[IC] Yoshua171 vs Fallenreaper

[Fallenreaper]

Hell's Eden: Meeting Jackels

Hider

Hissed sounds filling the scene while what seemed to be water, acidic and undrinkable, rapidly rushed in small water falls and connected into a small stream that disappeared into the hellish landscape. Currently in a world that often killed its inhabitants, the floral thrived in abundant groves bring greenery to an otherwise grime land. Briefly breaking the bleak sensation given in this terrible land. Stone that seemed older then time itself now crumbled, their spell of immortal broken as roots teared their fragile lives apart. Sunlight brought in the hazy light peeking through the roofless building and highlighting the scene around, flooding the place in a serene experience to any foolish to wander in.

In the dead center, the reason, a contrasting creature to the beauty around, lounged in slumber. Seemingly made of granite and fiery substance laying deep inside their core, three heads inhaled and exhaled softly letting sparks flicker out each time. Their breathing was the only thing that showed they weren't some misplaced statue. Slowly they stirred. Four, bright yellow eyes jerked open suddenly before their first hand like paw shifted to push them up. Crackling sound erupted from its skin, small pebble pieces crumbing off, as they stood onto their feet. Several tendrils with the same granite appearance whipped back and forth, more flesh like then the rest, giving their skin a sense of something superior to the hard stone the color mimicked.

The middle head pivoted around the scene. Eyes narrowed and seeking, ears erect while their pads felt the ground in their domain. Their left head still laid with muzzle pressed to their narrow jointed chest and giving small wheeze every so often. Right, however, was tilted completely backwards. The neck angle would've been uncomfortable for any natural beast, nearly twisted in a three hundred and sixty degree angel, providing a keen view behind them.

Nothing. No trace of live other then beast in the middle of what seemed to be an Eden.

Middle growled, voice low and threatening, before he spoke. “Nahibalo ko nga ikaw didto, maglatagaw. ^*”

^{*I know you're there, wander.~translated to Cebuano on Google Translator}

[yoshua171]

The Ashen Flame

"I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name."

---

His path having once more led him to lands unknown to his tired eyes, the man continued on. The water here was undrinkable and most beasts that dwelled were dangerous to hunt, and bitter to the tongue. He had resorted to testing various fruits, berries, and whatever else he could find. He had been sick thrice in the past two days, but he had at least discovered what was edible and what was not--even if he had almost died in the process.

Taking in a deep breath, the same phrase ever present in his mind, the wanderer felt an odd sensation as he entered what he immediately coined the ruins of Eden. It looked a safehaven, but he could not know what might live within its tattered walls.

He thus treaded with due caution, his eyes weighed by heavy bags, and his body by light exhaustion.

This wanderer was always tired. Whether he slept or not did not matter it seemed, but he did not know why.

With each step his traveling boots dug patterns in the soil and his breath grew ever so more ragged, but he did not falter. "I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name," he said only to himself, though his voice rung out, clear and true. If not bearing the exhaustion apparent in his movements.

Intuitively, and without conscious thought, his left hand drifted to the hilt of his ever sheathed blade. Its grip was warm. Warmer than his surroundings, warmer even than his body. With each step its temperament grew and the heat increased, warming his hand, then him, then his surroundings. "I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name,..." he stated once more, taking in a deep breath as the Flame rolled through his being.

"...and the Flame it kindles, its warmth spreading throughout, though my touch would burn all others." His eyes narrowed ever so slightly and a certain fire began to burn in their amber cores. Focus as sharp as a well honed dagger could be clearly seen on his face as he entered the ruins, seeking shelter for a brief rest. Should anything confront him, he would deal with it then. For now he need search for a comfortable place to lay.

It would take some time.

[Fallenreaper]

First Strike

Every piece of this area was connected to him as much as he to it. It was a line drawn at birth. Older then even he could recall and set by a higher power, a power which demanded respect and shadowed his own in comparison. It was to this power he answered to. To guard and kill all those foolish to wander here, a command he couldn't disobey even if he wanted to. This was his purpose.

Jackels could sense the movement's source drawing closer before the man appeared. Each step was thundering in his core raising from his paws to his center, registering in his mind for a moment. The information was completed when he finally turned to the man approaching his ruined eden.
Jackels stared.

His middle head still facing froward and narrowed on the stranger trespassing into his territory as his breathing remain steady, studying the man. There was idle curiosity in the fact a human would be found in his domain, let alone hell itself, and survive this long. This caused a stir inside him. The left flinched yet reminded still, lost in slept, while the right jerked briefly to see the trespasser approach. Taking in the image, it returned to the rear as if waiting for something. Tendrils on Jackels' back however started to spasm in excitement, twisting and turning in many direction, reaching the air in motions suited to catch unseen organisms through there wasn't any to be found.

He listened to the chant though no surprise seemed to seep into his muzzle. No words seemed to pierce the air as without warning, his muzzle started to twist into a snarl. Muscles coiled and paws started forward, first his left then right, his body snapped into a quickly escalating run on seeing the man about foot into his domain. He never left a single print when he flashed into an all out rush at his target cutting the distance within a few seconds.

Sulfur and smoke wafted off his figure, building and gathering giving him a less solid with each step. His path seemed intent on a head on collision until... he vanished. A split moment before he impacted, his body seemed to fall apart becoming a cloud of dark, thick gas. It swirled around the human's figure in an attempt to blind him. Slowly a darker and more solid shape emerged through the smoke. Appearing to have regathered on the rear side, Jackels solid form appeared this time when one of his tendrils aimed for the man's legs at the knee cap if the man was still there.

[yoshua171]

The Kindled Flame

"I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name."

---

As he stepped into the structure a beast reared its terrible head and the man ceased all movement, his eyes locked on the beast. It snarled and in return he felt the warmth creep throughout. Then it charged him and so his knees bent, his arms spread out slightly at his sides, and the moment before it would've collided, he rolled diagonally forwards and thus out of its way, but it never hit.

As he finished the roll, once more on his feet, he found himself barely evading a cloud of dust or the like. He exhaled sharply as his instincts told him to sidestep, which he did, narrowly avoiding a tendril which exited the mire of gas and almost struck him. He felt his hand grip about his weapon, and its form pulse to life. This was no normal beast, no feral demon, the stranger presumed, his eyes alight. Led by instinct and the guiding tongues of fire, his arm reached out and grasped the tendril.

As he did so warmth would spread from the tendril, sent up its form towards the body, and it would begin to ignite, starting from the point of contact and gradually traveling backwards. He dared make contact for a fleeting three seconds before letting go and jumping away, seeking to remove himself from the cloud of dust and debris. He whispered to himself, "I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name." His eyes remained locked on the cloud of dust, having now exited it, where he saw something lurking--likely the monstrous demon that had lunged at him before. It appeared that he was to fight this beast, the Flame decreed it.

[Fallenreaper]

A Warden's Response

Jackels felt the tendril snared, his middle head snapped to the side, viewing the man there. The intruder had managed to side roll and now grasped it. The tip wiggled and thrived like a living thing before fire seemed to crawl up its length. Faster and faster the flame raced, making his nerves a lite with pain, causing the beast to snarl deeper. His body tensed at the tendril's base and in the eden's peace, there came the sound of shattering glass. Shards and more granite like flesh crumbled off nearest the brute's body when the beast jerked and quickly detached the organ. It fell then quickly burned into ashes like the tip of a cigarette.

Where his tendril once laid, now was a stump. His yellow core flashed in anger as his right head jerked about, facing the stranger. It took control of their body, it's eyes brightest of the three with the left still resting against the chest. His paw had already smacked into the ground leaving the earth darker then before with soil, plant and more displaced in his strength. The earth cracked and fissures started to spider web outward about three meters. Jackels lifted his paw from where he slammed down, an impression left behind.

Jackels Right Head didn't wait for the dust to clear. He moved as his body shifted again, his legs moved as another tendril stretched and slashed down at his left. Another buried itself into the ground where its essence spread and flowed. The ground rumbled slightly when he dug it in deeper causing the earth to cry and weep, its sounds rumbling through the ruins. To the man's right the ground crumbled and level down, seeming pushed down by an invisible hand as it split and cracked in similar fashion to where his paws smacked. If he didn't move the ground would swallow him up.

[yoshua171]

The Kindling Flame

"I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name."

---

The creature's anger did not surprise him, what did was the tendril's frailty to the Flame. It had only just began to kindle and now was barely cinders in a forge that ought still be considered barely resuscitated from inactivity and disuse. He was barely worthy of its gracious offering, its comfort--his curse. "I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name," he said, his voice barely a whisper in the wind. The ground shook, the beast's paw slammed upon it, inducing further dust and destruction of their environment. Fissures traveled to him and he gritted his teeth, one hand itching to draw the tinder to the Flame that was only his for now, for it was never truly owned. "Fire fire, I beseech thee..." he began in earnest, his voice audible, but respectful in its somberness and humble in its volume.

He stepped aside of several forming fissures, his eyes darting about before he spotted several things; the wall was engraved, deep patterns and markings all about its surfaces. Some bent or pushed from its surface, others were embedded within it, carved into the building's stone flesh. It was a beautiful, terrible place. He began to stride backwards, carefully, in calculated movements.

The Flame flared within him and he ducked down, then rolled forwards, coming out of the roll and pushing forwards fast. The ground beneath the foot that had touched the ground scorched, and his body no longer where it had been before. His form barely aloft from the ground as it was shot forwards by the blast, whose sound resonated outwards, echoing about the room. This brought him beneath the beast, where his gloved hand struck ground, stopping his slide as he came out near the demon's tail, his slid ending. His free hand came up and touched the behemoth's belly, before darting away as he rolled forwards, and likely out of a stomp or tail sweep that might have killed him otherwise.

He was but a fragile construction, as all beings were--mortal and divine both.

Only Flame was persistent throughout, he knew.

[Fallenreaper]

Unwanted Life

The Right snarled, his fangs flashed when the man moved. His eyes watched the footing as the human darted, weaved and minded his step while the earth crackled about his figure. Pieces shifted then fell, falling away to leave an abyss like cavern below. A place even he dare not go. His yellow eyes brightened in anger while the tendril raised before it shoved down. It aimed at the man's chest and fixed on ending his life. Adrenaline and anger fed the Right's actions, driving in like a bard whip under his granite like skin. His legs were spread apart as his claws dug in, his body braced when his tendril missed its mark.

The human had already ducked forward, setting his body into a forward roll, then used the attack's momentum to hasten him along. The man was there one moment then skirted under his body the next. His head jerked down only to miss by several critical moments. Heat tapped his underbelly. It flared and sting, burning what could be considered flesh quickly. His nostrils smelt the sulfur and tar like odor. His black skin grayed on touch while the essence within seemed to be swallowed by the flame inside. The red, orange and yellow danced up his torso and spread like a cherry cigarette tip. An ash statue of Jackels stood for several moments. His right head held where his jaws snapped while his middle stared at the left still slumbering. In moments, the image flaked then crumbled into ashes.

Eden stood still. Silent and quiet, before the plants shifted to break the noiseless scene. Earth cracked and fragmented, slates of ground rumbled and shifted again, while dust softly clouded the air in swirling patterns. Their invisible hands reaching to gather the ashes. Higher and higher, piling the essence now broken Jackels feels the sensation of their body being pull back together. Thin lines reach thread back what was destroyed as the Middle is the first to open his eyes. His eyes shift to the Left, unfazed by their destruction, then back to the human.

His voice was steady and calm, “Kini nga dapit nga dili gusto nga ikaw dinji , karon mobiya.”

^{*-This place doesn't want you here, now leave.}

[yoshua171]

The Kindling Flame

"I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name."

---

He turned, his eyes grazing over the earthen body as the Flame ran through it, piercing it to its core, the light of its flickering power just beginning to shine, before the body turned fully to ash and fell away to the whims of the wind. Plants rustled and for a long moment, the man simply gazed at the scene. The floor damaged, the place still teeming, yet feeling bereft of, life in its true form--in its natural state. He felt the Flame's insistence on growing, but while he could not control it, he could walk away. He still had his will about him, and so he turned, before the voice rung out, and began to walk deeper into the ruins. As he heard the voice, echoing through the halls, as he was already further away, he did not so much as turn.

There was no point in going back, there never had been. He had to cross through this place eventually, it was part of his purpose, part of his search. If the creature attacked him again however, he would meet a very different beast, for the longer the Flame was kindled, the stronger it became. The more its tinder burned, the greater the size of the Flame.

"I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name."

[Fallenreaper]

In Eden's Defense

The Middle shook his muzzle when his warning was ignored, his eyes stared at the back of the retreating man. In idle moments before the Right started to stir, a thought echoed in his head. Sa unsang paagi nga buang-buang sa usa ka mortal mahimo*... he thought as grief and bitterness washed over his portion of neck. He couldn't allow the human to live much longer in the Ruins of Eden. It was a place unfit for mortal ilk and now, by ignoring his warning, the man's fate was now determined: death. The Middle's eyes closed for a moment when he felt Right stir. The head's eyes snapped open and growled. The sound made a vibration rattle their core, causing the Middle to shift to his left and note the third head was still slumbering. Thankfully.

Anger, recklessness and youth emitted from the only 1,230 year old head filling their center with power. They were stronger now and Right knew it. The mortal would not be shown mercy now. A second longer he lingered on the left, then gazed into the man's walking direction. His eyes light died, falling asleep. Right took full control as the Middle head now lowered himself down next to the Left.

Eyes burned with bright yellow, his faced tightened. Fury burned in his core like a heat and pain that never stalled, making his body jerk into a flat out run. Again his body surged with a haze, smoke starting and blurring the outline once more. He poofed just a foot into the run, short of the man's position. A moment later, he re-materializing at the man's front as his fangs lounged at the stranger's right shoulder. Two tendrils snaked and stabbed downward, one at the chest and other into the knee. His tendrils seem darker and thicker then before.

^{* How foolish a mortal can be...}

[yoshua171]

The Flame

"I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name."

---

The beast rushed, but he was familiar with this tactic now, and made no movements, continuing to tread onward. The creature then appeared before him and he rolled forwards instinctively, and as he came up the Flame flared to life--finally awakened from its smoldering slumber. His skin seemed to crack as red, orange, and ashen lines of essence spread in a single flash over the entirety of his body, glowing even from beneath his garments. His eyes, once amber, now burned as if they were flames, and his body now lit their surroundings with a fierce, almost animate unnatural, light. He reached up, grasping both tendrils and immediately flames spread over the length of both, burning them to ash, but not effecting the rest of the demon's body. If the creature struck at him, the attack would hit, sending the human flying through the air where he'd slam against a stone wall. If the strike was from a tendril once more, he would react accordingly.

[Fallenreaper]

Eden's Wrathe

His fangs lounged and buried into the ground, sending flowers fluttering up on his impact. The man already moving forward into a roll as the beast expected, his tendrils accounting for the path. His tendrils already shifted to counter. Right didn't care his attack was blocked, his intentions still another step ahead, and reacted. The tendrils went up into ashes not yet strong enough to withstand the flame. However instead of it turning to complete ashes, the flame lingered and crumbled from his body as the attack stalled just a foot short of his body. Rage whipped his souls causing the beast to roar in fury and pain, both emotions mingling in perfect union.

Not bothered by his tendrils, his head retracted while his right limp tossed back. It backhanded the human and tossed him in the direction of the acid as his eyes shifted, following the creature. Right didn't seem to care the human had changed. It meant little to the beast within as Middle was the logical and sensible part. Only that mattered was the human's extinction.

His body rushed forward and teeth flashed a snarl, his muscles coiled to reach the man's present location. One of the last two tendrils reached for the man's shoulder, intended to pin him in place. Meanwhile, if his tendril hit, his left claws went for the man's lower leg where it was bent on gripping and ripping it free. Destruction meant little to Right as he could revive as long as he was here. Without Middle to restrain him, there was little reason to held back and right relished in the freedom.

[yoshua171]

The Flame

"I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name."

---

As his back struck the wall, the man gasped, the wind knocked out of him, though he had no time to remain incapacitated--even with the acid attempting to dissolve his clothes. If it were not for the Flame, the liquid would have truly reached him. His attention shifting as the beast turned, a snarl emitting from its tooth lined maw. With his body slipping down the wall to meet the ground, he felt the Flame burn within him, setting his body aflame. A terrible glow continued to emanate from him as he rose to his feet, sadly a moment too late for a tendril struck forwards, piercing his shoulder, to which his response was a brief scream followed by a gritting of his teeth. He felt, rather than saw, the monster's claws reach for his leg.

However, the demon was foolish not to heed the warning signs that had been offered him and so as the claw made contact with his form, it was set afire. It was not like the traveling of warmth as it had been before, no, now the Flame had taken on a truer, more vicious form. So, as with the tendril in his shoulder, the fire hungrily began consuming the hand, and then forearm of the beast, continuing to travel up the lower forearm in its voracious search for fuel.

The man's eyes met with the demon's, and he spoke, his tone one of warning, "I warn you now, the Flame is insatiable, and all are its fuel." As if to accentuate his point, the aura of light about him would feel as a slight stinging sensation where it made contact with Jackel's form. Tiny fires began to burn at his fur in places that the man had not yet made contact with. The Flame did not catch, but such was likely to change.

[Fallenreaper]

Death or Permission?

Right snarled when his hits met true. The tendril buried deeper, sinking into the flesh and bone, as his nostrils filled with blood and essence seeping from the man. Acidic water still dampening and burning the man's clothes stung his tendrils, more sensitive than the rest of his body and made him flinch visibly. His nose, missing the faint order of sulfur, inhaled deeply while his hand like paw reached for the leg. He roared in pain filling his flesh. The flame raced up past his claw causing him to retract it, the fire consuming his arm up to the elbow before it twisted into ashes.

His body tensed and tendril started to follow the same fate. Right's fangs bared and eyes glowed, his neck raised upright when he heard the human's words. He sneered in distaste and seemed leer down at his would be prey, not bothered by the threat, locking eyes. “ Lang fucking mamatay, sa tawo.”^*

Diplomacy was Middle's job, not his.

He didn't care if he died. They would come back, they always did and stronger. Right's fangs flashed in a downward direction and aimed to rip the pitiful mortal's head right off when movement caught his vision corner. Middle's eyes jerked own, his head jerked to the side just to seize Right's throat into his jaws. His teeth pinched down causing the attack to cease. Right's eyes looked murderous as he straggled out a mental hiss.

Why?

He answered his own question when Left's head jerked and started to stir. Both heads frozen immediately as they studied the Left stir and lick his teeth, seemingly on the verge of waking. Flowers near the hind paw shuddered as the nearest flower dulled and became a dull, colorless gray then crackled, crumbling away into dust in moments. Right's ears pulled back in distress at the realization at how much danger their charge was in should Left wake then shivered, letting his fury die. On feeling the sensation, Middle released his grip and turned to the man. His eyes gave an aura of being older than himself and spoke for the quelled wrath, “Ayaw gayud mobalik sa niini nga dapit o risgo mapalong ... Kini nga yuta mao ang akong pagtunglo, dili inyo.”<sup>**

Just fucking die human. *
Never return to this place or risk be extinguished... This land is my curse, not yours. **</sup>

[yoshua171]

The Flame

"I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name."

---

Its anger, its ferocity, its confliction, and its eventual calm were things that he envied. The Flame was another matter entirely, as the ground around him began to spark even as the beast spoke to him its words of warning. The human's brow creased, he did not know the language it spoke, nor why it had stopped itself from attacking.

The Flame did not care, and so the ground lit with fire, and slowly, so slowly, the grass was devoured as it spread. A look of fear came over the man's face as he watched the fire spread. "Fire, fire, I beseech thee," he began once more, "...cease your burning and return to me." It did not respond.

The flame was uncaring and apathetic. It knew only hunger. He the human looked to the demon, their eyes meeting once more, his own and Middle's. There was indeed fear in his own, but not fear of the beast, fear of himself and what channeled through him. "I cannot control it," he said as if pleading for forgiveness. He then stood, his wounds having almost entirely mended already, and ran.

Heaving breath after breath he took, words expelling from his mouth in a quiet whisper meant only for his own ears. "I am the Flame; I burn with title, but no name," he chanted over and over again, attempting to wrest control from the phenomena that emanated around him. He had to get out. At least if he left the city the Flame could not destroy it. If he stayed here only destruction could be done. While he indeed searched, as all Pilgrims did, he did so in Hell in part to minimize damage to his surroundings and those within it, for the Flame did not kindle only in situations of distress, but in those where much essence was to be had.

It was a curse to him, but it was one that he knew he could only accept. He held an understanding, or perhaps a lack of such, for the Flame to such a degree that he could not help but remain in respectful awe of it. Any mortal would feel the same, though it was seldom that the other races were chosen, or entered, into the ceremonies of fire. If he could escape this place, perhaps the Flame would smolder and become a mere cinder once more, waiting to be kindled.

However, perhaps that was not his fate.

[Fallenreaper]

Time is ticking...

Middle's head rose, Right's fury pacified for now, as he studied the man before him. His body pulled back and released the man, enabling him to rise upright and allow the mortal to leave. Middle felt pity for the flower that died and crumbled like stone, petrified by Left's stirring. A memory of stone flowers, demons, and a rock wasteland erupted in Middle's memory recalling the rare times Left's power had been placed into effect. The destruction was painful to watch while the recovery had its own price increasing his need to be here.

Right snarled in warning, believing the past was meant to be forgotten while he looked over at Left. Thankfully the head was still slumbering and Right inhaled, comforted by that fact. Middle however locked eyes with the man and sought to retain balance, his four legged stand kilted off by the missing forearm as he noted the confused look. It seemed communication went one way as he could understand the human, but failed to speak the human's language fully. Born and raised in hell had its disadvantages when it came to interaction with anything beyond hell origins.

Sulfur and heat reached his nostrils, making Middle's head tilt downward to see the source. Fire edged from the man's feet and grass blackened, crumbled up and died on the spot making Right snarl aggressively at the intruder. His ears pushed to his skull at all three feeling the pain rippled across their core. Right tried to seize control even when the man's words tried to command his magic, the element's ears deaf to his words, increasing Right's anxiety.

Middle's glare was all it took to reel Right back and preventing him from shoving their body forward to attack the man once again. His teeth bared slightly in warning and quelled his younger head into order. He might've been the least violent, but not the weakest out of the three. His head returned to the man's words and held no hatred, merely pity for the strength he was burdened by. Each being on Heaven, Surface, and Hell were intertwined in destiny's endless chains. Unable to escape the forces driving them and never fully understanding why they were chosen in the end. It was merely fated. His thoughts were interrupted when the human's expression seemed to fall at his failure, speaking about it and finally rushing off.

The Middle head watched the man's body start to disappear out of his sight. His eyes turned back to the flames growing and filling his Eden as his head shifted to Left. Inwardly, he hoped the man hurried else they all would suffer the result. In the man's retreat, Middle spoke and his worlds rattled Eden's air in the human's wake, “ Kita sa matag tambong sa atong kaugalingon nga kapalaran ug sa katapusan , mahimo nato ang magadala niini.”^*

Seeing the flames flicker and grew, Middle and Right settled on Left's head scrunched. The man's time was drawing close before Left woke and while Middle knew it would stop the destruction, the price was too high. His eyes shifted upright to spot the runes engraved in Eden's walls glow.

^{*We each tend to our own destiny and in the end, only we can bear it.}