(Hi, I'm Grayell. You probably know me from such games as The Menagerie, The Third Dawn and Sellswords. Oh and that zombie one Don and I vaguely remember. Anyways, I approve of the above message. Toodles!)
The Sentinels were just about to stop in front of Zhara to see what all the blasted noise was about, when a stranger with a devilishly handsome frame appeared from seemingly nowhere. His appearance stopped the guardsmen dead in their tracks and now focused on Skulduggery. They each had a pole-arm slightly lowered in the thin man's direction.
"What's going on here, citizen?" one of them asked.
Skulduggery put them a little off with what his face being neigh visible at all under all the coverage. The men were almost ready to demand he remove those features from his head, but after the little display and smooth talking from Skulduggery, the Sentinels lowered their guard seeming unsure but believing his story otherwise. Anything to get that thing to stop crying.
"Watch yourself then, stranger, dangerous men could be on the prowl. It's not safe to leave children to wander."
With that, the men returned to their rounds leaving the three to themselves.
The little creature Zhara had rendered to a crying heap was now just sniffling and cowering in its little patch of road. The hood of it could be seen moving back and forth between the mage and stranger as if unsure what was going to happen to it next.
Zhara looked up briefly when the Sentinels approaching trying to see if it was the young man she knew. Then, her eyes turned briefly to Skuduggery. The young girl didn't really understand what went on so she turned back to the creature.
"Are you better now?" Zhara asked the creature in a sincerely concerned voice.
The head of the thing could barely be seen as it turned slightly toward Neko, seemingly calming down. It spoke the same gibberish as before which neither Neko nor Skul could understand.
"Arrrr yuuuuu be-beder naow?" the thing said as a babe trying to speak its first words. The voice was very strange, almost animal like in character and slightly deeper than one would expect from a child. If, this thing was a kid at all.
It raised its arm toward the mage, the robe sleeve sliding off to reveal a very thin, stick of a limb. On the wrist was some sort of armor, a gauntlet that covered the wrist and part of the arm. The make of it was unlike anything Skul or Zhara have ever seen.
The creature nervously opened its hand, as if wanting to shake the Dryad's.
Last Edit: Jul 15, 2013 21:25:18 GMT -5 by Serenity
He was quiet a moment, then put up his hands defensively.
No need to thank me, kid. Just doing what any other guy in my position would do. No, please. He let out a creaking, audible sigh, turning away and pulling down his scarf to take a drag of his cigarette, exhaling a cloud of purple smoke. He turned back, his hands on his hips, head cocked, watching the little thing.
Quiet sort, aincha. And the little guy ain't talkative either.
He took the smoke in two thin fingers and held it half way to his mouth, clicking his teeth in thought.
I wouldn't touch it, kid. Who knows where it's been.
Of all the graveyards in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine.
The girl was about to extend her hand out to the creature. Her hand stopped midway at Skulduggery's comment. She turned her head slightly cocked looking at him with questioning eyes.
"Who are you talking to?" Zhara looked at the creature and then turning her head all around.
"Me? You know who or what this is?" The girl pointed to the creature a little apprehensively now.
He paused, then leaned down towards her, his torso bent at an almost painful exact ninety degree angle as his legs. His be-scarfed face was very near hers, hat low enough that only a bit of the darkness underneath was visible.
Skulduggery. Skulduggery Machiavelli Crowley. Or just Skul. Or "Bubbles," I like that one.
He straightened his posture and took another drag.
I was around here a while back. Took a vacation. Came back recently because things in the afterlife aren't all rosy after all. He seemed to wince, which was completely impossible.
Heaven's a bore and Hell's crowded. You can't win, darlin'. Trust me. Looking back down at her, he cocked his head.
Grayell knows me. Or, he threatened me. Which in my line of work is a rousing endorsement.
Waving dismissively, he exhaled a cloud of smoke through the pores of his scarf.
Changed my mind. Touch it. See what happens. If he melts your brain and takes over your body in some hideous parasitic type of thing, I'll be here to mop you up.
Of all the graveyards in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine.
The little thing had straightened itself out during all the talking, curious that nothing bad was happening to it yet. Or it looked that way.
During all the talking, the thing hopped up and down to try and touch Zhara's hand, to no avail. During the banter it even poked at Skul's leg, at first with purpose but then with curiosity as if it realized that what it was looking at was physically impossible.
Finally, the creature turned back toward Zhara and reached for the gold. It jumped up high enough to reach her hand and the Dryad suddenly felt a prick on the back of it as if she were just stung by an insect.
The gauntlet on its arm came to life with an assortment of tiny, strange lights that circulated different colors, on either side of it, flashing in a pattern.. Zhara could see clearly now that there was a needle of sorts sticking out of the metal arm band, and that it was retreating within the armor piece as if crawling back into hiding.
Suddenly, the little creature hit the ground on all fours, panting heavily. Both Skul and Zhara could see that its body was shaking feverishly, and so ferocious you'd think that the skin was bound to fall off. The strange gauntlet began to create a series of high pitched sounds, corresponding with another screen of light that emitted from it. The thing held in the desire to shout out in pain, as it obviously stopped itself short each time a whine managed to escape between pursed lips.
Then, a rip could be heard coming from the cloak. Zhara and Skul began to realize that the thing was somehow getting bigger, and tearing through its own fabric. Soon the cloak came off entirely, falling haphazardly to the ground as the creature continued to grow in size with a pronounced spine etching itself down the back.
In fact, it appeared less to be a small creature and more a normal being. Or at least, something trying to become normal. The two could see that from the top of the skull, one moment, there was no hair. Then a patch of it just grew, and grew, and grew more until it fell down and touched the ground; it was a light, unnatural color, some sort of blue.
The pants began to sound more and more defined, feminine. There was a voice that seemed familiar, something one could recognize as coming from a person you'd see walking down the street. The skin was pale, lacking of any color as if blood did not flow through the veins which were clear enough to see through the skin, but there was clearly toes, fingers, and a decent romp.
The breathing was slowed, at last, the strange transformation seeming to cease as it was clear now that apparently under the tiny cloak was a woman.
As the young lady collected herself on the ground, she carefully began to pick herself up, stumbling a few times as if she never used her legs before. When she stood, the girl was roughly the same height as Zhara, with nearly the same length of hair only it was thrown over the shoulders and covered the chest. Some of the girl's features were even identical to Zhara's, with slight differences and proportions. If you didn't know any better, you could say that they were sisters.
"Ahh!" Zhara said and jumped when she felt to prick on her back. Then, the pain was pushed completely out of her mind when she saw the creature on all fours.
During the entire transformation, Zhara crouched with her hands to her ears. A few times, she made a small attempt like trying to help or do something but thought better of it. The girl had concern in her eyes and was torn between inching closer or stepping back.
When it was completed, Zhara stared at the other girl that had just appeared with curious eyes. She also reached a hand out but stopped in mid air and then retreated.
"A---What are you?"
Zhara was going for okay. However, her mouth seemed to have something else to ask.
Skul slowly looked from one to the other, back and forth. He lit another cigarette, slowly taking a drag and surrounding his head with another cloud of purple smoke. There was a long pause as he carefully considered the situation.
....huh.
Last Edit: Jul 19, 2013 22:17:53 GMT -5 by Skulldon
Of all the graveyards in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine.
The strange new girl cocked her head once at Zhara before straightening it again, mouthing out what the mage had said.
"W-waaat. Waaat. What are you...?" the language was quieter, unsure, and certainly of a different quality than it was before. Now came out the voice of a young girl with a sense of naivety, rather than the loud animal like pitch of before.
There was a another series of high pitched tones emanating from the bracer (i said gauntlet before, I actually meant bracer), which seemed to have somehow adjusted itself to a new size. On it was the same screen of light which the strange girl looked into as if reading something off it.
With stiff movement she raised the bracer up to her face, and with the free hand pressed on it, making more tones come out with every finger press. The screen flashed with different intensities with the girl looking into it as if captivated by the light.
"What are you? What are you? What are you?" the question repeated in a monotone as if the creature was seeking its meaning. It still stared into the bracer with pupils slightly moving back and forth, the creature really was reading something off the strange item. The tone of it as a common girl was almost disturbing; it had an unnatural stance, eyes like a doll's eyes, and the voice of an undead tax collector.
Suddenly the flashing from the light screen stopped, and the girl put down her arm to stare at Zhara again.
Entranced by the new strange girl before her, Zhara almost completely forgot everything else. The mage girl raised an eyebrow hearing the voice of the girl before her.
"Er---" Zhara said as the girl seemed to be entranced herself by the bracer that she wore.
When this strange girl was done with whatever she was doing and replied, Zhara was even more confused and taken aback.
"You're me?" Zhara echoed, "You can't be me. Only I'm me. What are you talking about? How can you be me?"
Even though there was a brisk night wind the stranger showed no indication to feeling cold, despite being almost nude. Her long hair parted as it went down to the naval, covering the more sensitive areas of the chest. Only a barely held together piece of ragged cloak held on to the waist just covering the girl's lower half.
The woman reiterated her answer, understanding Zhara's confusion, "I am Calix, but now I am you."
Calix, as it was apparently called, turned to face Skul and pointed her braced at him. A red light suddenly erupted from it in a cone whilst making a low droning noise like a bee. Nothing happened to Skul, however, the light was harmless as it passed through every inch of his body.
As soon as the bracer did its trick, Calix looked over the screen once more before curiously stepping closer to Skul. She looked over every part of him, front and back, seemingly looking for something as if the undead gentleman had candy on him.
"You....are impossible." she said when she finally stopped in front of him.
Last Edit: Jul 20, 2013 20:29:35 GMT -5 by Serenity