Currents

[sunblind]

OOC: Neither do I Guess I'll have to bring in someone else, hmmm

Cyrill swam effortlessly from the river into the lake. Towards the middle of it she paused and just floated there, looking about. This was her element, and this far from any shore, they were safe. Then she saw it, the soft white glimmer in the trees to her left. She dipped a little lower, just in case they needed to vanish quick, but it wasn't necessary. With a sigh of relief she swan towards the unicorn coming for a drink.

myth-and-fantasy.com/pegasus/adopt/padopt4.html

Githraniel was from the same Realm as Cyrill, though neither knew it, one being from the Island of the Unicorns, the other the Mountain of the Dragons. But it didn't matter, Cyrill knew that most unicorns were good, and most were also healers of some sort. She was willing to take the chance.

The stallion's head popped up as Cyrill's ripples met his own, and he watched with curiosity as the odd pair approached. Githraniel was an adventurer, warrior, and a Protector of the herd of Winged Ones. He was always exploring since he was a foal. At first the Realm had been big enough for him, there was so much to find there. But over time, his large wings permitted him to cover great territory, and he was probably more familiar with the entire Realm than most other inhabitants, except perhaps SunBlind herself. So he decided to expand his horizons, finding portals to other Realms. This was his first time here, wherever here was, and it looked like it was about to get interesting...

For a moment, unicorn and Tsume's just looked at each other. Githraniel's gaze what appeared to him as mother and child, though it was odd that the child would not be aquatic in the least, but then he'd seen weirder pairings and stranger offspring as a result. Then he saw the burns on Lacere's back and his eyes narrowed.

"Unicorn," Cyrill began, "Are you a healer?"

The need was obvious, but a healer Githraniel wasn't. He shooke his head. But he was a unicorn, and his horn still held some of those desirable qualities. Without asking what happened, he walked out into the lake and lowered his head to touch the Tsume child's back. She winced as whatever basic power in his horn flowed through her ravaged skin. Githraniel raised his head.

"That's all I can do I'm afraid. But there should be no fear of infection and she will heal in time." His deep voice was soothing, as was the nature of unicorn voices. "I'm sorry I cannot do more. Perhaps you can tell me what happened?"

Cyrill told the tale as the unicorn listened attentively, standing knee deep in the cool waters., little waves lapping against his legs.

[Thalron]

OOC: You should get aim, or msn or something so we can talk more easily XD

Lacere was pretty sound asleep during most of the movmeents, the voices did register somewhere in her mind though and her dreams reflected it in strange patterns... She hardly stirred when the unicorns horn touched the very sensitive and blackened parts of her back, only a slight sign of discomfort showing on her face. She hugged a bit tighter to the large tsumes neck for a moment, a small noise coming from her... but then soon relaxed again.

It wasn't until Cyrill began to relate the tale of their meeting that she began to fidget again, the whole scene replaying over again in her dreams as it was told to the unicorn. Her hands and feet were twitching and spasming a little bit before she suddenly gasped and woke up, looking around with wide eyes for whatever was...

She stared at the unicorn, her eyes still wide as she had just woken up from the nightmare. She had only seen unicorns at a distance before, none lived in chaos hills either. What was it doing here? Did Cyrill call it? her mind was momentarily panicked as she wondered whether it would recognize her for what she was... She was pretty good at hiding the uncertainty though, the fading fear of the nightmare still existed. "Wha-what's going on?" she asked a little shakily.

[sunblind]

The unicorn was looking at the young Tsume with a thoughtful expression on his face. Perhaps he had sensed something of her nature when he had touched her with his horn, but at the moment he said nothing to the other Tsume. Or perhaps he was simply concerned for Lacere's well being.

Cyrill stopped her tale just as she was explaining how they found this lake, for Lacere had woken up and asked a question.

"Githraniel helped heal you a little. We were lucky to find a unicorn at this lake."

Cyrill moved towards the shore so that Lacere could get off her back and dry off. The unicorn also stepped out of the water at this time. He continued to look at the young one with a strange, penetrating gaze. Was he also wondering how Lacere ended up in this situation like Cyrill had wondered? Or was he just standing nearby in case the child slipped back into the water and would need someone to help pull her out. Maybe he was a seer...he wasn't actually, but how were the other two to know what the stallion could or could not do. Humans aren't the only ones who invent legends about other creatures. To give them powers when they are believed to be good creatures, and to give the evil ones weaknesses where there are none, just so you felt you could actually fight them if you met one.

Githraniel knew better than to make any judgments, having met many of these legendary creatures in the flesh. But he'd never met anything like this pair and he was curious to know more. He could recognize that they had some draconic nature to them, but Cyrill was aquatic and Lacere had fur. One wouldn't have assumed them to be the same species.

[Thalron]

Lacere didn't need any special information or her empathic abilities to tell that the unicorn didn't know what she was. Had he known she was a young sin she was pretty sure he would have said or done something already... She didn't like how he was staring at her though, it just made her skin itch, of course maybe that was just the burn. "Umm... Thanks." She bowed her head to him hesitantly, before jumping of Cyrill. She didn't manage t make it all the way to shore, but she quickly scurried out of the water and shook off. sending little droplets of water flying in every direction, and leaving her fur rather funny looking afterwards.

"Eheh, erm sorry." She said with a small nervous smile up at the unicorn. She had seen pictures of unicorns in books before, they always seemed to be with some human in armor, or a woman in white. She didn't really know what was going on, but they always seemed to be the good guys. She also heard that the ones that lived near her were good for the most part, and she'd even seen one once or twice... Always at a distance though, she was afraid to go up to them. Other than the story books, she only knew them as horses with horns.

"I've... never seen a unicorn this close before." she said with a hint of wonder in her voice as she looked up at githaniel. His fur looks so white and perfect, he couldn't live in chaos hills... Almost anything with fur that white and short ended up being scarred after not too long. Her thoughts were sort of muffled though when she began to shiver. The wind wasn't so bad when she had been partially in the water, but now she was higher up and fully exposed to it.

[sunblind]

"Well, I've never met creatures such as yourselves before. I am Githraniel, a Silver Unicorn from Unicorn Island in the Realm of Myth and Fantasy." He paused when Cyrill made a surprised gasp.

"I'm from Dragon Mountain!" the Ocean Tsume exclaimed, happy to have found someone from the same Realm as her in such a strange place. Of course there were a lot of strange and dangerous things in SunBlind's Realm, many of those living in the Mountain, but one always felt safer around the familiar. "My name is Cyrill, and this is Lacere. We are Tsumes." Obviously the word Tsume didn't impart as much knowledge as the word Unicorn, but at the same time it prevented him from making assumptions as he still didn't have a clue. At least now he was certain that they were the same species, however different they appeared. Probably some sort of elemental thing, many species had that quirk.

Githraniel nodded to the two of them, and then spread his wings as the wind tried to lift him off balance. The same wind that was chilling the younger Tsume. It was Cyrill who noticed Lacere's shiver and frowned, then cast her glance about the shore to see if there was a sheltered area.

"Lacere, do you think you can make it over there?" Some bushes grew amongst some rocks nearby, creating a nature barrier to the wind coming towards the lake.

[Thalron]

Lacere was listening as intently as she could while attempting to hide how cold she felt... Which basically meant she wasn't doing a good job of either. The name of the place the unicorn came from was odd though, it seemed a bit... uncreative and redundant. She was never very good with names though, maybe it was translated into that from something else? she shivered again and her teeth clattered slightly before she managed to clamp them together. "I'm from chaos hills..." she muttered lightly before shivering visibly and looking over to where Cyrill pointed.

It looked like... some bushes. Oh, and some rocks. She looked back to Cyrill for a moment before nodding and scurrying over to them. She looked very... Cute, and helpless. The burns didn't even seem to detract from her appearance, there was just something uncannily pleasant about her appearance. After she sat down behind the rocks and such she looked up and out at Githraniel. "I-i'm sorry I'm not really talkative.... It's just a-abit cold..." she said with a small blush appearing as she ducked back down. She really liked how pretty his big feathery wings were... They looked especially appealing since she bet that they'd help keep him warm.

She wished that she could meet someone from her own realm too, but unfortunately she knew that almost all of them would instantly know what she was... Geil definitely got around, and made sure that everyone eventually found out what a sin was when they lived near him. And most didn't know that they lacked powers till they grew up. Well, other than being especially empathic with those around them.

[sunblind]

Githraniel shuffled uncomfortably. There was something *odd* about this little creature. She looked so sweet, so harmless, so cold, that he felt a strong urge to tuck her under one of this wings and nuzzle her to sleep. And he wasn't exactly that type of guy, he was a warrior. Not that he minded playing with the foals, but the snuggling part he left to others. And he's sensed something when he'd touched her with his horn, but he hadn't the foggiest what it was. It wasn't exactly evil, but it wasn't all sweetness and light either. Cyrill didn't give off the same aura, though she was either not bothered by Lacere's or she was unaware of it.

Truth was Cyrill seemed a little crotchety and surly, but strangely attached to this child which wasn't hers. Could Lacere be casting a spell upon them both? But he felt that if this was so it wasn't intentional, it was just her nature. Perhaps she was simply emitting this need for comfort due to her injuries. He'd once encountered a telepathic creature that had been mortally wounded. It was as if he himself was on the edge of death, the pain was overwhelming and he hadn't been able to leave till the creature had died. He still had nightmares about that!

Should he ask? Was it any of this business? It wasn't as if this influence was permanent, he could even ignore it if he chose. The stallion sighed and lay down next to the furry Tsume and spread a wing over her. "At least until you are dry," he said, hoping that none of the other Protectors of the Herd saw this. He'd never live it down.

What none of them knew was that something was watching from the shadows of the trees....



OOC: I have no idea what's watching them, whether good or bad. If you want to bring in something go ahead, otherwise I'll come up with something next time *g*

[Thalron]

Lacere could see his hesitation... He definitely had some sort of reservations about her, but seemed kind enough to keep them to himself. Perhaps he did not know the whole stories about sins, or was just uncomfortable around children. In her mind she was most worried about the first, however felt it was much more likely he just didn't feel comfortable with random children.

She grew nervous for a moment as he came over, but then relaxed again as he lay down. The wing was a very welcome covering and she quickly slid over to his side, snuggling against the soft, warm fur. Soft, cute and purring noises coming from her as she nuzzled his side appreciatively. "Th-thank you Gith.." her voice still stuttered a bit from the cold but now atleast she was getting warmer rather than colder.

If only Cyrill could come and cuddle with them too, then it'd be pretty much perfect.

Well, except for the fact that there was something just out of range of her senses planning to maul them, or more specifically the little critter tucked under the unicorns wing. The only thing that kept it confined to the shadows was the fact it did not know what this strange creature was, or what it was capable of. It sneered as the creature coddled the little sin, it had obviously affected them already. Taken their mind and wills. It was weak and injured now, but that probably just made it all the easier to gain 'allies'.

What should it do though? it might be able to kill it and the odd creature, the one in the water wasn't really a threat judging by the way it ran before. It could go for the others, but they might be gone by the time he got back... He might be able to reason with them, snap them out of it, but if he took too long he'd be vulnerable to that pathetic little creature.

Apprehensively it stepped forward, it's deep red hide marked only by random spikes and random black, almost burnt splotches covering its feet and the base of each protrusion. To those who did not know the highly varied appearance of the Tsume race it might almost seem as a demon. The frightening appearance was not aided by the fact when it opened its mouth little bits of flame and smoke rolled out in a angry hiss as it spoke. "Relinquish the Sin, you do not know what you are protecting.." It was hard not to notice how carefully he enunciated every word, having to work around the massive fangs which were constantly licked with flame as he spoke.

Lacere could not see what was going on from underneath the wing of the very hospitable stallion. She could however, hear the voice and when the tsume came out of the shadows... She released a small squeak and clung to his side as tight as she could.

OOC: eheh sorry for the long delay, finals + christmas = crazy.

[sunblind]

He couldn't deny it, the warm little body purring next to his was actually kind of nice. Githraniel mentally shrugged and snuggled down to get more comfortable.

There was a sound, and he flicked back an ear, then his head jerked up, body tense. Something had appeared in the shadows of the trees, something dangerous. When it spoke there was flame. There was fang, and there was claw. The stallion pinned back his ears and bared his teeth (of course not a particularly impressive display in comparison to the other's fangs). Release the sin? What sin? Was this some sort of religious fanatic???

Cyrill recognized the other creature as a Tsume, and also understood the Sin reference. Suddenly a whole lot of things that didn't make sense before came together with an almost visible lightbulb over her head. She backed away slowly, almost as afraid of Lacere as she was of the other Tsume, no, perhaps more so. She'd heard things about Sins, and though she didn't believe everything, she wasn't sure what was and wasn't true. Lacere hadn't seemed to have done her or the unicorn any harm, but that was part of the Sin's talent wasn't it? You wouldn't even be aware of their influence until too late.

During this time the white stallion stood up and took a defensive stance, lowering his horn towards the adversary. Protecting the weak, now he knew what he was doing. He kept Lacere behind him, away from the other Tsume. He also angled himself so he could block any attack on Cyrill, though he felt the water creature could easily escape this fire one.

"Explain yourself," the unicorn demanded. A single glance into his eyes and one knew he was a creature not to be taken lightly. "What sin is this you speak of?"

OOC: no problemo!

[Thalron]

The sight of the horses bared teeth was almost laughable to this tsume, he could tell right away that this was not a hunter. such flat and broad teeth were meant for plants, very much unlike his which seemed meticulously designed to rend flesh from bone. The only dangerous part seemed to be that large horn in the center of its head. If he had to he was rather sure he could make short work of this one, but he wasn't after him. He was after the little creature which he seemed to protect so wholeheartedly. Oddly enough, religious fanatic was not too far off from how this fire tsume acted, although he was working for no religion to speak of, just a sense of duty.

"That creature you protect is a sin, She'll warp your mind until your her slave, or dead." as he spoke he continued to move closer, half circling the unicorn to try and get the little creature in view... It wouldn't survive a full blast of fire without the water to protect it, and if the white winged horse was not diligent enough he could finish this without having to truly convince anyone.

Lacere did, however, make sure to stick close behind Githaniel. Cowering somewhat with her ears back down against her head, she had gotten out of worse situations before but... She was still frightened. She didn't even have to look at Cyrill to feel the sudden realization that sprung into the oceans mind, which just caused her to quake all the more... But she needed to defend herself, somehow. She had no abilities to speak of, no mental manipulation, fire breathing, magic or such. but she could still talk. "I haven't done anything wrong... I can't..." She hung her head a bit and heaved a big sigh. Inside she was dreading becoming an adult, getting locked into some perpetual state of mind or body depending on which one she became... she just wanted to be herself. "Not yet..." she nearly whispered the last bit out, but it echoed oddly in their ears. It even caused the fiery male to faulter for a moment before he growled out again.

Depending on how much Cyrill knew, she might realize that young sins are pretty much without powers. Which is probably why this creature has succeeded in following and attacking them, had Lacere truly been in control of her powers it's unlikely that it would have lasted this long... And it was even more unlikely that Cyrill would have accepted the fact that the child was a sin, no matter the evidence.

[sunblind]

Githraniel pivoted slowly as the red Tsume circled, ensuring that most pointy part of his anatomy was always in position to defend the youngling.

"I'm not sure I understand you, what sin has this child committed? Was she of faulty birth? Some sort of prophecy declared her doom? She says she has done nothing wrong, and I can see no way in which she could have done you harm." Which was indeed true, given the ferocious nature of fiery Tsume, it seemed almost laughable that he should consider Lacere a threat. The stallion was still confused, not equating sin with an elemental nature but rather as simply an act of doing something wrong.

In the meantime, in the lake, Cyrill felt her heartstrings pull as Lacere whispered her last words. It was true of course, she was too young for her powers to have developed. At the same time, in time they would. The ocean Tsume could tell that Lacere was not looking forward to that, but it was inevitable. So perhaps she should be put out of her misery now before she causes misery for others. She shook her head in disgust at her own thoughts.

By this time, the odd rotating trio had placed the red Tsume farthest from the water and Lacere right on the edge, the stallion of course in between. Cursing her fellow Ocean for giving her the wrong directions and getting her in this mess in the first place, she darted forward, and yanked Lacere under the water.

The unicorn heard the commotion, but didn't dare turn to look to see what was going on. He had to trust Cyrill hadn't turned cannibal, as he'd pretty much figured out now that this newcomer was of the same species as the other two. His body and wings prevented the red Tsume from seeing a thing.

But there was little doubt he would have heard it.

[Thalron]

The fiery tsume continued to growl and hiss as he circled, it was not in his nature to be patient and he was mere moments from seeing how fireproof this horse creature was. It looked rather flammable to him, and much too clean. "It is her element you fool! They manipulate people with their powers and appearance!" He growled and began to move closer. "We must kill it before it can take ove-" It's eyes widened and a sharp growl escaped its mouth when it heard the splash, then its eyes narrowed at the stallion and it hardly took a breath before a sudden wave of fire shot forward along the ground... It was not aimed specifically at the horse, but chances were he would get burned.

This was probably the worst luck he had ever had in hunting, ever. Not only had he failed to catch her the first time... When he had even lifted her up by that scrawny little arm, only to have gotten kicked in both eyes and been too disoreintated to find her right away.... Then she had gotten away in the cave thanks to that blasted ocean tsume who seemed intent on spiriting her away once more. Unless it had come to its senses and drown the little rat, that would really make his day, in a non-sarcastic sort of way.

Lacere was already holding her breath by the time she was grabbed, she could feel it coming and her eyes were closed as tightly as she could manage. She didn't fight against Cyrill, there was little to no point in it... But the main reason she didn't do it was she didn't know if she really wanted to, if Cyrill thought she was worth saving then she'd probably live if not... It didn't seem very much grimmer than the fate that was in store for her regardless the outcome.

[sunblind]

Elemental sin? What the.... but Githraniel couldn't finish the thought. The red Tsume had already loosed his flame and if the unicorn had not been gifted with flight, he would have been roasted indeed. But his wings were big and strong and a leap got most of him out of the way in time. One hindhoof was not so lucky, the scorched fetlock causing the stallion to whinny in pain.

From under the water, Cyrill saw the flames rush over surface of the lake, causing steam to rise from the heat. She clasped Lacere tightly to her chest and raced through the water, a rather annoying sense of deja-vu following her along. She broke the surface again near the center of the lake, hopefully too far for the firey Tsume's flames, but if not, she'd have time to see it coming and dunk under again. She glanced up and saw Githraniel circling above.

The stallion didn't want to get involved in someone else's quest. What if the fiery one was right? What if the little creature was a danger to her species, what if she was some sort of evil being? He'd spent a good part of his travels fighting such things. But he didn't like to kill, and that applied to both Lacere and the newcomer. Seeing that Lacere appeared to be safe for the moment, and that it was unlikely she could cause any harm to the red Tsume in return, he continued his flight, trying to figure out who needed protection from who.

Cyrill returned her gaze to the male Tsume and stared hard at him, grappling with her own indecision. She couldn't just hand Lacere over, that'd be murder, as much as it would have been had she drowned the child herself. But...but...the cost of letting her live. If even a small fraction of the rumours were true...then other's might die because of her inaction...maybe many others...

[Thalron]

The fiery tsume roared and moved up to the outlet of the lake... He had no chance of going into the water after them in such an open area, but they would not get past him in this direction. The water was too shallow for them to escape unbothered. He didn't know how far they could get the other way either, since he knew it went underground at some point... and was just hoping that attempting to go upstream with the little tsume would take too long under the water.

So he was going to wait, at some point his friends might come back too... and they would have an easier time of picking those two creatures out of the water than he, not to mention their abilities lent them a better advantage.

There was a big kink in his plan though he did not know it, no one did for that matter...

Lacere noticed it first, she was sensitive to the emotions and thoughts of those around her and... This creature had some especially strong feelings emanating from it, strong enough that she was not the only one to feel them. It was as if a wave of pure hatred was emanating from somewhere nearby...

She had been clinging to Cyrill, lost in her sudden depression and self loathing when she sensed it, causing her mood to swing again... But not the way one might expect, immediatly her pupils shrank and she clung to Cyrill so tightly it was almost painful. "Run..." she whispered to her, again and again.

Githraniel would likely be the first to 'see' this newcomer, if he were observant enough, as she came from the forest a bit out of sight. They all heard her at the same time though, it was pretty hard not to. "Fucking little crusader!" A very... masculine, albeit obviously female voice barked out suddenly. "I'll rip out your @%@^$% and %$(*$*&!... %#@*!!" Her swearing was a bit hard to understand, but easy to comprehend. She was about to hurt someone, and she was heading towards the fire tsume.

She was obviously an adult Sin, her markings... and attitude gave her away as a wrath type, one of the most unstable, and deadly of the sins. In just a moment they can turn even the closest loved one into a hated enemy, even cause feelings of such self loathing that suicide became the only option.

Considering the sizable distraction, it would probably be possible to get by the fire tsume at this point...

[sunblind]

Githraniel felt it. Unicorns were sensitive to such things, but that didn't really protect him from sensing the emotions more as his own than something from the outside. He had to hold himself a moment from diving at the fire tsume with his horn right then and there. He tried to block it, and succeeded a little since it wasn't directed at him, but his natural sensitivity was both a blessing and a curse in this case. He was aware of the danger, but at the same time, was being pulled in by it.

At least he now knew why the red Tsume wanted Lacere dead.

Cyrill's mind was in a whirl. She saw how the other Tsume had blockaded the exit to the lake, there would be no escape there. And then Lacere started whispering "Run". But where? Besides they were safest here, in the middle of the lake.

Four sets of eyes moved in unison was the gruff voice growled from the trees. Cyrill gasped in terror, the kind one has when one realizes that the bogeyman wasn't just a fairy tale and that he was standing right there, only a few feet away. The only thing she could do was cling harder to Lacere, too terrified to move. Her arms were probably too tight, putting pressure on the young Tsume's wounded back and stifling her breath. But the ocean Tsume had all but forgotten about the child.