[COLOR=GRAY][INDENT][INDENT][color=#ffffff]“Death has touched you before.” [/color]The baritone voice caught Lorcán off-guard, prompting the young man to spin around. He felt like he had been wandering these burning woods for weeks, the darkness closing on every side, just beyond the fire.

Despite the fire raging on all sides, Lorcán felt cold. His thoughts lucid, unfocused. His eyes were getting heavy, no doubt the smoke affecting him as his chest tightened, and his breathing felt strained. His eyes burned from sobbing and his nose felt congested as he tried to compose himself.

[color=#ffffff]“I mean you no harm.”[/color] The voice said again, Lorcán’s sunset-hued eyes darting back and forth through flame and shadow before realizing it was the raven on the bough above his head who spoke.

[color=#ffffff]“I am here to offer comfort, and eventually, guidance.”[/color]

[color=#fe650d]“I must be going out of my mind to be talking to a bird.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“If this form doesn’t comfort you,”[/color] The Raven replied, flying to the ground before standing, blue eyes met Lorcán’s own as hair the colour of a starless night fell from the woman’s head, covering a pale shapely form.

[color=#ffffff]“Then perhaps this one will,”[/color] She smiled, the baritone replaced with a melodic tone.

[color=#fe650d]“Whoa,”[/color] Lorcán took a step back, [color=#fe650d]“Nah brah, that form isn’t exactly one of [i]comfort[/i].”[/color] He replied, his eyes attempting not to wander along the hair that was just barely covering her modesty.

[color=#ffffff]“Then how about this?”[/color] The Raven asked, her body shrinking a few inches, the hair turning from black to copper. Leggings appeared over her lower half while the top was covered in a baggy sweatshirt. She was younger than Lorcán now.

[color=#fe650d]“You look like-”[/color]

[color=#FFFFFF]"[/color][color=#F6FBF9]Y[/color][color=#EDF7F3]o[/color][color=#E4F3EE]u[/color][color=#DCEFE8]r[/color] [color=#CAE7DD]g[/color][color=#C2E4D8]u[/color][color=#B9E0D2]i[/color][color=#B0DCCD]d[/color][color=#A8D8C7]i[/color][color=#9FD4C2]n[/color][color=#96D0BC]g[/color] [color=#8ecdb7]light."[/color] The Raven replied, holding out her hand, [color=#8ecdb7]“Come, I want to show you something.”[/color][/INDENT][/INDENT][CENTER][COLOR=#AC0D01][sup]________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/COLOR][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5504477][img]https://i.imgur.com/7BWn8qb.jpeg[/img][/url][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=#E64C09][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]The Northern Forest[/I] - [I]Dundas Island, Pacific Ocean[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=#E64C09][b]Take On Me #3.025:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Live and Let Die[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][COLOR=#AC0D01][SUP][sub]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][INDENT][sub][color=#E64C09][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I]None[/i][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=#E64C09][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Right Next Door to Hell[/I][/right][/SUP]
[INDENT]The insect humanoid paused, looking at the interlopers, her wings beating rapidly into a barely registrable blur. Sharp hairs and jagged pieces of chitin protruded from the exo-skeleton that covered whatever humanity was left underneath.

She had appeared from within the trees, a drowning sound of buzzing wings nearly rendered all other noises inaudible as she hovered whilst circling the three trespassers. Her body shape was human, but that’s about where the similarities ended as it was buried beneath a grotesque exterior.

Her compound eyes looked from Cass with disinterest to Aiden, as a faint familiarity washed over her face before being displaced by apathy. The filthy four-legged mammal was of no concern to her, but upon turning to the female, the insectoid’s mandibles vibrated aggressively. The female threatened her sovereignty and couldn’t bear another laying claim to her throne.

This was her territory, she was the Queen. And the Queen had entertained enough trespassers for one week and now more had come to her forest. First was the monster from the other world and then the students. Now more from the school had come, one that [i]she[/i] remembered but [b]she[/b] did not.

But she could not abide a threat, especially not a direct one. The female interloper had already attacked her once. It had been an underhanded assault, an insult not easily forgiven and the Queen was not in a forgiving mood.

Forgiveness was a human emotion and they had made it very clear, she was no longer human. She turned back to the graying male, hovering closer, prompting him to take a step back, an arm outstretched, protecting his young.

Finally, a human action she could at least begrudgingly respect.

It was in taking a step back that Aiden's eyes were drawn upwards once again to the numerous hives that dotted the branches above. Only then did the older male begin to connect the dots. This was not a chance encounter, this was her colony.

He had heard of the Hornet, the Swarm Queen when he was an agent. One of the first incarcerees of the Black Site, the Hornet had been a special case and left to build her colony outside the prison complex. But with the Black Site gone, and the island compromised it had sent the Queen elsewhere.

And now they were on her land.

[color=#ef5e49]“This is a person,”[/color] Aiden hissed towards the woman with a shotgun. [color=#ef5e49]“I cannot allow you to kill her.”[/color]

[color=#816c90]“Do you want to live and let it die?”[/color] The woman snapped back, [color=#816c90]“Or would you rather that the other way around.”[/color] 

[color=#ef5e49]“She was displaced by actions beyond her control,”[/color]

[color=#816c90]“And that’s exactly why she needs to be put down.”[/color] The woman snapped back, [color=#816c90]“Boy, talk some sense into your old man.”[/color] 

At the tone of her voice, the Queen turned her hostility fully on to the woman in front of her. Fingertips tipped with razor sharp barbs curled and uncurled eagerly. 

And then the entire world went white.

[color=#8aaceb]“Run!”[/color] Cass yelled, shielding his eyes from his own flashbang before grabbing Aiden’s arm and pulling him towards the treeline. Moving through the brush, the sound of the shotgun discharging echoed behind them. A haunting howl from Rothschild filled the forest before the dog was suddenly between the two men while they moved.

[color=#ef5e49]“That woman is going to get herself killed,”[/color] Aiden yelled over the snapping of brush beneath their feet, [color=#ef5e49]“You keep going, I have to go back.”[/color]

At his words, Rothschild seemed to bark in protest before Cassander  spoke up.

[color=#8aaceb]“I’m not going back there and telling Aunt Tori you played hero and left me to be the messenger,”[/color] He replied,[color=#8aaceb]“I’m coming too.”[/color]

A low growl filled the air as Rothschild stood in their path. Aiden looked down at the dog before moving to step over him. Rothschild planted himself firmly in the older man’s way again, repeating this several times before Aiden pushed past the dog and ran back to the clearing. 

Breaking free of the treeline, Aiden found the ground beneath his feet suddenly transitioned from the soft forest floor to a distinct crunch. Looking down, he realized the ground was littered with the carcasses of the numerous insects from earlier. The axe blade of the strange hybrid weapon was lodged into a nearby tree and the woman’s body lay on the ground, seemingly unmoving as Aiden tentatively approached. 

[color=#8aaceb]“Is she…dead?”[/color] Cassander asked, as Aiden paused, listening for the Swarm Queen to return. The forest was silent, void of any of its previous noises. Rothschild’s footprints broke the silence as the dog happily trotted across the field of dead bugs. 

Approaching the woman, Rothschild sat beside her before nudging the woman with his wet nose. He gave her a lick that ran the entire length of her face before she suddenly gasped and sat up. Cassander watched the scene unfold, surprised when the woman’s hood fell off, her long wavy, brunette hair spilling out while her green eyes met Cassander’s own emerald ones.

[color=#816c90]“You two are morons.”[/color] The woman replied standing before dusting herself off. Walking straight past Aiden, she gripped her weapon with one hand and easily removed it from the tree trunk before collapsing it into a holster.

[color=#ef5e49]“What did you do with her?”[/color] Aiden asked, his eyes scanning for a body.

[color=#816c90]“I sent her somewhere she can truly be free,” [/color]The woman responded, [color=#816c90]“Your island should be safe until another Conjunction now, both her and the wendigo are dealt with.”[/color]

[color=#ef5e49]“The wendigo?”[/color] Aiden asked.

[color=#816c90]“Don’t worry about it, Hype,”[/color] The woman replied again, [color=#816c90]“Just know you and your students are safe.”[/color]

[color=#ef5e49]“What happens if a wendigo had already attacked a student?”[/color] Aiden asked, [color=#ef5e49]“My son was attacked by something in these woods. He’s suffering right now and they have no idea how to help him. What would that kind of injury look like?”[/color]

[color=#816c90]“Never heard of that happening, especially to a Hyperhuman.”[/color] She replied, her tone softening to the older man’s plea.  [color=#816c90]“But the injury would look like decaying flesh, and it’d have an awful smell. You could slow the spread with a salve of crushed chrysanthemums, maybe amputation as a last resort. Wendigos are tricky creatures, typically they seek to devour the Überseele in an effort to both feed and multiply.”[/color]

[color=#ef5e49]“We grow chrysanthemums in the greenhouse,”[/color] Aiden said, turning to Cass, [color=#ef5e49]“We need to hurry back.”[/color]

[color=#8aaceb]“How’d you even find this place?”[/color] Cassander asked the woman, “[color=#8aaceb]You’re clearly not a Hype.”[/color]

[color=#816c90]“It wasn’t hard,”[/color] She smirked, [color=#816c90]“Nice trick back there,”[/color] The brunette said, lifting her chin towards Cassander,  [color=#816c90]“Stupid, but nice work.”[/color]

Rothschild barked seemingly in agreement.

[color=#8aaceb]“Surprised the dog likes you so much, he doesn’t take to strangers.”[/color]

[color=#816c90]“He’s not a dog.”[/color] The woman responded looking at Cass with an expression that he couldn’t help but feel insulted by. [color=#816c90]“Go help your friend,”[/color]

[color=#8aaceb]“Can’t you stay and help,”[/color] Cass asked, [color=#8aaceb]“We don’t even know your name.”[/color]

[color=#816c90]“Ellara,”[/color] She responded, [color=#816c90]“See you around.”[/color] 

Ellara winked before a glyph on her collarbone began to glow and she vanished from sight.

[color=#ef5e49]“Pick up your jaw,”[/color] Aiden patted Cassander on the back, [color=#ef5e49]“We have to see if this helps Lorcán.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/color]