The Siberian Wilderness

[dudedude2211]

"Yes... I'm attracting them. But it's not my fault. They just seemed to follow me, even before I had done anything." he said to the illusion. If he could, he would just walk away now, but he didn't think that would be a very good idea. He could end up with a couple of rounds in him if he did that. He doubted that he wouldn't, anyways. This was a lose-lose-lose-lose situation in every outcome. He could lose everything right now. His life, his freedom, and, well, all he had other than that was about seven thousand U.S. dollars.
Losing the money wouldn't really bother him, but they most likely wouldn't just take his money. This woman wanted answers...
And if she was more specific with her questions, she would get them.
"I can't answer a question that wasn't asked."

[Richard G. Hale]

The Reaper repeated his motion, this time in a wider arch, in case it wasn't noticed before. This time, he also mumbled a quiet "Turn around.", although his voice was noticeably more gruff, and lacked the twinge of soft-spoken contemplation it held before.

Other than the motion of his hand and mouth, the Reaper remained absolutely still. The only movement on his person being the slight rustle of fabric and leather moving with the wind. The air around him continued to wriggle and writhe squirm about him with the fear he was pumping into the atmosphere, and the dead quiet added to the illusion.

Richard knew almost right away that the woman must have been doing to the boy what she had done with him when he started to talk. No one had said anything since the fight broke out. Nevertheless, he still had his mind made up on what he would do.

Meanwhile, the water that had flowed and dripped from Richard's supply had begun the job of cleaning. It quietly sifted through the Tundra to clean up the remains of the long-dead fire. It also began to slowly shift the Reaper's small sack of belongings towards the forest, through the various small shrubs, small pockets of snow, and the shadows.

[Rennia Trayvold]

The illusion of Rennia didn't seem impressed in the slightest. It would cross it's arms and perk its brows at the daemon. "You haven't even answered the questions I HAVE asked, and you start telling me you can't answer ones not asked? You're rather full of yourself aren't you? But yeah I suppose young punks are." The illusion waved it's hand, waiting for the daemon to do as the reaper instructed.

The real Rennia however kept her rifle trained from her spot in the shadows, but was slowly becoming bored with the man. Sure he was problematic, but he certainly had a way of being predictable to a fault. It made him far to boring to hold her attention for long, though she sighed and settled in as she waited to see what the daemon would do now that the reaper was confronting him.

[dudedude2211]

He did as the reaper said, and turned around.
Now, most people would get themselves killed in this situation by attempting to fight. Daemons especially. But they were different from him in that he knew when to give up... and now was the time.
"What question did you ask that I didn't answer in my last sentence..?" he asked her. She had asked.He had answered.
They were following him, just because of what, but more likely who, he was. Luckily, sometimes when they found him he could just Shift into someone around his own size. They always fell for that.
He awaited further instructions or questions.

[Richard G. Hale]

Richard slowly lowered his Webley to his side, an unseen look of regret passing over his face for a brief moment. Slowly he turned his head to the side slightly, the smokey black sockets almost invisible in the darkness. He peered through the trees around the area the illusion had pointed, another brief look of regret passing over his bony white face.

In but a fraction of a second, the Reaper's hand extended up and out the side a small degree, and the slammed into the side of the boy's head with enough ferocity and power to temporarily disconnect most brain stems, which would usually result in the receiver of the blow being dragged into the world of their own subconscious. The Reaper's own strength was likely enough to do the job on it's own, the added force from the leverage of the long metal barrel of his Webley only served to increase the force, and ensure that the job was done.

If his blow connected, the Reaper would watch the boy collapse to the ground. He hadn't used all of his strength with the blow, just enough to knock him out. He didn't need another life resting on his shoulders.

Afterwards, The Reaper's jacket would fan out in front of him as his legs propel him backwards into the nearby trees, where his very existence seems to melt, and the atmosphere slowly returned to it's normal, non-heart-bursting self.

Richard sat, perched on a branch of a tree, much in the same position as he had been when the whole ordeal around his fire had started. Which by now had been erased by his small trail of water. He watched the boy for a moment, and then turned his eyes to the ground, searching for the Daemoness.

[Rennia Trayvold]

Rennia's finger gently slid past the trigger guard and hovered over the trigger. Her eye watched the pair through the scope as Richard approached Nakashi. The crosshairs were centered over Nakashi's chest. In but a fraction of a second she could pull that trigger and rip the man's chest cavity apart, an inevitable kill shot, if he proved to be problematic. If Nakashi so much as made a move against Richard, that finger would pull the trigger of the Barrett M107. In less than a fraction of a second the hammer would fall upon the primer cap of the Fifty Caliber 'Browning Machine Gun' round, igniting the powder within and causing pressure to build up within the casing. With only two directions to go the pressure pushes the near eight hundred grain round out the end of the casing and pushes the bolt back. The round leaves the end of the barrel long before the spent casing is ejected from the chamber. In no time flat the super sonic projectile would connect with it's target at a speed of over two thousand feet per second, destroying whatever it connected with.

If Nakashi behaved, Rennia would simply sit there and watched, waiting to see what Richard would do with the boy. Watching Richard handle Nakashi, Rennia would lower her rifle slowly, setting the safety and taking her hand away from the trigger. If all goes off without a hitch, she would slowly walk back over to the camp site. There she would collect up the items she was forced to leave near the fire when the confrontation started and she hoisted the rifle over her shoulder by it's sling before she begins wandering back off into the darkness. Some distance in a green bar of light appears, most likely a chem light of some sort. It faintly moves side to side and up and down, likely being carried in the hand of someone walking, which would probably be the daemoness.

[dudedude2211]

The last thing he said before he went out of consciousness was a prayer to Anpu. He didn't do anything else as the reaper walked up to him and hit him with the barrel of his Webley. He dropped to the ground, unconscious, and yet still maintaining a small bit of consciousness. He could think to himself. That was it. He could also cause himself to dream, and control exactly what happened. So it was a lucid dream. The one thing on his mind was that he was still alive... he didn't really expect that. He hadn't noticed the look of regret on the reapers face as he swung the Webley, either.

'At least he hadn't fired...' the daemon thought to himself.

He didn't hear anything, didn't see anything. He could only think as things went on around him that he couldn't see, or hear.

[Richard G. Hale]

The Reaper sat and watched the boy for a brief moment longer before he craned his neck around to look over the vast expanse of permafrost and Tundra before him. Eventually his eyes came to settle on the faint green light far in the distance, illuminating the small shape of a woman. He looked down at the boy once more, and then melted away into the shadows in the dark, Siberian forest.

Richard stuck to the treeline as he walked along towards the light, remaining quiet as he lovingly opened the breach on his revolver, ejected the empty cartridges, and then slid four new ones in. He swung the breach closed with a flick of his hand, and then holstered it next to the knife inside of his jacket. The anticipation of getting a Mateba was killing him, and his hands were already aching for the molded grip and powerful slugs that he would use with it. He also longed for the comfortable weight of a rifle on his back, something that he had been lacking for the past 70 some odd years as he wandered. It would make hunting game that much easier with a scope and longer range weapon, not to mention he would be able to scout out towns and clearings before he went and got himself into trouble.

Richard remained quiet as he crept up next to the incredibly tall woman, preferring to remain silent at the moment, to think. As he walked, he began the long process of re-wrapping his head and neck in bandages and gauze, leaving only small holes over his eyes and mouth.

[Rennia Trayvold]

Rennia suddenly stopped and let out a sigh. She looked back towards the camp and then back forward. She did this a couple times before dropping the bag she had her stuff. She set the rifle on top of the bag and dropped the light next to it. She then trudged back over towards the camp, possibly passing the reaper on the way. As she closed in on campground she reached under her cloak and pulled out the suppressed Kimber Pro TLE II from her cloak. She ejected the magazine and slid it back under, placing it in one of the pockets of her vest before pulling out another magazine. She carefully pointed the gun off to the side and pulled the slide back ejecting the round currently in the chamber. She watched where it fell before leaning down to pick it up, dropping it into another pocket.

Rennia walked over towards where Richard had placed Nakashi and looked down upon the resting form of the daemon. She would look back in the direction of Richard if she'd seen him. If he didn't stop her she would look back down at Nakashi. She turns the gun to the side and reaches down with her free hand to unscrew the suppressor. Afterward the end of the pistol would swing back around before the trigger was depressed. Instantly the hammer fell forward and the report of the unsuppressed .45 echoes through the still Siberian night as the round exploded from the end of the pistol and flew the short distance to the Daemon's unconscious head.

The casing would fall silently to the ground and bounced once before coming to a stop. Barring anything out of the ordinary happening, Rennia would stare at the Daemon who would more than likely have a giant hole in his head. After a moment she would twist the pistol as if intrigued by what it had done. The thought quickly passed and she would let it fall back to her side as she'd turn around and make her way back toward her stuff unless Richard was evil and stole it.

As she'd make her way back she'd slowly screw the suppressor back on as if nothing had happened.

[Richard G. Hale]

Richard almost ran into the woman as she stopped suddenly, tripping over himself slightly in order to veer out of the way. He watched with mild interest as the woman dropped her equipment onto the ground and started walking back towards the now dark campsite.

The Reaper looked down at the items she had thoughtfully left lying on the ground next to him, eyeing the large rifle bag lustily. She had just left it there... A complete rifle, ripe for the plucking... But then again, ammunition for an M107 would be expensive... And it would be impractical to carry around with him everywhere... Maybe not.

Richard's head perked up, his hand almost instantly placed on his Webley as the shot rang out of her Kimber. He let his hand drop back down to his side as the reality of the situation sunk in, and the thought crossed his mind that this woman had done what he could not, and executed the boy. The loss of such a young life was a shame, but at the same time he knew that it took a tremendous amount of determination, or even courage to deem someone as being too dangerous to let live. He made a mental note to not make the same mistakes in his life as he watched her march back.

[Rennia Trayvold]

Rennia slid the pistol back into the holster and wandered back into the direction of her belongings. She also pulled up her hood, casting her face back into shadow as she continued along. She thought about the reaper and wondered how he'd take her execution of Nakashi. To her it had been an easy choice. The kid represented a risk that didn't seem to care it was putting others into the path of harm... or at least annoyance. While Rennia never really felt her life was in danger in this particular instance, she didn't particularly care to be set upon by random hunters.

Finally she'd track back over, and if allowed, pat Richard on the shoulder as she'd go to get her stuff. She'd pick up the rifle with one hand and sling it over her shoulder before doing something of the same with the bag, over her other shoulder. Then she'd grab the chem light and begin trudging on. The winds slowly began to pick up, and Rennia looked around before turning her attention back towards Richard.

"How well do you handle storms? Looks like the weather's picking up..."

[Richard G. Hale]

Merely watching silently as she trekked back over, the Reaper's gaze was almost as cold as his leather-clad shoulders. He didn't say anything as she gathered her equipment, nor did he say anything as they began to travel over the frozen tundra. He just walked, and thought silently to himself. Pondering over the various events of the night, the outcome, and what would come of the future. Of course, he thought about many other things at the same time as well.

Richard turned his head skyward as his new companion broke the quiet silence, the clouds he had seen in the distance earlier that day now beginning to accumulate and collect in columns and sheets over the starry night sky. It was a shame to see the rest of the galaxy covered up by the blanket of vapor hovering in the atmosphere, but both were astoundingly beautiful sights to behold. Soon, he would say "Some rain, sleet, and wind won't stop me from living my life. I've been living out here for... Well... Years. I can take most of what Siberia can throw at me. It's actually quite nice outside tonight, you can see the clouds very well."

With that said, the Reaper took a small pocketbook from one of the inside folds of his jacket, and used the light of the stars and lightning to make out the words inside. Each flash of plasma crashing through the air seemed to illuminate another passage, another illustration, and another page. After a period of time, the bone covering the Reaper's sensitive countenance distorted and stretched, morphing into something almost straight from a nightmare. His grim mouth had stretched into a large smile, which caused his entire mandible to move and elongate itself.

If the smile itself weren't enough to make one shiver outside of the cold, a small chuckle followed it. A deep, hollow, reverberating echo sounded from his throat. The bony 'smile' on the Reaper's face only served to further the demonic visage he was putting on involuntarily. The deep laughter was followed shortly by the snapping of paper on paper as he shut the book with a hand, and then slid it back inside his jacket.

[Rennia Trayvold]

Rennia seemed unaffected by the gaze he gave her. It wasn't unfamiliar to her in any shape or form after so many years. She had seen it from reapers, humans, werebeasts, vampyres, hell even other daemons. After a while it just stopped registering, but that was fine. It was something she was used to. If they didn't like what she was that was their problem. They had one of three choices as far as she was concerned. They could walk away, shut up and deal, or try to do something about it. In the end the effects were liable to be the same. She wouldn't have to deal with them afterward.

"I should hope a little bad weather wouldn't... Otherwise I'd have to ask how you survived your first year. Did you simply keep yourself in a box?" She gaze a soft chuckle and shook her head. "Either way, looks like we're going to have a little fun this evening. That'll be great. I suppose either way it's better than what just happened back there. Who'd have thought one small camp fire would draw so much attention...." She chuckled, remembering it had been the camp fire that had drawn her attention after all...

She continued on in some silence as Richard dug into his book. The occasional light lit up the land like someone taking a photograph. It also had the same effect of seeming to make the world freeze for that brief moment. She liked lightning at night, but it did still cause her some annoyance as her eyes shifted between the bright light of those bolts of electricity, and the dim lighting that fed her night vision.

After a few moments she heard a chuckle come from the reaper. She perked a brow and looked over her shoulder at the figure slightly behind her. At that sight both brows came up. It was an interestingly hellish sight that intrigued the daemoness. Was he a reaper or a daemon she wondered, judging by that appearance. She gave her own soft chuckle as she did before turning around. Her soft chuckle however was that one you might expect off of a daemon. It was a cold and powerful chuckle, but it was more diabolic and gave off the sensation of 'scheming' instead of the sound of 'death.'

[Richard G. Hale]

Richard's smile shrunk back into a neutral look as he started to wrap his bandages around the lower half of his face, taking his time with it. Eventually he manages to return his appearance to what it was before he had sat down at his cozy little campfire. He adjusted his hat over the top of his head, mumbling a soft "Who'd 'a thought..." as he continued to walk.

The soft pitter-patter of rain started to splash and tap down onto the tundra, trees, shrubs and anything else that wasn't covered, soon enough. The rain would dampen the soil, the plants, it would provide nourishment for the rivers and streams, not to mention the local Flora and Fauna. The smells of the wilderness would each come together, creating a rich and earthy aroma. It was one of the reasons Richard loved it so much. Both rain and storm, and wild and wood.

[Rennia Trayvold]

Rennia pulled her hood tighter around her as it began to rain. Sure she didn't mind scenes of nature either, but wet hair could be a bitch to deal with when you were trying to see in inclement weather. Rennia continued to march onward. Her eyes scoured the field they were in, looking for any other surprises that might be out there for them. Thankfully there didn't appear to be any, at least for now. Her mind wandered back to the boy she had just left a smouldering ruin in the field. His body had been left, with all his belongings, on the ground. She didn't even bother to bury the kid. If anyone would wander upon his corpse they might believe him to be a child... until they saw the wings. She figured, however, that the animals would get to him first.

After a few minutes of silence, Rennia would finally speak up again. "So, About that kid. I hope you don't mind that I shot him or anything. He seemed like he'd cause a bit of trouble so I decided to deal with him now instead of later."

To be honest she didn't really care if she had shot the boy in the head. He'd done more than enough to annoy her and she felt he needed to be ended before he brought more hell upon them. Then there was the fact that Richard had been silent about it. She could handle him being upset about it, but if he was, she wanted to know. It would save her trouble later if he decided he wanted to do something about it.