songerein | I've Been Hellbent, Baby

Entry tags:

I've Been Hellbent, Baby

Who: Soldier: 76 & Others
Which: Semi-Closed Log
Where: Mainly in the Wildlands once out of the Residential District/Town Square
What: 76 goes full Noctaere after dealing with growing corruption for months, some folks just have to deal with that, and all that comes with it.
Warnings: Violence, body horror, declining health, trouble breathing, gory descriptions and details, drowning, and a lot of all this right out the gate.

Glowing Dawn, Dawning Horror. Some information here on what's going on.
_____

It had started with a cough; chest pains. Came and went, breathing short, inability to draw in air for such a short and brief moment it could be easily brushed aside as his body still healing from the injuries he had sustained so many weeks ago.

Then came the coughing fits that resulted in the taste of blood in his mouth, coughing up blood and a glowing blue liquid that was so very familiar. Then came the flower petals as that grew worse. The worry giving way to panic. There was a limit to what could be done when signs pointed to a very dangerous puncturing of lungs and something within that felt like it was taking over. How else to describe that?

If only it was just that- ended there.

A burning pain shot through him, felt like something clawing from the inside to escape, choking on a mix of plant-fiber, blood, and

Darkness.

Didn't matter how he'd gotten himself outside from where he'd been holed up, could have been as easy as sinking in to the shadows and throwing himself out of the other end of it. Knees hitting the ground as blood poured and skin split to a mixture of fur and vines. Bones sounding as if they were breaking as shadow surged like water and electricity crackled over ice. Ice melting in to more of that ice cold liquid shadow, snarling beasts pulling themselves out of it around him as if something pulled bones up and melded it. Mindless things already moving out and seeking out the nearest thing. Infecting more creatures, twisting them when they weren't fast enough and reshaping them.

76 had dragged himself onwards, blindly as blood pooled as much as shadow, claws sinking in deep as he grew larger. jaw clacking once the last bit of meat fell away from a stretched bone structure. Glowing gold pupils lighting up in otherwise empty sockets, lupine ears flicking as pupils rolled and the great lumbering beast that had been 76 let out a breath, the petals of odd glowing flowers in the fur along his neck quivering. The air in his wake oppressively cold, frost skittering away from wherever his shadow had reached. Every breath crystalizing in the air once the area was entered, so cold it would burn exposed skin of whoever mistakenly wandered too close.

The cold wasn't the only thing to worry about, of course. Not with how thorn covered vines twisted even as they froze, creating sharper 'thorns'. The warning hum, the smell of ozone that came with the danger of an electrical shock coming.

Yet past all of that? It was warm, almost invitingly so even if the ice and electricity was avoided, those shadows moving alongside the Noctaere keeping it away. Blood still dripped from fur and vine. Claws digging over building walls as he moved towards the Wildlands from town. Leaving a noticeable path despite such a deep instinct keeping him to a winding back alley-like route.

Hungry.

So hungry.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's not unusual for Kainé to wander after dark, to restlessly walk the streets and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary— 'night' was a foreign concept back home, and while she's gotten used nightfall to some extent, sleep has never come easily to her. She takes on plenty of odd-jobs that take place after dark, but tonight's patrol is entirely of her own volition.

It is unusual to find those very same streets streaked with blood— it's near Town Square that she finds the first significant pool of it, frowning deeply as she gets down on one knee to lightly touch her fingers to its surface.

Still warm. Shit. More than that, there's something about it that has even her feeling uneasy, an oppressive feeling in the air that has her stomach knotting in on itself. This— it isn't fucking right.

Whatever left this can't be far. She scans the surrounding area, seeing another pool near the entrance to a nearby alley, followed by another long streak— and clawmarks that wrap around the corner of the neighboring wall.

Double shit.]

Got a bad fucking feeling about this...

[But that doesn't stop her from getting up to step over the pool of blood and walking towards the alley, approaching with her sword in hand.

She has a feeling she's going to need it.]

[Nearly blended in with the darkness that engulfed the place without a moon, seeming even darker as shadows pulsed; pushed and pulled as they gathered around and spread throughout the one the large creature cast. The only thing disrupting that pure darkness?

The glowing blue flowers around it's neck like a collar, some a different shade with pinks and purples mixed about that blue. The petals quivered with every step it made, silent despite the size, the shadows likely doing something to muffle the noise despite how claws dug through brick.

Some of that trailing blood began to crystalize as the cold grew biting, burning. Still a trail, but far more slippery- and the places where they formed thicker could explode when touched. Dangerous themselves.

A few more of those shadowy wolves pulled from the larger Noctaere's shadow, snarling as they moved as one, lunging forwards. Reckless, and quick compared to the figure still pushing forwards- even if ears flicked backwards to listen.]

[Kainé has never once been anything but ready to throw herself headfirst into a fight— it's served her well more times than she can count, and when she enters the alleyway in time to see those shadowed creatures splitting away from what appears to be their ringleader, she's once again grateful for her quick reflexes.

Sword drawn, she raises it to deflect an incoming lunge before swinging through the next shadow with the serrated edge of her blade, drawing her second weapon with her free hand to fully arm herself. The wolves are fast, aggressive; they move as a unit, but she's fast, as well, and dodges and weaves through them as best she can, fending them off as she pushes her way forward.

They're small fry— symptoms of something much larger. They're not the ones who had left that trail behind.]

Hey!

[She has no way of recognizing who the creature might have once been, not yet, but she sees that its ears are turned back towards her, even as she continues to keep the shadows at bay with some effort.]

Do the job yourself, asshole!

[They went down fairly easy once the trick to dealing with their numbers was found. A good and solid hit had them dissolving, the glowing skull going out in a burst of blue flame; the shadow-smoke their bodies dissolved in to, however, coalesced. Puddled together and returned to their origin quickly, laving trails of frost in their wake.

Really, they were nothing more than puppets with a set task; if wanted the Noctaere could do more, make them even more of an issue, but so far the interests were 'hunt', 'attack', and 'corrupt what's caught' in that order.

Vicious as they were? Still just that.

There was a rumble from said source, metallic and grating, echoing a little even long before that head turned. The skull seemed to glow from the flowers encircling its furred neck like a collar, and golden lights that acted as pupils in otherwise empty sockets rolled about before focusing.

Only that head turned, jaws clacking, and the voice that rang- sounded more like that laughter than the man lost within.]

Joining a nightly hunt? No moon to guide, the light is easier.

[She knows that voice— it's different, distorted, like it's been dragged across something to make the edges ragged, but as she cuts down another shadow, her gaze narrows as she fixes it on him, drawing in a sharp breath to steel herself as she considers whether to brace herself to defend or go on the attack. The latter is usually her default, but if this means what she thinks it means—

That might not be the way to go.]

Old timer?

[She's never even asked him his real name in the times they've met. Figured if he wanted her to know, he'd give it— but she feels anxiety seize at something in her chest as this situation suddenly begins to mirror one she knows all too well, something she'd experienced from the other side.

She's been the one lost. She's been the one corrupted. If this really is him, then that body of his, whatever he's becoming—

It's a prison.]

Fuck, this just got a hell of a lot more complicated.

[There was laughter, nothing kind about it despite the 'pure' sort of joy that sounded in it. Something so very off, more so when jaws clattered and clacked. Had him moving slowly, to better turn even if it meant raising up to full height on 'hind' legs. Still keeping a hand on a building as if it was necessary.

Head lowered, to more meet eye level despite making no effort to cross the distance. Was big enough it was completely necessary-]

Living nightmares do that, don't they?

[Said as if it were the joke, why the Noctaere was laughing. Even as those 'wolves' kept coming, so easy to get rid of. Easy to use to tire someone out if they didn't pick up on that, some of them still rushing towards the trees- towards the Wildlands to hunt down something easier to make for a good meal of corrupted nightmare.

He was starving, those flowers glowed brightly as they fed off him, enough to keep the Noctaere calm rather than what it really could be. Better for those around, perhaps.]

[The pieces then fall into place, and she clenches her teeth as she lunges forward to cleave through another wolf as it throws itself at her, the other shadows scattering as many of them run past or towards the woods— they're unable to leave a single mark on her, but she's pretty damn sure that's not the point.

They're a distraction.]

You're a goddamn Noctaere.

[Not quite like the one they'd encountered in that mine, but she can see the similarities now, the bits and pieces that remind her of what he'd looked like in that dreamscape, different from the waking world— if any of this place even qualified as waking.]

How long were you gonna hide this, asshole?!

[She stands at the ready for more of his shadows to rush forward, but pushes herself to advance, ready to fend them off as she starts to close the distance between them. He's bigger than her, but that's never stopped her before.]

[There was that laugh, jaws clacking and ears swiveling, pulling himself more on to all fours as if that was easier. Movements slow, dragging-]

I've been clawing to get loose. He's drowning, and I'm starving.

[Let him drown, the Noctaere had finally gotten out- and to think it was all thanks to some flower; annoying as they were, but it was what it was even as petals trembled on those flowers around his throat. As if they were enough to contain and stop him- let those who knew what they were think that.

Let him focus better.

Let the Noctaere move forwards slowly, step by step, shadows pooling as frost spread out from the edges of them. The small shadow puppets were easy enough to fight through once the trick was noticed- and once his own attention was focusing on letting the others spread corruption to whatever they could catch.

He'd devour them later.]

So long as he could fight it, probably. Can't fight it now, gone and buried. Sinking deeper.

[It all sounds so painfully familiar to her, the only differences on the very surface.

"Remind you of anyone, Sunshine?" The harsh, rasping voice that forever echoes inside of her head goads at her, persistent enough that she can't ignore him the way she often does— it's been easier here, with his power dampened by whatever powers govern this dream world, but Tyrann has never let her forget that she's not alone. That he's there, waiting for her to make a mistake, waiting for the chance to get out when she's not strong enough to keep him in anymore.

Her gaze lowers for a moment, jaw set hard, her knuckles going white as her grip on her sword tightens.]

I want to talk to him.

[The demand may be in vain, but she turns her gaze on the advancing creature, unflinching. She's seen worse, she reminds herself. She's been worse.]

He's still in there, I fucking know it.

["Wishful thinking, sweetheart. You're just hoping it doesn't happen to you, ahahaha! Come on, come on! You can smell all that blood he left behind, can't you? Doesn't it make you just wanna sink your teeth in?"]

Shut up!

[The shout is sudden, and aimed at no one in particular, but her glare grows heated as she fixes it on the Noctaere once more.

No way. She's not letting that thing swallow up the person inside, not if she can help it.]

[Oh, there was something going on there- not that it could discern what it was exactly, but attention had split. Interesting.

The glow of flowers and golden pupils bounced off that stark white skull of a head as ears pricked forwards in clear curiosity. Never slowing in it's already slow stride.]

For now, yes. Can't say if there's sound breaking through, but the struggle is real.

[There'd been hints of course, an awareness possibly thanks to the Glowing Dawn around his throat along with the mutated variant placed with them. Awareness of the struggle, the fight still there despite the moment of near death that had allowed it to come in full force for the first time. Had come so close, when he'd gotten a bite in to another man.

This? Even if colored and held back, was freedom.]

I have time to play. Fed, feeding- You've got something, don't you?

[Something, something. A hand-like paw reached up and allowed the pads to brush under flower petals and over the vines, gathering blood and flicking it out towards her; whether it hit or just splattered the ground in front didn't matter.]

A strangling hold.

[Away from the Noctaere's shadows it was just blood, that of a man swallowed up in to a nightmare given form. His own nightmare, of course. Drowning, weakness, a loss of all control- perfect to take advantage of and leave in the torment of it.]

[Her gaze is sharper, brighter when she turns it on him again, narrowing her focus, willing Tyrann to be silent, to cease his horrible rasping between her ears. She's only partly successful, but it's enough— even if it's just for the moment.

The Noctaere advances, and she lifts her chin to stare it down, refusing to budge, her upper lip curling into a sneer as blood splatters across the ground in front of her, across the garments that she passes off as clothes, against bared skin and bandages. Her stomach knots in on itself; blood is familiar, almost comforting in a perverse sort of way, and Tyrann's taunting echoes at the back of her mind so sharply that she can't tell if he's repeating himself or she's doing it for him.

"Smell all that blood."

She ignores him, and answers the creature in front of her, instead.]

I'm more than meets the eye, that's for goddamn sure.

[She can feel its breath as the space between them has narrowed, the shadows surrounding them both seeming to make the already cool night air even colder.]

You wanna play, asshole? We'll play— I'll fucking cut him out of you if I have to.

[The closer he got, the blood on the ground at least started to crystalize, matching the beads of it glittering on flower petals like jewels. Matting at the fur underneath them as the blood flowed freely around vines. Clear that the flowers and everything attached were growing right out of the Noctaere's skin.

Of course, they had to be rooted to something. Right? Part of what was obvious, the other was far deeper that skin.]

Come on then. Show me the sharp, show me the bite.

[It's own jaws parted as there was hardly need to bare always exposed teeth given the exposed skull that made up the majority of it's head. A tongue of blue fire did curl and glow as it licked over canines.

Some sort of prancing made in place on all fours, long fluffed fur tail lashing behind it. Exposing a little that the sluggishness could be more for show. A brighter glow as multiple golden lights flickered to life in otherwise empty sockets. Never make the first move, even if there were more of those shadow wolves lingering behind it.

Multiples of those bright glowing skulls seeming to float in those icy shadows around it.]

Make the appetite grow.

[She’s never been able to keep from rising to a challenge, even though the terms of this one send something like ice shooting through her, a distinct feeling of dread— she hasn’t drawn on certain powers since being here, hasn’t wanted to change giving Tyrann any sort of chance to get leverage on her. She’s been fully in control, with him reduced to nothing more than a constant annoyance, but she’s going to need something more than just brute strength for this.
She exhales, teeth still grit.]

My pleasure.

[A second blade joins the first in her opposite hand, drawn seemingly from thin air— dreamotion has made keeping them on hand a simpler task than it once was— and as her gaze hardens, it also grows brighter, gray turning to bright yellow as black markings begin to surface on her skin, similar to those she had worn in the dreamscape, writing that pulses and moves across skin as though it has a life of its own, and with it, she feels adrenaline beginning to course through her veins, urged on by the scent of blood and the desire to see more of it spilled.

”Yeah, that’s it, sunshine! Make him bleed, make him scream!”

This time, she doesn’t tell Tyrann to shut up— she only lurches forward at the creature before her with both blades brandished, inhumanly fast in her own right as she teleports past him rather than strikes, landing behind him only to turn sharply and attack from his blind spot, blades raised high and crossed before she brings them down in two separate arcs.]

Come on, old man, wake the fuck up in there!

[It was like a flip had been switched, multiple golden lights brightening in those empty sockets the moment that hit was taken. Even as blood sprayed there was the sound of growing laughter, echoing out of every shadow on the ground. Every droop of blood that hit the air and seemed to freeze in place in sharp jagged arcs.

As if everything stood still for a second. All it had taken was attacking it—

Pools of shadows shot upwards in jagged icy spikes, the noctaere twisting it's head around as if it belong on an owl, cracks opening along the skull as if other eyes were opening, those golden pupil-like lights spreading throughout them. A permanent grin on that skull of a face, jaws parted as blood trickled from no source at all from them.]

About goddamn time!

[Like a chain had finally broken partially as the glow of flowers brightened and it was multiple sets of arms moving to strike back. Every clawed hand going for whatever part of her was in reach. sounded like bones were breaking and rearranging themselves to make it so. The air growing colder, just breathing it in burning all the way down.

The only time a skulled shadow wolf showed up was whenever they seemed to flow through the insides of shadows, pushing them onwards and vines growing to try to wrap and catch. Thorns giving them purchase.]

Got me to deal with while he's far away!

[Her first thought is that there's a hell of a lot more blood than there should be, and something in her gut twists as it freezes in mid-air. Shadows pierce upwards from beneath; some manage to graze her arm and break the skin, the others only catching fabric or bandages, but her own blood starts to flow freely where they cut, and she feels another surge of angry adrenaline push through her.]

You think I'm afraid of you?!

[She deflects the first swipe of his claw; the next one manages to catch against her side and she lets out a low hiss as she retaliates, slicing through shadow— it's difficult to tell where he ends and the shadows begin, but everything is fair game at this point, and she pushes forward to swing towards his legs, set him off balance, doing her best to ignore the thorns as they scrape against her.

"Come on, sunshine, you're going to easy on him! Don't tell me your heart isn't in it!"]

There's a goddamn person in there!

[Her response is harsh, insistent, even as the temperature surrounding them drops and she swings again, harder this time, aiming to slice through vines to keep them from being able to grasp her fully.]

[Of course it laughed, jaws clacking even as it was on the move again—]

More a reminder of something you do fear—

[That much it was gathering, from the behavior and what came of the anger once it had started to flow. The Noctaere couldn't know what, but it never hurt to tug and play a bit at some assumptions if there was something to follow after watching. Observing.

Who knew if it was good or bad that the Noctaere wasn't trying hard to dodge hits, tanking each one that either grazed of fully hit. Blood dripped, far more than it should contain, but perhaps there was certainly more than one source that blood was coming from- or it wasn't all blood.

The vines did give way, easily cut through. The ones that were harder were the vines that had started to freeze, and even then they would shatter with some explosive force if given time to freeze solid.]

[It sure as hell isn't wrong about that. As much as she hates to admit it, as much as she hates to give Tyrann the goddamn satisfaction, losing herself like this is a constant fear— an inevitability, anywhere else, and she's still not convinced that she's safe from it here, that she won't be swallowed up from the inside if she doesn't hold onto her hate, her anger.

It could just as easily been her on the other side of this fight.]

You don't know what the fuck you're talking about!

[The volatile nature of her response, the snap of her voice— it's a little too defensive as she pushes herself forward, slicing through more vines, using brute force to push past the ones that have started to freeze and resist, shattering them even as some further beyond her begin to build towards exploding.

It's not even trying to dodge, to get away from her.

It's not scared of her, either.]

You've got the power to let him go, I fucking know it— do you it, or I'll shove these goddamn vines of yours down your throat and out your own ass!

[She's stalling for time— she can hit harder, she knows, she can cut into him with all her strength, let herself go into a frenzy, but she's afraid of what will happen to the almost-friend underneath if she does. She's drenched in blood now, most of it the creature's, some of it her own, breathing heavy as she lunges forward once more, aiming to sever one of its arms from its body.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've Been Hellbent, Baby

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

so these two are about to have some poignant shared life experiences

Y u p- It's awful, I love it.

monsters doing monster things

gotta twist in them claws like a knife to the gut

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject