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    Pulled into the Umbra

    Silvy Dean
    Silvy Dean
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    Pulled into the Umbra Empty Pulled into the Umbra

    Post by Silvy Dean Thu Dec 24, 2015 8:24 am

    Pulled into the Umbra 23293299474_301672206f_zThe Umbra by absoluteschizo, on Flickr

    Arianna felt a pull at her gut. At first she thought it had been her innards falling out because of how she sat up, but as the nightmare scene of Asbjorn's empty bloodied hands faded she realized it was almost as if there were arms wrapped around her.

    "LET GO!" she growled and struggled managing to break free with a rather startling ease. She looked around her spinning, confused and found her eyes settling on a ghostly, yet solid image of Vetis. Her eyes widened and a chill bit down through her soul.

    "I'm sorry Arianna... I had to do it. We need your help. If I hadn't, they would have gotten you first." There was a moment of pure shock as she stared at the fallen pack mate. So many things she wanted to say running through her mind. 'I'm sorry. I should have looked for you. I should have been there. I should have stopped them from harming you.' was just among the few. To top it off, he was clearly a spirit yet she could hear him as if she were atop spirit rise under Vida's guidance.

    "They? They who?" She had not quite grasped what had happened. "Did they take my son? Did they take Folkvarðr?" Questions started to shoot out rapidly. "What have you done? How can 'I' help?"  Vetis did not seem to be phased by this at all. Nearly as quick as she was asking he would answer.

    "Dark spirits that have started a war in the spirit realm. The gods themselves have been battling against them as well. No, your son was taken by something else. The only way they could have taken him is if he was near death like you. I... I took you. I beat them to it. I had to, or they would have tainted you..." then there was a pause in the answers. His head turned as he looked off in the distance, nose twitching slightly. Arianna noticed this and looked off in the same direction. This new world was full of pastel nothingness colors. It all seemed to blend together into one annoying mist. She moved her hand to brush off her chest only to realize.. fur. Her chest had fur upon it.

    Her eyes shot down to her hands.. claws. She used those claws to rub against her flat furred belly. There was no wound. As if to help the pieces start to be put together, her ears flattened. Not only was she in her war form, but she was in her shifted form and could speak.

    "Vetis... What have you done to me?" Her eyes turned to him. She knew where she was now. She had been here once before with Leiv long ago. It was one of the most frightening things she had ever been through. Leiv had explained to her, once she had gotten there.. in her 'living' state, she could not shift into her war form or any other form rather than human. Dead however... He called it the Umbra. Dangerous to visit when in human form. More so in spirit form. He had explained a lot about the umbra. Information she was now trying desperately to remember. Time moved differently here... as did the realm itself. Doors would open and close, but you had to know how to control them in order to move through the massive spirit realm.

    "I am sorry. I am so sorry. We will figure out how to fix this. The elders...." again he paused.. This time Arianna heard something too. What sounded like a bestial roar that shook the realm. It almost sounded familiar for a moment. Before Arianna knew it, Vetis had shifted to his war form without much trouble at all. Towering over her, though she would not focus on this. Her nose twitching, she caught a faint distant familiar scent. "How?!" Vetis growled. "They took Vida... that... that can't be possible!" That was all Arianna needed to set her into a fast run.

    Even though most of the details of the realm were a blur to start with, it was worse running through it. Pure white as any colors at all seemed to blend together into nothingness. The only thing she had to go on was that faint scent and the sight of the slightly darker blue of Vetis' form running beside her.

    After what very well could have been hours, Arianna came to a stop. She wasn't even panting... she supposed that was due to being dead. Her eyes scanned the nothingness desperately. Eventually Vetis came to a stop just a few feet away. Both had their noses in the air pointing every which direction. Both were lost and there was no longer a scent to follow. Arianna would come to this realization before Vetis, and she watched him a moment as he continued to desperately sniff around for some sort of trail that their eyes would not see.

    "Vetis..." there was a moment longer. "Vetis we have to keep our wits about us. You said something about the elders?" It took a few more desperate sniffs before Vetis seemed to sink down to the ground. Apparently he had no issue with taking Arianna's life.. but Vida's on the other hand. 'No.' Arianna thought in a moment of frustration. 'Do not let your mind wander in this place.'

    "There are three... They can help you get started.. I am just not sure how to get back to them now. We shouldn't have ran like that. This place is easy to get lost and stay lost in." He covered his beastly face with his hands and rubbed at it for a moment. Then slowly he settled back into his human form. No popping of joints or pained grunts, just a soft wavering of his image and there he was.

    Without knowing it, Arianna had shifted along into her human form beside him. As she watched him, she could tell his mind was running through a million things at once. This was not good. It was hard for her to keep focused even. Her mind shifting from her son to her death to the possibility of seeing her dead pack mates again. Her thoughts shifted to her father, guidance. She could really use his guidance in all of this. Her brother, yes. He would be a great help. She would put Gunnar at her right and Aric at her left. Her father at her back.. and the others would just be overpowering. 'No, Focus.' she heard Leiv's voice in her head.. mind.. whatever it was now. He was right.

    “You need to focus Vetis. That is the only way we will get where we need to go. That is the only way we will save her. Take me to the Elders and then we can build our own army. Gods took enough of my pack, the dark souls and whatever is leading them have no chance against us.” She spoke with conviction and confidence. Perhaps there was a bit of bitter sweet in her tone as well. With a soft nod Vetis stood up and looked around the area. He had forgotten until now just how much he admired Arianna for her strength. Here she stood, shortly after giving birth and seeing her own child disappear... Unafraid of her own demise.. almost unfazed.

    “This might take me a moment...” he paused and looked to her with the respect and admiration he still carried even after death. It slowly turned to surprise to see her spirit form. He blinked and looked her over, not meaning to seem like a creep. What he saw before him was unlike the rest of the spirits of his kind or pack.

    Her soft nearly white blond hair fell down just enough to cover her breasts and hide the scar upon her back. She stood nude yet nothing showed but the dark fade upon her hands feet arms and legs. Her body pale and nearly transparent. Glowing blue eyes searching around her area in deep thought. Her expression unreadable. They finally turned down upon him and he shook himself from the trans. He then continued.

    “The spirit realm is misleading and easy to get lost in. What only seemed like moments of running could turn into years of traveling just trying to get back to where we started.” He rubbed his hand against his soft stubble. If it made a noise at all it would go unnoticed save for the realm of the living. To them it would be passed off as the wind shuffling dry hay or a mouse scurrying through the grass.

    “Concentrate on whom you need to speak too.” She said. “You would know better than I, what elder it is. If what I remember from Leiv is right, a door should appear and make it easier for us to travel back to them." She hoped. Vetis nodded. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes trying to focus on just the one Elder they needed to speak to. Arianna stepped closer, her eyes kept  upon him as if somehow she would be able to help him focus. She was surprised, with how much she was thinking of speaking to her father she would have thought a door would have opened for her right away. After a few moments a soft whispering seemed to surround them. Arianna, on guard, turned and watched around them, not taking even a step away from Vetis.

    A wavering image seemed to start to appear in front of him and when she turned to look at his face she could tell he was struggling to think. As she looked through the wavering image she could see what seemed to be a more detailed place, and upon the ground someone in dark furs huddled over. Quickly she took Vetis' arm, assuming this was the elder and pulling them both through the wavering image as quick as possible.

    As they stepped through the image stopped wavering and there sat a dark figure. It seemed to bob its head slightly then raised an arm and gestured for them to come and join it. Vetis had opened his eyes and looked to Arianna surprised that it had worked. He saw the figure and when motion happened he obeyed and went sitting down next to the figure and looking directly at them. Arianna followed and slowly sank down, not sure what to expect. What she saw, made her pause.

    The figure was not wearing furs exactly. They were part of it. Its face was that of a beast and it turned to her with bandaged eyes. When it smiled part of her felt as if she needed to growl at it. Then her eyes dropped down to the gaping wound that was it's neck. Something was familiar about this being, but she was unsure what.

    "Child of the moon. Tear of joy and sorrow. Ah, how good it is to see you." It spoke facing her. "Many warnings and messages failed. Sorry for this, we are." She tilted her head, and it started to dawn on her that this might have been the spirit Vida had told her about. The one that warned them of the blood clan and the frost giants.

    "What is it you would have me do?" She asked, but before he spoke she felt a hand upon her shoulder. When she looked up she saw the dark eyes first. A elderly woman with silver hair that seemed to wash down to her feet. Slowly the old woman dropped to her knees, with the wavering image of her eyes that could be mistaken for tears. Arianna blinked and then something hit her and her jaw dropped. "no.." she barely whispered.

    "Yes, little one." The Spiral elder said. "She should not have been punished. It was fate."

    "M-mother?" The elderly woman nodded softly. Unsure of what to do or say, Arianna just stared for a long moment. Her hand went to her own neck in search of the long forgotten and probably now lost necklace that her father given her.

    "You need to listen carefully, daughter." the elderly woman said as she knelt down and wrapped an arm around Arianna. A soft warmth seemed to envelope Arianna from this. She turned her eyes back to the elder and waited.. So much did she want to speak to her mother alone but for now she knew there were more dire things at hand. One, was getting Vida freed from whatever hell she might be in. Second would be Fozz. The rest would be details for later.


    Last edited by Silvy Dean on Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:37 am; edited 6 times in total
    Silvy Dean
    Silvy Dean
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    Pulled into the Umbra Empty Confusing Conversation with the Spiral Elder

    Post by Silvy Dean Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:16 am

    Pulled into the Umbra 23593685593_5254c6ed19_zThe great divides by absoluteschizo, on Flickr

    For a moment all sat waiting for the elder to begin his part of the conversation. Though the beastly face was turned to Arianna, she could almost feel an actual gaze upon her, she waited patiently. Though her patience were growing thin. Finally it was Vetis that broke the expectant silence in an attempt to get him back on focus.

    "The army?" The elder's features seemed to perk along with his ears as he turned to face Vetis.

    "Yes. Army of darkness among dead." he said. "Lead living."

    "Another Lich? wouldn't it have been better to leave me alive?" Arianna tilted her head. "To face another undead being such as Kurnin.. wont they have more power over my spirit if I am dead?" The elder turned to face her once again, and this time she could see something glowing behind the bandaged eyes.

    "Ignorant. Weak spirits fall, such prey. Lich slave." Arianna frowned and tried to concentrate on what he was saying. But his speech seemed to be halted and fragmented. "One fights fate. All others suffer."

    "I don't.. I don't understand." Arianna said shaking her head slightly.

    "Fight fate, world suffers." He repeated some.

    "How would we know it is not their fate to fight fate? How does one fight fate when fate is not generally known?" she said back to him. His brows raised high above the bandage and he sat for a moment longer in silence. It almost seemed as if he was stunned by her question.

    "It knows fate. Or not fight fate." He finally replied.

    "How does one know fate?" she asked tilting her head. Frustrated the elder started to grumble then rub at his knees and growl. Clearly frustrated trying to find words. When next he spoke it was in an ancient language. Both Isaru and Vetis glanced at each other before they started to speak almost at the same time.

    What they heard: "Svanoa ornla tikil slathalin haurach? Jaci vucot coi. Sjek ergriff wux vraktor tiliw kampiun wer ithael ui|ulph ooble. Nomeno ornla gethrisj kiarf eschoupilt."

    What Arianna heard: "How would any fight fate? He knows it. If only you children could understand the wyrm's tongue. This would go much easier."

    Vetis- "You have to speak common, Elder. We cannot understand you.
    Isiru- "Please old friend, just try a little harder." Both were interrupted as Arianna held up one finger to quiet them and then spoke.

    "Jaci svaust?" (He who?) Vetis and her mother paused, looking at Arianna and blinking in disbelief. They had heard no other younger than the elder himself, speak in that language before. Even the elder sat for a moment, then that wicked sharp toothed grin appeared once again. This time it seemed more endearing.

    "Come child. I knew you were the one! Walk with me. There is much to talk about. How glorious that we can speak freely." He almost seemed to be laughing during this. As he stood he held out his clawed hand to Arianna, who took it. She gave a look to her mother as she stood. The warmth of her mother's arm fading as she was lead away. The confusion on their faces did not quite strike Arianna yet.

    As they walked just a few paces from where Isaru and Vetis sat, she felt the grip on her hand tighten. She turned to face a rather handsome older man with strong sharp features. He still bore the wound upon his neck even in this form. Slowly he reached up and took the bandage from his eyes revealing bright glowing blue eyes.

    "What do you see? Just beyond this water and bank.. past those trees.. into the sky?" He asked turning his ghostly eyes from her to the sky beyond. For a moment Arianna was unsure of what was going on. She looked, and it looked as if the sky was spiraled in sections. Stars twisted in different directions for a moment, then the moon shown. Only this moon had an iris upon it. She took a step back.

    "What is that?!" She questioned, unsure of if there were danger.

    "Calm child. That is the moon that gave you birth. That is the moon you were marked with. That is the great wyrm's eye. The stars it's scales. It watches us, guides us and loves us." Arianna shook her head slightly, she had heard stories of the great wyrm but never thought to see it. Thor was her God. Fenrir was her God. This could not.. be real. "Do not insult the wyrm child. It is real." Her eyes shot back to him, the stern look upon his face, as if he had read her thoughts, and it made her bow her head. "So many great things I want to share with you. Sadly I must break your heart first." His stern look turned to sympathetic and she could only blink in his direction.

    "My heart has been broken many times before. I believe I will get over it." She replied. He reached up and brushed away her pale hair from her face, then shook his head. He lead her to sit down upon the bank near the eerie water.

    "Fate has been broken since the day your mother was wrongfully punished." He began.

    "But she killed you. Others thought it a rightful punishment. That she should have died rather been exiled." With a low unearthly growl coming from the elder, Arianna quieted and gave him an apologetic look.

    "She was stripped of Fenrir's gift. That is only allowed to those who willingly wish to leave our kind. It was forced upon her. She was wrongfully punished. She was protecting her child. Her fate was to be as your fathers was to be. Elders." He waited for this to sink into Arianna's mind. When she nodded somberly he continued. "Isiru's death was against fate. He knew it was, but did it anyway. Your exile from these lands as well. He set it all in motion. The tainted lich Kurnin going against our nature. Death magic is forbidden... The land is dying. If not for your Annoth, much of it would have perished already. The destruction of your father's soul was beyond a hideous act against nature and spiritual being."

    "Destruction? Vida brought my father's soul to rest here. She said so."

    "It was her fate to lie... It was against her fate to do what she did next. The vengeance was to be yours and Isaru's. Not hers. She is tainted, marked by the dark ones." These words sent a cold down through Arianna's spirit that made her visibly shiver. Vida lied to her? Why? Tainted? Then it dawned on her.

    "They weren't after me. They were going to use me to get her." She looked up at the Elder and he gave a soft nod. "I will need Gunnar by my side. And Aric. The others I will find." She started to list names but the elder squeezed her hand softly and patted the top of her wrist with his other hand. She paused and looked at him, almost in a pleading way. She did not want to hear more of them had perished.

    "Speak with Isiru. She will tell you the rest. Vetis and Gunnar will work on gathering those who are brave enough to face this." He let go and started to walk away.

    "WAIT! Who is the one alive? The one trying to fight fate?" She called out. He paused and that grizzled beast like face turned looking over his shoulder with those same striking ghost eyes.

    "He will be marked as you are. Baring the mark of the Umbra. Kill him. His fate was to die long ago." He said. A soft haunting drum started to thump echoing through the spirit realm followed by a haunting warrior's song. Arianna could hear millions of voices humming along with and looked around to see nothing. When she looked back he was gone.

    "My dear?" Her mother called. Arianna looked to her and watched as she got up and slowly came closer. Vetis stayed watching from a distance.

    "Where did he go?" Arianna asked.

    "He is the only one that can keep the spirits here safe. He must go and make sure the symbols are in place. That he was here when you needed him was a stroke of luck." She said softly. Once she reached her daughter she held out a hand, almost as if she were nervous to show affection. Arianna looked at the hand for a long moment. Withered and old, skeletal almost. As gazed up to her mother's dark brown eyes, she felt the shimmering image within her own. Was it possible for a ghost to cry?

    "Father is gone?" She asked, as if she just wanted her mother to confirm. And with just those words, she could see the long dead heart break after years of waiting to reunite with her mate.

    "Afraid so little white raven." She said, her chin quivering. Arianna took in a breath, not that she needed to.

    "And Aric?" Tears fell from Isiru's eyes in soft blue streaks like stars falling in the sky.

    "Lost." was all she said. With that Arianna fell into her mother's arms and buried her face in the ghostly hair.

    "Forgive me mother? I should have done something..." Arianna started to whimper.

    "No, no child. Oh my beautiful little girl no. You could have done nothing when it happened. Even if you were told of it." She pulled Arianna so that she could hold her face. "Your brother can be put from his misery when you are able. Your father will be avenged, if Vida will allow me. And you did, all that you could." Arianna sniffled slightly though no reason why other than the sorrow she felt in her soul. Though something caught her attention, and she had to repeat it back to her mother.

    "Aric put from his misery? He's alive?" She asked.

    "If you can call a feral beast of a mind living at all. He is broken, little one. His mind lost. Stuck with those of the Ice clan who have been driven to the same fate." Arianna shook her head.

    "Why kill him? Eindride's father..."

    "No. No." was all she could say for a moment shaking her head and trying to hold back her emotions. "If you knew what your father had to do to bring back just one.. you would understand it is impossible to do so. That Eindride's father came back from his insanity at all is an illusion. Even with us he was feral. Please, daughter. Put Aric down." Arianna stared at her mother in disbelief for a long moment.. then shook her head and pushed from her.

    "One thing at a time." She said over her shoulder. She steeled herself and made her way to Vetis. She gestured for him to stand. "Let us go. I need to speak to Gunnar and arise an army." Vetis stood and nodded then guided her into the path that lead through some dark trees. She left her mother standing down that path watching over them. She would not look back.
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    Pulled into the Umbra Empty Suffer Well

    Post by Codex Thu Jan 07, 2016 12:52 am

    Pulled into the Umbra 23626068819_b2d3d22d2c_z

    Here, dragged entirely into the Umbra, Vida's fear ran rampant. When she walked the fine line between worlds, she was pacified: a conduit and a medium between the planes of the living and the dead. This was different. She was granted enough emotional and mental quarter to feel fear, and she did so in full force. She couldn't tell if she was trembling, yet she was certain she was. Touch barely registered, as well as sight, for the most part. The area was an unsettling darkness for as far as she could see, though she swore she saw the movement of much darker things out of the corners of her eyes...

    Her form remained hunched to the ground. She crept along at a slow, cautious pace with her unease apparent in every move she made and every vibration of energy that her being allowed to send out. Nothing looked familiar. Somehow, despite not feeling like she'd been dragged very far, she felt she was miles away from anything that would have been familiar to her.

    As Vida opened her mouth to cry out into the void, she found an unearthly chill in her throat that lingered after she'd been forcefully pulled through the Veil shortly after Arianna's passing. As it seemed - at least for now - she could not vocalize. She could not make a sound. Her panic grew.

    Never had she craved the safety of the Den so terribly. In all her life, Ásbjörn had been the only other living being like her who seemed to possess talents even remotely similar to her own - who kept close to her and kept her temper and her rage in check when it became too much for her to handle on her own. He too seemed able to enter the Umbra - but would he do it this time? Could he?

    The only thing Vida could feel in between her moments of fear and panic was hope. Someone would find her; someone would find Arianna. Someone capable of bringing her back would do so, because this was not how the Alpha was meant to meet her end. It also, Vida hoped, was not how the Spirit Walker was meant to end her own story.

    She found her fear was not one of Death, but a fear of unspoken words and unfinished business. She wished not to exit the mortal plane with questions in her wake; she wished to instead leave answers. In that moment, she felt she had far too much left to say to her mate, her packsister, her friends and packmates, to be forever trapped in the Umbra.

    Vida found herself wondering if she was purposely being kept away from her mother, or from Thies, or Fozz. Surely they would have spoken to her by then, assuming they'd been capable of it?

    Despite the constant darkness, a feeling of foreboding took her. Something was watching her; stalking her. It crept along at her pace, and judging from its lack of contact, it took a sadistic sense of joy in the sick feeling it caused in the pit of her stomach. Vida had never been more terrified in her life.

    Yet in the back of her mind, something about this was all too familiar, like a quick flicker of dark blurs and shapes before being yanked from the brink again.

    Was this what she had seen at her birth? Could she escape it this time too?

    Her head shook. As she tried to continue along, Vida came in contact with something that shocked and startled her backward. Her eyes went wide; she tried once more to approach, only to find herself cowering back again. Something was keeping her there. How long had she crept along the ground like a frightened pup? What was this?

    The dark mark at the base of her spine throbbed and pulsed as if it was trying to burst forth from the rest of her. She tried to growl, but her body still failed to make a sound. It was with great effort that the disoriented Spirit Walker pushed herself to her feet and tried to look around almost helplessly.

    Part of her feared this would be the last thing she would ever see.
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    Pulled into the Umbra Empty Vida's Torment and Kagura's Lies

    Post by Codex Fri Jan 08, 2016 2:37 am

    Pulled into the Umbra 23948113600_48b7ca731f_z

    Vida had, by that point, lowered herself back to the ground. She could not find her way around the area, nor could she find a way to go any farther. Lowering herself to the ground in a small sense of defeat, she sighed, folded her legs to the side, and stared toward the ground (or what she figured was the ground). Hope was a relatively foreign concept, and with no idea where she was going, she was forced to simply sit in place and hope for the best. Nothing seemed to be getting better, but luckily, nothing seemed to be getting any worse yet either...

    Kagura had a better view of what was going on outside Vida's cell. She circled a few times, smiling when Vida seemed to settle to the ground. Already giving up hope was a good start. She looked off to the side and watched as the spirit of Fozz cowered into his own cell backing away from images of his pack members falling one by one. He was harder to break. A yelp of pain escaped him and he started to run around his cell. "Silence him before he gets louder." Her eyes turned back to Vida quickly, angry and hoping that the sound did  not encourage the spirit walker to try again.

    Vida didn't seem to be particularly energized to try again. Rather, her fear picked up again. Perking up, she looked around with widened eyes and tried to locate the source. Perhaps Vida hadn't picked up that it was Fozz again, judging from the skittish way that she looked around and rose to a crouch. However, she remained hunched over, clasping her hands over her mouth and looking around in an attempt to see something; anything.

    Kagura smiled at this reaction. She again started to circle around the spirit walker, her glowing red eyes might have been caught a time or two through the darkness. Here, then there. "How useless you are." she said, it would echo through Vida's cell. "A call for help and all you can think is what danger you are in." It would be followed by a echoing growl of something and the scraping of claws against what could have been rock. "If it were any other, they would have jumped into action. Throwing themselves into danger.. but no.. not you." A soft chuckle followed.

    Vida blinked and darted her gaze about. Her pride was nipped at from the remarks, the echoing only grating her short-tempered fear further. Her mouth opened to make a sound; barely a hoarse whisper came forth. Better than before, but still not much. She at least managed to utter three words, her brow furrowing as she struggled to make sense of where she might have -ever- heard that voice before. "... Who... are you?..."

    Kagura paused and looked down at the beast next to her. She waited a moment listening to the barely audible voice that came from the spirit walker. "Hear that? it croaks like a toad." She chuckled then the shadows would seem to dim.. a light would appear on a scared face. "Oh sweet little toad, I doubt you would recognize me even if we had been introduced properly." a wicked grin and she was lowered down to Vida's level circling her once again, enough to see her body outlined. "What would you do if I mentioned a name you know? Perhaps..." She paused and looked around.. then shook her head. "Vetis?" She smiled, her glowing red eyes fixated upon Vida once more.

    Vida remained where she was. To keep her composure became more and more of an undertaking, especially without the soothing smoke from her mate's pipe that she'd grown used to being around. Her eyes darted about once she was able to see the outline of a body. As her eyes then began to narrow, she pushed herself to a stand, trying her best to follow the circling figure with her eyes. She didn't move again until Vetis' name was mentioned, at which point she stiffened, then tried to take a step toward her. "... What about him?" Her jaw tightened, her teeth clenching; she at least had managed to speak a -little- more clearly. She hadn't made the connection yet, but was suddenly becoming defensive.

    Kagura smiled wide, her teeth probably shown better than the rest of her. She slowly stood up eye to eye with the spirit walker. "Oh, I know how you two grew close.. or so you wanted it to. You know he never cared for you. He had no place else to go after all. But you kept driving him away. Back out into the wilderness where he was far happier to be than in your needy little arms." She stopped pacing for a moment and laughed. "Oh how happy he was to die. I saw the look upon his face.. free from you and your idiot pack members." She looked at Vida from the corner of her eyes, sure that she had found the right subject to taunt her with.

    Vida dipped her chin and bowed her head. She had to, lest her tormentor see just how much her words had already dug into her. As Vida's voice gradually returned to her, she let out a low growl and glared out toward her from beneath her brow. "I would not have been his first; he was able to return to his family. I understand now, and you're either lying... or entirely mistaken. He was not happy to be away from us; he was happy to be reunited with his family." In reality, she spoke not in confidence, but almost as if she tried to convince herself. Her stomach did its best to tie itself in knots, her hands balling and clenching into fists.

    Kagura raised a dark brow to the spirit walker's words. At first she had thought she went backwards until she noticed the hands turned to fists. She shook her head. "Oh, he was happy. See.. Well, there is no reason for me to keep this from you any longer. Arianna, your idiot leader." she scoffed slightly as if the spirit walker wouldn't know who she was talking about. "In a show of cowardice, murdered me. His new mate. I would have joined in the reunion had his kids not been there. I mean, now that he knows how they and his first mate died.." she paused and tried to reconsider where she was going with this. "Well, it wouldn't have worked. My true mate has always been Gunnar." She seemed to look away from the spirit walker for a moment off to something distant. "Yet I still would not have let him die the way you did. That was a pathetic fate for any. That and.." she turned back and the area seemed to become more clear, she would see another few dark figures circling around a form of a wolf. "I wouldn't have let so much happen to my own pack in general, as your alpha has done. I believe you might know this one as well." Just then she would see one of the shadow figures jab at the wolf and it would spin around, eyes wide with a yelp and a soft whimper. It was clear that it could not see what was happening to it either. "You should have seen the way he reacted when we showed him we had you and your alpha." She smiled. "So angry.. nearly managed to take out the cell he was in." Again, she watched, waiting for Vida to recognize Fozz.

    Vida would have gradually wilted into submission on her own at that rate, had things not taken a turn. Alone, she was uncertain of her own fate. All she knew was herself and the stranger who taunted her just out of reach, and had that continued to remain her only reality, it would have likely broken her. Of course, the moment she noticed the form of another, that began to change. She blinked and struggled to see in the darkness, watching the wolf and failing to yet recognize him. It took her a little longer, but the torment the other wolf endured jabbed at her in turn, causing her breath to catch in her throat. She stumbled back and looked toward the figure speaking to her as best as she could. "What are you doing to them?!" Kagura's words had continued to spur her, but she did her best to ignore them, even if it caused her unease to grow. But the more she tried to figure it out, the more it began to dawn on her - maybe. It at least seemed to. "Wait- ... no. That's not- ... Is that-..?" She tried to look toward the wolf again, growing tense once more.

    Kagura nodded. Yes this was how it would work. She seemed to raise her hand again and suddenly, as slowly as she pulled her hand forward the other image was being dragged and tormented by it cell every time it caught up with him. When it stopped Fozz kept moving forward till he hit the cell again, this time close enough for Vida to see. He stumbled back, his eyes still wide almost seeming to look directly at Vida but unseeing would start to look and move around. Adjusting himself to where the edges of his cage were now located. "Watch this." she said with a wicked grin to Vida. She tapped on the side of Fozz's cell and a blurred image appeared in the cell with him. Spun around Fozz growled at first then let out a soft heart broken whimper. "He is seeing Vetis' death for the first time." She said with that same wicked grin watching as Fozz shook his head. 'No.' that young voice of his kicked in finally. 'I can't believe it... They would not have done that to him.' She leaned in and started to speak to Fozz. "Oh but Fozz.. remember what they did to Mica? What about what their alpha did to me?" Fozz was looking directly at her. His ears pinned back and a low growl emitted. She then turned back to Vida. "See, we are showing them how your pack really works. I'll have my pack back one way or another. Vetis included. As for your alpha.. well.. Once we have your bear friend, your alpha's soul will simply be dismembered so she cannot interfere any longer." She gave a soft shrug. "Sunthor is on his way. Ludo too. We already have Eindride and Runa as well as a few omegas you didn't even notice went missing. What with you living in a little cave with your little teddy bear." She smiled, again her red glowing eyes would not leave Vida as she spoke.

    Vida felt her heart crack. The mere mention of what Fozz watched caused her heart to crack, but she said nothing of it. Instead, her realization took full effect and her eyes went wide. "Fozz?..." The lump in her throat returned and she fought to swallow it. "FOZZ!" Her voice came out as a hoarse scream, sounding older than she ever had, her throat scratchy and her body trembling. Believing that he could hear what Kagura was saying to him, she cried out desperately to him, inching toward the edge of her own containment. "WE TRIED TO SAVE HIM! WE DIDN'T WANT-..." And then, salt in the wound: threatening Ásbjörn, as well as those that remained outside of the Umbra. Her head slowly turned, an angry flash in her eyes once she located Kagura's own - if she could. "... Leave. Them. Alone."

    Kagura chuckled then full on laughed at the entire pathetic display. "He can't hear you." she shook her head. Then when she heard the tone she simply smiled and leaned her face up as close to the cell as she could without touching. "Or what toad? There is nothing you could do even if you weren't in this cell. Pathetic. Cowering behind Arianna and allowing her to play dirty because you couldn't bare the thought of getting your little toady feat dirty or chip a nail. Your Alpha will pay. The one's most loyal to her will be her images. She'll watch as Gunnar and I kiss and make love. She'll watch as I destroy Fozz.. she'll watch as you fade into a pathetic ball of whimpering puppy puddle. Before you die..." she smiled, her face showing nothing but pleasure. "I will let you watch all of it, including as I dismember and destroy your alpha's soul. Which, from what I heard, would be a shame.. supposedly she's something 'special' among our kind. There will never be another coward like her."

    Vida quickly shook her head as if trying to force every image and thought out of her mind. The female was getting to her by then, and quickly. To think of destroying Arianna's soul as Gaireth's had been - that in particular wrenched her further from fear and closer to rage. "LIES! YOU ARE MORE OF A COWARD THAN I COULD EVER BE! YOU ONLY GLOAT BECAUSE YOU FEEL SAFE WHERE YOU STAND!" It was then that she finally pushed toward the very edge of the cell, likely to make contact with it unless something stopped her beforehand.

    Kagura would not move from the cell. "oh oh oh. Poor little me. a cell is keeping me from saving my pack. We both know you're too weak. If i wanted you dead, I would have dismembered you first. No, I want your alpha to see how fucking useless you are first. I want you to see the disappointment in her face." She would not stop her from touching the cell wall. That is what she wanted Vida to do. She wanted Vida to be like Fozz, testing for a way out. "Even that pup was harder to contain than you. Course maybe if I allowed him to attack Arianna." She seemed to get a thoughtful look and chill along her shoulders as she shook them in excitement. "Oh how good that would be to watch your Alpha destroy him just to save her own soul. Perhaps I should set that up for you now. I bet you would enjoy watching them fight." She smiled wide. Waiting for the impact.

    Vida let out a blood-curdling scream as she surged forward to try and break and claw her way through the cell. In her moment of rage, it didn't strike her that this was a bad idea, nor did she think about what the effect might have been. She only began to wildly strike and scramble at the cell's wall for what was likely several moments, trying desperately to make any sort of progress in breaking free. After what felt to her like hours, with no sign of improvement, her body suddenly stumbled and lurched backward. She panted as she allowed herself a moment to sit, her chest heaving from exertion. Her head had begun to lightly pound - and this perhaps was what drowned out the small, burning sensation at the base of her spine as the dark mark on her spirit practically seemed to come to life and even gently pulse in its place. "You..."

    Kagura laughed through all of Vida's efforts, not once flinching or moving from the cell until she fell back. When Vida settled down she moved her hand up to her face as if she was wiping away a tear from laughter. "Me? HA!" she scoffed and shook her head. "Oh it has been a long time since I laughed so hard." she shook her head. Content with what she had seen and knew now that the spirit walker would only need a few more pushes to get her testing the walls of her cells like clockwork. "Can't even break through a tiny little cell wall. Your pack is doomed." she said and stepped back. Vida would now be enveloped with that same darkness she had seen before. She would no longer see Kagura but she would perhaps feel her still watching and listening.

    Vida growled again. Rather than continue to look in the direction of the voice, she looked away. As darkness once again closed in, she looked around herself and heaved a sigh. Her mind was trying to think of ways to break out of the cell, at least long enough to try and free Fozz and any others she discovered were trapped - but whatever the case, once her energy was back enough, it was more than certain she would continue trying to break free...
    Silvy Dean
    Silvy Dean
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    Pulled into the Umbra Empty Reunited.

    Post by Silvy Dean Thu Jan 14, 2016 7:52 pm

    Pulled into the Umbra 24016305149_969a7cb51e_zReUnited by absoluteschizo, on Flickr


    As Arianna followed Vetis she couldn't help but notice he was dropping back behind her. She turned to look at him then paused a moment seeing his eyes were to the ground. He looked sad. Slowly she turned to the opening at the end of the dark faded trees, and there sat Gunnar looking up at her with a soft smile upon his face. This is where, if she had a body, she might trip and stumble over her own feet. Instead she came closer then dropped down to her knees right next to him. She had not expected to feel this much after death. She knew that the spirits could become angry, and afraid, but never had she heard of them feeling the same emotions they felt in life.

    "Aria, it is good to see you, though I wish it were under better circumstances." Gunnar's voice was smooth and even. Not at all how she remembered it. She felt that familiar need to tear up and shook her head softly while looking at him. She forced a smile and reached up her hand to pet along side his face.

    "My heart, my passion.. My reason." she said referring to him. "I am so sorry." Before she could say more Gunnar embraced her to his chest.

    "No, do not be sorry. You had nothing to do with anything. You are not to blame. If anything, I am sorry for failing you. For dying when you needed me most." He said. She collapsed into his hug willingly. Her face cradled against his arm as she looked up into that.. young young face. She had forgotten how young he was when he died. How young she was... So long ago..

    He leaned down, placed his forehead to hers and nuzzled for a moment looking into her eyes. They stayed quiet a moment, her thoughts going back to when they first met. How in love with him she had fallen. How the thought of losing him never occurred to her until she lost him. How she was unable to stop for even a moment to mourn his passing. His brother, Annoth.

    "Annoth..." she started to say. Gunnar placed a finger on her lips and shook his head. Effectively shushing her next words.

    "You had more life to live. I could not have been happier that it was with him. I am sorry for your first born, but you had life to experience and children to have yet. I could never take that from you nor would I want too." He pet along her face and shook his head slightly again. Tears seemed to be welling up within his eyes. "But that is over now.. you're here. We are finally free from all that kept us apart. You do not have to leave. You can stay here with me." He said giving a soft kiss to her forehead. As Arianna heard these words she started to forget why she was there in the first place. She accepted this. She had been wanting this for a long time. Then it dawned on her.. She could not abandoned -their- pack.

    "That is something to talk about for another time, my love. We cannot abandon our pack just now. Vida needs us. Vetis needs us. Fozz and the others as well. We need to focus and get them free of this evil." Gunnar seemed to pause for a long moment holding her and looking into her eyes.

    "There is no one left. There are just a few of us here saved by the elder's magic. The rest are captured, destroyed or turned." He said in a soft tone. His grip upon her became tighter. "I will not let you go. It isn't fair. I have waited so long!" He started to squeeze her even tighter, something about him started to feel off... Then she saw Vetis hovering over them. He reached down and grasped hold of Gunnar's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

    "She is not saying 'No', Gunnar. She is saying you have just a bit more to do right now." Gunnar slowly started to relax and looked up to Vetis for a moment. "It'll be ok..." Vetis added. Gunnar seemed to nod then look back at Arianna, who by now was slightly startled by all of this.

    "It was happening again huh..." Gunnar said without looking back at Vetis. "Forgive me, Aria.. I am not completely myself here.. Just a moment longer Vetis?" With that, Vetis let go of Gunnar's shoulder and backed away out of view.

    "What is happening?" Arianna asked as she pushed to free herself from Gunnar's arms and sat facing away from him. The look she had seen on his face was that of a feral hound. Then she felt his arms wrap around her again, taking her hands in his and holding them up for her to see. He rested his chin upon her shoulder.

    "I was taken by them, but managed to escape. Listen closely. They will do whatever they can to destroy you there. Kagura is there..." Arianna started to speak but was quickly quieted by Gunnar's hands gripping her's slightly. "Wait, I do not know how long I have until my mind forgets where I am. Kagura has taken Fozz and a few others. Vetis' family as well. You will need to travel to the darker realm of the wraiths. It will not be easy. I will go with you to make sure you get there safely. If i can, I will destroy Kagura myself."

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    Codex
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    Pulled into the Umbra Empty Yet the Devil Rides

    Post by Codex Fri Jan 15, 2016 7:31 pm

    Pulled into the Umbra 24385058515_656903fb26_z

    Vida sat back and stared at the dark flickers of purple that showed her the boundaries of her prison. Her solitude was maddening, her torment even moreso. Kagura brought souls before her, just so the Spirit Walker could watch as each one was twisted and distorted. It placed even more pain upon upon her, and her anger only grew. Each time, she rose with a desperate scream and rushed the barrier to try and forcefully claw her way out. Each time, she became weaker.

    In between her outbursts, she was winded and tired, sitting upon the ground with lungs that somehow ached more than her heart.

    Kagura's sadism only grew bolder over time. Vida was in a lull when her jailer returned in an even 'better' mood than she'd been in previously.

    "Oh, toad!" she called, all to further poke the beast within and get her attention. "I have a present for you. You're gonna want to watch this..."

    Vida looked up with a glare, but she didn't speak. That same hard expression continued until she recognized the spirit Kagura had captured. In the dark-aura'd female's grasp was Lífa, Vetis' mate - causing another unnatural chill to overtake the captive Frost Fang. "No..."

    "Yes,"  Kagura practically cackled out as wraiths closed in on the frightened female. The Shadow Clan spirit took delight in the female's fear, as well as Vida's reignited desperation.

    "Let her go! Leave her alone!" Her pleading was desperate, her hands trying to break or tear open the barrier. Her eyes went wide: Kagura offered the spirit to the wraiths so that she could walk to the barrier with a smile, leaning in to speak in a quietly chilling tone.

    "So useless," she mumbled in a tauntingly sing-song tone. "What's going to happen to her, I wonder?" Her cartoonishly false concern for Lífa made Vida's blood boil.

    The pain that struck Vida next was excruciating. Lífa's spirit was practically torn to shreds by angry wraiths, causing her to let out a blood-curdling scream as her desperate attempts to break free were brought to a halt. She stumbled back, dropped to her knees, and doubled over in agony. "I'm so sorry..."

    Kagura seemed satisfied by this, but only for a time. She slipped away with a smug smile, only to return with three of Vetis' children, one by one, eldest to youngest. Vida's pain grew to see each of them destroyed, but the youngest tore at her heart the most. By the time the third had been destroyed, Vida was a crumple of torso and limbs on the ground, curled into a pathetic ball and sobbing hysterically. The dark mark burned more deeply into her back, but the pain slowly began to become commonplace enough for her to slowly feel more and more numb to it, the more it claimed the surface of her body.

    Standing before her, the Dark Shaman smiled through the barrier at the Spirit Walker, carrying her voice over her cries. "Yes, weakling! Cry! It's all you're good for!" She circled the cell with a deep snicker, her voice twisting and turning around Vida, who remained on the ground. "Your entire pack is at our mercy, and all you can do is cry. You did not deserve life; none of your clan do. Do you see now? Do you understand? Vetis was happy to be rid of you all, and because of you, he once again will be miserable..."

    Vida's sobs continued; she did not acknowledge Kagura this time. She instead stared at nothing.

    "...At least until we destroy him too."

    This drew another scream from the Frost Fang: a cacophonous mix between enraged and devastated.



    A rush of hope came to Vida after what seemed like hours or days, as well as another session of her own 'special' torture. Kagura had retrieved Fozz and had begun to beat him mercilessly before her very eyes, but the Spirit Walker had felt too worn down to continue to try to break through.

    It wasn't until Fozz seemed to gain the upper hand and further distract Kagura that Vida was inspired. The young wolven spirit snapped and growled at her, lunging and nearly sinking his teeth into her several times. Vida's eyes went wide as the barrier seemed to flicker and weaken; she felt her heart pound through her chest. This was her chance!

    Fozz! I'll save you! I won't let you be destroyed!

    She forced herself back to her feet and rushed the barrier, again wildly trying to entirely break it with everything she had. She was so hopeful, so certain... and so mistaken. She heard Kagura laugh as her energy drained even more rapidly, causing her to once again stumble back, winded.

    "Stupid toad," Kagura mumbled as she had Fozz dragged back to his cell. Vida could only watch. The dark figure once again approached the cell, increasingly smug each time that feeling of defeat grew within her captive. "We're going to let you see just how useless you are as we rip apart your clan, one by one, right in front of you..." Again, she leaned in, her burning red stare penetrating the barrier and sending an angry chill through the Spirit Walker's core. "... And then once they're all out of the way, you and I are really going to have some fun!"

    These were the words Kagura left to hang in the air as she once again left Vida alone to stew, disappearing into the blackness to watch her from a distance, and likely take delight in the futile attempts to break out of her spiritual cage.

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