... It begins

[keep_hallways]

It’s dark when the Keep’s newest guests arrive. The cold night air has seeped into the stones of the barracks sending a chill throughout the rooms. No fire has been laid, no lamp lit to beat back the cold or dispel the dark. Each cell remains exactly as it has for months on end, almost as though no one were expecting the small rooms to be occupied

Comments

[drinkuntilidie]

There's nothing but darkness and Kevas is instantly on edge. Only moments ago it had been the middle of the day and he was trudging miserably down the beach. Wherever he is now, it's definitely not the Shore.

One of his swords is in his hand but he doesn't know what good it's going to do him. There's nothing in his stomach and his body is still reeling from withdrawal. It's hard enough to stand right now.

Kevas stumbles about in the darkness before finding the door through sheer luck. His seeking hand finds the handle and he pulls the door open slowly.

"Talia!"

No answer.

"Vie! Alice! Nel! Anybody!?" There's clear panic in his voice. No. Not again. Not again. Kevas slumps against the wall and for the third time in his life, he feels completely alone.

[aswanbyday]

It took Odette a moment, but she recognizes Kevas. She spoke to him once before, hadn't she?

"Excuse me?"

She's cautious as she eases up to him. "You were on the boat, weren't you? On the Elegante."

[drinkuntilidie]

At first he doesn't even notice her. It's not until she mentions the Elegante that he perks up. He recognizes her, if just barely.

"Aye, dat I was."

And that's when he feels it. Hope. If there's someone else from the Elegante here maybe there's more. Maybe he can find his family after all.

[aswanbyday]

"Do you know what's happened? Where are we?"

Odette knows Kevas probably doesn't know the answer. He was probably just as clueless as she was. But it couldn't hurt to ask.

"I thought the End had..."

Her voice trails off. She thought the End had consumed everything. So what was happening?

[drinkuntilidie]

"I ain't be havin' a clue ladymon."

Kevas pushes himself off the wall. It takes a great deal more effort than it should.

"Da End be dead."

He remembers helping kill it quite clearly. After all he nearly died doing so.

"Whatevah ansahs we be wantin' we ain't gonna find dem standin' here. Come on, maybe dere be more of us here too."

Keeping a tight grip on his sword Kevas starts down the hallway, only to be hit by a wave a nausea. Thankfully there's nothing in his stomach otherwise it would be all over the floor.

[aswanbyday]

Odette follows without another word. Yes, she knows the End is dead. She had helped too. Maybe the destruction hadn't been as far reaching as she had originally thought. Maybe that meant...

She shook her head, she'd worry about that later. For now finding answers was priority.

"My name is Odette--...are you all right?"

[drinkuntilidie]

"I be sick, but dere be notin' I can do 'bout it right now. Just gotta keep movin'."

The nausea goes nowhere but Kevas forces himself to keep moving. He can't afford to sit around and wait for it to go away.

"My name be Kevas. Stay close and stay behind me. Dere be no tellin' what else might be here."

Kevas draws his other sword. He may not know her well but right now she's the only familiar thing he has here and that's worth protecting.

[aswanbyday]

Odette obeys, but that doesn't stop her from reaching for her bow. Kevas could probably use some back up. She wasn't a bad shot either.

"I want to go home." It was said more to herself than to him. It was odd to think of the Shore as home. It wasn't the best place in the world. But it was far better than this.

[drinkuntilidie]

"And I want my family." Honestly he couldn't care less about the Golden Shore right now. What concerned him the most is his family. His mate, his sisters, his best friend, all of them were missing. The last time something like that happened...well he rather not think about that right now. Best he stayed focus on staying alive, finding answers, and finding his family.

Kevas pushed on down the hall. Already he was breaking into a sweat. At least rate his fever was bound to return. Hopefully they would find some help before his symptoms got even worse.

[aswanbyday]

Odette looked up at him. Well as best she could in this dark hallway. There were so many people to miss and if they were here, then there was no telling what was happening on the shore. The last time she had been inexplicably ripped from her home, the people she loved had been killed. She hoped with all her might that this wasn't the case again. The Golden Shore was supposed to be a safe haven, right?

"Are you sure you're okay, Kevas? We can stop and rest if we need to."

[drinkuntilidie]

"It wouldn't help. We would just be wastin' time."

Though the temptation to seek out some liquor and guzzle it as quickly as he could was getting stronger. Kevas did what he could to ignore it. There was no guarantee that there was even liquor in this place and he wasn't about to waste their time with a wild goose chase. Eventually he would have to do something about this, but for now it had to wait.

[keep_hallways]

The yelling is more than enough to get the attention of another. Seemingly out of nowhere, a pair of large, burning blue eyes appear at the far end of the hall. They're watching you, Kevas.

[drinkuntilidie]

That wasn't exactly the kind of attention he was looking for. Kevas stared back defiantly and raised his swords. The troll was in no mood for any of this.

"Whoevah joo be, speak now."

He didn't expect it to respond. He wasn't even sure if he wanted it to. As far as he knew, Kevas just lost everything he loved for a third damn time. There wasn't anything left for him to lose now, and if this thing wanted to try and finish him off then let it. Sick or not he would take them all down with him.

[keep_hallways]

Instead of speech, Kevas gets a low growl. It's the only warning he gets before the beast charges, hulking wolf-like body darting towards him. When it reaches the troll, however, there is no real contact, the beast seeming to vanish as it struck him and reappear at the opposing end of the hall.

It lifts it's head to howl, sound echoing throughout the Keep.

[drinkuntilidie]

Kevas swung his blades as the wolf neared and paused when nothing happened. Weak as he may be, Kevas knew he hit the creature. Instead it just passed through him like it wasn't even there.

Whipping his head about in search for the beast, Kevas found it at the other end of the hall. When it howled Kevas roared in response and charged.

He faced off against those damn cardinals, he survived the horrors in Carnival, and he fought against the very thing that destroyed his world. Whatever this mangy beast was, Kevas was not afraid of it.

[amannomore]

Courage. Rage. Defiance. The beast could not help but admire the fighting spirit Kevas was showing. Again, the attacks met thin air, giant wolf fading like smoke where it stood and appearing as a whole again at the end of the hall.

This time, however, it took the form of a man with those same, blue eyes. Whoever he was, he played she shadows well and his face was never really seen. "You are not the one I seek. Calm yourself. Another is on his way to collect you."

Words voiced, the man faded into black once more.