09-22-2014, 04:31 PM
After what feels like years of walking that could have merely been seconds in this place the landscape around Shiro stops changing to fit whatever his mind happened to prefer at the time. Instead of the green and browns of the forest the landscape began to grow more sinister, the trees around him beginning to lose their leaves, their bark changing to varying shades of black while the land he walks upon goes from green grass and dark topsoil to ankle deep water with red mud underneath. While the landscape change is very subtle it doesn't take much to be noticed and attempted to be changed back only for confusion and apprehension to set in where contentedness and laxness had been as the wolf trudges onward through the eerie swamp he'd found himself in. Things don't take long to grow strange as Shiro begins to see things at the corners of his vision from wisps to vile and terrifying creatures peeking out at him with hunger filled eyes from behind the twisted and unnatural trees that dotted the marsh. "What hell have I found myself in?..." the wolf muses quietly to himself, giving voice to his growing concerns as he begins to notice laughter, faint at first and just at the edge of his hearing but slowly growing to the point he can recognize it as a vile portent of misery and evils that he was much looking forward to avoiding.
Despite the hellish landscape the wolf never turns to go back from whence he came or stop trudging onwards through the mire, keeping his senses out in case one of the creatures he's seen attempts something. Yet, despite all the danger and oddity around him something compelled the wolf onward through the mire, a growing feeling that, if he could make it through this swamp, then he would be one step closer to returning to his body. However, despite his apprehension the oddities around him become mundane enough that he relaxes his guard for mere seconds before he comes across a dark entity, standing in the mire with glowing red eyes staring at him. Rather than lunge at him or attack him in some way the entity merely stares at him with it's piercing globes that Shiro's mind equated to it's eyes, the water around it not showing a single minute ripple as it keeps it's gazed fixed upon him, never seeming to disappear behind him as more and more of the entities begin appearing before the wolf only to follow him like the first after he passes them.
After hours of trudging through the hellish landscape and being followed by the dark entities, Shiro comes across a small island, just big enough to fit the home and it's garden of odd, tomato-like plants sporting eyes as fruits that follow him as he approaches the door. As the weary and uneasy wolf reaches a paw up to scratch at the door a large orb of red energy is fired at the creatures, splitting before impact into the perfect number of smaller orbs to blast a hole where each entity's heart would be, causing them to dissipate and bleed into the water, turning it black where they were standing. At the sudden and rather unexpected attack, the already weary and hyper alert wolf yelps and cowers against the door, only for it to be opened causing him to fall inside, dragged farther in by the owner of the cabin, and the door to be shut quietly. "Who are you? Why are you here?" asks a feminine voice from underneath a mask, the owner of the cabin being dressed in knee high boots made for traversing the swamp, loose leather pants, a shirt woven from black vines that hid her features rather well, and a flat mask made of what looks like bone with it's only features being two holes revealing blue, humanoid eyes. "M-my name is Shiro... i'm trying to return to my body" the wolf replies, unable to keep the fear from worming it's way into his voice as he cowers into a corner and hopes that what was done to the entities that were following him wasn't done to him. "why were the pursuers after you?" the woman asks gruffly only to be met with a question and a genuine look of non-understanding. "Pursuers?" The wolf replies only to cause the woman to make a sound of annoyance as she looks out the window to find it lacking in anything other than the swamps to look at.
"this your first time here?" the woman asks evenly, her voice gravely as she waves her hand over the window only for it to disappear. "y-yes... how did you know?" he replies only to be jabbed at with the cane of the woman's staff, which was a simple wooden rod with a crystalline and silver cap, causing him to grimace in pain as he's pressed against the wall. "anyone who's spent any longer than five minutes here knows about pursuers. They're beings of dark energy and act as a sort of white blood cell for this place, taking things that aren't supposed to be here out forcibly. They get confused sometimes so it's good for spirit walkers to be able to defend ourselves. Why were they after you?" the woman replies, fielding her own question in response to his as she keeps him pressed against the wall. "i don't know!" the wolf replies, angry at his treatment along with the simmering anger of his situation rising to a head as he growls out "some ass hole dragon decided he wanted to be especially dickish to the next person to walk into his cave and rip out their spirit. I was that person and i've been trying to find a way to get back to my body but the best answer i've gotten was to find my own way without any explanation other than that i had to harness the power of this place. I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT TO DO!" shouting the last part at her, his spirit flaring before launching an orb of it from his maw at her reflexively like he'd done in the memory out of anger, sending her skidding along the floor a couple of inches as she blocks it with her staff only for it to dissipate before any real harm is done.
"a-are you alright? i'm sorry... i didn't mean to-" Shiro begins only to be silenced by a whack with the woman's staff. "Apology excepted, and you've got enough skill to be able to go back to your body if you're able to control that. Hit me with it again if you can" the woman replies as she extends her hand. Shiro does as told, closing his eyes as he reaches out and calls upon the spiritual energy of the world around him, collecting it in a baseball sized orb in front of his open muzzle after a couple seconds before firing it at her without hesitation. Rather than block with her staff again, the woman catches the orb, holding fast and not budging a centimeter before crushing the orb of energy in her hand and chuckling out "not bad for a novice. When you return to your body, come to me every other night and i'll train you."
"O-ok... but how do i do that?" Shiro asks, not really sure what she meant but the fact that she had requested he come back gave him a bit of hope. Rather than reply the woman just hits him in the side of the head with her staff.
Shiro awakens in the cave, clutching the side of his head as he curls up in the fetal position and mutters "ow... could have warned me first...." yet despite the pain he can't help but smile at the joy of having returned to his body and being able to cradle his head with his own flesh and blood hands. However his joyous reunion with himself is cut short as one of the raptor creatures nips at his ear only for the lycan's hand to grip it's neck as he mutters out "i'm not dead" shortly before cutting it's head off with his other hand.
It takes a while to collect himself and get used to walking on two legs again but Shiro is soon able to walk out of the cave, climbing all the way out to the surface and smiling up at the warmth of the sun hitting his face only to be tackled and licked joyously by sapphira while he hugs her and laughs. After their joyous reunion, the two of them look around only to find the town abandoned with a good number of live stock left for the dire she-wolf although an equal number of cattle carcasses lay scattered about showing that she'd eaten well while he was underground. After a bit of searching, the two of them manage to gather up some supplies that had been left behind and pack them away for later after getting a good meal, the lycan's journey having hungered him greatly as he'd most likely been in that cave for more than just a couple hours.
After their scavenging and meal, the two of them set out on the road again, heading farther towards into the plains with Shiro's mind broiling with concerns and questions that he couldn't answer as the two of them begin their journey again unaware of what had transpired while the lycan had been traversing the spirit realm
Despite the hellish landscape the wolf never turns to go back from whence he came or stop trudging onwards through the mire, keeping his senses out in case one of the creatures he's seen attempts something. Yet, despite all the danger and oddity around him something compelled the wolf onward through the mire, a growing feeling that, if he could make it through this swamp, then he would be one step closer to returning to his body. However, despite his apprehension the oddities around him become mundane enough that he relaxes his guard for mere seconds before he comes across a dark entity, standing in the mire with glowing red eyes staring at him. Rather than lunge at him or attack him in some way the entity merely stares at him with it's piercing globes that Shiro's mind equated to it's eyes, the water around it not showing a single minute ripple as it keeps it's gazed fixed upon him, never seeming to disappear behind him as more and more of the entities begin appearing before the wolf only to follow him like the first after he passes them.
After hours of trudging through the hellish landscape and being followed by the dark entities, Shiro comes across a small island, just big enough to fit the home and it's garden of odd, tomato-like plants sporting eyes as fruits that follow him as he approaches the door. As the weary and uneasy wolf reaches a paw up to scratch at the door a large orb of red energy is fired at the creatures, splitting before impact into the perfect number of smaller orbs to blast a hole where each entity's heart would be, causing them to dissipate and bleed into the water, turning it black where they were standing. At the sudden and rather unexpected attack, the already weary and hyper alert wolf yelps and cowers against the door, only for it to be opened causing him to fall inside, dragged farther in by the owner of the cabin, and the door to be shut quietly. "Who are you? Why are you here?" asks a feminine voice from underneath a mask, the owner of the cabin being dressed in knee high boots made for traversing the swamp, loose leather pants, a shirt woven from black vines that hid her features rather well, and a flat mask made of what looks like bone with it's only features being two holes revealing blue, humanoid eyes. "M-my name is Shiro... i'm trying to return to my body" the wolf replies, unable to keep the fear from worming it's way into his voice as he cowers into a corner and hopes that what was done to the entities that were following him wasn't done to him. "why were the pursuers after you?" the woman asks gruffly only to be met with a question and a genuine look of non-understanding. "Pursuers?" The wolf replies only to cause the woman to make a sound of annoyance as she looks out the window to find it lacking in anything other than the swamps to look at.
"this your first time here?" the woman asks evenly, her voice gravely as she waves her hand over the window only for it to disappear. "y-yes... how did you know?" he replies only to be jabbed at with the cane of the woman's staff, which was a simple wooden rod with a crystalline and silver cap, causing him to grimace in pain as he's pressed against the wall. "anyone who's spent any longer than five minutes here knows about pursuers. They're beings of dark energy and act as a sort of white blood cell for this place, taking things that aren't supposed to be here out forcibly. They get confused sometimes so it's good for spirit walkers to be able to defend ourselves. Why were they after you?" the woman replies, fielding her own question in response to his as she keeps him pressed against the wall. "i don't know!" the wolf replies, angry at his treatment along with the simmering anger of his situation rising to a head as he growls out "some ass hole dragon decided he wanted to be especially dickish to the next person to walk into his cave and rip out their spirit. I was that person and i've been trying to find a way to get back to my body but the best answer i've gotten was to find my own way without any explanation other than that i had to harness the power of this place. I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT TO DO!" shouting the last part at her, his spirit flaring before launching an orb of it from his maw at her reflexively like he'd done in the memory out of anger, sending her skidding along the floor a couple of inches as she blocks it with her staff only for it to dissipate before any real harm is done.
"a-are you alright? i'm sorry... i didn't mean to-" Shiro begins only to be silenced by a whack with the woman's staff. "Apology excepted, and you've got enough skill to be able to go back to your body if you're able to control that. Hit me with it again if you can" the woman replies as she extends her hand. Shiro does as told, closing his eyes as he reaches out and calls upon the spiritual energy of the world around him, collecting it in a baseball sized orb in front of his open muzzle after a couple seconds before firing it at her without hesitation. Rather than block with her staff again, the woman catches the orb, holding fast and not budging a centimeter before crushing the orb of energy in her hand and chuckling out "not bad for a novice. When you return to your body, come to me every other night and i'll train you."
"O-ok... but how do i do that?" Shiro asks, not really sure what she meant but the fact that she had requested he come back gave him a bit of hope. Rather than reply the woman just hits him in the side of the head with her staff.
Shiro awakens in the cave, clutching the side of his head as he curls up in the fetal position and mutters "ow... could have warned me first...." yet despite the pain he can't help but smile at the joy of having returned to his body and being able to cradle his head with his own flesh and blood hands. However his joyous reunion with himself is cut short as one of the raptor creatures nips at his ear only for the lycan's hand to grip it's neck as he mutters out "i'm not dead" shortly before cutting it's head off with his other hand.
It takes a while to collect himself and get used to walking on two legs again but Shiro is soon able to walk out of the cave, climbing all the way out to the surface and smiling up at the warmth of the sun hitting his face only to be tackled and licked joyously by sapphira while he hugs her and laughs. After their joyous reunion, the two of them look around only to find the town abandoned with a good number of live stock left for the dire she-wolf although an equal number of cattle carcasses lay scattered about showing that she'd eaten well while he was underground. After a bit of searching, the two of them manage to gather up some supplies that had been left behind and pack them away for later after getting a good meal, the lycan's journey having hungered him greatly as he'd most likely been in that cave for more than just a couple hours.
After their scavenging and meal, the two of them set out on the road again, heading farther towards into the plains with Shiro's mind broiling with concerns and questions that he couldn't answer as the two of them begin their journey again unaware of what had transpired while the lycan had been traversing the spirit realm