Emissary of Souls

Subject: Emissary of Souls Sun Mar 30, 2014 4:44 pm

It was Dawn as black smoke came in on a gentle breeze, silently filled the area as the last leaf fell from the tree, revealing it to be a fall time of year for the tree. The smoke was accompanied by small blue flames and blue horns occasionally popping out from the shroud. The sounds of apes, chimps, monkeys of different kinds slowly began to fill the air, as a single skull with a gas mask appeared from the smoke quickly but silently making its way towards the tree. A cloaked figure walked up to the tree and gently caressed the bark. The bark turned black from his touch, as faint coughing could be heard, as Death gently fell to his knees. The apes came running to his aid, helping him back onto his feet, and jumping into his mouth to feed him souls of the dead to bring back his energy. The empty eye sockets that were lit with a small flame began to glow a tad brighter as the flames in those sockets went from being a small blue flame, to an orange flame.

Death pushed the monkeys away as he got back on his feet, he found himself needing a champion as he had foreseen his own death, among those of many other Avatars, someone would have to have his weapon... someone would have to fill his shoes and become his legacy. He let out small curses as he thought to himself how much he hated reality, and how much he hated what the existence of Eden had done to it... "Even we the Avatars of Humanity must bend to your new rules... this chaotic calamity that hopes to strengthen a false reality" He angrily unsheathed his blade and threw it into the ground... "Whatever higher power there is that is greater than I? The power that created me and all the other aspects of humanity, reality, abnormality!... I ask you... why..." He began to cough once more but this time as the spirit apes came to his aid, he killed the first one cutting the souls that made it out of reality. The other apes fled from their master’s anger.

Death then walked around looking at all the empty coffins, surprised that despite all of the things that had been going on, both in the Avatar Realm and Eden... that some people remained asleep; some people were still happily drifting around in purgatory. "It’s not fair..." Death repeated himself once again "It’s not fair!" He then sliced a hole into the ground using his blade opening a portal into purgatory. A demonic appearing hand then burst from the smoke reaching down and grabbing the first aimless soul it could grab onto. Many more souls followed flying out into Eden in an attempt to escape purgatory. They enshrouded the sky flying into animals and trees possessing anything they could, the spirit apes all smiled and rejoiced as they began to feast on some of the souls, the ones they could catch that is. The single soul that death had captured was held above each and every closed coffin that is until that particular soul had discovered the coffin that had been hiding his living body. Naturally the soul fell from Death's grip and fell into his own body.

Deaths chuckled as he realized what he had done, not only were more soul spawn sure to show up, but many of the beasts in Eden would gain personalities; they would grow wiser from being possessed by wicked souls. Death had decided it was better to leave the portal open, nothing could go in of course, but everything could be let out... "This is indeed a fitting way to die... let me live on forever... for I am death... I am forever!" He ran towards the tree and plucked a single apple from it. His plan was indeed a simple one as he ripped off his gas mask to let the fumes of death finally take him. "Awaken! Champion of Death!"

In - Training Posts : 18 Join date : 2014-03-28 Age : 31

Bill blinked a few times gathering his bearings. Even though he was in a coffin, he could feel this was nowhere on Earth. He sighed, "Kinda cramped for the afterlife." He pushed open the lid, inhaling deeply. The air was much cleaner here. He smiled as he sat up looking around.

The apes in the tree stared at him with hungry eyes but didn't move at the bequest of the other being before Bill, which the man instantly recognized as death. "So I am dead," he murmured softly. The chill in the air with the barren yet somehow fresh fruited tree signaled it was autumn. He noticed Death was holding a fruit "Is that for me? Bill stood, unashamed of his nudity and walked towards Death.

Subject: Re: Emissary of Souls Sun Mar 30, 2014 6:02 pm

Death let out a chuckle at Bill's ignorance to the situation, calmly he had accepted death for what it was and was ready to keep moving, and after all it was a part of life. This aspect had amused Death greatly, for he had just about given up on his own aspect and was ready to face his end. "Let who ever hold this blade become the anchor of death... not alive and not dead... but something that exist and can cease to exist... the curse that was placed on me at birth shall now be passed on to you... eat the fruit my champion so that you will be ready for what is to come" He held out his hand towards Bill in one hand was the apple and in the other was the hilt of his blade, the scythe he used to take peoples souls to purgatory... the weapon that granted him immunity to his brothers and sisters that had granted him ultimate power while he was allowed to exist. "Take them both knowing that you are about to become the emissary of death... you are to become a grim reaper of souls... and all of the souls that die on Eden from this day forward will pass through you and into the next life"

The spirits that had been flying out of purgatory began to become eaten, one by one as a golden dragon emerged from the portal roaring in the distance. Its single eye was big enough to fit into the rip that Death had created; the rip began to grow bigger with size, as the dragon began to attempt its escape from purgatory.

In - Training Posts : 18 Join date : 2014-03-28 Age : 31

Bill didn't fully understand what Death meant with not living or dying and existing and ceasing to exist. However, he did understand that it'd be a fool's move to reject the gifts that one such as Death offered and what Death meant by his power and Champion. He grabbed the hilt of the blade but pulled away a woodsman's axe. He held it on his shoulder and, despite being clothesless, looked the classic image of mountaineer.

He turned towards the portal looking the dragon in the eye. "I don't think you belong here," he spoke kindly, "at least not yet. I'll bring you here when you are." He swung his axe in an upward motion between the edges of the portal willing it shut. Then grabbed the apple from death eating it slowly, surprising for one who died from starvation.

Bill closed his eyes savoring the flavor after going so long with only breath and flesh to taste. He opened his eyes stumbling back from how far and sharply he could see. He could hear the branches creak underneath the ape weight and almost feel the movement of the Earth. He closed his eyes again letting his mind process what just happened. "Is there anything else sir?" he asked Death, hoping not to come off as disrespectful.

Subject: Re: Emissary of Souls Sun Mar 30, 2014 7:39 pm

Death noted the prowess that Bill already claimed, his right to be here on Eden, "Well then... I suppose that is all... It was nice finally meeting someone who I felt wasn't afraid of me" The skeleton then cracked and began to fall to pieces as the cloak that hid no body but millions upon millions of souls then opened releasing them. The cloak would soon become destroyed by the rampaging souls as soul would eat soul and many soul spawn would appear each with a different weapon... each one having some form of agitation with Bill.

They were not right in the head, as these souls in particular had witnessed millions of deaths. They craved it, these were the souls that forced death to be who he was... and these souls would carry out their wishes themselves now finally having bodies of their own. They would eventually go after the spirit apes to increase their power even more devouring and killing them as well, it was indeed a massacre upon the death of Death itself. No stone would be unturned as the spirits began to grab the fruits of the tree eating them feeling themselves get stronger, they then all spoke in unison their minds linked through some spiritual plane. "We are going to kill everyone Anchor... no one will be safe... all life will perish now that we are no longer trapped... all life will know our suffering... do you stand with us... or are you against us" In total there stood 18 soul spawn that all shared one mind, one personality and the souls only sought one thing and that was death.

In - Training Posts : 18 Join date : 2014-03-28 Age : 31

"Strange," Bill said softly looking at the 18 figures before him, "For those who've come from Death, you don't understand the balance it needs." Should he have come to this land with spending his time in the wilderness, it would've confused him. He stood tall getting into stance, if he had hackles they would've rose. "I suppose I'm against you."

He had a vague idea the he should've prevented a good majority of them form touching the fruit as he felt their power grow through the Earth. He knew these weren't the only ones, they didn't feel natural to him. He suppressed a growl as he watched, studying their movements looking for a weakness.

He held his axe in his hands not too tight, easy to swing and give way but hard enough only Death could take it from him. It was positioned across his body ready to move any direction at a moments notice. He took a deep breath letting go of worries and fears, or stress and anger, of emotion pouring it all into a mental flame. He waited, ready for them to make a move.

Subject: Re: Emissary of Souls Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:06 am

The soul spawn all grinned in unison as they dashed towards Bill, each one wielding a black steel claymore that glowed in several rainbow colors. As they charged at him they fused into one giant fist wielding one giant claymore and came down on Bill with all of its weight. It was a rather slow attack once the sword was coming down but it range of space for damage was quite huge. As the blade was coming down the soul spawn would slowly jump out of there unified transformation and charge there blades with other souls that had not yet fled from the area.

The spirits cried out as they realized they were in danger, and some of the fled towards Bill simply touching him, he would feel their pain absorbing the pain they went through right before they died as they used him to get from Eden and back into purgatory. "The anchor must feel the pain of every soul that passes through... the anchor must bear the weight of Leviathans..." The blade had finally smashed into the ground in hopes of smashing Bill into oblivion.

In - Training Posts : 18 Join date : 2014-03-28 Age : 31

Bill pushed the pain into his flame, there'd be plenty of time to feel it later and figure out more about these Leviathans. He couldn't help a low growl as they continued to pass through his body. Rolling out of the way was simple enough, it was the timing and stealing himself against the wind from the impact to envelop himself in the resulting dust cloud. He used his ears rather than his sight and smell to listen for movements around him, stalking them like a lone wolf. He pulled the souls that were around him into him preventing the power from being used by these... things.

Subject: Re: Emissary of Souls Tue Apr 01, 2014 7:11 pm

The blade vanished in a poof of smoke, the soul spawn having not realized there powers yet all decided it was time to eat another apple, a taboo that had not yet been done among the soul spawn. As the 18 ate from the tree once more nine of them would suffer the curse of the fruit, the rule that stated you may only eat one fruit, bust those half of the union died, they were quickly devoured by the other half creating a quadruple apple effect, giving the soul spawn a form of power that Eden had never seen before.

The nine soul spawn each wore a mask now and rather and stick around to do battle eight of them fled, to go wreak havoc on the rest of the world. One stayed back, his eyes glowing a gold color behind the mask. "Are you ready to die again Anchor?"

In - Training Posts : 18 Join date : 2014-03-28 Age : 31

Bill jumped out suppressing a curse as the creatures left after gaining more power. He swung with the flat of his Axe aiming for the remaining soulspawns ribs. "Those who do not accept death will be forever haunted by it!"

He grabbed the soulspawn throwing it towards the tree before landing and getting back into stance. "You can fight me with all these tricks," he said, "you can run with all your power, but you'll never succeed and never fully flee me!" His face was twisted in an animalistic grimice. "Go on eat more you gluttonous monstrosity. Even without Death's gift I'd hunt you for what you've become!"

NPC Posts : 22 Join date : 2014-03-05

A flash of light burst from the sky landing in between the two fighters, the light was blinding and for a moment was unable to be focused on. A female stood when it faded her yellow dress, cut to reveal her back, still faintly glowed from the dramatic entrance. "So this is the Anchor?" The woman could only sigh with annoyance not respecting Death's choice at all, her golden headdress shook with disapproval. The woman had a kirpan and it was gripped tightly in her hand, the triquetas engraved into her blade burning with a white energy. "What is your name?" The, what looked like, noble woman echoed towards Bill as she turned away to face the soul spawn, her blade forming into a straight beam of light stretching five feet, hissing as it burns into the ground.

"Soul spawn, if you wish to perish continue this battle." with the threat she put one foot forward, pointing her toe towards the beast, the other perpendicular to it bending her knee for support the blade pointing straight towards the creature as she holds it in one hand pressing the hilt to her other palm, her demeanor was completely calm and still as she waited for the other to make her move, the question that she asked almost seemed completely ignored by her turning away, but there was still some residual compulsion to answer the woman now fighting his battle.

Subject: Re: Emissary of Souls Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:00 pm

Nine let out a grunt, which was followed by a laugh, in his laugh echoed the voices of all of the souls that had made him who he was. "Well Spirit... it is quite the honor to meet one of the originals... As of right now we are not strong enough to fight you... but give it time... as the Anchor weakens we will get stronger and we will take this land and plunge it into purgatory... we are aware of the breaking of the pact among avatars... the energy of reality itself has become so chaotic that we were created to wipe away this failure and start a new... the humans only aid us as their arrival marks the end of the Avatars... and the start of the soul spawn..."

Nine then pulled himself away from Bill, his body becoming like smoke and impossible to grip. He reformed himself behind Bill and took a single finger and engraved a burn in the shape of the number nine onto Bill's body. Before Bill could even react nine was a cloud once more drifting away with the wind. "Spirit... you all have nine weeks until the end... to prepare these humans to do your battles for you with each week one of us eats an apple and dies only to be assimilated by those of us who remain... your best bet would be to find us and kill us before that happens..."

The cloud was then blackened by clouds in that instant as it began to storm above the tree. Lightning bolts began to rain down rapidly not only setting fire to the tree itself but it was as if the clouds were trying to kill the anchor.

In - Training Posts : 18 Join date : 2014-03-28 Age : 31

Bill could smell her distain but not danger. He foolishly let his guard down allowing the soulspawn to engrave that wretched number on him. He let go of his focus, the strain of movement and pain from the burn and the souls forcing him to since and his knees to weaken.

"Thanks for the help I guess," he was infuriated although his voice didn't show it, "I guess it's my job to go hunt those things. Well if you wanna help you're gonna have to keep up. I've got nine weeks til I'm gone and no offense to your gildedness but I'm not big on trusting people to get what I'm tasked with done."

Bill turned almost to ignore her request but took a deep breath and turned back. "My name's Bill Gunter," he said, almost cursing his mother for forcing manners down his throat, "But we need to get going in all seriousness, unless you can take me by flash miss...?" He trailed off turning it into a question of her abilities and name.

NPC Posts : 22 Join date : 2014-03-05

Spirit's body faded into her spiritual form as he turned to a smoke, her body was completely defensive in her movements lashing out at them as they burn into his flesh trying to drive them away in vain. "Well Bill, I don't care much for your attitude." Spirit finally replies as her body begins to solidify after a few moments. With a gasp her body shakes reforming and she turns to Bill, her eyes narrow to slits as her voice lowers nearing an annoyed growl. "Also you say keep up? You have quite a few things to learn." She calms down slightly and chuckles. her voice wavers in between ghostly and normal as she completely addresses him with Nine gone.

"Bill, my name is Spirit, your were brought into this world by my brother Death." She says this not wasting any time as she waves her weaponless hand causing a bright light to shine from the sky and a piece of metal to float from the heavens itself, floating in between them through closer examination, it appears to be an ankh.

"I cannot go around mindlessly hunting the dark anymore, I obviously have wasted too much time already." She says referring to her futile hunt of one of her other siblings not something that would truly make sense to the man before him. "Take the Ankh, its my blessing, but when you find the creature smash the ankh and I will arrive to help." She lets through a warm smile, the ankh was made completely out of what looked like a rather durable material but through touching it almost felt like a water balloon, just waiting to be popped, With a flourish of her kirpan it vanishes, light and all. "While you hunt him, I will begin getting civilization ready for the impending apocalypse." A feeling of worry could be seen through Spirit's calm demeanor, her love of the life on the planet seemed to sneak through her seriousness. "Do you have any questions?" She finally asks, completely open to any of the probably endless questions he has.

In - Training Posts : 18 Join date : 2014-03-28 Age : 31

He could've made a quip about the fact that she had previously judged him simply because of how he appeared but he refrained. He was almost tempted to say something along the lines of that he figured quite a few of them probably forgot their places as beings of balance in the universe or so he figured. Instead he said; "I can't fight them as is. I need training in both this type of combat and how to use my improved senses to their best ability. I can find them and other like them easily enough, as they seem to be against everything nature stands for and my inner...beast? doesn't like that. If you could point me in the direction to get the best result in that I'd be grateful."

"The more I think about it," he began on a different trail of thought, "wouldn't it be easier to keep most if the people warned and sorta fight them off til quite a few could attack the one that's left? It's easier for a pack of wolves to bring down a bear than a couple of wolves to fight a pack of bears. By my math that means I'd have a week to find him and kill him." He shrugged, "Other than those that's it. I'll not waste your time and find out the rest on my own."

NPC Posts : 22 Join date : 2014-03-05

The thought of training sparked into her mind with a glitter of her eyes, the sudden realization that even if he did find the beast and summon her to his aid the chances of it being able to overpower her would be great. "Yes.. training" she said trying to think of the best way to do this. "For now I will take you with me, I am going to take you out of the physical realm for a small time as I go and gather some of the lost souls, I do not want them floating around for that beast to devour." Her body shakes with fear for each of those souls and what Nine would do to them if he were to find them.

"As for using groups of people to hunt down creatures, that works great for primal beast with little thought." She begins to explain with a motion of her hands. "But hunting in groups also makes you very obvious in traveling, you saw how fast that spawn can move, there is no way to chase it as a large group." She removes her golden headdress waving her hair in the wind, her body begins to give off a faint glow. "I will train you, and in two weeks time we will be ready to hunt the beast, be warned Ancho-.. I mean Bill, this is no easy task." She holds out one of her free hands for him to grasp onto, if he chooses to accept her hand they would both become bodiless, Bill would lose all control and feeling being merely a glowing body of thought, his vision would be the only thing to remain as they would soar through the air, Spirit's silent whispers drawing souls to a single location on the sea, a huge island that seemed to never be in the same place.

In - Training Posts : 18 Join date : 2014-03-28 Age : 31

Bill wasn't one for fighting and war outside of what was necessary to survive but if he didn't this time... He took a deep breath and grasped Spirit's hand. "Well then since I'm headed with you I suppose I should ask these gnawing questions," he tried to say but noticed he had nothing to say them with. He could still see which was a plus and afterwards he remembered the souls around the Tree he took in. He tried to communicate more of what happened so Spirit could help him help them but he didn't know how.