The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - Printable Version
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The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - thedarkwyrm - 11-11-2014
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - Kat - 11-11-2014
[/img]"http://i.imgur.com/IsQ6MKu.png" style="avatar" style="max-width:25%;float:left;margin:0 18px;]Jory wasn't meant to be here.
As it was, this wasn't her homeland and she hadn't intended to head through the forest in the first place, but a series of wrong turns had winded her through the distant mountain range, and stranded her hired caravan for the season. It had been decided leaving them was the best solution, as there was no use waiting an entire moon cycle to decide whether or not it was safe to travel again. After all, the Fae could make the entire trek in less than a month if she did so alone. This land was a foreign place, a darker place that paled in comparison to her home inland. The lae lines were weak imitations to those she had lived drenched in for ages, and though the scenery had offered new sights, they became mangled and distorted the closer she drew to the woods.
The small towns and villages she passed through had all given warning to the glamoured female, promising no good could be had in that 'damned cursed forest', but Jory needed to get through, and her time was limited. Superstitious locals didn't put a halt to her plans, and as the Fae had realized during her last evening in civilization, one couldn't judge conditions based on the accusations of drunks. Still, now that the blonde was back on the road, the signs were all coming to fruition through the drain of colors to the foliage. At the maw of the wood, the leaves retained their earthy tones, with greens and reds and golds all speckling the high canopies in a pleasant blanket. Dark brown orbs lingered as she took it all in, intent to make the best of the trip, even as pangs of loneliness clawed at her insides like raking coals.
Norsk would have enjoyed this journey.
Having never been much of a traveler herself, it was for him she plowed through doubt and indecision to cross the continent, with the east coastal region as her ultimate destination. Jory packed light, carrying on the bare essentials and a leather bag patch worked around a clay pot. Her kind were bound by contract for life, and it had been intended neither she nor her company would pass before their time. Unfortunately, his time came much quicker than her own, and though his essence had returned to the lae lines of their native groves, Jory knew his ashes deserved better. In the countless years the two had been paired, Norsk had spoke of the great sea to the east, and how he only wanted to see it once before his time ran out - it was almost an obsession by the time he expired. Even his last words focused on the sea, pleading she see it for him.
'Just find me on in the tides. I will wait for you.'
As silly as it sounded, having repeated it so many times in her head, Jory felt he may actually be there waiting. If she didn't hurry and meet him, he'd vanish forever and leave her entirely alone. No matter how small the chance, she couldn't afford to take that risk.
Camp was set up when there was space to do so, in an area where the massive trunks of neighboring trees were wide enough spaced to ensure the blonde femme wouldn't accidentally set fire to them. She prepared a simple meal midst singing soft hymns under her breath, painfully aware of how still and calm her setting had become. There was something unnerving about the silence it seemed to create, and though she was a stranger to this area, she knew there would at least be insects and birds in a forest of this size. Back pressed against one passive oak, Jory closed her eyes and tried to envision a familiar visage she hadn't seen in almost a fortnight. His sharp features, bright eyes, and careful grin... She too grinned as if he watched, hoping wherever he had been sent, he was safe near the sea he loved so deeply.
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - thedarkwyrm - 11-11-2014
Outsiders had long since stopped coming to the forest. At first, there had been a few. The foolhardy. The simply foolish. The adventurers. But no matter how great the potential glory, there comes a point when people stop going into a forest no one ever comes out of. Thus, the master of the corruption sat. And waited. Eventually, his influence would spread far enough for him to move more quickly. But for now... several months of utter boredom.
Until now.
He sensed a new presence. A strong presence. A... delicious presence.
The demon shifted forward in his seat, running a finger over the pool of water in front of him. The image shifted as a faint violet glow ringed the pool, allowing him to see across the forest, to observe the newcomer who had the courage (or foolishness) to enter his forest. He licked his lips slowly, a dark, toothy grin pulling up the corners of his mouth as he saw her. She had set up camp, with a fire and a song to drive back the darkness.
That wouldn't be enough.
She was some distance from him yet. Close enough to the boundary that she stood a chance of escaping if he confronted her now. So he would not confront her. Not yet. But there were other things close to her that could be used to great effect. He flicked a finger, eyes glowing violet as the image whirred past, stopping on a corrupted pixie less than a mile from the girl. The fae's mouth moved with his as he spoke.
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - Kat - 11-12-2014
[/img]"http://i.imgur.com/IsQ6MKu.png" style="avatar" style="max-width:25%;float:left;margin:0 18px;]
Jory had barely tasted the meal, only half acknowledging she was done by sweeping up the excess materials and repackaging the goods for later use. One did well to remain calm in the wild, though she couldn't help disliking the dark wood more than she expected. As the color had drained, so too did the magic seem to become static-y, causing a fierce white noise she did her best to ignore. Where camp had been settled, it was lessened, but not by much, and the Fae found herself having troubles getting to sleep. Only when she eventually drifted off was another issue present in the form of her camp fire extinguishing, the warmth gone with nothing more than an unceremonious hiss. Rolling on the thin padded bedroll she was using, Jory sat up and felt around for the flint and tinder, her luminous amber hues a strange splash of light in the otherwise pitch setting.
Something in the distance was moving, though what it was remained unseen. Even with those ethereal orbs of hers scanning the surrounding treeline, Jory couldn't make out anything past the actual campsite. Instead, she was left with shaky shadows and branches cracking from places unseen. Instinctively, rather than reach for the knife she had at her belt, her arms protectively wrapped around Norsk's ashes.
"
<19e66b = Jory zz>
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - thedarkwyrm - 11-12-2014
The fae giggled, a sound that might have sounded just like a small child had it not been so distorted and clearly inhuman. It fluttered forward, nearly silent, and landed about ten feet from the woman. In the darkness, all that was visible of it was the
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - Kat - 11-12-2014
Now, at her full height, she was left clinging to her deceased husband while her supplies were likely lost to whatever was trying to come for her in the night. As much as it pained her to do so, she left them with a hurried shift on the balls of her feet, directing herself away from the cursed camp, and the small beast who had spoken. The locals must have been on to something, mentioning a curse that loomed over this place, but a stubborn woman on a mission didn't take such things to heart. Maybe if she had, there would be more to do than bound away through the unlit woods. Even with such low light, given only by her widened amber orbs, Jory was exceptionally agile. Her form danced through the trees like a shadow, delicate and fast, and in time, becoming completely lost in the vast forest.
Whether she was caught wouldn't matter, as she was running away from the main road with each bound and leap. In the back of her mind, Jory knew everything happening had to have explanation, but there was no time to try and rewrite her history, nor dwell on the awful questions looming in the foreground of her thoughts. As long as she still possessed Norsk's ashes, there was a glint of hope in completing what she had set out to do, even if the rest of her camp was little more than a memory at this point.
Jory only stopped when she thought she had lost the Pixie, but she was winded and endlessly suspicions of every tree in her sight, and below the panting, ragged breaths, there was fear. A fear she didn't know how to shake.
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - thedarkwyrm - 11-12-2014
Oh, she ran. How delicious. She ran, clutching the vase in her arms, all her supplies forgotten. Deeper into his woods, closer to him, further into his sphere on influence. His tongue ran over his sharp, pointed teeth as he watch her through his scrying pool. It always amused him when beings had things they cared for more than themselves. It made them so delightfully easy to manipulate. In this woman's case, her obsession was obvious.
He leaned close to the pool and looked into her mind. From a distance, it was difficult to pull details, but this woman's thoughts dwelt on one particular topic, and thus it was a simple matter to glean enough information to suggest things to her, and let her mind fill in the gaps.
"
Mimicking a loved one was not a new trick, nor a particularly complex one. It was, however, classic for a reason. Creatures of emotion were easily swayed by the voices of lovers, even and perhaps especially those long since passed. This fae woman in particular seemed quite open to the suggestion. Hints of madness and darkness were in her already. All Vetis had to do was push a little, tug a little, and she would spiral downwards, inexorably, towards her own destruction.
Towards him.
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - Kat - 11-13-2014
[/img]"http://i.imgur.com/IsQ6MKu.png" style="avatar" style="max-width:25%;float:left;margin:0 18px;]Boots snapped over previously shed branches, the soles skidding against patches of bare dirt where gnarled roots unsheathed and loomed as horrifying silhouettes. The shadows betrayed her when they rose in her peripherals, reaching across the forest floor as the hungry darkness consumed her sights. Arms tightly crossed about the covered urn, fingers digging into the leather patchwork so when she was halted and quivering among the shapes, it was still relatively safe. Jory's tipped ears listened, her glamoured features a mask of uncertainty as something called from the pitch. Squinting luminous hazels in the direction of said noise, there was an eerie familiarity to the beckoning, and before a thought to stop herself could register, the greater Fae was wandering closer.
Whether or not this specter was something to be feared remained a mystery, and likely, Jory would come to learn the true intent of whomever was using her husband's voice as a weapon. Brows knit angrily, a roseate flush rising to her cheeks as she made for an upcoming clearing, grudgingly jerked to this more vulnerable position in the moonlight. Despite attempting to stop several times, her body just wouldn't listen, and that was more frightening than any possessed tree or dark Fae spawn because never once had anything been so overwhelming and unavoidable. Dropping to her knees in the grass, Jory folded upon herself with a growl, encompassing the urn and it's contents from the rest of monsters of the wood. This was likely the most prone she had been during her journey, in open sight with her attention collapsed and unable to focus, but it was the best she could hope to accomplish when her body threatened treason against her.
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - thedarkwyrm - 11-13-2014
No matter what the storybooks said, love was not the most powerful motivator in the universe. That position belonged to fear. Particularly when that fear was mixed with curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat, but not before it had been thoroughly exploited and toyed with.
Vetis held one hand over the pool and slowly curled his fingers into a fist. Around the clearing, the trees responded, shifting and creaking in their beds of earth, branches and vines twining together, creating an inescapable ring of thick, thorned foliage. It wasn't until the trees and settled into place, and silence had fallen for a good minute, before he moved, slowly standing from his throne and snapping his fingers.
Crouching slightly, he held out a hand to her, the very picture of gentlemanly etiquette despite his clearly demonic visage, and the hungry gleam in his eyes.
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - Kat - 11-13-2014
[/img]"http://i.imgur.com/IsQ6MKu.png" style="avatar" style="max-width:25%;float:left;margin:0 18px;]In a world of fantastical sights, Jory never believed what she had no evidence of. There was no sense of wonder left in her life after the passing of her mate, and it seemed to influence her reaction to the approaching figure. Rather than recoil further because of his possible involvement with the diabolical events of the wood, the Fae mistook his friendly demeanor as a sign of genuine concern. If wasn't uncommon for those of her kind to be somewhat naive to the actions of various races, but in the past, she had been taught there were countless different endings to every story, and the choice was always in her power is she meant to change her fate. The massive male was at least a foot taller than his willowy captive, looming where he lingered with his arm outstretched to present a foreign set of digits. Jory had never seen skin so dark, and the pigment in question was stared at openly while she slowly unwrapped herself to hesitantly accept his offer.
Her hand would be cold at this time, from lack of warmth and fire, even after running as far and long as she had. Rising, Jory was a fragile thing, with slender limbs and curves that remained chastely covered under the thin layers of pelts she wore. Golden tresses had come unbound, and hung in cascading waves down to the small of her back, full and fine in the way silk thread could be spun. Her eyes glowed an inviting amber, with stories of laughter and tears and hope hidden beneath the surface. Jory didn't resemble anything in his realm of darkness, instead a beacon of luminescence misplaced and misused. Bottom lip quivered and she averted her gaze, moving to take back the hand she had given. "
"so sorry for being here unannounced. If you could just direct me out, I will go...[/font]"
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - thedarkwyrm - 11-13-2014
He inhaled, deeply and slowly. Her fear, her simple innocence and naivety, produced a most heady and delicious bouquet. "
"
"
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - Kat - 11-13-2014
[/img]"http://i.imgur.com/IsQ6MKu.png" style="avatar" style="max-width:25%;float:left;margin:0 18px;]Jory didn't notice she was shivering, but even in the warmth of the stranger's arms, her body quaked. Against Vetis, it may have even felt like she was going to collapse, but because he was so much taller and capable, she would need little more than a slight push in the right direction to remain moving. His scent was unfamiliar, pleasant for some reason, and her features occasionally turned into his draping cloaks to catch whatever smelled so wonderful. His voice was inviting as well, so gentle on her ears, she was unsure it wasn't Death that embraced her in that moment. Had she died? No, no. Not if he was stating she could return to the trail the next morning. The logic he shared wasn't wrong, and while she had never been in the presence of a creature such as her host, Vetis was the last courteous individual she had been in contact with since her journey began. Humans didn't care for her kind, and though they hadn't been hostile when she had moved through their towns and villages, they weren't forthcoming either; just said their peace by way of warnings, and then returned to their lives without magic.
Jory often wondered what one did as a mundane.
"
"
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - thedarkwyrm - 11-13-2014
He lifted a teapot from the fireplace and poured some into a mug, setting it in front of her. The scent, and the taste of it, were her favorite tea, with just a hint of something unidentifiable but very pleasing. Vetis sat beside her, gently patting her knee. "
"
He stood from his chair, walking around behind her, gently resting his hands on her shoulders, thumbs stroking softly. With the casual strength in his fingers, it was almost a massage. "
It was unlikely that she would ever leave his forest, much less reach the see. She was weakened, damaged already, in a way that made her all the more appealing to him. As he felt her soft hair in his hands, the soft skin of her neck beneath his fingers as they gently caressed her, he knew that he would possess her. A long game would not be necessary, not with this one. He grinned darkly, gazing down at the oblivious woman.
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - Kat - 11-13-2014
[/img]"http://i.imgur.com/IsQ6MKu.png" style="avatar" style="max-width:25%;float:left;margin:0 18px;]Why did this demon touch Jory so much?
A hazy mind shuffled this question out of the foreground, replacing it with the thoughts of how pleasant his treatment was. The tea was hot and sweet and somehow, someway, made with heavy chai and bay'tia leaves ingredients. The sorts of things she wouldn't have expected this far from her home, but smiled for when surprised by them. The hand at her knee was glanced over while her lips parted, full and lush in their drowsy confusion. Something about this place made her feel like she didn't belong. Be it the foreign design, or the impeccably friendly treatment, Jory sipped at the beverage and tried to focus on the next course of events. If Vetis was offering her hospitality, she was not going to refuse it to try and navigate the woods again. Vetis continued to seem irreproachable, which was why the golden tressed Fae didn't resist his long, clawed digits from kneading at her skin of her neck. The act was strangely intimate, enticing sense that had long been dormant beneath her grief.
How was she to see his culpability when her mind was buzzing? Well, she simply couldn't. Everything about this visit was distorted, and her figure swayed in contentment, obviously relaxing at his touch. It wasn't until the urn clanked lightly against her chair leg that Jory seemed to realize she was nodding off. "
Back to hugging the urn, Jory waited for his directions with strangely lit hues cast towards her boots.
The Dark Forest [Kat and Wyrm; Closed] - thedarkwyrm - 11-13-2014
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