Salopetri was the town’s name, wooden and tattered. Some of the buildings even had thatching for roofs, and the amount of broken buildings and splintered boards scattered around made it seem like they had been struck by a small hurricane. But even with the broken environment, musicians played their harps and flutes, filling the night time air with lovely melodies. Oil lamps lit the streets and at this time, a pleasant scent of home cooking spiced the air completely.
The mood of town was brilliantly upbeat and joyful.
Arcueid found herself in an inn filled with music, dancing, and tipsy men and women. The innkeeper told her that tonight is for celebrating, the town had survived another onslaught and a two mysterious strangers had helped them with their fishing problems.. So for Arcueid (and everyone else) drinks were on the house.
Sipping at a huge tankard of mead, she spoke and laughed with the cheery locals (she didn’t like the taste of beer and asked for something sweeter). She was going to follow Shiki’s advice – to do something for herself. Roa wasn’t around, and his energy hasn’t escaped her.. So.. she had no purpose.
‘Why’re ya lookin’ so downcast, girly?’ The innkeeper said inquisitively when she suddenly went quiet, but before she could answer, their attention was drawn to a girl who had just entered the inn.
and she violently sits up. The water submerging her legs ripple from her waking. It’s cold. Her legs are soaked through and it threatens to climb up to her body. It seems she was dumped onto a shallow river after..
That..
She shakes her head and stands up. Her body felt.. light.. ethereal, as if it didn’t belong. The cuts that separated her limbs seemed to threatened to rip open at any time, but there are no marks on her skin, just an persistent and unnerving sensation.
Around her it is as if life decided to make its home around the river - fitting for one who came back from the dead - Flourishing trees swayed in the breeze and small animals meandered around the river bank. She keeps looking..
Where am I now?
It’s not Mari town, that’s for certain. Just moments before..
Scathach is poised for attack at the vanguard of a horde of wendigoes. Excited for slaughtered and determined to live.
How many did I slaughter?
Hundreds, my dear. The onslaught did not end.
Then..?
Have you forgotten? You died.
Flesh, bones, blood. Her attire drips with the blood of monsters and the floor is littered with corpses. A normal person would choke on the smell of death present here. Wendigo or human, the slaughter was bloody.
Still, she stands strong with a glowing butcher’s knife that would not blunt or chip as it slashed everything in her path.
Wendigos are simple.
But who can stand a chance against death itself?
How many did she have to kill for there to be a lull in the slaughter? Finally, a rest. She takes a few deep breaths and stretches her arms. But the wendigo’s that withdrew only paved a way for the reaper itself to make its entrance.
Slash. There was no fight. Off with her legs.
Slash. Her arms.
Slash. Her head.
Ah.. I suppose that is a fitting end.. Is this my rest?
No. Scathach, Queen of the Land of Shadows, wake up once more.
Hours of searching and questions for a countless number of people, all of whom offered the same answer - the same confusion.
“No, I haven’t seen anyone like that.”
Scathach looks out to the setting suns from her room. Honestly, that boy. There’s no way he’d just go missing.. But where..
She tore through the supply bags, it was like they would never end. Their soggy tent, blankets, books, loose silver coins.. water food.. A knife., with a flipping mechanism. It would perform better than nothing, so it’s slipped into her robe’s pocket.
Darkness blankets the sky,
There’s nothing she could do. No leads to follow. Flat disappeared without a trace. Wandering around in the night would be even more pointless. She sighs. Her first companion after so long had been cut off already. Perhaps she’d leave the town by dawn tomorrow, a tear threatens to surface, hah, has she grown that attached already?
She quickly nods off to sleep. Leave early, that would be the best.
“Damnit, why won’t you just CUT!!”
An unfamiliar voice wakes her up.
“I sink a blade into her skin, but I blink, and the cut heals up! Her bones have blunted my best saws! Eugh, why do we have to cut up such a beautiful woman.. But.. I.... so hungry..”
The smell is wretched. Scathach lies on a threshing floor, her skin is wet and her hair sticky. She’s completely exposed to the death ridden air. A familiar aura to the land of shadows. She almost chuckles - how nostalgic.
Some ten meters away a man stands in front of a chopping bench lit by a small lamp in the corner. She gets up in time to see him bring down a butcher’s knife on a leg. A fleshy leg of another man. His crazed and depraved expression only brings disgust to her as he chops and chops and chops.
She slides closer, spotting her body suit and veil messily thrown into the corner. The shadows glow slightly as she carves a rune into her skin, and that catches his attention.
“Well well, lady, finally awake? How about we forget this place and go somewhere else eh?”
In a flash, she has man in a lock with his arm twisted, threatening to be dislocated. The butcher knife has switched possession to her side, and it cuts halfway into the skin of his neck, but suddenly, all strength leaves the man and he drops down, unconscious. Something sends a chill up her spine, like depraved breaths on her skin.
Her eyes stretch wide, she snaps around with the knife swung in an arc behind her. A glimpse is all she’s given - a monster. The knife swings through it as if the monster wasn’t there, and she rolls away with the strike.
“What are you, you resist possession.”
A deep hoarse voice resounds through the room.
“Hah, a spirit?! This truly is nostalgic!”
Her own shouts hint at enjoyment, but her wide smirk is chilling. She carves runes into the butcher knife.
“HAAAAAAAAAH!”
She drags a wendigo corpse and the man with her up to the surface, dressed in her suit once more after cleaning the enormous amounts of blood off. In the town square she is greeted by a crowd. One by one they dropped down on the floor, and a wendigo takes their spots.
“Test me creatures, it is said that ten thousand undead are simple prey for an Irish hero, how much more a few lowly beasts?!”
Having spotted the blond in the crowed of people running for shelter, lightly tearing the pocket knife along the supply bag, making it look like items had fallen out, only to drag the knife along his clothing and his skin, pressing the blade into his side, letting the blood soaked into his clothes as he whipped the knife on the inside of his jacket and hide the knife on the inside as well, limping over to the blond.
Voice laced with pain as he cried out for her to help him to safety, as his leg gave out under him, falling onto the concrete below him, hoping the blond had heard him scream her name, all he could see was feet running, hearing people scream.
Sitting on the rooftop of one of the many flat like buildings, as he watched the being into the town and ripping apart human and pet animals alike, the blond couldn't help but smile at it all, this was amazing! Maybe. Maybe these things were like the chains he knew, the chains around him like thin air.
Shiver running down his spine as he just sat there watching the monsters eat whoever they could, looking over to the supply bag laughing at how useless it was, as if weak tools like these were going to save him, all that he needed was his chain, Lacie's chain, the b̠̲̤͝l̫̫̭͇͓o̧̟̥͓̩o̶̱͎d̵̡̪̫̦̬̣̜͡s̸̠͘͢t҉̡̥̣̦͙̞̩̝̯a̸̛͖̯̮̙i̩ṉ̶̷̩̟̖ͅé̡̠d̩̪̮ black figure of a rabbit, the same chain he saw when they first meet, the chain that Lacie had used to the kill the man wanting to use them for their own gain, only to end up as torn limbs and blood red rain that had stained the two of them.
Humans so fragile, so weak, and how much he wanted to watch them ć̴r̶̷̶͢u̕m̡̕͞b̵͢ĺ̡́͞è̸̵͘͠ , just like the chains around the world.
Finally standing up when those beasts were so close, grabbing the supply bag, maybe he could give to the blond girl he had met before? Shrugging it off as he started throwing random items out of it, sleeping bag, poncho who needed that anyways, somewhat confused at some of the items in the bag, why in the world would people have sex in a situation like this...? Shaking it off for now, he should get going by now, lazily taking the supply back with him as he skipped down the stairs, playing with the pocket knife in his hands and he hummed Lacie's melody, not caring if the monsters saw or heard him, they wouldn’t even be able to touch him as long as he had Oz has his chain.
Thinking of the blond for a moment, before shrugging of his thoughts, she wasn't big in his life just like he wasn't a part of her's, she was nothing more than a tool, a tool to get Lacie, just like Alice had been a tool to him, a tool to speak to the other Alice, and grand his wish of bringing this world to Lacie, drag it down into the abyss.
Scathach followed him to the parcel, ‘knife’ in hand. A poor excuse of a weapon. Flat was excitedly tearing through the parcel, there was an huge array of items. Maps, books, water, food, shelter.. The list drones on and on.
A map.. Although they already had one..
..
A different one. Her eyebrows perk up after a few second of reading the map. She could read the words, unfamiliar carvings and words came naturally to her..
Come to think of it, the whole time she wasn’t even speaking in Gaelic.. It just felt normal to speak this.
She brushes away the thought, it seems she was granted the knowledge of other languages upon arrival. She scans the map further. Separate kingdoms.. Natural landmarks..
..
Mangroves! That was the only swamp on either of the islands. Although.. she couldn’t trust the map completely just yet.
“Flat. I think using this map would be better. Have a look, we are in the Mangroves.. I think.”
She hands the map over and scans her surroundings. It was still dark, and their magelight was running low - which she reignites with another rune. The map showed the nearest town, ‘Mari Town’ which is directly north of the Mangroves. If they could find it, that would prove the legitimacy of the map.
“I propose we head north. If there are towns there are other people around. That’s a comforting thought.”
