RP:The Morbid Reaper

Summary: Aira witnesses the mindless slaughter of her students in part of her coward's fate.

Abandoned Archery Range

Aira is dressed in her usual fashion, yet new wolf skins adorn her body. She has collected a variety of new scars as of late but all are hidden on her midsection, behind the vest she wears. Most unusual, however, is that the huntress seems to be without her usual bow and quiver of arrows. Her platinum blonde hair is scooped up in a high ponytail and she crouches amongst a group of young elven children, seemingly instructing them. "Now remember," she explains to them in their shared elven tongue, "You want to close one eye and site at the target." A hand it extended out towards the aforementioned target. "Line up for the bullseye, pull your sling as far back as you can, and let your rocks fly." The children nod their heads in agreement, quickly chattering to one another, and take their places. As they begin to practice with their little pile of rock, Aira meanders down the line, correction posture and form, giving tips, helping them out. It's still the samw Aira, but in this setting something seems different about her. The most uncharacteristic thing of all about the huntress in this moment is the soft smile on her lips and her gentle countenance.

Revan watches from behind tree line with a lightly pulsating pair of glowing blue eyes barely acknowledging the young elves who latch onto every word of their instructor who has claimed the full focus of the hooded undead. A quick and slight turn of his head is performed as he mutters a single word to the white-necked raven resting upon his shoulder, the avian taking to the skies without hesitation and releasing a sharp cry from high above the group. A few of the children looking skyward to acknowledge the bird circling over them with admiration and knowledgeable descriptions in elven tongue declaring what breed it is, a fit of giggling laughter suddenly cut short by the gurgling sound of blood to draw attention to the source, a demonic creature with a bald head, razor sharp teeth without lips and sharpened blades extending from the flesh of it's arms are all painted in the fresh blood of the gasping child. One of the arm blades penetrate the youth's torso and the demon raises the bleeding body above his head where his jaw unhinges much like a serpent and quickly swallows the young in a single gulp. Tainted eyes compliment the blood splattered complexion of the beast as it ignores Aira in favor of the next closest child who tries to flee only to have her ankles sliced open, she tumbles to the ground with a screech of fear and pain as the creature burrows his blades into the ground on either side of her head and runs his tongue tauntingly across those teeth of his before responding to her cry with his own that covers her face in red saliva and other bile.

Aira likewise, lifts her copper gaze heavenward as the bird begins to circle overhead. While the young ones giggle and appropriately identify the avian, something doesn't sit right with the huntress who feels a prickling sensation on back of her neck. Her attention is quickly drawn away at the gurgling sound, her head whipping side to side to find the source. Metallic eyes widen as the demonic creature before her quite literally devours one of the children causing Aira to inhale sharply and her stomach to churn. It's nothing but pandemonium now as the group begins to wail and scream in fear. Aira is torn between running for the beast immediately or corralling the others to safety. "Rosie!" Aira calls out sharply to one of the older girls. "Take the others deeper in the woods to safety." Assuming her command would be followed, she turns back to the demon who has fallen another child. Aira charges, instinctively reaching for her bow and an arrow only to come up empty. No matter, she grabs the knife at her hip instead. "Leave her alone!" She screams at the creature in common, lunging forward in an attempt to shield the young girl with her own body. You appear out of nowhere, spontaneously generating in this area.

Revan :: The beast never takes his eyes from the child as he thrusts to his left with all of his weight aiming to shoulder Aira to the ground before she can even reach the two of them, his cackling cry ringing out again as the rest of the kids seek shelter in the woods. His neck snapping up to face the backs of fleeing children earns a snarl and quick lift of his right arm, jabbing the razor sharp blade down into the face of the downed girl piercing her skull covering the silver in brain matter and skull fragments. He retracts the blade into his arm to clean it off only to extend it once more and take off in a full blown sprint on all fours to bring down more of the children like a lion to it's prey. Contact is made on three of them with shrieks of terror before the rest break the treeline, those hate filled eyes turning to stare at the downed meals as he contemplates which one to devour first.

Aira feels like she hit a wall as her body crumbles to the ground as the demon intercepts her attempt at shielding the girl. She groans and pushes herself up on her elbow just in time to see the blade pierce the child's skull. Aira scream and covers her face as blood and brain matter are splattered everywhere. The creature is lightening fast, charging towards the other other who are fleeing. Aira pushes from the ground and reaches down to scoop up the sling from the dead girl and sprint towards the terrorizing creature. She is unfortunately unable to stop him from slaying more innocent lives but she does aim her blade at his neck, launching it in the air, and once again aiming her body at his midsection.

Revan :: Aira is spotted with ease due to the distance between them and upon her approach the creature pics himself up to properly stand on his hind legs and smashes his blades together while screaming in her direction, if it was the beast's attention Aira wanted, she'd gotten it. Swinging his right arm wide in a dive towards the elven woman their weapons connect and he strikes with heavy force to stagger her stance before smashing his shoulder in her again. While she recovers the closest child who is still wimpering is picked up and tossed towards her like a dead weight in hopes of pinning her to the ground. You appear out of nowhere, spontaneously generating in this area. Pilar appeared from the west. Pilar exited to the west.

Aira :: This whole ordeal seems like a bad nightmare to Aira who is trying to suppress her own panic at the situation. Oh gods those poor children! Aira's short blade connects with the demon's before he shoulders her once more sending her skidding across the ground hard. The blow succeeds in knocking the air out of the huntress as she blinks rapidly for a few seconds and forces herself to breathe once more. Her movement is further thwarted by one of the children who is thrown at her by the creature. Aira doesn't know what to do as she is knocked back once more, so she briefly wraps her arms around the little elf in an embrace. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she whispers over and over again. The huntress looks up at the demon and her eyes narrow to slits, anger suddenly boiling through her veins. "Coward!" She taunts. "Slaying innocent children!" She relinquishes her grip on the child in her arms, gently rolls him to the ground before getting up. It's slow going, something seems to be wrong with her ribs but it doesn't stop her. She staggers towards the demon again, knife still clutched in her bloodied hand.

Revan :: "COWARD!", the demon shouts back in a mocking manner that echoes repeatedly across range as unstable projections of Aira hurting herself appear all around the duo. The sky above them darkening to a silent black as the ground begins to quake and the demon marches forward in a distorted warp while constantly crying out her insult over and over and over until the voice is a non-stop screech in her mind. Once to duo are face to face the gaping maw of the bladed fiend jerks open and sharpened teeth burrow into Aira's face just as a flash of light disrupts the entire sequence and she hears the children calling out to her in worried tones. Laying on her back she would find all of the children gathered around her with worried looks staring down at her and a familiar black rose gripped tightly in her hands as a single petal falls from the flower and crumbles to nothing.

Aira winces as the insult is thrown back her her, further tormented by fragmented visions of her various stages of self harm and giving up on life metality. She freezes as her mind reels at this revelation, the scenario suddenly mirroring one from months ago, one she had tried desperately to forget. She may be a coward, yes, but she never killed children. Plus, she was seemingly in a better place now. Sort of. She wasn't starving herself or actively trying to take her own life at least. The screaming is not only deafening, but it's painful, and Aira has to resist every urge to cover her ears with her hands and cry out in pain. Her eyes begin to brim with tears as they come face to face, the scream unbearable in her mind. Unfortunately for the huntress her reflexes are too slow as the demon lunges forward and sinks his teeth into her face before she has the chance to duck. She closes her eyes tightly and claws at him with her fingernails; only then does the scream leave her lips. But suddenly she hears voices, young ones, and her eyes fly open and she sits up with the force of one whose been underwater too long and is seeking desperately for the surface. She gasps for air and quickly looks around at the little faces which are full of worry before she lifts her hand to see the black rose and the fallen petal. She curses under her breath and some children gasp while others giggle at her slip. She gives what she hopes is a reassuring smile. "I'm fine," she tells them quickly. "I must has passed out or something." Pushing herself up on wobbly legs she looks tentatively around the clearing to ensure it was all a nightmare or vision or whatever it was. "C'mon, back in formation. I want to see some bullseyes."

Revan smiles from beneath his hood as the raven lands upon his shoulder and tilts it's head towards their victim, "A lesson learned, yes, but many more to come." he whispers in a voice that is not his own before turning to vanish into the thicket.