Once home to the Crystal Cities of the Hunter clans, Craiss Caverns is now a hollow empty shell of its former glory due to a strange misfortune in the past. Man-made tunnels now lead to this place, but tales tell of some never returning. (+3 Defense, +2 Offense)

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Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self) [Hunt]

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:17 PM

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Aetos and Melcena

A man and a woman walked together in silence. Side by side, the pair picked their way along a sloping road. Walls of jagged rock rose to either side, looming larger as their path slid lower still. The man and woman had a goal, nestled here in the earth. The night made way before them, opening to embrace their steps and closing deceitfully in their wake. Only their respective lights kept the dark at bay, shining forth from both figures in spite of their empty hands. The light emanated, in fact, from their very forms.

The man looked over at his companion, a sheen of silver gleaming from amber eyes. Inky black strands fell over that stare, only to be swept back into the smooth curtain that hung straight to mid-back. He was tall and lean, corded muscles rippling under lily-white skin. Not that his physique was readily apparent: the man clad himself in dark, rich cloth, a suit of pricier make that belied his careless stance. Even over the stone, he seemed to glide with an easy stride, and his expression spoke of patience and culture beyond the scope of most.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self)

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:18 PM

The woman returned his glance with verve, white-hot bolts zinging from a matching blue gaze. Her middling height seemed so much less at his side, though she carried herself as every inch his equal. A peasant-top covered her buxom torso, its linen white distinct in darkness. An unusual corset of leather straps and silver buckles cinched under her chest, flaring into a skirt at her waist and swaying just so around the knees. Spikes of navy hair sizzled with light, pointed, messy, but impassioned - the 'do not terribly far removed from its wearer.

"Why are we even here?" The woman asked, words clipped with annoyance. She had stopped, arms crossed at the portal before them in the earth. This forgotten opening to the Caverns yawned forth like a jagged mouth, complete with stone spars lining the top like teeth. The creature's bite jutted up from the ground as well, hedging the way forward in wet-looking lichen and a multitude of rocky points.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self)

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:21 PM

The man's smile radiated that tireless patience. Hands clasped behind his back were adorned with rings of silver and onyx. A single finger, the pointer on his right hand, sported a jeweled and wickedly pointed cuff. A pair of silver, stylized wings were clipped to each sleeve, and another shone on his lapel. "We're going to get her," he replied evenly.

Though he paused as well, the look he gave the formidable-looking cave mouth was speculative. There was no fear in it, and he seemed not to notice the trepidation on hers. "I assume we were meant to. Why else would she bother to reveal her location this time?"
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self)

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:24 PM

The woman frowned, though she didn't really have an argument. The idea of going into the caves bothered her... It bothered her more than she was comfortable letting on. Even more than the thought of retrieving their wayward friend. "I don't know why we ought to bother. She knows that we won't understand what she's doing anyway! We should just leave to deal with her own problems."

A smirk curved his lips, though his eyes were sympathetic. "Surely, this wouldn't have anything do with your lack of understanding of her kind of magic, as opposed to your own?" He knew- Well. He suspected that Melcena's distaste for the situation came from the contempt one spellcaster had for another, and not from any genuine dislike. He would believe himself proven right when she grunted and started forward.

She was thankful that she had always been able to pull things over on him, and suppressed a shiver at the thought of the cave swallowing her alive.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self)

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:25 PM

The cave was as unpleasant as she expected. She turned a blind eye to the walls, striated with pale fungus and threaded through with water in thinly trickling streams. She couldn't help wincing at the narrow walls, and pressed her hair flat against her head to prevent it touching the ceiling - but she had it easier by far than he did. For the first time in a long while, she looked at him with uncharacteristic pity.

For his part, though, the man looked unconcerned. He'd bent a bit at the waist to accomodate the tight accomodations, but he was far too gracious a man to complain. The way he pressed on - relentless, heedless of any outside factor, dissenting opinion or the way she looked at him! - it trod a thin line. On one head, that flagrant disregard for obstacles was really upsetting. On the other? It was a trait she admired, and something she could never master herself.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self)

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:26 PM

"Do you know why we're looking for her?" His normally quiet voice was terribly loud, paired with nothing but dripping water and their own breathing. "I mean, why we stick together the way we do?"

She, again, couldn't think of a reason. "I hate it when you put me on the spot like this, Aetos."

"It's conversation, dear Melcena. There isn't really a primer for it."

He almost smiled at the scowl on her pert little face. It was true, though, that the three of them had been on their own for a long time. Had it been almost four years already? The thought occurred to Melcena at the same time - he could tell be the sudden, stunned expression on her face.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self)

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:28 PM

"Years. Years we've been in exile together, meeting in secret. Years since we've been able to go home." Aetos' face darkened. "Years spent playing tag, working in our own circles. Doing whatever we can to thwart him and this exile."

There was a beat or two of silence. "...He made everyone forget about us." Her voice was quiet, and far too fragile. No matter how easy his countenance, that change in her infuriated him.  

"And us, them. But it's alright now. 'End is going to pay."

They fell silent. There was a companionable quality to the quiet now, however, that hadn't been there before. Perhaps it was because, for this moment, their thoughts were as one: dreams of revenge, and the stubborn hope of regaining friends lost in more ways than one.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self)

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:39 PM

"Do you think they know he's a problem by now?" A little hope snuck into her tone at the speculation. Melcena couldn't remember her friends back at the Terminal very well - despite all her efforts. Say what you would about the Elder (and they had, quite extensively over the years), his magic was horribly thorough. Trying to think too hard about the Ancients they had left behind, the governing spectrum, names or faces from their old home caused each of them terrible pain.

Not just emotional, either, although there was plenty of that. Each of them agreed that there was a searing migraine associated with any prolonged attempt at recollection. Aetos' had tried harder than either of them, and had earned a popped vessel in his eye and a nosebleed for his efforts. That had made them decide that testing the limits of his power was not in their best interest.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self)

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:52 PM

The silence turned dour as Aetos considered her question. They didn't remember much about the other Ancients, but he did know that there was a spectrum full of them. He also knew that they were intelligent, each and every one of them. "Perhaps," he acknowledged at last.

The Silver Ancient knew he remembered his brethren fondly because he felt so terribly guilty for leaving them alone with a monster. Surely, he would not have spent nights awake and moaning in his woe to the walls if he had hated them all. He had to have loved at least a few of them to be so furious with himself for not seeing the beast lurking within the Elder kuhna sooner. Maybe he could have spared his two companions the pain of exile. Maybe he could have forestalled whatever malicious plot had gotten them all wiped from memory in the first place. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self)

Postby Ander » 04/30/2016 11:56 PM

"I can only begin to imagine the extent of his plans. I barely want to think about what he's been getting up to in all this time." His teeth grit together, elongated fangs bright in the gloom. A fist curled, just for a moment, against his side... It shook with anger, barely suppressed rage at all that might be happening. Everything that could have been! "Can you imagine what that devil might have accomplished?"

Only the brief, alarmed glance from Melcena stilled him. The fist unclenched.

Aetos passed a hand over his eyes, dimming the starlight glittering within. He had lived for years tormented by a storm of maybes, a roiling horde of possibilities filled with regret. When they found their way home at last, he would dearly enjoy putting that shining Elder traitor through some torment of his own.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self) [Hunt]

Postby Ander » 05/01/2016 1:55 AM

Melcena forgot how much he blamed himself, sometimes. The Gods only know how many time she had tried to dissuade him of the notion - there was just no actual way to do it. Cajoling, logical reasoning, even blatant screaming; Aetos just would not allow himself to be absolved of what she could only assume was a heavy, all-consuming guilt.

"I'm sure that it isn't as bad as all that." The woman's touch was gentle on his arm, and she favored his answering glance with a smile. "It couldn't only have been us in that place. I seem to recall it being of substantial size, so much that it all couldn't have been just for the Ancients. Those others will hold him off, no matter what he tries."

Aetos covered her hand with his own. He smiled - but no part of it reached his eyes. That monster wouldn't go after any others. His quarry were the kuhna, and only the kuhna. It always had been. If only he could remember why!

He only hoped they would realize it before it was too late.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self) [Hunt]

Postby Ander » 05/31/2016 11:23 PM

"Let's bend our will instead to finding your troublesome friend," she went on, squeezing his shoulder encouragingly. As if to defy the gesture, her words carried a distinct hint of bile.

Her change of subject, while welcome, drew a frown from the silver male. He felt like this was ground the two of them had trod before. As he recalled, that path had met with limited success. Of all the things he loved about the Blue Ancient, her stubbornness was foremost. Yet that, like all good things, could be inconvenient at times.

"You're better than that kind of pettiness, Melcena. She's your friend as well." The smaller woman's face colored, something she knew would be illuminated to Aetos' eyes. The thought made her flush worse. "Even if you might not have chosen her, circumstances have chosen for us. We're in this together. We'll have to stay together if we want to get home. No doubts. No infighting."
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self) [Hunt]

Postby Ander » 05/31/2016 11:33 PM

As he spoke, Aetos' voice had steadily hardened. Every word seemed to reinforce itself with ice and steel, coldly separating his tone from the easy words of that minutes-ago gentleman. The speed of the division sent shivers up and down Melcena's spine.

Maybe he could tell - or perhaps the man felt it through the hand she'd never taken off his shoulder - because he laid his hand over hers. A beat of silence passed between them. When he spoke again, his voice had gentled. "Save your fervor for the real monster."

It was so easy to forget that for all he looked the part, Aetos was not like them. Melcena assumed he was unlike the rest of the spectrum as well...although the thought had occurred to her that the opposite might actually be true. Maybe those they had left behind were all like him, and she was the odd one. Considering the kinds of things she had seen Aetos do, the woman desperately hoped that was not the case. The world did not need for creatures quite like him. Another shudder, more violent that the ones before, rippled through her. She pulled her hand from his grasp.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self) [Hunt]

Postby Ander » 06/21/2016 7:01 AM

Aetos let her go. His hand lingered briefly in the open space between them, palm open and fingers twitching gently toward the recent emptiness, before he let it fall. There was a look in his eye that seemed, similarly, to yearn toward the woman at his side. If she noticed, Melcena ignored him, stepping prim and straight-backed down the tunnel. After a beat, the man followed.

The tunnel before them seemed to grow even narrower, but in a different way. The ceiling angled up considerably, allowing Aetos room to stand up straight and, the farther they trod, even lift his arms overhead without touching the fungus that draped down in thick strands. The walls, meanwhile, pressed in on them. Melcena shifted uncomfortably at the constant nearness of the glistening stone. Soon, it had encroached so inexorably on their path that the Blue was forced to walk in front of the Silver. Aetos did his best to ignore the way she hugged herself away from the walls. He doubted she'd want him to see those shivers she was trying so hard to repress.
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Re: Into the Abyss Will I Run (Self) [Hunt]

Postby Ander » 07/25/2016 9:22 AM

She had to take her mind off of the closed-in cavern walls. If she didn't, Melcena felt quite certain that she would start screaming and never manage to stop. The problem was that there was nothing particularly joyful to distract herself with. Lately, all thought had revolved around that accursed Elder. Not a day went by when Melcena wasn't reminded - usually by Aetos' grumbling - of all he had stolen from them, and how dearly he needed to pay. And it was hardly like she disagreed or anything.

But.

More than once, the Ancient caught herself wistful for simpler days. She and Aetos had existed alone, for a time. They met often, but never talked about him. They occupied themselves with other things and shared few common goals. She had her business. Aetos had...well, whatever he got up to when she wasn't keeping an eye on him. They had almost been able to forget that Ends'Haven was a problem.
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