Orb of Purity [IC]

[DarkEternity]

"I am fine...", the man explained, giving himself more discomfort than before. His left arm felt like it was crushed, and it probably was. A slight glance to the flower made him chuckle. "Chew'ara is not a wonderful healing herb... It is used to create attractants, and you can wake up any person with enough energy in their bones."
The man lied there, simply waiting for the moment to kick in. He knew what was happening once he was injured, and he disliked it. His breathing increased, as his heart was beating heavier and heavier, about to let him kick in the seizure of his new anatomy.
His right arm twitched as if it was in a tremor, and the man's whole body shivered, as his wounds were oozing black liquid, which quickly hardened into the same material that covered the rest of his body. A loud, deep breath made clear that it was over.

"I am fine", he mumbled again, as he slowly covered his body in the heavy cloak again. The gloves were slid on his hands, and the hood securely covering his abysmal face.

With Kay's little drama, the man only wondered how the two have survived this time. They lost a jeep, their belongings, and now they have gone into an argument about the whys, the whos, and the whatevers. "Purity is happening. This place is just a giant stick being pushed in your sphincter with such a thrust that it rips those apart not having the balls to go against it." He listened to the songs that Kay sung. Walking up to the tax officer, the man grabbed him and pulled him up. The dark eyes flashed out of the hood.
"Why don't you grab your balls, and get something done? All what I see now in my grasp is a crying child, wanting to be found by it's parents. Your mommy and daddy are not here! Wake up! You are in hell!"

[CaptainQ]

Edda watched and listened to the dark, skinny man who seemed to be a native to purity. "..chew-.. Chew..ara huh?" such a word was hard to pronounce on Edda's otherwise Germanic/nordic tongue. She looked to the flower, enjoying it's beauty and lulling glow, looking fondly at it. "Attractants...?" While she wasn't entirely familiar with the word, like most people she broke it down to simply the word 'attract' and took a guess.
"..like...a perfume?" She had to take a glance at Kay, putting their personal feud aside.
"Why would we want to use an' attractant? Wouldn't we rather be avoiding things?"
In some sense she was glad to be focusing on something else other than the squabble.. She really wished she didn't have to deal with it but Edda knew sooner or later if they don't patch things up, it'll boil over...

She turned to Kay slowly and began, "Kay..-" But in that instant Edda heard the mans erratic breathing and in horror she watched the skinny dark man go into some sort of convulsive fit. His dark blood coagulated and hardened to create a new dark shell over his mangled arm, "...oh.." Edda was both rendered speechless and disgusted by the insane display of regeneration before her. She brought up a hand to her face but then remembered that one of her own hands had become black again and it only took seconds to realize that it had overtaken most of her arm. But it also did look eerily similar to what the dark man had around his whole body.
Truthfully Edda was afraid to ask.. She'd be damned if it wasn't what she suspected it to be and she'd be damned if it was...
"..Im sorry but.. I don't know what to call you." Edda figured she'd break the ice if she was going to have some sort of dark hardened kin buddy running around with her. "I am Edda Diedricht and this is Kay Brent.." What harm is it in exchanging names here in purity? it's not like he'd be able to steal their credit cards and use an' ATM somewhere around here.
The Dark man was obviously a man, she knew that much particularly in the way that he talked to Kay. In some regard she thought that maybe some tough love would get him up and going again but she saw how much he was in pain and listened to his whine about continuing on, even if it was just a whine. So Edda figured she shouldn't burn what was left of their bridges already.. "Please don't talk to him like that..he's just in pain.." Even if they were at odds right now and even if Edda did seem like a snake in the grass, she still felt the need to protect Kay.

[wXw]

Kay Brent

He's fine, thought Kay, yeah yeah, he's fine. The cracking ninja turtle, despite being fine, was giving quite the show of his life. Whether it was to be considered a hero, a savior, or a circus freak, the tax offcer was not sure. It was already creepy enough to give Kay the shivers. What would he do if he were not fine? wondered Kay before deciding to ignore him, and ... her ...

The muttering and chattering continued in the background of his thoughts. It was a disturbing nuisance to which Kay had no remedy but insist in his stubborn alienation. He wanted to go home, away from both of them, from everybody. There was a strong feeling of having dreamed dreams of stupidity, of stupid friendship and even more stupid affection. She, the woman! Kay shunned the thought and turned to his children songs. They could last until they were gone, and then he would freely think of what to do.

That was his plan.

It was. Until a dark creeper began shaking him, shouting with heavy breath and sticky memories that landed on Kay's face with unpleasant harshness. The simple man from upstate New York had no time to react, no time to even feel afraid, he was just shaken and confused, slowly beginning to worry for his own survival in a land where they just won't let you alone. His wide-open eyes jumped from the freak, too close to be able to stare at him, to Edda, too much loaded with other memories to bear her sight, to the darkness lingering ahead.

-I... I...- Kay felt the need to apologize when Edda cut through. She wanted to protect him, and defend him, and despite Kay's heart being filled with a sense of warmth and forgiveness, his resentment surged, quicker. -Fuck you!- he spit the words in the face of the dark man -I don't need you- he gnarled in Edda's direction, and added -any of you! You go to hell. I go home!- Kay waved his hands, fluttering like a captured butterfly, trying to free himself from the clutch of the stranger. -Leave me! Let. Me. Go!-

-Let me go!- he repeated, his voice already breaking in despair.

[CaptainQ]

Edda watched in sadness as she found that Kay's defiance was still in full swing, was he really going to go by himself? She was hurt a second time as Kay announced his independence from her, and seemed to wage an' anarchy against her.
So Edda decided to stand by and let him scuffle boots with the dark man, biting her lip, desperately wanting to just shake her head in confusion and even slight resentment..
How could he say that? After the all the ground they've covered? they've some so far.. So none of it mattered enough to him to make an' appoint to stay together? It all wasn't reason enough?
Edda stood frozen, briefly remembering the night before and how they got a little steamy, but cuddled tenderly in the end.
Edda felt like slapping Kay across the face and telling him how dare he do this to her-how ridiculously foolish, Ed..!

Apparently even the oppressed and quiet ones want just as much out of a woman as any other asshole of an alley cat at a bar..
"Fine.." She said finally, swallowing guilt and bitterness. "..If you don't want to be with me anymore-then.. I can't stop you.." Edda knew that she'd probably never forgive herself for this, but what more could she do?
Taking a deep breath she turned around abruptly and gathered her MP and her stave, she turned to the dark, gangily man who was still tussling with Kay and she projected her voice at him "Leave him alone.. He doesn't want to come with us...just leave him.."
swallowing one more time, trying to keep the lump in her throat down, Edda picked the blue rose delicately from it's pedestal and slowly moved deeper into the cave on her own, fading quickly and quietly into to darkness eternal..

[wXw]

Kay Brent

The moment Kay heard Edda's words, his heart gave a noise similar to broken glass. The thousand shards of his trust fell to the floor of the dark cave for the wind to sweep away. Deep inside his throat, a silent call screamed without a sound. Noooo, cried his broken heart, don't leave me here. But he said nothing. Just a blank stare at the deep wound that he had called upon himself.

-Great!- he said at last, his mouth sticky with dried regret -Go. It is better. Bye.-
He cried inside himself, with warm tears that never found their way to his face. He would have given his life for that stranger, but she left him. Ah cruel world! So much of an illusion you fed into Kay's heart, that by pulling it away he might lose it all.

Acid with defeat, the big fat man stared at the darkness. He could not believe that the woman left. Did she find the other guy to be more reassuring? Guy? That freak? She definitively had some strange taste! Or, maybe, they were going to wait for him in the dark and stab him to death, and feast upon his dying flesh. Kay was certain Edda could do that, and never regret it. Fine, he thought, I am here, alone and unarmed, what could go worse?

[DarkEternity]

The drama around the man made him just boil in anger. He almost wanted to choke Kay, but he heard how they wanted to split up. He obliged, and followed the woman that was just defending her point the whole time he was with them. He did not want to end up with some guy that cannot stop crying like a baby... plus he was the one with the worse physique of the two. A run, and he would listen to some real and actual crying that mattered.

As the Chew'ara was taken from it's roots, the glow immediately fainted, and the scent rose even more. The dark man followed Ed, but was unsure where she was going. He would have prefered the way to the glint of light that he saw. It would have lead to another exit per chance.

Just before he fully disappeared out of Kay's sight, he gave him a dark glance, and then dropped a small 9mm pistol on the ground, and two spare magazines. After that, he just wrinkled his nose, and followed Ed.

As silence settled around Kay, so did something else. Grumbling, shuffling, and rock moving slowly emitted from the darkest corners, and the small room in which Kay was started to light up a little. From cracks and fissures, the light flared out, and revealed to be a small group of Flaresects. They made the horrific sound of rock crackling, as they burrowed their way through. They were not interested in Kay, though, and slowly crawled their way into the direction the man and Ed disappeared.

[CaptainQ]

Edda looked at the flower she had picked, it had dimmed considerably and it's smell wasn't as potent anymore. Unlike the powder the old man gave them, Edda wasn't entirely sure how to store it.. she didn't like the idea of shoving it into one of her jeans pockets, so she turned to the darkman who replaced Kay's spot alongside her.
"...Do you have a jar for this thing or...? I don't really know what to do with it to be honest.."
As they walked, Edda kept her ears open for Kay's voice, hoping that maybe he'd calm down and catch up to them before they had gotten to far away from him. She purposely walked slow..
But as she replayed Kay's voice, " I don't need you- Go to hell" it became more difficult for her to keep waiting up. Had he really made his choice?
Maybe this new guy could provide some distraction..
"So- ah.. " Edda tried, " ...Since you didn't give me your name- can I call you mr. beefy jerky?" She chuckled darkly, what a wonderful way to say 'if i get hungry enough I might eat you.'

[wXw]

Kay Brent

As soon as the glowing faded, Kay gave no sign of life. Instead he stood immobile, holding his breath in the darkness. His plan was simple: to wait long enough until rescue would come. The reserve plan was to walk back slowly to the entrance and find a way out of the cave. In any case, he was going to wait until the voices of the two unwanted friends would disappear forever in the bowels of the world of Purity.

Speaking of bowels, Kay had a strange feeling. It seemed as if something below him groaned and rumbled like a gigantic starving stomach. At first it was just a faint tremor, which he barely noticed. Then it grew in a series of scattered rumbles. Then a stronger tremor. And finally the surface cracked open, releasing the ultimate fear hidden within the heart of Purity. Flaresects.

Kay was paralyzed with terror. Only his teeth rattled, bouncing against one another, uncontrolled. His fat soft hands, instead, were locked, immobile in the painful spasm that contracted every single muscle in his body. He could see the swarm rising, crawling and flowing, like the huge hand of Death searching for its worthy game. Kay closed his eyes tightly and prepared to welcome the end.

After a few moments that seemed like hours, nothing happened. He opened one eye and he saw with relief that the insects were not apparently interested in him. Instead, they were moving in Edda's direction. Kay's face, following the drop of tension, bounced, making him look like a melted marshmallow. He was safe! Slowly, carefully, on his tiptoes, he tried to crawl away, as far as possible from the stinging monsters. Fear canceled the pain in his body, and the urgency and fragile balance of his situation clouded his mind from warning his, yet unaware, ex-friends.

Not far from him stood a gun, with bullets, but it was too close to the insects to be an attractive solution. He would run away, and eventually come back later to gather the tool. All that he needed then was just a couple of miles in between him and the deadly swarm.

[DarkEternity]

"Look, names don't matter...", the man tried to explain, until Ed gave him that nickname. For a moment, he looked at the woman in front of him with the thought of what was laid in his hands with her company. A part of him regretted not watching the bloody feast of the creatures that were close by. Maybe he would have joined in, letting his teeth drown in blood, as they rip off flesh of the soft skin of the woman...

Violently shaking his head, the man let go of the thought, and turned his attention to the rather funny nickname. "...No! Just no! Call me Stranger, Pariah, or even Bastard... but not...", he gulped down the bitter taste of saying such a stupid thing. "Mister Beefy Jerky..." He was about to barf on his words.

The Flaresects did nothing, until they were close by Ed and Pariah. Then, the creatures let out a thrilling, simultaneous tone, and charged at the two. Their rage only drawn by the simple scent of the Chew'ara. Quickly, Pariah leaped between Ed and the first approaching Flaresects, and slashed them with a spike from his shoulders. He was not sure whether to fight them all off, or get going.

The sky outside grew dark, as some strange phenomena in the climate occured, wrapping the whole mountain area in a thick layer of sand, blinding the sunlight, and brushing through every possible spot. The entrance of the cave was quickly getting covered in dust and sand, as a gust pushed it's way into it. Just with that, a loud mechanic howl echoed into the cave, and something tried to claw it's way through the passage.

[wXw]

Kay Brent

"Nooo!" whined Kay as soon as a mountain of sand poured in from the only entrance he knew of. He jumped in it, digging with his bare hands, but the wind was just too strong and the sand too thick for the large man to reach anywhere. Stuck! He was stuck in the gallery with the glowing insects and two blood-thirsty killers. He knew he had to be smarter than street-smart if he wanted to survive, and, maybe, even outlive those that abandoned him.

First, he had to be quiet, to make absolutely no noise, to be like the shadows, like whispers in the night, like the night itself, dark and silent. Second, he had to be alert, very alert, alert to every sounds, every suspicious hole, everything out of place, everything in general. This time, falling for the open mouth in the sand was not going to be an easy rescue. Third, he had to get a weapon worth of such name. The closest was still the gun that the ugly guy dropped in front of him. Unsure of whether to trust it, Kay decided that, in the worst case, he could always just throw it at any opponent.

Slowly, and silently, Kay crawled in pain. He crawled scratching his knees and swiping the bottom of the cave with his belly. Every few inches he would stop and listen, worriedly looking for any incoming danger, insects above all.