[A]nd There Was Deat[h]

[blitzkreig]

Seeking eyes hummed like febrile, crimson insects, swaying across the battered lands, the lands of death and redemtion. Cruel snickers lifted from his muzzle, and turned into a deep, rumbling chorus of laughter. Spittle churned at the corner of his mouth as he did. The black brute was insane. His crazed souls peered this way and that, suspicious of even the wind that brushed softly at the fur on his spine, or the far-off croak of some carrion creature, scavangers taking wing in these nameless wastelands. His laughter boomed and faded, finally gone, and Blitzkreig turned his muzzle slightly, rotating his handsome dome on delicate vertebrae. Lips quivered gently, leaving with an unearthly snarl of sorts, something choked in the back of his throat. Crimson spheres stared off into the horizon.

The reason he had come here, the main reason for his visit to these harsh and vicious wastelands was because of its lackof reflective surfaces. No ice, no water, no natural glass lying around, and that put Blitzkreig at rest. A peaceful feeling worked its way into his steel gizzard. He had had enough of it. Seeing their deaths, and most recently, his death. You see, dear reader, Blitz was a wolf who had been rather cursed. In the latter years of his life leading up to now he had started to see strange things, deaths and tragedies in his mind's eye..and most recently, whenever he stared onto the water, or any other reflective surfaces. He saw them in his dreams, creeping in like unwanted parasites and draining him of his sanity, painting him the picture of an unhealthy wolf. Blitz, once broad and handsome had become withdrawn and gaunt. He had not drank in over three days now, and this had poisoned his mind. He needed water, and yet he was afraid.

Near his paw, a lizard scurried quick and disappeared into another hole in the earth. Blitzkreig pounced on it, but missed as it snaked into its other den and was gone.
"Quit spying on me!"
he shouted in vain at the tiny creature who would not listen.
"I know you're watching me! You want my soul, but I wont let you have it!"
Then he broke back into that cracked and undulating laughter. He was in every way the perfectly insane, his rantings fading into the quiet lands about him. And he was alone again, with only his voice to keep him company as he muttered sick things to himself. It was a long walk back to Edan.

[Aveilthé]

The heavens spoke of illness towards all, cursing the very land
that spanned beneath it, though not as cursed than the one that
slinked through it. A tenebrous creature slithered in the dark like a
secretive serpant, it's blood-thirsty crimson gaze watching a rather
nutty wolf addressing something that was not in the demon's
wolf view.

This unholy creature rose it's head. To one that might be aware
of some demonic presence, may find it hard to where this demon's
current destination was. He was hidden in shadow, or perhaps
he was a part of the shadows, emitting off a cold chill that
portrayed nothing more than pain and suffering to all that oppose
him.

A deep rumbling growl was granted from the demon's vocals,
but as he did so, he spoke. The voice was soft but could be
heard, for it had a ring to it that could send one's brain reeling.

"Well, well. How appropriate that I should meet a cracker wolf
in the middle of a graveyard. What's this? Ahh. The cracker wolf
isn't alone tonight. Ryannktsu senses another presence that is
not welcome." And with that, a roar was issued as the beast
flew from the shadows and pounced upon a creature that had
walked, perhaps accidentally, into the midst of a hellbeast and an
insane wolf - and perhaps more.

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Kusu had sensed danger from miles away. His heart was racing as
he galloped at full speed like an arrow straight towards the
Wastelands, but skidded to a halt as he hid behind a dying brown
bush. Something in the air was not right to him, and he would
make sure to find the source of the chill that was permeating
through the air that had sent his hackles shivering.

He had never felt quite like this before, but if he had, it was in a
battle a long time ago. Just then, he was broken from this
nostalgia as a voice cracked like a whip through the frigid air.

The white wolf clenched his jaws. Deep, thunders vocals sounded
entirely too familiar to the young Shinkou prince, but he could
not place it - it had been so many years since he had heard the
voice, but whom did it belong to?

At that moment, a pair of vicious crimson eyes were boring into
his own amber eyes, and instantly Kusu felt himself seizing up
and freezing in fear as if he was paralyzed by the sinful eyes alone.

"Oh my Go--!" Kusu was cut short as a massive beast knocked
the wind out of him. He was pulled to the earth, and he felt his
back hit the ground. A mouthful of terrible teeth had found it's way
to his throat, biting down rather hard. He felt saliva and warmth
creeping around his throat, allowing Kusu to instinctively hold quite
still. Indeed he was prepared to watch his life flash before his eyes,
but death did not come. Instead, his captor spoke as the demon
dragged the prince of Shinkou Ookami out into the open.

"Look whom I found in my net. The Alpha's brat, all grown up now."
Ryannktsu dropped Kusu onto the ground, to which the white wolf
held perfectly still, his face portraying that of pure terror.

"Ryannktsu," he sputtered, caughing up blood. Though Kusu was
pretty tall in height himself, Ryannktsu was many a foot taller
than him, perhaps about ten feet or so. The demon was riddled
in pure black scales, with bits of thick dark fur rippling in the wind
atop his cranium and going down to the bottom of his neck,
somewhat like a mane. The frightening beast smirked mockingly
down at the white wolf, one massive paw holding the wolf down.

"It was nice of a pack's prince to drop on by," he grinned, the
saliva from his teeth dripping onto Kusu's very frightened face.

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[demin]

The sun had been beating down on the human boy as he raced toward a scream of pain. He would have never come into this hell otherwise, he had his silver sword drawn, it gleamed in the intense sunlight, the light that was reflecting off of it was almost blinding. He was running so fast towards his destination that the dust trail he left behind seemed like a small sandstorm, the muscles in his legs began to ache, so he slowed down quite a bit. Lucky too, as his destination was now in sight, he had to slow down a considerable amount before he stopped, or the sudden force would have broken his legs. He took one look at the scene in front of him and knew this was going to be a tough fight, if there was one. He sent his thoughts to the small wolf pup in the pouch strapped to his back. "Why do I let you talk me into these kind of situations, C?" He saw the demon wolf had the white wolf by the neck, and was stunned momentarily by the cruelty of the demon.

The small timber wolf poked her head out of the pouch in which she was sitting in, she looked at the scene in front of them, her crystal blue eyes momentaril froze with fear. "This may be a little bit more than you can handle Ly. I think we made a big mistake by doing this." She retreated back into the safety of the pouch and said no more to her master.

[blitzkreig]

Crazed crimson spheres widened, bulging with something close to disbelief in their sockets. A muffled hiss of displeasure was issued from between the slits in his fangs. Blitz let his towers fall back on his head, as though he was marred in his attempts to apprehend the little scaley spy that had eluded him in the ground by the showing of these new creatures. Wolves, demons and humans. A soft growl murmered somewhere in his ribcage. He turned away from the task at hand and his body swayed in a crazy, off-kilter stagger. Almost as though he were drunk. Really it was only the effects of the fatigue and drought that had taken its terrible toll on him. He sauntered closer to the scene. Obviously, this demon had directed itself at him when the white brujo had hurled into the plain of sight. Demons, being quick to move but not to think, as Blitzkreig supposed this one to be, usually jump on any chance to pounce on an unsuspecting victim.

Insane eyes bulging and rolling, Blitzkrieg gave the visitors a lopsided smile. His banner flew up, wagged a bit, and his muzzle was tilted skyward in a gesture of dominance. There was an officious air to the swaggering gate he had put on as he hailed to the demon as though there was no situation going on. If the almighty Blitzkreig was going to address someone, then it would be the demon. Not a human, or a pocket-wolf.
"Oy! What brings you to my humble abode, Demon?"
he asked, his voice held a shrill edge to it, as though Blitz were a creature on the verges of a total mental breakdown. His eyes looked the beast over, and the feeble thing clasped in its jaws.
"Now come on, you don't want to eat a wee stringy wolfy like that. He's all bones."
This was not out of sympathy for the wretched creature clamped tight in the demon's vicious jaws, far from it. If anyone liked a good bit of mindless torture, then it was Blitzkreig. But there was something wrong with his mind right then. He opened his maw to speak again, but then clasped it back down in horror. A dim light reflected from the demon's huge, mirror-like orbs. The image filled his mind.

The demon wolf stood where he was, jaws around the pitious wolf. Taking no heed to the animals around him. He started to swallow the wolfen whole. There were muffled screams of terror, struggling, but all in vain as it disappeared into the demon's gullet. Blitz watched in horrific fascination as the bulge of the still-live wolf moved slowly through the demon's throat, and the demon started to laugh. The laughs started to hack, and finally the demon started to sputter in disorientation. The bulge of the swallowed wolfen prince stopped dead in his throat and would not budge....and it had started to choke the beast. The demon roiled and coughed, these soundless, sputtered noises of terror and confusion. It grasped feebly at its neck, trying to dislodge its former prey, now its murderer. Finally, he seized up, went rigid and collapsed onto the dirt. Dead still.

Blitzkreig snapped back, realizing that his jaw was hanging open, and that the demon still stood there, mouthing the white wolf. The human stood nearby, unsure of what to do. Blitz suddenly shrank back. The visions had come back. After all he had strived to do to keep them at bay they had come back. Everyone else was looking at him with confused looks. His paranoia told him so, they stared and wondered. What a freak. He shrank further still.

[Aveilthé]

Ryannktsu was no simple demon. He was a Druin, the higher of the
average demon species, but a demon nonetheless, the very talon
of a dire satanic deed.

He was, of course, unaware of the mad wolf's thoughts, but even
if the dark Hellion leader could see what was occuring there,
perhaps it would have been of great interest.

For the moment he looked up from the prince's face to look at
the delirious creature. "Your humble abode?" A cackle was
emitted from his throaty vocals. "I find it by your honor to be
here in this... you call this a home, eh? Last I looked, the putrid
smells emitting from every ediface of this incorrupt land
belonged to..." he snorted. "Wyndbain and Yueh. I happened
here with luck on my side... because who would have thought
that the alpha's half-witted, gullible son would trample here?
And I. I am not just a demon. I am... above them all. I am
Ryannktsu, the Druin that will prove himself worthy of the
universe and dominate all those that oppose him." This was
said quietly, as if he were cherrishing each word of this, though his
eyes flooded in cynisism and hatred. "The world will be purged
of those against the Darker forces. Evil, am I? It is not I that is evil,
it is them." He grinned savagely, for surely his deffinition of evil
was the same as those of that called themselves Good.

He put a lot of pressure into Kusu's throat, which caused him to
sputter and kick his legs fruitlessly. As a Morókí-wolf, Kusu would
have kicked a normal wolf into the high heavens - but Ryannktsu
was a powerful beast indeed, and the wolf's kicks hardly phased
him.

After a short moment's pause, Ryannktso spat in Kusu's face
and spoke once more. "What to do with you. To kill you would
be only so easy..." Another moment's pause. "Yes. Things are
beginning to look much brighter. Particularly for... me."

Upon saying this, Ryannktsu looked up dangerously, his eyes
sultry as he bore them down at the lunatic wolf that had began to
back away, to what he thought was simply cowardice.
"You're no alpha. But if you do as I command... you shall become
one, in this land... as long as you do all that I say. Think about it.
To have all the wolves for your pleasure to rape and kill that you
please. Follow me, and I will be sure that it happens."

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"Get the hell off me," growled Kusu, finding his jaws upon
Ryannktsu's paw and biting down as hard as he could until his
jaw muscles hurt, making his stop also lest he break this fangs
in half. He realized that there was little he could do, being
imprisoned by the monster's talon-clad paws. Countless of times
he had attempted to cry for help, let alone howling - for he could
have sworn he had spotted a human of sorts, but his vision was
blurred; Ryannktsu seemed to be infatuated with the situation
too much to even care that they had a man among them. Kusu's
voice felt as if it had been stolen away from him, only because
of Ryannktsu's pressure.

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[demin]

Lykiaos noticed that the demon seemed as if he was not even there. He ran towards the demon and the pinned down wolf, he jumped into the air and swung his silver sword at the demon. "Get off of him you bastard!" He yelled as he neared his target. He sent a thought to Canace. C, you think you can tell me what the demon and crazy one said?He saw the crazed look in the black wolf's eyes, he feared what the crazed one was thinking about was thinking about.

Not much, Ly. There mostly just insulting each other. The black one seems a lot more than crazy though, and the demon keeps calling the white one a prince. Canace wasn't sure what was going on, but when the pouch she was in began to fly in the air slightly as Lykiaos was jumping, she knew that a fight was immenent. Ly, you're always so eager to get into a fight.

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[blitzkreig]

Insanity was a second nature to most. The regality that Blitzkreig had once held was replaced by a fearful gnawing look of terror. But not terror of this demon overlord, it was a fear of death, and the possibilities that lurked like sickening parasites in the black wolf's mind. Ryannktsu's words rang like a huge dented bell in his head and he let himself uncurl from his bunched up state of fearful thoughts. His ears fell forward like floppy socks, then picked up as Blitzkreig's lip quivered to show sharp rows of teeth for only a moment. Large pads pushed foward and Blitz hunkered a little closer to the cruel beast. It intrigued him to no ends the words of this vehement overlord. Again his maw opened for some sort of reply, when instinct made him twist around. Jaws gaped in a snarl and he sprung in the path of the oncoming human.

"Do not be daft!"
he howled, as if he were unaware of the upraised blade and the deadly brillinace it held against the pallid sunlight. The fur along his spine stuck up again like some bristly crest, the mane about his neck standing on end and making him seem bigger then he really was. His jaws sagged open warily. Blazing crimsons pinpointed the little wolf on the pouch on the human's back.
"Tell you're human that if he takes as much as one more step, and meddles in business which is not his own...That I will rip him from cheek to toe without hestiation!"

He let one crazed eye roam to the demon once more...The Druin. The other kept check on the human.
"Your proposition is a fair one, demon...Tell me..What makes a high-class beasty like you want to help out a half-cracked egg like me?"
'Perhaps he sees you are crazy, Blitzkreig. Perhaps he knows what you see when you dream in your bed at night. Something like that could prove valuble to a creature of such status as he....or could it?'

[Aveilthé]

The Druin grinned. "Please, human, your sword is nothing more
than a blunted fang..." His brows then lofted some as Blitzkreig
confronted the human, but instead speaking to the human, spoke
to the wolf upon the man-creature's back.

"I have a better idea. Attempt to come near me with a filthy
whelp's tooth, then I'll kill the Alpha's prince on the spot."
He looked rather austere, as if discussing the matter over tea
with the human. "Better yet... if you don't watch your step... then I'll
let my fangs find your throat. I have yet to taste the blood of man.
And perhaps the whelp on your back will serve as a nice aftermeal."

Ryannktsu then arched his serpentine neck upon hearing Blitzkreig's
response.

"Why wouldn't I?" he repeated softly, all the while pressuring Kusu's
damaged throat. "There are plenty of things that needs to be done.
And yet we're standing here, discussing it. I have future plans for
this fellow, here." He gestured to Kusu. "He remains the diamond
in my plans. In the last war that I have had with Shinkou Ookami,
my clan has fallen - and the remnants killed eachother off." He said
this in pure, sick enthusiasm. "Thus, I am here to rebuild my army,
and make the the masses even more expansive. Shinkou Ookami
is a foolhardy pack... I wish every single one of them ill... even to
my family that became disloyal to me in the end. Perhaps...
perhaps you have had a family you much disliked?" He gave
Blitzkreig an intense, close look, as if judging him on the spot.

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[demin]

Since Lykiaos was blind in one eye, he did not see Blitzkreig run at him to block his way. He could tell the crazed wolf was saying something to Canace, Lykiaos did not want to know the response. He reluctantly asked the pup, Wha-what did he say, C? He waited for Canace's response and listened to the demon as he spoke in the bone-chilling voice, but what really surprised Lykiaos, is that he could now understand the two wolves. He focused his right eye, his good eye, on the demon. "I don't know who the hell you are, demon. But I will save the white wolf somehow." He sent another thought to Canace. C, if I die here....I want to you to run back to the Shinkou lands as fast as you can. He all of a sudden burst into an inhuman speed, and ran past Blitzkreig, towards Ryannktsu with his sword pointed at the demon's head. He hoped this would work, if it didn't......well....this wasn't something he wanted to think about.

[blitzkreig]

Blitzkreig's mind turned like a wave. His own sinister thoughts were blazing in his minds eye like a sick story that would not stop playing. And the deaths, and endless reel of deaths, all horrible, and very many of them had come true. But somehow he knew his latest glimpse into the land of the unknown was not something that would come true. Call it intuition. But one should learn not to listen to the ideas of a wolf who was one banana short of a bunch...so to speak. Buds of spittle had formed at the corners of the black beast's ebony lips, drooling down hungrily to the chin of his taught jaw. His quick crazed eyes remained on the human, rolling incessently in their sockets like twin crimson marbles spinning.

Ryannkutsu spoke of wars and blood, and all of this excited Blitzkreig. His blood got running at the very thought of battle. It wouldn't be so though. So this demon wanted Blitz to be part of his master plan, despite the fact that he was loonier then a fish flying. For a few moments he thought it quite strange, but dimissed them like bad dreams, shrugging them off with his broad shoulders. There was fear and anger in the human's eyes, something that Blitzkreig could relate to in some morbid way. His jaws were still trained on the human if he dared make a move. He was consumed by greedy anger and hate. What the demon had said sparked something in him that made the fur on his spine stand even taller. His father, always wanting him to be something that he wasn't. Heh, stupid fool, in battle, he had injured the old wolf, left him for dead and ran from the pack with Rapture on his tail. A low instictual growl formed in his throat.


"Aye, I harbour hate to those I once thought were family..."
then he added, with a moments hesitation.
"...Sir....They made me the monster I am now, and I resent that with all the hate in my blood, I do. I see things that you would scarse see in your wildest nightmares, Ryannkutsu."
As Blitz spoke, he had taken momentary attention off of the sword-weilding human. The human slipped back, and Blitzkreig snapped to with a snarl of agitation. He made no move to stop what was happening. His mind had been caught fast by the gleam of the blade, a deadly curved fang, brilliant, throwing a pallid gleam of deathly brilliance upon the earth beneath it. He wanted to see what this demon could do...If the white wolf broke free...He would make sure he made it no further then a few good steps.

[Aveilthé]

"Then you have the right to hate. To hate the world for turning
its back to you. But I... I can give you everything that you desire."
He paused as he looked back towards the human.

"Fool," said Ryannktsu, picking up Kusu by the scruff and biting down
like a venemous snake over his neck. Kusu gave out a wild scream,
pleading and moaning, but these exclamations only fell on deaf ears.

"I will kill the wolf you are so desperately trying to save," said
the Druin quietly, "unless you stop your mad little sprint in an
attempt to kill me. I'll tear your face off."

Kusu looked up, his apricot eyes bloodshot and exhausted. He gazed
at the human, and begged for him to not attack Ryannktsu.
The human didn't know what Ryannktsu was capable of. Above all
else, he did not want to die in the hands of the demon.

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[demin]

When the demon gave his threat, Lykiaos was already just a few feet away from him and the pinned wolf. He had to stop, and stop fast. He looked down at Kusu and saw that his eyes begged Lykiaos not to go any further, he abided by his wishes, and stopped running towards them. He was running so fast that the sudden force of the stop caused the bones in his left leg to crack slightly. He let out a small grunt of pain, and winced a little bit. "You seem to think I care about my life, demon. I don't care if anyone kills me, I don't fear death." He turned his head to look at the crazed wolf behind him. "His promises of power are empty ones. He is a demon. He is lies, deceit, and deception incarnate." He said trying to bring the crazed wolf to his non existent senses. He turned his attention to Kusu, and told Canace to talk to Kusu in his thoughts.

The small timber wolf let her thoughts echo through Kusu's mind. My master means well, he just doesn't think well under pressure. Please, tell us if there is anything we can do to save you. We will do what ever we can to help you, but you will have to help us as well. Canace poked her head out of the pouch and looked down at Kusu and met his eyes, and saw that this wolf was filled with pain and grief, something that no one should feel.

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[blitzkreig]

The human had stopped, and wisely so. Something about Ryannktsu's words made his trust run even deeper. Blitz paused to think as though swishing the demon's words around in his mouth like expensive wine. There was danger in a pact with a demon...Blitzkreig loved the taste of danger, it was like well-aged cheese was to a suited richman to him. A small snicker was rebounded to the human's words. He was trying to lead Blitzkreig down a path that the black wolf had long ago left behind. He had broken his gaze away from the human's sword, fearing that he may see another vision. Not that he wouldnt mind seeing the bothersome being dying, it was just that his visions were becoming far too realistic for the crazed wolf's comfort. Often they included him, no longer just a picture in his mind, but he could see everything around him and smell the air. They were not normal visions.

The laughter of an insane creature is something that runs like a shiver down your very spine. It is a shrill choking sputter of sorts, going into fits and gales as though what had just been said was the funniest thing the wolf had heard in forever. Tears of merriment rolled down Blitz's cheek like tiny crystals dazzeling in the pallid light of that particular day, not really sunny, partially cloudy (Blitzkreig had noted almost joyfully) - Though joy was not really a feeling that was on his pallet anymore...It was more like morbid fascination then joy. Ryannktsu's words rang like the truest things that Blitzkreig had ever heard. He chuckled madly.
"You're alright, demon, you know that."
He darted a glance over his shoulder in a most paranoid fashion befors speaking again.
"I will trust you with this...And human, waste not your words of pity with me. I have followed the path of a dark wolf for longer then you could hold that sword of yours. I make my own decisions in this life."

Blitz suddenly perked his ears as if to hear something. Perhaps it was the muted scrabble of his lost prey in the dirt beneath his feet but the paranoia started again. He spied the way the little wolf was looking at the captured prince and started to slaver at the mouth.
"You! Yeah, the little peice of Jerky in the brat's pouch! I wouldn't talk to that prisoner if I were you."
And he lowered his head, ears back. He hadnt known what was going on in the minds of the two wolves, he hadnt a clue really. Call it dumb luck, it was just the crazed sense of suspicion. Lucky guess, huh?

[Aveilthé]

Kusu did not have time to respond to the young wolf attempting
telepathy with him. As soon as he looked at his own reflection in the
the puddle of blood that he knew belonged to him, he passed out
in Ryannktsu's grasp. How very unlucky for Kusu.

Ryannktsu winced as Kusu fell limp. "Ugh. What a waste," he
growled. "Well then. Either way, you will still remain of great
importance to my plans. Ahh... Blitzkreig... we shall meet again...
and you, boy, may Hell always follow you in your stead."
Thus, cackling viciously, a kind of pitch-black shadow had
enveloped the dark demon and the white wolf. As soon as it had
come, it dissapeared, but Ryannktsu and Kusu were no-
where to be found. It was as if they had dissapeared out of thin
air.

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[demin]

Lykiaos jumped back slightly when shadow covered Kusu and the demon, his eyes widened when he saw that nothing was there once the shadow disappeared. He sheathed his sword and looked up at the sky. "Dammit, so I came to this hell only to fail." He turned his attention to Blitzkrieg and spoke to the crazed wolf. "I have no quarrel with you, but know this. That demon will just use you, and once he is done with you he will kill you with out a second thought." He burst into a run, and headed back to the Shinkou lands, despite his leg being injured. He didn't care about the pain, his failure to save Kusu was all he could think about right now.

((In other words, me went bye bye from thread))