鉄 Tsukihara Forest || South-West Branch

[Royal Taorito]

_______________The Narrator Whispers... ||

The young man--no, boy, as was revealed upon approach--looked away from Atsuma as he approached, making no move to stop the stranger's companion from running back out into the snow. If that was the fate she'd settled on, there was little he could do. If Atsuma inspected the boy's face, what could be seen past the robes, anyway, he'd find him to be in maybe his early to mid teens. Yellow eyes glowed faintly past a mop of pale hair. What might have been equally striking was the series of scars that littered his face, some leading down his neck and disappearing into the robes. The boy didn't meet Atsuma's gaze once, staring instead at the fire and picking at his left, clawed hand, the skin of which was also revealed to be black and... segmented, almost like the carapace of an insect. That didn't make the what must have been five inch claws any less daunting. "It is not my cave," he replied without shifting his eyes. "I came here when that dragon fell out of the sky." He stopped there, but it seemed like he had more to say.

After a moment, he looked toward the entrance of the cave, drawing in his legs closer to his chest. "I wonder how long the storm will go," he asked absentmindedly, a rhetorical question proven so when he moved on, glancing in Atsuma's direction, though his eyes went no higher than chest height. "You are... human, right? Not like them?"

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[Dopy Grimes]

Royal Taorito

Rubbing his hands near the flames made the boy feel safe. It was a form of control over the world that wanted him dead. Yet just as soon as they made him feel safe the flames brought a sense of dread in him that he couldn't understand. As if he couldn't stand to stay close to it any longer without vomiting. Yet he knew if he left he would freeze to death. While he was having his own internal struggle a voice would break the silence that had consumed the cave. The robed figure had spoken and to Atsuma's surprise, it was a boy much like himself. Atsuma also had a collection of scars hidden underneath his clothes. Each one carefully placed to attract the least attention. He would not remember where they came from but Toya perhaps would...

Mother and Father always did love spending time with me. They would love to take turns! Father was fond of testing my bodies reaction to certain chemicals both injected and digested. Mother loved whipping me until I released my bowels. That was when she usally stopped although there were times when she was upset by something that had occured during her day and continue until I was unconcious. I do miss them.

The cave was not his then. Atsuma felt more at ease knowing he wasn't trespassing into anyone's home. That gave the cave a much different mood from before. Now the boy was curious. He wanted to discover what secrets it hid. His thoughts were cut off again at the robed boys following words. I came here when the Dragon fell out the sky. Dragons weren't real so far as Atsuma remembered. Although he did lack memory of several things. "Woah! Are you serious?!" Atsuma asked accidentally raising his voice. He immediately covered his mouth when he remembered where he was and what he was doing.

Atsuma tried not to think too deeply about the boys clawed hand. Panicking over it would get him nowhere. He had to think rationally. Then, quite ironically, he was asked if he was human. You're anything but human hahaha.... Atsuma's eyes widened as these words were hushed in his mind. "I...Yes of course haha..." He paused rubbing his hair feeling awkward suddenly. "Hopefully it'll go away soon."

 

[Royal Taorito]

_______________The Narrator Whispers... ||

The boy flinched when Atsuma raised his voice, fear flickering across his expression for half a second before he seemed to realize the shout wasn't directed at him. Confirmation that the stranger was human also helped him relax, and his gaze returned to the fire. In fact, Atsuma's response seemed to satisfy him to the point he said nothing else, and would say nothing else unless spoken to.

In the meanwhile, the wind continued to howl from outside, occasionally a gust thrusting itself through the passage to their hiding place. Likewise, every now and then it carried the sounds of things moving beyond the walls, but as of yet nothing had entered. Every time something passed in front of the entrance, the robed boy tensed, his clawed hand flexing in preparation to strike if something stepped into view. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before something sniffed them out.

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[Dopy Grimes]

Royal Taorito

In the ensuing silence Atsuma decided to look through his things and found that he did, in fact, have clothing for cold weather. He smiled as he put on the clothing and felt the warm embrace of the fabric. In the bag, he even found things that would make sleeping in such a hazardous environment bearable! But he didn't want to sleep. How could he? There was a complete stranger with him in the cave and he had just woken up from a very long nap. Suddenly, Atsuma began feeling something tug at his chest and then his mind would ache making him hold his head for a brief moment.
When his head rose again he would no longer bear the same innocence in his eyes although that would be the only discernable difference. Toya had grown impatient by Atsumas passiveness. "Who are you?" Toya asked abruptly breaking the silence. "You are not like me. I know you're not. You know what's happening don't you?" He continued on with his inquiries. "You asked me if I was human yet as I look at you. I see something else." Toyas Tanto was in his right pocket. He held onto it casually as if he was just resting his hand in his pocket.

 

[Royal Taorito]

_______________The Narrator Whispers... ||

The robed boy's gaze shifted to Atsuma--now Toya, unbeknownst to him--but his expression remained as stony as it had been until that point. The only indicators of a change in his behavior were a slight tightening of the jaw and furrowing of the brow, his form falling still rather than the nervous ticks of picking at his strange hand and twitching of his legs. Things a person not focused on him like Toya was might not have noticed. This didn't prevent him from answering the boy though. In fact, he did so rater obediently, albeit quietly, with a glance once more toward the entrance. "I do not know everything that is happening. I know that this land is crawling with Fades known as Yōkai. We are safe as long as they do not find us. They are more interested in that thing that fell out of the sky." His gaze returned to Toya, though he shrunk slightly under the pale haired boy's intense gaze, and the weird confidence he had wavered slightly as he continued. He pulled his clawed hand back into the sleeve of the robe. "I-I am as human as you are. Just... cursed. I do not know my name, but I am called Servio Vanerus, the Servant of Vanerus." Again he looked away, this time looking ashamed before he added, barely above a whisper, "Some simply call me Servus."

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[Dopy Grimes]

Royal Taorito

His eyes widened at the name. Vanerus. It echoed through the dark corridors of Toya's depraved mind while he tried to create a vision of this being just by name. The boy was his servant and showed heavy signs of abuse on his body. Was his master a violent person? Most importantly, however, if the boy served the one named Vanerus it must have meant that Vanerus would know something about the new world Toya inhabited. This boy will take me to his masters. I must find out what happened while I was gone! Toya thought to himself while the boy kept on explaining to him more about the world and the beasts that inhabited it. "So Servus it looks like me and you both are both in a pickle, yeah?" Toya slowly approached the boy while he spoke. His words carrying the soothing tone he trained for most of his life. "Your master. What is he like?" Toya asked showing immense curiosity.

 

[Royal Taorito]

_______________The Narrator Whispers... ||

"Dead, I hope." The response was blunt compared to his previous manor of speech, but Servus wasn't looked at Toya. Instead his gaze was focused on the entrance to the cave again. He slowly pushed himself to his feet to face it fully, the claws sliding free of his sleeve once more.

Scuffling from the entrance likely drew Toya's attention to it a moment before two small, humanoid creatures came into view. They stood maybe chest height, one wearing a blue mask, and the other red, with black skin and wearing little more than a loincloth. The one with a blue mask held a rusted spear, and the other a similarly rusted blade. The instant they noticed the pair within the cave, they sprinted at them. Servus reacted immediately launching to the side, swiping his clawed hand at the one with the red mask. Should Toya watch him rather than the creature running toward him, he would see the claws extend by almost a foot in the instant Servus struck the thing. Regardless, it was thrown into the blue masked creature, sending both tumbling into a heap in front of Toya.

Servus hissed in frustration, pulling off the overbearing robs so that he could move more easily, and discarded them to the side. Beneath the robes, he wore only a tattered pair of pants, and the true nature of the clawed hand was revealed. The carapace-like structure extended all the way up his arm, ending in a pauldron of spikes at the shoulder and spreading onto his chest and back. On his chest, it ended at a strange circular, gem-like device that pulsed with a faint red light almost like a heartbeat. The flesh around the joining point of this strange arm bore a blue and purple bruising, as well as a sickly yellowish-green tone that. He glanced in Toya's direction with eyes that now glowing vibrant yellow. "Finish them while they are down. I will handle the others." He didn't wait for an answer from the boy before disappearing through the tunnel.

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[Dopy Grimes]

Royal Taorito

And just like that all of his enthusiasm was gone. The boy was useless until the very end so it appeared. Yet no one would be able to tell that Toya was furious. He licked his lips, his only tell showing a sign of change in his mood. The fire crackled nearby. Toya's fingers traced the small blade he kept in his pocket slowly. His aim would be off but maybe he could hit the boy in the eye. Then the foreign noise broke his train of thought. At first, he assumed it would be the girl who had left to find something. Toya couldn't recall because he did not care. Either the elements killed her or he would've eventually. Yet to his surprise it was something much more interesting. Two masked beings. Blue and red. It was so aesthetically pleasing, Toya almost felt bad when Servus slayed one of them. Well that was great timing. I probably would've ended up the same way... Toya thought to himself as the bodies dropped at it his feet. At the boys' request, he would finish them off.
Watching Servus disappear, Toya grinned before immediately descended on the bodies with vicious shanks from his tanto. His eyes fixated on the bodies and his mouth shut tight. He gained no sense of amusement from it. Instead it was almost sexual in nature.

 

[Royal Taorito]

_______________The Narrator Whispers... ||

Toya's blade descended into the creature who had already been struck by Servus, black, tarry substance that must have taken the place of its blood oozing from the gouges left in its side. Whether or not it was even still alive after the initial hit, the blade certainly finished it off, as it no longer moved after the knife was withdrawn. The creature with the blue mask, however, was definitely still alive, and angry. With an amount of strength not reflective of its thin arms, it shoved its dead companion up and into Toya's face before scrambling away to put some distance between them. It shrieked at him in some unknown language before lunging at the boy with its rusty spear, aimed for his chest--although its height might only allow for a stab to the gut.

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Formless spear strike - D-rank

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[Dopy Grimes]

Royal Taorito

The black blood was new to Toya. He realized that it had no effect on him like normal human blood. As a matter of fact it disgusted him. He wanted to get rid of it immediately. Before he got the chance to kill the two of them the blue masked creature threw his red counterpart off of him towards Toya. "Oh dear."
He mumbled bearing the weight of the dead humanoid looking being. His eyes widened when the enemy lunged at him with a spear. Toya would use the red masks body as a shield in front of him to brace the spear.

 

[Royal Taorito]

_______________The Narrator Whispers... ||

As expected, the blue masked creature's spear pierced into its companion's side as Toya lifted it to block the attack. The rusty weapon stuck fast in its flesh and didn't come lose when the other attempted to pull it free. Frustrated the goblinoid creature grabbed its companion's sword, which had fallen to the ground when it died and brandished that as a weapon instead. Taking advantage of Toya's occupied hands, it swung for his legs, trying to deal damage there before retreating. Clearly it realized the being before it was capable of thought beyond what it had comprehended, and it had to take a more careful approach. Speaking in an unknown language, it carefully began circling around to the side of Toya, waiting to see what he did.

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Unnamed Sword Strike - E-rank

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[Royal Taorito]

_______________The Narrator Whispers... ||

[Atsuma receives +100 bonus exp!]

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Quote:

 

[Dopy Grimes]

Royal Taorito

His plan had prevailed as expected yet the boy could not react quick enough to brace yet another blow. Fate would be on his side however as the armor he had put on shortly after he awakened managed to keep the blade from slicing open his flesh. By the look of the blade the wound would surely become infected and without any medicine to be found a fever would surely set in followed by a painful death. Toya would not die so easily. He still had much to achieve in the new world. But before he could mold it into his image he would need to adapt. The new world would mold him first. While the creature paced around him watching his movements and speaking in a foreign tongue, Toya quickly rummaged through his things and found an array of cans that read SHAKE AND THROW FOR A SHOOOOOOOOOOW.
Toya frowned at the wording but nevertheless complied with the instructions and threw the can towards the midget man. (E ranked throw - Can of Candied Yams)

 

[Royal Taorito]

_______________The Narrator Whispers... ||

Despite being on the defensive, the goblinoid creature seemed to not expect something to be thrown at it. As it moved to launch another attack, it was hit with the can of candied yams which, upon impact, burst outward in an amazing display of orange goop. It splattered the ground, the wall, and the creature alike as it was thrown into said wall, and then quickly hardened. The masked menace struggled and screamed at him in its foreign tongue but was unable to break free from its bonds for the moment, its sword and sword arm likewise pinned again the wall, leaving quite the opening for a strike or to retreat depending on what Toya desired.

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[Dopy Grimes]

Royal Taorito

A small smile escaped the boys' lips. He had no idea what was in the can he had thrown or who had put them in the bag for him to use but it had worked wonders. Servus was nowhere to be found as the masked creature spouted fury at Toya. Slowly, Toya bent over to pick up the red mask that covered the face of the slain enemy. "A blue mask and a red mask. Very thematic for someone in my predicament." He said to himself while covering his face with the mask. He slowly made his way to the pinned creature and observed him from behind the primitive mask. "You truly are an interesting creature." Toya continued reaching for the mask. "Shhh." He hushed while the creature spat at him. Unfortunately, Toya had no blades on him but he did have for whatever reason a mess kit. Said mess kit contained a decent sized knife. "My small statured friend as you will soon discover I am not a picky person." The boy would then proceed to carve into the creatures face slowly while watching its face twist in agony. Delight hidden behind the red mask.