Demon Redux

Koga realized he had absolutely no idea where he was going. "Well...this is embarrassing.." he said as he slammed his staff into the ground and leaped upon it balancing on one foot. Koga closed his eyes and took a big whiff of air. "What...is that ominous smell....?" He leaped up grabbed his staff and ran after the smell (completely ignoring the inn yeah I know.). Koga entered a rocky passage and kept running through seeing a light at the end. "The smell is getting stronger...this may be my first serious fight yet...." Koga gripped onto his staff tighter as sweat dripped down his forehead. "I-....Im scared?..." Koga stopped after he just reached the outside of the rocky passage. "....-trembling- w-what is this?...." He looked up ahead to see smoke from a distance. "Well maybe its just a campfire or something right?" He laughed nervously but then fear struck as he looked into the sky. "That cloud isn't normal...This...is not right. I sense...death." Koga gulped. "I cant do this, its time to head back!" Koga ran and ran as fast as he could back to the inn by following the other scent of Amelia's flower.

Spoiler:

Clarice looked up and down the street. In truth she had no idea where they were either but she could probably figure it out. She turned up toward the sun. It was morning so the sun would be in the east. Directly in front of them the sun rose over the rocky formations in the distance. Turning left Clarice could see the second gate to the city down at the end of the road. Without a word to anyone else Clarice turned and began walking to the exit. She heard the far off sounds of the town coming to life in the warming sun of the day. Smiling to herself, Clarice took in all the sights, sounds, and smells, of the awakening market. ‘Well,’ Clarice thought. ‘I guess there are some advantages to living in the day light. Now if only the sun wasn’t here…’ Her thoughts were interrupted by a new sound in the distance, footsteps pounding but agile. The unique gait that only belonged to the Kong peoples of the forested regions of the continent. She had spent some time with them when she first left her home, learning from them the skills of thievery. She knew their sound well as it was often the only way to identify them hidden among the dense forests, however there was only one such Kong in this area. “Koga?” Clarice stopped peering into the distance. Her eye sight paled in comparison to her other sense so she could not see him but she heard is approach. After a moment she say the outline of his figure speeding through the streets toward her. He ran up to them panting, as he neared Clarice say fear in eyes. There was not much in this world that would make one of the proud ape warriors run in fright. Now she was afraid. “What is it, Koga? What happened?”

Koga looked towards Clarice. "Its fine don't worry about me....Just a little spooked from seeing vultures a dead corpse is all!" Koga shrugs and fake laughs. "Okay...you probably already see through me....I would rather not talk about it so lets just forget everything...please..." He said as his knees started to tremble. "I....have to go now..." Koga runs off towards the scent of Amelia's flower. "I dont want anyone to know what I felt....and I hope that feeling will never repeat itself..." he thought. He remembered the feeling of shadows crawling on his leg and penetrating into his skin slowly and painfully. He remembered feeling helpless as his legs refused to move a joint. Koga looked foward his head sanity slowly recovering and ran even faster towards Amelia.

Flynn watched the monkey begin to freak out in front of him, he let out a small giggle, more or less ignoring what the primate was sputtering out to the group. He watched as Koga ran off towards the Elf girl in the Inn before looking back at the others. "Well, shall we continue?" The fox boy looked towards, where his instincts presumed, was north. In a flash of light Flynn summoned his Scythe into his right hand, the shabby farmers tool hung loosely in his hand as he readjusted the glass orb in left arm. He gave the rest of the group a nod of his head before he began to march towards the North Gate, a normal woven grass arch. With each step of his left foot Flynn raised his scythe high into the air energetically, his tails waving in opposition to the steps of his feet. He looked past the gate, excited for what may come beyond the gate, the feel of adventure filling his body with energy.

Clarice turned toward Savaria and rolled her eyes at the fox boy's enthusiasm. Savaria couldn't see Clarice's eyes behind her glasses but Savaria guessed her facial expression and simply shrugged her shoulders before skipping over and falling in step behind Flynn. Clarice watched as Savaria giggled and marched to the fox boy's drum beat. She simply shook her head as a small smile playing along her lips. Clarice glanced to where Koga and Amelia were standing before deciding they could find their way back to the group. Instead she turned and began to follow Savaria and the fox boy in their joyful march through the town. Before a few steps though she heard a noise ever so faint echo from the side street of the inn, it was the soft padding of paws. Clarice had suspected they hadn’t seen the last of the standing dog and it was only fitting that they would follow them to the elder, maybe there was some answers there. Clarice continued walking as if she hadn’t heard anything. She would keep an ear out for the dog but wouldn’t alert the others to its presence, she had a feeling they didn’t want to make themselves known quite yet and she wasn’t going to be the one to expose them. Instead Clarice walked on after Savaria and the fox but keeping to the side of the street as she wasn’t really the draw attention type and the two person marching band was turning heads.

The first thing Laeis found outside was ash spreading in the sky, she realized that the humans were sacrificing another innocent life in an attempt to quell the demons, as they did every month. She paid it no more mind than the more alive citizens of Azure. Laeis started out through the back alley behind the inn toward the gate, but found herself interrupted by what she heard as a scared monkey. She went to investigate what might be going on, only to find Flynn walking triumphantly towards the same game as her she thought to herself, what an odd little man, though, would he really choose to go into the desert so willingly? He should know that very few have ever returned from that path, even the elder has not returned after weeks. Laeis couldn't help but to glare in admiration at his enthusiasm before following through the alley.
  She reached the end of Azure where stone flats turn to sands of the desert. It wasn't going to be easy to travel out miles of sand without carrying any supplies. Laeis did not give herself time to doubt and ran out into the desert to find the truth she needs from the elder.

Amelia looked up from her doggy position, watching as her companions followed Flynn out of the inn. A shiver went down Amelia's spine as Savaria motioned towards the inn with her head, and suddenly felt gazes upon her rear, manly giggles emanating from the doorway. Very much like a sprinter, Amelia dashed away from the inn, her vision distorted from sudden panic. A blue furball could be seen some distance ahead of her, almost like a beacon of safety signaling her to come. As she ran, Amelia detected a smell of fur with a hint of feces, barely giving her enough time to turn her shoulder to avoid it. A quick spin allowed Amelia to regain her balance, and once again her gaze was directed forward towards her safe haven. Before she regained awareness of her surroundings, she almost ran headlong into Flynn and his wicked scythe, and tumbled forward on her side before coming to a halt again on her back, sand flying everywhere and sticking in clumps to her skin from absorbing her perspiration. Amelia squinted, the sun blinding her. Suddenly questioning why Flynn had his weapon drawn, Amelia attempted to rise and draw her sword. Unfortunately because she was somewhat stunned and in a daze, along with panting because of her long sprint, all she could do was get into a doggy position again. Still squinting, she coughed some sand out of her mouth and looked towards Flynn. "Why is your weapon out? Is there something dangerous?" asked Amelia.

Flynn swiveled to the attention of Amelia, with Scythe held towards the heavens he looked at the girl with starry eyes. His lips curled into a smile as his tails whipped around in a playful manner, the wisps of fluff strutting around his body and occasionally smacking into his side. "No of courrrrrse not." Flynn purred out to the Elf. "I'm just excited to finally be leaving this place." The Fox paused for a moment and looked back at the Inn. "And I definitely wont miss that place." He looked down at Amelia and held out a hand to help the girl out of the dirt. "Are we actually going to do his quest? We could just walk out after a free room." Flynn cocked his head ever so slightly to the side in an inquisitive motion, the the moral standing of what he just said seemingly having no impact on his words or tone. The Fox twisted the Scythe in his hand before he let it fall onto the ground. Instead of a puff of dust the Scythe instead disappeared into light, nowhere to be seen. He then allowed his left hand to pay full attention to his glass orb, clutching it like a small child, his left hand still held out in a helpful motion.

Amelia reached out towards the kitsune's outstretched hand and gripped it, pushing up and allowing Flynn to pull her back to her feet. However, she was still disoriented and unstable on her feet. So unable to keep steady, Amelia was pulled forward, tumbling into the foxy boy and into the ground. She could feel the warm and fuzzy being underneath her, and wanted to just relax for a little bit. The warm breath from Flynn's mouth brushed by her ear, and Amelia let out a scream. "Kyaaaah!" she went. Amelia pushed herself back onto all fours into doggy position again, blushing furiously and her lips made trembled between a line of embarrassment and delight. Pulling away again, she sat onto her knees, her hands clasped together on one side of her face, her rump placed upon Flynn's lower half. "Kyaaaaaaah!" went Amelia. Soon, a loud slap could be heard around the world.
 
Now her back was directed towards the kitsune, and some distance had been placed between them. Amelia held her hands together, one of which was a scarlet color. She panted heavily, her face seemed ready to burst into flames. Glancing slightly towards Flynn she said "Um, sorry about that... And thank you." Now it seemed as though magma was flowing beneath her flesh. "And I think it would be rude if we didn't hold our end of the bargain with those... Innkeepers." She shuddered slightly, her skin now reverting back to it's original state.

"Not in broad daylight kiddies. Do it on your own time." Clarice walked over to where Flynn and Amelia were sitting in the dust. "Come on get up." She grabbed Amelia's arm and pulled the elf to her feet steadying her so she wouldn't fall over again. Savaria bounced over to where Flynn was still sitting and tried to help him up as well, but instead her hand slipped and she toppled back in to Clarice. Clarice felt something inside her growl at the sudden contact of the small girl but she suppressed it and inclined her head so that her hair shielded her face. Clarice nudged Savaria off her so she was no longer leaning on her. "We need to keep moving. I don't like the sun." Clarice said shortly.
Savaria looked her up and down before nodding quickly and turning to continue. She pranced on a bit before stopping and kneeling to the group. "Hey!" she called. "I found tracks in the sand!" Clarice walked up behind her and peered over Savaria's shoulder. There were in fact the slight indent paw prints in the sand. "Should we follow them?" Savaria looked up at the dark girl expectantly.
"No. We need to finish the quest that the inn keepers gave to us so that we can be on our way. No distractions until our debt is paid."
Savaria sighed and was silent a moment. "Clarice aren't we supposed to be heading North?"
"Yes."
"Well then these tracks are headed precisely where we mean to be going! I guess we do get to follow them and see where they lead!" In a moment Savaria was on her feet following along the foot prints north. In the distance the outline of a few trees could be seen breaking the sparse landscape of the desert.

Koga ran towards the scent of the flower and stopped when reaching Amelia. "H-hey a-am I late?"he said seemingly out of breath. He collapsed to the ground on all fours coughing and wheezing. "Phew...Im not in the best shape am I hehehe!" He said adjusting himself. The sensation of fear has escaped his body and he began to feel a bit lighter again."So anything I should know now?" he asks Amelia. Koga stabs his staff into the ground and leans on it.

The desert sands blazed against the morning sun, an empty landscape if not for Laeis. She never let up since the start of this little journey, keeping a fast pace, after so much running the oasis was finally quite close to her. She stopped and set down the bag to catch her breath for the final stretch. the short respite was well timed, the sands in front of her began shifting, a demon no doubt digging it's way underground.
   At that moment a sand worm nearly her size leaded forth and plunged towards Laeis, but she managed to dodge the attack wheeling about her two front paws, the worm fell back into the sands seamlessly. The sands revealed the worm turning for another attack, but this time she was prepared. The demon made another attempt, which Laeis dodged once again in a sort of back-step maneuver freeing her front paws to take a swipe at the worm. Her claws barely made contact, leaving no superficial wounds, but enough to throw it off the intended path, the worm awkwardly landed on it's side. Laeis moved in to finish the demon off, but it righted itself and burrowed too quickly for her to act. Any regular creature would have fled in terror after being wounded; demons, however, fought until they died. The worm skirted around for one final go, this time jumping for her flank. Laeis sensed the attack, reeled back onto two legs, turned, and caught the leaping worm mid-air with her claws, her hands now in the demon's maw, reaching towards the outside. Laeis unfortunately now discovered the insides of the demon worm were toxic, burning away at her paws clawing the worm's mouth. She strained her muscles to keep this position, slowly tearing the worm, and herself, apart as it fell to the ground flailing about. After much pain for both parties, the demon fell still and Laeis removed her hands from the lifeless body. She set her paw down to continue, but she found that putting any weight on her hands would only make the burning worse, she walked over to the bag and picked it back up with her teeth before quickly running to the oasis as best she could on two legs.
   It felt like an eternity to reach her destination on just two legs.  When Laeis finally reached the oasis she tossed the bag aside and thrust her hands into the cool water, her mind recalling something her mother said about water washing things away. Sure enough, the burning slowly waned as black toxin oozed out into the waters. She sat in relief for another short while staring at her hands, the fur had completely burned away, exposing her individual fingers and the claws that ended them. The burning sensation even dulled was still present and to her greater displeasure, she was still unable to walk on them. Laeis just sat there at the shoreline of the oasis mulling over the pain that refused to leave, body unwilling to go any further at the moment.

(I'll be out on vacation for the next week, don't go too far without me :3)

Flynn scrambled to his feet in a panic. His darted around the floor as his panicked eyes scampered the barren terrain in front of him. His eyes glistened and his expression quickly swapped to one of joy as he pounced back onto the sandy road that they were all standing on. As the fox landed he warped his body around the glass orb he had been carrying all this time. Flynn came to a rise again, the glass orb clutched in its home in his hand. He spun the ball on his finger with a snicker as if he had just stolen some ancient treasure. With Orb now in hand Flynn looked at everybody else, calm enough to communicate without the panic of his missing piece of glass. "I'm sure the paw prints are no more than a stray animal, I dont see any reason to follow them." He stated to the rest of them, still playing with the orb in his hand. "Besides the faster we get this done with the fast I can be on my way to... Places much more fun than this big sand box!" He stated with a smile, still ignoring Amelia. He was sure that trying to help he up was a kind gesture, he saw no reason as to why he should have been punished for such, beside she was the one who toppled over.
Flynn turned towards the newly arrived monkey. "Welcome back Mister Feces." the fox said with a smile. "Took you long enough to get here." Flynn started to walk north again. "As much as I love searrrrring in this heat," He started with a purr. "We should really get going if we want to get this done and not be stuck here for another night." The boy pranced for a short while before pointing north. "Look, its hardly even a walk." Out in the distance was the wavy image of a tree. The green tip while minuscule at this distance was only noticeable because of its highly contrasting color to the rest of the desert. Without another moment of hesitation Flynn took off in an awkward half jog half skip through the course desert sand.


The Oasis around Laeis was peaceful. The chirping of birds made it obvious that this Oasis was a favorite to some of the birds of Paradise from the Forest no more than ten miles from there, the two to three brightly colored birds scattered around were almost an eyesore when compared to the bleak color surrounding them. The small lake at the center of the Oasis was a crystal blue. When on its own the water would be clear as could be; yet when combined with the seemingly bottomless pit that the water was in it gave off a dark blue. Next to the Oasis stood a cave. It seemed almost unnatural when looking over the flat landscaping of the rest of the desert. Being no more than a few jutting rocks emerged from the ground the cave was not much to marvel at. From the surface the interior seemed like a void, a steep ramp leading deeper underground. The mouth of the cave stood in a jagged circle its diameter was no more than seven six feet.

Amelia felt the soft yet tough grip of Clarice as she was pulled up from the sand, feeling uneasy on this continually shifting terrain of sand that was uncommon in her forest. Monkeyman came up, his scent affecting Amelia's sense of smell. "We just need to head north friend." she replied. Now turning her head towards Flynn, she tried to pay attention to what he was saying, but her gaze occasionally came upon the glass orb that he held as if it was what was most dear to him. "I'm sure we'd all like to finish our task and quickly depart from this treacherous terrain." said Amelia as she softly misplaced sand with her foot. She carefully followed the kitsune as they made their way upon the Oasis.
Compared to the barren yellow hills of sand, the Oasis seemed completely isolated and out of place from the rest of the desert. As they approached, the songs of the birds in the area really made it feel as though they had entered a different realm, the desert felt as though it had passed long ago. The clear yet deep pool of water seemed almost magical, feeding life into the foliage around it. Most peculiar of all was the cave that sat close-by. There was the desert, and separate from the desert was the oasis, and from the oasis was this cave. It appeared as though it had just risen from under the sand and forced its way to the surface.
"So the elder was in a cave, right? Lets go check it out!" she said. Under her breath she muttered "I'd really like to ask if we can bathe here and relax..."

By the time they got to the oasis Savaria was dragging her feet. She missed the ocean all the time but her longing seemed to intensify in the desert where water was an endangered species. She was more of a fish out of water than she had ever been before so when she spotted the sparkling pool of clear blue water she immediately rushed over and dropped to the waters edge. She put her hand out and just skimmed the surface as if petting the shimmering pool. Savaria submerged her hand in the water welcoming the familiar feeling of washing over her.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" The faceless nymph asked. "There are those who have ventured out before and I have yet to see them come back."
"I must go." Savaria said quickly. "No matter the risks for myself. They killed my sisters; I must have revenge."
"Small but brave just as you were before."
"You know of who I was before?" Savaria was surprised. She thought all knowledge of her past life was lost with her memories of it.
"I know of the reasons you were chosen, much beyond that I cannot say..."
"You must tell me! I must know..."
"You must go. The tide is going in to shore. If you do not leave now you will not make it."
"But..." For a moment Savaria thought about staying, abandoning her revenges to learn of who she was...
The Nymph was somehow studying Savaria's face without a face of her own and seemed to read Savaria's thoughts. "Go and upon your return I will tell you what I can about your past."
Savaria pulled out of her thoughts and looked around. It didn't seem as though anyone had noticed her zone out so she quickly removed her hand from the water and wiped it on her hoodie.

Once they made it to the oasis Clarice wasted no time in slipping into the mouth of the cave. She wouldn't melt from being in the sun too long but she still felt uneasy in direct sunlight, more vulnerable that way. Once she was safely concealed from the blinding rays she took a look around the oasis. It was probably very beautiful at night, not that they were going to stick around long enough the find out. Then a sound caught her ears. A brief twittering in a distinctive song. A song she hadn't heard since...
"Control," he said. "That's what you've been seeking these long years. That's why you have come to me. You seek control over something that is not meant to submit to anything. It will not give in even until death. You can not control it."
"No! I have control! I am in control!" Clarice shouted at the small monk sitting across from her. "This thing...!"
"Will not listen to anyone. Even you."
"I'm not here to make it listen. I'm here to get rid of it."
"I can not get rid of it any more than I can get rid of a birds song." As if to prove his point one of the small colorful birds from the branches above flitted down to his robed shoulder and began whistling it's tune. The other birds above echoed it each harmonizing with the others. "It is apart of them and this is apart of you."
"But this isn't a song. This is dangerous. It's killed people... I've killed people..."
"However unfortunate that maybe you must accept it." The monks stoic face only made her heart sink further. "Resisting will only make it fight harder. Control will not help you..."
"Clarice? Clarice!" Clarice was jolted back into the oasis. Savaria was standing in front of her looking concerned. "Are you..." Clarice nodded before Savaria could finish. "Oh well ok... Have you seen the water? It's nothing like the oceans I come from but still...!" Savaria blabbered on, but Clarice wasn't listening. She was thinking about the monk who had refused to help her control Dorcha. She had sworn that she would get control, find some way to keep it contained, it was the only way to keep everyone safe.
"Hey," Clarice cut Savaria off but the smaller girl just closed her mouth and smiled as if she had been done talking anyway. "Why don't you get the others so we can find out what this oracle business is all about huh?"
Savaria nodded eagerly and called everyone over to the cave entrance. Clarice there a moment longer before turning and heading inside into the sweet darkness of the cave.

(Im lost so lets just say I followed Roy because he didn't read my post....god damn it Roy.) Koga reached the oasis behind Amelia listening to her chat about a rest. "Yeah....That'd probably be great...This heat is just killing me especially with my fur." he said. Koga stared into the cave entrance. "So the old man is in that cave huh......I wonder if he has all sorts of cool inventions!" Koga exclaimed in glee. Koga started hopping around playfully. "I just have to see this guy!" Koga shouted as he ran into the cave slipping on sand and sliding into the caverns to what lies beneath.

Laeis was sitting on the other side of the oasis, hands still burning. The adrenaline of battle had faded away, making her body more sensitive to what was really going on. Her hands sank into the wet sands. While it could never truly rid her of the pain, it did give a soothing layer of comfort. Laeis looked out across the water towards her destination and found a most surprising sight.
   Just on the other side the entire group she had seen earlier was there, investigating the cave entrance. This gave Laeis quite a shock, so much so that she let out a gasp of surprise. Her body decided to ramp up again, her heart started pounding and her pain disappeared, the sense of panic was eminent. She threw her head down to look away from them and thought, why are they here of all places?! A thought connected in her mind, but... they do not see me, this still does not change my business with the elder. If only I could see him without others around. Laeis looked up again, to see them start into the cave.