Scroll Retrieval •{a log}•

by Telguest Sat Aug 03, 2013 12:53 pm

It had taken her a while to find it and she should have known that it wasn't going to be a easy as it seemed. A person simply didn't walk into a holy temple - didn't matter that it had been abandoned for nearly a century - and think that nothing would happen. As soon as she had found the ancient script and pulled it from the wall, she had been running for her life. A stream of warriors - mix of sizes but tribal - came running after her, intent on capturing her and getting back what she took. The temple was located in a dense rainforest and her dark wrapping and cloak were not the best dress for this frantic run. She tried to keep a good distance between her and them. but they were slowly gaining ground. They knew the lay of the land, and she didn't. All she had to do was get to the cliff side and hope that she would he able to loose them there. She had a rope there - one she had used to climb down on, and hoped that it would still be there!

It seems there was more than one stranger in these here lands. His presence here was not by design, however. Coincidence, happenstance, accident, all three were applicable. All that mattered was he was here. In some stinking, humid tropical jungle. With nothing at all for him to eat.

He needed to figure a way out of here, before his ass starved to death. But despite his repeated attempts, he had been unable to duplicate the effect that brought him to this forsaken place. ... of all the places he could have landed! A damn jungle! A day of wandering had brought him out of the jungle to this cliff face, which was quite unhelpful. A huge, sheer wall of rock. Not exactly his idea of useful.

So, rather than wander anymore, he set himself up a little fire, managing to light the damn wood after a bit of drying and toasting, and was settled down in front of it. Hopefully, it would keep whatever crazy animals in this place away, and hopefully draw the attention of anyone here. As long as they weren't some crazy cannibal tribe or something... until that time came? He was content to sit there, and keep on trying to recreate the effect that brought him to this hell hole...

For honest fact, she did not take the time to learn much about the people of the temple she had to get the scroll from, only that what she needed was there. While being chased isn't the opportune time to ask questions either. The runner, she was sorely out of breath, breathing heavily and starting to trip over her own feet. A spear flew past her head, barely missing her! She spared a glance behind.

"Gotta go … faster!" luckily for her, the cliff face was right up ahead.! Only needed a bit more speed. There was something else there, looked like a bit of a fire? Did they have another team waiting for her? I'm not set out for this! But there wasn't' anything else that she could do!

If the person was watching he'd see a fully cloaked figure, skinny type, bursting through the line of trees and headed for a space a bit ways off from where he was. She decided not to worry about the fire, but find her rope! Close behind her was the troupe of angry temple dwellers with their crude weapons.

See, sometimes, trying to find your way out of a hopeless situation was much more detrimental than it was to just sit down, wait, and try to figure things out. In this case, figuring things out was not working... but his hanging around did net him his other hope! Signs of life! One that... really didn't seem to match up well with this place. A dark clad, cloaked figure running at full speed out of the jungle. That... was unusual? But he also heard the commotion coming closer from within the tree line... and that sounded an awful lot like the cannibal tribe he had been worried about!

The cloaked one had hauled right by, not stopping or anything, and went for the cliff. Planning on doing some climbing, it seems. Which sucked, because that pretty much left him to deal with the angry, and probably hungry cannibals the cloaked one would be leaving below!

"... you can't be serious..." Growled the young man as he stood up from his crouch beside the fire. First that random teleport, and now this! Anger and disbelief mingling together as he took a deep breath, hands spreading out at his sides, just as the first few drips of the caustic, fiery curse began to flow from his hands.

Cannibals with bone spears and hide shields were not going to stop him from finding his way home, damn it! And if he got a chance, he was going to find that cloaked person, and put them to the flame as well for leading a fight right to him! A fight that was going to make his need to escape this place much more imperative... -

Even though the girl ran past him, that didn't mean her chasers didn't think that they were in cahoots! All they saw were two people, at the same place. They could have very well been working together! Lucky for her, she hadn't dropped the scroll, because then all of this would be for naught!

Her rope was still there, well hidden as it looked like any random vine hanging down on the cliff - hopefully she had the right one. When she got it to she jumped and grabbed hold, letting out a wail of exhaustion and anguish as she tried to pull herself up. As she slipped back down that was when she saw the guy standing there. She should call out to him but.. he wasn't running away.. he could be a distraction! She thought about it more as she pulled and struggled to get herself up the cliff. Next time.. I plan this out better! If there was a next time.

The Tribesmen, shouting, burst off into groups as one went for the man and the others went to get the girl. Not an even split, but more were for the guy than the girl. The ones with spears threw them at him, while the others held their axes up and ready to attack as they charged him. The girl she managed to get up slightly, her arms burning with the effort. The tribesmen had reached the bottom and grabbed the rope and started to shake it

Oh yeah. If he lived through this fight, there was going to be a barbecue on that cleverly hidden rope! And with any luck, this cloaked person would still be on it when those flames reached that high!

Not a lot of time to ponder the ways this was going to go down though, because there was a whole gang of savages rushing at him. Some whipping flint tipped tree branches at him. While the bulk were just making a beeline for him. The spears had him cussing under his breath, managing to evade the projectiles enough to only get a graze from one of the tips. But by that time, these goons were already almost upon him!

Just enough time to step back, put his hands together and fan his fingers out. A little bit of concentration, and the turning of his eyes into twinkling little pinpoints of light, and there it was. A huge gout of orange, somewhat liquid fire spewing from his spread hands, and surging out into the front ranks of the rushing tribals.

Battle cries were going to be quickly replaced by burning flesh and screams of agony, as the stuff sprayed across the group and stuck to everything, burning and searing its way through clothes, armor, flesh, bone. Even the ground was on fire now, from the spray that had missed or dripped away from the cannibals.

The climber had to be ignored for now, because more than likely, this wasn't the end of the savages! Another gout of that horrid fire was being readied, this time with the spear throwers being targeted.

Fire didn't scare them! It did, but they were crazy devoted to their mission and they would die - as they were doing now - to protect it. A handful of them fell down as the fire got to them, dropping on the ground and rolling to try and put it out - though painted and sweaty skin didn't do much for not feeding the fire. Even those who were burning still came in to attack, some of them getting in a swing or two before they fell to the ground.

The ones who were behind only hesitated a moment before trying again. There were about 20 of them. The ones with the rope were making better progress, mainly because the girl did not have any powers to be seen and her strength was nearly spent. It was all she could do to hold on to the rope and not fall. A couple of them were starting to climb up and a few times she was able to kick at their hands and heads to knock them down. As they fell, the rope would shake and hit the cliff and threaten to pull her down. She saw the fire and smelled the effects, but there was no time to worry about that now. During her quick look over, one of the men grabbed her foot and she screamed as he gave it a tug. She tried to shake it free, but the hold was strong. They were pulling her down!

Man, there was a mess of these guys! And without any kind of weapon, besides this fire stuff he had, It meant that any of those swings that were sent his way could not be blocked. He had to try and dodge them. And as hungry as he was, he really didn't have the strength to keep this up! Already bleeding from several of the grazing shots he had taken from these axes, he knew he had to expend even more energy to try and fend off the rest of these damn savages. And this time, he needed to make sure these guys got the idea.

So! That meant that his eyes would start to twinkle and glow even more, and all of the fiery, burning remains of his first attack would serve as the catalyst this time. The energy and heat from them was unleashed toward the next wave of cannibals in another blast, superheated wind burning not quite as bad as the fiery stuff did, but also doubling in staggering and hopefully, knocking some of these guys down, so he at least had a chance to regroup!

Picking up one of the primitive spears that had been thrown at him, he slowly began to advance upon the remains of the group he had been fighting, hoping to at least run a few through before they could regain their senses, or stand up. Hope the cloaked person - who had screamed like a girl - was faring a bit better than he was!

She wasn't doing much better. They were slowly pulling her down the rope. Her hands were being burnt and torn by the rope because she was trying to hold on. Blood started to taint her cloak due to the cuts. I can't hold on! She couldn't. All the pulling and her hands finally gave out and she fell.

It wasn't a long way, and she landed on the tribesmen who were then hooping and hollering in joy of their capture! Their comrades would have to be scarified! They had the girl, they would soon get what they wanted from her! They let out a different cry and started running back to the forest, carrying their very unwilling victim along.

The others - who were still living, heard the cry, and only a few of them turned back, they wanted to make sure that the group got away. The others.. well. they were starting to drop like flies to a flame. Literally. They saw that their combatant was wearing out, but so were they. It was a battle of wills and they thought that they had the upper hand, outnumbering him. They were being more cautious now, settling back and thinking of the best way to strike. About five of them to his one. One of them shouted something unintelligible at him. Could have been a threat. Two on the side were coming at him slowly. Two more were at the back and they had brought up blow darts and they were poised to blow. The one who had spoke before did so again, striking a hand over his chest seeming to beckon to the man to come with them without any more fight. It was still, after all, a threat.

... damn it. Damn it! Who the hell was this cloaked person, and why the hell did she have to drag this fight on to him! Why were they chasing her anyway? What the hell did she do to have a whole army of these cannibals following her through the jungle like this?

Just a handful of the thoughts coming through his mind, as he surveyed his situation. A situation that was looking pretty grim. He was exhausted, bleeding, and still had five more of these damn things to kill. Two of them were ready with blow guns, which would almost certainly hit them if he tried anything. One of them was grunting something at him, and slapping his chest... hmm.

Hands were lowering slowly, still dripping that fiery liquid from his fingertips. He may not be able to fight them all right now, but it would be a lot easier to escape once night had fallen, and he could get at least a little time to rest. ... hopefully, before they ate him. He was being given a chance to survive at least a little longer... he had to take it.

"Okay, savages, you win. If you promise not to eat me, I won't fight no more." A heavy sigh heaved, as his hands just fell to his sides. The dripping and burning from his hands subsiding slowly... hope they freak out over it too hard. It took time to stop! He had to calm down!

As if they could understand him anymore than he could understand them. They saw that he was lowering his hands and the fire was going away, that was a sign of surrender and it was something they understood. Still. they were a bit hesitant of him and the two that were on the side ran around to flank him and prod their sticks forward to get him to move. They could have killed him then and there, but, if he was with the girl, then he was coming with them. The talker was going at it again.

The day was getting darker and they wanted to get back to their temple. The two behind him grunted out words as well before moving. The message was that unless he wanted to get stabbed in the back, then he better move. The two with the blow darts stood at the side, keeping trained aim on him. The man better march fast, they were untrusting of the fire but they didn't want to dally any longer than they already had, so it would be a quick march.

These people were very spry, and they navigated over fallen logs and holes as if they were nothing. All moving towards the large stone temple that was in the distance. If he had good ears, he could hear sounds of victory coming from that direction.

tbc......

by Telguest Tue Aug 06, 2013 7:14 pm

If nothing else, he had thinned out their numbers a bit. Who knew how many of these guys there were... but there were at least a dozen or so less. That should make his escape later a lot easier! He just had to be careful... he had used up a good bit of energy fighting in the first place. And he still needed to get out of this damn place. Hopefully, he could kind of keep track of where they were going, so he could make it back to that rope, and hopefully climb his way out of here!

... not likely. Not with how dense and twisting this damn jungle was. The grunting and unintelligible words being spoken to him, yeah. Whatever. The spears at his back, that he understood! No more struggle, no more fighting. He would march, like they clearly wanted him to. He even randomly talked to them along the way. "What's with the paint and stuff? Does it keep all these damn bugs away?" "You guys should take this act on the road. I bet you could trade all your carvings and artwork for some real clothes and weapons."
"Why aren't we there yet?"

The rising sound of cheers and celebration made his heart sink a bit, simply because it meant there was still a whole gang of these guys wherever they were going. ... a temple? A temple!? Oh man! As good as this could be, it could also be horribly bad! They weren't going to eat him, they were going to sacrifice him!

But, along with that bad, came a slight closing of his eyes. Reaching out with his mind, feeling, sensing for even just a little dribble of magic that he was hoping and praying this temple might have had, and still might possess...

It may make him feel better to know that many of the people left at the temple were not male, but female. Like many tribes, the men went to fight while the women stayed with the children. The women could fight - rest assured - but it wasn't their main duty. Getting a closer look at these people would show that the marks were rune markings, mostly carved into their skin and embellished with red and orange paints.

Their faces were painted over with blacks and whites and they wore little to no clothing. Even the women The temple was old, had to be hundreds of years, and it wasn't in the best condition. Stone was overgrown with moss and vines in many places, but the stones were arranged in a circle and in the circle was a smaller pedestal. A chasm separated the pedestal from the circle of rocks, and only a wooden bridge lead to it. On the ground were bones of the dead. Human and animal remains, they were all mixed together. On the stones were more carvings of the same, they were ancient and dark runes.

A place of mystical energies that these tribesmen didn't seem to know anything about. There was nothing magical about them. There was a large stone that had a picture of a Minotaur. Giant, he held people in his hands and had his head cocked back and ready to devour them. On a stone next to that was a holy entity that was striking down the beast, and the people he had eaten were spewing from his belly. It wasn't actually pretty but it was art - more than a bit faded - but still very easily to be seen.

The girl they had captured earlier was curled down inside of a wooden cage that was so small she could barely sit up. A few kids were poking at her with sticks. yes. It was a girl. If he saw her it would be clear for they had taken off the cloak and she was left in what looked to be a torn habit of blue and white, her hair dirty and messed over her face. . They were prodding him into a cage as well that was next to hers.

No magical energy anywhere in this damn place! Where the hell were they! Heart sinking a little bit more, as he knew that escaping was going to be that much harder now. He caught a glimpse of some girl in a cage pretty much right next to where he was being prodded and pushed toward. Probably the cloaked one that got him into this whole mess in the first place! She'd certainly be getting an earful, once he was in that cage...

"Okay, okay, relax. I'll get in your little cage, just get that branch out of my back!" Carved up, tattooed, mostly naked savages. He had handled a lot worse than this! How was he even in this position! Because of the girl in that other cage!Groaning as he started to hunker down, to get inside this cage, blue eyes turned to the girl trapped by him.

"Well, that was really sweet of you. Bring a whole army of pissed off savages to me so I can be eaten or sacrificed or something... great job. Thanks a bunch." Most likely getting down on his hands and knees to crawl into the cage. He'd be submissive for now... he just needed a little time to recharge and rest. Then, hopefully... he could make good on his escape. But, for now! Glare fully on the girl, as he flopped down in his new home.

"What the hell did you do!"

As the man got into the cage, the ones who brought him in shooed away the kids from poking at the girl. She was babbling as well and her hands were held together. Perhaps she was praying. She saw the guy being brought in and now was able to get a fairly decent look at him between the darkness and sweat and dirt covering her face.

"What kind of idiot makes camp at the base of a cliff in this place! " The nerve of him trying to accuse her of getting him into this mess. "Though I suppose it is my fault.. that doesn't matter now. Ouch!" That came as a result of one of the creatures jumped on her cage, sitting on it. She was more squished now than before - the person was heavy!

"You got to get us out." The people were carrying stones and wood across that bridge and settling them upon the pedestal. From where they were, the thing looked small, but, it was actually large enough to hold a person, maybe two depending on position.

... oh HELL no. This little girl wanted to lip off to him, when she was the reason he was stuck in some cramped ass cage in some cannibal's temple? Not that he was anyone to talk about being little... the girl in that cage was probably older than he was! Could be taller, too. He was certainly not the tallest of people around. But right now, he was getting pretty pissed! And that was having an unwanted consequence!

"... are you kidding me? Do you really think I'd be hanging out in some damn cannibal ridden jungle if I really had a choice in the matter? I'm stranded here you nimrod! And now I'm gonna be an appetizer on some primitive buffet table because of you!" The consequence, of course, is the fact he had to dig his hands down into the dirt, or onto the stone, whatever, to try and keep the fiery fluid leaking from his fingertips hidden.

"Believe me, I intend on getting my ass outta this place, one way or another. But, getting you out of here? You better start buttering me up really quick, if you think that's going to happen! I know where that rope is now, I bet I can climb it to safety?" What did this little girl have to offer, in exchange for her life, hmm?

The cheers and jeers of the tribe only grew. They seemed to be chanting in a pattern, a type of song, drums were being beaten and torches were being lit to provide light in the growing darkness. The light cast shadows on the walls that danced around. If she were not in dire straights the girl would have enjoyed the scene. She knew she was more than a bit angry herself but more at him than at her, and the fact that she was failing at the mission. Luckily for her they did not take the scroll, probably because they did not find it when they took off the cloak she wore and they didn't check her well. This wasn't to say that they wouldn't when they let her out.

She thought about passing it to him if she could but they would probably see it. "I don't mean to yell at you, it just hasn't been a good day!" Understatement of the year…."If you.. can get me out of here you'll get a reward. I just have to make it back home!" Maybe that would help sway him. she didn't know what type of reward she could give him, but it would be something. As for age, she was in her mid twenties. Twenty-four to be exact.

He couldn't see the girl too well, but he could tell she was younger. Older than he was, most likely, but probably not by too much. He was only nineteen himself, and had absolutely no business being here. Even had she not been here, he never should have been in this jungle! He really needed to learn how to control this power... but right now, she was promising him the world to get her out of that cage. And... he actually started to laugh!

"Honey, I have no idea if I'm going to be able to do much more than crawl my ass out of here when I escape, much less do anything to help you for some hope and promise of a reward! Sorry, you'll have to do a bit better than that..."

With that miserable attempt at bribery now dealt with! He needed to start wracking his brain. They were bundling up wood and stone in some little pedestal area across that bridge... well, if they were planning on cooking him, that would definitely work out to his advantage. It wouldn't help his energy levels, but it would at least buy him some time.

This was all happening a lot faster than he had hoped it would! He wasn't getting any kind of recharge time here! ... dammit! Well, for now, he had pretty much no choice but to lie there in that wooden cage, and try not to set it afire and get his ass killed right now...

The girl gripped the cage as she could and shook at the bars, they were only wide enough for an arm to get through. The person who was sitting on her cage bounced on and it laughed, kicking out their feet and hitting the guys cage as well. "I've got to get out of here!" she shouted, her attempts only making the others around laugh in amusement. The drums continued to play as the night only grew darker. She was loosing hope and as she heard the laughter around her she sat her head in the dirt of the cage. "I got to get out. Please. You don't understand. I can't fail. I can't."

She didn't know that he didn't plan on being there, but she didn't care that much either. She was exhausted from trying to escape and her hands hurt from where the rope sliced down the center of them, and all she could think about was how she was going to be eaten.

With care, she reached into her shirt shirt and pulled out the scroll, crumpling it up in her hand. "You. Boy." as she called him a boy, as she didn't have another name to call him. "Can you take something for me? You can leave me here, but take this." It would be awkward trying to get her hand towards his cage, but she tried, and inched her hand out between the bars towards him.

by Telguest Tue Aug 06, 2013 7:40 pm

Well why was she burning her energy, trying to escape a cage she could barely move in? That was just stupid! Screaming and flailing was only going to make her more exhausted, and make it that much more difficult for her to get away on her own... come on, he was still a kid, and he knew that! No, he just laid there quietly, conserving his strength. Watching the savages do their thing, and watching her thrash about and scream.

That is, until she called out to him. ... who was she calling boy! He had been living on his own for years before he stumbled into this place! Shooting a glare in her direction, he was just about to spit back another insult when he noticed her hand. And the balled up piece of paper in it. That... was not a good idea. Why would she even show that she had something like that on her, when there was a guy sitting on her cage? Silly, woman... Was that balled up piece of paper what all of this was about? It had better not be!

".. I'm not taking that. Put it away before someone sees it, woman." Besides, if what he was thinking was about to happen, it would suck if it was on him! "Just shut up, stop acting like an ass over there, and be ready to move, if this works." God, please let this work...

If it wasn't clear by now, obviously she was not a survival type, nor was she the savvy person that would usually be on a mission of this sort. She had volunteered for this mission and had gone - whether it was approved or not. It was a wonder she had made it this far. As for him, she didn't understand why he wouldn't take it. He already said that he wasn't going to help her and now he wasn't even going to take the paper that she was offering him.

She frowned at him but nodded, pulling back her hand and clutching the paper tighter than before. What was written on it was bloodstained by now, but she would still be able to read it. She didn't say anything to him either she only hunkered down and focused on breathing and staying conscious.

The tribesmen were coming to the end of their planning and the drum beats were getting louder. The person who had been sitting on the girls cage got off and started stomping his feet upon the ground in a pattern that matched the drums. Slowly all the cheering died down and there was only the drum beats and that of the people stomping in time. Eight men with long poles started towards the cages. She was looking at them with fear in her eyes. Her heart was likely to beat out of her chest if it could. Her cage was dragged forward and she pressed herself lower to the ground as the pair of sticks were slid through it and four tribesmen lifted the cage- and her - off the ground. The same was being done to the guys cage.

And in this time, he too was watching, waiting. Keeping as calm as he could. Come on, they were savages. They were nothing compared to voidspawn. There was no way they could make his life any more difficult. And besides that... these people were very primitive, and superstitious and stuff, like all simple beings are. That was all he had to count on. And if not? Then, he was going to burn up the last of his energy, in order to get himself out of the risk of being killed and eaten, anyway. He was probably going to die doing it like this? But at least he wasn't going to be cannibalized!

As the drumming and stomping became the only thing left to be heard, he started to close his eyes. He could hear the girl next to him breathing and freaking out, and he could hear more steps coming toward them. Even as the sticks were inserted in the slats of the cages and he was lifted from the ground, he remained motionless, eyes closed. And he was beginning to envision, relive, revisit the past in his mind. His own past. The things that led him to where, and what he was now. very... unpleasant and unhappy things. Things that started to stir up the anger and rage inside. Not to mention... the fact that he was in some little ass cage, with some girl who got him into this abortion in the first place, and he was about to die!

All of this was happening as the men were lifting them up, and bringing them, wherever it was they were going. The girl might start to feel it getting a little bit warmer on the side of her he was on? But so far, nothing. he looked like he was sleeping!

It may be getting hotter to her, but she was being carried by torches! The Tribesmen had formed a line to the bridge across the chasm and they were being carried across it. The torches were lit to light the way as it was very dark now and if it were not for that, there would be nothing to see except the light from the stars in the sky. She looked to her right and saw the people, even caught a glimpse of the painting on the stones, the picture looking more horrific for her now than it did in the daylight. To her left she could just see the guy with her. Perhaps he is making his peace? She wondered to herself. It seemed like something he would be doing. Maybe.

He was right about something they were superstitious. Why else would they be in this temple? And why didn't someone sit on the guys cage as well as hers? They remembered how he had caused that fire to come from his hands, but they thought that he was spent out as well, and was why they were able to capture him. A great victory on their behalf to have captured something as a god for their own sacrifice!

They cast looks at him as they went, feeling the heat. They wanted to get him to the pedestal as fast as they could. But they didn't pick up the pace much faster The people holding the girls' cage were the first to step on the bridge and they started across. The other people would wait a moment before heading on it with the boy.

The torches, those were good. Even more energy to fuel what he wanted to do. He could feel their heat. And it was something he was going to use to his advantage! Right now though, he had to concentrate. He was going to need as much power as he could scrounge up in order to make this happen. The first time he had done it it had almost killed him. And as weak as he was right now... well, it was almost certain to!

As they were carried across that wooden bridge, he finally spoke up. Clearly to the girl, since she was the only one nearby who could understand him.

"If you have anything magical on you at all, now is the time to let me know." It was simple, it was direct. Well, sort of... he really didn't say why! He just left it at that, and waited until he was set down. As soon as they put him down... it was gonna be showtime.

Anything magical? Was that was caused the fire earlier at the cliff? She hadn't thought too much about it, thinking it had been the tribesmen that set the fire, but maybe she was wrong. They were almost to the other side.

"I'm a Priestess, not a magician!" she called out to him. What did she have on her that could possibly be of any use for magic! She only had the paper she stole, but that wasn't magical. But wait! She did have something and maybe that would be what he needed. "Wait! In my mouth." In case he couldn't hear her, She opened her mouth and pointed inside. There was a silver covering over one of her molars on the left side, the light may have cast a glint over it. That object is what was going to help her get back home if she was ever able to get to the exit point past the cliffside. It wasn't much a magic item but it would open a portal. Think of it as a calling key to a door. .

The tribesmen set her cage down roughly on the pedestal, and then plopped his on top. Hopefully he wasn't too heavy!

"... a priestess? What the hell was a priestess doing out in this jungle! Were you on a pilgrimage or something, trying to convert the local primitives before you decided to start stealing things?" Leave it to some religious zealot to get him killed...

For a moment, he had a glimmer of hope, when she actually came up with something. ... something that was in her mouth. Well, wasn't that charming? Who knew what it was, because his eyes were still closed. But, whatever it was, he hadn't sensed it before... so most likely, it wasn't going to be much good to him. But, hell. He was going to start pulling in anything magical around him, so if there was anything to it, he was going to use it!

Once he felt himself being set back down - roughly, at that - he had a rather dreadful realization. ... his cage was on top of hers!

"... trust me. turn yourself away as much from me as you can. I'll try not to cook you." ... cook you!? Not much he could do now but carry out his plans, and hope she didn't die. So in case he didn't he could begin hoping she would get his ass out of here!

He waited a bit longer, though. Waiting to hear chanting, or pounding and banging, or footsteps closing in on him. But more importantly, he was waiting for heat coming closer to them. Hopefully, heat came pretty quick, because he only waited a minute or so, before he acted.

His eyes opened, and twin beams of pure white light shot out from behind his lifting eyelids. His eyes were blowing with intense light, and shimmering just like a pair of stars, or glowing diamonds. Not that she could see it... but the light coming from them would be visible to the savages huddled around the temple. And as they opened, his body began to sheathe itself in those same orange flames that he had been spewing out earlier. And if she was sensitive to it... she would feel a good bit of darkness coming out of the boy!

As cramped as this cage was, it took only a matter of seconds before his cage was alight with fire, And he was bursting his way out of it.The top of her cage was on fire as well... hint hint, little girl! The wreckage of his cage fell off of hers as he slid from atop of it, feet landing on the edge of their little pedestal thing they were on. And he stood there, an inferno of orange flame. And with that motion, every single torch, one at a time, burst into the same glowing orange flame that was whipping and whirling about him. They were starting to fan out around him a bit more, whipping around him almost like a whirlwind, reaching up several feet above him, and by now, obscuring the entire pedestal from sight outside of it. He never spoke a single word, only took in one single deep breath. And as he exhaled it in a hard, forced breath, that entire whirling cone of fire exploded outward, in every direction. If that wasn't enough to eradicate or drive off any of these damn savages, then they were in real trouble! Because the moment that breath was exhaled, every torch was extinguished, consumed in his one final assault. And, he slumped against the pedestal and collapsed.

tbc........

by Telguest Sun Sep 01, 2013 12:22 am

If she survived this she would show him a religious zealot! Now was not the time to get angry over that, and she didn't. His cage was heavy on her back but, with what he said about cooking her, she would press herself down to the bottom of that cage as much as she could. Once the tribesmen set them on the pedestal they started back across the bridge and the chanting only grew louder. They had no idea what was about to happen. To them, the deal was done and the two were going to be sacrificed to the god they were calling down. Everything was going to their plan!

The Priestess waited and when the guy suddenly exploded into flame she did cry out - who wouldn't - but she was more afraid of the darkness she felt coming from him. Was that there before? She didn't know what it was, but she knew it wasn't anything pretty. I've been sent a devil? The thought ran across her mind but quickly vanished as she heard the cries and panicked screams coming from all around the chasm, not to mentioned the burining of her own back!

She pushed up through the pain and was able to break out of her cage, momentary blinded by the flames she couldn't see anything but that. The wooden cages fell off from where they were and went into the darkness. No sound was heard of them landing. A moment later she got her sight back and she could see the tribesmen running. They thought that they had angered their god for trying to give him a god and everything was in chaos.

She hadn't realized that the guy had passed out until she started for the bridge and things went dark. "Boy! Boy!" It was the only name that she had! Did he fall? She didn't' see him! She didn't see hardly anything for the light from the stars and moon only gave the faintest of lights. "BOY!" It was no time to be quiet! She didn't know how long the people would stay in panic or what would happen if the bridge was gone. He helped her and she had to help him. Should help him. It's what they'd want her to do - no they'd want her to get out with the scroll.

She turned around and squinted and saw a darkened shadow she thought was him and grabbed the first part of him she could - happened to be his foot. "How am I to carry you!" It's not as though she was a strong and robust female! "Light, give me strength," she said as she bent down and somehow got him over her shoulder. Her leg buckled as she started towards the bridge. She just had to keep going ! She kept going one foot over the other till she was across the bridge. The tribesmen didn't seem to notice her in the dark. She went as much as she could until, just a short bit out of the ruins, she tripped from the weight… and they both started rolling down the hill..

What she grabbed was definitely a foot. Not a Boot, or a shoe, or anything even similar to that. It was a bare skinned foot. She could even feel his toes! And it was actually quite normal feeling to the touch; you'd never know he had just radiated a cyclone of fire out of his body. As she managed to get him in position to actually get him onto her shoulder, she would probably realize by then that this boy was now stark naked, every single bit of clothing upon his body incinerated by his last attempt at saving his ass from becoming dinner. See why he told her to keep the wad of paper, now!

She was a girl and all, but she would actually find him to be rather light, and rather short, for a guy. He was also completely unresponsive, from the moment she managed to heft him up onto her shoulder, to her tripping and sending them tumbling down a hill. Some rescue this had turned out to be! ... but hey. It beat being in those cages, about to be sacrificed!

Now... it would be at least a few hours before he was even able to move. Much less be able to open his eyes, and actually be coherent of what was going on around him. But as soon as that first groan left his lips, an absolutely gnawing hunger began to burn inside his body. And that groan became a very pained whine. And regardless of where he was, the boy curled up fetal, clenching his arms around himself, waiting for the initial shock of the pain to pass. His eyes were wrenched shut again... so he had no idea where the hell he even was!

The roll down the hill had only put her out for a bit and, to her delight, she didn't wake up to find that they were captives of anything else. What she did see was that they were still in the forest and the guy was still unconscious. And naked. Why is he naked! And why was she looking at him! Was she carrying him, naked, on her that whole time? She had to slap herself to pull herself together to stop looking at the naked guy - she hadn't seen one before, could she really be blamed?

What was left of her habit gown she pulled off - she was still dressed underneath with small clothes and a slip, even though they were torn they would be enough to keep her decent. What she pulled off she tossed over him and rolled him on to it. Once he was settled she grabbed a corner and pulled him along the forest floor. She knew she had to go up, but the hour was still late.. and she wanted to get somewhere covered. By the time the guy would wake up, he would be in the hollowed over trunk of a fallen tree. She was nearby - it was a trunk, it wasn't all that large - and she had managed to pull a few sticks and leaves around their opening to keep it as covered as she could get it. The time now was near 3am or 4 in the morning.

... why do you think he was naked! He became a living torch! Clothing can't stand up to that kind of abuse! Her clothing was ripped up and torn and dirty from her flight and capture and escape... he was on fire! Burning! That's why his clothes were gone! Rest assured, if he had an option to wear flame retardant clothing, he would. But life ain't always bananas and toothbrushes, now is it?

As it were, he didn't even realize he was naked, until the initial waves of pain from his near starved condition passed. That took about ten minutes... and he was writhing and groaning the entire time. It started to die down a bit, and finally, he was just laying there, curled up in a ball, clinging to himself.

Finally, he managed to open his eyes, and lift his head a little bit to take in his surroundings. And his surroundings were... dark. He was laying on the ground... no. There was something underneath him. Cloth, or something... huh. He was alive. Barely... but he was alive. And the fact he was meant...

"... hey, church girl?" It was a weak, strained croak of words, words he barely even got out in the first place. But he knew she was nearby... if she went out of her way to get him out of there, she wasn't going to abandon him in the middle of the jungle...

She needed to rest just as much as he did. Exhausted fmor everything and she would swear her legs had no strength to support her even if she tired. It was luck that kept anything else from coming after them. Her eyes were closed, but she had heard him groaning in pain, but there was nothing she could do about it. Hearing him she squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head towards the sound of his voice. "Boy. You're awake." She squeezed her eyes shut against the muscle pain and to keep herself from looking at his naked body. Not that anything was wrong with it…

"We're okay.. for now." She didn't have anything to offer him in terms of food or water. She had pulled off more of her shift to make bandages for her hands. What she really needed was clean waters and medicine. "We fell." it was the simplest answer she had .

Besides, of course, that it was naked. And probably being eaten alive by mythical mosquitos and flies and who knew what else! The sound of her voice had his head titling off in the direction it had come from. He really couldn't see anything... but at least he had a general idea of where she was, now.

"We... fell..." Her response was repeated back to her, because... that was pretty vague. Where did they fall! "Where, down the crack at the temple?" He didn't know! All he knew was it was dark and he itched like mad and he was ravenously hungry! He really didn't wait for an answer, though. He went right on into his next line of questioning.

"I didn't cook you too bad, did I?" Look at that, maybe there was a shred of compassion in him, after all? Groaning again, he slowly began to uncurl from his position, allowing his body to stretch out some, in hopes it would drive away some of the pain. ... yeah, it didn't. The sharp hissing intake of breath probably told her that much.

She was pretty sure there were blisters on her back from the fire. She was sitting up to get use to the pain it was causing. "Unlike you, I won't be going topless." It was a poor attempt at a joke, trying to make things not be so bad, keep her spirits up and not burst into a thousand tears as she wanted. "They ran in the chaos. I carried you out. We fell," she said. Was that better for him?

She fixed her jaw and made a move forward to the makeshift door and pushed back a few pieces of the wood, some light os the coming dawn was starting to break through. "Safe here." that bit of light that came in was not much, only a bit brighter than the night. "No sign of the tribesmen." Which she was very thankful for. She was also thankful that they were not in a cold place! Not only would that be awkward, but they both likely would have froze. "Can you move?" She couldn't move much to be asking that question, but didn't want to stay down here any longer than she had to.

She clenched her fist against the pain in her back and the leaned forward position she was currently in. She didn't know what to do but to go up. However long that would take

... no. It really wasn't all that helpful. He knew she carried him out of there? But he didn't know where they fell! At least, until she had allowed a few fragmented rays of the rising morn to break through into their little hiding place. They were still in the forest, it seemed. And by the way she was acting, probably in a part of the forest she knew nothing about. Oh. Boy. This was gonna be a delight! Trudging through the rainforest, slowly withering and starving. ... well, at least he wasn't in some tribeman's belly.

".. sorry." Yeah, he knew she would have taken some burns. But in the end, it was that or both of them die. And that had not been agreeable to either one of them. So, in the end... they both come out of this a lot more banged up than when they went in... but they were alive! "At least you still have clothes..." Which he didn't know for sure... but where would they have gone?

At her question, he grunted a little bit, once more stretching himself to try and get his limbs and body to snap out of their starved torpor, and move without excruciating pain. He hurt everywhere... but nothing seemed too catastrophic. "Not very fast... but yeah. I think I can." He left out the fact that it would only be a couple days, tops, before even that was going to be impossible. He could spring that on her later!

"Good," she said. Swallowing hard she pushed aside the rest of the debris and crawled out of the trunk, but not without a bit of painful moans of her own. "And, for the record," she said as she pulled herself out and up to standing. It was a lot more painful than she imagined and she didn't know how she was even standing. Everything in her wanted to sleep, but it would be better to travel in the light than in the dark. "I didn't come here to convert anyone." She wasn't that type. She could be, it was one of her duties to spread the word about and all that, but not to the tribesmen.

Once she was out she turned back to the trunk and bent down, nearly tripping over as she did, and offered out her hand to him that was wrapped in cloth. She was still clothed.. only the white of the shift was grey, dirty, singed and even bloody from her hands and blistered that likely burst open on her back. "IF we can make it up the cliff, I can get home." as an afterthought she added. "I don't know where you're from, but you helped me, and I said Id' reward you." She would be good to her word as much as she could. They still had to actually get out of this forest and hopefully avoid the tribesmen on the way up.

Yeah. That was probably the easy part. Avoiding tribesmen, whatever animals were roaming this place,. and not falling dear from exposure or hunger or thirst, before they made it to this place of hers. All while both of them were extremely weakened and injured. Awesome! She was already pushing her way out of the little shelter they had put together for them, so that meant he should probably start moving to get up, himself. Rolling onto his side, he managed to get himself at least to his hands and knees.

Glancing up to see the hand being offered to him. He wasn't going to accept it, but it gave him a chance at least to look up at her, and get his first partial glance of the woman who had... saved him. She had.And that was likely going to end up coming back to haunt him. So, before he got out of the tree, he gave her a little nod. And a forced, weak smile. "Thanks, by the way. For saving my ass." Only then did he slowly begin to crawl out of the hollowed tree, snagging whatever it was that he had been laying on. It was going become his skirt, once he was standing up...

How thankful she was that he took her clothes as a skirt. Nothing to complain about, though, when he didn't take her hand, she pushed it against her knee to stand back up. She was cute. She wouldn't call herself pretty, but people said she was cute with her button style nose. Hair was dark blonde, like his own, but just as dirty as the rest of her. "Thank you for..not killing me."

A small smile as she stepped aside. She knew how she got into this mess, it was not being careful. Reckless. The task was simple and she took it for granted and almost died. Her stomach grumbled in protest of food and she held her arms against it. "We need water." Thirsty. And water for the wounds. "What's your name, boy? I don't have anything else to call you." She moved slowly away from that log, mostly because her legs were stiff and weak.

A thank you for not killing her. You don't get too many of them! But hey, at least she was appreciative of it. He was right now too, considering she had saved his bacon, and didn't leave his ass unconscious in the forest. They had a ceasefire for now, apparently! "There's always later." ... now he was cracking a joke back at her? On that topic? Wow. That was just precious.

Despite the protests from his legs... and arms... and body... he managed to climb up to his feet, and get that cloth wrapped around his waist, so he wasn't totally nude anymore. He was just as filthy as she was, considering he tumbled down that hill naked. But despite the filth, the large, jagged scar across his chest was very visible. "Yeah..." Was his response to her statement. They needed water... well, she would, anyway. "Now's the time to get it. If you have anymore extra cloth, use it to wipe the dew and water off the leaves." Unlike her, he had been alone for a while now, and he knew how to scrounge and scavenge for floor and water in bad places.

"Do you know which way we're even going?" ... he needed to know, before he got his hopes up for getting out of here! And finally? "... Malachai. My name's Malachai."

Perhaps she needed to stay in front of him to keep herself from looking behind. She saw the scar and assumed that he seen his fair share of fights. Dirty or not, she saw that. "Malachai, like the prophet? Isn't that ironic coming from a person of the Dark?" Well wasn't she rather blunt! She remembered what she felt when the fire came, and it had to come from him as that's where she felt it.

She didn't know where she was going but knew that they had to go upwards. "The cliff is up.. we came down. Up we go." What she wouldn't give for shoes, amongst other things. She wasn't sure how she would climb the rope when she got to it, but that was something she'd deal with later. "You can call me Susan, and any extra clothes that I had you're using as a skirt." He could keep it too. She was not putting that back on, or using it to scoop up water, after it had ben dragged through the ground and around his lower region.

Susan made slow progress through the woods, not moving very fast at all. If he was behind her, he would have a clear sight of her back and how it was burnt, even some of the fabric into her back..That was going to be hell to fix later. Not the shirt, but the skin. Probably a good thing that she did not know how bad it actually looked. "I'm sorry.. I'm usually in better humor.."

... she certainly didn't mince words, did she? Just calling him out on the surge darkness she must have felt come from him during his last little display of power! He just sort of stared back at her blankly, until she had turned away to start walking. That was when he noticed his handiwork on her back. Yeah... that was pretty ugly. But at least he had warned her? Think about how her face and chest would have looked? It was only after that that he responded to her, and started walking after her.

"You and me both, sister." And no, that was not a shot at her priestessness! "In that case, guess you're just grabbing the water you find from low hanging leaves until we find a stream or something... and so you know, I'm not from the darkness. I'm tainted. If I was darkness, you'd be dead already, priestess." Especially considering she was a priestess!

"I'm a human still... I think. Everything that happened a few years back changed me, though. I still don't know exactly what changed... but I know I'm not normal anymore. But I sure as hell am not darkness, Susan." He wasn't upset by her words or anything, but he knew that there needed to be an explanation. If she thought he was a demon or devil or something, then he'd have to watch his back the rest of this trip... he didn't need that right now. What he needed was to feed.

At least he wouldn't be feeding off of her? Since he wasn't of the dark she wouldn't have to try to kill him in his sleep or feel guilty about helping him escape when she could have let him die there on the pedestal. some of what he said she could not relate to, such as not thinking that she wasn't human.

She went without saying anything for a moment, simply walking and trying to think about what he said and why he was here. "Why were you there, on the cliff?" If he hadn't been there, then maybe he wouldn't have been in the position that he was in now. "I didn't mean to bring you in to this.. I just got to get back," she was looking for those plants that may have water on them, but she wasn't quite sure what she was looking for. Water on plants? She knew about dew but…

... they were in a rain forest! There were plenty of large leaves and such that she could find dew and collected rain water to at least get the precious liquid into her system. She would see plenty of them, around... and if she didn't, he would point it out. It was pretty simple! There would be no feeding from the priestess, since she really didn't seem to have what he wanted, anyway. No... he would have to hope he could get out of here fast, and get to something he actually could feed from. She went on in silence for a bit, which allowed him to collect his thoughts a little bit.

He was still a bit scattered,and the pain and hunger nagging at his mind and body were not helping the situation. But out of the silence came another blindside question... and a sort of awkward apology. An apology that he actually kind of snorted at. "No, you're not. If I didn't get dragged into this, you'd be dead right now." ... it was likely she was going to be dead in a few days, anyway? But at least out here she had a chance.

"But to answer your question? I had a magical mishap. I was fighting voidspawn. My magic overloaded or something, and I ended up being dropped in this forest. And I couldn't figure out how to do it to get back home... and then you came barreling out of the forest with half of it chasing you." That was a pretty decent synopsis of what had happened over the last twelve hours or so!

She wasn't a survivalist! The closet she came to camping in the woods was doing so inside of her friends 'black box' and that was a controlled environment, and they had water. Playing outdoors didn't count and that she did a lot. It could be that she was simply focused on keeping moving.

"Are you saying all this is fate then? You could have run, Malachai, you didn't have to stay and fight." That was what she thought he did, even if he was the one being attacked.

As the day went on and the sun came higher..The air became more humid. Humid heat to top everything else off, the good thing was that it enabled her to see the condensation building up on the leaves, one of the larger ones and she stepped towards it to wiped the water with her finger.

"It's wet." to state the obvious. Susan looked back at him, in his 'skirt' and scar. "I just… never mind." she felt stupid in asking what she was suppose to do with it, so instead she started peeling off the leaves and rubbing the water on her hands, she wanted to clean them anyway and it helped her mood a little. It also reminded her of how much her hands hurt. "Proper water.. proper stream." she mumbled more to herself than to her. "I'm sure there are enough leaves for you too."

tbc........

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