Patron Saints/Rudeth Log 01

From Greenthings

<Greenling> Rudy falls asleep too.
<Greenling> You're running across the ocean.
<Greenling> You've found it's really easy: just pick one foot up before the other one sinks.
<Greenling> Islands pass by in the distance, and ships and skyships occasionally pass. It's a long way to your destination, but you're not tired yet!
<Greenling> ...Wait, where are you going?
* Rudeth keeps running, because he know he'll fall if he stops.
<Greenling> The scenery changes slowly.
<Greenling> The first thing you notice is that you're running on land.
<Greenling> Then, than you're running on ice.
<Greenling> Then, that you're running from something- something horrible.
<Greenling> "Come back here!" a familiar voice screeches. "You idiot! It's not like that!"
<Greenling> This is followed by a horrific roar-squeal and the sound of crunching ice.
<Greenling> What do you do?
* Rudeth keeps running, but glances back.
<Greenling> You see a man wreathed in purple on top of a snowbank, getting ready to leap at you.
<Greenling> His face is etched into your mind- he looks completely insane.
* Rudeth keeps running as fast as he can.
<Greenling> Haggard, singed dark hair...
<Greenling> He lands behind you, and the ice beneath you shatters.
* Rudeth tries to balance.
<Greenling> He takes that chance to leap at you again.
* Rudeth tries to dodge out of the way.
<Greenling> "Idiot! Moron! Slimy little twit!"
<Greenling> "Who sent you!"
<Rudeth> "No one sent me!"
<Greenling> You feel something slide out of you and into the world around you- so little of it left- and you barely manage to escape his grasp.
<Greenling> "Liar! Fool!"
<Greenling> He, however, slides into the freezing water beneath.
* Rudeth scrambles away.
<Greenling> "Kaff!"
<Greenling> He starts climbing out.
<Rudeth> "What the heck did I even do?"
<Greenling> You're almost gone. You know he's more powerful than you.
<Greenling> "Yoooou sawww." And you did.
<Greenling> You saw him summoning the biggest, ugliest motherfucker of a demon you have *ever* seen.
<Greenling> You remember that now.
<Greenling> And then, the first thing he did... was let it free.
<Greenling> There's another roar. It sounds closer this time.
<Greenling> The man leaps at you again, flinging shards of something dark and acrid.
* Rudeth tries to fight him off.
<Greenling> You have a sword.
<Greenling> It's shiny.
<Rudeth> Swish swish stab!
* Rudeth tries to stab him.
<Greenling> He dodges out of the way, leaping above you. You parry a couple of his shards, but one of the things lances through your arm and begins to sizzle.
* Rudeth gets into a defensive stance with the sword, knowing he's overmatched but not seeing any other choice.
<Greenling> You are showered with snow.
<Greenling> Through it you can see another figure, this one also shrouded in purple, and holding what looks like... the head of the demon you saw...
<Greenling> (before this, then:) The bank above you begins to collapse on top of you.
<Greenling> ...You're pretty sure this is bad. You can feel something very bad coming up. It feels like running into a brick wall.
<Greenling> The guy on the bank above you screams and leaps towards the second guy.
* Rudeth holds his free hand above his head to shield him, trying to back away.
<Greenling> You seem to be stuck to the wall by that shard through your arm. ...Your hand is turning black. It hurts.
<Greenling> On the plus side, they seem to be ignoring you?
* Rudeth tries to pull the shard out.
<Greenling> There's a lot of shouting. Something about "prophecy will not be denied" and "you're insane and I don't even know what you're talking about".
<Greenling> With some effort, you can, but you're still bleeding and it still hurts a lot.
<Greenling> Some part of you mentally records the fact that the nearest way home is... several hundred miles south.
* Rudeth tries to bandage the wound with his shirt, deciding that he would rather risk freezing to death than bleed to death for sure.
<Greenling> It helps a little.
<Greenling> You can get up.
* Rudeth gets up, looking around, assessing his options.
<Greenling> You feel a little woozy. Well, you should probably go somewhere before that guy notices you again. This is a pass, so... forward, backward...
<Greenling> Or risk it hopping over the snowbanks.
* Rudeth decides to head in the direction I didn't come from, which would presumably be foreward.
<Greenling> Always forward, then.
<Greenling> Running?
<Rudeth> Running.
<Greenling> You run forward.
<Greenling> The last of your power blazes forward beneath your feet. You feel like you could run forever...
<Greenling> The snowdrifts blaze past beside you. You feel like you're getting weaker...
* Rudeth slows down a little.
<Greenling> Damnit, the bleeding won't stop. And just as you realize that, you realize there's something very very large ahead of you.
* Rudeth slows down until he's walking at a cautious pace.
<Greenling> It looks like a mountain with the head of a lion.
<Greenling> It looks down at you, and the light from its eyes exceeds even the light coming from you.
<Greenling> ...Your left arm is gone.
<Greenling> It hurts, and it's spreading.
<Greenling> The thing makes a rumbling sound.
* Rudeth grabs where his arm once was, stopping for a moment and looking up at the mountain. Or, more specifically, the lion head.
<Greenling> It speaks in a dark voice, seeming to be made out of the sounds of rocks crashing together.
<Greenling> "...That will not be a clean death."
<Rudeth> "...Can you help me?"
<Greenling> "You have been woven into this, though you should not be. I would rather your Fate be cleaner."
* Rudeth seems desperate.
<Greenling> "Yes. Let me fix it..."
<Greenling> It reaches out its arm- it has an arm in that, apparently...
<Greenling> And closes its hand around you, as you can feel your shoulder melting.
<Greenling> "It will not reach your heart," it says, and...
<Greenling> ...Crushes you to pieces.
<Greenling> Needless to say, this hurts. A lot.
<Greenling> You seem to wake up in a sweat, in bed at home.
<Greenling> ...Wait, this isn't home.
<Greenling> ...Is it?
<Greenling> It's a little shack. You can hear the sea outside your window.
<Greenling> You're very small.
* Rudeth pulls himself out of bed, heading for the window.
<Greenling> The window's a little too high up, but there are things you can stack.
* Rudeth tries to stack things to climb up to the window.
<Greenling> You hear grumbling from the bed.
<Greenling> You succeed.
* Rudeth looks back over at the bed. "Hello?"
<Greenling> Outside the window you see a city, followed by the sea. It's early morning.
<Greenling> A boy looking quite like you peeks out from the blankets.
<Greenling> (:3)
<Greenling> He looks sleepy and annoyed.
<Rudeth> "Um...good morning." n.n;
<Greenling> "...Not morning yet."
<Greenling> Now he looks distraught.
<Greenling> "It isn't!"
* Rudeth walks back over to the bed. "What's wrong."
<Greenling> "You're leaving if it's morning."
<Greenling> :<
<Greenling> "Remember?"
<Rudeth> "Leaving?" Rudeth looks puzzled. "Where am I going? I don't want to leave."
<Greenling> "I dunno. Mom says you can't stay."
<Greenling> He sits up and covers a yawn with his arm.
<Greenling> "Will you come back?"
<Rudeth> He sits on the bed. "Of course I'll come back." He smirks. "I'm gonna go out and have lots of adventures, and then I'll come home and tell you about all the cool stuff that happened."
<Greenling> "You better." He grumphs. "Don't forget me, okay?"
<Rudeth> "Of course I won't."
<Greenling> He smiles.
<Greenling> ...You begin to wake up.
<Greenling> "Don't forget me..."
<Greenling> Someone asked you this, once.
<Greenling> You're awake. Peyt is snoring.
* Rudeth sits up, looking around for a moment, trying to sort through all of it.
<Greenling> You remember the guy. You remember being crushed. You remember...
<Greenling> There was something after that, damnit.
* Rudeth rubs his forehead, pulling his knees to his chest. "What happened after that..." he grumbles to himself. There was something...
<Greenling> "Don't forget me..." Someone asked you this, once.
<Greenling> ...That's all.