Completed [The Bronze Woods] A Due Promise (Razkar)

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri The Bronze Woods, 16th of Bell, 65th of Summer 513 A.V Tell-tale signs of the storm that ravaged the Sylira region could be observed in the wilderness outside the Fortress City, moist trees and forest floor, fallen leaves due to the wind, and even some burnt trees due to the rage of lightning striking them. A strange group of three... humanoid creatures could be seen taking a stroll through the recovering Woods. "So~ Kriemy, you can do lots of magic?" The apparent leader of the group spoke as she turned her body and asked a question to the pale-looking female with heavy dead baggy eyes whose sclera was also almost black in color, matching her pupils, giving her the impression that her eyes were pure black orbs. The seemingly older girl named Kriemhild was actually one of the undeads, A Nuit, that Kouri along with Razkar, Solin, Kaie, and the others; rescued from a slaver caravan. "Depends, Mistress, yes I have some knowledge in various aspects of magic, but... I never got far. Perhaps it's one of the reason master abandoned me..." Kriemhild's voice was like usual, expressionless and monotone, but she's usually awfully quiet, being able to form a full sentence already showed her openness to Kouri, her mistress. "Ehehe~ What magic can you do, Kriemy?" Rena, Kouri's adoptive little sister, who was floating side by side and holding Kriemhild's hands decided to chime in. Even though she was not materialized, Rena could still touch Kriemhild's palms because the Nuit has some talents in Spiritism and having two ghosts mistresses made her ability very useful. She produced some soulmist beforehand and smeared it on her palms, it allowed for the sisterly ghosts to hold her hands while not materializing themselves. "Hmmm... aside from spiritism, I have limited ability in morphing, hypnotism, auristics, and voiding..." She explained matter of factly. "Eh? I know about spirit-thing and hypno-thing, I even tried morpy-thing in Madame Isolde's body, she's one of your kind too, Kriemy! But what's auristics and voidy?" Kouri tilted her head in great curiosity. She didn't know much about those magic stuffs, her child-like mind didn't want to learn the complicated aspect of magic and just demanded to see the flashy results. "I see, Mistress. Then I shall explain, first, Auristics is the art t-..." Kriemhild cut herself off and her black eyes frowned when she saw something ahead... Rena was also visibly scared and held her hands tighter. "S-sis... l-look behind you..." "What?" Kouri, who has been floating backwards, turned around and her crimson eyes locked themselves on the gruesome sight before them. A rotting pile of no less than eight wolf corpses... some of them horribly mutilated that they don't resemble a wolf anymore, no clean cuts could be seen, it was all brutal and gory. Kouri didn't find the sight to be intimidating, she had massacred lots of wolves, bears, mountain lions, and even a whole group human slavers. She did noticed Kriemhild's caution and Rena's quivering form though. "Stay with Rena, Kriemy... I'll go and take a look..." "Understood, Mistress" Kriemy then took Rena away and both of them sat behind a large tree trunk, blocking Rena's view from the gory scene. "Hmmm...." Kouri floated to the scene and knelt down, a tendril jutted out from her back and picked up a wolf's mutilated head, she then commanded her tendril to get it near her face. The rotting face didn't give much info... at least to Kouri, but it was clear that this wolf died while in battle.

[Razkar]

The deer had taken him on a fine chase, and before his dagger came down, Razkar was sure to thank him for it.

"Prey maketh the hunter. Go well, my friend, and find peace in the After."

A flash of metal, an arc of crimson and it was done as the life left those black eyes, but is that the measure of a hunt? The Myrian had spent the better part of his day ensconced in these woods, moving sometimes swiftly but more often picking his way carefully through the undergrowth. Obsidian eyes scanned the ground endlessly, sifting through panoramas of leaves and dirt and twigs to find but a disturbance, a hint, a clue...

Scrapings on bark from where antlers had been sharpened.

Indents from hooves that were so random but finally led to a well-worn trail.

The occasional calls and grunts and snuffles from distant, unseen prey...

And then the sight of it. Razkar had frozen as the deer did, bow in hand, arrow notched, eyes capturing the utterly still and alerted creature turn to him.

Thin, elegant head stare at him. Did it understand? Did it know? Probably not, at least in the sense we would know. Danger. Predator. Threat. Those were what it knew and that first time the buck had bounded through leaves with more agility than any biped could ever manage.

But perseverance... those of Mizahar had that in abundance.

Now see the Myrian panting over his still and cooling prize. He cut around the arrowhead that had pierced the deer's neck, his third attempt, and cleaned the gore-clotted pierce of metal carefully before returning it to his quiver. He sat back on his haunches, hands limp on his knees, face turned upwards... and gave thanks again...

More was to be done. Razkar was a surprise to many who cared to see beyond the fearsome visage he brandished at the world. It was accurate, true, and reflected the man... but there were always quirks that belied it. He would not stalk another child of the green goddess for near-eight bells just for the thrill of death. Meat was his goal, and the sweaty flanks and trunk of the dead deer would provide him sustenance for many days.

Razkar sighed and shifted his grip on the kukri slightly, making it firmer. Much more to be done...

"A good hunt, Myrian?"

He whirled in a blur, kukri raised at the calm voice behind him, and his eyes widened-

A wolf. Larger than any he had seen, white fur stark against the brown and green. But once the shock had passed, and the beast did not move, Razkar realized something was amiss. Wolves did not speak, for one thing. Could not. And the voice... familiar...

"That way you change." He said, getting to his feet, blade still ready but tone... amenable. "Very fast. Please... in form so you can speak?"

The wolf cocked it's head and looked at him clean in the eye. Red, deep and dark like dried blood, but glowing like twin rubies, stared back at him with that tranquil amorality of any born predator.

And then there was a shimmering of form, as if the air around the beast, in it, became one massive haze eyes could not focus on. Lengthening it, making it taller, thinner, lighter-

-until a naked and equally-placid female stood before him, shorter than him by a foot and with hair like fresh snow pouring around her head. But in the depths of those brown eyes, embers of red...

"I know you." He said after a moment, sheathing his blade. "When I came with Fubuki... you told me of her murder of wolves." His brow furrowed as he dredged his memory. "Ama. Your name is Ama."

The maiden inclined her head, ghostly smile on her face. Razkar knew little of the Kelvics, but from what he had seen, they were as much animal as human, or what he knew of humans. Whatever their animal form, it bled over into their other, until the two were nearly-indistinguishable. When she started walking around him, the only word that came to his head was "prowl".

"Well-remembered, Son of Myri. A dark night, ha-" even the laugh was more a canine bark than the peal he would have heard from, say, Edreina, "-for all concerned, was it not? I have few children, you know, but all those who look through a wolf's eyes are kin to me. Too many of them died at her hands. You stopped the deaths of more. I remember you, too."

Razkar didn't know where this rambling was heading, but if she meant him harm... well, she probably could still visit it on him, but she wanted to talk. Fine. He could do that.

"It was not right, what she did. Was murder, strange thing as people think for Child of Myri to say." He paused, deciding to get to the point. "What do you want?"

"An answer, for one."

"It was a good hunt. Long, challenge... test." One corner of Razkar's lips turned up. "Good to test. Make meat taste better. You know, yes?"

The female nodded, standing over the deer now, looking down with something almost like pity but tinged with a fierce pride in another hunter's abilities. The Bronze Woods had been her home and her charge for many years, and she had taken her fill of bird, rabbit, deer, boar and others, when occasion called for it... but she was linked to it. To all of them. She sighed.

"I know. I know well. And I know that this hunt was... different?"

"How?"

"Such fear you tasted, didn't you?" Those brown-and-red eyes flashed to him again, piercing him with their gaze. "Not merely for you. Deer know hunters their whole lives, but when it bounded from you, erratic, hard to predict, that was... unusual?"

Razkar nodded slowly, gut feeling bubbling up to something like clarity. That had been tugging at him from the unknown depths: the sense of dread and unnatural still in the endless woods. He'd hunted there before and never had there been such hush...

Fear. The Bronze Woods stank of it. But fear needed a source.

"... something is making fear? Wait... ghost? Fubuki? She has returned?" His words came out faster, more urgent, anger beginning to cloud them. "She swore that she-"

"Peace, Myrian!" Ama put up one placating hand, aura of light and soothing rationality radiating from her. "Let not your frustration and indignant urges best you! There is something stalking these woods, but it was more dangerous than Fubuki, believe it or not. She, at least, can be reasoned with. The one that comes here now..."

Her eyes clouded and Razkar studied her carefully. Fear... she felt it to. But there was more than the fear for ones own life, that reduced one to a gibbering mess and put flight to all courage. It was... broader. A sadness for a whole swathe of life beyond yourself that could be extinguished. A heavy cloak of responsibility that Ama had chosen to wear, and now burdened her.

"... seeks only to murder. And will do so until it is stopped."

"You only tell me this for one thing." Razkar said after a pause, smart enough to put two and two together, at least. "For my help."

"Yes, and-"

Her head jerked so fast that it just seemed to... change. Between a blink, or less than that, Ama's gaze went from him to snapping to her right, sensing something, smell and hearing and some other wyrd that traveled from her feet down to the ground and the trees and the cacophony of life around her... it pulled her attention away.

"More..." She said, and her voice cracked. "More dead..."

She leaped and there was that bright, blurring haze, and paws landed on the ground, not feet, white streak of fur and fang already speeding through the undergrowth. Razkar's feet obeyed him rather than his mind, racing after her, bow tugged back into one hand, his gladius in another, trees and fragments of light shooting past, blending together. Distance and time became a joke, an irrelevance, even as exhaustion squeezed his lungs, his whole world becoming a pursuit of the white wolf leading him on-

Until he came to slaughter.

To eight bodies, or what were once eight whole bodies, stewn around a shaded clearing like broken toys tossed around by a sadistic child. Entrails and blood painted the trees and hung from branches. Fangs and bones gleamed in the half-light...

Fubuki stood in the middle of it. Holding a skull with a shadowy tentacle, looking up at him in shock.

Seeing Razkar's face contort in fury, hands gripping his weapons until the knuckles were white, before Ama could choke back his choler again-

"What... did you... DO?!"

[Fubuki Kouri]

Usually, when one see a little girl standing alone in the midst of a gory carnage, one would feel pity and would usually help the girl one way or another. But this was not the case for the dire kelvic and the Myrian knew that this particular "little girl" couldn't be called a little girl or human anymore in a sense. They have both had seen on how childish morality combined with immense power to take lives resulted, a child who took matters in her own hands and deliver judgement through death and the most terrifying thing was that she was fully capable of doing so. Kouri's crimson eyes went wide in shock as the sudden seething voice. She recognized it immediately, it belonged to the Myrian warrior whom she had work together as mercenaries and also faced off in a true battle where Razkar had narrowly avoided certain death by talking her down from her rage, very unusual considering he's a Myrian, a race known for the savagery. It would not take a genius to understand that Razkar indirectly accused her of slaughtering these wolves, she had done so before his eyes on one occassion, what's stopping him from thinking that again? Especially since the scene, her position, and past deeds made her the perfect suspect. If Razkar was alone, Kouri's shock would dim down immediately and she would explain that she didn't do anything and merely stumbled upon these rotting, mutilated, wolf corpses. But... Ama was there, her eyes narrowed in alert, that Kelvic could emit that damn searing light, Kouri hated it... she hated it. Sure, it couldn't really harm her but she assumed the white wolf would accuse her of killing these wolves. Her thick aura swirled as she prepared for battle... no, it would not be a battle, more like beating these two grown people until Ama begged for mercy and Razkar wished he had been killed by a Dhani instead. When Razkar finished his sentence with the loud "DO". Kouri crushed the skull she was holding with her hand and an explosion of chilling cold air emitted from her form, the wave of wind made Ama wince and suddenly the ghost child was not there. Oh n-?! She couldn't even finish her thoughts as Kouri was suddenly behind her. Ama felt like her neck was hit by a hammer when Kouri focused her soulmist projection on her right fist and adjusted the power so it would not break the Kelvic's neck and kill her, merely knocking her out cold. Ama dropped like a stone and Kouri extended her left hand at the Myrian, a serrated tendril lashed out and it wrapped around Razkar's neck. He could feel numerous little knives poking his neck from all directions, one turn or move from him could result in a fatal puncture wound. The surprised look at Razkar's face indicated that he had never seen this type of Kouri's power before, that's right... she could cut him to pieces now even without her daggers. "Heh..." Kouri immediately begin disarming him by extending another two tendrils to rip out the quiver from his body by cutting the straps and throw it far away. She also grabbed the bow and throw upwards, it got stuck in one of the high tree branches, she then proceeded by using those two tendrils to disarm Razkar's remaining weapons, including the Kukri and throwing them far away from their location. It all happened in less than five ticks. She knew Razkar would not make a stupid move lest he would acquire numerous puncture wounds on his neck. "So... do you want to talk or I just kill you on the spot... Razkar?" The commotion made Kriemhild and Rena peeked from the tree trunk. They witnessed everything. If Rena was still the previous innocent girl from when she first met Kouri, the little sister would scream in horror... but now, due to Kouri's "education" and virtually spending almost a whole season with her, her older sister's sadistic side had rubbed off on her. She merely grinned in delight, in her mind, those two people, the giant wolf and the tattooed man, must have wronged her sister in some way. In her mind, Big Sis was always right after all... "Oh, look at that, Kriemy~ I wonder what would happen next, ehehe~" Kriemhild just looked with her emotionless expression, her pitch black eyes not showing any visible shock or interest. "Someone angered Mistress, it seemed..." "Let's go there! Let's go there!" Rena was practically jumping up and down, her previous fear of seeing the gory scene gone, she was aching to see Kouri in action. "As you wish, Young Mistress..." Kriemhild just accepted, the matter of life and death were nothing new to her. She's a body-snatching undead for Morwen's sake. The maid and the little sister then stood up and approached them. "Sis sis! Isn't he the big man we meet at that stinky place?" Of course by "stinky place", she meant "The Spinning Coin". "Did he make you angry, Sis? and oh wow! That's a large wolf~" Rena blinked to the unconcious Ama, materialized herself, and lay her tiny body on her, rubbing her cheeks as if Ama was a fur rug. "Ehehe~ Rena~ Kriemy~ Yes... Razkar here was angry and I even didn't do anything wrong... we were just taking a stroll when we came upon these dead wolfies~ But I bet, Razkar wouldn't believe me... so you tell him, Kriemy~" Her tone was very much different when she spoke to the Nuit, it was like a princess asking favors from her maid. Kouri still kept the serrated tendril around his neck though, as a prevention should he tried anything remotely funny. Kriemhild nodded and faced Razkar, she remembered him as the warrior that lead the ambush on the slaver caravan she was in. The little ghost was one of the attackers and she asked her to be her maid. "Yes, Myrian, what Mistress said is true..." She had no reason to lie or disobey Kouri, it was the truth. Kriemhild was a tad bit curious on seeing such a veteran-looking warrior being held at "tendril"-point by a little girl so she focused her djed and activated her auristics, focusing on Razkar's aura for a few seconds before she deactivated it and rubbed her temple to ease the headache that came with using the magic. She found one thing that dominated Razkar's aura and it was...fear. The Nuit deducted it was because of his current situation and that situation was caused by the lethal ghost "Mistress, I think he's afraid." "Afraid? Oh~ Ehehehe~ That's new. So... Razkar, did you hear what Kriemhild said? I'm not the one who caused this, tell me that you believe me.. no, I demand you to believe me"

[Razkar]

It was there, and it thudded through his chest like nails through wood. The shock of Fubuki's movements was its most obvious father, the speed and power with which the "little girl" had knocked out Ama and utterly dominated him.

Three blinks. Maybe four. And in that time he went from armed and ready to suspended and choking, lifted off the ground by misty tendrils that were as substantial as vines but seemed to be made of razors.

Then she made the mistake of speaking. And it vanished.

Razkar's fear, I mean.

"You... are so..." he managed to choke out, teeth gritting, then flashed his eyes open to glare at her "... petching... boring!"

Fubuki's face twisted from a mask of sadistic pleasure to utter shock. Usually Razkar would have taken advantage of that, done... something, but he knew that he was helpless here. His weapons were stripped, he couldn't move his head, and all it would take was a flexing of this... thing around his neck to take his head off.

But now the fear was gone. Anger and indignation had returned... he chocked... no... the ghost frowned...

He was laughing.

"'I am... Fubuki. I am... so... so scary... fear me, fear me...'."

He snorted and felt blood ooze from his neck.

"Every time I see you. Every time I talk. Same thing. Same, same, same." He snorted again, actually rolled his eyes even as waves of blackness started to cloud his vision.

"You are... bully. Same bully as before. Boring. I... I have seen... real evil. Real thing... that make fear. You?"

Another snort and he felt his extremities begin to go numb.

"You just angry, cruel little girl. And when... when you go to far... and you... you will... world will... crush you. Just... sad... I not... watch it..."

Razkar felt the darkness start to gain purchase on him, and silently commended his soul to her above him, his mother, true mother, his parents so far away. He thought of his family, or Edri and Ayatah and Kreig and Ximal, of all the others.

He would miss the jungle. But he would be there again.

"Do what... you want." He spat out the words, eyes open and boring into those red reptilian eyes. "You... You lied... to me-"

"No. No... she did not..."

Both of them, prisoner and captor, jerked their gaze down to Ama, coming back around slowly and now in human form. The Kelvic shook her head free from her fuzz and looked up, eyes pleading.

"She didn't... didn't do this, Razkar. I... I can smell it. Feel it. The thing I told you about?" She got back to her feet, gnosis throbbing faintly as she got her wind back, breathing steady and rubbing the back of her head. "That's what killed this. Fubuki and her... companions, just happened upon it, and-"

"-and now, she... she attack you, and want to kill me! So-" Razkar growled his response and turned his gaze back to Fubuki. "-does not matter. She see me, and you, and not talk... not even try... just attack."

He snorted and felt his eyes roll back, words coming out as a whisper.

"Boring... I get killed... by boring..."

He could have laughed. He did laugh. But it felt like it was coming from so far away... like Ama's voice.

"Fubuki! We need the Myrian to help us! You gave your word, and you know this is a good man you are crushing the life from! You must think, must push your... other side away so you can be better than this! Please..."

Maybe it would work. Maybe it wouldn't. Razkar was hardly in a position to care either way.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Kouri had to admit, Razkar had the guts to stand up to her even as he was being held in a life-and-death situation. She scoffed at the Myrian's words, assuming that he tried to look tough to intimidate her again, knowing that he absolutely had no way out other than for her to release him. "I... don't want to hear that from the likes of you..." She countered him "I was merely taking a walk with Rena and Kriemy... and you just waltz in and shouted at me, with your hands on your weapon..." "Fueeeh~ Nya?!" Rena's cute yawn was cut off by another adorable yelp when Ama suddenly shifted to her human form and Rena's materialized laying form dropped down to the ground. "Ouch... meanie..." She knelt down on the ground and looked at Ama upwards, cheeks puffing in annoyance. Ama ruffled Rena's hair and just whispered "I'm sorry..." That statement had multiple meanings, one was that Ama was sorry to suddenly shift while Rena was resting on top of her, second was that... in the back of her mind, she somewhat regretted introducing this younger ghost to Kouri... Sure, Kouri's murdering habits had been toned down significantly but the little devil feeding on fear and sadistic pleasure was still there... and it even rubbed off on her adoptive little sister. Ama then explained that Kouri and her "family" were not the one who caused this. It was actually some landspawns known as Yukmen. The particular Yukmen horde that caused this was already exterminated by her group, bandits, and finally the Syliran Knights. It's a long story, but it actually happened. Hoever, just a bells earlier, another group of them showed up lead by the an Eypharian-based Yukman with six arms. Ama knew from first-hand experience that she couldn't handle them alone, heck, even with the back-up of a young warrior, a poisoner, and a ghost... Ninus' bandits and the Syliran Knights ended up helping in the end, she actually was in the way to Syliras to report to the knights for another infestation, the devastation those Yukmen caused even as she went weigh heavily on her mind. But when she saw Razkar hunting, she had a change of plans... her previous comrades were a green warrior, a poisoner, and a rather weak ghost. But now... she had The Son of Myri and The Bane of The Wolves right before her, both of them together with her were more than enough to exterminate those Yukmen back to the ground where they came from. She must play her cards right if she wanted to gain their assistance... especially the lethal "little girl" who could kill her in a manner of seconds. "Fubuki! We need the Myrian to help us! You gave your word, and you know this is a good man you are crushing the life from! You must think, must push your... other side away so you can be better than this! Please..." She half-shouted, her voice was rather pleading. Her hunter pride ached but it was necessary for the good of the forest and... to make sure she and Razkar's necks stayed where they were supposed to be. "The cause for this devastation are landspawns known as Yukmen! So please... Son of Myri, believe me... and Dear, please... please understand, Razkar was just surprised... he can't help it knowing that you have killed wolves indiscriminately before..." Kouri's crimson eyes narrowed, her gaze a tad bit suspicious but Ama's gentle voice eased her somewhat, she muttered the word "Fine..." before she slowly released her hold on Razkar's neck "But... if he tries anything..." "Dear..." Ama took the leap of faith and tried to cut her off, she only hoped the sadistic little girl didn't took it the wrong way. "Fine, I know Razkar is smart enough, ehehe~" Kouri disturbingly went back to her cheerful mood, her giggle only accentuate the jarring combination of childish amorality, psychotic tendencies, and immense killing power. "So~ I suppose you want me to help, Madame Ama?" She even had the courtesy to use an honorific to address the Kelvic. "Yes, Dear... I need you and Razkar's help so, for the good of the forest, would you please help us in killing those monsters?" Ama made sure to phrase it as politely as possible, so this is how it felt like making a deal with the devil. "Heee~ I wonder~... oh! Okay! Because Kouri is a good girl! Kouri will help!" Kouri nodded and put her hands behind her back, swaying her body from side to side. "Yay! Sis is a good girl! Ehehe~" Rena decided to chime in and hugged her adoptive sister tight "So, Sis! Can I come with you to kill evil monsters?" There's a subtle same manic glint in Rena's violet eyes as she said the word 'kill'. It made Ama's body shuddered, she never thought children could be this way... then again, not all children had this kind of power. "Hmmm... I think it's rather dangerous, Rena~ So... can you go home and play with Kriemy?" Kouri ruffled her sister's hair, the trace of insanity was gone from her... for the moment. Rena was obviously Kouri's morality chain. "Aw... okay, Sis... but tell me all about it when you come home later~!" The little sister looked slightly disappointed but obeyed nonetheless, she knew Kouri only wanted the best for her and... in Rena's mind, Big Sis was always right, she could never be wrong. Rena floated to the Nuit maid and held her right hand. Kriemhild had some spiritist talents, she smeared some soulmist on her palms so the ghostly sisters could held her hand without requiring them to materialize themselves. "Understood, Mistress, I shall take Young Mistress home" With a bow, the maid and the little sister left the scene, leaving the older one to deal with the Kelvic and the Myrian. "So~ Where do we start killing~♪ ?"

[Razkar]

Reality flooded back into Razkar, and with it, pain. Sights and sounds suddenly crowded around his mind, into his eyes, feeling the shock of being dropped like a sack of moldy potatoes. He heard Fubuki's unimpressed words slither into his ears as he choked and coughed and forced air back into his lungs, neck still shivering from those intangible needles.

Then he heard one word that bought everything back to the fore.

"Y-Yukmen?" He managed to sputter, rising to his feet, face red but eyes fixed on Ama. "Earth Demons?"

Ama blinked. She had expected Razkar's next words to be directed the shade, a growled threat or some elaborate vow for vengeance. But his eyes were fixed on hers, face... hungry. He hadn't even tried to retrieve his weapons yet.

"Yes, Son of Myri. Yukmen. Earth Demons... is that what they-"

"I am with you." Razkar said quickly, ignoring the floating Fubuki completely as he began to gather his weapons, strewn amongst the dead leaves. "Not need to give mizas. I do for free."

Even Fubuki gave her an odd look, and Ama had nothing but confusion to answer it with. They could not know that insulted and emasculated as Razkar had been by the "little girl", that smoldering resentment was but an ember compared to the firestorm of hatred he bore those barely-sentient nightmares that sprung from the soil.

And he had good reason for it.

The Myrian moved quickly and efficiently in the interim while goodbyes were said. His black eyes flicked over once to see the pale slave... ah, no, maid, not slave... take Rena's hand and lead her away. He frowned as they left, fastened weapons back onto his body and recovering his bow last of all.

She looks much like... Isolde. Same darkness around her eyes. Another Nuit, perhaps?

"So~ Where do we start killing~♪ ?"

"Before we know where," the Myrian said as he joined the Kelvic and the ghost, rubbing his sore throat, "We know what and how many. You said something before, not horde of Earth Demons. Why?"

"I was correct, and incorrect," Ama replied with that maddeningly calm tone of the inscrutable, "There are perhaps fifty creatures in total. The leftovers of a fearsome horde that ravaged the woods at the start of this season. But they are one mind, as... I think you know, Razkar. What one learns, they all know. What one decides, they all act on. There is a leader, of sorts, and fearsome it is, but... they are as one massive organism, and must be destroyed."

There was a titter of amusement from the shade, chakrams spinning around her idly like mosquitoes, figure bouncing softly on thin air. Razkar shot her a dirty look and distasteful grimace.

"Not laugh, female. One Demon is nothing. For either of us. But horde? Can destroy much. Even ghost..."

A look that could have leveled a tree was thrown back at him and the Myrian merely cocked an eyebrow, her anger clanging off his expression like a thrown stone. Ama rolled her eyes, a beautifully human gesture for a Kelvic, and stepped forwards, both hands up.

"Peace, both of you. Razkar, now you know the number of our enemies, and what they are. Fubuki... I do not know. O know they came through here, but as to where they went next-"

"They follow noise and things that move." Razkar said abruptly, tearing his eyes from the shade and back to Ama. "Activity. Life. Anything that sounds like thing they can kill, they go after. Pack of wolves? Noisy. Attract horde. But now pack is dead, they go to next. They not have mind, have purpose, they just follow at random. Could be anywhere. But best idea? Go after where noise is. You find them. How long have horde been around?"

"Ten days. Maybe fifteen."

"How many time have they killed?"

"I don't know. A couple of travelers, I believe. This pack. More than that... animals. Many lives of the forest-"

"But not thing that fight too good, apart from wolf," Razkar broke in again, voice dispassionate and focused. Grieved as Ama was by the death of her kin in the Woods, her despair would not aid them; facts would. "That is good. Means they not learn to fight very well. Still more like animal-"

"Apart from their leader. A six-armed Eypharian. And it is... strange."

"How?"

"I'm... not sure." Ama shook her head, as if ashamed to admit ignorance of one in her domain. "It is larger than the others, maybe six inches bigger than you. Its weapons seem... unusual. They glow."

Razkar frowned and tried to think of something, anything to explain that... and found he could not. Well, he shook it off, regardless. The who and how many were answered, and regardless of the where, they would go and slaughter them. Much as he disliked Fubuki at that moment, the ghost was a formidable fighter, and his own skills were progressing nicely.

A kernel of long-tended hatred roiled inside him, eagerly breathing in fresh life as the prospect of Earth Demons dying at Razkar's hands became more and more vivid. The Myrian shook his bow loose and grabbed an arrow, looking around for tracks, and finding a multitude of clawed feet churning up the ground... leading away.

"We deal with that when find horde. Now... where you think is most life for horde to follow?"

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri "Eh?" Kouri tilted her head to she side when Razkar went from angry and cursing her to... angry, not to her, but to this "Yukmen" Ama had been talking about. They were also called "Earth Demons" as they came clawing out from the soil, Kouri couldn't help but giggled, finding it funny. Being a ghost with dozens of kill counts while still having the mentality of a twelve years old little girl could easily twist her humor sense into something morbid. "Ah well~ we'll kill all those stinky poos anyway~" She lightly flicked her hair, finding that these Yukmen couldn't possibly do anything to her. Kouri looked around and realized she didn't bring her chakrams with her, sure she could cut up her enemies to pieces even without them but having her metallic familiars with her made her attacks much more deadly and versatile. She then recognized this part of the forest, it was rather near to her favorite clearing where she stashed her belongings inside a wooden chest on a tree hole "Wait just a minute, Madame Ama, Razkar~ I'll go get my daggers!" With a wave of chilling cold air, the ghost girl launched herself, heading to her clearing where she made her home a season ago. After five chimes, Kouri came back, now accompanied by four metallic chakrams each made out of four daggers. She found Ama still talking with Razkar, about unimportant things such as Yukmen eating habit perhaps? Kouri wasn't interested in all that, she wanted to kill! "Ahahaha~ What can they do against me anywa-" Then Razkar cut her off, basically telling her to be careful, Kouri shot him an annoyed murderous look, did he realize that she could kill him and Ama both in a matter of seconds? What's a horde of stupid weak monsters compared to her? Kouri let out a low growl but it obviously didn't affect Razkar much, he was so used to her already. Kouri floated away and wasn't interested in hearing Ama's boring explanation further, but hearing something about "six-arms" and "glowing weapons" brought her attention back "Ah! I want those glowing weapons! Let's kill six-arm stinky poo and take it! Yay! Yay! Let's go! Let's go!" Kouri squealed excitedly, the chakrams bobbing up and down agreeing with their master. OOCI'll let you take the lead in controlling Ama, Raz. A heads up, remember that this is a new group that spawned just bells ago, the previous horde had been slaughtered by the Knights in the "Yukmen Hunting" quest

[Razkar]

"Ah! I want those glowing weapons! Let's kill six-arm stinky poo and take it! Yay! Yay! Let's go! Let's go!"

Razkar didn't even try to hide the roll of his eyes, nor the groan of weariness. Did this female know nothing? Well, he supposed that was a stupid question: for all he knew, she would be tuck forever in the scattered, distracted, careless mind of a little girl, only one where death and murder were as entertaining as make-believe tea and china dolls.

Even the Myrian was disturbed by the prospect.

"Fubuki, please," Ama said sharply, expertly using that maternal tone she'd launched at her own children many times, "We are talking?"

Pouting, but obedience. Eventually. Razkar turned back to the frowning Kelvic as she racked her mind.

"The... only place I can think of... would be the creek. There is a small one, maybe a league or two from here. Most of the animals in this part of the woods go there at some time or another. There is always... activity. Movement. Life."

Razkar nodded sharply, deciding it was as best place as any, but before he did: "Which way?"

She pointed, and he looked down... then nodded again, a little more firmly. It was the same direction that the tracks were leading to... not that he had to look hard. The ravenous horde had churned up the ground like their clawed feet were made of rakes and shovels, kicking up dirt, ripping up grass and leaves, divots carved into the soft soil and leading away from them, maybe thirty feet wide, disappearing over a rise.

The Myrian took a breath and unlimbered his bow. Eyes focused and face set, he notched an arrow, more than two dozen like it in the quiver over his back. Without waiting to see if Fubuki would follow him or not, he started walking the trail, speaking over his shoulder.

"Ama? Go as wolf. Will need you nose. Fubuki? Go high. Anything you see through tree, let us know."

And thus it was decided... at least as far as Razkar was concerned. A target, a path and weapons with which to fight. All a Myrian needed. But when that familiar, comforting thought entered his mind, the sight of those particular tracks sent his emotions scattering again, rage and hate beyond words, tears or all the blood in the world's veins. But something else...

One pair in particular. Far deeper. Something like an Earth Demon, but far larger.

"Must be the leader," the male muttered, then jerked up as a white streak started to trot ahead, snout to the ground, "Watch over your child, Goddess-Queen... and Yurta of the Shorn Skulls, know your son will repay a little more of the pain done to you..."

He crouched low and flitted over the broken leaves, Ama leading the way, giggling shade of crimson and spinning steel floating high above them both, heading towards the distant creek.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri "Ehehehahaha~" Kouri swayed her body from side to side and twirled around like a ballerina, very excited at the prospect of "playing" with her lovely playmates, Ama, Razkar, and those lovely juicy Yukmen! It was somewhat true that being a ghost usually meant that one's mental maturity was mostly stuck at the age one died. Kouri didn't exactly change much from her human self, but her human self had guidance from her parents and didn't have the power that could overpower a dire Kelvic and a veteran Myrian warrior simultaneously in the span of mere seconds. The current Kouri was her human self, but with all the suppressed dark urges fully unleashed. "Eh? Talk this talk that~ Too long! I want to play! Now!" Kouri puffed up her cheeks in childish annoyance, if it were not for the four floating metallic familiars of death at her sides, she might look adorable. Then there's the matter of her translucent form, powder white skin, crimson eyes, bloodstains, and... well you get the idea. Kouri twirled around and talking to her chakrams as if they were alive, not listening to a single thing that Ama said. The wolf-woman just sighed in defeat and continued her explanation to Razkar, she more than knew than to push her luck with the walking death of a little girl. Kouri only turned her attention back to the pair once her name was called. "Go high? Ehehe~ I don't like drugs though... and even if I do, I don't think I can consume them anymor- oh?! You mean go high as in flying above? Sure!" Kouri giggled and stuck her tongue out a bit, embarrassed at her misinterpretation of Razkar's words, where did the little girl learn about such things? One could only wonder. With a twirling ballerina motion, the phantom flew upwards, above the trees, and began following Ama and Razkar. She would strike as the first sight of those strange Earth Demons Ama and Razkar were talking about, she didn't know how they look exactly, but Kouri supposed that loud, ugly-looking humanoid monsters were a good enough mental image.

[Razkar]

They didn't have long to wait; blessing and curse. Razkar heard the giggling shade above the loping wolf and he, but paid her no mind. Her time for usefulness would come in due time: before that, she was an unstable and smoking volcano just awaiting an eruption.

A querying growl from Ama, paused in her hunt, facing him with her head cocked in that uniquely questioning, canine manner. Razkar grunted, shifting his glance to her for but a moment.

"You know what."

Another growl, this time capped by a short "woof". Razkar rolled his eyes as they crested another small hill... and like the last, it was bereft of life. Birds, squirrels, the calls of rabbits, the distant footsteps of deer and boar... not even a whisper.

They are close.

"Not matter how hard we try," he muttered to the wolf as it snuffled the ground next to him, "She no be contained. Or taught. She will go more dark. One day, go too far... and then Knights will end her. She think nothing can beat her."

The Myrian shook his head and didn't notice the wolf's head suddenly jerk up.

"She is just child. All child think they live for all time... until they die-"

Then he heard it. A moment after Ama's low, vicious growl, her lips pulled back and twin rows of fangs revealed, trembling from the power of her snarl. Razkar's words cut off dead in his throat, he listened...

"Yuk... Yuk... Yuk..."

He frowned minutely, stepping forward carefully, lower to the ground now, pulling the bowstring tighter as that distant, garbled sound became-

"Yuk... Yuk... Yuk-Yuk...!"

Like the sound of running water becoming clearer, the bubbling, breathless, insane hubbub began to rise. Razkar felt his pulse quicken as he slid behind a tree, hearing the grunts and hoots mingle with splashing water-

Screams.

"They killing something..."

His words came out as the merest whisper, and they barely scratched the surface. Peering out behind the trunk, he saw a mass of naked, dirty (literally) bodies pressed around the water. The clear liquid had been churned into mere flowing mud by their feet, and endless, chaotic scrum of beasts ripping and tearing and beating at one another, flash of fur in the middle-

A boar. Squealing. Shrieking. If it was possible for a wild beast to plead...

"Mother Caiyha," he whispered, closing his eyes for a moment in prayer, blotting out the right of those ragged claws hacking at the nearly-skinned animal, "This desecration will not go unanswered."

Razkar forced the image away when he opened his mind, concentrating on the facts, on what mattered. By the looks of them... yes, a little less than fifty. Most of them fresh out the earth, great clods of it still clinging to their bare forms. They were in the trench of the river, below them, perfect targets, but how many could he fell with arrow before they overrun him? Five, at the most? Barely a dent. No, it would fall to Kouri, he hated to say, and he spinning blades. And speaking of that, he didn't spy any weapons among them. Apart from-

A great bellow split the woods and the horde parted out of sheer fearful obedience. A towering, lumbering figure, easily seven-feet-tall, six arms ending in gnarled claws, thundered through them, snarling and snapping with its great misshapen mouth, endlessly raging eyes flashing at any of its kin that barred its way even minutely-

-like one who made the mistake of hissing as it passed and-

-a flash.

Razkar's jaw dropped.

Two blades were clutched in the upper arms. Even from here... they glowed so fiercely that they hurt Razkar's eyes to look on them. They didn't cut through the Yukman so much as they... parted him. As one would a slice of cheese or a thin branch under an ax.

A torso leaking black blood fell to the ground, Yukman still screaming. The legs... Goddess... such a clean stroke... they stayed standing-

-until the mindlessly jabbering horde buried it in a tide of primal violence and bought their "brother" back to them through teeth and chewing. The gigantic leader continued on, hacking off the boar's head with one, almost lazy stroke, plunging two free hands deep inside it to rip out ropes of intestines, chomping down with relish...

"Buried and bought to light," Razkar muttered, as if to himself, then turned to Ama with dawning comprehension fresh on his face, "They are from earth. That... thing? I think it... dragged something from earth with it."