Lost in my Mind

Sanctuary

That or devoured the Kage that had been residing within the man.

Sanctuary

I really liked your post Anriu, and I love the title you gave Iktomi. My only problem is the wording at the end. Ik doesn't eat the people he kills, he has them disposed of, which is what I tried to convey by having Iktomi call Alex towards the end.

Posted before I saw your comments. It makes more sense now, but perhaps you should edit the wording to reflect that. The way it stands it seems you are saying Ik ate the man.

Sanctuary

Sorry for my delay in posting everyone, I hope you will forgive me.

Sanctuary

Iktomi

Standing out on the balcony, Iktomi gazed out over the ruined city of Sovereign. A year ago the entire world had collapsed in on itself. The violent tremors that racked the city had destroyed more than just the buildings, the whole economic structure fell right alongside the city. Government officials had fled moments before the Gate even opened, leaving Sovereign without any leadership. The standard of life had fallen drastically for the entire city. Well except for Iktomi, he had thrived during the damn near post apocalyptic city. He turned around, leaning casually against the railing as he took in what his mansion had become. Spiderwebs clung to nearly every surface, each one completely unique, designed to direct one's attention to the center of the main lobby. The high back chair that once resided there had been replaced by a true throne constructed entirely of threads, suspended 10 feet off the ground.

”You really are enjoying this aren’t you Iktomi? Everyone around you is struggling to survive, and here you reside in your web of deceit. I must admit, I managed to find myself a more than acceptable host.” Archania’s voice filled Iktomi’s head. After the initial binding she discovered the his will was much too strong to allow her full control, so once he awoke they sorted out what would happen. He had been overwhelmed at first, and it took a month before they made any real progress, but eventually they formed an alliance of sorts.

”You aren’t getting soft on me are you Archania? I must say you really are a poor excuse for an Onikage, you haven’t made an attempt to take control for over a week now. I think you are starting to like me.” A smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as Iktomi spoke within his mind. He loved pushing his kage’s buttons.

Her response was swift, a loud crunch as she slammed her mandibles together. ”You are nothing but an insect to me boy! I am just waiting for the right moment to make your body my own.” After a moment she calmed down, frustrated with herself for taking his bait again. ”Isn’t it about time for you to check in with that Shadow Stepper and the Black Widow you keep around?”

Tilting his head back to catch a glimpse of the position of the sun, Iktomi nodded a bit before placing a hand to his ear, turning on his headset. “Leo I want a progress report. How are the tunnels coming along?”

For a moment all he heard was static, before the stoic voice of Leo filled the void. “Since the last check in there have been thirteen more casualties, all hired workers. The tunnel connecting to the Vault has been completed, and the tunnels to two of our new safe houses have also reached completion. In total six tunnels are finished. Any new orders?”

“No Leo continue to connect the other safe houses. I will check in again in a few days. Focus on the ones near Vate’s establishment, I want an easier method of getting in contact with him.” Pressing a small button on the headset Iktomi switched frequencies. “Hali anything happening on the perimeter? Last couple of days have been quiet, you know how much I hate when things get quiet.”

Static again, before an emotionless, feminine voice came over the speaker. “My men have spotted an Conduit heading towards the estate. He has a weapon and they say that he appears hostile. Should I take care of him?”

Iktomi took only a moment to think, before he pushed off the balcony and headed for his throne. As he reached the steps he began speaking once more. “No Hali, I want you to get him to the lobby. Direct him here by any means necessary, I will be waiting.” Sitting upon the throne, Iktomi casually laid one ankle across his opposite knee, elbow on the arm of the chair and his head resting upon his closed fist.

Halimae

“Understood sir.” In a fluid movement Hali unsheathed the blade strapped to her back and quickly slashed herself across the stomach, tearing the fabric of her black t-shirt. While blood flowed from the shallow wound to her abdomen she brought the tip of the sword up to her cheek creating another small cut there. Tossing the blade and it’s sheath behind a piece of rubble, she tapped her headset. “Where is the Conduit currently?”

She received a swift response from one of her men that had been carefully tracking the host. “He is headed for your position, he should be there within thirty seconds. Should I intercept him?”

“No Iktomi wants to deal with him personally. Go back to your position until further notice.” Counting down in her head, Hali stumbled out from behind the former office building just as the Conduit stepped around the corner, bumping into him. Her hands grabbed onto his shirt as she fell to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes. “You have to help me! I was just trying to get back to my family when this monster of a man attacked me.” Her voice cracked towards the end and she began sobbing, burying her face into the man’s chest.

“Where? Where were you attacked?” The Conduit, who was not a very large man but fairly muscled, laced his fingers with Hali’s hair yanking her head away to look down at her.

For a fraction of a moment the desire to kill this man herself reared up within her stomach as sharp pangs of pain ripped through her as he tugged on her hair, but she quickly repressed it. Shakingly lifting a hand she pointed towards a building not too far away. “Over...over there.”

Releasing her, the man pushed her away from him sprinting in the direction she had pointed. After waiting to make sure he was far enough to be unable to hear her, she tapped her headset again. “He is on his way now, expect him within a couple minutes.”

Iktomi

“Excellent work Hali, keep me updated on any other changes.” Turning his headset off, Iktomi waited patiently for the Conduit to arrive. His patience paid off as the man burst through the only set of doors leading inside the Araneae headquarters.

“You son of a bitch!” The Conduit continued his forward motion, until he found his feet unable to move. Looking down he found his shoes covered in threads, which were slowly crawling up his legs.

“I don’t think my mother has anything to do with this, although I do agree she was a complete bitch. Now tell me why you are here.” Iktomo’s voice remained calm and casual, his free hand lifted at his side controlling the webbing that had made it up to the Conduit’s hips stopping there for the time being.

“You forced my sister out into the streets you bastard! She was killed a day later and it is all your fault! How can you even live with yourself?”

Iktomi lifted his shoulder in a dismissive shrug. “It really isn’t that difficult. I needed a new location to house a portion of my men, and her home was in the perfect spot. She is not the first person that has died due to my actions, and she certainly will not be the last. It is survival of the fittest boy, she would never have made it.”

The Conduit shook with rage before screaming at the top of his lungs. “You are a monster! I am going to-”

“Enough! I grow tired of you and your pathetic attempt at revenge. If you miss your sister so much then I am more than happy to reunite the two of you!” Rising out of his throne Iktomi used the hand he had been resting on to manipulate the more threads. From the ground rose three thread spears, one on each side of the conduit and one behind him. With a quick thrust of his hand Iktomi skewered the man, piercing his left lung, his stomach, and his heart. Sitting back down he turned his head set on again. “Alex I need a cleaning crew in here. We have another body to dispose of.”

”More power for us, I just love how mindless revenge makes people. You don’t even have to hunt for them, they fly right into your web.” Archania’s voice echoed within his head, as a slight smirk appeared on Iktomi’s lips once more.

Post Your Pikcha

I am in agreement with Shy.

Sanctuary

“Leo I want a report right now! What the hell is going on out there?” Iktomi paced quickly within the main chamber of his lair, one hand on the head piece in his right ear, a deep frown creasing his face. Two tremors had just struck Sovereign, which due to its distance from a fault line, should not have occurred to the degree they had. He had lost communication with over half of his men. For a moment fear attempted to claw into him as all he got from Leo’s frequency was static, before finally he got a reply.

“We don’t know sir, it came out of no where. One moment we were transporting the documents, the next the carriage is on its side. We lost three men, another one is unconscious.” Despite the circumstances, Leo’s voice remained collected.

Iktomi on the other hand was a bit frantic, concerned not about the welfare of his men, but the status of the documents. “Leo are you still in possession of the package? Burn it if you are, we can not risk that information leaving us again. Do you understand me?”

“I followed protocols already sir, as soon as I pulled myself from the wreckage I blew the carriage up. There is no trace of the documents, nor of the men we lost. We will not be linked to this. What are your orders?”

A sigh of relief parted Iktomi’s lips, his voice regaining it’s icy edge. “Report back here at once. Check the perimeter upon your arrival, burn any that are dead, kill any that are too injured to be of use, bring the rest inside.”

With a quick click Iktomi switched frequencies. “Hali report back to base as soon as you are capable. Check the safehouses along your way, anyone that can still be of use bring them back with you. Execute the rest on the spot and dispose of them. This will be the last radio transmission for the time. You will receive your next orders when you return.”

As he removed his hand from the headset Iktomi resumed pacing, carefully avoiding the chunks of the ceiling that had collapsed during the initial two tremors. Out of nowhere the third tremor struck, it threw Iktomi off balance causing him to tumble backwards, his head slamming against a piece of stone with a hard thunk. Despite how hard he tried, he could not remain conscious for very long, and soon his eyelids flickered downwards as blackness engulfed him.

He awoke several minutes later, his body suspended thirty feet above his throne like chair, water pouring onto him via the multitude of holes in the ceiling. Slowly Iktomi attempted to move his arm, but found it stuck fast to whatever was keeping him in the air. He tried moving every body part, and found them all equally fixated. After a couple of moments of struggle, and clearing of his hazy mind, he finally realized that he was not alone. Someone, or something, was moving just outside of his range of vision rapidly approaching his side, before slinking back into the shadows.

This continued for what seemed like several minutes, but in reality was only a few heartbeats worth of time. The only conclusion that Iktomi could make, was that whatever this entity was it wanted to him to be thoroughly terrified before it made its move. He was determined to not allow that to happen. He had felt more than enough fear with the documents, he would not allow his life to come to an end with even more fear engulfing him. Finding his voice he spoke, his tone void of emotion. “I know you are there whatever you may be. There is no point in hiding yourself any longer. I do not fear you, nor what you plan on doing with me. If you are going to end me, do so and end this pathetic game of yours.”

A series of clicks is all he received in response to his statement originally, and as they continued and grew louder it dawned on him that this was the sound of his captor laughing, maniacally by the sound of it. As the clicking finally died, the voice that replaced it almost made Iktomi wish it had continued. ”Foolish little mortal, I am not going to end you that would be counterproductive for me given the circumstances. No what I have planned for you will be much worse than death.”

Iktomi’s vision is obstructed by a large head, eight eyes staring straight through him impassively. Lowering his gaze he quickly took in the rest of the large arachnids body. At the top of its abdomen it stood nearly as tall as a large horse, just as thick around as well. The eight legs surrounded his frame like a cage, its mandible’s hovering inches over his mouth. Taking a deep breathe, Iktomi steadied his resolve, before meeting the gargantuan creature’s gaze once again. “What do you want then? What is your name? You are sentient so I presume you have a name.”

Raising one leg the spider trailed it along Iktomi’s cheek, causing a shallow gash to form, blood seeping out slowly rather than flow like a river. Placing the blood-tipped appendage in it’s mouth it swishes the crimson liquid within it mouth before swallowing it, eyes fixating on Iktomi was more as it finished. ”I am a Onikage, I suppose you deserve to know that much before the end of your free will. As for my name, you can call me Archania. Now open wide fool, it is time for us to join.” Without waiting for Iktomi to comply, Archania forced his mouth open with two of it’s legs.

Without warning she plunged her head straight into Iktomi’s mouth and down his throat, the legs that had been holding his mouth open sliding inside with her. Even as Archania shrunk in size, he could still feel her stretching his throat beyond it’s limit, blood lubricating her descent as he attempted to gag without the ability to do so. Two more legs joined her head within his throat, and using them she resumed crawling down into his center, leaving long and deep gashes within the muscle of his throat.

One by one Archania’s legs slid into his body, which continued to feel the searing pain of having razors slicing it up from the inside, until all that remained outside was the massive abdomen. Rather than having it all shrink at once, it shrank in small increments filling Iktomi’s mouth to the brim with tough exoskeleton for over three minutes, before the last bit of the spider disappeared into his body. Without the pressure of Archania holding his head up, it slumps forward large globs of blood dropping from his mouth to the ground below. The web holding him up soon faded into nothing, dropping his broken and battered body into a pool of his own blood. All the while Archania made herself busy healing the injuries that she had given him, wanting to make sure her new host was capable of containing her.

Sanctuary

Write like the wind lad, write like the wind. Or if it gets posted before you post, just do a two part post. One finishing your prolouge, the second responding to what Sage ends up posting.

Sanctuary

I like.

Sanctuary

That's a pretty good summary of him xD

Sanctuary

Why is Iktomi a bad ass? Just curious xD and I'd love a banner!