|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Nov 14, 2018 18:27:17 GMT -5
When the beast heard Kelsey...
It perked its head up, away from its wounded talon. Its mismatched eyes met her's, lacking the anger from the previous night. Instead, it seemed to be afraid. It let out a low growl, as if it was trying to speak, but failing. With a front claw, it scratched at the ground in front of it, as if trying to write, only for it to come out indecipherable...
The beast looked up again, this time with pleading eyes. It twitched its injured talon...
If Raunen was close, he could see a sharp rock deeply embedded into the grey hide.
It roared, not a roar of anger, dominance, or intimidation. Instead, it was a sorrowful sound.
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Nov 14, 2018 21:16:32 GMT -5
Kelsey tilted her head somewhat as she continued to quietly observe the beast. It was becoming increasingly obvious that its current demeanor was not aggressive, and as such, her stance and expression remained calm and purely defensive. Cautiously, she took a few steps closer, if only to see how it would react. It still showed no warning signs or vicious intent. All it did was whine about its injury.
Her gaze flicked towards the beast's foot, then back to its eyes. The fact that it wasn't blindly attacking her or anything else was at least relieving, but she had to wonder how much of that was attributed to its current pain. Knowing what it was capable of, knowing that there was at least some recognition in its eyes, there was no telling how it might react to any further interactions. Would it run amok again? Would Loba's spell keep it placated? Was it at all capable of trust? What was going on behind those blue and red orbs?
She took a deep breath.
"Don't make me regret this."
While keeping the rest of her body still, Kelsey pointed a single finger at the beast's foot. A shadow reached out from underneath it, wrapping itself around the rock wedged into its skin. After hesitating for a few seconds, assuring herself that her grip was firm enough, Kelsey quickly flicked her finger in the opposite direction. Like a puppet on a string, the black tendril mirrored her movement, wrenching away from the beast and taking the rock with it with a prominent, sickly squishing noise.
|
|
|
Post by ColArana on Nov 15, 2018 18:02:16 GMT -5
The beast was injured. Pretty badly it would appear. And a shard of stone was embedded in its foot. Ouch. The sight was somewhat heartening to Ranuen, as he gazed at his own toothpick sized sword. A reminder that even at his size, something so minor could cause plenty of problems. Maybe he could still contribute to a potential battle in the future even if he wasn't human sized. And then watched as Kelsey removed it. Ranuen, like Kelsey, watched with slight apprehension. Wary of what might happen next between the creature and Kelsey. Ready to make a move if it did anything suspicious.
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Nov 15, 2018 18:18:20 GMT -5
The beast whimpered as Kelsey's shadow extracted the stone from its foot, but once removed, it became silent.
It shut its eyes and exhaled through its nostrils, then opened its eyes. Its jaw opened slightly, but then its head swung upwards suddenly, as if something in the sky had caught its attention. It fully opened its jaw, firing a blast of its grey mist at something in the sky with a roar.
"Ah, crap." That was followed by the sounds of something rapidly flying away.
The beast elected not to give chase, however, and returned its glance to Kelsey and Raunen. It jaw opened again, before opening wide, almost tearing its own hide as a series of ungodly sounds escaped its maw...
When its little seizure was over, it gave a twisted grin, before once again opening its jaw. This time, a coherent word escaped its horrible mouth.
"̣̰͈̭͍H͇͚̤̖͍I͟.̶"̸
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Nov 20, 2018 16:10:15 GMT -5
Kelsey sharply turned in the direction the beast had fired its breath weapon, just barely sensing the interloper as they hastily dodged the attack and departed the scene. She narrowed her eyes at the blurred image in the rain, almost completely certain who it was and why they were there.
It took a great deal of her power to resist chasing after the infernal creature, but she managed to keep herself grounded and turn back to the beast. When it addressed her, when in managed to spit out a garbled but still coherent greeting, Kelsey could only raise an eyebrow, wary and confused. Her shadows stayed put, but her baffled expression and slumped posture were about as far from aggressive as she could get without looking totally defenseless.
"Uh... Hi?"
|
|
|
Post by ColArana on Nov 20, 2018 20:03:18 GMT -5
Ranuen stared, quite alarmed at this development. The Protostar beast... it could... It could... talk?
"You can... talk...?" Ranuen gaped in astonishment. He supposed he probably shouldn't be surprised. There were weirder things about. But damn if this island didn't keep surprising him! "I... What!?" He looked back at Kelsey. "Gonna have a hell of a tale to tell Percy then, won't we?" He suggested, seeing that Kelsey seemed as unbalanced by this turn of events as he was. "Hello....? Umm...." Shit! What the hell did you follow that up with. A ton of questions, but none seemed probable. "...So uhh.... what's up?"
Damnit!
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Nov 20, 2018 20:18:37 GMT -5
"̴̥̟̖YẸ̸S̨.̪̲̣̯̙̘͟.̖̻.̵ ̛̪̩͈̬͎͍̦T̵̳̺̤̮A̶L̲̘̮̗K͔̹͖̗.̨̥̰̤̝.̣̗̩͟.̘̪̞̻̟"̼ The beast replied, its voice horribly garbled, yet somehow, familiar. It turned towards the sky, growling. "̖I̹͚̹̻N̲̠̲͈̳͠TR͢U͏̙̘̱͈͖̳D̠̙̻E̢̹͖͚̞̻͈ͅR͎͖͘S̼̞̠̠̗.̸͇̘̩͚͉.͠.̖̱͕ͅ ̠T̪͉̱Ḛ̟̫̬RR̤I͚͍͇̫̣T҉̗͓̞O̭̗̬̺̰̬͟R̷̹͇͚̣ͅY̠̰̣͝ͅ.̨̱.̺͝.̰̟͡"̠̞͈̰̱ It returned its gaze to the pair of humans before it. "̤̬W̬̲̯̫͚̩͝A̹̥S̛͕̮̙͙ ҉N̛͍̟̙̥̟̠̼O͏̝̭̭̺T͎.̛̮.̩̜͎̭̦͇̟.͍͕̻̝͓̀ ̝LI̗͙͇K̬̭̺͎͈̗̼͞Ḙ̛̘̜̝̖̜ ̘̤̰͙̀T͇̻̮͙̕H̳̭͓̳̠ͅI̜̦̻͟S̥̺̤̠.͕̣̘̞̫͍.."̹̣͍̹͙̮͢ It gave a small roar in what seemed like agony. "̺W̦̜A̘͕͙̣̩̰S̭͇̱̞ ͏̣̣̬̖͖O̙N̛̲͓̹̭̺͖C̻E̡.̜̗.̴̩.̝ ̦̕L̼͍I̯͎K̘̳̣͕E͚̻.̡͖̫͙̱̯̠̘.̨̤̮͍̻̯̹.͉̖̯̤͓"͏̘̞̰̯͍
It glanced at the cave that it had emerged from. "̝̝̻̮̞̀S̷̼̪͎͚̰̬̟K̗̼̝͈IN̕ L̷̳IK̲̲͙̀ͅE̙̤.̢.̤̩̻̘̭̩.̯̦̪͔̤͕͇͞ ̥̠̱̜̮̹̠Y̮̫̻O͔̦Ư̯̻R̯̲'̡̟̞̻S̲ͅ.̫͎̠̱̫͇.̼͎̥͝.͍̞͠"̜ It clawed at the ground at apparent frustration.
N̖O̢̲̹̳ ̤̘͓̘̜͞W̰̜̱̻̻̟Ḁ͖͟N̙̠̤T͈.̡͚.͕̩̖̰͓̺̯.͍ ̢̮̤B̜̯̼̗̻̰̼E͍ ̟ͅM̡O̝͓̹̕Ṉ͎̙Ṣ̵̫̳͇T͕̮̮͈̬̝͙E̷̠̻̩Ŗ͈̣͇.̝̦͡.̬̙͈.͓̯̩͈͢"͏͕
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Nov 21, 2018 17:18:42 GMT -5
"Huh." Kelsey stood up straight but kept her body relaxed. Her shadows lingered in the form of a black mist swirling around her legs, mindful at least of Ranuen's line of sight. This was definitely not the direction she had expected this quest to take. To be completely honest, though, as blindsided as she was by the Protostar Beast's suddenly display of sentience, she was willing to roll with this. It wasn't like she had been looking forward to round two with this thing.
"Well... I'm... sorry to hear about your situation," she hesitantly offered. "I guess I should... also apologize for how brutal I was last night. At least now you seem to be thinking a little more coherently."
Kelsey cast a quick glance at the cave, then turned back to the beast. "These... 'intruders.' We want them out too. The whole situation is kinda complicated, though, but maybe... maybe we can help each other?"
|
|
|
Post by ColArana on Nov 26, 2018 15:50:02 GMT -5
Ranuen continued to stare at the beast. Kelsey was trying to run the diplomacy angle, but Ranuen was actually a little embarrassed. He wasn't the only person under a curse on this island. Of course this creature could be the same as him. Well. Relatively speaking anyways. Something under the same curse. "Oh shit... You were... A person once?" He stated. "Who.... did this to you?" Maybe it was a better situation than Ranuen's, and the person that did this to the Protostar beast lived on the island?
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Nov 26, 2018 16:15:49 GMT -5
"͇͔F̧̗̤̻̬̰Ḷ͉͉̱͓̲A̺̬͔̱̹̠͇S̨̼̲̫H̵͈͍̭͍͕.̗̙͍̬.̵̠.̼̲̼̗͍͕ ̦̭͟B҉̲U̦̞͖͎͍̫͠R͏̤N͇̞.̠͍̳̥͍.̰͖̝̜.̺̬̕ͅ"̵͎͖̤͕ The beast grunted out in response to Raunen's inquiry of who turned it into what it was now. "̖̹̼͉̥͚ÁW͖̬̱̪O͏̪K̻̀E̵.҉.̢͚.͚̟͡ ̴̲͔̗̥̥͕͍L̝͔̣̺I͇̮K̶̻̹E̡ ̹T̼͍͓̪̻ͅH̵͓͇̪͎I͚̼̣͘S̴̼̣̦̦̼̖̖.̢̺͔̙͓͙̠͓.͖̣̲.̱̹̺̫͚̲̞"̼ Its claws dug into the ground as it thought. "̨͚̠N̡̫̖̫͔O̵̻ ̹́M̶͕̜̪̣A̢̗̥̯T́T̕Ę̯R.͝.̢͎̜͎̜͖.̫̬̬"̗͠
And then, Kelsey brought up the intruders. They wanted the intruders gone too. It resumed looking at the pair of humans before it, silent, as if thinking. It then flashed a grin, baring its yellowed teeth. "̵͖̠K̵̤̖̣Í̜̟̩͖͙Ḷ͔̦̞͓̲̗̕Ĺ͍̤..̛͎̗̞͎̬͈.̴͈̠ ̟̙K̨̲͇̹I̡̺L͘L̡̘͇̞̖̻ͅ Į̜̭N̙̘̠T̹R̡U͎D͎̭̮̪̱͇͟ͅÈ̫̳̰͈͇R̴͇͍͉̹̘̹S͉͖͚.̮̥̗̥̕ͅ.̧̥̭̺̰͕̟.̣"̶ It seemed strangely excited about this prospective. W̰H̖̯̰̗͡E͓̣̟R̖E̖̦?҉ ̙Ṛ̴̝̹͚I̪͕̪͈̹͈̬͜P̛..͉̬.̛͖̜͎ ̼͙̦̝TẸ̴͇AR̶͙̥.̡.͏̺̥̣̘̩̙.̹̥͈̱̠̪̲ ̬K̵͇̗͍I̭L͙̜̝͜L̗ ̹̻̙̺͉Į͖N̷͙͓T͔̺̬͔̭̘ͅRUD̵̙͔͉ER͚S̟̙̲̮͎ͅ.̗͔͎̭̹̟͓.͔̕.̣̼̲̠̪͟"̯̺̳̘͓͝
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Nov 27, 2018 11:50:30 GMT -5
"Easy, fella," Kelsey calmly insisted, raising a hand. "We have a few other things to worry about before can go around and start breaking heads. We have friends, some of them highly capable of helping us take out these intruders. I wanna be sure our team is all on the same page –particularly with you– and in peak condition to fight. Gonna need all the help we can get, right?"
She looked down at the ground and ran a hand through her hair. "So first things first, I guess. One of our friends just-"
"NOPE!!!"
Kelsey very visibly jumped, eyes wide, shadows shuddering.
"NOPE, WE'RE NOT DOING THIS! WE'RE DONE HERE! LET'S GO!"
"ACK-!!!" To the untrained eye, Kelsey seemed to clumsily stumble back a few steps. Her shadows dissipated entirely as she angrily struggled against this invisible tug. "HEY, HEY, QUIT IT! QUIT IT!!!"
She whipped around and swatted at the air, subsequently finding her balance again and going still with her back to Ranuen and the beast. "What the hell is your problem now?!"
"Oh, I'M the one with the problem here?! At least I know how to hold down my fell!"
"What're you...?! RGHHH...!" She turned to look at the others over her shoulder, her expression deadpan but still clearly apologetic for her strange display. "Think you two can behave yourselves for a while? I need a moment alone." Then Kelsey started marching away. "The demon in my head is being a COLOSSAL DICK."
"You said it, not me."
"Oh, f*** you!"
|
|
|
Post by ColArana on Nov 28, 2018 19:20:11 GMT -5
"F-Flash... burn?" He blinked. So... a flash of light. A burning sensation, and then it awoke in its current state. "That's rough buddy." He replied uncomfortably. However. The beast did appear to be eager to help. "You'll assist us?!" He asked excitedly. Reinforcements from a creature this powerful were more than welcome. "I mean I got no problem with that? Do you have a name?" He asked. And then paused. "Do you remember your name?" He added, with another pause as he heard Kelsey freak out behind him, and looked back, tensed up as if worried that in Kelsey's stumbling she might step on him. Thankfully, she seemed to be moving back from him.
"Whoa! Kelsey are you alr--" He paused as Kelsey explained, a moment before starting to storm off. "Err... well then... uhh.... I'll wait here? And let Percy know what's going on? I'll make a signal if angels show up!" He stated awkwardly but encouragingly. "So back to you... uhhh... If you've got no name.... Hmmm...." ProtoStar? Was that acceptable? Or was that kinda like calling a golden retriever "Gold"? Damnit! Ranuen was a brawler, a fighter, not a... a... a namer! Beast sounded insulting, too. "Let's see.... if you don't got one.... how about.... Proto?" He suggested half-heartedly. Wow that name sucks! Ranuen thought to himself.
"Oh! That reminds me. You didn't happen to see our friend go in there did you? He went in a little before you emerged..." He suggested.
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Nov 28, 2018 19:42:40 GMT -5
The beast did not react much to Kelsey's struggle with... whatever. It simply shook its head as if disregarding the problem.
Left alone with Raunen, it closed its eyes and shook its head. "̨͈͇̫N̬̖̭̳̮͍̟O̳̜̝͠ ̘̰̟͇̰̘̭͠R̙̫͉̙̳E̮̖M̖̜͡E͈̠͚̖͓̰͜M̤̰͉B͕͚̱̣̣E͏̻̙̖̯͔R.҉̩͈̩̮͓̻.͓̫̭̲͓͝.͔̮̘̯͇͍̪̕ ̵W͎̲̩̻̮̲͈H̬̜͓Ơ̥̖͙ ̼W̮A̢S̸.̟̺..͈̟"̺̯̘͓͎ It growled in response to Raunen pointing out it had no name. At the suggestion, it paused, as f contemplating it."͚͝P͚͕͙̠R̷̩̰̫͈͔O̞̘̟͖̣͔T̺̪̳̗̮̹O͕̬͔.̥͈̯̝̩̻͓.̹͕͕͍̱͔.̺̤͓̗̫͎͞ ̗͚͕̞̙P͎̟̪̭͕̬̙R͉̞̟͕̦̟O͕̹̲͙͝T͞O҉̼̤.̠̪.҉̱̩̗̜̰̪.͚͉ ̖̹̱̩M͇͇͎͇E̴.͔̰͉̻̫͢..̠̳̥͚̥ ̸̫͉M͚͖͉̯̟̜͢ͅÉ̲͖̭̥ ̤̺̭̦̭LͅI̤Ḵ̵̫̣͓̻͇E̳͍͔͟.̟̘̝̗̮͓.̼̣̟̟͞.͉͇͙"̵̻̞͙̻̮ If a growl could be happy, that would be it. ""̦͕̣̱̘̞̰P̯̩͔̠̺̘͇R͡O͙ŢO͙̗̼͔̖..̙͕̫͓̼͖́ͅ.҉̟̦ ̵͉̙̳̜̟̲͉M̛E̳͔ ̝͖̼͖̩AM̞̳̮̬ ̨͓̱͍PR̶̘O̠͎T̷̫O.̭̞.̲̩͕͍͇̳̼.͕͎̺̘̫̖͓͟"̪̤̺̳
And then Raunen inquired as to a friend of his. It paused, then shook its head. "͚̠́ṆO̴͓̬͕̭..̫̙̠̩̗̞.̕"̝̙
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Nov 28, 2018 21:18:26 GMT -5
"Okay..." Kelsey came to a halt once the Protostar Beast was about half a football field away, turning to give her hovering astral doppelganger a deadpan scowl. "Care to explain yourself? You didn't object to me coming here. Why are you suddenly so keen to leave?"
Tri leaned forward very matter-of-factly, his arms appearing to rest on some invisible desk. "You got what you needed, right? Confirmation that this beast isn't your enemy. Granted, I coulda told you that last night, but considering the mood he was in, someone (meaning you) had to keep him under control until the quiet one showed up."
"That's not what I came here for," Kelsey insisted. "Yes, this changes a lot..."
"It really doesn't."
"...but I came here to figure out what happened to Will's sister. Their brother said that this thing was protecting her. I'd originally questioned if it was responsible for her coma, but with all this evidence, I'm willing to cast doubt on that notion. If nothing else, maybe it can help us figure out what happened to her."
"If he can't even help HIMSELF, what makes you think he can help his precious GF?"
"It's worth a shot, isn't it?! We're gonna need all the help we can get here, even if it is from an unconventional source!"
Tri's eyes narrowed into an uncomfortably intense glare. "Kelsey, I've been wanting to say this ever since that damn bar fight... but believe me when I say that the less attached you get to this overgrown piece of pocket lint, the better off everyone in this reality will be."
Kelsey paused for a moment to let out an agitated groan, run her hands through her hair and pace in a circle. Then she threw her hands down and sharply asked, "Why are you being so IMPOSSIBLE with me today?!"
"Because somewhere in Ohio, a twenty-something-year-old wannabe novelist college student living in his parents' basement is struggling to make this s*** he's being forced to write sound natural."
".........What?!"
"Just trust me. This ball of mange is already as involved in our problems as he needs to be." Tri pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't need you showing him anymore pity. Having him around is just gonna make your life more difficult, never mind everyone else's."
"Tri, I don't know what you see in my future and I know better than to try prying it out of you at this point..." Kelsey gestured to the beast standing in the distance. "...but this thing wants the same thing we do! Call me weak for showing pity, but I seriously feel bad for what I did to it last night, especially now that I know it was a person once! Yeah, it may still be potentially dangerous, but so long as it's showing some level of self-awareness, I think we-"
"PPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTT HAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAAA...!!!"
"What?!"
"AHH-HAA... AHH-HAA... AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-HAAAHAAAHAAHAAHAAAAAAAAAA...!!!"
"WHAT THE F*** IS SO FUNNY?!"
"'SELF-AWARENESS'! OH, KELSEY, YOU'RE CRACKING ME UP!"
"TRI, I AM G** DAMN SERIOUS!!!" Kelsey's hands flew to her face, then swept in a wide, spastic, irritated arc. "You know what?! I'm done trying to reason with you! I'm going to get Percy, and then we're gonna try to level with this beast! YOU TOLD ME THESE PEOPLE NEEDED MY HELP! I'M F***ING HELPING THEM!"
Just as Kelsey turned around to march away from her master, she found herself slamming face-first into a painfully solid wall of shadow. "Percy can't help."
After peeling herself off the wall, Kelsey whipped back around and glowered at Tri, brown curls a mess, hand massaging her nose. "Why not?!"
"Kelsey, don't be stupid," Tri sighed, releasing the shadows he had summoned. "You know why."
"NO I DON'T! DON'T CALL ME STUPID JUST FOR MY HUMAN IGNORANCE!"
"Jesus Christ Superstar...!" Tri snarled, grabbing his head. "You're just gonna make the pain even worse! Haven't you been LISTENING?!"
"YEAH, I'VE BEEN LISTENING! AND ALL I'VE GATHERED IS THAT YOU THINK ME BEING AROUND THIS BEAST IS GONNA BREAK REALITY OR SOME S*** LIKE THAT! LIKE YOU THINK I'M GONNA...!"
...........................
Kelsey stared wide-eyed at the ground.
"Wait..."
Tri looked up at her, slightly taken aback.
"Ever... S... P... I-I..."
...........................
...........................
"Tell me you're not saying..."
The demon smirked smugly. Triumphantly.
"Tri, please, tell me you're not saying...!"
"Kelsey..." Tri wrapped an arm around Kelsey's shoulder, his ice blue eyes full of warmth. The kind of warmth one got from hypothermia. "It's okay. You're being SUPER helpful doing this."
...........................
...........................
...........................
"FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU..."
|
|
|
Post by ColArana on Nov 30, 2018 19:00:10 GMT -5
Ranuen frowned. "Man that sucks. Well... We'll work at it. Maybe if we keep fighting, something will click?" He suggested. "Maybe someone around here will remember you or something? Are you from here originally or from somewhere else?" To be fair, very few people were from "around here" but hey. Starting points, right? Didn't matter. "I saw you fighting the other night though, and you were really impressive. It's good to have you along, Proto!" He said, pleased that the beast appeared to like the name Ranuen had picked for him, and somewhat emboldened by that notion. Too bad it didn't know anything about Percy. "Agh... damnit. Where'd he go then?" Ranuen grumbled in annoyance.
Then he heard something in the distance, and whipped his head around. "Was that Kelsey!?" He exclaimed. It sounded like someone cursing. Very loudly, and very long. "Proto can you see anything from where you are? We're not under attack or anything are we?" He asked, with a slight bit of adrenaline coursing through his body. "I.... ugh. I can't see super well from down here. Not long distance anyways. But you're pretty tall, you maybe can see where she went?" He inquired quickly.
|
|