Shattered Innocence (IC) [M]

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Kedered turned, sullen, towards Eilan. "You know the boy better than we do. He is either ignorant or unwilling to divulge his own obvious oddities. I am still uncertain how he heals or is empathic to the degree that he is, but it seems like any search for why the interest in him could start there. But excuse me for a moment, I should be checking up on him."

Striding over to the part of the house where Kassin was, Kedered spied Tyrian leaning over the still supine form of the boy angel. He was awake, although looking woozy. In his bones, Kedered knew that Raffiele had betrayed them, that he was sending hindering forces, perhaps those Firestorm goons the last of which he seemed too concerned for...

Unsure of whom to address, Kedered searched for a query that could equally apply to both, finally settling upon, "How fit are you to travel? We might need to vacate, and quickly."

[Lisky]

With the others preparing for a trip, Garis was more concerned with getting Kshar going on additional lessons, she'd need to learn how to change appearance, along with different uses for her wings and other abilities.  A history of the race couldn't hurt either...  He started her lessons again, commenting on her technique, and giving pointers where necessary, he figured he'd get her going with as broad a starting base as possible, and let her hone all the skills he'd show while he was away... 

He continued with all the basics he could until someone came to get him, as fun as it was being a mentor to a rather attractive young succubus, Garis had larger responsibilities elsewhere.

[Noone]

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Kassin stood himself up. He yawned as he rose to his feet. He looked quite worn down, his eyes betrayed fatigue. "We need to leave? I... I'll be fine... just... give me a minute..." He stretched out his arms and wings, then looked at the floor, clearly quite worried. He didn't look to be a seasoned traveler though, as his eyes also betrayed a certain sadness of leaving a zone of relative comfort.

Traveling again, I guess I should enjoy the comforts of home while I can, a nice bed... good food, chocolate milk, I suppose I should give my farewells to Kyirri as well. With a soft groan, he managed to prevent himself from dozing off into a state of half slumber, though he still looked prone to collapsing from exhaustion.

Eilan finished packing his supplies, longbow on his back, and in his travel gear, he came downstairs. He looked at Kassin and the others, he seemed to still be quite alert, even at this late hour. "What's the verdict? Are we staying for the night or going immediately?"

[Azlan]

Ty offered a small amount of input, just the obvious for the moment, "we are likely unsafe here.  One party of adventurers has been through here, but we have to assume that Raffiele has betrayed us whether voluntarily or involuntarily.  Going out alone with all that is aligned against us is folly, and showing no love for any of us... especially Kassin, he would not hold our position here as secret."

The fox paused briefly to dexterously slip under the blue tiger's arm, taking his weight as the young one looked almost ready to collapse, "however, this one here is barely holding himself upright and needs rest.  If we leave now, he will not make it far."

Considering things for a moment, Ty eventually offered an opinion, "I think we need to go though, I can carry Kassin for many leagues, the boy is not heavy... he probably needs to eat more.  Whatever is decided, I will abide by the decision." 

[Ghostwish]

As soon as Kassin had glanced at Zanfib, the ringtail's telepathic abilities immediately went on alert. The psion was never quite sure why just a glance was enough to trigger this mental reaction, but it had served to catch a liar or a mugger in the past. This time, however, the message was entirely different. Has he seen something concerning me in his visions? Are his powers even real? Zanfib thought to himself for a moment, All of our world is tied together in a web of fate and destiny, but the web is never set in stone.. The ringtail sighed, and decided on a simple course of action. He sent a message, not directly to Kassin's conscious, but more into his subconscious. The message would not be directly heard, per say, but more like.. remembered.

Such things are best said aloud, Kassin. I, as a psion, know that being and creature alike have the most annoying habit of saying the most senseless things, while merely thinking of that which is truly important. I followed this group, knowing that danger would find them. Come and find me later, we shall speak/

Zanfib knew it would take time for the message to drift into Kassin's thoughts, and he half wondered what the angel's reaction to 'remembering' hearing someone else's voice inside his head would be. For now, he focused on the matter at hand.. "It does not truly matter which path we take. I suspect that, at this point, our enemy is waiting to see what we do, and will react accordingly." He said, and did a quick mental check on himself. He was still tired from the constant traveling they had done that day, but he merely focused for a moment, and forced some of the fatigue out of his body. Mind over matter, old scales always used to say..

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Kedered nodded respectfully at Tyrian's claim. The angel could probably back it up if necessary. "I have yet to take a vote, but I am for leaving as quickly as possible. The longer we remain, the more hostiles have the time to gather against us." After a second's consideration, he added "And our continued presence puts the little owner of this domicile at risk. I am certain Eilan would want to leave, but I will sound out Garis and Kshar."

Kedered padded silently upstairs, making little to no noise as he made his way upstairs, towards where he last saw Garis heading with Kshar. Idly wondering if he was training or bedding her, Kedered walked upstairs, a little relieved at the silence. Entering the room with them, he nodded to each figure, and then stated softly. "We will have to leave this place soon. Are you in favor of going now, or of waiting for a few hours?"

[Lisky]

Garis picked up the random thoughts that ked was giving off before he entered the room upstairs.  The idea of bedding kshar was rather amusing to Garis, he himself had held the notion a possibility up until he became her teacher and temporary mentor.  Facing the door while instructing Kshar in the use of her wings, he said "now focus on your goal, remember, visualize what you want done, and let your wings do the work... don't try and think out each movement."

as Ked entered and asked about leaving, Garis gave him a shrug and said, "i'm rather ambivalent at the moment, i've got Kshar practicing the basics, but really, if i'm going to teach her anything advanced i'd need weeks, if not months of rather intensive training to get her to preform the skills at a semi-competent level... as is, i think it'd be best if she stays here... she's not wanted yet, at least as far as i know.  And she can work on the skills i've taught her until we return.  Really, it seems safest for everyone...  so, if you want to leave now, i'll say my goodbye and head down, if you want to leave later, just give me a heads up, as my duty is to Kassin, first and foremost."

[Noone]

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Your arms and legs still ache, and have a disturbing numbness to them. However, they are capable of small movement, and you think you can speak. You can certainly hear however, as you can hear that same angel's voice...
"You're finally up?" He started. "Good, I think your companions will be along shortly. Don't try to move for now, you really don't want anyone else to find you. Now then, I need to set up a beacon that only they can find, and I think this will do nicely." You can't see his face, but considering his tone of voice, he is probably grinning. In a flash, you feel a sharp sting go through your left leg, you get the impression that he stabbed it with your own knife. With that, he got back up to his feet. "Believe me, this is for your own good. And if you have not the sense to figure that out, remember what will happen if you dare to disobey. I suppose I should be saying farewell, we shouldn't see each other again... until the time is right. With that, he vanished, the chilly weather stung as cold air blew through your wound. Your arms and legs are too weak to move, though you are able to speak, hear, and move your head a little. Time passes by you as you lie helplessly in the cold weather...

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Eilan sighed, he closed his eyes and shook his head as he looked at the ground.  "If you thought he would betray you, why did you let him leave? I suppose it doesn't matter though, it's not likely that we're going to see him again, either he's dead already or running to Narukh in that case." He paused for a moment. Raffiele should know it's dangerous out there, he's either incredibly deluded... or maybe... Kassin's being chased by the Claws, maybe he is one of them? I kind of doubt that's true though.
"I've got all of my and Kassin's supplies together. Make any last minute preparations you need to, we're leaving as soon as we can. I do think, however, we should probably stop to eat. The supplies we can carry are limited, I suppose I can always get more on the journey but I would rather not rely on it." With that, he headed upstairs.

Kassin gave no indication as to have heard your message. Non-psions can't hear mental messages, and suggestions don't usually work without an additional outside stimulus. His current state of mind probably isn't helping either.
Kassin softly grumbled as he got his senses together. He yawned and headed upstairs. He, Eilan and Kyirri took this chance to eat together, Kyirri had prepared some food. They ate quickly, realizing that time was important. When they were done, Kassin picked up Kyirri and gave him a firm hug, they seemed to enjoy it. "I promise I'll see you again." Kassin let out as he put Kyirri down. He headed for the back door.

Eilan started to head out, then turned to Kyirri. "Look, this is important, whenever you can, probably tomorrow morning, head out, go to Dhallon, hide yourself in an Inn, and take the girl with you, try to avoid crowded areas. If the Claws are after Kassin, there's a chance they'll head here. If they do, I don't want you two to be here while they are. After that, I suppose you two can part ways."
"But what about my parents...?" Kyirri responded.
"They're going to be out for the rest of the week, if this place gets attacked, it should be in the next day or two." Eilan replied. After that, he opened up the back door, he and Kassin went out. The sky was dark, pitch black almost, it was either midnight or close to it. He made a soft motion for the others to follow along. "We've got a long ways to travel, let's go."

The journey felt like it took ages, yet, only a few hours passed. The night sky made it hard to see, and it was freezing outside. Heavy snowfall made sight even worse. Eilan insisted on traveling in areas of heavy vegetation. However, he never got lost, and was able to travel swiftly despite confusing terrain. He looked tired, worn, yet, he kept a certain fortitude as he walked, he seemed completely alert.

Kassin on the other hand, looked like he was prone to falling asleep given a strong breeze. Yet, despite his obviously fatigued appearance and questionable coherency, he managed to keep going. Occasionally, he'd stop for a moment with a shiver, shake his head, cover his body with his bright yellow wings, but he managed to keep going. Both of them were eerily silent, the only sound to be heard was the roaring of the rushing winds.

Eilan and the others came to a heavily wooded area, hooting and chirping of birds could be heard,  which gave a pleasant counterbalance to the rushing winds. Kassin, who looked even less coherent than before, suddenly yelped, and rubbed the back of his left leg with his left hand. In an instant, he looked far more alert, albeit no less fatigued. He started to rush off, and got some distance before Eilan grabbed his hand. "Wait! Where do you think you're going, it's dangerous out here." Kassin didn't say anything, but pointed to a direction off to the distance. Eilan squinted his eyes, and was quite surprised with who he saw.

"Raffiele? What is he doing out here?" He growled, and shook his head. "Kassin, stay there, I'll approach first." He paced over to Raffiele, he looked to be in bad shape, and had a knife sticking in his left leg. He took some sharp glances around, he didn't spot anyone amongst the trees. He kept his hands on his blade hilts, ready to bring them out in case anything went wrong. "Clear... I think,.. and he's alive." Eilan sighed deeply, and turned his attention towards Raffiele.

Your limbs feel slightly less numb, and you think, with effort, you might be able to stand. However, you can also feel a small tug on your heart. After a moment, it stops, but that angel's spell is still in place. The knife wound still stings.

[Tipod]

Everything was hazy to Raffiele as he awoke, somehow feeling even more lethargic than before. He could barely make out what the angel was even saying. That is, until the knife was jammed down into his leg, eliciting a brief scream of agony and snapping him back to reality. "...fffuu--" Never had a stab wound been so painful in his entire life. To make things worse, his healing factor was hardly responding to it at all.

"...what'd you do to me, you bastard--" Rafa crawled forward, managing a whopping two feet before his arms gave out completely. Unable to stand, too tired to crawl, and in just enough pain to keep him awake, the demon waited for someone to pass by. And it was quite a wait.

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Until the others' arrival, Rafa entertained himself by staring blankly at the trunk of a nearby tree between the bouts of seething rage he felt toward's the mysterious angel. He didn't even bother to look up as Eilan approached. "...please pull this knife out of my leg. It's getting quite uncomfortable." The tone was insincere to the core, as though he'd go berserk at any given second.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Kedered silently followed Kassin, right behind Eilan. He nodded in quiet approval that Eilan at least, seemed to be able to keep Kassin back when potential trouble loomed.

Entering the clearing revealed that Eilan had been right. It was the dark form of the demon that traveled with them, supine, blood about him in the snow. He heard the request to tkae the knife blade out, and since Kassin was on hand to fix up the bleeding that would result, Kedered stooped over, and pulled the blade out and examined it. He asked the demon "What has happened to you?  How did you get out here." He was suspicious, and a little surprised, but he kept his face blank, schooled, his surface thoughts on trivialities.

[Lisky]

At the house, while everyone was getting things together, Garis ran through a brief history of the cubi race with Kshar, then told her to take care of Kyirri.  He left by giving her a hug and telling her that he'd keep going with lessons, if she wanted to, once he got back.

At the clrearing Garis just stood back, keeping between Kassin and Rafa, he silently slipped his left hand onto the hilt of his dagger. the other hung loosely at his side, fingers flexing in anticipation of the demons next move.  Unlike Ked, he knew he could use his tentacles to attack from a standoff range, never actually allowing the demon to get close enough to harm him or Kassin.  He sent a brief message to Ked 'keep your weapon ready, if he tries something, go for the torso and ask questions later.  I'll keep Kassin safe, so no worries there.'

Once established in a protective position, Garis said to Kassin, "keep close to me, once your ready to approach, let me lead, and be extremely careful... as far as i can tell, he still holds no good will towards you..."

[Noone]

Kassin edged up to Garis, and looked over his shoulder at Raffiele. His face betrayed obvious concern, with a mix of fatigue. Yet, despite his concerns, he didn't immediately rush over to heal the wound in his leg. "He doesn't look to be in good condition..." Kassin started, while rubbing his left leg. He kept silent after that. I wonder who did this to him? And whether they're still around... He took some sharp glances in between the trees, though he couldn't see anything odd, especially with the snow obscuring his vision. He looked quite uncomfortable.

Eilan kept alert. He examined Raffiele closely, noting that he looked horribly beaten up. It didn't make sense to him that a small stab wound would have debilitated him so. He fingered the hilts of his blades nervously, and often took glances around, as if expecting someone to come out of nowhere to attack him at any moment.
"I think you have some explaining to do Raffiele. Who did this to you? Are they still around? And why did you leave, knowing full well the dangers that awaited you? Unless, you've already forgotten that you're wanted." Eilan paused after that, still keeping his hawk like gaze on Raffiele, pondering how he got to be like this, and how unlikely it was that they saw him again. I'd best not bring up the possibility of him betraying us though, if he did, the mind readers should pick it up, and if he didn't it's best not to sound accusitory...

[Lisky]

Garis felt Kassin's discomfort, along with Rafa's pain, he radiated as pleasant emotions as he could, while watching the same area that Kassin was.  As the angel started peaking over his shoulder, Garis said, "if your feeling too tired, you can lean your weight on me... or, if you'd prefer, i can carry you."  he felt the angel's discomfort grow... he gave a quick glance with all his senses, and figured the area was safe enough.  Looking back at kassin, Garis said, "if healing him will ease your own pain, then lets go, i can hold him down while you heal, or if you trust him, i'll trust your judgment... if the demon tries anything, i will be right there and i will keep you safe."  he then gave kassin a warm smile and awaited his response.

[Tipod]

Raffiele's body tremored as Kedered deftly extracted the knife. "...thank you." Though he continued to lie on the ground, half-exhausted and half-overcome by the shame of being discovered. "Some of Firestorm's goons jumped me and left me for dead after I ran off. No idea where they are now." He couldn't even look Eilan in the eye as he spoke. "With the way things were going, I figured breaking off and running to a hideout would work." That might have been a satisfactory explanation for Eilan. But for the incubi, Rafa would have to give the truth. Ked already seemed leery, and the last thing he wanted was someone probing his skull with some tentacle.

He had to think as loudly as possible. We're all being played. Yeah, I got beat up by some thugs, but Kassin's asshole cousin is the one who left me here and probably the same one who made sure we all got together in the first place. The goons? He killed them with my weapons, and said that if I didn't play along with his scheme, he'd kill my little brother. But what's it matter now? Once those bodies get found, they'll think I did it and every fucking Claw in the region will want me dead. Even if we clear our names for everything else, I'll still be a wanted man. Rafa gave a withering leer in Kassin's direction. Now you know why I was so eager to leave. We're just pawns while his family watches and pulls the strings.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Kedered nodded, at both aspects of Raffiele's story. Still, some things did not jar well. Fool. The Claws already want us dead. She might not have been effective, but that girl did not mean us well. It is such a shame you cannot hear this. Gazing unblinking at the ebon skin of ther Demon, Kedered slowly articulated "What were you doing out here at all in the first place? It hardly seems to be the most inviting of locales."

Kedered, after speaking, glanced at the knife, using a little edge of magic to try to probe it. He was not sure as to the full extent of Raffiele's regeneration ability, but it seemed odd that he would not have simply mended the knife wound and pushed out the blade. After all, the demon was alaways boasting about how he didn't need Kassin to pull him out of the rubble of the Whispering Willow, and he did not seem the sort to bluff..... The report of Kassin's "cousin" was disturbing, perhaps alarming, especially given the angel's reticence regarding his family. Perhaps when they next slept.

[Lisky]

Standing at the sidelines of the whole situation, acting as Kassin's protector, and support, Garis laughed slightly at the different thoughts bouncing through the air.  He sent a message to Ked, 'tis a shame the demon can't be in on our little conversation... but going back to Nicha, she honestly didn't mean any of us real harm.  She was strictly interested in Kas for her mission... besides that, she was rather intimidated by me after our initial meeting, i doubt she would have openly attacked us if she were still alive... '

'on to more pressing matters though, do you wish to play good cubi, or bad cubi in our attempt to gleam a little more information in this sudden new turn of events?'

[Azlan]

Tyrian paid little heed to the situation with Raffiele, he instead focused on the protection of Kassin.  No doubt there would be psychic communications going about, it was obvious in young cubi's body language, but even the old subtly betray such tells.  If they choose to inform us of what they discovered, then so much the wiser.  If not, then oh well, if they survive the consequences such omissions can have in the long term, then they will certainly be wiser for it.

The fox continued to scan the surroundings looking for any sign of trouble or anything out of the ordinary.

[Noone]

Eilan looked at Raffiele, and listened intently to what he said. "But wait,.. the Claws don't..." He abruptly stopped himself, and took some glances about, as if expecting someone to come out of nowhere to try and eviscerate him. After that, he took a brief moment to calm himself down. "No... that would have meant that they expected us to come down here. Either way, I'm surprised that they would leave you alive, the Claws are unpredictable, but they tend towards gruesome displays of violence, usually involving torturing their victims before killing them. Though, they do tend to avoid harming creatures when they can..." He stopped himself again. But the Claws, even if they engage in random acts of violence, even against creatures, it's not like them to leave their victims alive.

Kassin stepped forward, getting closer to Raffiele, his face betrayed concern, he was likely entirely oblivious towards the spite Raffiele showed against him. He let out a deep breath. Eilan turned his head towards Kassin. "Go ahead," he said abruptly. Kassin nodded and then paced over to Raffiele, and crouched down so he could reach Raffiele's injury.
"Please hold still..." he said, a faint bluish white glow came to be on his right hand. He touched it to the stab wound. There's a warm feeling to it, as if life is being flown into you as Kassin heals your injury. After the wound is closed, Kassin withdrew his hand, no longer glowing. The cold, weakening feeling returns as soon as he withdrew his touch, though for now, the wound is sealed.
"Are you feeling any better?" Kassin asked with a concerned voice and face.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Kedered caught Garis's projection, and as he sidled up to Kassin, he responded to it. I disagree. Nicha, inept as she was, was a Claw, and the first to identify us as these "touched". In the eyes of the claws, we are abnormal, and until it is demonstrated otherwise, we have to assume we are targets as well as Kassin.

He leaned over the shoulder of the young angel, murmering words of praise for how swiftly and almost impossibly well he healed. Dropping his tone still further, he whispered in the angel's ear. "I have need for secrecy. Can you tell me about any relatives of yours? Someone powerful enough to defeat a trio of demons? It is important, I think."

[Lisky]

Standing a few feet behind Kassin, Garis was tense while the angel healed Rafe, his wings were curling in on themselves at the edges the entire time. When ked approached, he let the other cubi take over, as he felt that letting Ty in might help with making a proper discussion.  It seemed Ked had some bizarre love of keeping secretes.  Walking over to the angel, he said, "we need to talk about Rafielle, and Kassin.  Apparently it was Kassin's cousin who left the demon here... or at least, that's what he's thinking... i" he paused, considering his next words, "I think i need the help someone who is wiser than myself to try and figure out where this piece of the puzzle fits."

[Tipod]

The demon protested slightly as Kassin approached, but shut himself up as the healing touch mended his torn flesh. Much to his dismay, the bad mojo still coursed through his veins. ...son of a bitch. It dawned on him just why the sinister angel had done such a thing: he wanted Rafa to depend on Kassin, if only for one favor. As much as he wanted to stay proud and free from the Angel's help, remaining in such a pathetic state just wouldn't do with thugs and adventurers lurking around.

...later. Shakily, Rafa got to both feet, snapping his fingers twice and holding out his hand. "Knife, please."

[Noone]

Kassin kept his concerned look as he stared at Raffiele. He still doesn't look like he's in good condition, I just hope he's better in the morning. He abruptly turned to Kedered as he heard him whisper to him, he let out a soft 'yerk!' as he was taken with surprise, but managed to calm himself down to a half-asleep stupor. He seemed uncomfortable with his question, his face and emotions displayed it. He breathed a deep sigh before whispering back.

"I.... I'm not sure why you think that's important, or why you need not tell the others, as what concerns us concerns them as well. Regardless..." he stopped for a moment, cycling through his known family in his head. Fighting off three demons? I've never seen any of them do anything like that, I'd just be guessing, I'm sure Mommy and Daddy could... I think my brother could as well, I'm not sure about my sister though... He shook his head as he replied. "Yes, I do think some of my relatives could fight decently, but... I don't know why it matters. The last one I've seen is my brother... and that was nine months ago." He stopped himself again, he drowsily looked at the snowy ground. "I... I don't really want to talk about them though,.. it's a... touchy matter, and I don't think any of them would help me anyways... they're... they're..." He stopped himself again, and paced around, sad eyes looking at the ground. We didn't leave on a good note... but... I can't return, they don't care for me... Conflicted feelings filled his heart, though his thoughts were barely coherent.

Eilan noticed Kassin's discomfort, but kept his attention focused on Raffiele. After noticing how drowsy Kassin was, and Raffiele's condition, he shook his head. "Speaking of which..." Eilan said, after looking over a seemingly uninteresting lump of snow. He bent down to rummage through it, and pulled out a tomahawk axe. Your axe. "I take it this is yours as well?" It's blade was quite bloody, it was mostly dried though. He stood himself back up. Shrugged, and dropped it to the ground again.

"I figure we should probably set up camp. With the way Kassin and Raffiele are doing, I think we'll need some rest before we continue, we're in a fairly remote area, and I don't think it's likely anyone will come by while we sleep. Oh, and I hope the rest of you that need sleep brought your own equipment, I brought a portable tent, but it's only got enough room for me and Kassin. I hope those of you that need to eat also brought your own rations as well, I have an extensive supply but I'd rather not have to make too many trips to stock up." With that, he pulled the pack off his back, and after a moment of rummaging, pulled out what looked to be a foldable tent. Bags of holding sure are useful devices... he thought to himself as he set the small thing up. "Kassin," he called out. "Come inside, we'll need to rise early tomorrow." A drowsy Kassin nodded, and crept inside. He turned to face the others. "Oh, and whatever you do, don't create a campfire, I know it's cold, but we can't risk being detected."

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

After weighing the possibilities for a moment, Kedered decided that the amount of damage Raffiele could concieveably do with this knife was negligeable, especially since he didn't really have any claim to keep his tomahawk away. Stepping backwards, to guard against some sudden treachery, Kedered casually reversed the blade, and tossed it lightly, hilt first, towards the demon, expecting him to catch it.

I do not trust him, although he seems no less trustworthy than he was before. Shall you watch him tonight, or I? And what do you think of the angel's evasiveness? Perhaps I should take a peek into his dreams tonight.

Making the motions of a perimeter guard, Kedered wandered around the campsite, after waving in a quick spell to enhance his vision and hearing. Ideally, he would wait for Eilan to sleep before trying to listen in on the dreams. The being and the other angel were likely to be the biggest impediement to his plans.

[Tipod]

Raffiele snatched the blade short of hitting the ground, giving it a quick polishing on his raggedy cloth robes before securing it on his sash. "Thank you," he mumbled before hobbling over to retrieve the tomahawk, gripping its hilt as if the whole thing had been submerged in raw sewage. Covered in blood he hadn't spilled... it felt dirtied. Just having the angel touch it was bad enough. I bet he couldn't even hook any wrists with it. The fucking clod probably just cleaved into them.

He looked up to Kedered before securing his beloved handaxe. His family is toying with us. I don't like being toyed with. He looked at the tent with a vile sneer. Get him to talk about his family. If it was his brother that did this to me, then find out what his brother's weak to. The next time I see that asshole I'm gonna rip his wings off with my bare hands.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Kedered smirked at the demon's thoughts, knowing that he had a better way of prying open Kassin's bone box, one that required a little patience, but was safer, simpler.

Waiting until the crude camp had settled in, Kedered volunteered to keep watch, wrapping the appropriate auditory enhancements about himself. He always had difficulty telling time, but there was a bit of moon, and he judged that it was a few hours after dark when he made his move.

The first step was to throw on a camouflage spell, turning his form the dull green and brown of the forest interior, and the second was to put a silencer around himself. It didn't stop all noise, just in case he needed to vocalize a spell, although that was something he did only at the rarest of circumstances, but it did muffle things, preventing most sound from travelling far. Kedered knew he wasn't woodcrafty, and didn't want to step on a stray twig and ruin this scheme.

With as much stealth as he could muster, Kedered crept towards the tent that Eilan had set up for Kassin and himself. You needed to be close to tap into another's dreams, but a few inches of canvas wouldn't stop his probing. Kedered held himself still for a few minutes, waiting for the camouflage spell to take in his new settings, and then sent a little tendril of himself past the canvas, looking for the sleeping Angel's dreams. There was likely much he could learn there.

[Noone]

Eilan and Kassin retreated inside the tent. Eilan got two bedrolls out, one for him, the other for the angel, they drifted off into sleep, exhausted from the ordeals of the previous day. Night had already come.  Kassin seemed calm at first, though tensed up at some points, yet, he remained fast asleep throughout the night.

Vertigo, the feeling of being lost in a storm, it's all too familiar with dream tapping. His dreams at first seemed stale, endless black mist. Nothing of note happened for a while, only the mist remained. It must have taken about an hour into tapping into his dreams did something of note materialize. The place was blurry, it looked like some kind of cavern, though the walls seemed insubstantial. The details of the floor, ceiling, the walls, the air, they were also blurry. There was also an odd fog to the dreamscape, the air was thick, but at the same time, had an almost insubstantial feel to it. Voices could be heard, however, their speech was slurred, words couldn't come out in a coherent fashion. This continued for a while, the same scene appeared to be replaying itself over and over again. It's hard to tell how long this continued.

Eventually, the scene became more clear, the location no longer looked like a cavern, rather a small, stone building, moss on the walls could be seen. The floors had no pavement, no grass, only covered in dirt and were wet with melted snow. The sky could also be seen, a dark, winter night, wind raged across the landscape, bringing it's rushing roar with it. There was a table, at it sat three cubi, one sitting at the head of the table, two at his side. The features for the two were blurry, it was hard to tell what species they were, or what their wings looked like. Yet the one sitting at the head was clear. A crocodile incubus, probably around 6 foot 2 tall, looked strong, well physically fit. Green, bat-like wings protruded from his back, and from his head. He had no cephalic hair, and had an eye-patch over his left eye. His right eye, bright red in color, gazed around, almost as if bored. He wore a scowl on his face, as he glanced around.
Almost immediately, the weather seemed to become more clear, less morbid. The crocodile smiled, as a demon could be seen walking towards the table. A strong looking wolf demon, power radiated from his body. He fluttered his wings, he looked closely at the crocodile incubus with his bright red eyes. His other features were quite blurry, but the aura of power emanating from him was unmistakable. The crocodile looked up at him. "Ah, Bel, you honor me with this visit, please, take a seat."
Bel sat down, in front of the incubus. He made a soft nod. "I suppose we should just cut to business Chareye." The incubus nodded.
"Mistress Firestorm would like an... unusual service from you." He pulled out a pamphlet, it looked similar to the bounty notice, yet it was different. "There is someone we want, captured."
"Kidnapping?" Chareye responded. "I suppose it wouldn't be beyond our capabilities. My expertise is in soul-stealing but it shouldn't be so hard, depending on the target."
"This angel..." Bel started, pulling the pamphlet to a page with his picture. "We want to capture him, Firestorm wants him, alive." Chareye looked at Bel oddly, but took the pamphlet, and examined the pages.  "The pay will be generous, even more so than previous contracts, and sales."
Chareye looked at Bel squarely. "An angel? A young one too? Is there some reason you want him?" Bel looked at Chareye sternly.
"We just do."
Chareye looked through the pages, it looked like they had pictures, Eilan and Zanfib were next, Tyrian, you, Garis, and Raffiele came after. "And what of the others?"
"As for the beings, kill them, there will be a small reward for their deaths. The others, I don't really care what you do to them, kill them if they make capturing Kassin more difficult. The angel is our primary concern, the one onf the first page that is."
Chareye smirked, "Consider it done then." Bel stood up, and left. The other two incubi looked at Chareye. He shook his head softly.
"I suppose we can spend effort on trying to find Kassin, on the other hand..." He stopped himself for a moment. "The Claws wouldn't waste energy if he were just an ordinary creature... I have a feeling there's more to this than meets the ey..." With that, the scene started to get blurry, voices slurred. In a moment, the scene was gone, replaced with another.

Another scene opened, it looked like it was some kind of farmer's market. Foods of all kinds were gathered around, farmers, shoppers, merchants, gathered around. Yet the mood was incredibly tense, there was a large presence of armed beings there as well. Guards, adventurers, and paranoid civilians. Many of them were muttering about soul murder, how it had happened to one poor family of farmers. Two names continued to come up, "Darrins" was one of them, "Kassin" was the other. The former spoken with a tone of sympathy, the latter with one of hate. Many questions flied around, rumors were spread. It was hard to hear individual threads of speech, and the scene was also somewhat blurry as well. It faded out, and was replaced with another.

Wind rushed around in a small, basement area. Cold, smooth, grey stone covered the floor, roof, and walls. A small red mat was situated on the floor. An old looking being, wearing a blindfold sat cross legged on the mat. She looked to be a feline, greying hair, blackish grey fur. Her other features were blurry, as was much of the room, she seemed to be mumbling to herself, but some of her speech was clear. "Oh angel... what I would give to see into you, birthed of malice, treated with avarice, yet never letting such forces scar you." She stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. "If nothing else, I can give you what is rightfully yours. Just remember... be true to yourself, and you shall find what your heart seeks." The scene went blurry again, and quickly formed into another.

The place looked to be a small house, yet a scene of a horrible crime, there were two bodies on the floor, they looked like children, they were covered in blood, their eyes quite vacant. A door slamming shut could be heard. A creature could be seen, squatting over the bodies, he held his hands around one of the bodies. Black, feathery wings protruded from his back, yet, his other features were kind of blurry, though it was clear that the bodies, and the creature, were some form of canine. He was crying, quite heavily, sobbing into the corpses. The scene went on for a few minutes, muffled words came from his mouth "why.. why?" another sob, "please don't go, please...". A door could be heard slamming open, but the small creature kept sobbing into the corpse. A larger cubi came in, behind him, that same crocodile incubus that you saw before. Tendrils formed from his wings, grabbing the other creature. He vainly struggled, but was held firm. Chareye gave a stern stare to the crying creature. He shouting at him, "Now where *IS* that paper?!" A tendril could be seen, branching off from his left wing, it touched his eye patch, ready to take it off. The small grappled creature continued to sob. "I said... where IS IT?" Chareye, demanded, more forcibly, he removed the eyepatch, the last thing that could be heard before the scene went dark was a scream from the other creature. The dream came to an abrupt stop.

Kassin woke from his sleep, panting, sweat rolled down the sides of his head. Tears could be seen forming from his eyes. He made a soft sniffle, and covered his face with his right hand, trying to calm himself down. He looked up from the canvas, a beam of sunlight penetrated through. Morning had come. He shook his head, and stepped outside, he sat down in the snow, and stared intently at the ground.

A few minutes later, strand beams of pale sunlight penetrated into Eilan's tent. With a soft yawn, he woke up. He rolled up the bedrolls, and put his tent back into a more portable form. After putting everything back, as to make it ready for travel, he woke everyone else who was still asleep up. He took a brief look at the sun, bright, yet it's radiance felt dulled somehow, as if insignificant next to the snowy background in which he stood.

[Azlan]

In a tree above the camp, Tyrian, who never sleeps, noticed the young angel emerge from the tent.  He was in a similar state to the other time before, a nightmare likely.

Dropping down from the tree, the fox angel used his wings to descend gracefully.  His paws touched the ground next to Kassin and he settled down into a sitting position, using his right wing to hug and cradle the distraught tiger-angel.

"Ohayo Gozaimasu Kassin-chan.  You look as if you have had a rough night.  Please, tell me about it.  Talking about such things will help."  Tyrian paused, "also, such things are known to be prophetic with you.  The insight will help us... the sooner we deal with this, the more innocents we can save."

[Ghostwish]

Zanfib came out of his meditative slumber, and went through a mental checklist before he stirred, checking off each distinct power of his mind. He finally opened his eyes some time shortly before dawn, idly looking about a moment before he rose and packed his things. He then sat down, cross legged in front of the camp site, his elbows in his lap and his hands out in front, fingertip to fingertip as he lowered his head slightly, preparing his abilities for the day.

He lowered his mind shield, a necessity to charging up his mental energies. There was a brief moment of thought and emotion from him, but it was quickly silenced in a sudden growing torrent of noise, much akin to that of a tornado to those who were sensitive enough to pick up on such things. The racket died down just as quickly, and Zanfib's mind was wrapped in its stoic barriers again, leaving no trace of thought or emotion..

Presently, he opened his eyes and sighed softly, looking about the encampment again with the same bored expression as ever.

[Lisky]

Garis had been mildly tired, and choose to sleep in a tree, he used some magic to weave a bed of branches and leaves.  Wrapped in his wings he half slept through the night, while keeping an eye on what everyone was doing.  He dozed off with the observation that Ked was tapping into Kassin's dream...  Waking up in the morning, he felt the others before actually rising out of his 'bed' and the warmth of his wings was much more pleasing then the act of getting up.  Eventually he worked up the force of will to get up and going.  He silently let himself onto the ground using his tentacles, and then proceeded to see what everyone else was doing.

[Noone]

Kassin let out a deep sigh, and closed his eyes. "I suppose I should... I still do not think what I see is truthful, but, I suppose if it was once..." He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, recalling what he saw during the restless night. "There were four..." He briefly stopped again, checking to see if everyone was listening.

"The first, I think it was at some castle, but the landscape was too blurry for me to make out accurately. I was able to overhear part of a conversation, between an Incubus named Chareye and a demon named Bel, I think they're both Claws." The mention of the Claws piqued Eilan's attention, he rushed over, and  stood to Kassin's left. "They were talking about having me captured and the rest of you killed." He let out a deep sigh. Is the fact that they're all in danger my fault? He shook his head and continued.

"The next scene, it was at some marketplace I think, it was a very tense environment. I couldn't make out specific strands of conversation, but, I kept hearing two names, mine, and someone named 'Darrins'  I think."
Eilan soon interrupted. "Darrins? That's the last name of the family that got soul-murdered here." Kassin appeared alarmed, his eyes seemed to bulge, his facial expression was one of surprise, and fright. "No doubt, if such things are to be believed, they were spreading rumors, and they were likely blaming you." Eilan shook his head, "Farmers... I suppose spreading rumors is something they do on their free time."

Kassin was still quite alarmed at what Eilan said. He never told me the name, how could I have known? With a frown, and a shake of his head, he continued. "The next..." Kassin stopped himself, for a moment. Noting his hesitation, Eilan came over to him and rubbed his shoulder, which seemed to calm him down. "The next scene, it was in the basement of someone's dwelling I said, there was some person sitting there, I think she was blind, and said..." He stopped himself again, looking around at those around him, necessity cracked his resolve however, and decided to continue, after a brief pause. "Oh angel... what I would give to see into you, birthed of malice, treated with avarice, yet never letting such forces scar you. If nothing else, I can give you what is rightfully yours. Just remember, be true to yourself, and you shall find what your heart seeks." Kassin took another deep breath, with a pause. "She didn't say who she was referring to." He glanced away, trying to give the implication that it wasn't himself, or that his vision was somehow faulty.

"And the fourth, I think it was in some kind of farmhouse, it was a disturbing scene, I saw someone, a young incubus I think, must have been six or seven, crying over the corpse of a being. After that, the same Cubi I saw in my first vision, came over to him, grabbing him, asked him 'Where is that paper?'. The child didn't answer... and then Chareye... hurt him..." He shuddered at what he saw.

"And that was the end of it." Kassin let out a deep breath after his recitations.

Eilan put his right hand o his muzzle, trying to make sense of it all, and trying to separate possible truth from fiction, but not immediately coming to any conclusions. He stood there silent.