[Yomegami]

((For now, this is a self-RP, but if you want to join, PM me and I'll see about letting you pop in.))


Was this the proper place for him to be? No, the question was more properly worded: Where else was he supposed to go? The city of Lamenolai was miles away, and having to trudge through all that rainforest in order to find shelter from a sudden rainstorm would be quite daunting. So, faced with no other option, he had come here, to this peaceful temple.

The rain poured down hard from a dark, cloudy sky. There was little thunder and lightning, unusually enough. However, he cared not. A thunderstorm would make his presence here all the more ominous.

Cruor silently slipped into the temple, soaked to the skin and leaving a dripping trail of wetness across the stone floor. The water he left behind had a definite red tinge to it, and the reason why was on his face - his two short fangs were covered in blood, and even more blood smeared the area around his mouth - blood that wasn't his own.

He shook himself in an attempt to dry himself off, sending water flying in all directions. As the water left his body, the usual smoke that clinged to his limbs and tails reformed, identifying him as a Nightwalker kuhna, and also explaining just what he had been doing.

He'd been feeding, but the attack he had made to get his meal had apparently hit an artery, and the resulting wound caused his victim to bleed to death. Okay, so he had slain somebody - if only he hadn't done it when several other pets were watching!

So he had ran, ran as fast as he could, to escape justice. However, this running drove him far into the Tengel Rainforest and got himself lost. And to add insult to injury, it had starting raining, drenching him. The desire to get out of the rain had led him here, to Nu'san, where the monks greeted weary travellers warmly. However, a warm welcome wasn't what Cruor wanted.

Shaking himself off, he headed for a nearby bowl of water held in the lap of a crouching statue. Maybe if he washed this blood off in a controlled manner, he'd be less suspicious.

[Yomegami]

Or perhaps not. As Cruor used the water to splash himself in the face, he only turned the water in the bowl red. Lovely - do something wrong and the evidence refuses to leave you alone.

To tell the truth, he never meant to kill the kuhna he had fed from. However, if you pull it off wrong, this happens, and now he had no idea on where to go after the rain stopped. He didn't plan on heading back in the direction he came from - he'd get caught that way. And lord knew who was waiting north of this place....

In an attempt to remove the blood from the bowl, he swiped at it, splashing the water out until the bowl was completely empty. Then, he glanced around to see if it worked.

No - now there was a bunch of red water all over the floor. Plus, the monks were going to wonder why that bowl was empty when it had been full just a few moments earlier.

As he sat down to figure out a way out of this predicament, he couldn't help but wonder why it had to be him that had to wind up in a mess like this....

[Yomegami]

Unknown to the Nightwalker kuhna, another kuhna had chosen to visit the temple. However, he came by choice, not by necessity. Nu'san had a reputation for being a peaceful place, so the monks wouldn't suspect that something evil was being discussed....

Paying no heed to the rain, Ankara calmly strode into the temple, shaking himself off when he was no longer being constantly drenching. He never minded the rain - he considered it more of a nuisance more than anything, and while he preferred to avoid it, he would go through rain without a second thought if he had too.

Finally flicking the last of the water off, he turned around, looking back outside. "Come on, you slowpokes, we don't have all day."

The next being to arrive appeared in a black blur, and when it stopped it began shaking wildly, which made Ankara jump away with a snarl of disgust.

"Spot! Cool it!" he snapped at it. As it was requested to do, it halted its movements, and now it could easily be seen to be some sort of Dalma, bearing pure black eyes, no spots, and markings reminiscent of a certain horror movie character. And instead of a bark, it made a growl that sounded like a chainsaw.

"Vhat took you sssso long, Bossss?" asked a new voice, coming from the ceiling directly above Ankara. Its owner was an Akail, colored with purple and black, as opposed to a normal Akail, who were colored with shades of dark blue.

"Noche? How did you get here before me?" Ankara questioned of him.

"You ssssaid to come here," responded the Void Akail, dropping from the ceiling and flipping around 180 degrees to land on his feet. "I figured it'd take lessss time if I jusssst went on ahead."

Before anyone else could say anything, there was a sound of crackling electricity, and yet another arrival darted into the scene - a blue sparquill, decorated with red and black. He did not look very happy, and who could blame him - electric creatures such as himself did not go well with water. Especially rain.

Finally, a small cat-like creature emerged from within the temple. "I was already here too, boss." she mewed. "I went with Noche's advice."

"Very well." Ankara responded, nodding. "Now that everyone is here, let us dry off and whatnot, and then we can find a better place and get down to business...."

[Yomegami]

Desperate to get rid of the evidence of his crime, Cruor had resorted to using his paws to flick the bloodstained water out the door, where the heavy rain would hopefully wash it away. However, with every drop he got rid of, he spread the rest even further over the floor.

"Why, Zu'hai, why?" he breathed to himself. If he didn't find some way of removing this, he was doomed.

To add to all of his stress, he heard voices from within the temple, and they were growing louder. His only thought was: They've found me....

Nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. What was he supposed to do? Well, he might as well go see who it was. Cautiously, he turned around and walked in the direction of the voices.

As he did, he realized that they were speaking of something else, rather than hunting down a murdering Nightwalker. Must be someone else who came to mediate....

[Yomegami]

It didn't take long for everyone to ready themselves - Oracle and Noche weren't wet in the first place, Ankara and Ferox had dried themselves off before everyone else got there, and it took only a few moments for Oppugno to zap and evaporate what water fell on him. Now, it was time for the rendezvous.

"This place seems good, Boss." Oracle said, her green eyes flicking around the room.

"No, thissss issss too closssse to the entrancssse. I don't think ve'll be too happy here." Noche responded, rising to his feet. "I ssssay ve head farther invardssss."

Ferox just made some more chainsaw noises. If the dalma was saying anything at all, no one understood him or said anything about his 'comment.' As for Oppugno, he nodded at Noche, but otherwise was silent.

Ankara turned to face away from the group, staring out at the falling rain. After a few moments, he faced his group again. "We head further into the temple. Noche is right, the wind here will make us uncomfortable, I daresay."

Noche smiled, pleased that his opinion had been accepted, before disappearing into the shadows behind him.

The rest were quick in following, Ferox announcing their approach with more chainsaw impressions, with Ankara in the back. While the rest of the group talked (or just plain made noise), he began to think, and plan. He casted his eyes to his left, and thought he saw something hiding in the shadows, watching them....

[Yomegami]

Cruor flinched a little bit as the other kuhna turned his direction. He barely moved an inch, holding his breath as to not even make a sound until the glance was withdrawn.

So, this kuhna and the group of creatures he obviously lead weren't here to hunt down a 'murderer.' Rather, they were talking about a...meeting, of sorts.

However, what's a meeting if you're not talking about something? And so, the question hit the Nightwalker - what were they here to talk about? He was curious.

It might mean they might find him, but his curiousity caused him to ignore the risk. Now, he just had to wait for this kuhna to move before he himself did....

[Yomegami]

Ankara watched the spot for a few seconds, but no more movements came out of it. With a shrug, he padded off after his group. He must have been seeing things.

"Right here sssshall be a great placccce." Noche announced, sitting down next a wall with but a single candle on it. The arrival of his group had chased most of the monks away, so interruptions were not likely. And if any did bother to come upon the group, the akail would make sure they remained silent.

More chainsaw noises announced the arrival of Ferox, Oppugno, and Oracle. Or rather, just Ferox. It was coincidence that he arrived at the same time as the myuu reaper and the sparquill, who made little, if any, noise at all.

"All right, everyone. Line up!" Ankara's voice barked as the demon himself joined the group. "Side to side, not front to back."

Noche slithered to the far left, to have at least one side to himself although the other side was close to Ferox. The other end was covered by Oracle with Oppugno to her right. Once everyone was in position, Ankara began pacing in front of the group.

"Now, you all know why I....'hired' you, correct?"

Noche nodded. "You want ussss to help you kill another kuhna."

"Or, more properly put, to take care of another kuhna." Oppugno coughed, in one of his rare moments where he actually said something.

"Correct. That kuhna is named-"

"Sykes." Oracle finished for her master.

"I am comfortable with ssssuch an assssignment mysssself. However, I don't believe you've told ussss why, Bosssss." Noche stated.

"And I don't believe why my motives should matter to you." Ankara responded with a growl.

Ferox responded to that with yet another chainsaw growl, of which again nobody understood or cared to translate. However, Oracle gave a much more articulate arguement: "Well, if you want someone to kill someone else, that someone would often like to know why you want to do such a thing."

Ankara rolled his eyes. "If you want to argue further, I'll say that my motives don't pertain to this meeting. We're here to dicuss strategy, not reasons."

"You want to kill Sykes for the heck of it, don't you?" Oracle asked.

Within a few seconds, she wished she hadn't. Ankara shot her a glance of pure venom, then he leapt at her and smacked her so hard as to send her flying halfway across the room. "If I wanted to do that, I'd find a stranger to do so! Or better, an overly curious underling."

The myuu reaper lie there for a few moments, then turned herself over and walked shakily back to her position. "I....won't ask that again, Boss."

Ankara glared at her. "You better not."

[Yomegami]

So he wasn't the only one who was a murderer here.

This other kuhna was dicussing a strategy in order to kill another kuhna, who apparently was called "Sykes." And as far as Cruor could see, for no reason at all. So, what was he going to do, go out there and ask? The answer, obviously, was no. He just saw the black kuhna's strength - it was amazing to see the myuu reaper survive a hit that strong. He wasn't going to risk getting such a hit himself.

However, this conversation was getting rather interesting. He wanted to see where it went, and perhaps gather information to save Sykes from the same fate he'd just imposed on a victim. So, his end decision was to stay put, but he crouched down, making sure to keep very quiet. He didn't want to see what would happen if they found out he was nearby and eavesdropping.

[Yomegami]

"Sssso, bossss, the plan issss...?"

Ankara glanced at his second-in-command, pleased that someone finally wanted to get the main part of the meeting out of the way.

"I hear Sykes is currently at Basantha, where he seeks a hunter.... and perhaps a lifemate." he responded, resuming his back and forth pacing. "That lifemate bit is where we shall make our strike."

Oracle tilted her head to the side, looking very confused.  "So, by slaying his lifemate.... We'll get close enough to kill him?"

"That's not the plan, you moron!" Ankara snapped. "Apparently, you do not know me very well."

A smirk crept across his face. "I lack the reason to kill a perfectly good female - especially if she has some use to me. Syke's lifemate ought to know a bit about him, correct?"

Noche nodded. "I'm beginning to ssssee where you're going vith thissss." he said. "You plan on charming your victim'ssss lifemate as to get ssssome information out of her, then usssse that information to your advantage, yessss?"

"Something along those lines, yes." The demon glanced outwards towards the entrance. "But I don't actually intend on actually charming her right away. What I really intend on doing is wooing her over while you take care of Sykes."

Ankara's words had a noticable effect on Ferox - the moment the demon had finished his statement, the slaughter dalma jumped up onto his hind legs, pawing at the air and announcing his support with loud chainsaw growls.

"Ferox! I know that's a great plan, but it's no reason to go crazy!" Oracle said, in a futile attempt to quiet the dalma down. Ankara merely sighed, and then turned to Oppugno and nodded.

A smile crept across the sparquill's face as he nodded in return. His quills erected, sending electricity crackling in between them. Then, he whirled around towards the dalma and let loose a vicious jolt that quieted the dog down in a second. After that, Ferox silently retreated to his position besides Noche and Oracle, head hanging down and his tail between his legs.

Noche wasn't paying attention to that fiasco. While Ferox was spazzing out, he caught a glimpse of something in the shadows. Whipping his head around in that direction, he caught sight of another kuhna.

Jumping to the correct conclusion that he was eavesdropping, the akail sprang into action as the commotion around him silenced. He leaped onto his feet, and hissing like a pit of serpents, he ran forwards and pounced upon the other kuhna, pinning him to the ground with his right hand. "How dare you intrude upon our gathering!" he snarled at it. "What bussssinessss have you here!?"

[Yomegami]

He'd been spotted. Cruor knew that the minute the akail turned in his direction.

One second he was sitting there wondering what to do, the next, he was flat on his back pinned beneath the akail's paw, with the akail angrily demanding what he was doing there.

He gulped, partly out of fear and partly out of the fact that the akail's weight was making it hard for him to breathe. Fate needed to be on his side if he wanted to worm his way out of this one.

"I was taking shelter from the rain," he said, as calmly and as sincerely as possible, "and I heard you talking nearby. I was merely curious as to what was going on."

You really think the akail's going to buy that? a voice in his head hissed at him. His answer was no, he didn't, but he had to say something, or otherwise risk getting himself killed. But giving a lie out wasn't exactly a smart idea either, was it?

[Yomegami]

"Oh really?" Noche snorted, pushing down a hit harder on Cruor's chest. "Then how are ve ssssuppossssed to know vhat you intend on ussssing your knowledge for?"

The akail reared back, apparently ready to confirm the nightwalker's worst fears and deliver a bite, but he was interrupted mid-strike by Ankara.

"Noche! Let whatever it is go and let me look at it. I want to examine it some." he said, padding up behind the akail.

Noche snorted again, and then slowly lifted his paw from Cruor's chest. Stepping back, he stated, "Thissss nightvalker was eavessssdropping on our converssssation! Can you really trusssst him enough to let him jusssst valk away?"

Ankara glanced at his minion, then at the nightwalker. "Maybe not," he responded, "but who says we have to kill potential spies?"

Ferox got ready to give his response, but one firm glance from the demon stopped him before he even started. "Ferox, your opinion is not needed right now. That wasn't a question, that was a statement."

Then he turned back to Cruor, and walked over to him. With a couple of paw swats, he had righted the nightwalker, and then shoved him onto his feet with a firm shove before stepping back again.

"You," he began, "state your name."

[Yomegami]

So he wasn't going to die. Well, at least not by the akail's hands, anyway. After getting shoved onto his feet in a rather rough manner, he was being asked his name. Or rather, being told to give the black kuhna his name. He decided that, if he wanted to get out of here alive, he might as well comply.

"Cr-Cruor," he said, shaking slightly, and wondering if he should tell them why he was really here. They were discussing murder, after all, would it bother them or be detrimental to him if he told them?

He decided he should. He didn't want them to think he was a spy, something they thought he might be. "I came h-here to escape prosecution. S-see, I was taking a drink from another kuhna, but I accidentally k-killed her when there were other pets w-watching. S-so I ran, and I w-wound up here. The evidence is o-over there, if y-you want to see it."

There. It was out. Hopefully, their reaction wouldn't be too awful....

[Yomegami]

Noche glanced over at Ankara. "Vow. Ssssscared enough that he tellssssss usssss everything. I do believe that'sssss the firssssst time that'sssss happened."

Ankara turned away from Cruor. "Silence, Noche. I'm thinking." he said.

Meanwhile, Oracle and Oppugno circled the Nightwalker, examining him. "He doesn't look like he came here with the intent of spying. I, for one, am tempted to believe him." Oppugno stated.

The second Ankara turned to glance at Cruor again, the two backed off. He then turned to Noche.

"Come with me. I want to see this evidence, and it would help to have a worthy opinion." he said. The akail nodded, and the two slinked off in the direction Cruor had mentioned.

It didn't take long for them to find it - Ankara soon felt the wetness of the water underneath his paws. He used an extended claw to pick up a droplet and examine it. Sure enough, the water was stained red with blood.

Noche took to examining the water on the floor. "I say he vassssss telling the truth. If he vasn't, then thisssss vouldn't be here. Vhat say you, Bossssss?"

"I think he might be of some use to us." Ankara responded, still glancing with interest at the water drop hanging from his claw.

[Yomegami]

While the black kuhna and the akail were off to see his evidence, Cruor wasn't able to do much except glance at the other beings present. There was definitely something fearsome about them, that was for sure. Even if they made no move to attack him, they still made him feel extremely uneasy.

He wondered what the heck he had gotten himself into. If he hadn't decided to listen in to what this odd group was saying, he might have had a less stressful time trying to deal with his crime. Now, it just seemed death was breathing down his neck. If the black kuhna didn't find his story worth sparing his life, that would be the end of him.

However, he shouldn't get himself worked up. Outwardly, he tried to look as calm as a nervous kuhna could, and placidly met the gazes of the others with confidence. Even so, he still kept glancing in the direction the other kuhna and akail had walked off in, showing that the thought of death wasn't very far from his mind.