The Harlequin

[font=gothic][color=crimson]No, they actually annoy me. Welcome to my world. Anyway... the fact that my dishwashing lemon is 30% fruit compound, while fruit juice is 5%, the fact that our HPE teacher lied to us about what was on the exam, the fact that someone agrees with Cloricus, the kind of people that rort a system like Social Welfare.[/font][/color]

[quote][I]Originally posted by Renee[/I] Ye Gods, we're all going to die![/quote] [font=gothic][color=crimson]For those that know me... At last someone agrees with me! (reasons irrelevant) I'd really like to compound the stupidity in that by pointing out that most of the time politicians don't write their own speeches. So either he's idiotic enough to right that, or too idiotic to realise it's wrong when he reads it. Which means that two people are idiots. Either way, rejoice in the affirmation of my belief in the sutpidity of the human race.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Alright, the universal apologies are getting as bad as the arguments. Must you two? Really? And cloricus, that's except when it comes to me. The fact that straws get slits in them, making them unusable, the sound styrofoam makes when you rub it, or it contacts against other surfaces, my modem, the fact that I don't have any money right now, the fact that I'll have to get my hair cut at some point. I'm starting to agree with my father when he says I need some anger therapy...[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]I'd have to agree with James, and comment on my annoyance at the fact that Cloricus and Jesus Chicken cannot post in the same thread without turning it into an argument that nobody wants to read. And idiots who find that their only entertainment is the subjugation of others. Especially those that need alcohol to get worked up enough to go play their childish, damaging power games over the disadvantaged.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Running through the darkness, trying to keep out of sight, Harlequin and Spyder almost miss the other two in the pitch black. Valeigh however notices a slight reflection, and chances a harsh whisper. Startled, yet relieved, Harlequin and Spyder make their way over, Harlequin immediately noticing their nervous state.[/I] Harlequin: I thought we had bad news, but what did you two run into? Valeigh: Ochkik-Haddah. Harlequin: ...The Last Dawn, in this realm? Valeigh: Yes. Harlequin: He has no claim over us now, yet I am concerned. Did he come of his own violition, or is just the next thing to be thrown at us? Rico: You spoke of bad news. Spyder: They have Athen. He looked in bad shape. Whatever attacked him left some kind of parasite. Rico: Then shall we? Death is still wandering around after all? [I]They set off in the darkness, Spyder and Harlequin leading them off back to the place they encountered the figures that abducted Athen.[/I][/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]OOC: Bleh! You dirty, dirty man. [I]After several minutes of intense flying, Davien awakens, his body healing as he channeled his will into it. He finds himself with his arms wrapped around Alastuin, who is conversing softly with Kral Thraxx, unaware of Davien's regained consciousness.[/I] Alastuin: What now? Kral Thraxx: I have no idea. We were slightly distracted when we left the others. Alastuin: Can Kredion find us? Kral Thraxx: Depends on how much he knows. If he tries to retreat into the ethers to locate us, his plan will not come into fruition. Alastuin: Why not? Kral Thraxx: The ethers reflects the light of the souls of all beings, among its other properties. We are creatures of darkness, and our presence cloaks others. However, should he try to locate us through some kind of trace, he should be successful. Alastuin: Then we can only hope. Davien: He'll find us. [I]Alastuin starts, surprised.[/I] Alastuin: Are you alright? Davien: Fine. Kredion knows about the limitations against ethereally finding us. Alastuin: So, do we wait? Davien: There's nothing else for it. [I]Kral Thraxx lands on a nearby peak, with a dark cave inset in the landscape. Shrugging, Davien walks in, his twin viper loose against his side. The cave continues normally for about 60 feet, before descending in a spiralling staircase.[/I] Davien: It's not the right thing to do, but it would probably be a lot more fun.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vukodlak looked for a long moment at the naive kid who had sat next to him.[/I] Kabuki: Hey, I'm Kabuki. Vukodlak: Was there something? Kabuki: What do you mean? Vukodlak: Are you sitting there for a reason, or are you just entertaining the notion of incipient mortality? Kabuki: What? Vukodlak: It matters not. [I]Vukodlak gets up and walks swiftly off, leaving the other person behind. Climbing the outer dome, he comes to stand on a windswept, exposed beam, part of the defences currently being constructed. This was his preferred environment. Alone, in typical melancholy situation. He thrived on the solitude.[/I] Vukodlak: Cosmo Canyon. Been a while. But there's nothing left there. Nothing. There's nothing left anywhere. Kabuki: Do you typically talk to yourself? And are you typically so morose? Vukodlak: Yes to both. Why did you follow me? Kabuki: Someone wanted to know where "that pyscho" was. That by any chance you? Vukodlak: Yes. Who? Kabuki: Not sure. They're back there. [I]Vukodlak turns to leave, easily navigating the thin, swaying beam. As he walks past, Kabuki calls out to him.[/I] Kabuki: Why they call you a psycho? Vukodlak: Because I threaten to leave people evicerated with a cheese grater, slowing swinging back and forth as their entrails unwind, after being hung up by the shoulder blades for a week or two. [I]Vukodlak walks off, ignoring the slightly surprised sound coming from Kabuki.[/I][/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]For the record, that's Jesus Chicken with the baby jokes, not me. And I don't make everything serious, I just a sarcastic reply to everything. An idiosyncrasy of mine. That's what people here seem not to realise. I'm not getting offended here, or trying to offend anyone else, I'm just being myself. Sarcastic. Anyway... The type of lawyers that go out of their way to try and prove that they are superior to you by trying to confuse you, people who refuse to accept that other opinions may have some validity, people who take me to seriously, the fact that my family refuses to accept my diet, my style of dress, my views of the world, my view of myself etc. Rap. I'm starting to run out here...[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]After shaking off their initial surprise, Spyder seems rather evasive. Cathos is much more forthright.[/I] Cathos: You dirty, dirty man. Davien: It's all in the wrist. Cathos: You say that far to often, and their are too many connotations in that sentence. Davien: People believe what they will. Spyder: So what ARE we going to do? Davien: We'll go find a new place to play. Cathos: Where? Davien: Welcome people, to my world. [I]With no further words, Davien ushers them down the stairs, and into yet another car. After cautioning Spyder against stealing or burning this one, he drives to a local cemetery. In the older, wilder, darker area, the area centuries old, now enveloped in strangely comforting dark wood, almost impenetrable to the eye, Davien finds what he is looking for. In a secluded clearing, there is a group of four teenagers, two males, two females. Your average typical teenage male trying to get some. In the dark, his teeth limmed in silver fire, Davien whispers.[/I] Davien: Die hand, die verldelezt. Spyder: What was that? And what's going on? Davien: Simple. They do some cheap demon summoning thing they read out of a book they got from the library. The fake a few things, the girls get really scared. The guys comfort them, one thing leads to another, etc. Spyder: So you like to watch to? Davien: They're summoning a demon. I like to make it real. Watch and learn. [I]Davien sneaks off to the other side of the clearing the teenagers are in, climbing a tree soundless and flawlessly even in the dark. There is a pentagram traced out in the centre of the clearing, on a blanket brought along. It's out of blood, probably that of a few mice. One of the teenagers starts a chant from a book. Under his breath, Davien starts his own chant. Cathos shivers as he recognises the emantations from the pentagram.[/I] Spyder: They're actually summoning a demon! It may not be wise to be here... Cathos: No they aren't. Spyder: Can't you feel it? Cathos: That's Davien. Spyder: What is he doing! Cathos: Watch and learn. [I]The chant reaches a crescendo. The other male, carefully rehearsed, throws a fire cracker into the middle of the pentagram while the girls are focused on the reader. The one who threw the firecracker, the only one looking at the pentagram, falls back in shock, too scared even to scream. Shimmering in the air, steaming with the cold, stands a demon. The demon advances, grabbing the terrified adolescent by the neck, snapping it instantly. The demon throws the body away, devouring the head. The other three definately hear that. One of the females tries to run, the other two stand transfixed, the way the rat stares at the snake. The last sound the one that attempted to escape ever heard was the crunching of bones as the demon devoured her friends. Then Davien stepped out and caught her, hissing into her face and flashing his incisors at her. As she faints, he sinks his teeth into her neck. Spyder shudders, she can only imagine what the girl must have felt. In an area she considering scary, with people she didn't really trust, trying to summon a demon. They succeeded, the demon killed her friends. Then, she runs into a stark white fiend, some ghost with hideous fangs. The insane being from beyond the grave. Spyder had no time to pity her, as she stood, as transfixed with Davien at his meal as the kids had been with the demon. She watches in sick facination as he slowly withdraws his fangs, almost gently breaking her neck. Staring into the dead eyes a moment, he lowers his mouth again, tearing her throat open completely. Reaching down the gaping wound, he pulls out the still gently beating heart. Smiling he devours about half of it, throwing the other half high in the air, before whipping out a 9mm and shooting it once, a spray of blood and tissue coating the nearby area. He walks back to the clearing. The demon, having finished it's feast, glares at him.[/I] Demon: You pitifuly vampyre. You meddle. You think I appreciate being dragged away simply for something like this. You may have summoned me, but you have no control over me. [I]Davien simply smiles as the demon tries to advance, locked in stasis by Davien's will. The demon starts to shimmer again, trying to break free. It's skin mottles, it's body becomes ethereal, and it changes shape wildly, seeking to escape. With a last mournful, resounding wail that seemed to echo up from a thousand years of despair and pain, the demon fades away, from the abyss whence it came. Davien returns to the other two. Cathos seems bored, Spyder slightly surprised. She becomes slightly shocked, however, when she sees his face, coated in blood. Everything from the waist up is a bloodstained mess. it drips from his hair and traces a path down besides his eyes, following an angular trail that appears to leave him with twin lightning bolts down his face. In the soft darkness, he looks horrifying.[/I] Davien: You had to see it, no matter how familiar you already were. Spyder: That was, not what I expected. Davien: Like us all, I have a darker side. None of the soft-spokenness, the grace, I have now, but a savage beast. Welcome to my inner soul. Spyder: What now? Davien: I go wash off. I feel slightly fouled. [I]Walking deeper into the wood, they come across a small stream. The other two politely turn their backs as Davien strips off and sluices his clothing of blood, then doing the same to himself. He comes out wearing his dark pants only, his shirt ruined.[/I] Davien: It will have to do. So, what now? [I]Spyder, still horrifyed, does not reply, but merely stares at Davien's chest, as if trying to imagine it soaked in blood. Due to some strange property, Davien's exposed skin gleams slightly, a pristine white seemingly incorruptible. That is what worries her most. How quickly, how thoroughly it changed. Davien notes her reaction, he almost seemed grimly expectant of it.[/I] Davien: I'm not surprised. But I wanted to show you, so it would hurt less. I mean, before things between us got too far. Spyder: I'm alright. You just surprised me. Remember, I have nothing against death. And the fact that you recently soaked in blood isn't why I'm staring at you. Davien: Oh. Cathos: Ahem. Shall we go? [I]They return to the streets, Davien unconcerned by his unclad state, and messed up hair.[/I][/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Most amusing. Slightly erroneous though, or perhaps just slightly unclear. If I annoy myself "real bad", that implies I annoy myself more than some other people annoy me, which would imply that I am more of a person than these diverse others. And what's that meant to mean? Exactly. It's an absurdity. So not only was your remark rather pitiful, it also doesn't even make sense.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]What made you think I hate everything? Actually, I hate very, very little. Just a lot of things annoy me. I don't have an attitude problem, people are just annoying basically sums up my belief.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Cloricus, I don't have to understand the military. Welcome to the world of logic. And the K.I.S.S. principle is not only found in military organisations.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]From the shadows, Harlequin observes Athen's abduction, but is unable to stop it, although the men did leave two of their number behind, efficiently strangled with a length of wire. Harlequin slips off to Spyder.[/I] Harlequin: They've got Athen. Spyder: What! How? Harlequin: Keep your voice down. There may be more of them. Where are Rico and Valiegh? We stand a better chance of rescuing him if we stick together. [I]Wrestling with conflicting emotions, Spyder does not move for a few seconds. More expedient, Harlequin simply firmly guides her off in search of the other two.[/I][/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]I would be honoured to point out, my lost cathartic [I]friend[/I], that 'Hick' is not a racist comment. It's a personality orientated comment. I'm talking about your typical back country yokel, with bad accent (Especially Australian, god curse Tara as the deepest hole on the planet), and worse odour. I refuse to believe you could be a typical hick, simply because of your presence on the internet at all. I'm talking about the lowest of the low here. Not people who might have been born in the country through no fault of their own. So if you want to put me in a world of trouble, you'll find yourself head first in a barrel full of leeches with rats eating your stomach from the inside out, and your viscera being attacked by a cheese grater. And as for you Amphion. Well... I'm not even going to start. To add to my list, and to keep this on topic. That species of fish that Ovid wrote a poem about, cadets, my lance corporal, my corporal, corporals Sanders and whatshisname, the complete lack of intelligent conversation and probably thought as well present in so many of my peers, peopl who bastardise others because of things like physical size and strength (in my opinion the worst form of barbarism), chopsticks (anyone who can successfully instruct me how to use them is a genius), anybody who is meant to deliver things on time but is more interested in using the company mobile for text messages or some other inane absurdity. And toasters.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]The normally impassive, emotionless Vukodlak was in a very bad mood. And it showed. Even as he gracefully flowed through the dirty, jostling crowd, touching no one, people who saw his face instinctively cleared a path for him. But bureaucracy of any kind tended to do that to him. He'd just signed up for the resistance, and the first thing they had done was hand him a uniform. Vukodlak sighed as remembered the damage done their. He'd reached out and grabbed the man's collar, pulling him closer and whispering to him in a dreadfully quiet voice 'I don't wear uniforms". The shaking man's immediate reply had been "Well, you aren't in the resistance then.", a sentiment that had quickly changed when Vukodlak had looked into his eyes for a long moment. Vukodlak's eyes tended to intimidate people. After a small mako accident, his eyes were left couldy, like the broken relflections of the moon on dark water (OOC: Think my banner people). When he got angry, the only visible sign was that his eyes started to shimmer. So it was that when Vukodlak got to Speed Square wearing a black outfit, he received nothing but open stares.[/I] Vukodlak: Was there something? No? Wise decision. [I]Someone across the other side of the square mutters "Hey, someone's a pyscho" at his tone. Vukodlak looks over at him, and finds the kind of person he immediately despises. Leping high into the air, Vukodlak flips and lands in front of the seated antagonist, his scimitars snaking out even as he landed to trace a light silvery X down the man's throat. [/I] Vukodlak: You have some comment to make? Man: N...No. [I]Vukodlak sheathes his swords, and strides off into the darkest corner in the room, observing the buzzing reactions of the other people, disgusted at their optimism.[/I][/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]After several hours heavy flying, Vukodlak alights on an oil tanker, bone weary and hungry. There is little movement, the workers all seem to be assembled on the main deck. There is a group of five men giving a speech. Intrigued, Vukodlak forces himself to fly closer, keeping to the shadows.[/I] Man: The degenerates who haunt our earth. That's what they are. Degenerate. They pollute the air we breathe, the food we eat, the ground we walk on. That's why you have us. A group of decent, godfearing, normal humans. We're human. They're freaks. Monsters. We are the saviours. We dispose of the pests. And who are you men? You are the ones who take up the call. You help protect your world. You help to cleanse it. You are the ones who purify this planet. Who are you, I ask? [I]As one, the crowd shouts back "The Hunters!". Enraged, Vukodlak wings into the sky, declaiming in a loud voice.[/I] Vukodlak: You puny, pitiful men! You find yourselves enamoured of that which seeks to use you, and despising of that which is your greatest asset. You are judged unfit by what YOU created. Welcome to the desolation. [I]Vukodlak rolls to the side, avoiding a blast from some strange weapons. The crowd is inflamed, pelting tools and objects at the twin glowing, cloudy eyes that mark the Mymridion. Vukodlak answers in kind, acid streaming down. Not at the men. At the main support. Iron and steel is no match for the most corrosive substance on earth. A chemical decay, formed from the essence of death. As the screams fade, the oil workers and the delegation of hunters dying slowly, freezing in the icy, oil-slicked water, their last sight is Vukodlak, now fully outlined, resplendant in his full awakening, the cloudy color of broken relfections (OOC: I'm basically trying to describe the texture of my banner if anyone's wondering), howling his despite, before shooting off into the rising dawn, a blight upon the illumination.[/I][/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Laughing insanely, Vukodlak drags the side door open, to Valeigh's discomfot. He leaps out, slowly flipping in the air as he falls, his wings exploding from his back, his cape billowing from his shoulder.[/I] Anathema: Always the showman. [I]Vukodlak lands lightly, straightening up and looking around, as the helicopter alights behind him, thankfully without mishap.[/I] Vukodlak: Any success? Good. Now, it's less fun this way, but we do have to take an inventory.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Jesus Chicken, worry not my lost cathartic friend, we're fine. Nothing is going to happen to either of us until you stab Raven in the back with a steak knife. And Cloricus, he's right. Get bent.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]I would jus like to point out, people, that the societies where women hunted the food were matriachal ones. Guess what happened to all of them? That's right, they got taken over by the patriachal ones. So that argument is irrelevant. Raven, men are genetically stronger than women in both upper and lower body. Women are more porpotionally stronger in lower body though. Physical strength is not really the issue. When you're running around with a rifle, aim would be more important. And men have better hand/eye co-ordination than women. Another byproduct of our instinctive past. And I'm willing to bet I know more about genetics and biology than you two do. In fact, I'm sure of it. Strength is not an issue. The distant past is not as issue. Whether Raven is stronger than Cloricus is not an issue. (Funny though) The issue here is that no matter how you look at it, a dual standard cannot be reached. Males and females tend to excel in different areas. It's really irrelevent if one sex is better than the other. It's a symbiotic relationship.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]OOC: How true. [I]Harlequin and Evelyn continue on for a while, before coming to a deep depression in the soil at the end of the village. A rough stone staircase spirals around. Following it down, they come to a deserted floor, inset with a bloodstained altar of some black stone, with a space of human size and shape. Around the altar lie bodies, not all of them human, in various states of decay.[/I] Harlequin: A necromantic altar. Evelyn: That explains some things. Harlequin: We don't have a priest. We can't destroy this. Evelyn: Can we entomb it? Harlequin: We might have to. [I]They reascend the pit, shaken by the horror below. Reaching the top, they look around for some means to collapse the pit.[/I]/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Raven, I thank you and apologise. Jesus Chicken, you summed up what I was thinking perfectly.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Is she gone? Do I dare open an eye? Do I dare? No! I don't have to explain myself. Not to her. Not to anyone. I am me. I am me. No on else. Nothing else. No, go away, go away, don't come near me. Nothing else matters. No one else matters. Falling, falling so far, it's so dark, I like the dark! You can't scare me with the dark. Not the light, the painful, cold harsh light. Don't send me out there again. No... [I]Driven mad by weariness, Davien plunges into twisted nightmares, almost silent shrieks emitting from his room, disturbing no one.[/I][/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]After walking a while, Davien wonders why the others are not following, and turns back. Partway down the trail, he finds a deep pit, with heavy prints leading away. Beside the pit is a rope, and some articles of clothing. Alastuin's. Davien immediately returns to his Dracocytherain form, flying after whatever had abducted Alastuin, ignoring the others. After a minute or two, he reaches his destination, a dark tower, heavily guarded.[/I] Davien: No matter. [I]Kral Thraxx rolls to the side, Davien easily staying on, as a ballista bolt flies out. Davien replies with a lightning bolt, the archers not even having time to scream before their death. Kral Thraxx alights on the battlements, and, being too large to use the stair, promptly destroys part of the floor. The carnage that follows is dreadful. Charred, half consumed, mutilated bodies litter the trail behind the two enraged Dracocytherians. The elite guards come rushing up, engaging the two. Kral Thraxx sends a fireball into their midst, scattering the survivours, about 5 in total. Davien attacks in a whirlwind of blades and lightning, ionizing the very air around him, making him a walking static field. The guards are driven out of his path.[/I] Davien: Thay which is mine to protect shall not be plundered. Welcome to the desolation. [I]Reaching another set of stairs, Kral Thraxx again blasts through the adjoining wall, leaving a clear trail down. At the bottom, is a series of cells. Alastuin occupies one of them. As Davien and Kral Thraxx reach her, even she is taken aback by the distant, alien look on his face.[/I] Alastuin: You'll need a key. [I]Davien simply rips the bars away from the wall. Jerking his head for Alastuin to follow he walks back out, returning to the battlements. Once there, and assured of a lack of threat, he resumes his human visage.[/I] Davien: Are you alright. Alastuin: I think so. Where are the others? Davien I know not. [I]Davien notices her shivering, and hands her his cloak. Alastuin stares at him in shock. Confusedly, Davien looks down at himself, and only then notices the great rents in his leather armour. Suddenly suffering vertigo from blood loss, he collapses against Kral Thraxx's flank. The drake lifts him onto his back, taking Alastuin as well. They fly off, perhaps to rejoin the others, perhaps not.[/I][/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]How surprising I didn't manage to pick that all up from the movie. Any other sightings, I believe I said.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]OOC: Sorry, going into first person here. [I]Why did they persist? They didn't care. None of them did. No one ever has, no one ever will. Why does she really want to know? It doesn't matter. She knows that it won't affect her. She doesn't have to live with all this. None of them do. Except maybe Kain. But he is at peace. Yet I am merely a quivering mass of nerves, faling again. Falling into that hole I call my soul. I don't have a soul anymore, not anymore. No, don't do that. Don't get close to me. Don't get to know me. No, don't touch me. Don't ever touch me. Kill me, beat me, speak with me, don't ever touch me, don't ever know me. Don't ever make me kill you in self defense. I know you all too well. All of you are put in danger through me. They hunt me. Other's do not see. But I see very well. The whisper on street corners, they hide in caves and pursue me. They come. THEY COME! I will not escape this time. They come. No! I didn't mean it! I didn't want this. NONONONONONONONONONO! It wasn't me, don't touch me, please, not again, don't do it again. No. You can't, of god don't. Not again, not again. I fall so far. How did I get like this? Why did they do this to me? Oh god I'm falling...[/I][/font][/color]