Hungry For Another One?

Post Reply
User avatar
Jent
Librarian of Pax
Librarian of Pax
Level 13
Level 13
Posts: 828
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:00 am

Hungry For Another One?

#1

Post by Jent » Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:25 pm

Last edited by Jent on Fri Feb 01, 2019 4:08 pm, edited 4 times in total.

User avatar
Jent
Librarian of Pax
Librarian of Pax
Level 13
Level 13
Posts: 828
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:00 am

Re: Hungry For Another One?

#2

Post by Jent » Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:26 pm

Thirty white horses on a red hill,
First they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.


A fairly pleasant dream for the demi-god, reminiscing the days in past where she visited her mother's homeland. Domain of the Bastarnae clan and its offshoots, many of the bravest of all of the huldrefolk. Their bloodlines fabled to be both ancient and mixed of other races, or perhaps curses imbuing them with such formidable fortitude. Horse-back riders and barbaric transformations across the fields they dominated in various conquest, often keeping intruding species at bay; whether intermingling with strange fae or pushing back Homunculi legionarii.

Areagne Bastarna, the better parent of the slumbering huldra in question. She grew out of a lineage of bountiful Whimwham huldre (the second more prevalent sect of her clan; Wander being third) and stood out as an aspiring leader among much of her people. Areagne, unlike her aggressive forebears, reached out to the larger state of governance which resided on the isle of Doggerland. Protections pacts were renewed once again, trade starting to flourish, and even marriages were established. Quite likely due to Skathi's grandmother being of the Idfure clan, who integrated with the Bastarnae tribe after leaving Doggerland for unknown reasons...

... Then there be Thiazi Thrymheim. Nothing but a couple of twinkles stars in the night time sky as the sun settled out in the distance. Did the huldra missed her mountains home of howling winds and frigid snow? Of course. Yet part of her soul yearned for the fields and hills ruled by her mother's family... At least both were far better than the sounds of the sea. Annoying seagulls and crashing waves. Fortunately her and ex-husband broke up in a mutual understanding...

... And she so missed Baldr. Always bit of a crush for the handsome huldu, another of the Wroth sect like herself. Skathi admired his radiate resilience to the natural elements and the ferocity by hand, how he could sway those around him to order and lead them to greatness. Heck, he even became a Grand Hunter like his father for a short while before passing the title on to a new bearer-one of the driving motivations which compelled Skathi to become one herself... Yet, he did not share his heart back... Sullen, bitter, the huldra eventually allowed her compassion open up again upon the lands of Kata.

User avatar
Jent
Librarian of Pax
Librarian of Pax
Level 13
Level 13
Posts: 828
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:00 am

Re: Hungry For Another One?

#3

Post by Jent » Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:27 pm

An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
“That eye is like to this eye”
Said the first eye,
“but in low place
Not in high place.”


Despite merely being a dream, the lights that gleamed down bothered the demi-god, beckoning her to sit upright. Lounging out on the soft grasses to enjoy the sunset, memories of her childhood youth, always retained reminders of her kinship to Thiazi. She respected her father more than his brothers Idi and Gangr; a thief and a conman. Thiazi strived for true power and wealth, not wanting to rely on his own father's riches to succeed... Which itself drove the huldu to his doom.

Skathi knocked the basket of golden apples off the side, letting the enchanted fruit tumble along the hill to a quaking river below. She felt too disgusted to take another bite from them. Her father sampled more than his fair share at the 'orchards' in Doggerland. The huldu may not have become immortal in the flesh, but his name and clan name forever lived in infamy.

"Is that why your clan name back to Bastarnae, right Skaði?~"

Instincts revved up to high-gear, the huldra leaped up to her two feet in a defensive stance. She couldn't quite place the voice... It sounded familiar, yet the gender tone flexed around... Before settling to a taunting feminine speech.

"Did you stir from a nightmare... Need a caress to see?"

Skathi Bastarnae's tail twitched, lashing out what felt like feathers gliding across her seething scales. Some sort of spirit? Her divine sister reaching out from the comatose state? Mirranui playing tricks? Treberi? The demi-god couldn't tell. "Who are you!?" her lungs roared out in frustration, leaving her eyes to settle on three pairs of floating gloves in the air. These murky green gardening gear... No, eerie white magician's maniplulators... They kept changing all the time!

"It's not my fault you forgotten..."

All of the surroundings swiftly warped to a malicious design. The demi-god tugged downward into an ever-growing dark abyss as reality faded from up above; apart from those hands. They dove straight to plument with Skaði into the perilous void, were they all became swallowed by a cavernous maw.

User avatar
Jent
Librarian of Pax
Librarian of Pax
Level 13
Level 13
Posts: 828
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:00 am

Re: Hungry For Another One?

#4

Post by Jent » Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:34 am

A box without hinges, key, or lid,
yet golden treasure inside is hid.


Despite witnessing her fairly pleasant dream descend into a chaotic nightmare, Skathi could not force herself awake in this tense atmosphere. Near absolute darkness enshrouded all that she could see beyond her own being, which shimmered faintly a golden radiance-enough for the huldra to contrast it with this nothingness... It reminded her of Ginnungagap: the huldrefolk term for the utter void which all of their subworlds dwelt within...

Perhaps it was just the mere thought at the time, or some other unconscious forces at play, but Skathi soon gazed upon news features emerged as her body floated down to a strange cool black ground. Towering peaks of ice and frost laid out north of the lone huldra, mountains in their own right by their sheer magnitude... With blazing rivers of lava and smoldering brimstone rock due south. Niflheim and Muspelheim, territories which laid past the governing hands of the Doggerland state. These dangerous realms sported several large 'pockets' closely connected together for its residents to traverse. Spirits and demons co-existed with the natives of the polar scapes, even some of her own kinds tribes lived among such terrifying forces.

Yet in the center of it all was less defined. The demigod never visited each and every sub-world within the Void, so she expected there to be gaps... Yet, there was just stone masonry where she stood. Well, apart from shadowy figures building a wall, and those taunting hands delaying their efforts. "Seems familiar," Skathi told herself, taking a few steps back on her four legs... Four?

In this stage of her nightmare, the huldra realized that this wasn't what she truly was. In this form a small furred mouse of yellow fur chittered in disbelief. Why would she be dreaming this!

"My my, a vermin scurrying around for food."

Skathi swerved around to address the source of this stranger... No, uncle. Roughly her own size, dark-blotchy ink form of Gangr Thrymheim across off the floor. "Seeking crumbs?" he chuckled, tossing a tiny loaf of bread her way.

The mouse in desperation glomped the baked grains, hungrily stuffing it in her cheeks. Not the best taste, but she felt so ravenous now... Wait, why is she taking handouts from HIM!?

"Why in Hel I be dreaming about you?" Skathi snarled, brushing off the crumbs from her snout.

"You tell me."

Annoyed, it was then she picked up the environment shifting in their conversation. Around them both the close world transformed itself into a rustic kitchen with an adjacent wooden ash floor dining room. Noticeably larger than one tend to be, apart from royalty. That and the fact they both were the size of vermin in this place. "This is not normal-"

"Of course not. Just what you deserve!"

Droplets plunging from the ceiling above, a dark drizzle crashed into the hardened stone floor. More oily gunk. More Doppels of her uncle emerged as they surged forward to chase her. Not good, not good at all! The dainty feet gilded Skathi away from these wretched leeches, knowing she had no natural weaponry to fight against this horde. It was the best the former huldra could do.

Scampering, jumping, darting around pillars beneath mighty carved chairs and evading capture around turns against cabinets. These Gangrs might be slow, but she knew what this villain could do. Nightmare or not, Skathi had no intention to become their prey tonight-

... Not the right choice of words...

As she bounded into the dining hall, her eyes drawn themselves in terror to a hulking monster. A normal beast of the woods when she was a huldra, yet this wolf bound in chains of sausages stood far bigger than her current guise... Skathi had to think smart, not rash.

Once she felt some degree of safety beneath an endtable situated in a corner of darkness, her beady black eyes scanned the room. Not much her size and weight could do. Can't handle a knife, lit a flame, nor inflict a powerful bite in her small jaws... But she could cause a distraction. Those leeches were still wobbling in her general direction, seeking to find the their unfortunate niece... But she might be able to rid herself of them.

Squeezing out from beneath the wooden furniture, Skathi leaped up onto the center table in the room. A basket of eggs! A sticky bomb and potential lure to keep that gluttonous wolf from desiring her, and preferring a new treat instead.

Smirking in glee, she pushed at the wicker object. Just enough strength in her rabbit body to knock it over those unsuspecting leeches... That is, until someone grabbed her off the dinning table... And cut off a forepaw and hindleg in swift slices.

Gluttony has overrun!

User avatar
Jent
Librarian of Pax
Librarian of Pax
Level 13
Level 13
Posts: 828
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:00 am

Re: Hungry For Another One?

#5

Post by Jent » Wed Jan 16, 2019 4:59 pm

No-legs lay on one-leg,
Two-legs sat near on three-legs,
Four-legs got some.


Memories scorched across the tremendous surge of pain, searing blotches of flaming experiences that justled over an agony river.The same damn left arm and right leg! Skathi knew this as she could visualize and sense a huldra body once again, crouching with her remaining foot and clenching the last fist in primal fury.

Vánagandr Fenrir hovered off a patch of grass, soaked in the blood from the freshly harvested limbs. Why would Skathi be dreaming of this magician of all things? Especially since she wasn't the one who tore off those limbs?

Time was not among the gifts this demigod had in the resumed fight. Armed with a damascus-style sword, the magician thrusted the blade to finish off her job. Luckily for Skathi she managed to remember a few replacements from her past. "Bloody not!" she shouted in opposition, rolling over to the side so her body could pick itself back up for a counter-attack. Prosthetic limbs locked in place of those stumps did nothing for the aches, but at least this huldra's life lasted longer than a couple surprise strikes.

Skathi never quite tell in the moment if she even sparred with Fenrir before. For a magician, not a single spell or curse was cast by her hand, only the movements assisting that sword in its flight. Whereas the demigod had only wits, evasion, and all the tricks she could pull out from a Wyrd eye.

The memory still gnawed at her mind. She acquired its light in a fight of madness, robbing it and a sibling from the true owner... And never came back to say her regrets. Not that Skathi had the pleasure to dwell on such remorse, especially that all of her magical techniques were canceled by her opponent. How was that fair? Mystically chains snapped, frozen walls melted, sonic projections absorbed, and mentally strikes cleaved. A losing battle that only continued to exhaust her entire being... Until the second eye of Mana Mundil light up across the huldra's face, blasting Skathi into another part of the dream...


"Oh mirror, mirror on the wall... Where will I find my lovely doll?


Gah. Did she awaken into a weird fairy tale? ... No, this new voice was masculine. Skathi attempted to place it to a specific memory as she stood off the new floor. Another castle setting, its long age having seen better days. Certainly the atmosphere suggested this wasn't going to be a pleasant dream in the dark and gloom.

With no better option right now, apart from staying far away from that magician, she began to descended a staircase nearby. Following a source of dim red light to figure out what all these visions might mean from her subconscious. None of this appeared to be a regular nightmare, not with these notions that were so distinct from her usual delusions. "What the?" Skathi whispered quietly, trying to keep silent as strange thoughts slithered through her mind.

What she assumed to be a large demon sat on a royal throne, surrounded by several servants whose faces lay obscured by purple veils that matched their garments... She wanted to say Adrammelech, though that name meant nothing to her prior recollection. His near-featureless skull laid adorned with ten mighty hours, six cured in a spiral with four perched toward the ceiling. The demonic face, lacking much to speak up, spoke without lips as nine glowing eyes gazed into an ornate mirror. "Where... Is the treasure I desire?" a fiery growl uttered from the immortal.

Due to her stealth, Skathi managed to gaze into this demon's thoughts, as what he saw differed from her own in the corner she hid. Adrammelech envisioned a woman on the steps of a temple, minding her own business as shadowy forms walked close by. He cared little in what these other people where, only yearning for a person Skathi would call to be Lady Dragonfury...

... So did this demon hi-jack her dream to find the Split? It didn't seem so, as why would the demi-god see something completely different?

With Mana's eyes in her sockets, Skathi pictured a lone square chest composed of purple obsidian. Faint green otherworldly light radiated against it... Slowly opening to reveal one of her father's eyes sealed away... Thiazi... No... Rafrika-

"Sharing a vision are we?"

The huldra felt Adrammelech smirked under that glazed visage. Both of their projections on the mirror were mixed together, showing the Split resting a hand on that Ender Chest.

Wonder where you're coming from‽

User avatar
Jent
Librarian of Pax
Librarian of Pax
Level 13
Level 13
Posts: 828
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:00 am

Re: Hungry For Another One?

#6

Post by Jent » Mon Jan 28, 2019 5:05 pm

"Do I need to repeat myself, 'lil Skadi?"

Not him. Dealing with a horde raiding Gangrs was terrible enough in its own right, but Idi had to be lumped in too? Why not invite all the criminals that came her father's side of the family?

Except this time, the demigod faced a far different figure than in her past. With the previous dreamscape flung into a blur as a mighty meteor of his fist crashed, breaking a bit more than Skathi's jawline. Her uncle never possessed this level of strength before! Such pain cascaded itself in a trembling quake through the shaken huldra, drawn to the brink of passing out in the nightmare...

She could barely visualize the outline of approaching closer. Obsidian pillars for legs, they slowly plodded along the forsaken earth, each step rattling her head. "The only child of my brother Thiazi... Well, his only legitimate one," Idi clarified, leveling a fearsome gaze which eclipsed the niece he towered over. Everything about the Wattle-born huldu felt uncanny to Skathi: from the grotesque visage bearing a true reflection of his heart, to the maddening aura that nearly fractured what sanity she had left.

That soul should only be resonating a wavelength of Order, one which represents represents the giant's inner self... Yet three related forces churned in that vessel, bubbling into a copycat of the ancestor who beget those four sects...

"What have I got in my pocket?"

The stolen eye of Mana started to discern things more clearly as tears trembled down her cheek. Fragments of Tartarus weaved the siphoned energies of its kin within this tangled web, uniting them ever closer to being complete. At least that is what her uncle aimed for-instead, underneath it all laid a swarm of festering maggots chowing down upon heaps of forsaken meat. Order of ruthless authority. Fear stripping of bravery. Rage blinding all.

"Nothing... But a mistake to nature!"

Fangs bared, she strained the remainder of her strength in a primal strike. Skathi never felt this sheer magnitude of disgust and _hunger_ before. Though, her tiny dull white daggers couldn't even coax a drop of blood from his forearm.

"Pathetic," the giant spat.

Dread encroaching all manner of though. She already pictured the next curled fist shattering her skull into a bloody pulp. One little ripe melon to be crushed-

That is, until reality twirled itself into a new scene as two furred figures leapt around the giant. Her uncle vanished into the background with the agony Idi brought washed away. She could finally take in a deep breath of relief, letting this crisp air reinvigorate all four feet racing beneath her body.

Freedom as one of other wolves became a thrilling experience. Together in an ever-growing pack, bounded together by a mutual pact of survival. Skathi's mother and many of her own family knew these truths first-paw. Representatives of Rage and passion, driven to strive for greater heights. Becoming a Grand Hunter in Doggerland brought much honor to the Bastarnae clan...

But today they were the prey.

Emanating out high in the darkening skies, lightning shrieked in awful cries. Their era had withered in the presence of this apex hunter boasting seemingly endless reach. Coils entrapped, fangs hissed at the frigid winds, acids splintered her pack into disarray.

All the she-wolf could do in this panic was to follow the two youngsters ahead. These rotten apples just barely strayed from their infamous lineage. Treacherous against the day, and Hatred towards the night. Whenever these brothers worked together in their criminal deeds, often surprised their mentors of this profound cunning. But they weren't here to assist the tagalong.

Only concerned for their own well-being and immediate family, they swerved out in front of Skathi, confusing her to save their own hides. "Wait!" the demigod tried to call out before a scaly coil clamped itself tightly to her throat. The huldra wasn't one of them. Not a predator... Just hung out to end of the line.

User avatar
Jent
Librarian of Pax
Librarian of Pax
Level 13
Level 13
Posts: 828
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:00 am

Re: Hungry For Another One?

#7

Post by Jent » Fri Feb 01, 2019 4:04 pm

From all faintest moments, to the longest stretches of time, such experienced suffering quaked through the crooked gaze. Flashbacks which many were unrecognizable in their haste. Yet, she knew each and everyone rung true to her very heart and mind. All as Skathi's last breaths wheezed out of a spasming neck.

Though none of the huldra's perpetrators would allow her to enjoy the sweet release which stalked near. That diabolic serpent relaxed its grip along her throat, just for those hands which taunted Skathi from the start to ready themselves for their strike. Heat, scorching sensations of flames erupted within her stomach, bursting out from the hollow back by the flung spear's flight. Skathi in her entire being felt quarreling forces burn away in a seemingly everlasting chaos... And that was just half of it all...

PLOP!

Two pairs of floating hands prepared in the vacancy around her head. Primed in place, one forcibly plucked out the left grey eye she stolen from a friend once dear. He may not had the authority like Baldr, nor the affection of Rechomi, the huldra still regretted allowing her madness to overwhelm back then.

"Damn... Damn it all..."

Shaken visions of falling victim to a puppet'd magician's grace surrounded the remaining light of that last Wyrd eye. Of course, she would remember that. The misfortune of failing to save yet another friend, a close ally taken away when her gaze looked elsewhere. Skathi coughed out in agony as her assailants drew themselves back, far back from a retaliating swipe of her scaled claws She couldn't do anything right! Even with all the training and power amassed in her years, the huldra couldn't even fight back her own nightmares!-

No!

As one of the Bastarnae, she would make amends. Before knowing of her divine lineage by that father, the bold daughter endeavored for greatness! She commanded the struggling limbs to steady their stature in an upright fashion. Disheveled bangs of sweat and blood brushed back by a resolved hand, with its determined twin lashing out at the air in defiance of all who encircled around. The demigod channeled her inner strength to sustain this failing form; cascades of purple and golden light enveloping her stance.

"Grand Hunter of Doggerland and the burning flame of the Bastarnae Clan! ... Skathi! Will! Not! Fall!" her booming howl launch "No serpent or sorcerer's craft will best me!"

A might speech, one that briefly startled the leviathan and now its revealed rider perched on top... The demoness of gluttony? Surely the huldra expected that this serpent had been the Ala herself, since she and her entourage annihilated the sanctity of the huldrefolk capital... Then...Who...Was Behind Her...

... Oh no...

... No...

In a pathetic attempt to dissolve the ensuing reality from coming to fruition, Skathi bounded forward. Steaks of shining shadows slowly breathed into existence to watch the huldra's futile attempt. Why would they be in this nightmare!? Every last one who crossed the line were taken care of the elder council, deemed no longer a threat to the country.Yet she witnessed a humanoid figure started to take form... Part of her thoughts desired to name this person 'Cornelius,' and yet...

"Shackled to stones, heavy innards wrung,
Wretched from the corpse of your frost-born son."

Light fled the demigod.

That golden shroud, intermixed with gurgling violet gunk, transformed itself into a fearsome lycan. Skathi would not be the one to slain this doomed child. For it was the corrupted Váli, whose teeth sunk and tore fore into their sibling's bowels.

"... No..."

Trapped as an onlooker scrying in the forgotten past, the huldra cringed in terror. Utterly massive giants arose themselves to gaze upon the fearsome crimson chains which billowed forth of the Corpse ahead. Enchanted by elders, these heavy links of magical might ensnared one of these tallest to their earthen tomb.

The children Loptr were not pleased. They, in this nightmare Skathi had to relive, gazed in defiance at their father's suffering. Where only his wife held permission to comfort the tormented huldu in his punishment.

That spell-breaker she had confusion for the local magician in Pax, laid trapped in his own bindings derived from the spell Gleipnir... A technique she had watched first Mana recreate with his sister's blessings.

As for the free ones, overseer of the dead to a guardian of the seas... They retained a mask of malice. Andrew was not that sister, nor Kalina be that brother... And Skathi soon realized those magical hands, which she guessed prior could belonged to the Evil Council member Huntblade... They belonged instead to the six-armed huldu of the Wander sect, none pleased to see his kin slain and parents suffering...

... Then who was the last giant that she seen?

Why, herself of course!

A towering, corrupted reflection of Skathi Bastarnae procured a strange scabbard. The tiny self couldn't make much of the details, but it was an old heirloom of her own father... Which the demigod transfigured into a golden serpent so may it drip endless venom upon the murderer of Thiazi...

"Do you know what you'll become‽"

Post Reply