RP:First Hunt

Summary: There is something dangerous lurking out in Larket's Eternal Forest.

08/06/2017

Eastern Eternal Forest

Rorin || The cursed beast climbed across the dense canopy of the Eternal Forest in almost total silence. Its inhuman eyes saw through tree and rock and hill to the very souls of those around it for over a hundred yards. Its long and pointed tongue darted through the air to taste the scent of its prey. Its sunken nostrils flared as it growled deep in its throat. The white claws dug into the limbs of the trees as it watched all that moved below. It chose its target not long ago. Under the eaves a bandit, tagging along with his more experienced cohort, tripped for a moment before stumbling on towards their camp.

Sidd looked like garbage. It wasn't the first time. So far, he seems to be stuck in this same old cycle: Drink. Get wasted. Wake up somewhere strange. Wander. Find booze. Rinse and repeat. "What in the hell, man?" he spoke to himself. "I gotta quit drinking. This is just ridiculous." He stopped then, taking time to look around to see if anything looked even remotely familiar. Was he still on Rynvale? Did he come back to mainland? Or was he once again on an entirely new continent that he had never heard of? Those thoughts were quickly replaced as he heard the snapping of branches and footsteps not too far off. Sidd saw a rather thick branch on the ground and picked it up, holding it like a club. He called out, "Oi. Who's there? I ain't looking for trouble! Just trying to find my way outta here!"

Rorin || It flexed Its claws in preparation. A hungry grin spread across its lips as it tensed. Just then the hunt was interrupted. The two bandits below looked like average men, save that one grinned and motioned his smaller friend to go ahead as he went around. The smaller, younger bandit called out in reply, "hoy there? My name is Jori! I- I'm looking for a way back to town as well. I think its this way," he pointed behind him and was trying to lure the stranger forward as his larger friend went around. The beast in the trees followed the taller bandit almost directly overhead as he circled to stalk the stranger in hopes of jumping him for some coin.

Sidd let his guard down as he approached the sound of the voice calling back. As jon got into viewing distance, the mohawked man tipped his head upward in a bit of a nod. "Weird innit? I mean, what are the chances? People routinely get lost in here?" he asked with a chuckle.The bandits would be able to observe that Sidd didn't have a whole lot on him. His backpack had been left behind at the Jolly Roger, including most of his coin. He wore black leather pants that seemed to be pocket-less, and his short was a ragged thing with the sleeves torn off. The makeshift club was lofted onto his shoulder as he made approach to Jon, "I'm Sidd, by the way. Nice to meetcha, man. Thought I was gonna get eaten out here!"

Rorin ||The beast breathed in deeply as the tall one began creeping up behind the third man. The smaller bandit kept conversing, "yeah, heh, the Eternal Forest is terrible. Kids dare each other to walk into places like this. Always gave me the creeps," he looked behind him at the human skull he had tripped over earlier. The air is thick and the trees seem to close in as behind the third man tall bandit raises the hilt of a blade to knock him back out- when a roar from the beast feels as if it splits the forest floor. Darkness sweeps with its shadow as it descends in a mere moment and pins the tall bandit beneath its claws. The shorter one gasps and falls backward again, screaming, watching a man being torn apart. The tall bandit echoes the screams and reaches for help as the flesh of his back is shredded and flung, his blood quickly coating its underside, before it reaches down and with both claw and fang rips out most of his spine. The beast looks to be some sort of blue drake or draconian, scaled metallic blue flesh, strange white eyes with blue symbols in the middle, white quills forming a mane that is quickly stained red. Its man like muscles and arms are ended in vicious claws that it puts to quick use. Strange white scars spread from its right and cover its left like webbing. The creature digs its fanged maw into the corpse and bites out its steaming heart, gulping it down, before the eldritch symbols in its eyes affix the smaller, weaker bandit as prey.

Sidd rolls his eyes, "Eternal forest? That doesn't sound ominous or nothin'. I guess-" But before he could finish what he was saying, his attention was stolen by the sound of a commotion behind him. He froze, eyes opened wide and with fear as he witnessed a man, whom hadn't been present before, become torn to shreds by some sort of.. monster. "Oh hell! What the hell is that?!" he screamed at the one he came to know as Jon. Sidd took a few steps backward, club held with both hands in a batters stance. It would most likely be ineffective against something so large and ferocious, but if he was gonna be killed, he would go down with a fight. As the creature ripped through and tore the larger bandit apart, some of the blood spray would coat Sidd's clothing and face, leaving him with a disgusted look upon his face, most certainly. Sidd continued to step backward, waiting to turn and run as soon as he could get the nerve. If that thing weren't full after eating Jon's friend, then one of them would be next- It sure as hell wasn't going to be Sidd.

Rorin || The beast reveled in the sinners fear as it was paralyzed watching it eat. A grin split its face as it lowered to the ground and growled. It was about to strike. Screaming and muttering the short bandit saw his chance for escape in the retreating Sidd. As the beast leaped and rushed forward the short bandit shot his leg out in an attempt to trip Sidd and give himself enough time to run. Whoever it landed on first depended purely on who was quick enough to get out of the way. The white of the beasts claws flashed in the air as it reached the apex of its jump in a moment which began and would end purely by chance.

Sidd knew this was going to happen. One of these nights, he was going to get himself killed. Looks like tonight was that night. He had been way too trusting of Jon, something he should have known not to do. After all, how many times had it been since someone tricked him or tried to kill him? He saw the foot stuck out as he turned to ran. It was almost in slow motion, he would start to fall, cursing out loud when he hit the dirt. He watched as Jon began to make a dash, swallowing hard when his fate finally dawned on him. Quick thinking, the young male rolled as fast as he could to the left, hoping he was fast enough that the creature wouldn't land on him.

Rorin ||The creature landed on half of the small bandit and began to roll. It snapped at his head and throat, the weight of it easily crushing him, pinning him to the ground. It reached around and fit the mans entire throat in its jaws before rearing back as blood sprayed. Cords of meat, tendon, and a fountain of blood poured out as it chewed through the gore. One of its eyes rolled independently in its head and affixed the remaining man in its accursed stare with a growl. Should it pursue him? Was his life full of sin? Would his heart be as deliciously dark as the one it devoured now? It seemed frozen for a moment in thought as it judged him. To look it in the end was to feel it peel away the brain of its potential victims, peering into their very souls, evaluating every mark of good and bad to its standards. To look into the symbols of its stare was to have your life flash before your very eyes and know whether you were truly worthy to live.

Sidd breathed a miniature sigh of relief as Jon was the next one to get slain by the creature. "Karma, bitch." he called out, lips curled into a smirk. It wasn't that Sidd was happy to see someone else dead, but that bastard tried to use him as bait. Not cool. As he climbed to his feet, Sidd grasped onto that thick tree branch he had found, holding it firmly in his grasp. He knew he wasn't going to outrun the creature. These woods were probably its home. Sidd was the intruder in all of this. "Look. I might seem like I could be tasty, but you don't wanna eat me. I taste like shite. I promise. Haven't had a bath in a few days, yeah? Plus, I'm like, mostly skin n' bones. No real good meat. So I'm gonna walk away, reeeeal slow, and you, you're going to finish up on your meal there, like I was never even here." He figured the thing couldn't understand him, but hey, you never know. Their eyes would meet soon, Sidd instantly clutching his head as his mind began to spin. The creature would be able to see Sidd's past life; All those scenarios that lead him to this point today. For the most part, he was an alright guy. He never intentionally hurt people. Was often friendly. A real friend to those in need. On the other hand, he did have a bit of a past. A few fights here and there. Some vandalism. He even killed a live rabbit once- A sacrifice forced upon him by a dark creature he had grown to care for. Well, until she tried to kill him. Sidd staggered slightly as those images flashed, feeling almost faint- He did not quite knowing what was going on.

Rorin || The beast took in every moment of this mans soul laid bare before him. It weighed and judged and recalled the scriptures. After a moment a tense growl escaped its lips as it arched back. Clearly it would stand near seven feet and could hunt him down in seconds. "Innocent. Go." The two words it spoke were husky and hissed with air. After a moment it chose to disregard him and turned to the sinner in its hands. It seemed to have a penchant for hearts and wolfed this one down at quick pace. After it laid the bandit down it would turn towards the forest with quiet perception. With deliberate pace it would begin stalking on all fours towards its next target without another word.

Sidd was in shock. This was evident as he simply stared at the beast in confusion. He wasn't sure if this was a trick- that if he even moved, the thing would chase him down like a scared deer and murder him. It was when the beast turned that Sidd stammered, "I-I... Yeah. Gone." Toward the south he pivoted and began to just run, not once looking back. If there was a heaven in this world, someone was totally watching down on the young man this evening and Sidd was thankful for it.

~Fin