Beholding the Ruin

[Rith Matou]

Since returning to Avaren once again, Rith had felt like he had returned home. Everything radiating that familiar warmth and wholeness one gets when they are in a place they belong. Though, on thinking back on the darker days of the past he had experienced: The war between Mage and Warrior, his imprisonment amongst many others in the castle's dungeon. It all got him wondering what became of the other place he had briefly known as a home, Aesir.

With that, the Animist decided to take a small excursion out to where Aesir had once stood. After some slight digging around town, Rith had found out how Aesir was not much more than a pile of rubble these days. Though, this did not stop him from making the journey. So off he walked, leaving the safety of Avaren to behold its one-time foe.

It was quite the trek, no doubt. He had nearly forgotten just how far away Aesir was from Avaren. Though, he did not mind in the slightest. In his days before coming to the kingdom even the first time, Rith had been a simple wanderer. Traversing the land what felt like many times over in an attempt to learn more about the world. Eventually, Rith could spot the ruined Aesir in his view. As he drew closer, the image was gradually growing more disconcerting. It was as if the ruins were more like an open wound on the landscape just left to fester.

Once he had entered the collective rubble, Rith had begun to explore the city. As he hopped across the detritus he looked about at the unfamiliar sites. It was as if Aesir was completely destroyed when it fell, eradicating even its memories. Eventually, he had found himself in what was once the town's square. He could recognize the remains of the fountain that once stood in all its glory. With a hearty sigh, Rith sat upon the rim of the fountain and took a break to better drink-in the scenery.
"It just doesn't feel right..."

[Shadow]

"Of course it doesn’t. The place was decimated, and the power that once was weaved into the very structures has been either drained, destroyed, or hidden."

Shadow, who had been meditating in the shadows of a relatively undamaged archway, stood up and pushed his cloak back. The illusion that had been cast over him disappeared as he moved, and the other occupant of the clearing would now be able to see him clearly. Walking forward, Shadow continued. "and not only by the crash landing. Before the landing, the entire city had been crawling with undead minions and other dastardly beings who were viciously battling against the few mages that hadn't been slain or killed defending the core. It was a horrendous defeat, and I regret being away from the whole thing."

Shadow shook his head sadly, then looked to the ruins of the once magnificent castle. A small, orange, fox-sized creature detached itself from beneath a pile of rubble and darted at Shadow. When the creature was close enough, it hopped up onto Shadow's shoulder and looked curiously at the other human. Making a strange, inquisitive sound that was something between a meow and a growl, The minimized Dragon dog nudged Shadow’s ear with his tail, as if asking: Who’s that?

Shadow reached up to pet Chao when he realized something. Turning to the other magician, he took a few step closer, his dark red eyes searching the other face. "I think I remember you... but it seems so long ago, and my memories of people from that time seem to have been destroyed with the city. What was your name?”
((long time no RP!XD hope you dont mind the intrusion))

[Rith Matou]

(Not at all. It isn't like I opened this thread to talk to myself.)
As he pondered, a familiar voice cut the silence from seemingly all around Rith. Before he had the time to give it a thought, a red cloaked figure broke its obfuscation and stepped into the light. The Animist listened with care at the deplorable fate of this once grand city of Mages. Rith stood to properly converse with this fellow magician, tossing his forest green cloak behind him as he began to close the gap between them.

While he approached, a small , unidentified creature leaped forth from the rubbish and made itself comfortable on Shadow's shoulder. It was certainly nothing Rith had encountered before and he took quite a bit of interest in it. The way it moved and looked it not only showed aspects of a canine creature, but that of a reptile as well. Fascinating.

"Rith. Rith Matou, that is. And I suppose it has been quite some time, Shadow." Rith replied, extending a friendly hand out to him. "Although, I don't recall your little companion from our last meeting." He added, glancing again briefly at the creature.

[Shadow]

Shadow smiled. "ah yes, Rith. I remember you. you're that animist that was in jail with us." Shadow reached up and gace Chao a pat on teh head. "you dont remember Chao?" Shadow looked at Rith thoughtfully. "well... he was probably at home the last time we met."

Shadow looked at Chao and jerked his head. Chao jumped down from Shadow's shoulders and shook himself a bit. "go on, change to your normal size, see if he can recognize you."

Chao growled softly and began to grow, his features all lengthening out proportionately. When he finished he was the size of a lion, his shoulder reaching a bit above Shadow's waist. Shadow smiled. "if you don't recognize him now, its probably because he wasn't there the last time we met. Regardless, this is Chao, my companion, part time mount and part time bodyguard. He's quite friendly, but dont get him angry, 'cause his temper is worse than mine." Chao growled at Shadow, which made Shadow chuckle a bit and shake his head.

With a heavy sigh, Shadow looked around at the ruins before them. His expression suddenly changed to a grin, and he turned back to Rith. "I have the most humongous urge to explore this place. do you think anything valuable survived? would it be worth it to explore?"

[Redem Jirochi]

A figure at the top of the rubble near the entrance emerged. He wore a simple tattered brown cloak and an awkward looking red hat that shrouded his entire face. Redem, trying yet again to make an epic appearance, flung the tattered piece of cloth off with one quick motion of his right hand. Unfortunately for him, he had not noticed the rock right at his foot and went to step and tripped. His hat fell off and slowly traveled its way down to the feet of Shadow and his unknown companion.

As the two down below watched the hat, Redem had cast gust on himself and the hat so that he wouldn't actually hit the ground. With the distraction of the hat, he had also used gust to bring the cloak back to him. Standing back up, Redem had brushed himself off and placed the cloak back on, his white hair glowing in the sunlight. Due to his recklessness Redem did actually drop his sword, which only fell to his side. He reached down and grabbed the sword, reattaching it to his side.

Redem's mind on brilliance now faded, He spread the cape, and clasped the bottoms to his boots. He followed up by grabbing the ends of the cloak and casting gust to cause an updraft to keep him airborn. By this time his hat has now been on the ground for at least a minute or two. Redem ran and jumped from the rubble hill, drifting his way down to Shadow and the mysterious companion in who he had no idea who it was. He had slowly gained some powerful speed, but not enough to harm him if he had to bail.

Now at the end of the rubble pile he kept on gliding, heading straight for the fountain that was once great. It was not until he had passed Shadow that he had gained too much speed and it was too late for him to slow down enough to stop before the fountain.

(I can't decide if you guys wanna save me or not so it is up to you two if i crash or not...actually you three)

[Napeir]

Napeir pawed along the torn ground that lay before him, still not able to accept what he was seeing. This great city was now nothing but a bunch of forgotten memories, lost to the rest of the world and the great people that once lived here turned into myths for children! It was inhuman, when every person who made a story about this place must have been here them-selfs to have witnessed such a site that this city once beheld. He reason for being here was placed in his search for an old friend, he had gotten a lead on him and had chosen to take it to find out if it had been true. He had pawed his way form the city and followed the directions, and soon enough he picked up the trail. He could feel the excitement building in his paws, filling him from nose to tail. Taking a sniff he peered over the edge of a broken house, its walls worn with age instead of covered in vibrant colors that had made this city so breathtaking. Two men were standing on the other side, each with a weird air about him, pulling in the air around him he gathered up the scents.

"Shadow....." he said to himself, his paws urging him to rush down the hill to greet him.

With a flick of his tail Megilan rushed out of the brush and paced to him, stopping to glance over the edge as Napeir had done.

"How should we do this" he asked in the tongue of the cat.

"I say we wait, for we do not know what reaction could befall him if we were to just 'pop out'" Megilan answered.

" i must disagree, Shadow knows when some one is trouble, and knows when some one is a friend"

Turning his head he saw a young man, almost no older as he was himself, rushing down the hill on an unsee-able space. His power was impressive, but he had lost control from the looks and was about to charge into a fountain that had once based the center of the city.

"i got to stop him, he could damage it even more" Napeir said, transforming back into his human form.

His jet black hair whipped in the wind, and his duel bladed scythe whistled as he charged down the rubble at nearly lightning fast speed. Lunging past Shadow and the other man he grasped the boy by his shoulder and lightly tossed him back into a small bunch of weeds.

" Greetings Shadow" he said, emerald eyes glowing " Its been to long"

[Shadow]

Shadow was amusedly watching Redem's progress down the rubble, knowing full well that the boy was trying to show off, and was not going to retain control for much longer. turning his back to the scene, he chuckled and looked at Rith. "ignore my apprentice. if he gets into any real danger, we will be more than able to help him. right now, i want him to learn from his boasting."

Chao looked around sniffing the air cautiously. Suddenly he began growling, and Shadow whipped around to see what was causing Chao discomfort. Shadow could tell that there was another presence in the area, one apart from Redem. the presence was very familiar, yet somehow different. it smelled of shape-shifting magic, something Chao told him almost immediately. However, as Shadow decided on a plan of action, the figure flew from his hiding place and prevented Redem from crashing into the central fountain of the Ruins.

After the figure threw Redem into a pile of grass and looked at Shadow, he recognized who it was. "Napier! it has been too long indeed! How is the transformation going for you?"

Shadow looked down at Redem as he spoke, and laughed a bit. "Oh, and by the way, Rith, and Napier, i would like you to meet my apprentice, Redem. He isn't always as stupid as he looks..." Shadow trailed off chuckling while Chao went over and lifted Redem into a sitting position.

(srry it took so long... and Rith, sorry to leave you hangin)

[Napeir]

Napeir smiled as Shadow welcomed him warmly, it had been along time since he had seen his face. Glancing over at the large creature beside Shadow he started to reach for his scythe, but watching the creature move toward the young man Shadow called his apprentice he settled back. Shadow still looked the same as he had the first day they met out on the lake, its as if time for him had stood still.

" Its coming along fine for me, I've mastered what i want to master, i had actually meant to reintroduce myself in a bit more calmer way, but this city is in enough ruin without 'apprentices' recking the place" he told him calmly " Hows your Transformation going along?"

[Thanatos]

A man cloaked in black, wore a stoic expression as he neared the ruins upon a horse he had 'found' a horse that was 'lost' in a stable of a horse seller. in other words, if you hadn't guessed by now, he stole it. The horse, which from the size was probably strong enough to be a good war horse, was pale gray in color. The horses new owner, had a gardening scythe with a body length shaft strapped to his back, and a 6 inch dagger sheathed at he waist and hided under the cloak. As soon as he noticed the end of the field of grass, he stopped the animal to let it graze.

He had heard that the ruins that lay before him where once home to the magical said of a war that took place not to long ago. The man, Thanatos, Decided to see if there where any books within the ruins or at least some knowledge of the city's magic culture. So he made his way into the ruins and eventually found the crumbling remains of what looked to be a library. Ever book that seemed intact, was black and as soon as Thanatos touch one they crumbled liked ashen charcoal. So with hopes a bit a bit dashed he decided to at least explore the ruins a bit.

One of the places of note that he saw was what looked like an under ground crypt. but it was caved in to where the ground that was once over the tunnel was now caved inward making a strange, maze like pattern in the rubble. It could have been and number of under ground facilities but he deduced that it was a crypt because he noticed the skeletal remains of the bottom half of a human, half buried in the ruble of the cave like structure. He walked over to inspect the long dead corpse when the wind carried the voice of other people within the ruins. Deciding that trusting people that hung out in a place like, was mistake he waved a hand twisting his finger a little in the air above the bones and the rubble shifted off the semi, crushed and grind when he notice that the skull was intact except for half the lower jaw.

Thanatos turn his hand upward and lifted it as if lifting something in the air. The bones on the ground trembled, and suddenly stood as if alive. Its left arm fell away, most of what was the bicep was shattered. But al in all the skeleton was just fine, at least for the uses of the Necromancer now controlling it. He had the skeleton Pick up an 3 foot long shard of a splintered wooden beam that looked to be part of the tunnels sport structure. the club like piece of wood ahd a bent, rust nail sticking out at one end, this would be The necro's bodyguard.

the voice he had heard where far off, and so hard to hear. After following the sounds, undead minion at his heel, he eventually found the source. Before he was within veiw of the strangers he had his friend 'play' dead, a rather convincing act indeed. This was so he would not arouse suspicion before he had a chance to at least see what was going on. I can around the wall he was standing behind. Then acting as if he had just gotten there he spoke up in a soft yet curious tone, "Seems I'm not the only one exploring the ruins."

(hope I'm not interrupting anything.)

[Napeir]

Napeir snapped his attention toward the man who had spoken. He had never seen this man so instinctively his hands shot for his scythe, its duel blades whipped out in front of him as if preparing for an attack. He had not trusted very many people, of those few were Shadow. Moving his legs to stand at a pose he eyed the newcomer with defensive curiosity, the smell of death hung in the air, it was rotting flesh or what might be left of a corpse, he looked over him and decided to address him.

" Who are you?" he asked with a hiss " What purpose are these ruins to you Necromancer"

[Thanatos]

(Note: the skeleton is fleshless so nothing is really rotting.)

Thanatos grinned wickedly, as he saw the boy draw his weapon. A scythe wielder like himself it seemed. His own weapons was baerly an arm motion away, and his minion was less than a thought away from protecting him. He was safe, for the moment.

After being addressed as a Necromancer He raised a pale eye brow. He to had guessed it, though he didn't know how. He shrugged and responded, "You can gall me Thanatos. As for the ruins, what wouldn't a sorcerer, of my expertise, want from the ruins of a city that once practiced magic? Especially when its prior occupants are all dead. What indeed would a necromancer want to do with the dead and what would he want from a place of once powerful magic?" As his questions where rhetorical and sarcastic. It wasn't that hard to figure out what some one like himself wanted from these ruins. He thought for amoment as he tried to sense the living aura's suround the people before him. To Identify, if possible, what they where. "May I repeat your question to you? ... Shape-shifter?" The man's aura's where mixed, as if not completely human so The necromancer through out an educated guess of what it might mean.

[Napeir]

( Napeir is nearly a full cat, so i guess i should have said "death")

Napeir relaxed his scythe, this man was no trouble at the moment. He had never before actually met a necromancer and he wasn't one to rush into a fight with a unknown enemy. Looking at Shadow, then at Rith, Napeir returned his gaze to the man.

" I come here for one, i used to live here, for two, i was following a lead" he responded with a glint in his eye.

Megilan stalked across the broken ruins, a light gust blowing at his paws. He was following orders from Napeir to check out the area, with a twitch of the tail he hid in the bramble near Thanatos. Observing the area he noticed a skeleton behind the man a-ways, its bones laying partly spread from attachment. Sneaking closer he heard a silent command from Napeir and rushed over to the skeleton. Reaching down in disgust he grabbed a piece of the leg and shot into the bushes as fast as he could run with the weight.

Napeir nodded slowly and set his scythe to his back once again, this was nothing but a off to the side meeting.

" As you have guessed, i am a shape-shifter" he nodded " I am known as Napeir"

[Sergei the Sane]

STOP SPAMMING AND GET ON WITH IT! THERE ARE NO "CLOSED" THREADS!

[Thanatos]

With no flesh to slow it down it's movement was faster than a humans, the skeleton's hand let go of the plank that it had, and shot out to wrapped around the warm-blooded feline, to stop it in its tracks. It missed and instead grabbed it's own leg bone. If the skeleton had a means to speak, he would have said 'stop pulling my leg, furball!'

Malachy nodded. "Well, Napier, tell you familiar to leave my own minion alone. My friend could use a pet." He said as a sinister grin twisted his face. "And what of the rest of you?"

[Shadow]

Shadow, who had decided to tend to Redem's wounds, didn't even look up when the Necromancer arrived. Chao had drawn his attention to the man's presence no sooner than when the stolen War Horse was allowed to graze. Shadow knew that the man meant no harm, and after reviving his apprentice, turned to look at the necromancer.

Straightening up to his full height, Shadow scowled at the Necromancer. "You desecrate this monument to the greatest sacrifice. Have you no morals? raising the dead from this place?"

Shadow laughed cruelly. "Of course, forgive me, I forgot. You are a necromancer..." Chao growled at Shadow, and Shadow shook his head in mock sadness. "I guess i'll be civil. My name is Shadow. I am a Theif and an illusionist." Looking at Napier, he continued. "a shape-shifter, some say. I don't fully agree, However, i can do this."

Shadow closed his eyes. there was a slight pause where everything about Shadow was still, even his garments floating in the wind. there was a slight flash behind shadow's eyelids and when he opened them, the dark red eyes were revealed to be reptilian slits of gold. Smiling, Shadow flicked a forked tongue into the air, testing it as snakes do. He held the transformation for a little longer, exhaled some puffs of smoke, and looked around a bit.

Shadow closed his eyes again, disfiguring his transformations. He coughed a couple times, and smoke was coming out. Chao wandered over, holding Shadow's water-skin, which ended the coughing. "the only bad side affect is when I'm done, i breathe smoke and steam for a while." Shadow returned his gaze to the Necromancer with a smirk. "Answer your questions?"