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Post by nikki on Sept 11, 2007 9:42:01 GMT -5
The No-Man's Woods were, for the first time LiAnne had ever experienced, dead silent.
Quietness was usually a very unnerving thing in areas of danger, but LiAnne knew well that it was extremely uncommon in these lands and that it was probably an omen of some sort.
On a typical day - or night, if you were brave - you could hear creatures scarpering here and there, big, lumbering wolves and strange creatures whose hoofbeats emanated throughout the trees. Nobody wanted to find out exactly what those were. Even LiAnne was puzzled.
Of course, music was also audible; bizarre, whispering singing, followed by giggles and cackles, like a mischevious five-year-old who just ate all the chocolates off his birthday cake while his mother's back was turned. It was LiAnne's job to find out why the woods were silent. She was the owner; the proprietor.
"An evil omen," LiAnne decided, examining her nails and scrubbing a speck of dirt off of them.
Now she folded her arms and waited. A new member of her gang was supposed to show up today, if her schedule was correct.
But the woods... the problem kept distracting her.
LiAnne did not love easily, but she adored the woods with all her heart, her heart of frozen steel.
She loved them passionately.
And she'd do all she could to stop anything terrible from changing her land.
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Post by Envy on Sept 11, 2007 21:23:15 GMT -5
Glancing up at the ominous branches of the rapidly passing limbs of towering trees, shadows shading the area in a cloak of obsidian. Dim beams of moonlight found their way, cascading down in tiny shreds that were hardly visible.
But Exparious, finally breaking off ties with the organ pumping in his chest as he rushed along, had joined one gang he'd never be able to turn from without being slaughtered starting from his neck down to dicing his insides. Imagining yourself on a buffet table isn't very lovely, either.
But each way he looked it seemed just like the last place he saw. was he even going the right way, for that matter? Then his head perked, eyes squinting and glowing their flaxen hue as his vision slashed through the night. Ahead, there seemed to be someone, though whether it was or not he hadn't the slightest clue.
However, seeing some hope in escaping the dreaded and eerie stillness he felt as he tread along, he started into a jog for the person, thinking maybe they had some idea where he was, besides lost in the No-Man's Woods. The name even made him shiver, feeling like it seriously meant no-male's woods.
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Post by nikki on Sept 14, 2007 22:01:32 GMT -5
Footsteps. LiAnne could hear them. Tensing, she whirled around, and her white wings stiffened as she fought to keep them still. Annoying things, they could be, wings. They always wanted to flutter and sway in the breeze and move around, but that was like a warning beacon to the enemy, to see feathery spots of alabaster waving through the air.
"Who's there?" barked LiAnne, her cruel, scarlet eyes narrowing as she scanned the woods. She knew the faces of intruders, of allies, of her minions, better than anything else. They were all engraved in her heart of steel, and in her efficient, knife-sharp mind's eye.
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Post by Envy on Sept 14, 2007 22:44:50 GMT -5
Exparios skidded as he tried to halt, startled by her voice, explicit to a razor sharp degree. The way it sliced the air caused him to pause greatly before he regained his composure. "Exparios," he uttered, blinking his eyes at first. "I'm Exparios, looking for someone by the name of LiAnne."
His golden gray optics graced their way until they fell on who he had no idea was who he had been supposed to meet, and would at this time. It was already unintelligent that he had ventured through the woods -- at night, even -- to meet the head of the clan he was joining. Initiation, don't kill him yet.
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Post by nikki on Sept 15, 2007 1:29:53 GMT -5
"That's me." LiAnne took a step forward and cocked her head to one side, scrutinizing him, this one who was to become a new member of her group. A new minion, a new follower, a new slave, a new servant she could trust - however you put it. He'd be the bottom of the barrel for a while yet.
"Exparios..." she muttered. "Okay, that seems to be in order, then." Looking away, LiAnne shot a venemous glance at the cloudy, dark grey sky, or what she could see of it; the treetops obscured most of her view.
"The woods are different tonight. I was hoping to find out why."
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Post by Envy on Sept 15, 2007 11:54:25 GMT -5
"Different?" Exparios raised a blond brow, no idea what she meant. This may have been because he had never before this time come around to these parts, or it could have been his unintelligibleness speaking. "How is it different from other days or nights?"
We could take it to be the second option, for anyone who has a properly thinking mind would merely agree with their superior. Exparios, however, rarely thought before he spoke, which would probably end up with him remaining in the position of a slave for a good while.
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Post by nikki on Sept 15, 2007 11:59:02 GMT -5
LiAnne scowled at him, disliking the question. Others rarely disagreed with her or acted unsure of her authority - most were just afraid of her, but some, the wiser ones, knew that it was because she knew the woods better than anyone else from around here. If she met someone who claimed to know them better, she'd challenge them and would have her heart of steel set on beating them until she prevailed. And she always would.
"I take it you've never been here before," scoffed she. "You'll need the usual training... well, it's too quiet for it to be healthy." For a split second, LiAnne looked worried, but she quickly turned away, not wanting Exparios to see.
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Post by Envy on Sept 15, 2007 12:22:57 GMT -5
Exparios felt his face scrunch up in distaste, but refrained from snorting at her. "I see." He made a sound in his throat to clear it, but also to attempt to turn her attention to the question he was going to ask. "Not to change a subject that is apparently deeply important, but what shall I call you, since I doubt LiAnne is your idea of a respectful thing to say after addressing you or replying to you."
What he had gotten himself into, he was still unsure. But he was sure by the end of it, she'd either make him what she wanted him to be or kill him one. Or, perhaps, something worse, but it was not as bad as it may seem to some. He was not naked, running about on his hands and knees, fetching things for her with his teeth and undressing her at her will.
You just had to love the erotic books.
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Post by nikki on Sept 15, 2007 12:31:08 GMT -5
"LiAnne is fine, actually," she replied shortly. "Everything else that the others come up with is horribly cliche." A smirk wormed its way onto her face. "Master, Leader, Queen." She spat on the ground next to her after the last word, remembering one of her enemies. "LiAnne will do."
Turning on the spot, she paced through the rows of trees, though not leaving Exparios' area. Bending down, LiAnne noticed a spot of something on the frozen ground.
"Blood," she murmured softly, prodding the brownish-red splot with a long fingernail. "Hmm."
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Post by Envy on Sept 15, 2007 14:15:25 GMT -5
For a moment, he merely watched and regarded her, then he trotted over to where she was to see what it was. It took little time for the bittersweet scent of a vital fluid to reach his nostrils, and it wrinkled up at first from how sharply it shot through him.
Gazing at the substance, he repeated what she had said, "Blood..." He wondered what could have caused it, but did not ask. He was a slave and he was not to question.
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Post by nikki on Sept 15, 2007 14:22:26 GMT -5
"That's strange..." Straightening up, LiAnne cast a sharp glance around the woods. "Something must be injured... or someone..." It probably was a something, though. Few live beings had enough stupidity to dwell in such a dangerous place if they didn't know it very well.
"Did you see anyone on your way here?" LiAnne inquired, still looking around, her shoulders tense.
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Post by Envy on Sept 15, 2007 16:06:20 GMT -5
Hastily, Exparios straightened. "No," he replied. "The only person I've seen is you so far." It was true, though he hadn't paid much attention when he made his way through the forest. That wasn't exactly the smartest thing to have done, since he could have been killed or trampled, or such along those. The thought that someone could, however, be in the woods did nothing to impose on him that he'd probably be going into them again.
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Post by nikki on Sept 16, 2007 1:16:12 GMT -5
"Good." She twitched at a sudden movement and whirled around, only to hear the distinct sound of a twig snapping. Her eyes narrowed, LiAnne advanced slowly, cautiously towards the broken twig as if hardly daring to believe it.
"Invisibility?" she muttered, and then laughed. It was a cold laugh, deep and humourless. "What interesting enemies we have."
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Post by Envy on Sept 16, 2007 10:54:22 GMT -5
His eyes never left her, but the most he did for a number of moments was observe. "Invisibility. What do you propose to do to find such enemies, then?" he questioned, none too respectfully, which was one of the worst things he could have done, but he didn't notice that until after he had shot his mouth off.
One day, he'd really need to learn to keep quiet. But instead of submitting and backing away like some slaves may, he continued to keep his gaze as it was.
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Post by nikki on Sept 16, 2007 11:27:49 GMT -5
Slowly, LiAnne straightened up to stare at him. She took a gradual step closer, and then another, until she was directly in front of Exparios. One would get the impression that she was about to lash out at him - but instead, she smirked.
LiAnne wasn't one to scare off cruelty, mocking or menace. She embraced all three - though of course not physically, she'd rather eat maggots than hug one of her minions. "I'm not sure, maybe I could get you to run around until you bang into one of them," the lyspeca replied sarcastically.
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