The Shivering Woods

[Cacunai]

Oh Elath...

Cacunai drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the young man and his terrible state. She hurried forward to meet him, putting out a hand to touch him. Her power as a healer was only her herbs and her kind touch, for the most part, but her great-great-great grandmother was an earth mage... mayb she had inherited some small inner peace. The healer in her spoke confidently. It's those elves we heard about I bet. The scholar snorted. Don't jump to conclusions. It could be anyone. Healer-Cacunai batted aside all protestations and instructed her hands to place themselves onto the young man's back to hold him still while she inspected his wound....

OOC: -wonders if the man will shriek and run away or stay to be healed-

"Seek then speak, that is the way of the witchwoman.."

[Fluffy Ramblers]

Ramblers gathered around Cacunai, hoping that she knew what she does. Fuzzytail, who noticed the arrow in the shoulder of the man, looked around feeling that there was some danger nearby. He remembered the arrows that flew from the woods when they were on the way to the crazy witch's shack.

"Be careful," - he said to Shurshing: "I don't like this..."  

-----
Squee! Squee!
The rat story

[Khiera Meneris]

@Fluffy & Cacunai:

As Cacunai approached the wounded young man and placed a hand on him, he closed his eyes, and started to groan loudly in pain. His breathing was erratic, and the gaping wound made by the arrow staked in his shoulder blade seemed fresh and raw. As Cacunai inspected his wound, she noticed a small feathered dart -- similar to the ones she carried with her -- lodged at the back of the young man's neck. The visible part of its tip gleaned with what seemed like a coat of liquid or application of some kind of substance ...

Suddenly, the young man's eyes flew open and he shot unsteadily to his feet, knocking Cacunai down to the ground. With a fearful expression now in addition to his pained look, the young man stumbled weakly backwards, away from Cacunai and the pack of curious sniffing rats, one hand clutching his shoulder blade, and the other hand pointing shakily at Cacunai and the rats as he hysterically shouted out with a crazed look flaming in his eyes, "No ... no ... stay away!! Stay away foul demon creature!! Stay away you ... you ... gigantic ants!! For the love of Ava! STAY AWAY!!"  

Hold me.
Soothe me.
Love me.
Save me from my RAGE.

[Evelaria]

Eve heard the voice and it chilled every part of her body. She let her weapons down and gathered up enough courage to speak back to the voice.

"Why must I leave?! I have done you no harm! You are the one who would leave if you would spill my innocent blood. Yes, I am a warrior and yes I am a human, but I am one filled with honor and loyalty. Whatever treacheries have befallen your people in the past perhaps it is time to let go of those things and walk in a new light. And you can start out by showing yourself to me."

She stepped forward, intent on getting to her destination. Unwilling to turn down at the blank threats of a coward.  

Eve awaits to kill you
Chaos awaits to bring you to Queprur
Queprur awaits to send your soul to Seyella
Seyella awaits to judge your life
Ava awaits to bring you back into the Dream

[Khiera Meneris]

@Eve:

Silence was the only reply that greeted Eve's words. Neither could she detect any more faint sounds of movement. It seemed that whoever spoke, had remained motionless.

Even began to step forward. She made her first step. Then put a foot in front of another and made her second step. Then the third step. The fourth step. The fifth --

And it was then that the view in front of Eve burst into a blossom of arrows, whizzing swiftly towards Eve, and it seemed that on that fateful day the Mullog warrior Evelaria Magoo would be impaled by a rush of arrows that would send her Queprurs way.

But just before the first approaching arrow could pierce through Eve's throat, Eve felt the rough grasp of what felt like two large hands on her, and after the sounds of deflected arrows, Eve found herself landing hard on the ground with the face of an angry Thaetum atop of her and breathing down on her, snarling, "What in Arvins name! ARE YOU MAD, WOMAN?!?!"

The rain of arrows seem to have ceased.  

Hold me.
Soothe me.
Love me.
Save me from my RAGE.

[Khiera Meneris]

@Mina & Kiushapo:

"Why would the prince not want to see his sister's return? Are you saying that he caused the princess' disappearance? And what reason might he have for doing such a thing? And if that is indeed the case, how are we to stop him? We cannot possibly take on his guards by ourselves."

Caradol's brows furrowed, creasing the lines on his face even deeper. He was apparently not pleased nor amused by Mina's words. His tone was impatient, "The Prince had indeed caused the disappearance of the Princess! And what do you think you can do? Stop the Prince? All will be for naught if i can find no trace of the Princess! The Prince intends to burn the woods --" But at that very instant, Caradol could manage only a pained groan as an arrow that had seemingly materialized from thin air pierced through Caradol's shoulder, and he slumped to the ground.

Then, arrows filled the air all around Mina, Kiushapo and Elric, the glinting points of their sharp tips singing of death.

Perhaps the arrows were let flung in haste, for they didn't seem to be aimed at their targets quite well, as some hit the trunks of the surrounding Larkentirs, causing blood red sap to flow. But four arrows were whizzing towards Mina from head to toe, three at Kiushapo, and four more at Elric. Whatever they thought of to do to deflect the arrows, they had better do it fast.  

Hold me.
Soothe me.
Love me.
Save me from my RAGE.

[Kiushapo]

Everything was happening so fast. First they were attacked by a mage, learned that the prince was behind the princess disappearing, and now it seemed the elves of the forest had shown up.

Kiushapo went over this in the split second he had to jump into a roll away from the three arrows heading his way, gaining not one, but two new holes in his vest as he scrambled to the cover of a tree.

He wasn't sure where the arrows were coming from, so he kept moving, hopping from the cover of one tree to another, trying to spot their attackers.  

Simple answers to life's questioning. T'would be a greater magic that I have ever been seeing.
Kiushapo's Story

[Cacunai]

Rat, get your people out of sight.

She had never learned the names of the rattish ensemble, and now she knew only that one of them was the leader of this pack. Gigantic ants? The only thing that could remotely be strung to was the rats. She remained where she had fallen, looking up at the man, not wanting to upset him.

Hush... we are no enemies, I am a healer and if you'll sit down here, I can help you feel better.

She patted the soft loam alongside her and beckoned to the man, treating him as she would a small child. Clearly he was not in his right mind, and would need to treated cautiously if at all.

"Seek then speak, that is the way of the witchwoman.."

Edited by: Cacunai at: 2/11/04 2:23

[Evelaria]

Eve gasped as the first few arrows started to fly at her. She closed her eyes, knowing that she had not chosen her words wisely and began to make peace with Queprur, when she felt something throw her down and when she opened her eyes she was greeted by the imposing eyes of Thaetum. He didn't look too happy; but a wide grin found its way across Eve's face.

She looked up at Thaetum. "Oh, thank you...I doubted I was going to make it. Now, if you don't mind getting off of me. Now is not the time to do these kinds of things, nor is it the place. What took you so long? I might've made it without being attacked if you were here. These are your woods not mines, you know how to talk to these people."

She reached under her, suddenly feeling a tinge of pain, and she felt her axe poking her utt. It wasn't stabbing her, just jutting into her rear. She tried to push Thaetum off of her and crawl away from him. She wasn't about to stand up, not yet. "What do we do now?"

Eve awaits to kill you
Chaos awaits to bring you to Queprur
Queprur awaits to send your soul to Seyella
Seyella awaits to judge your life
Ava awaits to bring you back into the Dream

[Fluffy Ramblers]

"Hmm,  we better do what the Big One said," - commanded Manymeals to his followers: "Stay away from this weirdo. Who knows what's happened to him."
"Giant ants, bah! And who's that Ava he's talking about anyway?" - thought the rat.

Unnoticed by SmoothFur, he came to Sparky and spoke to him for the first time since the accident with the bear: "I'm sorry," - he said: "I think it's wasn't a good idea to go into these woods. I think we should try to get out of here as soon as we have a chance..."

-----
Squee! Squee!
The rat story

[Khiera Meneris]

@Fluffy & Cacunai:

((OOC: I'm going to introduce you to the nice elves of the woods in my next post Nai & Fluffy ... but let's see what happens with this one first *grin*))

"Hush... we are no enemies, I am a healer and if you'll sit down here, I can help you feel better."

The wounded young man tried to stand up straight, but pain shot through every inch of his body, and he trembled and shook, his now bloodshot eyes staring hostilely at Cacunai. There seem to be a look of confusion on his face, but it was overshadowed by his expression of fear, anger and hatred.

He noticed Cacunai's pointed ears. It was ... one of them! "You ... you cursed butchers! You foul demon creature!! DIE!!!" With that, he lunged forward at Cacunai, his fists with arched fingers and knuckles crackling, heading straight for Cacunai's throat.

The rats, heeding Manymeal's command, had skittered away from the young man in a random, disorderly fashion. SmoothFur had started heading towards Manymeals after noticing that Manymeals had left her side, and was now in the direct path of the lunging young man. SmoothFur turned a sheen paler than her fur, and then, strangely, started running towards the young man itself. It seemed like a suicidal thing to do ... the rats around started shrieking in terror. How can any of them die before they get make sure that there was a Ratty paradise in the afterlife waiting for them??

Hold me.
Soothe me.
Love me.
Save me from my RAGE.

[Khiera Meneris]

@Eve:

"Oh, thank you...I doubted I was going to make it. Now, if you don't mind getting off of me. Now is not the time to do these kinds of things, nor is it the place. What took you so long? I might've made it without being attacked if you were here. These are your woods not mines, you know how to talk to these people."

Thaetum growled at Eve's grinned words. He didn't find anything that was of a laughable matter. What was it with women??? "What's the matter with you, woman?? Are you really mad?! You were this close to joining Queprur, for crying out loud!"

Thaetum picked himself up with a snarl. Turning towards the direction where the arrows had shot from, he yelled out at an invisible someone, "Leave her alone! She's a little mad but she knows honour! Cut out all this butchering and killing alreayd, will you?!" It was as if Thaetum was speaking to an irate child.

A louder shuddering of the Larkentirs was heard, and a tall, almost wraithlike figure stepped out from the clutches of silver leaves.

It was unmistakably an elf. A tall, gangly looking one. His face seemed dusted with a coat of silver dust or pigment, and his violet eyes gleamed piercingly. He was clothed in the usual woodman's garb, and in his hands was an elegant bow of an odd design, along with a quiver of arrows slung over his back.

His voice was the raspy, sharp voice that had warned and threatened Eve. "Honour?? They plan to burn down our woods now, on top of every atrocity that they have commited!" His violet eyes swerved swiftly and rested upon Eve's figure on the ground, as if demanding an answer.

Hold me.
Soothe me.
Love me.
Save me from my RAGE.

[Cacunai]

The young man's fingers closed around Cacunai's throat before she could react, quick as she was. She managed to choke out,

Do I look like an elf of evil?!

before her breath was too limited to speak. She knew the man was weak from his wounds, and she hated to injure him even more, but to end the danger to her own life, she did what she had to do. Her hand dropped to her dagger and the sharp blade flashed even in the weak sunlight; she thrust it forward toward the man's thigh. Cacunai did not aim to kill or even seriously injure, only to startle him into letting go of her long enough for her to scramble to her feet. She never saw the rat....

"Seek then speak, that is the way of the witchwoman.."

[Evelaria]

"What's the matter with you, woman?? Are you really mad?! You were this close to joining Queprur, for crying out loud!"

Eve knew that Thaetum was not going to find humor in her words, but she had to speak humorous to keep her mind off of that very fact.

"Leave her alone! She's a little mad but she knows honour! Cut out all this butchering and killing alreayd, will you?!"

Eve smiled. "Thank you...I suppose. I am sorry for finding humor in this. It is just my way of keeping cool become other brutal feelings overtake me and I go on a mad killing spree."
"Honour?? They plan to burn down our woods now, on top of every atrocity that they have commited!"

Evelaria looked up at the gangly elf who held the articulate bow and arrows, and she gasped. It was an incredible sight, that met her every idea yet was not quite what she expected.

"They? Who is they? You speak to me as though I am the same as the others. Not all humans are hateful and evil. We are capable of love, capable of care, capable of giving life. I have not come here to destroy your home, or to exploit your people. I come here seeking a simple answer to a tragic mystery," she said boldly as she stood up.  

[Mina]

Mina held out her right arm, as if reaching for the arrows.  She then pulled it back slightly, tracing a circle with her hand, and pushed it forward again.  The arrows flew past, just missing her, then circled around her, and, as she pushed her arm forward, shot back towards where they had come from.  

Though she had managed to deflect the arrows this time, Mina wasn't confident of being able to do so again, especially if there were more arrows the next time.  Thinking quickly, she asked the archers, who she assumed to be the dark elves living within the forests, "Shouldn't you be trying to stop the prince from burning your forest?  Why are you attacking us instead?"  

A moment later, Mina realised something.   I guess we have found a way to stop the prince...if Caradol was telling the truth.  

A few moments after that...Caradol!  He's hurt!

Mina rushed over to the old mage and knelt down by his side.  "This is going to hurt, but I'm afraid I don't really have a choice," she said as she reached for the arrow that was embedded in Caradol's shoulder.  

There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no death; there is the Force.

Edited by: Mina Aylwin at: 2/13/04 14:52

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