An RP done on Word during the weekend.

The truth of Death.

Bart wandered into the forest, the sudden gloom of the shadows made by the trees worrying him, but then he relaxed as he saw that it was still day by looking through the few but big holes in the trees. He turned around, his feet making a soft rustling noise as it pivoted on the emerald-coloured grass.
‘Hey, Shadow, ya’ comin’?’ he asked, the voice slightly echoing, but only slightly.

Shadow limped along behind, still not putting much weight on the leg she injured during the fight with Sither. Vrael followed her warily, keeping an eye on her as any half-decent medic would. She looked up at Bart.
“Yeah, I’m coming!” She said, abandoning her efforts to walk and, summoning her magic, started to hover above the ground.

Bart looked back, his gaze suddenly looking at the trees in front. They had walked for a few hours, and it may be the time to take a rest, to at least recover the energy they had lost, because they didn’t sleep. Bart squinted, his slightly demonic form still playing with some of his senses, but, thankfully, not his smell; he lifted his hair and sniffed a good dose of grass-smelling air. A small, faint odour of pollution was brought by the gracious wind, but that was normal, as they were still near Grenoble.
‘Aye’t, then, maybe we should take a rest, if you think that would help us in the hours we have later on to find the relic, hm?’ he asked, looking back at Shadow.

Vrael cut in before Shadow could respond to Bart.
“We should indeed grasp this opportunity to rest, as we may need to recover strength if we are to succeed in this quest.”
Shadow stayed silent, partly agreeing with Vrael, but she also didn’t want to stop anywhere for very long. However, she refused to tell anyone why she normally insisted on continuing.

Bart looked around and found a stone on where he could sit on. It was hard (which was kind of normal for a rock, duh) and it was cold. Bart made a scratching noise against the rock as he sat down on it, his purple tail staying out of the way. Bart looked at Shadow, then glanced at his hand. If this was his true demonic form, which he doubted, he wondered what were his limits. He wanted to know up to where he could push his body without suffering from any eventual self-inflicted wounds, and see what could he do when he was wounded. But he wasn’t going to try now, there were more important matters.
The relic. He knew that the fate of the Kraferrs was now in his hands. At least, if what the other Kraferr had told him was true. The Kraferrs once used this relic as a way to keep alive (Bart didn’t ask how) they lost it, and now they wanted it back. And they shall get it back.

Shadow and Vrael sat on the ground, Shadow leaning against a tree while Vrael sat, crosslegged and straightbacked on the grass. He started to fletch another arrow, replenishing the stock that he had lost during the last battle, but he kept an eye on his sister out of the corner of his eye. They knew about the dates of the prophecy, and Vrael wondered if he was the only two out of the par that bothered to remember that the next week would bring Shadow’s 333rd moon. He got up, stowing the arrows away before morphing into a panther and loping away into the forest.

Bart didn’t ask Vrael what he was going to do, going away in the forest, because Bart thought that Vrael was able to care for himself, and also that he would probably not answer, anyways. Bart turned back to Shadow, slightly worried by Shadow’s recent wound. Knowing that Vrael was a medic, and that he did not try to heal Shadow, Bart wouldn’t try too. He instead looked at the wound, trying to analyse precisely how it was, how deep, and what could happen if it was left for too long uncured. He closed his eyes and put his forehead into the palm of his right hand, trying to concentrate on the few medical lessons he had been taught.

Shadow glared at the sky through the trees, trying not to think about the wound on her leg. She knew that Sither had managed to sever at least half the muscle, and that it was still bleeding although not as much as before. She never let on to anyone that, because of her empathy, she felt pain at a greater degree than most people. Normally, she had her painkillers on her belt, but she had (rather stupidly now that she thought about it) left them at home when she left the house with Vrael as a guard. She applied a slight pressure to the shin bone of her injured leg, trying to ascertain the extent of the damage Sither had caused. A flash of pain answered her question, and she winced involuntarily.

Bart noticed Shadow’s reflex, and stood up, and walked to her calmly. He crouched near Shadow, his tail making a slight noise as it brushed the tiny rocks off the ground. His dull purple shirt and white shorts flapped a bit in the sudden breeze of frisky wind before he spoke.
‘I’m not going to ask you to watch out for that, Shadow, as I know you already are. But I’m going to ask you to try and not worsen the pain, as I cannot heal this yet, as I lack training.’

Shadow looked up at Bart.
“I know, but there has been minimal damage caused.” She said quietly, thinking to herself, who am I kidding? Demons, and most half-demons can see right through lies. “There is no need to worry. It is merely a ‘flesh wound’.” She gave a half smile, trying to convince him that she had indeed, not been lying.

‘Know that, Shadow, if I said I believed that, I would be lying.’ He answered, quietly. He didn’t want Shadow to suffer from this wound, but it seemed that she didn’t want any help for now. He stood up, and walked to the previous stone he sat on before, his feet scratching silently against the humid grass. He sat down, his face between his two hands, glaring at Shadow. He purple hair drifted in front of one blood-red eye as a sudden burst of wind came from his side, but his body did not move. Instead of worrying about Shadow, even if her current situation was worrying him without him wanting to and he didn’t know why, he thought about the cloaked Kraferr that he had previously and recently met. He couldn’t define if it was a female or male from the voice, as Kraferric voice was pretty crude.

Shadow glared back at Bart, her violet eyes narrowed and hair drifting slightly with the breeze.
“You have your own things to worry about, as have I.” She said, getting to her feet/foot (she was keeping her injured one off the ground). Using her magic again, ignoring the tired out feeling in her mind, she hovered in the air, moving away silently but irritatedly away from the clearing just as Vrael was returning. The black panther dropped the couple of rabbits it had been holding in his mouth before morphing back into the more humanoid form of Vrael.
“Need I enquire as to what has transpired here whilst I was hunting?” He asked quietly, his silvery gaze watching the rapidly disappearing form of Shadow, even though he was addressing Bart.

‘Mh,’ Bart answered, simply, ‘Shadow tried not showing her pain and I tried to give her some advice, in vain, most probably, as you can see that Shadow is at the moment, kinda pissed at me.’
Bart sighed. He stood up again, looking at the rabbits Vrael had just retrieved, now deprived from life. It seemed that animal death didn’t bother Bart as much as consciousness death. Bart looked around, only catching a glanced at Shadow, and pretty much noticing only trees. He flicked out his watch. Hmm, he thought, 5:00 AM. I hope nobody is here except us, because seeing a kid, and two adults at dawn in the middle of some unknown forest is kinda weird. Especially a kid with a tail.
Bart looked back to where the small group had walked to get here. He hoped Shadow wasn’t too pissed at him for the moment, as he needed to know if the relic was near or not.

Vrael snorted quietly.
“I am, quite sadly, not surprised of Shadow’s reaction to this. I apologise for her behaviour at the present moment in time. I know that there are several things weighing heavily on her shoulders and mind.” He said as he started to put together a small fire and to prepare the rabbits for cooking as if he did this kind of thing in day-to-day life. Then again, he probably did. “She will return once she has had a chance to think about what the future may bring.” He looked up at Bart briefly. “This should not take too long.” He added before returning to the rabbits.

‘Mh,’ Bart answered quite simple enough. My sister’s kinda like that, when we think about it... I’m used to it. Bart looked at the small fire slowly rise in the forest. Bart hoped that Vrael knew what he was doing, as he did not want to provoke a forest fire. Bart kept an eye out for other consciousness, since the fire’s smoke would make them be easy to trace and find. This also posed problems for consciousness with good sense of smell, as a fire can spread out a strong smell in no time at all, practically. He wouldn’t have any pleasure of meeting another Kraferr in this forest, as the chances, or risks, if we want a better term, of it being an Outlaw were pretty high, as they were in France, and that’s where the most rebellious tribes laid. The cloaked Kraferr was surely an Outlaw, he thought, but then again, what did she mean by that sentence we spoke of earlier?


Vrael cooked the rabbits in silence before handing one of the three to Bart. He was lost in his own thoughts, thinking, as nearly all the demons had recently, about how to stop the prophecy. Now things in the demon family were starting to get desperate. Shadow’s 333rd moon was the next week, and he knew that Shaeman and the two sets of twins at least would be going spare that they didn’t know where on earth Shadow was, and also where Vrael was. The two keys to the darkness would be missing, especially since both of them had been ignoring all communication on the mirror pendants. He looked up at Bart again.
“Do you think that this mission is likely to last for many more days?”

Bart put his chin in the palm of his hand, his eyes glistening. His taiol flicked at the air quickly, and his purple fur slowly drifted in the wind.
‘Well,’ Bart answered, hesitantly, ‘Normally, if we don’t lose too much time and nothing troublesome happens, this should be done by... Tomorrow?’ Bart looked at Vrael, his eyes glistening again, ‘But that’s if nothing happens meanwhile. Or at least, nothing important.’
Bart’s tail whipped at the air. Whilst he spoke those words, he was getting more and more worried for the Kraferr race, as they were only staying alive by one thin string of life, but also worried about Shadow, despite the fact that she asked him to worry what he had to worry about, because of the prophecy she had once mentioned, of her current wound, and what would happen if things only got worse.

Vrael nodded once, taking the raw rabbit that he had left and bit into its neck, drawing on the blood. He refused to take any from Shadow at the moment, and he had to keep his strength up somehow. If the quest wasn’t going to tail on to the next week, then they should be fairly safe. He didn’t look up as he sensed Shadow slowly coming back, and then he heard the slow, uneven footfalls on the forest floor. He made a mental note to slip her a tranquillizer and deal with the wound before it got worse. He could tell that she was heading that way just by the sound of her walking.

Bart bit at the rabbit’s leg, shredding the flesh from its feeble body with his sharp teeth. He chewed onto the meat slowly, then swallowed. He looked at the dead rabbit, not thinking of anything. He couldn’t tell what he would do if anything bad happened. He hadn’t planned anything. He noticed the sound of footsteps on the recently humid grass, and concluded it was Shadow coming back, for a reason he had still to guess, but left it unanswered as he was warned by Vrael. He picked the meat from the bone of the rabbit, lacerating the bits of sinew that were left. What a small and weak body, he thought, only useful to flee. Eh, herbivores...

Shadow appeared through the trees, leaning on a staff she had made from breaking off a tree branch. She sat down, away from the other two, with her back against a tree again. Vrael wordlessly threw her the third rabbit (cooked), which she caught easily and started to eat. The vampire-demon turned back to his own meal of blood, starting to drink again. He wondered for how long he would be drinking blood. If things didn’t go well he wouldn’t be eating or drinking anything.
Neither demon spoke, even once they had finished. Shadow seemed abnormally subdued, and Vrael was fletching another arrow. Eventually, the demoness fell asleep, and Vrael allowed himself a half-smile.

Bart let Shadow fall asleep, even if this would just make the pause a little longer. They still had nineteen hours until the end of the day, so why not make the hours worthwhile? Bart knew, even if this forest was a calm and serene place, that he wouldn’t be able to sleep yet, as he was still troubled by his recent nightmares and dreams, he was still asking questions about that sentence, and, finally, he just wasn’t sleepy, and determined to get that relic the same day. He climbed a tree, keeping a lookout for anything that would be coming. His tail flicked at the air several times, and his red eyes glistened in the shadows of the trees.

Vrael moved in on Shadow, tearing off one trouser leg at the knee and unwrapping the strip of bloodsoaked cloth to get to the wound. He had put a sedative on the meat, knowing that she would be too preoccupied to bother sniffing it carefully first. He took out a needle and thread, as well as several gauze pads and disinfectant from a small bag on his belt. He started to clean out the wound. Shaeman would have questioned his motives on this act, but Vrael knew that without treatment, the wound would only become infected. He picked out several bits of dessicated leaf from the gash. Yes, it would have been infected. He didn’t pay much attention to Bart’s movements, although he did notice them. He seemed to be coping remarkably well for a newly-formed part demon, but he guessed that he didn’t have much of a choice but to learn the hard way.

Bart didn’t want to ask Vrael’s intentions, because he knew Vrael was doing it for the sake of his half-sister. Bart just looked at Vrael, cautiously but precisely healing Shadow’s open wound. His tail flicked two more times, and then flopped down onto the trunk of the tree he was currently perched onto. He still felt that high pain in his chest, but refused to show anything about it, as he knew that it was one of the things he had to go through since he was a new part demon. A small brisky breeze of wind threw his hair into his face and blurred his vision ever so slightly, and his red eyes glistened as it did so. His clothes flapped a few times in the wind as it passed, but slowly fell down again as the wind died. He kept an eye out to see if there was any living being near. He smelled the air, and only scented the same pollution as before.
The humans will all kill our senses if they continue like this. If we can’t smell a damn thing, how’ll we live? I bet that’s how the Kraferrs started to die...

Vrael finished stitching Shadow’s wound, snapping the thread very precisely with the help of a sharp nail. He studied the stitched carefully for a few seconds before deciding that they would hold, and gently tipped another potion into Shadow’s mouth. Within a minute or two, the demoness started to come round. Her senses appeared to be foggy, except for one. The songs of the different creatures around her and, even sharper, was the sound of impending demon. She clamped her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the song, but it was inside her mind. Vaguely, she could hear someone saying her name, but it seemed distant.
Vrael’s face was frowned with concern. Shadow was behaving strangely, as if she couldn’t hear him saying her name. He wondered what she could hear that made her act this way.

Bart dropped from the tall tree, using his hands as springs to slightly block his fall onto the moist but compact ground. He turned his head to Shadow, his hair flopping over one of his eyes as it gleamed. He stood up and started walking to Shadow, his footsteps making slight squishing noises as they padded through the humid emerald-coloured grass. He glanced at Vrael, crouching besides him. His tail flicked a few times as he lowered his body. He didn’t really know what to do, other than stay there, and hope that everything was all right. As Shadow was now awake, they could continue their road, but she seemed to be having not normal reactions during her wakening.

Vrael prised on hand away from Shadow’s ear, still saying her name. She looked up at him, a strange mix of worry, fear and acceptance in her eyes before she managed to mask the emotions again. Vrael, however, understood.
“We had best continue on this mission. Time presses.” Vrael said, standing up and handing Shadow the staff she had found for walking. The demoness still hadn’t said anything, trying desperately to locate the necklace again while always keeping a tab on the demonic song.
“We should be going that way,” She said eventually, having located the song and pointed north-west. Vrael nodded and cleared up the fire, leaving no trace of it behind.

Bart nodded once, blinking his eyes once. He turned around, scraping the grass as his foot pivoted, then he began to continue the path they were previously treading. He trusted Shadow in her orientation skills (as he had none) and opened the march by walking a bit faster, but still waiting for Vrael and Shadow, for she had an injured limb that slowed her down alot. He flicked his watch out again, when he had to stop. Mh, he thought, 5:10 AM. We still have time. I hope.
Bart glanced at the two, then looked forwards again.
It’s like if the walls moved... It’s dark, ‘n all. Walls? Could be natural. It’s a cave, that’s for sure. Who would have a rock building in the middle of a forest like this one, just near a city? Dunno who, but I would say no one from around here.

Shadow did her best to match Bart’s pace, relying heavily on the staff most of the time whereas Vrael’s seemingly effortless stride covered the ground easily. Both were silent, keeping to their own thoughts. Shadow felt her pendant burn, meaning that someone was trying to contact her, but she ignored it. Her family would have to stay out of this prophecy, out of fear of one of them being hurt. She knew that Raven was a part of it, but had refused to let that stop the rest of the family from treating her like they had before knowing.
Vrael was lost in his own thoughts of prophecy, at least his part in it. He shook those thoughts from his mind, choosing to concentrate more on the quest at hand. He had another month to worry about the prophecy.
“Is there any information about this necklace that you would be willing to share with us?” He asked the Kraferr.

‘Well,’ Bart answered, him beginning again to tread the path, ‘As far as I’m concerned, I’ve told everything to Shadow.’
Bart glanced at Vrael, his eyes glistening, his pace stopping, ‘The necklace is a relic created by The Kraferrs in order to survive, I don’t know how. This object has the power to answer any question, except for wrong questions, basically questions that include someone’s private life or a question that should not be asked in the first place. The Kraferrs suffered from a disease and the secret of the necklace’s power was lost in the few tombs of the Kraferrs that knew something about it. This necklace has then been lost in the Kraferr hunts, because men thought they were just mere monkies with red eyes. The Kraferrs travelled with men by hiding in their boats, then separated into tribes, trying to live in small groups. They slowly died away over the decades, the necklace getting further away or closer to them as time passed. Now, they have discovered the secret again, and they chose thirteen random humans to retrieve the necklace. These chosen humans are called Kraferr Ones. Only they have the power to morph into Kraferrs, and turn back to humans, to hide their Kraferric form from the humans, in case the necklace was in a city. Shadow traced the necklace’s location, and she says it’s here somewhere, and now we’re looking for it. That’s basically all I know.’

Vrael nodded once, committing the information to memory. He glanced back at Shadow, who was trailing a few paces behind them, her mind tuned to the two songs she was trying to keep tabs on. The hood on her cloak was drawn over her face, hiding all but her mouth and a few locks of violet and purple hair from view as she watched the ground. Vrael raised an eyebrow slightly, but dismissed her behaviour as worry for the prophecy and pain from her leg. The vampire-demon continued to stride along the chosen path, walking alongside Bart.

Bart kept the silence as did the other two. He would continued on the same path until he would meet a sort of big mountain or cave or anything. Of course, there would probably be something before entering into the cave, like a riddle, like in all these cases, we have to use brains first, then take action with our muscles. Bart’s tail flicked at the air slightly. His eyes glistened. They were getting closer to their destination as he thought, and maybe faster than he thought. Is this thing going to be easy? Seems not. I mean, moving walls. Hell, any of us could get stuck forever in that thing till the end of our freaking life at any moment we let our guards down. Pretty creepy, if you think about it. But if walls move, that means there must be another passage, thus meaning that sooner or later, we’ll all meet outside or something.
No.
It ain’t that simple.
Let’s just hope the god damn situation does not come in the first place.

Vrael stopped, sniffing the air slightly before he moved on. He had thought that he caught a sniff of something interesting, but it had quickly been overpowered by the smell of wet grass. He glanced over his shoulder at Shadow again, who was determinedly limping after them. Turning back to the front, he thought he could see something rock-like in the distance. Frowning, he quickened his pace, wondering if the quest could be over so soon. Somehow, he doubted it. If it was so simple, then the necklace would have been found decades ago.

Bart noticed a rock-like surface near ahead, and he quickened his pace to it. A mass of dark grey stone rised above the ground, like a totem out of the earth. Bart wondered if this was the place. He looked around, but the wall would take ages to scan completely, for it was very wide. Bart waited for Shadow to come, still looking at the barrage of rock that stood before them. It seemed to be different than the other stones. Bart sensed a pulse of something that seemed to be inside, but not inside completely, only like if it was glued onto a wall. As he approached his hand, the pulse was harder. Bart lowered his hand, and turned to Shadow, pointing at the wall with one thumb, lifting one eyebrow, not saying anything, and hoping that Shadow would get the obvious message.

Shadow limped closer, Vrael already standing next to the wall. Both demons could feel the magic, and the effects on their own. Shadow nodded in response to Bart’s question, incidating that she could hear the song on the other side of the rock. She started to look from side to side to determine where there could be an entrance. She tried to put a hand on the stone to get a better idea of the magic, but the closer she got, the harder a force seemed to be trying to stop her from touching the greyish rock.

Bart turned his head to the massive chunk of rock that stood above the ground. He still felt the pulse, and it seemed like Shadow couldn’t approach it. Bart walked towards it, the pulse coming in unsuspected and unstable beats, that got harder and harder as he did so. He approached one hand to the wall, the force of the pulse completely covering it. He touched the wall, and the force stopped. A crank was heard, and a few rocks tumbled from the high surface, luckily missing the group. Bart paced backwards once, and noticed that the wall was opening; a big black hole appeared from the ground, sand and small rocks tumbling from it as it did so. White letters formed around the entrance. The letters were written in an ancient language.
Oh Christ, Bart thought.
He approached a hand to the shining letters. He recognized them vaguely.
Now I wish I hadn’t skipped Kraferric writing hour.

Vrael had grabbed Shadow, pulling her away. He stood, watching the entrance form, one arm still across Shadow’s shoulders, holding the demoness to his chest. He let her go, and started to inspect the entrance, but couldn’t make out the scriptures. Shadow also had a look, but once again, as she tried to touch them, her hand was repelled by an unknown force. She shook her head, unable to understand the message. The two demons looked at each other, then at Bart.
“Should we penetrate this location?” Vrael asked.

Bart glanced at Vrael. We don’t write something for nothing...
Bart approached his hand to the entrance, which seemed to shrink as he approached it. When he was about to enter the darkness of the cave, the hole had already completely disappeared behind a thick rock wall. Bart lowered his hand, and the hole appeared again slowly.
‘We can’t,’ he said, quietly, ‘There’s something to do with these words.’
I knew there would be something like this... Damn it.
Bart looked at the encryptions again, and only recognized two. Two words that represented ideas such as ‘Being’ and ‘Sealed’. ‘Sealed’ appeared after ‘Being’, so they maybe don’t have anything in common. Bart tried deciphering the rest of the words. He recognized one more. ‘Object’. It appeared just after ‘Sealed’, so that could mean a ‘Locked Object’, just like the necklace.

Vrael and Shadow glanced at each other again, confused but not showing it. Shadow looked at the runes again, but still couldn’t decipher any meaning other than thinking that some of the runes were similar to the demonic language. Then again, that would have had to be fairly common, as there aren’t an infinity of possible runes to use.

Bart brushed his hands onto the runes, trying to decipher more. Locked Object, that must be the Necklace, but what about the rest?
Bart looked at the first rune, thinking it was better to go deeper into work slowly but surely. The first encryption was an upside-down triangle, with two sticks poking out of the two higher summits, and three sticks poking out of the lower summit. A circle was drawn crudely in the middle of the higher line. Bart wondered what this meant, and tried remembering Egyptian symbols. The Egyptians used to symbolize things by drawings, why not Kraferrs? Bart tried to recognize the shape of the symbol. It seemed like a humanoid, but the third stick poking out of the lower summit went against that, as humans do not have tails.
Wait, tails.
Kraferrs, duh.
The first sign was a Kraferr. Eh, that doesn’t advance us to much, as it is completely separated from the other deciphered symbols...

Shadow tried once more to touch the runes, but to no success. She limped back and sat down at the base of a tree, trying to think about any languages that she might know to help. Unfortunately, the only runite languages she knew were Demonic, Synari and Japanese (long story). Vrael was also studying the symbols from a distance, but his knowledge of runite was even less advanced that his sister’s. This annoyed him slightly, mainly because of the lack of knowledge it showed up, and partly because they were wasting time.

Bart continued sliding his hand, and stopped once it fell upon the second symbol. It was the drawing of a heart, with a man carved inside it. It could mean life, or maybe even being. At least, it meant something with life and a being, Bart thought. He concluded that his answer was approximately correct, then moved on to the third symbol, which was the drawing of a Kraferr symbol, but this time, the arms were orientated to the sky, and a circle was drawn above the head of the Kraferr. Power? Could be.
Next was the symbol of a circle with one half completely black, one half completely white. A Kraferr stood by the circle. Bart wondered if the circle was a sort of portal. A portal could also mean door, in Kraferric language. And why is it half black? Maybe it’s... opening? Yeah, this means ‘Open’.
The next symbol was the sign before ‘Locked Object’. It was the sign of a circle, with another circle in it. Bart did not understand this symbol, as it could basically mean anything, like ‘Womb’, ‘Caged’, ‘Insanity’, even.
Bart reread the symbols.
Kraferr Being Power Open, then I don’t know, Locked Object. Lessee now... Maybe the Kraferr has the power to open a door to... To... Where lies the locked object. That’s it.
‘I found it.’ Bart said, a huge grin on his face.

Shadow and Vrael looked up at Bart. Vrael nodded once and Shadow gave a half smile as se pulled herself back to her feet. She limped back to stand next to the cave mouth.
“What does is say then?” She asked, casting an eye over the runes once more. She remembered similar glowing red runes being carved onto her a long time ago, but those were in demonic ad she knew that they had depicted the prophecy. Turning her thoughts back to the present, she glanced at Bart, feeling Vrael’s curiosity joining hers.

‘Well,’ Bart answered, putting a hand to the back of his head and scratching it, ‘It basically says that a Kraferr One can open this door, that leads to the necklace,’ Bart looked downwards, at his feet, ‘But it doesn’t say anything how.’
Bart approached a hand to the door, and it shrunk like it did last time. Bart couldn’t guess what he had to do. Wait a second...
Bart thought about his current form. Was his demonic form interrupting the opening sequence? Maybe that’s why. But how the hell do I get back Kraferr ?
Bart reached into his pocket, and took out a silver bracelet. He attached it to his right arm, which slowly began to turn to its normal brownish colour.

Vrael nodded again, and tried to think of a way to get in. Would the two demons be allowed in? Somehow, he doubted it, but he knew that Shadow would insist on at least trying. He watched Bart tie on one of the silver bracelets, and then realised that Bart had to be in complete Kraferr form before the door would open for him. He semi-demonic form must have tainted the magic necessary, and therefore making it impossible to penetrate into the cave. He thought back to the battle, remembering that one of the bracelets had been broken by Sither. Vrael reached into his bag, pulling out a second bracelet and wordlessly handing it to Bart.

Bart took the bracelet, nodding once, then tied it onto his left arm. This made the transformation go faster, and soon after that, Bart had returned to his full Kraferr form. A loud and sinister crack was heard as his rib cage slunk slowly back into his body, and as his shoulder blades moved back into place. He uttered a grunt when this happened, but nothing more. Once the transformation finished, he glanced to Vrael, then to Shadow, and looked back at the door, approaching his hand. He smiled slightly as he saw that the door didn’t budge. Bart put one foot into the cave, then another, and looked back at Shadow, waiting for them to come.

Vrael cautiously entered first, and was allowed in. Shadow tried next, but it seemed more of a struggle for her to enter. The runes that had been engraved on her several years before started to glow red as she finally entered. She glanced at her arm, cursing under her breath. Vrael raised one eyebrow slightly, but otherwise ignored it. Shadow listened out for the song again, and glanced at Bart, wondering what to do now.

Bart nodded, his red eyes glistening in the darkness of the humid cave. He turned around to the blackness, and continued his slow march. It’s like if the walls moved. We better stick together.
As Bart slowly advanced into the cave, his footsteps echoing very slightly, the darkness only became bigger and bigger. Bart had good night vision with his Kraferric form, and hoped that the other two had the same. If they lost each other here, the lost one would probably die of hunger, or at least live a few years in here before finally getting out. You couldn’t trust the walls if they moved.

Shadow and Vrael didn’t seem at all bothered by the darkness as they moved onwards after Bart. The red glow from Shadow allowed them a fraction of light, but not enough to see by, unless you were a Kraferr or a demon. Shadow was keeping a wary eye on the walls around them, remembering the phrase she had heard in Bart’s mind what seemed like a age ago. She stopped, listened and sniffed the air, but continued. She thought she had detected a smell of old blood, and a very slight whiff of something that troubled her far more. The smell of mantis blood.

Bart continued forwards, as there were no other directions to go. Bart stopped as he heard a rock roll, then a small crack as the rock stopped. He looked around. He couldn’t smell anything yet, only humidity, and ground. He opened his mouth, and tried tasting the air. A bitter and salty taste came into his mouth. This taste was blood. Blood of something, and he didn’t know what. A rock rolled again, but this time, no sound came from it as it stopped.
Wait, did it stop? Oh no.
More rocks rumbled and rolled. Bart laid a hand on a wall, which slowly started to move. ‘The walls, damnit! They’re starting to move!’

Shadow and Vrael were pressed back to back, all thoughts of the mantis smell thrown from Shadow’s mind. The pair stood next to Bart, trying to keep an eye on where the walls were moving. Vrael’s silvery eyes darted around the darkness, trying to ascertain the level of danger of the situation, but couldn’t. She tried to listen out for the necklace’s song, but it was drowned out by the ominous sound of rock grating against rock.

The crack and crushing of the stone began to fade. Bart looked behind, and took one step forwards, only to encounter a stone wall. He pushed himself back, then started to examine the walls with his sight and touch. The ways they could go were right and left. Bart glanced back at Shadow. He saw something move in the darkness, but Bart concluded it was a bat or spider of some sort, as it was on the ceiling. Bart waited for Shadow to say where they have to go now.

Shadow closed her eyes, listening out for the song again now that the rock had stopped moving. Opening her eyes again to look at Bart and Vrael, she said that they had to turn left, that’s where the song was coming from. Vrael nodded once, starting to walk along the tunnel to the left. Shadow slowly followed him, the only sound coming from the pair of them was the dull thunk of wood on stone from Shadow’s staff.

Bart glanced around, looking if there was something that may have followed them into the cave. He had smelled something, and it certainly wasn’t Shadow’s blood. Something had come into the cave, wounded, and it wasn’t something that Bart expected to be the slightest of friends. He continued the path, walking closely next to Shadow, his footsteps echoing in the cave as they walked and his tail flicking the wind. His tail flicked when he was nervous or had something stuck in his mind. And he certainly was nervous.

Shadow and Vrael continued on at the most rapid pace that they could manage without injuring Shadow’s leg further. They both wanted to get through to the necklace before the walls moved again, but they had also sensed some sort of ominous presence that neither demon particularly wanted to meet. Shadow could still hear the song of the demon, but she was trying to block it out, cursing within her mind at the thought of the impending prophecy. Putting those thoughts to the back of her mind again, she kept a close tab on the necklace’s song, allowing it to guide her steps.

Bart continued to walk, and fastened his pace when he noticed Shadow and Vrael were. As he did that, he didn’t pay attention to what he was walking on, and he stepped on a rock plate shoved into the ground. The plate clicked and turned white. White flames shot out of torches on the walls, illuminating a very, very big room. The walls were dark grey. The lights flickered like dancers. Ominous Kraferr faces stuck out of the wall, some of them smiling, frowning, gaping, any face you could have. Bart put a hand on Shadow’s elbow, and pointed at something glinting in the middle of the room. Something very familiar.
A necklace.
Sprwaled upon the ground, like if someone had thrown it or lost it here stupidly.
‘No,’ Bart said, ‘This is too easy. There’s a trap somewhere, I know it.’ Bart sniffed the air, and recognized a familiar smell between most of them that emanated amongst the room. Poison.
‘There are poisonous darts hidden in the Kraferr heads. There’s probably a trigger step near the necklace.’
But whom put it there?

Shadow and Vrael had stopped dead when the flames shot up. Narrowing their eyes against the sudden glare, they took a good look at the necklace. Vrael looked at Shadow after Bart’s warning about the trigger.
“May I borrow your staff?” He asked quietly. The demoness handed it over, putting most of her weight on her uninjured leg as she watched her half-brother carefully using the staff to look for the trigger point on the floor. He was crouched low to the ground, planning on dodging out of the way should he trigger the darts. He remembered doing something like this before, but he couldn’t exactly remember when, nor what had happened.

Bart helped Shadow take her weight on one leg. He waited patiently for Vrael to make the trigger give away its fatal trap. Bart examined the Kraferr heads. Luckily, both of them weren’t in the Kraferr heads’ way. He located three holes in each Kraferr head. One in each eye, one in the mouth. Definitely a trap. But, the question still wondered in Bart’s mind. Whom other than Kraferr could’ve put the necklace here? Only Kraferrs know Kraferric language and magic. Instead if it was a shaman. But then, why didn’t it take the necklace back to the tribes?
A small click was heard as Vrael poked at a stone. Bart slightly jumped as a row of consecutive darts were thrown by the sinister Kraferr faces. Once the wave of darts stopped, Bart smelled again. The bloody smell was still present in the air. Bart glanced around, trying to know what had followed them here. Then he saw it. Oh Christ, looks like we got company.
Two cloaked beings were standing behind Shadow and Bart. The two of them jumped past Bart and Shadow, one going in front of Vrael, and one near the necklace.
Damn.

Shadow watched her brother backflip and dodge his way through the darts until the wave stopped, leaving him slightly out of breath but still intact, crouched next to the necklace. He made a grab for the necklace as the two cloaked figures made their move. Shadow grabbed hold of one’s cloak, pulling it off. The smell of blood was going to her head, and she could see that Vrael was trembling, his vampire side seeming to have taken precedence over his normal side. Shadow tried to summon her magic, but it sparked feebly. She swore aloud in demonic, realising that the Kraferr magic around her was interfering with her own.

A tall man stood behind the other cloaked being. A tall man with jet black hair, and bangs that went down to his hips. A man that Bart and the others recognized well, and that they didn’t want to meet at the precise moment. Especially the precise moment.
‘Sither,’ Bart said, glaring fiercely at him. The damn b*stard followed us!
‘Yes, Bart,’ Sither answered quietly, his hair still dropping down over his face, thus being unable to see Sither’s face. Sither then lifted his head, his hair falling odwn beside it. Sither had a cloth wrapped around his forehead, blocking his eyes. Must’ve been the wound from the last time I saw him , Bart thought, remembering that he had slashed Sither’s eyes out, making him go blind.
‘Who’s the other one?!’ Bart exclaimed.
The other cloaked being stood fast, and pulled down its hood. A female Kraferr stood there, her red eyes glistening with the white flames dancing around her. ‘Domina,’ The Kraferr answered. Bart glared at the female, cursing at her within his mind.
‘Domina,’ Sither said, quietly, ‘Our deal.’
‘Ah, yes,’ Domina answered, crouching next to the necklace, taking it, and throwing it to Sither.
Bart wanted to intervene, but he knew that the two were armed, and that they had better weapon skill than he had, and they were two. It was far too risked to barge in at the moment. Sither smiled slightly as he caught the necklace. He pulled it around his neck.
The necklace gives the power to see one’s death date, Bart thought, This is going to be bad...
‘Poor, poor Bart...’ Sither said, quietly, the necklace in one hand.
‘You better not say anything of my death, Sither!’ Bart exclaimed.
‘Oh, nothing to worry about, dear Bart, because you die now.’ Sither answered.
He threw a dagger that he had in the back pocket of his pants at Bart. Bart, not being able to pull himself quickly away from the projectile, since he was currently helping Shadow with her leg, received the dagger right next to his throat, slicing it. The dagger tumbled not far away. Bart laid a hand on his next, black blood pouring from it. He sniffed the blood. Poison. Bart fell on the ground, coughing.
‘Correct, Bart: That dagger is poisonous. You shall die in atrocious pain within the next ten minutes. Know that this is not the worst punishment that I could give you right now for having sliced my eyes; I could as well torture you, but that isn’t fun enough. I prefer watching you die right here.’ The cloaked Kraferr grinned slightly.

Shadow, ignoring the pain in her leg, launched herself at Sither as Bart fell to the ground, catching the staff Vrael had just thrown back to her. Her eyes had turned red, the runes on her body glowing brighter than before as she started to try and strike at Sither with the staff. All coherent thought had left her mind and she started to go into full demonic possession.
Vrael was instantly by Bart’s side, pulling his medical kit off his belt, desperately searching for the anti-poison that h always carried. He hoped Shadow could come on her own, hopefully without ripping the stitches in her leg, but he guessed that it would be pretty much impossible. Finding the small vial at last, he poured the reddish liquid into Bart’s wound, judging it as the best way to administer the antidote. This was when he wished he had taken the field medic training like his sister instead of the doctor training.

Domina launched herself at Shadow, her two daggers in a scissor-like position, her cloak flapping behind her. Her tail flicked two times at the air. Sither back paced slightly, but reassured that Domina was still in the deal. Sither kept the necklace. He smirked.
‘Now, as for my question...’ Sither said, his head inclined slightly downwards. ‘What is the meaning of human existence?’
Bart coughed some blood, before closing his eyes. ‘Wrong question,’ he uttered.
Sither kept the necklace in his hand as the blue gem started to shine very, very brightly. Soon enough, the whole necklace was white, and Sither was enveloped by light itself. He stepped backwards, but that did not change his near fate.
Sither turned completely white, then quickly broke, like if he was turned into glass and hit by a hammer. The shards propaged through the hall, and the few wisps of light shimmered and faded near the torches’ light, which became bigger as the light entered them.

Shadow dodged the attack, her red eyes glowing. She landed in a crouched position, black blood pouring down her leg again from where she had managed to rip the stitches. She stood up, turning round to where Sither had been standing, her eyes narrowed against the light. Vrael , having done what he could with the anti-poison and now had a sterile pad held against the wound to Bart’s neck, yelled to her in demonic. The demoness didn’t respond for a few moments before the pain seemed to break through the barrier again. Ignoring Domina, she limped over to Bart and Vrael, taking over the treatement.
“At least Sither’s gone...” Shadow murmured.

Domina back paced slightly, then jumped into the darkness of the continuing hall. Her landings echoed in the hall slightly, then she was so far we couldn’t hear a sound anymore, except for the faint flickering of the white flames that recently grew.
Bart felt reassured to be still alive. He didn’t want to let the Kraferrs down. He was going to bring back the necklace. But only once he’s been healed from the fatal poison. His finger scratched at the rocky ground as his right eye slowly opened, glistening red light emanating from the eye.

Shadow maintained the pressure on the wound, trying to stem the blood flow. The floor of the cave was covered in spots of black blood from Bart’s wound as well as Shadow’s. Vrael was going through his kit again, trying to see if there was anything else that would help them. He hoped that they would all get out of this alive, then he became determined that they would. Sither wasn’t there to stop them now. Vrael wasn’t even bothered about the other Kraferr getting away at that moment in time.

Bart coughed again, spilling small specks of black blood on the dark grey rock. He opened his two eyes, putting his hand on Shadow’s to keep the pressure on it as he stood up slowly. His senses were blurred by the poison, but hopefully not dead. He still had approximately good vision, and he thought that he would probably have full senses by tomorrow if it heals good. He looked at the necklace, not able to mutter a word correctly, but lifting his arm in its direction. His hand was trembling at the end of his arm. He tightened it into a fist, his red eyes glistening.

Vrael frowned slightly, thinking that it wasn’t wise that the pair of them were up so soon. He got to his feet, going and getting the necklace, handing it to Bart.
“I believe that this should belong to you.” He said with a half smile. Shadow also gave a half smile, standing mainly on one leg. Vrael gently took a look at Bart’s neck wound, and used his magic to seal it slightly, limiting the blood flow. H wished he could do more, but the restrictions of the cave disallowed him this.

Bart nodded once, and took the necklace from Vrael’s hand gently. He let it shine in front of his face a while, looking at its metal rings and the amulet itself. Bart coiled it up around his right hand with one sweep of his hand against his body. He tightened his fist around the amulet, feeling it’s power emanate from it. Somehow, it’s power didn’t seem like Kraferr magic, but Bart thought that it was just his senses that were going weird. He looked forwards into the darkness of the hall. Now, was the problem of, how to get the hell out of here.
The white flames flickered as Bart thought about the current situation.

Vrael and Shadow looked around, sniffing the air. They were trying to get a sniff of the outer world. Vrael managed to get a whiff of the damp grass and, despite heavy threats, picked Shadow up, careful not to touch the wound. Her staff lay shattered against a wall. The vampire-demon glanced at Bart.
“I think I may have a scent trace to the outer world.” He explained briefly, keeping a tight grip on the struggling demoness.

Bart nodded once, still not able to speak as of yet. He continued, hand on neck, into the darkness of the hall, the flames flickering softly and slowly fading as he passed. His footsteps echoed into the blackness as he entered it. He could feel a gentle breeze, which recomforted him. They were near the outside world. They were near the end of his quest. He was going to end the quest that lasted for a short time, yes, but still a good one.
Eh, I guess it’ll be happy after all, he thought.

Vrael strode ahead, Shadow having given up struggling. He relied on his sense of smell to get him out. The breeze ruffled his silver hair, making it glint slightly in the dim light. Shadow’s marks were still glowing, although faintly. Vrael guessed that it was just a reaction to the strange magic.
He emerged into the sunlight, his eyes narrowed against the seeming glare of it after the darkness of the cave. Putting Shadow down for a moment, he took a strip of thin cloth out of his bag, tying t over his eyes to block out most of the sun. He was half vampire after all.

Bart appeared in the light, one hand on his neck, the other over his eyes. He knew that it was quite sunny outside this day, and his Kraferr eyes were used to the darkness of the cave. His purple shirt flapped slightly with the brisky wind. He closed his eyes. The outside world. Eh, I thought I would never get out of there for a minute.
Bart looked at Shadow. His instinct told him that south east (since they came from the north west, to go back, it would be south east, duh) was at his left side. Then again, he could be wrong, as his senses were still blurred. He sat down next to Shadow, eyes glistening in the shadows created by his hair.

Vrael sniffed the air, and smelt pollution. With a slight roll of his eyes, he picked Shadow up again, turning a deaf ear to the protests.
“We should be heading south-west.” He said, having determined in which direction the smell of pollution was the strongest. Balancing his sister, he held out a hand to help Bart to his feet. He was thinking that the sooner they get back to the city, the sooner they would be able to return to their furious studies on the prophecy. He wondered what would happen if they asked the necklace about the outcome of the prophecy. He asked Bart what would happen.

‘As far as I’m concerned,’ Bart answered, ‘Asking the necklace about the prophecy would be quite risky without knowing where it came from, when it was created, how and who wrote it. It may contain privacy, or just simply, might be something that’s not supposed to be asked, such as Sither’s question.’
At the mentioning of Sither, Bart’s face darkened, but his hair fell over it with one blow of wind, hiding the expression. His eyes glistened as he looked at the direction they would have to go. He advanced by one step, then continued his regular pace.

Vrael followed after Bart, thinking about the answer to his question. As much as he wanted to know, Bart had a point.
“We know not when it was written. We know it was written in Synairn by a prophet considered to be a little less than sane, but you are right. It may well be a wrong question.” He said, his long stride covering the grass easily. His expression was unreadable, partly because of the band that covered his eyes to block out most of the sunlight. He said nothing at the mention of Sither’s name, but he had not known a ‘better’ side to the Mantis, and therefore all he saw in him was evil.

Bart continued on the grassy path, his feet making slight squishing noises as they met the humid grass. A constant but soft blow of cold wind made Bart’s clothing sway, and his hair flutter. He advanced by a regular pace, going slightly faster as Vrael continued to walk alongside. The few spots of sun in between the trees reflected slightly against the silver bracelets he had tied onto his arms. His tail flicked twice at the air, then flopped down. Bart put a hand to his chest, making sure that his heart was beating correctly, and if the wound had correctly healed.

Vrael lengthened his stride again, keeping pace with Bart. He wondered what the future would bring to his family. Vrael stopped, sniffing the air. A new scent had just appeared on the air. He tried to place it, but couldn’t. The smell was getting stronger, a smell of demon. Shadow tensed, obviously smelling it too. The two demons were on edge and alert. The demon was still getting closer.

Bart did not notice Vrael and Shadow’s reaction to the new and alerting odour. He kept at a regular pace. He wanted to get to Grenoble as quickly as possible, without wasting too much energy. They had time. Bart flicked out his watch, looking at the time. Hm, he thought, Already 6:10 AM. We spent an hour since I last checked my watch.
Bart glanced around. He could only see the trees around him and the two following him not very far back.

Vrael and Shadow started to move on again, but Shadow heard someone step on a branch. The two demons froze. Dark blue magic was spreading over the grass, and there was a figure in the gloom, far away it seemed, as it was so small. The figure was running, getting bigger.
“Bart!” Vrael yelled, putting Shadow down and summoning his magic. The figure was getting ever closer.

Bart heard Vrael’s alarm, and quickly turned around, his claws at the ready. He glanced around himself, his eyes glistening, his tail flicking the air very fast. Bart noticed the dark blue magic, and he jumped to a higher branch, looking at where it came from. Bart noticed a figure, seemingly far away from the three, but not meaning any less dangerous. Bart bit his lip, andprepared at an attack. He set his claws spread out in front of his face, anticipating an attack to the head.

“Vrael...” Shadow said.
“No, Shadow, you will not fight.” Vrael snapped back.
“Vrael...”
“No!”
“Listen to me!”
“What is it?!”
“You’re aiming to fight a child?”
“Huh?”
True enough, the figure coming through the trees was not far away, merely rather short. Shadow struggled to her feet, taking a good look at the chil. She pulled a half smile, thinking about Vael’s ‘slight’ panic. The child had dark red hair, and red irises, but she still managed to look terrified. She looked at the trio before her, looking ready to do something very unclean.

Bart, noticing that the ‘threat’ was only a mere child, lowered his arms, sighing. His senses were still blurred, he couldn’t even think straight. What a disadvantage. Bart jumped from the tree, the branch wobbling slightly. Bart landed with a slight thud. He kept a hand on his neck to see if the wound was healed. As it was only recent, but also only showing few drops of blood, it should be healing fast. Bart examined the child, wondering who the hell the female infant would be to stay alone in an unknown forest like this one, near a city. Bart looked around for an adult.

The child jumped violently as Bart dropped down, grabbing the edge of hr cloak and half hiding behind it. Shadow knelt down near the child, her head on one side.
“Shadow?” The child asked.
“How do you know me?” Shadow asked suspiciously.
“I saw you at the black temple.”
“Ah, Kar’s been breeding again, has he?”
The child looked confused.
“Never mind.” Shadow said.

Bart lifted one eyebrow at the child, then sighed. His muscles were tensed, so Bart sat down and relaxed. He kept one side of his face in the palm of his right hand, his red eyes glistening in the shadows of his hair looming upon his Kraferric face. He wondered why the Roth, Mercian family was so complicated, and he tried to remember the whole family, or at least, the members he had heard of. Now that he was part Roth, his family tree will start to expand very, very quickly, thus becoming, very, very confusing...
I mean, he thought, I’m freaking related to Raven. Find the error.

Vrael glanced back at Bart, realising that he was probably confused with their family tree.
“Karthragan is the father of us.” He explained briefly. Shadow was conversing quietly with the child, trying to calm her down. Vrael stood back from this, knowing that he was no use with children what so ever. He had known thins since Shadow had asked him to babysit Archangel and Onyx when they were still relatively young (only about two moons). Archangel had started to cry, so he changed into a panther to try and amuse her. His tail still had a kink in it from the dislocation the brat had caused by pulling it.

Bart looked up at Vrael, his eyes glistening.
‘I already know that, Vrael,’ he answered, quietly.
Normally, if we talked about breeding, we talked about animals. But, then again, Shadow could be so pissed off at Kar, thus treating him like an animal. Eh, people.
Bart’s eyes glistened once more, then he flicked out his watch. 6:20 AM.
We’re wasting time here, I think. Anyways, what is that girl doing in the middle of this forest?

Shadow stood up on one leg again, taking the child’s hand.
“We had better get a move on. Neku had best stay with us for now.” She said. Vrael nodded, quickly picking his sister up again before the demoness could say anything. Neku looked up curiously.
“Are you two married?” She asked, having read about men picking women up like that when they were married. Both the adult demons looked shocked.
“No!” They both said at the same time.
“Shadow is wounded.” Vrael said darkly. He had the feeling that they had just taken on a smarter version of Archangel, and that was not good in his eyes.

Bart facepalmed at the sound of the sentence that came out of “Neku’s” seemingly gaping mouth. He slowly stood up, looking at Shadow. He then turned his head to the direction where they shall be going. Bart walked at a constant pace, making his stride slightly, but only slightly, longer at the end of his first two steps. His feet made small squishing noises as they met the humid grass and as the water was squeezed out from the earth. Bart’s eyes glistened, and his tail flicked at the air.

The trio of demons followed alongside Bart, apart from Neku, who hurried along behind, her five-year-old legs not quite able to keep up with them. Shadow was wondering how the little half-demon would take to Archangel and Onyx, and then thought that she had better keep Neku away from Archangel as much as possible.
Neku was watching something twitch, transfixed by it. Her red eyes darted after it. The two adult demons weren’t really paying attention to her, trying to get to the city as soon as possible. Neku seized her chance, pouncing and pulling hard on Bart’s tail.

‘Eyyyh!’ Bart cried out as he felt a sudden pull on his tail. He looked back, and saw the child pulling at it. He ripped it out of her hands, keeping it near his body, claws pointed out.
‘Dude, that fucking hurts! Don’t do that!’
Bart squeezed his tail beside him, since it was aching. He pulled a face at Neku, his eyes glistening. Jesus Christ, I didn’t know a tail getting pulled like that hurt so freakin’ much. IK guess that’s one of my weak points...

The two adult demons turned to see Bart ripping his tail away from Neku. They glanced at each other, and burst out laughing. Neku looked confused and slightly upset that her prey had been taken from her. She started to imitate Bart, clutching an invisible tail close to her and pulling the same face. Shadow sniggered quietly to herself, and Vrael was trying very hard to keep his laughter to himself, but seemingly failing miserably.

Bart flicked out two fingers at Shadow and Vrael, one pointing at one, the other pointing at the other, his eyes closed, seeming slightly (greatly) pissed, ‘You guys shudup, ‘K?’
Bart then turned to Neku, still his eyes closed. Gah, I feel something really bad is going to happen. Bad, as in, for her...
‘N’ you, stop imitin’ me, ‘K? It’s not that funny, getting something that’s a part of you nearly getting ripped out from its socket.’ Bart facepalmed again.

Neku continued to imitate Bart, copying his words and actions. Shadow started to laugh again, as well as Vrael. Neku turned innocent eyes to Bart as he told her to stop imitating him. She nodded, smiling sweetly. Shadow managed to contain her laughter once more.
“Come on, we should get a move on or we’ll never make it to the city.” She said. Vrael nodded in agreement.

‘Don’t try to do the “Bambi Eyes” to me, K?’ Bart warned Neku.
He turned around, and continued to walk along the path they were previously treading. Bart kept an eye out on Neku, keeping his tail constantly moving. His eyes glistened as his hair fell down on his face again. He brushed it away with one clean sweep of his hand, and flicked his watch out. 6:25 AM. Hm.

Neku looked as Shadow as they started walking.
“Bambi?” She asked.
“A fawn.” Shadow explained. Neku nodded, her eyes on Bart’s tail again. Shadow snorted, trying not to laugh.
“I’d keep an eye on...” She started to say before Neku pounced again, pinning her ‘prey’ to the ground.
“Never mind...” Shadow finished.

Bart muffled his curse word under his breath, then turned to Neku, slightly bothered by his tail in the way because it was pinned down to the humid ground, by an annoying infant. Bart sighed, and thought of something. A huge smirk came across his face, and his eyes glistened. He lowered one hand to Neku, grabbing at her clothing, then pulling her off the ground, the tail still in her grasp. Bart glared at Neku into the eyes, then continued to walk, holding Neku above the ground, eyes mid-closed.

Neku scowled, and yanked hard on the tail several times.
“PUT ME DOWN!” She ordered. Shadow laughed again, sounding slightly like a wolf howling. Vrael gave his version of a laugh, which sounded like ‘ruk ruk ruk’.

‘Then,’ Bart continued, ‘LET ME GO.’
Bart waited for Neku’s answer, still holding her in the air. Ah, Kraferr strength is sometimes a good thing. His eyes glistened as they met Neku’s. He tightened his hand into a fist, but swooped it into his back. His hair slightly fell down on his left eye.

Neku scowled, yanking once more on the tail, trying to kick Bart at the same time but fell just short of hitting him, so she morphed into her animal. The tiger cub looked up at Bart, and raked its claws across the arm holding her, claws bared. Her ears were laid back, obviously not pleased.

Bart, as Neku morphed into her tiger form, opened wide his eyes, opened his mouth, but no sound was uttered from the gaping hole as the tiger cub ripped at his arm. He tossed the cub into the air, holding his arm with his other hand, it slightly bleeding, eyes mid-closed. He wiped the black blood from his arm. He turned around to the cub, and started picking at his bracelet, until it came off.
‘You better stop now.’

The tiger cub sat on the ground before morphing back into Neku.
“I told you to let me go.” She said angrily.
“Ok, ENOUGH the pair of you,” Shadow said. “It’s like we’ve got two five year olds here, not a fourteen year old and a five year old.”
Neku looked hurt.
“Don’t give me that look, Neku.” Shadow warned. Vrael rolled his eyes, turning to continue walking. Neku morphed back into a tiger cub, trotting along behind Vrael, tail and nose in the air as if in contempt.

‘Hmph,’ Bart uttered as he put the bracelet back into place. He spotted Neku’s tail, and a slight grin ran across his face. Eh, naaah. Must resist... Temptation.
As Bart put back the bracelet onto his arm, the slightly purple-tainted fur came back to its previous brown colour. He looked ahead, then continued walking, at a convenient pace. His fur swayed slightly with the wind, and he jumped a bit to be in front of the group. He didn’t take his tail, though; as he knew it would just be ‘prodding’ the situation, and also tempting Neku.

Neku laid her ears back as she realised that her fun was now in front of her. She sighed, deciding to turn to a new target. Hm... New target... Aquired!
Neku lengthened her pace before jumping, hooking her claws into Vrael’s cloak, starting to climb up. The pressure around the vampire’s neck dragged him backwards, causing him to fall. Shadow fell with him, landing a metre or two away. The two demons lay dazed for a few moments before Vrael shook it off, grabbing the tiger cub by the paws. He was seriously pissed.

Bart turned around, and just couldn’t stand laughing. ‘So,’ he said, between two gasps for air, ‘Revenge is sweet, aye?’ Bart wiped a few tears from his red eyes, and smiled while looking at Shadow and Vrael, Vrael holding Neku upside-down. Eh, Bart thought, sometimes, you just need to laugh at what happened earlier today. Bart thought about Sither, but then brushed that thought away, thinking this was not the moment to think about that precise thing. He looked at Shadow again, and smiled.

Shadow was still lying on the ground, dazed, having hit her head on a rock. Vrael’s eyes were slowly turning red, and the tiger cub looked like it was going to do something unclean again. Vrael got a hold on himself again, and threw the cub down, going over to Shadow.

Bart looked around, smelling something. The fair odour of pollution. The city was close. Close, as in, ‘would take 20 minutes of walk or so to get where Bart needed to go’ (unless you got Neku on you...)
Bart waited, sitting down on the ground, for Shadow and Vrael to recuperate from their recent ‘fail’. (Bad pun is bad.) Bart glanced at Neku, making sure she wasn’t going near him anymore. My tail.

Vrael picked Shadow up again after she had shaken off the daze. He glared at Neku, and started to continue the walk to Grenoble. The child sighed, following, looking at the ground. She looked sorry for her actions, but she was secretly hatching another plan to annoy someone. And the only one who wasn’t going to go demonic on her was... She grinned evilly, thinking about her prey again.

Bart glanced at Shadow, smiling slightly, then glanced at Neku, the smile suddenly becoming a blank line. Oh Christ, she’s plotting something...
Bart’s tail flicked at the air, thn he caught it, and pressed it near his body. He wasn’t going to let Neku catch his tail again, as it was still aching from her last attempts. A small breeze of wind blew Bart’s hair and clothing as he walked to Grenoble, with a slightly faster pace.

Neku morphed into a tiger cub again, quickening her pace to keep up with the adults. She was indeed plotting, her the plotting phase of her plan was now finished. She just needed to put it into action.
Closing in on target
Target acquired
Coiling springs
Springs coiled
Launch sequence initiated.
ATTACK!!!!!
Neku launched herself, teeth and claws bared, and sunk both into Bart’s leg.

Bart yelled out as the teeth sunk into his leg. He looked at his leg. Bloody cannibal!
Bart threw his leg about, trying to throw the tiger off, in vain. He let go of his tail, making it whip at the air. Bart stopped his leg, and put it onto the ground. Eyes, mid-closed, he looked down at Neku.
Jesus H. Christ, bloody cannibal.
‘Leggo of my leg. I don’t speak tiger, but I know you understand me.’

Neku had an evil glint in her eyes, meaning that she did indeed understand Bart. In a split second, she let go of his leg and bit his tail, not letting go, shaking her head from side to side. The two demons looked away, trying very hard to hide their laughter. The tiger seemed to be having great fun, torturing the Kraferr.

Bart looked at Neku as she bit down on his tail. Again. Bart bit his lip as she tried to rip it to pieces. Kraferr skin is pretty hard. Let’s hope it resists, before I launch my fist into her face.
Bart looked down at the tiger. A flare of fury went by in his eyes, but soon was washed out by a wave of trickery. He decided not to do what he was thinking about.
‘Congrats. You just found my weak point; my tail.’

Neku used her two front paws to pin the tail to the ground, starting to chew it happily. The only reaction to Bart’s words was a flick of an ear just before one of her fangs managed to pierce the skin of the tail. Shadow murmured something to Vrael, who nodded. He set the demoness down, and she picked the tiger cup up by the scruff of the neck, tail still firmly clamped between her jaws.

Bart ripped the tail from Neku’s (mouth) grasp. He patted it slightly after noticing that the skin had been pierced (speared) by multiple attempts at biting (lacerating). He squeezed where the blood spilled, leaving a black mark on his hand. He glanced at Neku, eyes mid-closed. Eh, kids. Demonic kids. Bart looked at Shadow, lifting one eyebrow.

Neku grinned at Bart, still in her tiger form, her teeth covered with black blood. Shadow held the cub carefully, and Vrael picked the demoness up again.
“She shouldn’t bother you again,” Shadow explained to Bart, although she doubted her own words for some reason. Neku was behaving like Archangel did when she was that age. Archangel was the only one that Shadow had ever met that could booby-trap a completely empty and locked room.

‘Mh,’ Bart uttered, ‘When we think about it, really, Neku reminds me of a certain person...’ Bart smiled a bit, then turned to the path they were previously taking. He walked faster, trying to get out of Neku’s way, once she was released. He looked at the city now that they were lomming upon it, hands on hips. Bart smirked a little, his red eyes glistening. His tail flicked two times.

Neku sulked in Shadow’s arms, wanting to go and annoy the crap out of what she thought was ‘that-wierd-monkey-like-dude-who-gets-really-pissed-when-I-chew-his-tail’. Vrael was the ‘strange-silver-man-who-got-SERIOUSLY- pissed-when-I-climbed-his-cloak’. Shadow she knew from before, but mainly as ‘strange-purple-haired-girl-who-is-father’s-strange-charge’. She struggled slightly in Shadow’s arms, having thought up a new way to torment the Kraferr.

Bart glanced back at Neku. He sighed, and fastened his current pace. Not the psycho again...
He looked around. He continued walking down the same grassy path as before. Wind blew Bart’s hair. He kept an eye on Neku if she ever came to him. He sighed again, his eyes glistening. He flicked his watch out. 6:40 AM. Eh, time flies when you’re having... ‘fun’.

Neku managed to break free from Shadow’s grasp, jumping onto Bart’s head. Using her claws, she made a sort of nest, and curled up, on his head, looking like some sort of striped Russian hat. Shadow watched her, one eyebrow raised.
“Neku, we do not need hats at this time of year.”

Bart glared upwards, meeting Neku’s eyes. His red eyes glistened. His head was becoming very... temperate. You could almost see smoke come out the ears. Bart then closed his eyes, put his face in between two fingers, and continued walking. At least he was comfortable, he thought. Bart looked forwards. She’ll need to go off soon, because they were entering Grenoble in approximately 10 minutes.


Neku started up a low purring sound. She didn’t have much on an intention of leaving. It would annoy the weird-monkey-like-dude-who-is-very-protective-of-his-tail eventually. The demons walked in silence, Shadow trying to think what on earth she was going to do with Neku. Then again, Neku was probably just as bad as Archangel. She sighed lightly.

Bart saw Grenoble up ahead. He poked Neku’s stomach, looking upwards with his glistening red eyes as he did.
‘Hey, you’ll have to get down. Seeing a teenager in Grenoble with a tiger on his head can be quite weird when it comes to humans, really. So please get down, Neku.’
As he said this, the necklace coiled around his right hand glinted in the sunlight. Bart looked forwards.

Neku morphed back into human form and got down... from his head. She was now hanging down his back, arms around his neck, wondering where the hell the ground was again. She saw the tail, and tried very hard to resist the urge to pounce on it. Vrael and Shadow sighed, now both of them were wondering what the hell they were going to do with Neku, apart from teacher her some decent manners.

Bart helped Neku down. He sighed slightly. He concentrated hard to try to morph back into human. Anyways, if something was to intervene, he could always stop the transformation. He felt his hair start to slink back into his skin, his tail slowly disappearing, (take that, Neku) and his eyes merged back to their previous crude sky colour. His claws morphed back into nails, and his legs went normal again. And all that, without pain in his chest. Not too much.
Bart looked at Shadow, wiping a trickle of Kraferric blood from his mouth. It was probably the pain in his body that made him cough up blood slightly. He rubbed the black blood on the side of his arm. He looked at the necklace again. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I’m going to go to the Ku’ Rutiek. Are you guys coming, or do you have other purposes to do?’

The three demons watched Bart transform back into a human, Neku feeling disappointed at the loss of her game of chase with Bart’s tail. Shadow looked at Vrael.
“I think you had better take Neku to Shaeman and Cika.” She said.
“Why can you not do so?” Vrael asked. His voice wasn’t directly pleading, but it was implied that he did not want to be left alone with Neku.
“Because you know that they’ll throw me back in the holding cell.” Shadow said, rolling her eyes.

‘Hm,’ Bart uttered. Looks like they have to worry about Neku. Eh, I don’t blame them. A kid like that would go right under a rolling car...
Bart put a hand on Shadow’s shoulder, looking up at her. ‘Thanks, Shadow, for the help.’ He said, and he turned around, preparing to go to the Ku’ Rutiek tribe location.

Shadow nodded and bowed to Bart, one hand fisted over her heart, a sign of respect among the demons. Vrael did the same before he led Neku away (at arm’s length and keeping a very wary eye on her). Shadow limped back into the trees, but she had other plans on her mind at that point.

Bart bowed back, imitating Shadow. He smiled, then went into the city. He knew the path by heart to go to the Ku ‘Rutiek. Just an unused alley nears Gares, and tadaa. They’re there.
Bart looked at the necklace, and put it into his pocket. If he put it on, he would know things that he wouldn’t like to know. He always had this urge to ask a question which he knew was wrong. He needed to giv the necklace away, before he did something bad.

Shadow waited until Bart had gone far enough before walking back to the city. She had put a spell on her leg to cut pain from residing there, leaving only an annoying tingling like an itch. She vaulted up onto a roof, silently running. She kept a trained eye on Bart. She wanted to make sure that no one came across him, like that dark Kraferr that got away. She stayed on the roofs of the buildings so that she wouldn’t be seen by every single passerby on the street. She had to stay hidden, especially when it came to the Ku ‘Rutiek, from what she remembered Bart telling her about them at the start of the quest.

Bart looked around for the street he was searching for. He found it, and went in the direction. He passed a couple of people along the way to the Ku ‘Rutiek. Once he had reached the location, he gave a quick glance left and right, to see if no one was watching. He jumped over the fence to prevent people from entering. He walked along the alley, and then stopped at a door. A rusty door, with no knob. He put his hand on the door, and let his other hand take out the necklace. He gulped, and entered the room.

Shadow had followed him, jumping from roof to roof, running over the tiles. She turned somersaults, gaining airtime every time she had to cross a street. Hopefully, no one was watching her as she did so, but she took no notice. She dropped down silently as he entered the building, and followed him, keeping far enough behind him and sticking to the wall.

The room was dark and humid. Bart closed the door behind him. A faint sound of drops of water splashing against a small puddle was heard from pretty far away. We could hear the trains coming and going. It was a very bad living place, but it seemed as though the Kraferrs were used to it by now. Bart took a step forwards into the darkness. As he walked, he looked at the pipes hanging from the ceiling. He noticed a rat scuttle on the floor. A really bad place to live. As Bart took one step forward he met a squishy thing. It was probably something someone had thrown down here long ago. But it seemed hard as we pushed against it a little more.
There was something wrong here. Was there no one here? Chrissakes, Bart thought, If they aren’t here, where are they?
Bart finally sniffed at the air. Between a million dirty odours and faint smells, he recognized one he hadn’t smelled often. The smell of...
Decompostion.
Bart didn’t need to know more to find out what had happened here. He rushed out the place, making the door break, as it was all rusty. He fell near the wall. Why, Damn it? Why?!

Shadow had stayed glued to the wall, glad of her cloak that hid her in the darkness. She raised a corner of it to cover her mouth and nose, the air smelling rank in this place. It made her feel slightly light-headed, and she clamped the cloak harder over her face. She was secretly glad when Bart barrelled out of there, breaking the door. She stepped into the sunlight after him, wringing out the hem of her cloak where it had absorbed some water from the floor.
“I’ll happily admit that it smells rank in there,” She said conversationally, noticing Bart’s mood, and guessing why from the tangle of smells she had managed to identify in there.

Bart looked up at Shadow. He just couldn’t stop himself. He turned Kraferr. Fur sprouted from his arms, shoving it’s way through his skin, his fangs elongated, the tail suddenly appeared, and whizzed it’s way over his shirt, Bart’s nails turned into claws, and his eyes turned blood-red.
Bart stuttered for a while, the pain of his recent discovery and transformation making him trip on his words.
‘You don’t get it, do you, Shadow,’ Bart said, lifting the necklace up to her face, then slamming it down at the ground, spreading blood from his hand onto the ground. He raked his hand onto the rocky ground, spilling more black blood.
‘You just don’t get a damn thing!’ he yelled out, shoving his face into his hand.

Shadow narrowed her eyes.
“You think I don’t get it. I get it all right. I’ve been in more wars than this world has ever seen. I fought in a war at the human age of four. I learnt to block this sort of thing out of y mind, or I would have eventually lost control over my magic completely.” She snapped. “Death is an everyday occurrence. Get used to it. Get on with your life.”

‘Get on with your life?!’ Bart yelled out, ‘You’re saying that to the person who just failed at trying to save a goddamn race from extinction! HIS race!’
Bart twitched involuntarily on the ground, and fell down again. All that for nothing. Good job, Bart.
Bart glared at the necklace. This object, being the one that he had failed on. He tightened it in his fist.
Bart looked sideways as footsteps were heard from the alley entrance. Familiar footsteps. Domina.

Shadow scowled, pulling her hood low over her face. She strode over to Bart, putting two fingers to his temple, projecting a memory of hers into his mind.
Shadow, lying in the middle of a battlefield. She looked to be about seven years old, wielding a sword that was too long for her. An enemy sword had been thrust through her leg, pinning it to the ground. Half of her regiment was dead, and the smell of blood and the beginning of decay almost choked the half-demon. Someone struggled feebly somewhere to her right, trying to get back to their feet, but the injuries were too much. Shadow tried to pull the sword out of her leg, wanting to go and help some of the few people who had treated her as an equal during the battle, protecting her. Little did she know that they were already dead.
Shadow pulled her hand away, scowl still in place. Her head shot up as she heard the footsteps, and she retreated to the shadows, keeping herself hidden.

Bart stood up, after seeing the memory in his mind. He opened his mouth to say something to Shadow, but he noticed that she was retreating to darkness. He looked behind. A frail female Kraferr was running towards him cloak, flapping in the wind. She noticed Bart, and asked, ‘Who’re you?’
Bart glared at Domina. ‘Bart.’
Bart had many doubts on Domina’s case. She was the one who had told him that sentence back then, and she helped Sither.
Rivers of blood.
Rivers of blood?!
Wait, she killed the Kraferrs!
Bart grasped Domina’s shirt pulling it towards him. ‘Why did you do that, Domina?!’
The girl was stunned, and she opened her eyes wide. ‘Domin- what? Do what?’
‘Don’t try to act stupid! You killed the rest of the Kraferrs! I know it!’
‘K-‘ Domina struggled out of Bart’s grasp. ‘What the hell do you mean? I’ve never killed anybody! And who is this Domina?!’
‘YOU’RE Domina!’
‘I’m Dominique, damnit!’
‘Eh?’ Bart uttered, ‘Hmph, that aside, why did you kill the Kraferrs?!’
‘I didn’t! I just woke up in the middle of the forest for no apparent reason about ten minutes ago! I can’t remember a thing before that!’
‘You mean-‘ Bart said, back pacing one step, ‘You can’t remember anything?!’
‘Yes! Now tell me what the hell happened!’
‘Go into the Ku ‘Rutiek room, Domina-Ique.’

Ah, finally the last words.
Heh, maybe you should put the part with Neku and Bart in red, so that remember to animate that scene. It seems kinda weird seeing my own writing I had two days ago. It's a different style.

lol, I'll put the Neku/Bart parts in red.