Shadows and Shapes in between the Trees [Job: Nightmare Incarnate: The Beginning] (Akeya Kuusai/Solo)

The member 'FilFire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Akeya knew she was close to the source of the blood now, although the scene that she finally ran into was not one she had honestly been expecting. She had expected maybe one or two corpses, or only a pool of blood. Honestly the best she could hope for what just a single corpse, with plenty of hints about what kind of monster was out there and hunting her.

What she hadn't expected was what could best be described as a complete massacre. Only one of the corpses was still in one piece, and that one didn't look much better than all the others due to the sheer amount of wounds covering it. Honestly the fact that it was still in one piece was more of a miracle than anything else.

Besides of that one still complete body there were several strewn about, all looking generally the same: they had most of their wounds in their back, looking as if they had been flailed alive and cut open with crude blades. As has already been mentioned they were all missing at least one part of their body bar one, who from the looks of it had been the first to be attacked, seeing how with him the wounds were evenly divided over the entire body. Best guess was that he hadn't been aware of the monster until it was right on top of him, and the others then started running away only to be cut down from behind. It would have been a good thing if Akeya noticed that most had in fact not died in this clearing: they had been dragged back, with clear trails of blood.

Unfortunately Akeya had been having some trouble keeping it together, and this scene wasn't making it any easier. To top it off, now that she had finally found what had happened to the expedition the staring entity returned, its effects now in full force. The breathing disappeared, replaced by a wild laughter which resounded through the woods. Combined with the rustling and the stare this was enough to completely make Akeya lose any semblance of self control. Growling she entered a crouch, dragon eyes glaring at where the stare was coming from. The smell of blood in the air, something hunting her...She was going to hunt it down and kill it. All thoughts of her original mission forgotten she charged forwards, straight at where she believed the source of all her current problems was.

At this point she was better described as a wild animal than a humanoid, her dragon half having taken full control and feeling cornered enough to shut down the higher brain functions in exchange for increased reflexes and heightened senses. This was a good thing, because just as she charged the entity staring at her from a distance a stone flew at her from that direction, forcing her to jump over it before continuing her attempt at hunting her hunter.

The member 'FilFire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

The wild laughter went on and on, as if the monster had finally trapped Akeya and was celebrating her upcoming demise. The rustling disappeared, to be replaced with the sound of something running, running, moving faster and faster. This matched the pace of the deadly stare perfectly, which just kept moving away from Akeya no matter how fast she ran in her attempt at catching it. She was chasing something which moved faster than her, which had slaughtered an entire squadron of Rune Knights, and which was openly taunting her while constantly avoiding her. Yet none of this registered with her. All she knew was that she was going to keep hunting until either she or the monster was dead.

The monster was doing more than just running away though. Several trees fell down, trying to crush Akeya and forcing her to detour. By now her fight mode had been activated fully, so at least she could no longer be caught off guard by something as simple as a falling tree. However she also lacked the ability to realize that she wasn't getting anywhere with this. She was being hunted. She was being targeted. Her nose was filled with the stench of blood. She would track down her predator and kill it. She would completely rip it apart. Growling loudly the now feral half dragon kept running and running, her footsteps and growling the only sound besides the sound of something else also running away while laughing wildly.

How did this happen? A small part of Akeya's mind still wondered about this, although the rest of her was no longer listening. How did that box get to her? How did those two items get in the box? How was her name known? What was happening? She could no longer make head or tails of anything. All she knew was that she had to keep running, or she was going to die. And if she ran long enough, she might still die.

The member 'FilFire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

The monster was having fun, that much was clear from the maniacal laughter with which it was taunting while not even bothering to hide its footsteps. It never even occurred to Akeya that those footsteps and that laughter might not actually be originating from her opponent: they came from its direction, so they had to be originating from it. Any more intelligent or thorough explanation wasn't really available to the half dragon who was more depending on instinct than anything else.

But even while having fun the monster was still trying to attack Akeya from afar. Another tree fell down, this one having lots of wide branches that would make it hard for a human-sized person to dodge properly. Turning into a shadow Akeya dashed to the side, only to get pushed right back underneath the tree. Growling Akeya tried to once again escape, only to get another push that made her stumble. The tree was now almost right on top of her, giving her no chance to escape by just jumping out of the way.

With no other option available Akeya used Shadow Step, turning into a shadow that disappeared and reappeared outside of the tree's range, then Shadow Stepping another two times while she resumed her hunt of the entity. Said quarry didn't seem bothered at all by this development, still laughing without any form of restraint while running freely, probably already planning its next move. Now that Akeya had been driven to a point of desperation (although rather than becoming so fearful as to turn insane and run away she just turned utterly feral) there was little more use for the more subtle tricks, its main focus now on finding ways to hinder or otherwise injure her. Why it didn't just face her head on Akeya didn't know, but also didn't care about. She was cornered, and now she would fight back.

The member 'FilFire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Hunt, hunt, hunt, hunt... Akeya didn't feel any hunger, thirst, or tiredness. She just ran, after the one who was staring her with so much deadly intent, but at the same time laughing and running so happily. It couldn't be human, or even an animal. It must be some kind of demon, and it had targeted Akeya the moment that box had been send to her room. It had already taken over that human female, killed all those Rune Knights. It was going to take Akeya next, and it wasn't going to let her get away, simply because it would make sure that she would keep chasing it until her legs gave out.

Another boulder flew at Akeya, this time from behind and at high speed. It was aimed straight at her, at her head, planned to knock her out cold. With its size and speed it wouldn't just stop at knocking her out cold: it would knock her from this life straight into the next. As such Akeya was lucky that it missed, or rather grazed her before flying over her into a nearby try. But the grazing was already enough. The clothing on Akeya's back was ripped off and her skin felt like it was on fire, having been scraped heavily by the rough stone. Yelling out the half dragon fell to the ground, quickly looking around to see if her adversary would take this opportunity to strike.

But it didn't. The wild laughter disappeared. Apparently the demon was getting tired of this game, and just wanted her to die. The fact that she was dodging most of its attacks and being lucky enough to not sustain heavy injuries from the ones she didn't dodge was starting to become annoying. Instead came the sound of screaming men, yelling out in agony as if they were flayed alive with whips of flame. The sound was meant to further make Akeya feel threatened, to become even less careful and more feral. And it worked. Growling Akeya climbed back to her feet and resumed running.

The member 'FilFire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Where was she? What was happening? How did she get here? Akeya no longer really knew. She was surrounded by so much fog that it was miraculous that she wasn't running into anything: the only thing that still warned her of the things thrown at her was the fact that her ears were on high alert, even through the dampening effects of this accursed fog catching the sounds of flying stones and falling boulders. The only thing she couldn't do anything against was being pushed at random, but at the same time that was the least dangerous of all the things she had encountered so far.

At the same time as the sound of running stopped another push shoved Akeya sidewards, smashing her against a tree. Gasping the winged ninja tried to get up, but found that this was the point where her legs decided to betray her, her exhaustion catching up to her. Sitting there Akeya panted heavily, her wings and tail dropping against the ground as she tried to catch her breath. She had no idea of anything any more. She couldn't even run. She had been completely spent. The only thing keeping her up at this point was the knowledge that if she did that she would never leave this forest again.

And so she sat there and gasped for air, trying to regain enough energy to fight. The stare was still on her, aiming straight for her life, waiting for the chance to finish her off. The fact that it wasn't doing that yet was actually quite puzzling, but Akeya wasn't in the mental state to wonder about it. Clawing around for a weapon she waited for what would happen.

The yelling of dying and tortured men was now also accompanied by a creepy giggling, sounding nothing like that of an adult. It sounded more like...a small girl?

The member 'FilFire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

((Okay, I've been rolling like mad over here. I'm done. Time to pull out the big guns.))

A large branch had fallen on her shoulder, bruising it before she could turn into her shadow form and avoid it. It could still move, but it hurt and it distracted her. She had bruised her arms and legs dodging some of the more close encounters. Not as bad as the shoulder, but it tired her out even more when she used them, and it was extremely unpleasant. The worst wound was on her back, where her skin had been scraped open by rough stone hitting her from behind. Her energy had run out, leaving her with no choice but to just lie there and listen to all these strange sounds around her, that eternal stare focusing on her and seeing if she was already done.

Then she got pushed three times, all three slamming her against the tree behind her. She gasped in pain as her bleeding back was pushed against the rough bark, feeling splinters enter the wounds and hindering any healing process that was going on. The only good thing was that the demon hadn't thrown any actual boulders or trees at her: she wasn't sure she could have survived that. However her predicament wasn't getting any better.

Well, physically. Being pushed to her limits and then exhausted forced Akeya to think about her situation, and slowly some amount of sanity returned to her. She was here because somebody or something had send her a box containing a bloody book and lachrima. Both told the story of a demon possessed woman, one about the road to possession and the other about how the Rune Knights that tried to track her down got killed inside this forest. She remembered seeing most of their bodies, before she completely lost control. So at least she could confirm that the Rune Knights were dead. However she was now wounded and tired in the middle of the forest with the deadly demon still staring at her.

At least there were plenty of shadows here. Without any restraint Akeya started devouring all the nearby shadows, feeling at least her strength begin to return as she gulped it all down, the fog making the trees look paler and paler as the darkness was swallowed down by the half dragon's appetite.

The member 'FilFire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Eating the shadows turned out to be the best idea Akeya had thought up during this entire expedition. She was still busy trying to recover to fully capable fighting condition when she heard a roar of pure rage, followed by the ground shaking as suddenly the entire surroundings began to collapse.

Trees starting falling down, rocks were thrown everywhere, the ground itself burst open...it was as if the demon's rage and triumph was enough to make it destroy the entire forest, throwing everything it could think of Akeya. It didn't take long before several trees fell towards Akeya's location, slamming down with thundering force. More and more trees fell down as the one who had cause all this mayhem lost control, making everything break or fall apart or explode or be ripped apart or disintegrated...

Akeya turned into her shadow form as this all happened, staying hidden underneath the pile of broken wood and stone as she realized that things were now drawing to an end. The demon was done playing around. It had had enough. It now only wanted to kill Akeya, and once it realized that she was not dead, instead a shadow buried underneath the remnants of its rampage, it would certainly step in and come for her itself.

As if to affirm that the air became filled with all kinds of sounds, and none of them were pleasant. Yelling, screaming, begging, crying, gagging, choking, giggling, laughing, moaning, gasping, shivering...It was like all the souls of the Rune Knights had returned to relive their final moments, in pain and agony while the demon ripped them apart. By now it was such a chaotic mess that Akeya couldn't really care any longer, instead waiting for the real problem.

She didn't have to wait long. She couldn't see it due to being buried, but she could sense its approach. The vile being, which stepped up towards the uncontrolled destruction and started ripping trees and stones away to reach its latest victim. Akeya continued eating the shadows, preparing for when it would reach her. She was going to give it a very rude surprise.

Underneath the pile of rubble Akeya shifted about in her shadow form, trying to find a location where her entire physical body would fit. She would have to prepare an attack for the monster, so she could immediately pay it back for all the trouble it had put her through. On the other hand she was grateful that she went insane before encountering her: she had now become used to it, at least enough that she could actually plan this fight rather than jump at it like a feral beast and get killed like one.

Fortunately most of the trees that had fallen down had been very big ones, so eventually Akeya found a place underneath all that rubble where she could turn back into her physical form. Continuing to eat the shadows she waited and waited, hearing and feeling the demon work its way through the mess it itself had created. While she had calmed down to some extend she still felt an extreme hatred towards the entity. She would take it down. She would at least make sure of that.

The demon meanwhile was smashing trees apart and pulling stones away at amazing speed, the wail of the damned surrounding it as it worked in a frenzy. It wanted to get to its prey. It had hunted her long enough, it now wanted to savour what it had killed. It no longer bothered causing hauntings, all its focus on using its physical form to work its way through the wood and stone that had been stacked on top of each other.

Meanwhile Akeya finished eating her shadows, and instead started breathing deeply. Gather all energy she had stored up inside her chest, condense it, increase it, turn it into a ball of magic power that she could use. Inside her lungs her strongest attack was being prepared, ready to be let loose as soon as the demon showed itself. Or maybe even before. She probably would have better results if she started her assault the moment it began to get rid off the final obstacle.

When that moment arrived the demon was even more impatient than before, roughly pulling at the tree trunk in an effort to get it out of the way. Because of that it wasn't really prepared for the fact that as soon as it got the wood out of the way it received a full frontal blast of dark flames. Akeya releasing her most potent Shadow Dragon's Roar which caused her to temporarily resemble a humanoid dragon rather than a human with some draconic traits. Caught by surprise the monster roared, trying to push the torrent of shadows back but having no success. It might be a demon, but it wasn't one that could just block such an assault. It was certainly powerful, but such a sudden and powerful attack wasn't something it could just shrug off.

When the dragon's roar ended Akeya Shadow Stepped right in the demon's face, who was still reeling from the shadow flames eating at it. The arm of which the shoulder had been bruised formed a claw out of shadows, slashing at the demon's chest and causing it to roar even harder. The other hand grabbed a long and sharp dagger made out of shadows. With not even the slightest bit of hesitation the half dragon started stabbing the monster's face and neck, clinging onto it with the other hand, her feet and her tail to ensure it couldn't retreat.

The hunter, who had been working for so long, didn't like this at all. Suddenly it was being savagely assaulted, given no chance to properly fight back. Its tentacles lashed out but it couldn't get a good hit in, only covering Akeya in lots and lots of cuts and slashes while she just kept stabbing. Her normal control had been completely replaced with a savage fury which made her keep attacking and attacking and attacking, forcing the monster on it's knees before a tentacle blew her aside.

Turning into her shadow form Akeya rolled back onto her feet, her adrenaline rush allowing her to ignore her wounds as she Shadow Stepped back towards the demon. However before she could return her assault the monster jumped up and ran away, leaving behind a trail of thick black blood that smelled bad enough to make Akeya feel like she was going to vomit. The demon had been covered in a torrent of shadow flames, had been slashed, stabbed, stabbed so many times. It retreated faster than Akeya could follow, and with it all the nightmares and strange phenomena disappeared. The only thing left was a set of torn pages, which Akeya would later realize were a perfect fit for some of the torn off pages out of Samuel Martin's journal.

However right now the half dragon had other things to focus on. This was without a doubt the worst job she had been on so far. Tortured mentally and physically, she temporarily lost her mind and turned into a beast. She now realized that as powerful and mighty as dragons might be, they also had a more beastly side. She would have to deal with that later on.

But for now she was alive. Alive to recover from what happened. Alive to figure out what happened. Alive to grab her reward, those pages left behind by the demon and its thick fog, and leave this forest.

It took several days for Akeya to return to Blue Pegasus' Guild Hall after that, doing her best to avoid attracting attention from anybody else and refusing to say what happened. She gave the torn off pages to Korikami to store away. She would deal with that later. First she had to recover from this ordeal.