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Ghosts
Jan 2, 2014 21:03:18 GMT -5
Post by Azalea on Jan 2, 2014 21:03:18 GMT -5
(( Quinn Only)) Angus sighed a bit, climbing into the truck and putting the key into the ignition. He didn't see why the hell he needed to do this, but Candy insisted and Angus trusted Candy's ability of foresight...Even if she was known to leave details out. Like right now for instance, she froze up while she was divining what happened to Talon while he was away and said that they needed to leave. She didn't answer any questions Angus asked, or even Talon, she just grabbed Angus' keys, threw them at him, and walked off. When Talon left, Angus didn't have any vehicles, so the fact that he had a motorcycle, suv, and a truck- quite a large truck, in his garage wouldn't seem normal. It wasn't. Angus hated it, he merely got it for the ease of it. He needed a way to transport the family. The truck was simply payment for a debt that someone owed him and Angus, for some reason, couldn't get rid of the thing, so he gave up on trying. The motorcycle on the other hand? Was a gift. Angus opened the second door, allowing Candy into the back, before slamming both shut and waiting for Talon to get in. He hit the garage button that was clipped to the sun visor, allowing the large door to open and for him to drive out. "You wanna explain yet?" He asked, clearly not happy about the fact that she forced them to leave. "We're going to see an old friend of mine." "Why?" "You'll see." Angus rolled his eyes and began to focus on the dirt trail, worn into the land only by the visitors that he had gotten over the years. Angus would have been pleased to not have any path up to his home otherwise, but they forged one. He muttered under his breath about mysterious witches and confusing actions and why she couldn't just give a straight out answer. "I'm going to have to know the way to get there." Candy glared at him and stuck her tongue out. She tapped her forehead and then Angus', allowing him to see the trail that would lead them there. It was a dark, sickly purple. It worried Angus, because he knew that the colors represented the people they were tracking. He had worked like this before with Candy. Dark purple like that did not look too good to him.
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Ghosts
Jan 2, 2014 23:44:16 GMT -5
Post by Quinn on Jan 2, 2014 23:44:16 GMT -5
((Force me to change it if the minor ghosting isn't okay.))
Talon groaned, uncomfortable in the seats of the truck. He didn't particularly like riding in motor vehicles. The smell got to him.
"Where are we going, anyway?" He asked, not caring who answered. Both of them had left him high and dry. He hadn't asked that girl- Candy or Candace or whatever her name was. "Because I don't really like being left in the dark."
He honestly didn't expect an answer.
It wasn't long before they rolled into a small clearing. A surprisingly nice house sat towards the center, but the air seemed a bit...off. Not dark and malicious, just different. Like something wasn't quite right.
And as they pulled up closer to the house, the smell of death began to fill the truck. It wasn't an obvious scent, but one on the edge of the sense. A normal human, or even Candy, wouldn't be able to smell it.
"Now not only do I have to smell the truck, I have to smell death too?" Talon sighed, rolling down the window before deciding to quickly roll it back up. "That only makes the smell worse." He complained.
Something black dashed across the roof of the building, disappearing from sight. "Well ain't that ominous?" He asked, staring at where the black thing vanished.
When Angus stopped the truck, a man appeared at the front door, looking at them. Opening the door, the man came out- and with him, a rush of unnatural energy.
"You're late, Candy!" He yelled, continuing to walk toward the truck, even when the crew got out.
There was...something off about this man. Like he had done things that no human should. "I'm Ryan," he said, looking at the two wolves. "You must be Angus and Talon. Before you start asking questions, yes, I'm a necromancer. Yes, I've raised the dead. Yes, I have an army of undead at my disposal." His smile betrayed him. Underneath was the flash of sharp teeth- and not just one or two, a whole mouth full of them. "And yes, I'm a Ghoul. A failed vampire."
Ryan wore a red and black striped jacket, the hood pulled up over his head. He had eerily green eyes and light brown hair. He fiddled with something in the pocket of the jacket, watching the two wolves carefully. He didn't think that they would attack him, not on his turf at least. Not where he had all the control. "You're welcome to come inside, if you want. I have a few of my creations hanging out in there, though, so if you don't want to see them, I advise we stay out here. They don't bite...often..." he adjusted the hand that wasn't in the pocket, flashing a bite mark before hiding it in his other pocket. "But now they're under control." He glanced at Candy, like she would know what he meant by creations. "The misses isn't here right now, and be glad she isn't. I'm already going to be hit for having the smell of wolf on me and all over the house," he wrinkled his nose, "because you guys do smell." He smiled, showing that he was just trying to joke.
Talon glanced at Angus, wondering how he would react at this kind of turn of events. He doubted that Angus had ever seen a full fledged Necromancer before. But then again, he was apparently gone for two years.
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 0:44:45 GMT -5
Post by Azalea on Jan 3, 2014 0:44:45 GMT -5
When Talon asked his question, he got exactly what he expected- nothing. Not a word passed through either person's lips. Angus didn't know where they were going. He was just following a trail like it was a scent. He didn't know where it ended or how far it went, just that he had to follow it. Candy wasn't going to answer, even if she knew where they were going and why. She didn't answer because Talon would find out in good time. Apparently the father and son were very alike, both very impatient when they didn't know what was going on.
Something about the house seemed off even before the scent reached Angus. He knew that he had a very nice house, in a clearing, in the middle of no where, but he knew what that meant. They were private people that should be left alone. Anyone who starting anything with him on his land learned that the hard way. He had to be careful here.
"Trust me, old man, if you think I like this anymore than you do, you must be crazier than Orfeo." Angus grimaced when he saw the black thing moving about just like Talon did.
"When things in the dark move about, things in the dark jump out." Angus murmured the words darkly, almost with a deep hatred with the thought. "Candy, remember the last time you brought me to a place that stank of death and had...things doing similar things to that? I burned it to the ground." Candy smacked him on the arm, rolling her eyes.
"Not this time, he's a friend."
"Last time it was your sister." Angus said with a glare as he pulled the truck to a stop.
"I never said I got along with my sister."
Angus grunted and opened his door and allowed Candy to get out before him. She smiled at Ryan, laughing at his words. "You can't blame me for that one. Blame the driver." She said, pointing to Angus as he shut the doors again.
Angus stayed back at the car for a moment, seemingly taking in what Ryan was saying. He wasn't exactly comfortable with this. Something was wrong. Angus was used to similar creatures. He'd dealt with vampires, magic users, elves, demons, witches, other shifters, all sorts of things. Something in his gut told him that this had something behind it and Angus couldn't pin point it. It made him edgy.
He walked up and patted Candy's shoulder, chuckling to relieve tension.
"Damn woman, something tells me I should have expected this, considering what you married, but for some reason? Still find myself repeatedly shocked at the company you keep. For such an innocent looking woman, you have some very dangerous looking friends."
Candy laughed again, looking up at Angus. "And you're not included in that list, Mr. Let's piss off a nymph?" Angus grimaced and flinched, remembering that. That was downright painful, and when he got the scar on his chest. Wasn't fun, but that was one of his solo adventures long before this pack.
"Well, the difference is that I'm a cuddly animal."
"Sure, let's go with that. Cuddly." Candy laughed.
Angus handled his first necromancy well. He hadn't ever met one before, nor had he met a ghoul. But, he had met those who communicated with the dead and he had met vampires. He's also dealt with demons, a lot of them here recently. More frequently, it would seem. He simply figured that Ryan couldn't be any worse than them, except the smell. He'd take sulfur over this any day.
"So, Candy, want to explain why we're here?"
Candy pointed to Ryan. "That's his job, I'm just the messenger. So ask him."
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 11:34:26 GMT -5
Post by Quinn on Jan 3, 2014 11:34:26 GMT -5
Talon stayed silent, watching the interaction. He didn't know what to say right now, other than he knew that whatever screwed his memory definitely didn't want him here. His head was pounding.
"Candy said something about someone' memory being screwed with," he said, looking at Talon, who just stared back. "In Necromancy, if you want a mindless killing machine, then you want to erase every good memory they've ever had- but keep the painful, murderous ones. I'm not into that kind of thing, but I also don't want depressed corpses walking around. Not only is it a downer, they tend to just commit suicide." He shrugged.
"See, when a corpse is first revived, it's nothing more than a zombie, or a baby. It has no recollection of their previous lives, but as their brain begins to develop again, they begin to remember things. Think of it like a child aging, but instead of aging, the corpses just become more...human. It's a process. Anyway. In these early phases, it's crucial for a good Necromancer to program their brain to suit the cause of their rebirth. If you don't do this, there's two things that can happen: they become a mopey, depressed corpse, or they don't progress into a more human state. They remain zombies." He was probably confusing them. "Thing is, it's hard to understand the human mind. And in order to do so," he pulled his hand from his pocket, the one that was fiddling with something, "you have to understand the human mind."
He held in the palm of his hand was a small necklace, one that would probably fit around the neck of a child. "I understand that you know a little girl by the name of Lily?" He asked Angus, looking down at the necklace. "Give this to her. She'll see what she wants to see out of it, but it's means of protection. Her father has people after him, and they're targeting her. This will stop them, for the most part. It'll also grow with her." The necklace was nothing more than stones strung on a leather strap. "Labradorite, black tourmaline, rose quartz, onyx, obsidian, and Apache tear." He handed the necklace to Angus.
He stepped back, turning toward the house. "Now that that's settled, let's go into the house," he said, glancing at two black figures that stood in a window facing them. "They're not going to bite you," he said, even if no one noticed the figures standing in the window.
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 12:37:09 GMT -5
Post by Azalea on Jan 3, 2014 12:37:09 GMT -5
Angus wasn't particularly comfortable with what Ryan was saying, and that was demonstrated by the grimace on his face. The idea of being able to control the minds of the dead and manipulate them by obscuring their memories and fucking with them just didn't sit right. It opened so many vulnerable people up to bad things, seeing a dead loved one that only remembered the bad and wanted them dead for it...it seemed cruel. Angus wasn't stupid though, he could see the appeal.
"Cremation seems good right about now, anyone else?" Angus asked, looking at the other two with a playful grin on his face in hopes of shaking off his ill feeling. He always got feelings like this when something big was about to happen, it generally wasn't good.
Angus listened to Ryan's words, feeling like they had a purpose. The only problem was that Angus couldn't figure out that purpose. So, he was left half understanding and half in the dark. He could understand the basic concept of it, but the abstract statement he said at the end did prove confusing. He simply couldn't read between the lines like his gut told him too.
Angus reached forward and took a hold of the necklace blankly. How did he know Lily? He looked at the necklace and then to Ryan as he spoke. He knew that Quinn had men after him, please, Demons was more like it but Lily? "Thank you, I'm sure she'll adore it...Then again, I'll look at it and probably get creeped out every time I see it knowing that it was gotten from a strange man in a strange place that oddly knew her name. No offense, but I'm going to tell her father it came from me...Unless you know him?" Angus asked, lifting an eyebrow. He was smiling, proving that none of his words were intended to be hostile.
Angus followed Ryan's gaze, finding the two figures easily and shuddering. This place was creeping him out. Candy simply smiled and followed Ryan, and so did Angus, albeit at a slower pace. "Let's hope not." Angus muttered, looking over at Talon. The man had been oddly quiet. Normally he would have had some smartass comment by now.
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 14:53:55 GMT -5
Post by Quinn on Jan 3, 2014 14:53:55 GMT -5
"Oh, give me a pinch of ashes and a good bit of DNA from, say, a chunk of bone, and I can revive 'em," Ryan said, smiling over his shoulder. "It would take them much longer to regenerate than a buried corpse, but I could do it." Talon watched the Necromancer, holding Angus back before letting him go. "Please tell me that you have some sort of weapon with you? This place reeks of death. Nothing good can come from something that smells of death," he said it on the very edge of a wolf's hearing frequency, hoping that Ryan didn't hear it. He honestly didn't care if Candy did or not. Ryan opened the door, which led into the living room. The house was just as nice as it was on the outside. ((Something like that)) "Welcome to my humble abode," he said, the smell of death permeating the house. Once again, it wasn't an entirely obvious smell. It was on the very edge of the sense, and very easy to ignore. Still, Talon complained. "Once again, hating the smell of this place. I don't see how he's helping any." "I'm helping because I'm going to trace the magic that locks your mind, and hopefully unlock a bit of it," Ryan said over his shoulder. He was already in the kitchen, looking in the refrigerator. "Anyone want something to drink? We have Pepsi...but that's Alder's, so I wouldn't be drinking too much of it unless you want a temperamental demon on your hands." He paused. "Actually, I think that he would send his gangs after you. He doesn't get involved in a lot of dirty work, so I very well may be hunting you down...after my punishment for letting you drink the Pepsi. On second thought..." he pulled out a bottle of water, cracked it open, and took a drink. "I wouldn't advice drinking the Pepsi. It's probably spiked, knowing him. We have water." He didn't mention the blood- but that was probably for a good reason. He pulled out three other bottles, setting them on the counter just in case. "I wonder where Fang and A-" he looked at Angus, then cut himself off. "I wonder where the other two went." He shrugged, casting a glance at a door, which was shut and had a padlock on it. He could tell that someone had recently went down there...the padlock was unlocked. So he promptly walked over to it, and pushed the lock closed. "Before we go in depth, there are a few questions that need to be asked, and since he doesn't remember a lot of them, you're going to have to answer, Angus," Ryan said, pulling out a seat to the dining room table. He took another sip of his water. "First of all, I need to know how Talon left the pack. First, I'll let Talon explain." Talon sat down in front of the necromancer, not trusting his water. "I never left, according to these damned memories of mine. I left to meet with another Alpha, and I was gone at most two hours and came back. I came back to hunters attacking, or trying to attack, the pack. When I killed the leader, Angus found me, and told me I had been missing for two years." Ryan smiled. "You left out a detail." "No I didn't," Talon said, glaring at the necromancer. "Your heart betrays you. You see, when someone lies, it releases trace amount of adrenaline in the brain. It accelerates the heart beat," he smiled, "and I can hear your heart beating. A perk of being a necromancer. Being a ghoul has nothing to do with that." "Fine. I also went to get reading glasses," he hated admitting that he couldn't see the best to people. "Better." He turned to Angus. "Now, how did Talon really leave the pack?" There was a thud from downstairs, but Ryan ignored it. He knew the others would have heard it as well...it was pretty loud. It sounded as if something had fallen down there. He just hoped the rest would ignore it as well.
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 15:37:51 GMT -5
Post by Azalea on Jan 3, 2014 15:37:51 GMT -5
Angus outright frowned. That was not a comforting thought at all.
He looked at his father chuckling at the need to even ask that question. He put his hand on Talon's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Old man, I may be an Alpha now but old habits die hard. Of course I do, and there should be one or two in the truck if there's a need for it. Or is your mind really that scrambled that you forgot that I always keep myself armed?" That was an old habit of his, it made himself seem paranoid but he even kept weapons in his room. The man kept a damn near fully stocked armory in his basement for crying out loud. Naturally he was armed.
He patted Talon's shoulder before continuing to follow. Candy didn't hear either of them, so Angus hoped that Ryan wouldn't either. Candy slid up onto the island, chuckling at Ryan's words. She knew how Alder was about Pepsi.
"Oh come now, you seem to forget that I'm friends with Nikki. I'm sure she could sway his opinion." She said, smiling kindly. "Of course, then we still have to worry about the demon blood...Never a good thing to give to people like them. They might end up as some mutated vampire. After all, their generally physical being is similar to a human's. Did you know that the Fae Council has been debating allowing werewolves into their fold? The only issue is that they're considered primitive due to their 'warring tribe' behavior. Too volatile. Still, it's interesting to see that werewolves, and single shifters in general are now being seen as a separate species by the Council. I don't see much of a change happening for at least another millennia though."
Angus literally just stared at Candy for a moment. He vaguely knew what the Fae Council was for this realm and he vaguely knew some of the things that she was talking about, but she still confused the fuck out of him. He glanced back to Talon, unsure of how much he had dealt with the Fae. Generally, a lot of shifters didn't even believe in other species. Angus thought it was hogwash to not recognize the existence of others when they were 'mythical' to begin with.
"Uh, no thanks." Angus said, nodding to Ryan respectfully. Angus sat down at the table, putting a seat between Ryan and himself.
He waited for Talon to finish before he began. He jumped at the thud but resisted the urge to look back. He knew it was something dead. Or, at least he had a feeling that it was. He didn't want the risk of seeing something, even if it came from downstairs and he knew it.
"I woke up one morning, and he was gone. That morning was odd actually, because usually Talon moving around to go to the pack house would wake me up when I knew he was home. It didn't. I woke up late as a result but didn't think anything was wrong until later that evening when he didn't show up. Normally, this wouldn't be a big issue- he didn't come home for weeks sometimes. Nothing out of the sort. He'd just gotten into the habit of coming home nightly for a while there and I got a bad feeling in my gut. Usually, following what the feeling said has been right so I went to get ready, and that's when I found the note on my nightstand.
"It said that he was going to be leaving, implying for good, and that I was to be the new Alpha of the New Dawn. He had left a similar note for Decoii saying that I was to lead the pack, not referring to me by name considering that she didn't even know that we shared the last name. I found him about 2 years later, if not longer. I don't really keep track of human years anymore. The details of me finding him were accurate."
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 17:04:14 GMT -5
Post by Quinn on Jan 3, 2014 17:04:14 GMT -5
Ryan listened to Angus, and decided that he could argue. With magic logic, but he could still argue the points that Angus was bringing up. "Magic does wonders, Angus. Screwing with someone's mind is one of them. While I know you're right, just don't underestimate someone willing to screw with someone. But you being here proves that you're right, and that Talon is messed up in the head." He leaned back in his chair, taking another sip of water.
"I could prod at the memories that he was forced to forget, and I could even make him remember then and forget the fake ones. But the risks behind that are astronomical. If the person was smart, when another magic is introduced, he could lose the entirety of his memory, making him nothing more than a newborn baby. He could go into a coma and not come out, or he could even die. It depends on how much the person who was tampering with his head doesn't want to be discovered." Ryan thought for a moment. From what Angus had told him, he had answered all the questions he had had in one fair swoop. But there was one that he could ask Talon...
"Talon, do you remember the Alpha that you went to meet?" Ryan asked, staring him in the eyes. He reach out with his energy just to prod the very edges of his mind, feeling for traps, but deciding not to risk going any further. From the memories he could see, the person had really done a number on him.
"He was the Alpha of the Shadow Moon pack," Talon said, unaware that Ryan was prodding his mind.
"Are you aware that the Shadow Moon were hunted to extinction about two years ago, right? The person you met was most likely not the Alpha of that pack. No more questions." He stood up, motioning for them to follow him.
"So you're telling me that Angus is right?" Talon growled, hating that he was wrong.
He pulled a key out of his pocket, fitting it into the padlock. "Hard evidence doesn't lie," he said, unlocking the padlock, then he pulled out another key. This time, he unlocked the door itself. "Please, don't feed the animals," he said, looking back at the crew. "They tend to like the taste of flesh."
He opened the door, revealing a staircase that faded into black.
Noises came from the basement, like groaning humans. Some words were exchanged, but it was still mostly garbled. On the inside of the door, Ryan slid out a false wall, and pulled out a staff. It was roughly the same height as Talon. From the top hung a deer's skull, the antlers forming a full circle. A bundle of skulls rocked back and forth as the staff moved, and the base of the staff was dark, warped wood.
It was a rather gruesome staff, but it was a powerful one, nonetheless.
Ryan disappeared into the darkness,only to reappear a few seconds later as candles began to spark to life. As he walked further into the basement, more candles lit until he stopped at a wall. He slid out another false wall, and the garbled speech only got louder.
Inside this part of the basement, rows of cages lined the walls, each filled with one occupant. The occupants were in varying degrees of revival, some better than others. As Ryan walked further into the basement, his jacket changed into a black and red robe. A hat hung from the top of his staff, but he didn't make a move to remove it.
When he reach the end of the room, candles burst into flames, each flame flickering about two inches high. They lined an altar, which had a blood red cloth draped over stone. Candles stood above the altar, wax dripping down the surface. The altar wasn't anything special, but there was a rather old looking book standing open on it. He walked up to it and closed it, sliding the book to the corner of the altar.
He reach up and grabbed one of the candles, it's flame responding to his touch and shooting 4 or 5 inches into the sky. He set it down on the altar, mumbling something. The flame went from yellow and orange to black and purple.
"Not many people has seen down here, but you need to. You all might recognize some of my company. They are, after all, your first pack, Talon." He said, looking at the flame. "What were they called?"
"Nightstar," Talon said, stunned into near silence. Ryan had everyone here- everyone except two, from what he could see. "Where are Fang and Maria?"
Ryan smiled, still gazing into the flame. "They're somewhere. They were the two you saw in the window. You also saw Fang on the roof."
He broke his gaze, looking back at them. "I'm going to try and trace the magic used to seal your mind, Talon. Some would call this blood magic, I call it another day of work. Saying that, I need your blood. Only a drop." He said, reaching below the altar to grab something. It was a knife.
The knife's hilt was wrapped in soft, supple leather, but an animal skull adorned it as well. It was a small animal- so maybe a large rat, or perhaps a small dog. The mouth opened wide, the blade seemingly coming from it's throat. The blade was just dull grey steel. The flames of the candles danced wickedly off the rubies inset into the animal's skull.
With the knife, he pricked his finger, allowing a bit of the blood to get on the knife. He then put the knife into the black flame, which engulfed it greedily. Branches of red broke the black and purple surface, showing the likeness of a man before returning to their black and purple state.
"Now, it's your turn," he said, looking at Talon. "No worries, there's no trace of my blood on the knife."
Talon hesitated, looking at Angus. He wasn't comfortable with this whole "witchcraft and wizardry" thing.
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 17:58:53 GMT -5
Post by Azalea on Jan 3, 2014 17:58:53 GMT -5
Angus listened to what Ryan was saying, completely understanding what he meant this time. This time, it was something that he was specifically interested in considering that any knowledge against magic was something that was something that he could use to help protect himself. Considering he dealt with it more than the average werewolf, that meant something.
"Magic definitely seems complex on this end." Angus chuckled, knowing that few shifters could preform magic. He wasn't sure if that was simply because it wasn't in their biology of if it was because they weren't considered on either side of the spectrum. It seemed like when creatures picked a side, they could wield it. Sort of like Candy. She was once a shifter according to his knowledge, but she specifically made a deal with one of the fae and it...changed her. Sort of like becoming a vampire would change a human.
"Well, let's avoid killing dear old dad, shall we? I'd rather not have to explain that to my kids. Though, based on the last meeting with Decoii, she might be happy about it." He laughed lightly, remembering how he got wine all over him.
Angus stood up and was quickly followed by Candy. He looked like he was revoluted by the idea of venturing down into that hole where he heard that thud come from. Angus wasn't afraid of many things, he wasn't afraid of this. No, he was disturbed by this, greatly. He wasn't disturbed by Ryan though, he seemed like the friendly enough sort but what Ryan did with these people? That bothered him. That became increasingly clear as he walked down the stairs.
The garbled human speech, the lighting, the atmosphere, the fact that this guy had false walls in his house, it made Angus twitchy. He looked like he he was either about ready to jump out of his skin or about to kill anything. He likely would kill something if it decided to jump on him. He wasn't particularly fond of things sneaking up on him...undead things? That made him even more likely to kill it.
When they reached the room? Angus wasn't concerned with the altar, or his staff, or the clothing change. None of it matter. Not to him. Those cages, those faces. To him? It was like a nightmare had just come true and come to haunt him. These people...They were from his childhood. Something that he had attempted to not revisit in so many years had just smacked him in the face in the worst way possible. It caused him to stumble back, lingering towards the entrance for a long time as Ryan spoke.
He heard Talon ask the question. Where was his mother and where was her killer. Angus wanted to hunt the bastard down right now and kill him again. His mother? His mother...he didn't even know. What had this fucker done to her? Angus didn't like this one bit, it was like a personal attack against him but something clicked in his head. Part of the purpose of the earlier conversation.
"What's their purpose, Ryan?" He asked shakily, finally entering the room fully and trying not to most of them in the eye. Even if they had their memories, there's no way that they would recognize Angus. He had changed a lot. "What's the cause of their rebirth? Why bring back the entire pack?" He prodded. He wasn't as light hearted and kind now, he looked like he wanted to run.
Angus watched as the small little ritual began and he looked to Talon just as he looked to him. His gaze went back to Candy. She was seemingly oblivious. He knew she wasn't. This is why she brought them. She was playing peek-a-boo with one of the younger zombies. The kid looked like she was nearly there, nearing full life but she wasn't alive. He knew the child as one of his childhood friend's children. All his friends grew up quickly around him. He believed her name was Isabella.
Angus looked back to Talon and nodded his head, against his better judgement. This was going to end badly. Angus just knew it. He had to go with it though. "Don't worry. I've given my blood to Candy before, it will be fine."
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 19:24:19 GMT -5
Post by Quinn on Jan 3, 2014 19:24:19 GMT -5
"Their purpose is that they were all killed prematurely, even the killer. If they had not been killed, they would rival even your pack at this moment, Angus. Strong bonds were made between these people." He looked back at Talon, who still had yet to move a muscle. "Perhaps you'd be more relaxed, knowing that your mate is alive and well?" He asked. It didn't interrupt the ritual, because it hadn't even began yet. It only would have interrupted things had Talon already put his blood into the flame. "Now before I let you see them, I'm going to tell you something. In order to avoid them committing suicide, they forgot their deaths. Meaning that they forgot their killer. And Fang forgets that he killed them. If those memories are unlocked, the unlocker will die a terrible death. I ask that you don't harm them, even if you hold a grudge against them." He was looking right at Angus. "Because they're now blank slates." "Marira, Fang," Ryan said calmly, looking into the darkness. Two figures emerged, one male, one female. ((I'm leaving everything pertaining to Maria to you, Azalea)) The male had black hair and fair skin. His hair was a wild mass of curls, and his eyes matched Talon's. Stitches wrapped around his entire neck, just barely holding his head in place. Talon was too focused on the flames to notice the newcomers. Blood dripped from his finger, and dark red figures moved around in the flames. One was a man- hung from the ceiling by his wrists, his feet ankle-deep in water. Another figure walked around him, seemingly appraising him. And with a sputter, the flame went out. There was a loud bang from upstairs. "Shit!" Ryan yelled, standing up, letting his hat drift to the ground. "We have company."
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 20:30:21 GMT -5
Post by Azalea on Jan 3, 2014 20:30:21 GMT -5
Angus looked at Ryan, knowing that the Nightstar pack wouldn't rival the New Dawn. They would destroy the New Dawn. Sure, the New Dawn had fancy new technology and some of the best medical technology on the planet for shifters. Hell, they have quickly become the Medical pinnacle of the shifter world. They had the technology, the people, and the know-how to help thousands of shifters and were researching on a day-to-day basis. They weren't known for their military prowess.
Why else would they have rogues fighting for their borders?
On the other hand, their healers were strong fighters still and anyone caught in their borders by any member could take them down. There were no weak members in the New Dawn, to his knowledge. In any case, he was sure that the Nightstar Pack would have been far greater had they been able to flourish. They also had the one thing that their pack didn't- community. New Dawn was separate, strangers bound together in a pack. The Nightstar pack was close and everyone knew everyone.
Angus stared at Ryan, his stare slowly turning to a glare at his words. Fang murdered everyone. Angus wanted to kill the mother-fucker, again. Make what Talon did to him look like a joke, because to Angus? That was a fucking joke. A beheading was too quick, too easy. The murderer of so many needed a slow and painful death that made them wish for it but it never came until you were tired of their annoying whining and complaining. That's what Fang deserved. Not to walk this earth free of penalty.
Of course, he didn't know how the two of them were connected.
But he would abide by this rule set down. He felt like there was something in this for Ryan though. It seemed odd for him to do this otherwise.
Angus turned to look at their approach, and he ignored Fang purposefully. He focused on his mother, and he knew that it wouldn't be like how he had always tried to remember her. He knew it, but he still wasn't prepared for what he saw.
Maria used to be a gorgeous woman, sun-tanned skin that was naturally fair. Very angular features with loose curls framing her face. She had a lighter gold eye color compared to her son but just as striking. Now? Her face looked like it had been mauled on it's right side. Hair was missing from her hair line where there was stitching to bring the skin that would have previously been hanging back up. It went from her temple and through her eye- making it look like she should be blind but it appeared to be working just fine. The mauling then went down in a curve, slicing open the side of her nose, which was also stitched, and finally ending at her mouth.
She had a stitched slice on her throat, and Angus knew that there were more wounds elsewhere. Her left thigh had been mutilated when he found her, just like her face had been. He couldn't help but remember exactly how he saw her that night, laying on their living room floor, chocking on her own blood. He didn't have any other memory as vivid as that one, and he tried to bury it for over 20 years.
She was too pale. The wounds were and angry red and purple and black. She looked thin and small, weak and breakable. Angus knew that was just an illusion though. She was simply small compared to his memory. He grabbed his head, taking a step back and bumping into Candy.
Maria wasn't looking at Angus though, no. Maria didn't know who that man was, but she knew it would be explained by Talon. This entire time, when she could, she was taking note of the changes in him. His hair was longer, he seemed more tired, aged in a way. She still looked as young as the day she died, from what she'd seen in the mirror. Except she was mangled to the point where she feared he wouldn't recognize her too well. Then again, he would have been the one to bury her, right? She knew she died...she just...no, it was too fuzzy.
"Talon," She said, smiling and taking a step toward him. The thud cut her off. Angus jumped and growled lowly.
"Candy..."
Candy looked up at him and smiled, laughing nervously. "Did I forget to warn you that you'll have to fight?" She seemed to have done this before by the way that Angus glared at her.
"Per usual," he said. Angus leaned down to grab the knife in his boot, glaring at the doorway now. Candy unwrapped her dress, revealing another, thinner one underneath...and a dagger. She wrapped her dress again, tying it back up and shrugging her shoulders innocently.
"You're not getting out of the fight this time." He said, fighting the urge to rush upstairs. That was his first instinct, until he remembered that this was Ryan's turf and this was his problem. Angus was simply defending this pack from dying a second time.
Maria looked to Ryan, frowning at her lack of a weapon. "What do you want us to do?" She asked bluntly. Angus looked back at her, knowing that he was just about to ask the same thing.
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Ghosts
Jan 3, 2014 22:10:16 GMT -5
Post by Quinn on Jan 3, 2014 22:10:16 GMT -5
"They're Shades," Ryan said, watching as the door was blasted inward. "Witch hunters. Preternatural witch hunters, but not the Fae Council's Shades. These are rogues, and a tad more dangerous. Think of them as mercenaries," he placed the tome on the floor, facing the Shades. "So this was the trap," he sighed.
The flames of the candles bent toward Ryan, flickering. The flames stripped themselves of the wick, dashing toward Ryan. By the time all the flames had vanished, Ryan had two giant fireballs in either palm. "You're not going to be able to beat them by conventional means. Meaning forbidden magics, Candy."
The fireballs turned bright red, then black.
Ryan threw the fireballs down the hall, striking the Shades, but they didn't seem phased. "I need back up," Ryan said, grabbing his athame. "Cover me until I say that I'm ready. I would ask for help, but you don't need the stain on your reputation, Candy." A small pentagram peeked out of his robe, on the inside part of the wrist. Angus would probably blow it off, but it meant that he was pretty much immune to punishment from the Fae Council.
His research had earned him that immunity.
"This is going to take some time, so cover me as best you can," he said.
talon stood, pushing himself away from the table. "Ready to crack some skulls, Angus?" He growled, popping his knuckles. He didn't wait for Angus to respond before he was at the throat of the first Shade, burying his canines into his throat. It was almost blinding how fast he had managed to shift, but that was one of the perks of Alpha's blood.
He shook his head, snapping the neck of the Shade, then stepping away.
With a crooked neck and blood coating the entirety of it's body, the Shade stood again. Wolf Talon growled, lunging at it's leg this time, instead of it's throat.
Fang glanced at Angus, faintly remembering his little brother. They had never really been close.
He lowered his stance, his fingers growing claws, and his face whiskers. It looked stupid, but there were uses to whiskers. The first Shade to cross him was slashed in the throat, which was quickly followed by a swipe to the legs. The Shade hit the ground with a thud, but was still squirming, and even stood up after Fang crushed it's skull.
"Don't let them touch you!" Ryan yelled out, almost like he had forgotten that small point. "They'll suck you dry!" He cut his palm open, dripping the blood into a small bowl. He grabbed a few herbs from under his altar, quickly tearing them apart and throwing them in the mixture.
He wasn't quite sure he remembered how to do this.
He sighed, grabbing a vial of glowing, silver liquid and put a drop into the mixture, which quickly turned a matching color.
"It's ready! He yelled, watching as more Shades began to storm down the stairs.
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Ghosts
Jan 4, 2014 9:51:25 GMT -5
Post by Azalea on Jan 4, 2014 9:51:25 GMT -5
Candy sighed deeply. Angus was able to see her breath despite the fact that it was decent here. It wasn't hot, likely because that would cause quicker decomposition, but it wasn't cold enough to do that. It reminded him that she had particular affinities that she held back most of the time, in order to appear more humaniod to people.
"Naturally they're rogues. Surprises me to the degree that some people will go to preserve such things." She frowned a bit, shaking her head. "Of course I'm not going to stain my reputation! I actually have to obey the council at all times, staining my rep puts me in a fairly dangerous position. It's nothing personal, I just like to keep and wear my own skin."
Angus shuddered at that imagery. How skinwalkers were considered part of the fae while shifters weren't were beyond him. That honestly seemed more barbaric than anything he's ever seen.
Angus was about to answer but Talon had already shifted. Angus simply grinned and shook his head. "Old man's still got speed apparently." He launched himself at one, quickly stabbing it in the head, then the chest, and kicking it away. He frowned as it kept coming at him again. He really wished he had read up more on these shades.
Maria looked at the shades, only glancing back when Talon spoke. Her eyes widened at the name he said. Angus? Her eyes darted to the man that Talon had been travelling with, the one now engaging in combat with a knife. "Angus?" She asked, pure shock in her voice.
"Not the time, ma." Angus looked back at her and smiled lightly before slicing upwards on the shade and ducking underneath of it's arm. This gave him the perfect opportunity to slam his elbow into the back of it's neck and move on to the next of them. Sadly, this put the still moving shade behind him. Nothing seemed to be killing these things.
Maria growled lowly, knowing she couldn't shift. She shifted and all of her stitches would be ripped. All of them. Blood would be gushing into her eye and blinding her, which wouldn't leave her as much of an opponent. "Everett!" Candy shouted. She tossed the dagger to Maria, allowing her the ability to hack away at the thing. Even after chopping it's hand off, it seemed to want to keep coming.
These things didn't seem to bleed.
Angus growled, finding himself surrounded by the time Ryan yelled that it was ready. There were more coming too. "Well whatever the fuck you're doing, do it fast!" He said, finally shifting. Due to his size in this form, he ended up slamming two down to the ground in his lunge and breaking out of the circle.
Candy had remained in the corner, watching. Anyone could see her lips moving as she did so. She was trying to see who they were after more. One came after her and she simply grabbed the creature's head and a symbol glowed before fading on it's forehead. A hex of misdirection. She knew the magic to kill these things, she simply wouldn't preform it.
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Ghosts
Jan 4, 2014 21:47:39 GMT -5
Post by Quinn on Jan 4, 2014 21:47:39 GMT -5
Ryan stood, throwing the silver liquid into the air.
It rose and began to fall, like water would.
Then it clumped, gathering into a sphere that floated in midair.
The surface of the sphere rippled, shooting out tendrils of silver liquid through the air, burying themselves into the chests of the Shades.
Some hissed, others didn't.
Silver light began pouring out of every opening, until the room was engulfed in a blinding silver light. With a cumulative explosion, the only remains of the Shades were ashes and cinders. But there was another thing.
As the air began to settle, a rush of air filled the room, swinging every door to every cage outward. "Don't attack," Ryan said, to no one in specific. It was safe to assume that he was talking to the corpses. "They're friends, not food."
Talon straightened up when the Shades vanished, turning back into a human, quietly watching Maria.
Talon turned back as well, glancing at Angus before turning to Ryan. "I don't see why you brought them here."
Ryan turned to the panther. "I brought them here because Talon needed answers, and I assume he got them. He may need time to process the information." He turned to Maria, who had a big help with reviving the pack. "Do you think they're safe to go back into the world?" He asked her.
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Ghosts
Jan 4, 2014 23:23:45 GMT -5
Post by Azalea on Jan 4, 2014 23:23:45 GMT -5
Angus backed away from the liquid, not trusting it at all. His eyes were locked on it as he watched, but he relaxed as he realized it was only targeting the shades. It killed the beasts and it gave him a moment of relief. He shifted and dropped his arms to his sides, but he quickly jumped when all of the cages were opened. He turned his back toward the entrance, taking a few steps back as he looked around at the people.
This was his birth pack.
Angus looked at Fang when he spoke, a glare filling his eyes but he didn't say anything. There were many things that he wished he could have said though. That man, no. He wasn't a man anymore, not Angus. The boy, he only died when he was 15 and he looked no older now that he was revived. Angus was full grown and strong, Fang wasn't. Fang was simply a psychotic boy that deserved death rather than rebirth.
Maria glanced to her son, and then to Angus. She saw the glare, but she also saw the gold necklace that had fallen out of his shirt when he shifted back. A gold pentagram with golden leaves around the edges. The chain was replaced, long ago, now it was a leather cord. Talon would recognize it as the one item missing from their home that night. Fang would probably recognize it too. Maria definitely did, considering that it was once hers. She glanced up to his eyes, giving him a small smile.
Ryan's words broke her out of her daze, and quickly refocused her. She looked to him and gave a solid nod. "That they are. They pose no danger to the world, though, I don't think they're quite ready to rejoin society. Only experience outside would give them that, I imagine." Candy nudged Angus.
They needed a place to stay. So many wolves couldn't go out without anything. Angus had land for them to stay on temporarily, and he knew it.
"I have land. It's far away from humans and the nearest settlement is purely shifter in population, and under my control. I own hundreds of acres of forest. That would give plenty of space to brush up on rusty skills, learn new ones, and they can venture out to learn of the world when they're ready. They've been gone since 1990, so I imagine there's quite a few advances in the world that they would prefer to have a grasp of before leaving. I'm not saying that I will provide this land permanently, as if I recall, you all prefer to work for what you have, but I will provide shelter until you can provide it for yourselves."
Maria looked to her son, surprised to hear of that. Hundreds of acres? An entire settlement? The way he held himself...
"We can't intrude on your pack's land, Angus..."
Angus smiled at his mother. "I live several miles outside of my pack's land, and my personal land stretches quite a ways outside of it. At no point do either of them cross. You're not intruding on New Dawn land, you're the guests of a...very, very powerful rogue, on his own land."
Maria's eyebrows pulled down, her eyes lit up with confusion. "Uh, thank then. I trust you'll explain later..?" She asked. She was in business mode but it was clearly getting harder for her to keep that mode up.
"I will."
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