Maria ran. The fog closed up behind her. It was heavy with twilight. She was chasing, not running.
When the shuttle exploded behind her, she knew she had made a mistake. Smoke stained the forest, and her role reversed. She turned towards the distant flames. She knew then that she was the last.
When she turned back, it was standing in front of her.
Maria drew her gun and made a sound that splintered the peace. When the last shot faded, she blinked away the noise.
It hovered there, in pristine white clothes, bare feet lifted ever so slightly up from the forest floor. It wrapped its hand around her wrist, the other around her gun. "Not so much," it said in its oh so human voice, and pulled the weapon from her grip.
It tossed her gun carelessly out into the roots. They caught, and it was lost forever. Maria felt its blackened claw loosen on her hand. She tore it off.
"Fine," she said. "You win. Fuck you. Die."
It settled on the ground, bare feet finding purchase on a root. Already the flames were dying. Her light was fading from the woods, and the visitant's were returning. "I guess I do," it said. "You played well."
"Fuck you."
"I'm sorry. I understand this means a lot to you. I shouldn't be so lighthearted." It crossed a resting arm over its belly and bowed slowly. "I'm sorry we never spoke. There's so much I would have told you, if I could."
"Like what."
The visitant pursed its lips. "I really wish I could tell you." It looked like it was about to say something else, but did not.
Maria didn't realise she was crying until after she had blurted her words. "FUCK you! Fuck your cryptic shit! You killed everyone! You fed them to raptors and you ENJOYED it! And now you sit here to apologise like a-" choke. "You're a fucking animal!"
When she next looked, it was in the clarity of quiet, punctured only by her own gulps. The spirit was still there. Its mouth was slightly open. It stood on a back foot, two steps back, one hand held slightly up to shield from the outrage.
"I'm..." the sound of its voice made it realise that words were not sufficient, but it had nothing else to say. "...Sorry, Maria."
"Fuck yooouu," she said, curling up on the ground. She put her head in her knees. "Fuck you. Fuck you."
The spirit looked away, uncertain and full of shame. Maria wept. It twitched about with its hands.
"This place... your space ship... It will be beautiful again, I swear it. I'll honour their graves every year. There'll be pine flowers, and mushrooms... I'll send dactyls to nest in the ruin. Beautiful things will come out of all this. Promise."
She poked her head out and looked at it, wordless.
"I know that's not enough. But I'll do what I can. It's my fault we didn't talk more. I'll do better, next time. Promise."
"...thank you," she mumbled.
It looked down and away. It shook its head. "I see now that I've been cruel. I'm sorry, Maria. Sorry."
Its body followed its gaze and for the first time Maria heard its footstep. She stood up and looked at it. It turned slightly to meet her gaze.
"Are you letting me go?"
The visitant cocked its head at her. "No," it said, as the feathered raptor clawed through the ferns. "Why would you think that?"
Maria tried to run. The visitant watched her fail.
Is this entire subforum actually just a massive dumping ground for characters I make on a whim and use for a single post only to abandon forever? Science may never know
The Visitant (Lawful Neutral) - Taidana (True Neutral) - Virgil Smithereen (Lawful Evil) - Ayem Moestadja (Neutral Good) - Smudge Pixelby (Lawful Good) - Giggles (Chaotic Evil)
Gifts
- (5) A living touch
- Calign is conditionally incorporeal. All matter that is not alive will pass through it without interacting unless it chooses to make itself fully tangible again.
- Matter that intersects with it when it chooses to leave intangibility will be expelled from the space it occupies, sometimes violently.
- However, any matter composing an entity capable of growth, motion, reaction, and evolution will always be able to touch Calign's body, bringing it into tangibility. The amount of flesh that becomes tangible depends on the toucher's 'magnitude', which seems to correlate with size, age and intelligence. Airborne bacteria make almost no contact with Calign, and a brush with a lichen will affect little more than the affecting fingers, but standing in the boughs of a tree will leave it fully corporeal even if the only contact is the sole of a foot. Should a human shake hands with it, its arm, shoulder and a substantial portion of its torso will become corporeal.
- (4) Now you see me
- Calign can turn transparent to electromagnetic signals at will, rendering itself invisible.
- (2) Float like a butterfly
- Calign chooses exactly how much it is affected by gravity. It may be weightless or three times the weight its body appears to be, whenever it does so please.
- (3) Whisper sweet nothings
- Calign's voice is different to all those who hear it. It can be understood in all languages and comprehended by all living things. Whether this is a form of telepathy or something else is not currently known, as acoustic analysis of the voice of God is inadvisable.
- Sapient organisms typically experience no short-term compulsive effects from this voice, though they are known to find it soothing, or otherwise 'pretty' or 'luscious'. Simpler minds, however, may come to consider Calign their greatest ally and closest friend. Animals will serve the spirit loyally if it does not violate their existing instincts and affections. A dog will not betray its master.
- (4) Pandora's Box
- When it has grown familiar with an ecosystem, and touched closely with its inhabitants, Calign can begin to call elder spirits to its aid. These form from fog, or otherwise from obscuration, and resemble a creature from that environment that has followed an alternate evolutionary path.
- Elder spirits may be substantially stronger, faster, smarter, and more venomous than their model species. They are fully corporeal and behave as living beings that have been under Calign's spell for a very long time. They rarely last for more than a few hours or days, and at the end of this time they return to the mystery from whence they came.
- An elder spirit may manifest as several organisms at once, depending on the natural size of that organism's society. A pack of wolves, a solitary fox, a colony of ants, and so on.
- For whatever reason, Calign can only conjure a single elder spirit to its aid at once. Should any part of it die, its body must be returned to obscurity in order for Calign to summon a new one. That is, it must be veiled from observation for a particular amount of time, usually about a day.
Flesh
- (3) I am strong
- Calign's body is well trained. Its stamina is greater than an unmodified human, its reflexes are faster, its limbs stronger. Calign has keen senses and long practice in their use.
- (3) I am vigorous
- The resemblance to humanity appears to be only skin deep. Calign's flesh appears to be a human form reverse-engineered by some mindless force. Its internal organs are arranged differently and made of a different substance, more plant than fauna.
- Notably, Calign's nervous system is decentralised, and like a starfish, it is capable of regenerating lost parts of its body rather than simply healing. The pace of recovery is slightly faster than that of an unmodified human, turning months of recovery time into weeks, and days into hours.
- The organs unknown perform functions unknown and reclaim energy from mysterious sources. Calign does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe.
- (2) I am ancient
- It is unknown when Calign came into power over its world. It is known that it has learned nearly all there is to know thereof. Calign knows the hidden places. Calign understands how to hide its step and take it quickly. Calign can hunt with the raptors.
Belongings
- (1) Simple white robes
- These display the same curious properties as Calign's body, in that they are only tangible at will or in contact with a living being.
- (2) My pipe
- A simple pipe with which Calign smokes a soothing haze. It may be enchanted of its own accord, as Calign has never been seen to actually light it. Calign seems wont to forget it in strange places, and will always come looking for it if it is found.
- Does this also follow the rule of intangibility, or has Calign simply hidden thousands of them away in various locations all over the planet? None can say.
Idiosyncracies
- (?) I'm sorry.
- Calign seems to be resigned to something.
- It's unclear what this may be.
- Maybe some long-forgotten duty. Maybe some failed quest.
- You can ask it, but I don't think it knows.
- (?) Oh, hello!
- Calign bears the distinct naivety of someone who is trying to be a good person, but doesn't know how.
- It's all in vain, anyway. The nature of its duty is such that it cannot afford to be.
- Calign isn't fully aware of this, yet.
- I think that's for the better.
- (?) Can you teach me?
- Even to the people it is obligated to kill, Calign is curious and amicable.
- In fact, its otherworldly duties are so esoteric that they seem more like a misguided child's games than any threat.
- More than anything, Calign just wants to spend time with its victims, learning new things and easing its loneliness.
- It's hard to stay in the woods when the light of the fire is flickering just outside.
