Midnight

[Rain Lil]

Wind played through the town like an instrument. Some of the noises were like a whisper, and others were of a whistle. Nobody walked the halls and grounds of the old town of Lani Rist. It was pitch black. The stars and moon hid behind the dark gray clouds in the faraway sky. There was the sound of a "tap-tap-tap" in the midst of the town square. Suddenly, a loud voice pierced the silent noises and misty air.

"Go home girl! It's late!" yelled an old lady, who peeked through her blinds, spotting a young teenager walking blindly through the blackness ahead of her. "It isn't my fault if you want to get eaten alive by the darkness!" commented the old lady, who closed her blinds and continued to light her last candle.

"Some joke," murmured the girl, who kept walking. She was actually searching for an inn, somewhere to stay. She had arrived on horseback around midnight and had gotten lost through the woods. She was thrown out of her house around four to gather supplies from a nearby town. Some town, she thought.

The girl gave a shriek as a gust of wind blew passed her, almost knocking her to her knees. Her eyes darted around, but it was too dark to see anything in this little lazy town. She was starting to think that there wasn't an inn at all. She clutched her coat closer to her body and shivered. Funny noises played their way to her eardrums as she walked. She was started to get paranoid. The silence was too much; she couldn't stand it. She pulled up the straps to her backpack, as if someone would come up and snatch it.

Suddenly, another gust of wind pushed her forward. She stumbled in her boots and almost fell, but caught her balance against a hard stone wall.

"This wind is... weird," whispered the girl, who pushed her brown bangs out of her emerald green eyes and continued to walk forward though the quiet, almost dead-like town.

Something was peculiar. All of the houses that she had glanced all had candles lit by their windows, like barriers to keep the evil away. She was starting to believe that this town was evil. There was no sign of life, except for the old lady's house--maybe she could stay the night there. No, the lady seemed like a wicked-person. Maybe she was the one who made this town seem so haunting...

The girl continued to walk, the coldness nipping at her pale face, now raw from the mist that was blown at her. Like a monster, a gust of wind pushed her. It pushed her hard. She gasped and fell, almost scraping the skin on her face off. She caught herself almost before the ground touched her nose. Again like the gale that blown her, another one pinned her down to the cobble-stoned road. She screamed, or she thought she screamed, as someone or something came across her face and tore the flesh of her cheek. Now she knew she was screaming, as it struck again, this time across her shoulder and another across her stomach. She screamed "bloody-murder" as she was practically torn apart by the something.

A gust of wind blew passed her one last time, and finally, all was still. She lie there, staring into the darkness--starting to see red from her blood that seeped from her wounds and across her vision. She was afraid to reach up and touch her wounds--afraid that she would feel her own blood.

(OoC: Pretty nice, ay? Yeah, I've gotten better. I've practiced... well, not really ^.^ If you want to join, please join now and be active. This RP requires active-ness-es or something like that. If you post, make sure to take off yo' sign-at-ure too! You can join as anyone that floats your boat (the old lady, your own personal character...) GAMJO! GAMJO! )

Suddenly a black haired man, startedd walking through the streets, hi was wearing a strange outfit, a treavelers outfit, he held with his right hand a katana, and in his other hand a lamp.
He was walking whe h saw a young girl lying on the floor.
" So.. what have we here, she's still breathing, thats good news. these wounds are horrible, I must make something quick"
Hids voice was cold and grave and with that he grabbed the girl in his arms. And walked with her a while, suddenly he came to a stop.
He put her in a bed at a cozy place, a fireplace burning.
The man said: I've taken care of your wounds, you are okay now, you only need some rest"
She suddenly opened her eyes and barely spoke:
"Where am I?, Who are you?"

"My name is Dalmar, don't worry you are safe, at my place. I found you uncounscious lying on the floor. This is my home" Damar let his long black hair fall and looking at her he said:
" would you be so kind with granting me your name milady"

Both sat silent looking at each other for a while, Dalmar was waiting for an anwer.
He finally spoke: "well have a good night we can chat a little more tomorrow morning, for the while enjoy your stay, you are safe with me, I won't let anything happen to you, good night"

With this words he kissed her hand and then he stood up and walked away.

A haunting wail came softly at first, singing a bittersweet song outside Reshel's window. It slowly got louder and more urgent until even the small gasps of air she was breathing were filled with it. The screams continued until a single voice cut through them all, a single cry of grasping, wrenching pain so real even Reshel shuddered at the sound, then all was silent.
Two eyes, full of tears, appeared from underneath a coarse wool blanket. Every night the voices came, but never had she heard a scream so valiant, it made even her feel guilty as though she'd somehow been a part of the pain. She wondered if perhaps it had just been too, too real. She crept out of bed, the cold floor writhing beneath her feet as the window grew closer. She peered out breathlessly, her head just barely high enough to see the street below.
Blood was drawn like angry slashes of paint upon a canvas as the darkness slowly consumed another victim. Reshel blinked, suddenly aware of every inch of her body, her beating heart and rushing head. She flung open the window...
Not again... her mind screamed in her ear...
Not again... The words blurred as the cold air rushed in, as the darkness stole the breath from her lungs,
Not again... She found herself screaming into the night, over and over.
Not againNot againNot again She screamed until all the world heard her.
So many feet came running, pounding upon eachother until her head screamed in the fury of them all...

She opened her eyes and saw only one... the foot falls had stopped and now they stood before the woman, her paint smeared upon the cobblestones. She watched with a shiver as the man picked her up and carried her inside the light, into a house...
And then she crept back into bed, the covers warm upon her icy skin, and she slept.

Then Dalmar, went out of the house for a bit, and went to the city center. He took his katana with him nothing ese.
and he spoke gravely:
"Whatever is threatening the people of this land,know it will last no longer"
Then he shouted "I am the magic swordsman Dalmar!"
"Lightning Whirlwind!!!!!!!!!"
he drew up his katana and anda whirlwind of lightning bolts appeared, surrounding the area.
"leave the people alone"
With that he ceased the spell, the darkness suddenly dissapered, but it might not last long, and for once in some time the city could be seen, normally. He stuck his sword in the groundand put his back on a fountain and he sighed.
"maybe its time to start a journey to find what makes this darkness. I shall set out by morning light from the 3rd day from now."

And he rested a bit in the fountain, guarding the city against another attack.

A fitful sleep was broken only by the gentle rays of sun that crept into Reshel's room through the same window which the haunting wails had come through just a few hours before.
She opened her eyes slowly, afraid of what she might see, but her room remained empty of anything but the gentle sun glittering upon the wooden floor. She pulled herself up and out of bed, the blankets falling about her unto the floor. She hurried over to the window, expecting to see the blood-paint still staining the street, but she peered over the sill she saw none, she never did.
She yawned with finality and hurried downstairs, pulling on her clothes and a coat before she hurried into the cold, crisp morning. She stood for a moment, listening for the breeze as it caressed the leaves on the trees and breathed deeply the scent of cherry wood fires just lit. Finally she opened her eyes, they seemed too bright for such a morning, and walked past the place she'd seen the woman the night before. She found the door she'd been looking for, the one the man had disappeared into, and with the candle still lit in the window, she pulled open the heavy door.

"Well?" she said loudly, with tone of annoyance at waking the woman up. The house was small, two rooms. It was clean and sparsely furnished, but a warm fire crackled beside the woman as she slept, smoke lazily licking the stone edges as it curled carelessly up the chimney. Reshel walked once around the small, cozy house as though investigating a crime scene, then turned her attention back to the woman.
"Well?"

"What buisness do you have here milady"
A voice came out of the door.
"I starting a journey here, would you pleas take care of her?"
He started to pack his things, grabbing provisions, and putting them in hisbacpack.
"In 2 days , I will get out of this town and hunt these darkness down. This is the Wailing Wind" he showed his katana. "It seems that my people are lost, im the last one, the last magic sowrdsman in the area at least. I will not let this enemy damage innocent people. It is me who they are hunting, so if they want me, they will taste what my katan can do."
He then out of some kind of hidden furniture, he drew out an armor, it was scarlet red, with incrusted gems in the chest, and in the shoulders.
He put it in a table, and stayed watching the lady that was staring at him.
"Is anything wrong milady?" He asked.
He waited for an answer from the atoned lady.

[Rain Lil]

(OoC: Lol, I'm all talking about being active and I'm not even active... Tsk, tsk, tsk.. Oh well. Too much homework -.-)

She stared into darkness. Nothing moved. Nothing except her breathed--all was silent. She turned around and seen the same thing; nothing. She started to run, and her heart began to beat fast. There was no light. Have to find a light! she thought. She stopped running, remembering what had happened last night. She held her hand up to her face. She gasped--blood lined the side of her hand. She held up her other hand--blood trickled down her fingers.
____________________

She heard a faint shuffle of moving shoes on the ground. Her eyes fluttered open, but closed them as soon as they were strained from the light. She smiled--light. She opened her eyes again, and saw a man and a woman talking in the room. She understood nothing that they said. True, she could speak English, but all this talk about darkness was starting to give her a headache.

"Um... hello?" she asked, sitting up to see their faces. "Who are you all? If I may ask..."

Without an answer, she sat up and began to comb her fingers through her hair. It felt wet and matted--not as silky and soft as it did before last night. It was true, then. It did happen.

"What happened last night?" was her final question.

Dalmar answered:
"Well you have returned thats good news, last night you were attacked, a strange darkness creppt over the town I heard some screams so i got out, and brought you to my home, a tleast you will be safer here."
"and so I'm goin to embark on a journey, to find this darkness and wipe it all away from the world."
"oh but wat am I talking, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Dalmar, I'm a magic swordsman, from the tribes of the south, you were lucky I was around. Else you could have ended up dead."

"Well you should rest, yur wounds aren't fully healed yet I managed to use some of my magic on you to heal. It jsut took a little of my blood, so now you will be able to use magic as well."

"you only need to train though"
"well in 2 days im going, Lets hope you are ok by that time"

He turned back and sat down in the table, akinga cup of tea.

He watcehd how the lady stared at him he finally said:
"want some tea?"
He grabebd another cup and filled it with a fine odour an taste tea, and he gave it to her.
"drink it will help you"
He smiled at her.

Reshel took the tea over to the woman, placing it on a sturdy table beside her bed and looked tentatively around for something to do. Seeing the blood she realized her wounds would need bandages.

"I heard you screaming." she said as though that would explain her presence.

She then took a quick, sharp glance around the room and found some bandages and alcohol from the pile that Dalmar was packing. Making the woman lie back down she began to clean her wounded head, the blood had dirtied her dark chesnut hair and it was matted around the wound. Reshel cleaned and disinfected it with the alcohol, the blood coming clean onto a cloth.

"You're alive, there's that..." she said as she busily bandaged the wound as though continuing out-loud a conversation that had been going on in her head.

"Hmm.." she consented as she pulled back, examining her work. She stood, suddenly uncomfortable sitting on the edge of the woman's bed. She looked over as Dalmar sipped his steaming tea before walking over and taking a cup.

"How come?" Her face scrunched up as though she were trying to make sense of something irrational, attempting to reconcile reality with the past.

How come you're still alive, I mean?"

[Rain Lil]

"I haven't told you both my name yet, have I? Sorry! It's Rain Young," she said, who then took a sip of her tea.

She took the tea in one hand and allowed Reshel to clean her wound. When she was finished, Rain glanced down at her hands. Good, no blood. She thought, as she sighed. Her eyes studied the room she was in.

"How come?" was what Rain heard the other woman say. Her eyes searched Reshel. What does she mean? she thought, still searching Reshel, and half expecting the answer to jump out at her.

"How come you're still alive, I mean?"

Rain couldn't answer that. She had never even heard of this "Lani Rist" before. She simply had gotten lost in a forest and ended up in this crazy little town. She didn't expect to be attacked by some creature of the night.
With all of this thinking, Rain's eyes slowly moved to the window. It was finally morning. And maybe, just maybe--she could go home. But what if it wasn't that simple?

"Ah! All this thinking is giving me a headache!" she yelled, thinking outloud. Dalmar and Reshel gave her a glance like she was crazy.

"Hey, Dalmar--do you think... do you think that I could go with you?"

"Are you sure you are ready for this?, I mean your wounds are not fully healed yet, but if that is your desire you can follow me, I will onl tell you, a great danger comes nearby, maybe someday my katana won't be enough" He told her all that, as he was finishing drinking his tea.
"Even though company would come in handy, I've been a lone wolf for a while, some company will do me good"
"Reshel, it up to you if you want to come too, the more the merrier don't you think, and you seem to be good with taking care of wounds, that would come in handy, but it is up to you."
"Rain, I'll be honored if you come with me"

"So in two days we part" He sat back silent.

A lone figure was floating toward her. The figure was heavily cloaked in robes of midnight black. His bony hands gripped a tall weapon, tightly. The weapon had a long hilt, made from a refined metal. It was shining in the moonlight. At the top was a curved scythe. The point was extremely sharp. He raised the weapon high above his head and an evil cackle escaped his mouth. His laughter echoed off into the night sky. He plunged the weapon downward, slicing through the air with grace and poise. The point of the scythe drove into the very heart of a fallen person, whose breath had become short and ragged. A cry rang out. He continuously slashed at the person’s arms with the scythe, causing wounds to form. Crimson red blood dripped. The last thing that person ever saw was a pair of narrowed ruby red eyes.

She opened her eyes slowly, feeling the gentle sensation of her eyelashes brush softly on her already pink cheeks. Her clear crystal blue eyes, once hidden by the locks of silky blonde strings she called hair, were wide and full of fear. Tears threatened to spill, running down her cheeks like a river. She averted her gaze suddenly, to the ground beside her, finally noticing spots of red liquid dotting the hard pavement. Blood.

But was it hers?

In a daze, the girl shook her head vehemently, as if to rid her head of the fog that encased her. Lani Rist - her hometown. That was where she was, leaning against a solid brick wall. If anyone had looked, they would've seen a beautiful teenager, dressed in horrible clothes - a scrappy brown dress, a white apron covering this. Her blonde hair fell naturally past her shoulders, her floppy fringe covering a white bandage covered in dirt stains. Her back was curved gracefully, in the shape of an arch.

Who was she?


Even she did not know the name she had been given. Nothing of her past could she recall. All was forgotten.

[Rain Lil]

"In two days, we depart. Great. I have two days to get well," spoke Rain in a low voice. Her eyes trailed again to her hands, where she held her tea cup with a tight grasp. She looked back up and smiled nervously to the ground. Thinking about why she was still alive was still on her mind.

Rain put the tea cup on the table next to her bed and sighed.
"Hey, Dalmar--do you know where you placed my pack?" She looked around the room and spotted a black leather backpack on the ground next to the bed. She leaned over and tried to pick it up by the straps, but only the tips of her fingers could touch the leather. She leaned a little more and finally caught it between her fingers. Lifting it onto the bed, she moved carefully and slowly.

She unbuttoned the top and began to dig through it.
"Rings... buttons... here it is! Money! Do you all mind if I go shopping today?" she asked, as if she was asking her parents to have a boyfriend.

Dalmar and Reshel just looked at her funny.
"What? I need new clothes! My old ones are kinda--you know... bloody and dirty... and wet and nasty. Oh gosh, ya get the idea!"