a satisfied way. The poisons were taking effect quite nicely, attacking his insides, soon to make him unable to move completely.

As he brandished his weapon in his other hand and attempted to come after her, even when he was down to crawling awkwardly on his knees, there was a part of the woman that had to admit that he had a very strong resolve. Too bad it wasn't for something other than trying to end her life or getting his way. Without much concern for his attempts to still come after her, Toxicosis only took a few casual steps backward, keeping safely out of his range. It wouldn't be long now, before he could no longer muster the strength to keep on moving.

"Toxicosis! Toxicosis, where are you?" A voice, only a few yards away, somewhere off in the thick foliage, called out. Yanora was seeking her companion, she having taken too long to return from the task she had sent her out on, but Toxicosis made no effort to call out to her, her ears only twitching at the sound. From the sounds of it, the other woman was on the right path, so there was no reason to respond, although it could have also possibly been because she didn't want to immediately be reprimanded for using her toxins.

[Human form]

Her lack of response did little to buy time before a dark haired woman with a golden gaze appeared, pushing her way almost effortlessly through the brush. Rightfully, she was about to ask, "What took you so long?" when she realized that her companion wasn't alone. It didn't take a second look for Yanora to realize just why the man was in such a state, seemingly slipping into unconsciousness. "Toxicosis!" When she called her name this time around, she seemed alarmed, if not angry. It was only a matter for a few more moments for her to additionally realize just what amount of toxin's must have entered the man's body. "I don't know what happened, but he'll need a lot of anti-venom to make it out of this unharmed. You need to administer the antidote you have immediately and even that wont be enough. We'll have to get more."

By the time the strange man would be able to regain consciousness, he would find himself in a completely foreign room, Yanora having made the arrangements to have him brought to her manor and administering additional anti-venom by her own hand. Although it was difficult to say just how much venom the man had injected into his system, there was no doubt that the dose was far greater than what her companion normally used to hinder someone. She figured that he was fortunate to have survived and was certain that he would be bedridden for some time after the attack.

The man had been brought to a vacant, inner guest room, making it completely windowless with only one entrance and deep within the labyrinth that was her grand home. It was devoid of most furnishings, only having the large, plush bed in which he had been situated in, a vanity that served more as a desk, a matching chair, a single standing bookshelf, and a sofa on the wall across from the bed.

From the moment that he had been brought in, Yanora had never left his side, having pulled up the chair beside the bed, monitoring him carefully. Of course, since Toxicosis had driven the point home that the man was dangerous, his hands had been bound as he showed signs of recovering and, although she was in the room alone with him, others had been posted out in the hall way in the event that he proved dangerous even in his condition.

[Thunder]

For a long time, the world was darkness. But now, a faint streak of light bore its way into Tai's vision, rousing him from the unconsciousness he had fallen into. His senses came back slowly, one by one. In a few minutes, he was able to see blurred shapes all around him, and the sores all over his body became evident. He appeared to be lying down, and something soft cushioned his back and neck.

"Ughhhh..." The man tried to rub his eyes, but when he brought his hands to his face, he felt something rough glide over his skin instead. Confused, he peered down at the appendages, only to see that his wrists had been tied in with rope. His immediate instinct was to somehow grab his ice pick and cut himself free, but he ached all over like he had never felt before, and glancing around nearby, his precious weapon was nowhere in sight. He then realized that he had been transported to a completely foreign and sparsely decorated bedroom.

As he tried to process what happened, his eye caught sight of a woman sitting next to the bed he was apparently on. She was not the same lady who he fought in the forest. Her dress was rather bizarre, consisting of a red corset, a crimson skirt, a white shirt with frilly sleeves, and pale pants. It gave he the appearance of wealth, and the last time Tai had to deal with anyone rich, it didn't end well at all.

"What the hell is going on?" he growled. The question was directed at both the stranger and the demon inside him.

I'd tell you if I knew the demon replied. If you get taken out, then I do too, remember?

[ToxicShadow]

Yanora watched wordlessly as her unexpected guest woke from his sleep, not breathing a word until he addressed her. When he spoke to her and even when she replied, her expression remained unreadable, a blank expression that didn't convey how she was feeling or what she was thinking. "Do you recall that you got into a fight with my groundskeeper? The woman that uses poison coated needles?" She wasn't even all that descriptive with her words, speech being far from her strong point outside of the few that she had felt she had grown close to.

She paused for a moment, then stood from her seat beside the bed, stepping aside to gesture toward the vanity that had a mixture of empty and full serum bottles and syringes scattered on top of it. "You would have died from the toxins, so you were brought here. I administered the antidote, but I imagine that you will not survive without continuing to receive the adequate doses. You've taken on more of the toxin than I have witnessed before, so I have been carefully monitoring you and adjusting the dose as needed."

Then for a moment, a slight smile appeared on her face, appearing because she actually felt relived."I am shocked that you survived, let alone that you regained consciousness already." Yanora may have been a lot of things, including a person that wasn't social, didn't often like dealing with people nor good with communicating, but she did have a good heart beneath everything else. She, nor Toxicosis, would have wanted someone to die at their hands.

The unavoidable question then came up, "How exactly are you feeling?"

[Thunder]

As the mysterious woman spoke, Tai's memories slowly came crawling back to him. He remembered encountering that blasted lady in the woods and getting into a fight with her. The sight of the needles came rushing back, but it wasn't until now that he realized they had been poisoned. That was why he couldn't move after they sank into his body. His eyes narrowed in frustration. Had he been so easily defeated?

He looked towards the bottles and syringes as the woman gestured at them. Tai could not imagine why she bothered to save him. She had said that the woman with the poisoned needles was her groundskeeper, after all. That meant he had trespassed on her property. While he didn't particularly care that he did, it would be more natural for this woman to react negatively towards an intruder. And yet, she had administered antidotes to him. Where was the logic in this action? He returned his gaze to his savior and stared at her not with gratitude, but with suspicion swirling in his sole emerald eye, even as she asked him how he was feeling.

"...shitty," Tai replied. Although he had been treated, he was still sore and more importantly, not amused. "...what are you planning to do with me?" Was she saving him now just to mess with him later? Perhaps she would make him her slave, just like his old master had done so long ago.

[ToxicShadow]

Towards the man's nondescriptive response to her question, Yanora sighed, pegging him as "one of those people," the kind that either didn't want anyone else's help or spoke in hostile ways to hide something else, which was common enough in the world. If he didn't give her a proper answer, however, he was only bringing more harm to himself. It was no easy feat treating someone accurately without first knowing how they felt.

The suspicion evident in his eyes, Yanora's tone of voice actually displayed an emotion when she answered his question in turn, unlike previously. "Does someone truly have to be planning something for doing a good deed?" She seemed irritated by the unspoken accusation that she was up to no good. "My groundskeeper made a vow once, not to kill ever again if she could help it. If it is within my power to help her keep her vow, by not letting an ignorant trespasser that didn't listen to her warning to leave die, then I'll do it." Toxicosis really didn't like him, though, since he had trampled on her precious flowers. Many of the plant life in the area were used to concoct the very antidote to her natural toxins and, all the others, she tended with just as much love since she could touch them without bringing any harm to them.

"The reality of it is this: without continuing to receive the antidote, you will likely succumb to the poison and die," she stated, matter of factly, trying to drive the point home. If he wanted to survive, he would have to deal with the circumstances. "I went out of my way to save you, and will likely send you on your merry way once you're fine, assuming you don't cause any unnecessary trouble during your stay." With those words, Yanora was vague, but not intentionally. Since the members of her security were much more harsh than she was, if they thought him to still be a threat, they wouldn't hesitate to end his life unless she was there in time to say otherwise. "So, you'll just have to trust me. Any... questions?"

[Thunder]

It seemed that the woman was the one getting annoyed now, apparently finding Tai's mistrust of her silly. He narrowed his eyes and huffed. If she knew anything about his history, she would easily see why he was not a man quick to believe others. His old life was one of forced servitude and abuse. It was not anything he wanted to return to, and so he shunned others, feeling that a solitary path- exempting his demon companion- was one complete freedom.

Still, the woman unfortunately had a point. There was nothing Tai could do to combat the poison that other blasted lady put into him, and in his current state, he wasn't about to go anywhere. The thought of being stuck in this unknown place with these unknown people made his blood boil. The thought of having to be taken care of by others was even more infuriating.

"Tch," he spat. "Fine. I'll trust you...for now. But mark my words, woman. One misstep and..."

The sentence trailed off into a dark glare. Tai only spoke up again after studying his savior for a moment. "Who are you, anyway?"

[ToxicShadow]

If she had been that sort of woman, Yanora would have chuckled at the man's remark. Even in such a perilous situation, he still found it in himself to try his empty threats on her. He was hardly in any position to do damage. However, she didn't chuckle. She did smirk, though, seemingly amused by it.

Toward his honest question, though, she answered without hesitance. Even though he was suspicious of her, and she wasn't the best with social skills in all settings, she was an honest sort of person. "Yanora Veneficus Lamiai Vrykolakas," she repeated her full name, something she hadn't done in quite some time. Her name, although not recently heard from, was recorded in some records within the world. "You may just call me Yanora, as its a mouthful. I am the mistress of this manor and am in possession of much of the surrounding areas. For miles."

In return, she had two inquiries of her own. "Who are you? And are you interested in having dinner now that you're conscious?" Tending to him, she had yet to eat, and one couldn't very well heal on an empty stomach, could they?