The Light and the Dark in the Soul (Anaeria and razerwing)

[Anaeria]

[/size]The Unicians were a brilliant race, who lived aeons before humans became known to the planet. Over the ages they ruled the world, kept it clean of disease and that filth known as jealousy and anger, hatred and such emotions that corrupt. They were a long lived species however, and it was very rare to see children amongst the Herds. It was nearing the end of the Third Star(roughly thirty thousand years or so after they became the rulers of the earth) that Humanity appeared. Brute beasts with violence in their cores and suspicious, frightened minds. The Unicians taught them of other ways, about forgiveness and gentleness, how to care for each other and how to love, and for a time, humans and unicians were close, they prospered.....until Ra'Zeilen.

Ra'Zeilen was what people would term today as a psychotic with paranoia and multiple personalities, all of which were violence incarnate. He was also a wizard. Humans held a great gift for magics, and the Unicians had taught them much of what they knew. And Ra'Zeilen had learned it all. And he twisted it, turning it dark for his own purposes. He wasn't known of by name until it was too late, and he had killed off every Herd in the world but the Herd of the King, Aroon. Aroon had been blessed shortly before their homeland was put to the torch by a mob of humans brainwashed by the greedy, evil Ra'Zeilen, and he and his pregnant wife Kamali ran for their lives across plains and fields, the straggling Herd following after them with the humans hot on their heels.

It took months before Aroon and less than thirty of what had once been three thousand of his Herd to reach the Gods' Forest, the one forest in the entire world that was entirely riddled with magic, it WAS magic, sweet to the taste, light to the eye, with not a single negative thing to corrupt it. Aroon and his Herd took refuge there just as his wife went into labour. Shortly after that, she bore him not one, but two healthy foals. A male and a female, the male whiter than snow, as his whole Herd was, and Aroon was proud. The childs' sister however...was pitch black. Her hide was blacker than the night sky, and when she opened her eyes, they were black as well, though stars glittered in them though it was midday. She also had a horn, small though it was, and her brother was weaker than her, unable to lift his head even as she was exploring the small den of thick vines and thorns that her mother had chosen to birth her and her brother in.

None of the Herd knew what to do with her, she was purer than all of them it seemed, entirely innocent, perhaps innocence itself, and her brother was the same, though they were literally polar opposites. He was weak, whereas she was strong.

It was ten years before the Humans found them, the evil Wizard having gathered and trained an army of the most heartless, cruel magic users around, and they encircled the Forest and set siege to it with fire and poison and evil spirits. Aroon, and the remainders of the herd except for Kamali and her children, went to fight the humans, their horns and wings shining so brilliantly that the night skies became day. And they failed. Ra'Zeilen was both wickedly amused, and furious however, when the Gods' Forest refused him and all like him, entry into it's depths, physically rejecting him with vicious plants and trees that shifted on him and those he sent in, who came back out raving lunatics with not a drop of dark magics left to them. He plotted for three days afterwards, and finally, as all evil does when it obsesses about something, decided to get rid of the source of the good magics in this world.

He, and his remaining forces, created a hole in the fabric of the universe and their cruel, evil magics covered the forest, physically lifting it from it's foundation in the earth. They shoved it into the Dark Space, a strange place unknown to time and laws of earth. It was a home of creatures that would make even high level demons fear, and they were always, always ravenous. The evil Wizard overestimated himself during this, and the Gods' Forest took from him everything that he was, tearing his soul from his body in order to make it wander the earth for eternity, his body ravaged and turned to dust. Those who helped him died as well in less than pleasant fashions.

And the girl-child, now ten years old and able to gain a human form that was a mix of black and white and a beautiful shade of colour to her eyes, was left alone, witnessing first hand the deaths of her mother and brother by the claws of a Rathgnarl, a batwinged, gargoyle-esque creature more soulless than hells evillest demon.

It's been a thousand years in the Dark Space, longer in the humans' world, and the girl, Imalia, has become a Predator, becoming the Queen of her Forest, which has become tainted slowly, the animals warping into grotesque creatures, though most remained innocent. She protects them that she can with a fierceness that is bordering on manic, and her mind shattered long ago, leaving her less than pure, she even enjoys killing now. And the Seals that kept the Forest in the Dark Space is unravelling. It's only a matter of time now before it returns to the world it was originally in.

It was dark, as always, when Imalia returned to her den, a specially fortified circle of thick thorns and thicker vines that grew up and curved around her place of dwelling. Her hooves and horn, as usual, were coated in muck and gore, and blood the colour of tar dripped into her eyes and made the deep black, star specked pools sting. A single touch of her horn and the thorny vines shifted aside for her equine form, the elegant black Unician female heard her hooves chiming, the sound muffled as it had been since her arrival with this forest a thousand years ago into the Dark Space, a place between time and dimensions. She grew to adulthood and remained that way, the animals flourished and then died only to flourish again, and she was Queen of it all. Though of course, with every kingdom there were malcontents.

Rathgnarls, nasty beasts that appeared part gargoyl, part bat and part alligator, mixed with something entirely of the Dark Space, had attempted yet again to kill her as she'd grazed on the pale grasses that grew here. She was thin enough, without sufficient nutrients that she could have had on Earth, and yet she was also stronger, much more so than on the planet whose humans she was certain by now had died out due to their warring idiocies.

Slipping into the clearing that was her home where she could relax more so than anywhere else, Imalia sighed and her four legged form faded from sight, replaced with the perfect figure of a pale woman with black hair and eyes the alternating colour of amethysts and rubies. They changed as her moods did, and at the moment she was simply tired, so they were a near perfect blend of deep violet. Settling herself into the only clean pool of clear water that was available to the Forest. Most of the animals there had evolved to not need as much water to survive, but several species shared the liquid gratefully with her and she allowed it.

Imalia sighed again as she began to clean the gore off of her body, the magics inherent in her body cleansing the impurities as the muck and gook slid from her arms and legs and belly, her head and face and back. Nude as the day she was born, she had never had to wear clothing, and didn't understand the purposes it could hold at all. Within minutes she was clean, and wandered to the soft mossy bed that was her own in order to sleep to reguvenate her body and power. It had been rougher than expected to deal with the Rathgnarls again, and was getting tougher by the day.

~~~~~~~

As Imalia slept, the Forest went through a change. Unlike when it was so violently torn from the earth it had been set into to protect, the Seals on it placed with violence and hatred and jealousy, anger and greed and all of the negative things to put into magics, when the Seals broke it was with a single whisper of sound, like a faint chime of a bell in both the Dark Space, and the center of the city where the Forest reappeared, buildings entirely vanishing as trees took their place, people finding themselves confusedly standing outside of the forest itself on concrete sidewalks and the like. Cars screech to a halt as a cloud of black winged creatures took to the air, darkening the skies around the island and the people who watched the dark, forbidding forest shuddered in terror as the sounds of ancient beasts howled and called in surprise of their own, to see sunlight for the times in their shorter lives.

The first rays that woke her up had Imalia looking about in a panic, her mind frozen for a split second before she was running. An hours' sleep or less, she wasn't up to her full potential of power and the sudden shifts in the winds had her sensitive equine nose sniffing the air as she bounded out of her clearing on all four hooves, hooves that rang with the sound of chimes clearly for the first time since her childhood so long ago. Little more than animal instinct was driving her, her mind frozen still with fear and hope and dread and sudden, pulsating hatred and the desire for revenge that twisted her eyes into red, burning coals of spite and anger as the black unicorn headed for a border, any border, of the Forest that she guarded so hellishly well.

 

[razerwing]

Boyd Travers had been on the force for a long time, serving ever since he was old enough. His whole life had been filled with blue uniforms, high speed chases down the highways, even the few firefights in front of other peoples houses. He had helped 'disband' a few gangs, even had his face up on the wall. Being 26, and not exactly the tallest man on the force, he was always the underdog, until he started proving himself. Now, crimes were going up, people were getting hurt, and nobody knew why it was happening. All they knew was that there was a new gang of some sort, some kind of cult or something that was proving to be deadly.

Boyd shook his head, running a hand through his short cropped jet black hair, climbing into his cruiser and beginning the drive to the headquarters. His car was one of the most heavily armed cruisers known. Of course, it didn't look that way, but in the trunk was the standard shotgun and a small SWAT grade MP5 submachine gun. These days you could never have too much firepower. Behind thick sun glasses hid dark, almost venomous green eyes, contrasting slightly with his dark hair. His skin had a light tan from being out on foot every now and then. As he passed by his favorite coffee shop, he barely registered the faintest of whispers. Before he knew it, he was driving straight toward a forest that had suddenly come out of nowhere. Brakes squealed as his car slid and spun to it's side, stopping just inches of the border of the grass. Sky scrapers had been replaced by the tallest trees he had ever seen, but what really got to him? Half of his coffee shop had been vanished, replaced by thick foliage. "What.... the fuck... happened to my coffee shop!"

The more he thought about it, the more he figured he was just dreaming. This was his brain's idea of telling him he needed a vacation. In a few moments, he would wake up and be sitting in his bed, with his dog, Herc. Gently, he closed his eyes, opening them slowly. "Fuck...." Well, it wasn't a dream. And that was only confirmed when a horse springboarded off the hood of his car and into the city. The impact should have only done a little damage, but for some reason, the hooves put sizeable dents in the hood, smashing a few vital parts. "Okay..... I really have to stop going to bars." With a sigh, he climbed out of his car, rubbing his forehead and letting out an exasperated sigh. What next? Would purple monkeys start flying out of his ass? His eyes narrowed as the horse dashed down the streets, and suddenly, something hit him. It was putting the gathered people in danger. A lot of danger. "This is unit 26 requesting another squad car at the intersection of Airoso and Floresta, we have a run away horse." The radio crackled for a minute before a voice came over.

"Uh, we're kind of busy down here. A bunch of people are flooding the station, yelling about how the world is ending. Something about a forest dropping out of the sky?" Boyd started to laugh lightly, shaking his head. "Well, they aren't crazy that's for sure. I'm standing right in front of it. You know what? I'll take care of the horse. Just, try to get some free time so we can send in a small team to figure out just what the hell is in there." No answer, probably rushed off to help with the crowd. Another sigh passed his lips as he drew his pistol and leveled it. The horse was on a straight road, running in a wild, but strangely straight line, giving him a clear shot. He pulled the trigger once, the bullet smashing into the pavement in front of the animal, hoping that that would be enough to stop it, or at least turn it around so he could get a clear shot at it's head.

 

[Anaeria]

The strange, hard ground under her hooves made her hooves chime louder and clearer as ran, having leapt over some kind of hollow beast that sputtered and went silent as she Imalia bolted out of the Forest, the freedom heady as any fresh breeze could possibly be to someone trapped underground for weeks and months and years at a time. The land around her was hideously strange though, there was little in the way of greenery, and there were those hollow beasts everywhere, making noise and honking or whining like little chick-buns when they were hungry for fresh meat. It was a disorienting sound, and the black unicorn pressed her ears to the back of her head tightly and ran faster, hoping to escape it, and the forest she had left behind so abruptly. The ground was grey under her hooves, and the smell of where she was was disgusting entirely, and Imalia slowly began to regain her mind as she headed for an open space she'd seen, a pathway that crossed itself into a four directional road convergence. She was almost there, not even so much as touching any of the humans milling around in confusion. They all moved out of her way subconsciously or were fully aware of the 'black horse' which barreled towards them and got out of the way.

Triumphant, and still terrified at the idea that humans still existed, her eyed slowly began to lose their red glow....until the earth in front of her exploded. Rearing back with a shrill shriek of surprise, Imalia flailed her front hooves in case something burst from the ground to attack her and backed up immediately, her sides lathered with sweat, giving her hide a sparkle as though she was part of the night skies. Flailing her forelegs until she regained her balance, she came to a stop about two or three hundred yards from the Forest and looked about for the cause of the explosion at her feet, the sounds of humans screaming and crying out and yelling in vulgar tones just adding to her confusion more until she Screamed. The sound was like that of a dying soul, and it was loud and it was long, silencing most of the humans near her in an instant. There were still vehicles blaring a block away of course, but suddenly this block of the city was silent except for the shuffle of feet and tires as people turned to look. Her horn glittered as the sky overhead shifted some clouds away from the sun, allowing a ray of light to hit it, sending a spark of rainbows into peoples eyes and across the ground and walls of the buildings that were much too closed in for her liking. A small child, who'd been caught in the panic of people pushing back and forth to get and go to the Forest then called out "Unicorn!" And the noise started up again, scaring the hellfire out of Imalia until she turned around and tried to head back towards her home, where it was quiet, where she knew her way around, and where she could fight and kill whoever entered the Forest and not feel so trapped.

All of that happened within moments of the gunshot sounding out, and then hands. Filthy, human hands were reaching for her mane and her face and her sides, touching her tail and grabbing it, pulling her hair and making her shriek of terror. It was that terror that had her biggest supporter showing itself from the Forest. Within moments the the smallest trees in the edges of the forest were crushed as a large lizardlike creature slithered out, sending people flying as it's tail moved in an arc behind it. The beast was similar to tales of dragons, but wingless and of course flightless, but it's teeth and eyes and head and body were the same. As was it's intelligence. It was gentle as it picked up the terrified 'horse' from the throng of people that were grabbing at it, it's front talons quite dexterous as it lifted the horned horse out of the grasps and reach of the humans, then it turned slowly and headed for the Forest and safety, glancing down once to see the equine form vanishing to reveal the huddled human female it liked the company of so much.

The Drake was called Anaeron, and was the eldest of his race in the Forest. It had helped to raise the terrified young Imalia until she took over as Queen and Guardian of the Forest in the Dark Space, and not even the Rathgnarls dared to attempt to harm it or go near it's den. Entirely naked except for her long hair, which faintly glittered in the sunlight, Imalia curled into a ball in the Drakes' hand and quivered in terror as it headed back for the trees, the enormously thick scaling along his spine stopping a bullet that was shot from a gun that a brash young man held, his cronies having scattered in terror at the sight of the 'dragon' as it exited and then reentered it's domain.

 

[razerwing]

This was by far the strangest day of Boyd's life. Normally when a horse goes wild in a crowded street, people are hurt almost instantly. Yet they seemed to be moved before the horse could hurt them. It wasn't until a kid pointed and yelled out "Unicorn" and everbody started grabbing at it that the cop started to panic slightly. Now, not only was the crowd in danger, but the creature seemed terrified, and that wasn't good. And judging by the horn on it's head...... "Wait, a horn?" Only a few seconds were allowed for him to think about that before people were swept to the side by a gigantic tail. A lizard tail. A giant lizard tail. The man lowered his weapon after seeing his bullet bounce harmlessly off of the giant amphibian's back. He'd need more firepower. "I need an EMT at my locale, and entire group of people were just sent flying. I want this entire block locked down, and I want a SWAT team with lethal rounds and their automatic weapons ready, and I want them ASAP. Wherever this thing came from, this forest, it brought some freaky creatures with it. Aliens perhaps." He shook his head, switching his radio off. "I can't believe this is happening. Aliens have invaded Earth with a fucking forest spaceship." A quick swipe of his hand across his forehead cleared his skin of the sweat that had gathered there. Back up would be some time away. He had to go in alone to see what he could see, scout the area. After all, he'd need something to report to the teams.

He popped open the trunk to his car, holstering his pistol, slipping on a bullet proof vest, pulling the strap that the MP5 was attached to over his head along with an ammo belt for his shotgun. Finally, he readied his favorite weapon. The shotgun. After putting on a helmet and snapping the visor down, he made his way towards the edge of the forest, shooing away what remained of the crowd. In the distance, the sirens of ambulances squealed, signalling that they were drawing near. The SWAT teams and his other cop units would still be held up though. Paramedics were always first to the scene.

 

[Anaeria]

The forest was still and silent when Anaeron finally vanished into the trees again, settling her onto a large boulder just out of sight of the city and it's horrors. Imalia shuddered, gaining her composure after a minute or two, and then stood up and regained her hooved form once more, the red having faded from her eyes until they were her regular, black-starry orbs. Unable to face the outside world, as it had changed much too much for her to process fully, she stepped off the boulder lithely as Anaeron went back to his cavern with a huff of annoyance. He rarely left his cave nowadays, even with the excitement of suddenly being in sunlight after a thousand odd years, preferring to leave the insane responses to the younger races. His tail was all she saw after she regained her mind, holding onto it tightly this time so she didn't panic and become little more than a horse once more.

After a moment more to steel her nerves, she headed for a small clearing that she knew of that was nearby, picking her way carefully and finding the gentle chimes of her own hooves to be almost loud in the stillness, the shock of the Forest and it's inhabitants. A flurry of movement to her left had her shying away suddenly, only to relax when it proved to be a Lenaz, a cross between a squirrel and a rabbit, with perhaps a bit of bat mixed in. It was cute in that it was fluffy and gentle, and when it scooted up her hind hoof and onto her rump as she carried on moving she didn't mind. A small bird followed soon after, a mutated one with four limbs, the upper two of which were able to grasp and hold things. Once she reached the clearing, she knew the Humans were going to enter the Forest. There was no way that they wouldn't. And she needed information. She HAD to have knowledge of the world she was to deal with outside of her trees before she made such a foolish move again. Within moments her power was soaring through the forest floor in a wave, a minor shockwave of sorts that anyone within the line of the trees could feel. The animals on her back took off, and the unicorn exhaled, slipping away until she was human once more and entirely nude in the daylight sunshine. Hair the colour of deep night fell past her hips in thick waves and her feet were silent as she began to dance.

In truth, it wasn't so much a dance as a weaving of her power, forming invisible 'threads' around and about the trees and the in the air around the Forest. Anyone could enter, but she would know when and where they did so, and her subjects would be ready to bring them down...or bring them to her, as she rather preferred. After all, the humans were a warlike race, and she had no use for them unless they were powerless in front of her and open to giving her knowledge. The dance was fast, more of a blur of speed as she set the parameters of the 'web' and settled her power into ley lines within the earth that the Forest used to grow so she would not be drained of her own magics. Then....then the Queen opened her mouth and Called. The sound was haunting, a single howl that echoed throughout the trees and the thick vegetation, causing less violent beasts to quiver and take cover in their nests and dens. Several Rathgnarls that had been drawn into this world when the Forest faded from the Dark Space looked up and grinned over a mutant deers' corpse, their muzzle-like snouts dripping gore. They weren't being called however, and they went back to their feast without care as the true Beasts of the Forest answered the Call.

Wolves hadn't mutated much in the Forest in the thousand years that it had been in the dark. They needed to evolve only a bit; growing much bigger until the smallest was four feet tall, the largest ranging around five and a half at the shoulder. Their eyes were red, able to see through any darkness and their fur was all over black, blending them perfectly with the shadowy world they had lived in, and they were much, much faster than the average beast of the earth forests. Within moments they were ringed around the clearing, red eyes glowing in the light they were so unfamiliar with, thus they remained in the shadows as she stood surrounded by them. A sentence later had all seventy wolves, the entire pack except for two females and half a dozen pups which remained in another cavern farther off in the Forest, heading for the edges of their territory, the whole forest. They'd watch. And wait. A single human entering would be watched and perhaps herded if he or she strayed from the way towards the clearing in which Imalia, their Pack Alpha, remained in, now seated in the thick grass beside a small brooke of clear, cold water which she had purified herself not three days before. Any other humans attempting to enter would be killed, not matter who it was.

 

[razerwing]

Boyd's day was getting stranger and stranger. Not only a few seconds after he had entered the forest had he felt a small shockwave shake the ground. Dragons, black unicorns, and now earthquakes? Such a strange place. He moved slowly through the trees, green eyes sweeping through the shadows as best they could, watching for anything that appeared harmful. Nothing moved. Nothing called. At least for a few minutes. Suddenly a strange call tore through the air, causing a few trees to rustle, making the cop's nerves sky rocket. Just to be safe, he checked to see if he had a shell in the chamber, ready to be fired. If he was going down, he would not be going down without a fight. "Where are the SWAT teams?" he said into the radio system on his shoulder. Nothing but static answered him. His radio was unresponsive.

"Well, that's just great isn't it? Wandering into a forest with a huge lizard in it alone, and I have no radio contact with the outside world. Just perfect." He shook his head, stopping cold as a bush near him rustled. His gun leveled at the plant, just waiting for something to pop out. Something did make an appearance, although it looked absolutely harmless. An animal that was crossed between a squirrel and a rabbit, with a little bat mixed in. It was cute to say the least. With his heart thumping almost audibly in his chest, he made his way deeper into the woods, readjusting his vest every now and then. He just couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he was being watched by something. His gut was almost never wrong.

 

[Anaeria]

Within moments, the Wolves were arranged around the forest, making themselves known with glints of red eyes and the vaguest flashes of teeth and fur whenever a human became foolish enough to enter. One human was already inside, which made their job much easier. When the SWAT teams, plural as in four, they couldn't get nearer than a hundred feet before snarls and vicious sounds erupted from the treeline. One cop, a city guy, figured it was just a trick of some kind and got just a little to close when he got around the barricades that had been thrown up by the SWAT teams a good two hundred yards from the trees. He died. And it was messy. One of the wolves, a younger one only around four feet at the shoulder, showed itself then fully in a lunge that took the humans' head from his shoulders in a single shot as well as his arm and shoulder when the wolf turned and tore into the carcass to make certain he was dead.

The SWAT team leaders only found out what the beast was when a civilian offered him her camera, which had recorded everything and they'd slowed it down almost a hundred percent. Now they knew some of what was in there....and one of their own had gone inside of those trees and all contact with him was lost. Now they began to plan. Inside of the forest one wolf followed the human with his strange stick, keeping to the shadows and moving silently until the human began to go off course a few meters from the slightly hidden clearing where it's Alpha sat waiting. A short, sharp bark and a step out in front of the human showed the wolf finally in the sunshine, red eyes glittering like twin rubies. It's fur wasn't up and it wasn't showing teeth, though his head was down and he was wary as he watched the human and his strange weapon. The wolf was huge, one of the biggest at five foot four at the shoulder, and his paws were bigger than dinner plates, hinting that he wasn't finished growing yet. That he was a young one. A small snort had him taking a step forward, then looking sideways to a small pathway, barely seen through some of the brush, which would take the human into the small clearing where the wolf's Alpha waited. The human wasn't even a quarter of the way into the forest and already he was lost, and that mildly amused the wolf, who wagged his tail slowly after a moment.

 

[razerwing]

The cop could hear the faintest of snarls from out of the treeline, and a few screams. Something had just gone down, and it didn't sound good. Hopefully the big guns were in place to keep everything under control. With a shake of his head, he focused back on the task at hand. Finding out exactly what was in this forest, whether it was hostile, and whether it was dangerous to his city. Of course, he almost jumped a mile in the air when a large wolf made itself apparent. It had the reddest eyes he had ever seen on a living animal, and although it didn't seem to be out to eat him, it was definately threatening. He narrowed his eyes, checking to see the bullet once again.

For a moment, it seemed as though the huge wolf was trying to tell him something. When Boyd's eyes searched the surrounding area, and the place the wolf was nodding to, and all he saw was more foliage. "Hm." The more he looked at where the wolf was motioning, the more he thought. Then he saw it. A path. "Heh. An intelligent wolf eh? How sweet." The cop sighed, closing his eyes for a brief second, shaking his head. He was talking to himself again. The first sign of insanity. Ugh, damn this forest and it's sudden appearance in the middle of his city. It was driving him nuts. Unicorns, dragons, wolves bigger then he was. With a sigh, he started to walk down the path, keeping his gun at the ready just in case. And yet, he felt..... relaxed? He should be nervous, or at least alert. But he wasn't. He was calm. Almost too calm.

If there was one thing he knew for sure now, it was that this forest, wherever it came from, was one of the strangest occurences in his lifetime. He just hoped he didn't die here.

 

[Anaeria]

The clearing was just past a bseries of small branches covered in foliage, and within the center of it stood Imalia, her nude form nearly glowing in the sunlight after so many years in the darkness. Her eyes were closed and her arms were out in front of her, soaking in the warmth of the light and the sun for the first time in a thousand years. Her face was tilted up to the light and she had a small smile on her face. A few smaller animals, the cuter and fuzzier non-lethal kinds romped in the thick grass and a butterfly from earth had already found its way onto a small patch of white flowers nearby. The scene was calm, serene without any of the chaos and horror that had happened less than half an hour ago. She needed that calming atmosphere, and it had helped her gain a better aspect of what she was to do, how to go about it and what she needed in order to do so. When the human entered her clearing, she didn't so much as twitch a muscle, and the wolf sniffed in annoyance when he spoke of it being intelligent. It was probably older than he was anyways. Slipping out of the shadows at his side, the wolf headed to Imalia and proceeded to lay down a few feet from her with a yawn, then set its head on its paws to watch what happened next.

After a few moments more of enjoying the sunlight, the Queen of the Forest turned to the human man in his armour and his strange weapon and smiled slightly. Her mage-threads were sending her information by the droves; wind, things moving through them, the person who'd been eaten and the wolf who'd attacked him. The threads told her many things, but the raven haired woman put the information aside in favour of looking at the man. And he was a man, if a little weaker seeming than her memories of humans so long ago. Eyes the colour of amethysts peered at him silently, waiting for him to speak, if he could.

 

[razerwing]

The farther into the trees the man went, the more relaxed he became. And when he breached the treeline and broke out into a clearing, he almost passed out. It was peaceful, brilliant and oh so calming. A few harmless creatures bounced around in the pristine grass, and the wolf that had been leading him went to lay at the foot of..... a human? At least, it appeared to be human, but it's eyes were too vibrant. And other than that, it just seemed inhuman. Like something from another time, another world. His gun lowered, and he flicked his visor up. His green eyes met hers forcefully, refusing to back down.

"You seem to have a pretty good grip on things. Would you mind telling me where the hell I am and why a huge lizard possibly killed a group of people in the city?" Amazingly, his tone stayed even. He managed to keep the anger and the threat out of his voice, incase the wolves decided to attack. He only had so many rounds in his shotgun, and God knows what kind of damage his little gun would do to the huge, hulking dragon that had swept so many people aside like twigs. That thought alone sent a small shiver up his spine. He shook his head, dispersing those gorey thoughts, readying his gun. He didn't want to be caught off guard. Although the view of the otherworldly girl's naked body proved a tad distracting.

 

[Anaeria]

The Forest was peaceful, up until the human spoke. Then the wolf looked up, alert, and the small animals darted for cover when his tone of voice had Imalia's eyes going black. From edge to edge her eyes went completely solid, glassy black, though if one peered closer one would note the specks of silver-white within them, as though her eyes were portals into the night sky. "That was rude. You are in the Gods' Forest, don't tell me a thousand years has gone by and you humans' have forgotten the most magic laden place? I have a better question for you, human, where has my home arrived? This is not the plains of Aledria, it is some monstrous grey place. Where has the greenery gone?" Her question, when she asked it, was more pleading, and she shook her head in confusion before taking a seat. The wolf edged closer and she leaned back into the beasts fur, not at all afraid of the strange stick the man wielded. Looking up at him she raised an eyebrow and added "Please have a seat, no harm will come to you unless you offer harm first." Her wolf friend huffed in agreement then seemed to go to sleep in the grass as though to make her point true.

Of course he was confused, it seemed as though her forest had entered nearly in the center of a humans' nest. They'd been all over the place when she'd attempted to escape the forest, and her memories showed her that they had building those..those strange grey things that towered everywhere nearly as tall as her trees with their massive trunks. To be honest she wasn't surprised that the humans had reacted with violence towards her, grabbing at her tail and sides, her mane and her legs when their surprise had worn off. They were a warring race after all, and she felt her own shiver of dread crawl up her spine at the idea of so many humans all around her previously despised, now precious home. And it was home to her, no matter how Imalia had hated the very idea of remaining there forever until she died or was killed, for a thousand years it's grasses and fruits had kept her alive, sheltered and helped her to grow into the warrior she was now. She was much older than even her oldest memory of elders in her Herd, but the Dark Space had kept her young, and probably would for a very long time after this. "I don't appologize for Anaeron's actions, he was helping me. And I do not appreciate this sudden arrival back to my homeland either now that I have seen some of what your world is. Please tell me it's not all grey and stone.....?" Her question, with her slightly haughty, nervous tone of voice, served to make her seem younger than her years, and she leaned forwards slightly to hear his response, watching his movements intently as the black bled from her eyes, returning them to their original colouring.

 

[razerwing]

The cop eyed the wolf, and for a minute, the calmness of the forestry wore off, allowing him to growl back. "You offer no harm huh? Hmph. I call bull. You and your lizard friend swatted people like nothing. People could have died. And you tell me you offer no harm." He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "You are in the middle of New York city. That grey stuff is called metal, not stone. We live in houses. And I have never heard of God's Forest in my entire life." Thoughtfully, he rubbed his chin. "Unless you mean the Garden of Eden." Boyd chuckled to himself, shedding his helmet, although cautiously, with his eyes watching the surrounding wild life. Something in here had to be out to get him. It was a forest. One woman could not possibly have control of the entire space.


When he heard her pleading voice however, and the slight hint of fear in it, he softened just a little bit, keeping his gun at hand. "No, not all of it is like this. We have a few large forests, some in Brazil, others in other places. Not everything is like this city. So you needn't worry." She reminded him of a frightened girl, one who had been in hiding all of her life and was just now coming out to find her home was gone. "Oiyu, you aren't aliens are you? I mean, I've heard stories, and I just can't imagine an alien from Outer Space landing on Earth with a jungle for a spaceship." He nodded to the wolf she was laying on, and grinned. "Those are big animals, but nothing can live without air. Atleast, that's what the eggheads say anyway."

 

[Anaeria]

Some of what he said was confusing to her, and Imalia frowned as she tried to process his words. She didn't know any place called New York, or a Brazil, although Eden sounded familiar, the humans had yelled it often when surrounding the forest before the Exile. "...Eden...that is a word familiar to me. Perhaps you humans do have something of a memory then." She hadn't intended on meaning him insult, but she hadn't spoken to anyone other than Anaeron in close to three hundred years or so, and her ability to speak diplomatically was nearly non-existent. When the human took off his helmet she smiled, relaxing further. He wasn't stupid. Foolish perhaps but not stupid, and the Kireen that flew out of the tree branches behind him and alighted on her shoulder proved it. Out of all of the creatures, the Kireen was the most colourful. Stunning arays of gold and deep violet feathers that held a greenish sheen to them had the long-tailed bird with it's black eyes being a very rare creature indeed within the Forest. It was a female, and also very protective of the one who had raised her, Imalia. "Narue is not violent by nature human, and neither are the wolves, but they are very protective of their home, and me. I was the one outside the forest that Anaeron had to retrieve, he is my guardian." Getting to her feet slowly, she let Narue settle onto the back of the wolf as her form shimmered and disipated in a small hail of sparkles.

What stood there then where she had stood before was the black unicorn, crystaline horn glittering in the sunlight. Her hooves chimed quietly, muffled a little by the grass that grew so thick around the clearing. ~"I am Imalia, Queen of the Unicians. I do not understand most of the name-places you said, but we are not alien beings. We are simply ancient in the eyes of your race."~

 

[razerwing]

The cop almost died of a heart attack when the bird burst out of the bushes behind him. Luckily, he had enough sense to not shoot the damned thing as it landed on the girl's shoulders. The more he relaxed, the more she seemed to calm down too. "You do control the forest don't you." By now, it was no longer a question. The way the dangerous fauna seemed to simply love her proved it. She was a queen of the trees. He let the memory comment slip by. Nothing good ever came out of being hot headed. "Listen. People are going to be curious about this place. They are going to want in. There are heavily armored guys out there ready to put a bullet in anything that even looks like it could present a threat. Alien, ancient, whatever the case is, my guys are jumpy. They will shoot whatever could harm them." The cop leaned back, running a hand through the short hair on his head.

When she turned into the black unicorn that had the crowd in a panic, his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe it. There was a mythical creature in front of him, one that almost nobody believed in. Yet here it was, staring him in the eyes. "Unicians?" Boyd took a deep breath to calm himself. He had seen strange stuff in his career, things ranging from simply odd to gorey and bloody, but never something quite like this. "What are you doing here then?" he said when he finally regained enough sense to talk. "I mean, you are a fucking unicorn. You aren't even supposed to exist! Oh man, this is going to send people into a rage!" He turned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No wonder tehy were grabbing at you. You are a fucking unicorn! You control an entire forest of huge, intimidating, possibly deadly creatures, and you are a unicorn!" He looked at his shotgun, tilting his head as the familiar sight brought him back down to Earth. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

---

The cop almost died of a heart attack when the bird burst out of the bushes behind him. Luckily, he had enough sense to not shoot the damned thing as it landed on the girl's shoulders. The more he relaxed, the more she seemed to calm down too. "You do control the forest don't you." By now, it was no longer a question. The way the dangerous fauna seemed to simply love her proved it. She was a queen of the trees. He let the memory comment slip by. Nothing good ever came out of being hot headed. "Listen. People are going to be curious about this place. They are going to want in. There are heavily armored guys out there ready to put a bullet in anything that even looks like it could present a threat. Alien, ancient, whatever the case is, my guys are jumpy. They will shoot whatever could harm them." The cop leaned back, running a hand through the short hair on his head.

When she turned into the black unicorn that had the crowd in a panic, his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe it. There was a mythical creature in front of him, one that almost nobody believed in. Yet here it was, staring him in the eyes. "Unicians?" Boyd took a deep breath to calm himself. He had seen strange stuff in his career, things ranging from simply odd to gorey and bloody, but never something quite like this. "What are you doing here then?" he said when he finally regained enough sense to talk. "I mean, you are a fucking unicorn. You aren't even supposed to exist! Oh man, this is going to send people into a rage!" He turned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No wonder tehy were grabbing at you. You are a fucking unicorn! You control an entire forest of huge, intimidating, possibly deadly creatures, and you are a unicorn!" He looked at his shotgun, tilting his head as the familiar sight brought him back down to Earth. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

 

[Anaeria]

When the human began to exclaim, calling her a unicorn, she waited for him to settle a little before correcting him. ~"Of course I control the forest, do you not have Guardians in this era of yours? My race has nothing to do with corn, I am a Unician. And I do appologize for apparently causing the ruckus outside of the trees, it was not my intention to do so at all, it was a surprise that was entirely....unexpected."~ Stepping forwards slowly, so as to not startle him, she gently put her nose to his chest, giving him a gently push in appology before backing up again to peer at him once more. ~"I do control the forest, it took quite a bit of effort to get to my ranking as well....If the rest of your kind will be wishing to get into my forest I cannot guarantee their safety. It has been a long time since humans have stepped foot within the boundaries of God's Forest, and not many who dwell here will be welcoming at all. Do you know of a Priest or a Scholar, someone of influence, that I may speak with?"~ Keeping her voice quiet, though her equine mouth never moved, she didn't elaborate that she was speaking to him telepathically before she resumed her human form, to help him relax again since he had seemed more so when she stood on two legs instead of four.

Then some of his words penetrated her mind and she blinked, growing sorrowful but resigned. "So I am the last then....not surprising but I had hoped....nevermind." Shaking some dark hair out of her face, she turned and began to walk, then stopped abruptly and shuddered as a searing heat licked up the side of her mental walls. The humans were trying to burn the forest, or some were at least, throwing bottles of liquid and rags that held fire within them that clung and burned the roots of the trees it touched. The wolf, feeling her sudden fear and anger, reacted immediately, waking up and leaving in a silent brush of grass, Narue leaving as well quickly. "They're trying to burn the trees....oh no, that can't happen!" Panic rising as she felt the flames licking up old leaves and moss, burning brilliantly and hurting her and the Ancients themselves, the woman let out a quiet moan and shifted again, her four hooves able to move faster than two bare human feet. She nearly left without the human, then shook her head and danced back, stopping in front of him with eyes quickly turning the ruby red of her fury and fear. ~"Get. On. If your pack of other humans will shoot at me if I attempt to intervene I will retaliate, I will need a mediator and you, human man, are it until you can find me a better person or scholar."~ Her 'tone' of 'voice' held nothing in the way of any regard for whether he could ride a horse or not, if all else failed and he began to fall she'd simply use a bit of magic to glue him to her back temporarily. She'd be going much faster too, and she itched to get a move on, the fire was going higher and those humans who'd set the firest were cheering and calling for the forest to do it's worst. They hadn't even seen a fraction of the 'worst' that her Forest could do. Fury rose inside of her as a memory flared, of thick smoke a thousand years ago when the human army back then had attempted to burn the God's Forest down. Her father, the leader of the Herd, had put a stop to that with his magics, but they had worn away over the years and she had yet to learn the No-Flame rule to keep her precious home safe. There hadn't been a need to learn it either, any light other than the faint gayish light in the Dark Space was extinguished immediately, fire never burned there.

 

[razerwing]

After the initial shock, the cop felt resigned, letting the calmness take over. He couldn't explain it. "Man, you have been gone for a long time. Scholars and Priests don't have any power here. Only the President. And he is very hard to get to too." He could only stare in amazement as she shifted once more, from the unicorn to the human, and once again, he was somewhat mesmerized by her body. A shake of his head cleared his mind. "The last of the Unicians? Hm.... well, since I'm going crazy, I guess I can believe that."

His eyes went wide when he heard that the crowds were trying to burn the trees. It must have had something to do with that snarling. Someone must have died. "Damnit. Damnit all to hell! Come on kid, get a move on." He hopped on fluidly, thanking the mounted police force for showing him how to ride. They certainly were a friendly bunch. His arms firmly wrapped around her neck, not worrying if she could take it. She was a horse right now. Horses could handle almost anything. "Go damnit, go!" As they rushed through the trees, he was mentally berating himself. He should've seen something like this coming. When they finally burst out of the treeline, Boyd jumped off, raising his shotgun and firing a shot into the air. When that had no effect on the crowd, he fired another shot. That calmed them down enough to allow him to talk. And the first words out of his mouth were these. "You fucking idiots! Are you all stupid? I thought you guys were supposed to be smart!" Sirens blared as huge red trucks pulled up.

Boyd strode right up to the barricades, using his shotgun to force that section of the crowd back. The SWAT sargeant came up, yelling a few commands to his men. "I want this crowd under control ASAP. Push them back to a 2 mile radius. I don't want a damned civilian near this spot until I'm sure they won't try to burn it again!" The SWAT nodded, and soon rubber pellet, bean bags, and tear gas was used to break up the crowd and herd them away from the forest. Meanwhile, the fire trucks had subdued the fire. It had only gotten so far, but even though embers bloomed a little bit beyond their hose range, they wouldn't progress. Word had spread about the wolf, and the bloody remains were visible on the street. Boyd looked coldly at the horse. "No wonder they tried to burn your trees down. You go and kill one of them, they will riot, and hit you back harder. You want to keep this place safe? I don't care what you have to do, not another civilian is to be hurt. Otherwise, they basically get free reign."

 

[Anaeria]

His cold tone of voice had Imalia's mental voice gaining a hot, searing edge as she snarled back, red eyes glowing even as she changed back into her human form, not having gone past the trees themselves when they'd shown up and the human had taken off to quell the angry mob of humans. ~"You will do well to keep your tongue civil human, I gave orders to keep the humans away from Our home and you will do well to remember that MY WOLVES ARE NOT PETS. They will do as they see fit to protect our home, whether it is to eat them or not. Stupid humans don't deserve life anyways."~ Her lips never moved an inch as one of the wolves, not the friendly one from before but the one that had killed the human, slunk up beside her and leaned into her, asking silently with his body language if he'd done alright. A pat from her hand had him licking her arm, sending a streak of human blood up it, before he turned away and left her to her conversations with the humans. A scowl reached her face when she considered the burns on her precious Ancients, their exposed roots scorched and charred, their bark crumbling in a black mess under her hand as she passed one over the first one to have been hit.

She was sure that they would survive though, and a soft, gentle word echoed in the air as she spoke aloud, a single word of Power, magic pure and simple that only she knew how to use, and the trees that had been burnt shed their bark in one single shuffle of noise and rustling branches, showing tender, soft bark underneath that was much paler, but stronger than the burnt remains that now littered the ground. Pulling her hand back, she bent her nude form and swiped her hand over the ground, and where her fingers touched, plants immediately began to grow, their roots strong though their bodies were pale and tender well. After a moment or two she straightened up and considered the humans, who were slightly downhill from where she stood while a rolling carpet of greenery cascaded out from where her hand had touched, turning up the concrete of the road up to the barricades and all in a huge circle. The humans' corpse was pushed, for lack of a better word, to the barricade and left for the humans to pick up while the red slowly faded from Imalia's eyes and she stepped down, flowers blooming where her feet touched as she moved up beside Boyd.

Seemingly fearless, the Unician crossed her arms under her breasts and then frowned at the humans who held their weapons and their stinky mist and then shook her head when the wolves left the shelter of the trees and paced behind her, exploring the newly green flat land that had felt so wrong under their paws before, a mental link between the Pack members showing what the first wolf to touch the flat 'stone' had felt and mimicked by the others. The Leader of the pack stepped up beside Imalia, resting his head on her shoulder with a huff of annoyance at the humans, his red eyes curious but wary. Meanwhile she turned her eyes to Boyd and spoke aloud "Where is this...President of yours? Perhaps he will see sense in the matter of our arrival into this dimension."

 

[razerwing]

Boyd growled at the Unician. "Listen, I could honestly give a flying fuck about your wolves. What you don't seem to understand is it wasn't you who saved your trees, it was my guys. It wasn't one of yours that was killed, but one of the people I have to protect." He took a step towards her, eyeing her dangerously. The shotgun was loosely wielded in his hand, the barrel still smoking. "Your wolves aren't pets huh? And yet you just got finished telling me you had control of the forest. My guys are in the majority here, and you know what, now that I think about it, you wanna go around threatening people? Guess what. I'll go ahead and light up one of those fucking molotovs myself and huck it at the largest fucking tree I can find. And there won't be a goddamned thing you can do about it." He growled at her, motioning for a few of his more heavily armed SWAT guys to climb over the barricade to back him up.

"Just because you are 'Queen of the Forest' does not mean you can kill humans any fucking way you chose. You are Queen of the Forest. You are not Queen of New York. So shut your mouth and play nice okay?" The other men stood behind him silent and unwavering, there assault rifles loaded with lethal rounds. By now all the civilians had been moved back, so now it was just armed and armored people. He didn't even notice when she crossed her arms under her breasts, and if the other people noticed, they sure didn't let it show. A few paramedics took care of the corpse, quickly retreating behind the line.

"The President is in another state. Far away from your little home here in the middle of the city." A SWAT man leaned forward, pushing up the visor on his helmet to whisper something in his ear. "And from what I hear, he isn't too pleased by your arrival. You've already killed one unarmed person today. What's going to happen when more then one comes? Will they die too? Hm? We can't keep this block up forever. So, here's what I'll propose. You do your damndest to make sure no other civvies die." He leaned toward her, somehow managing to keep his gun in a position that would take out at least one wolf. "You needed a mediator, well I'm mediating. Don't.... kill...... the...... civvies. Got it? Because trust me hun, we have much bigger guns, and we have alot more fire. What kind of Queen would you be if you let all your animals die, and let your home burn to the ground?" He leaned back, snapping down the visor on his helmet. He had to calm down. Where was the calm that he had felt in the cover of the trees? He couldn't think straight..........

Of course he was thinking straight. He was doing his job, trying his best to keep the people of the city safe.

 

[Anaeria]

Imalia considered his anger, and stepped back in surprise at his vehemence towards her, the sudden shifting of the other humans coming to his aid rendering her human form into its horned, four hooved one so she'd have better ways to move and escape or attack if needed. Her mental voice, projected to them all that were within fifty feet of her, was cold as well, like brainfreeze after a slushy. ~"I appologize for the foolishness of one pup, and no human will be killed again so long as they do not get within fifty feet of the forest. I am the Guardian of the Forest, and I do NOT permit humans within it's branches' reach. Any who do....I will NOT be held responsible. As with any kingdom, mine own is not entirely calm and peaceful. I am at war with another race, the original denizens within the Dark Space where I was trapped for over a thousand years. You tell me I have no right to protect my home? So be it. If I have no right to take what action I and my people deem fit, then neither do yours. Keep your people away from my home until such time as I think up a way to correct this mishap of placement within this...city of yours."~ Her 'words' were vicious, biting and less than pleasant as she snorted and stamped one hoof on the ground, crushing a newly bloomed flower.

Then, her voice calmed and became more soothing, gentle ~"I do appologize for the loss of a life. Any life is precious and I understand that well enough. However, stupidity has it's own limits. Do not expect any more pleasantries if you continue to get angry so quickly. I am trying not to panic myself...and you will not like the Forest when I panic....it becomes worse than a nightmare."~ This time, her mental voice was for just the human who'd talked to her so rudely, and the ones behind him. Her wolves resumed their pacing, one pup even going so far as to poke her head over the barricade and lick a shocked SWAT team member messily, the pups' tail wagging and her ears forward, her ruff down and obviously wanting to play, though her saliva trail was gross and obvious on the members' uniform. A hint of amusement brought the lights back into Imalia's eyes and she snorted, drawing the pup back fromt he barricade with a yelp of surprise while Imalia shook her head, her tufted tail switching a fly from her hindquarters. Then....Anaeron poked his head out of the trees, the old Drake huffing quietly before he spoke aloud. His voice was rough, a rumble of stone against stone as he said "I also appologize, I meant not for my tail to lash so quickly into that pack of humans....now I have appologized and am going back to sleep...good night." His voice was so befuddled, old and creaky that it was obvious he wasn't any real danger to anyone as his head disappeared into the trees once more.

 

[razerwing]

Although the cops were suprised by the appearance of the massive lizard, the SWAT who had been licked by the playful wolf smiled. Boyd looked at Imalia, looking her right in the eyes. It became very apparent in that second that both the Unician and the human officer had a ferocity that was virtually unrivaled. Both would do whatever was necessary to protect there own. With a deep breath, the cop exhaled his worry and his fear. When he looked back at the Unician, his eyes were clear, like a lake of fresh, pure water. "You're at war with someone? Well hell. You know what, I just thought of a way that we both come away from this happy people." His eyes twinkled. Not only would this keep his people safe, it would help Imalia out.

"Looks like one of your wolves have already taken a little shine to one of my officers. I don't see why I can't get my guys to help you out with this..... war. Like I said, we have guns. Big guns." He looked at his people, and they all snapped up their visors. "We could help each other, safety for both of us. None of my guys die, and you have some reinforcements against whatever you are fighting." He took a step toward Imalia, although this time there was not a hint of threat in it. "What do you say? An answer to both our problems."

---

Although the cops were suprised by the appearance of the massive lizard, the SWAT who had been licked by the playful wolf smiled. Boyd looked at Imalia, looking her right in the eyes. It became very apparent in that second that both the Unician and the human officer had a ferocity that was virtually unrivaled. Both would do whatever was necessary to protect there own. With a deep breath, the cop exhaled his worry and his fear. When he looked back at the Unician, his eyes were clear, like a lake of fresh, pure water. "You're at war with someone? Well hell. You know what, I just thought of a way that we both come away from this happy people." His eyes twinkled. Not only would this keep his people safe, it would help Imalia out.

"Looks like one of your wolves have already taken a little shine to one of my officers. I don't see why I can't get my guys to help you out with this..... war. Like I said, we have guns. Big guns." He looked at his people, and they all snapped up their visors. "We could help each other, safety for both of us. None of my guys die, and you have some reinforcements against whatever you are fighting." He took a step toward Imalia, although this time there was not a hint of threat in it. "What do you say? An answer to both our problems."

 

[Anaeria]

~"And how will your...President, react to this? He is your king, or an equivalent to one."~ Her words more polite, she resumed her nude human form slowly, growing tired of speaking telepathically to them. The young wolf yipped and bowed his front, wanting to play more and she turned her head to peer at the young one, and the female human he'd chosen to want to play with, then smiled and nodded slowly, speaking to one and all. "So long as you leave your weapons here and remain within fifty feet of the forest, I can guarantee you safety at least. A short, brisk clenching of her fist brought thick stones up from underneath the greenery under her feet in a ring around the forest itself to mark the boundary, the stones reaching to about hip height before they stopped rising from the earth. She was beginning to tire now, the last few hours wearing on her until she had to prevent herself from yawning by putting two fingers to her mouth and whistling.

The sound was shrill, but not alarming in that it called forth several species of the more polite, gentle creatures within the forest boundaries who had been watching fearfully. Then she turned to Boyd with all seriousness. "The creatures are called Rathgnarls, vicious beasts with no souls, no sense of self and only unending apetites for flesh. They reproduce quickly, every seven days or so with a clutch of eggs settled into the carcass of any large animal that they can find, the young hatch within two days, and feed on the meat until they are big enough to catch their own food. In the Dark Space they were limited to how much they could eat and breed, but here....if there are more of these...cities, full of humans, they will have an unending breeding ground. And I know at least a dozen came through with the forest when the Seals on it snapped. And they aren't in the Forest anymore, they escaped as soon as the sunlight hit the trees, afraid of it....I do not know where they went." Her voice was bleak as she added the last bit of information, then Sent them all an image of the creatures she spoke of.

Standing at around six and a half feet tall, the things were grey in colour, with thick tails and muscles that bulged. Vaguely humanoid, they resembled gargoyles in that they were hairless, had sharp teeth, claws and talons meant for rending and catching prey, their noses non-existent other than as something like a smushed in pigs' nose. Beady eyes were all but useless and glowed red twenty-four/seven. And they were winged. Enormous bats' wings, mostly without tears though some could have small ones, the beasts were hideous and bloodthirsty, a short series of images of how they hunt following the still image of the beasts, shown directly to the minds of those nearest her as well as the explanation of their feeding and breeding habits. "I do not consider humans to be useful very often...if anything they were the cause of my imprisonment for the last thousand years, so I have no reason to trust any of your species....but I will try. I may not be the best of beings to get along with but...hopefully this will not all end in blood and tears." Her tone was slightly warmer as she switched to speaking aloud, and she smiled for a moment before her magics unravelled slowly, the web of magic she'd used to keep an 'eye' on things shifting back to the stones and becoming visible as a sort of luminous bubble, easily moved through though not hazardous to anyone.

 

[razerwing]

The vision of these beasts that Imalia spoke of made Boyd take a small step back. A few SWAT guys growled, clicking back the actions on their weapons. "Those are what you've been fighting eh? Don't worry. We can send a warning out worldwide, should be enough to get the entire police force in every country ready for a fight. Hell, we might even have to bring in the military." Boyd rubbed his chin, shaking his head. If they really bred as fast as she said, they would have a big problem on their hands. "These things can be killed from what they look like. And if they can't be killed, they can most certainly be hurt." With that line of thought, the cop felt much more assured, and much more sane. And as long as the civvies didn't act stupid, they'd be safe. So far so good. When she came to the part about not trusting humans, and hoping this didn't end in blood and tears, Boyd tilted his head.

"Sorry to say this, but it's going to end in blood and tears any which way you look at it. The only thing is, we can decide whether or not it ends in blood and tears for us, or for what we're fighting against. Humans like conflict, otherwise, we wouldn't be shooting each other now would we?" The officer shrugged, looking at the rock barricade. "So then, what now? We've settled the safety issues, and the President is in Washington D.C. The Whitehouse is far away from here, and I can't exactly take you on a plane naked."

 

[Anaeria]

'So they'd killed off all the other races in the past an have now turned on each other....not so surprising.' Her thoughts kept to herself, she motioned to the rocks barricade and watched as the human who'd been licked tentatively climbed over the barricade, only to get walloped by a wolf pups' thick tail, knocking her over as the beast jumped around and begged to be played with. "I meant between the humans and my home...and the inhabitants within both of our worlds...." Imalia scratched the head of the Alpha wolf who'd set his head on her shoulder again but then turned to watch the pup frolick, another joining until the woman was ringed with cheerful canines the size of small ponies. With a huff, the much larger, older wolf went to nudge some of them away, giving the human some space and then proceeded to lay down and go to sleep on the grassy ground, which had grown nice and warm in the sunlight. Imalia considered herself, her lack of clothing that humans wore so obviously, then put her hands on her hips and frowned at Boyd. "What is wrong with being as I am? I am not human, so human....clothings...is it...are not necessary for me, correct?" She didn't understand the locational words he used, or this DeeCee place, nor did she know what a plane was, unless he meant an interdimensional plane of existence, in which case their president person must be either a sorcerer or a warlock....and she would kill any of those she met, whether he or she was innocent or not. She had absolutely no qualms about that at all, though she said nothing about that. "Would it be easier if I did wear these clothing things you mentioned? I cannot change them when I shift though...they would not last long if I panic or grow angry over something."

His mentioning a way to kill the beasts known as Rathgnarls received a nod from Imalia, pushing back some of the long hair away from her face and exposing her breasts fully to be seen. Her eyes were soft violet now, relaxed, if not fully so. She was aware of her surroundings and did not for a moment consider letting herself sleep as the wolf elder did. "Their hearts, two within one body, are located in the stomach, here," Reaching out lightly, she tapped the armour directly over Boyd's stomach, then moved her finger up to his right side "And here, they are fast healers as well, so hitting them through both hearts is a must or they will survive...and they are smart for all that I call them beasts. Cunning and not at all brutes, they want only to eat and breed. And their talons are filthy, so cuts and wounds from them must be cleansed and treated immediately or sepsis will occur.....perhaps I should speak to a Cleric about the healing aspects...." Trailing off, she pulled her hand back lightly and frowned thoughtfully, wanting to lay down and sleep as her wolf had but not willing to do so with so many eyes on her still.

 

[razerwing]

"It would be much easier if you wore clothes. I mean, not only will it attract attention to yourself...." With all the commotion calming down and things seeming to have been settled, he looked at her nude body with a dumbstruck gaze. "It kinda........ kinda gets distracting for me." Fortunately, he managed to pry his eyes away from her, returning his gaze to her eyes, although it was not without it's battle. With a shake of the head, he returned his focus back to these Rathgnarls.

"Uh..... we don't have Clerics heal any more. This is modern day. We have doctors, and field medics and such. Clerics, priests, Rabbi's, whatever, they tend to stay in the churches." Once again his eyes roamed to her fully exposed breasts and his mental train crashed into a wall. This time it took a tap on the shoulder from one of his SWAT to bring him back to Earth. "Listen, we know where to shoot, and we have enough firepower to do it. So can ya put some clothes on before I lose my mind?" Meanwhile the human who had been pummeled by the playful decided to start playing back, standing up and crouching, feigning from side to side before move quickly towards the wolf, wrapping her arms around it's neck and pulling it into a big hug.

"Heheh, hey Boyd! I think these wolves or whatever they are would make a good addition to the force! Hell, they might even replace the Rotties and Shepards!" Boyd had to laugh a little at that, although it could be a possibility. He cast a tentative glance at Imalia before looking away quickly. He couldn't risk being entranced by her body again.

 

[Anaeria]

Tilting her head as she considered his response Imalia nodded slowly as his words made sense to her, though in a rather strange way. However, she wasn't a queen just for fighting and winning her wars, she knew when to bend to a certain extent and nodded once more before she looked down at herself when she caught the humans' eyes travelling with an unknown expression in them that she did not understand. "Very well then....perhaps you know of some of these...clothings that would be appropriate?" When Boyd explained how the clerics and priests were now simply men who remained with their churches the Unician woman frowned slightly, then dismissed it when he supplied her with different words to use for the healers she'd known of beforehand. He was almost amusing in noticing her body over and over again, and seemed to have difficulties with speech after slightly more prolonged looking at her form, though she honestly could not see what attracted him to her so much.

Although....he was fairly handsome himself, and would have made a suitable mate for her had he been Unician. Too bad he was human. Looking over with a small smile on her lips as the human woman wrestled and played with the wolf pup, Imalia smiled a bit more widely, finding genuine joy in the affection that the other woman clearly held for the pup. "They are quite intelligent, and cunning as well and have made for a very efficient source of protection and warning during the time within the Dark Space." The older wolf yawned at that and rolled over onto his back, scratching it against the grass underneath him and lolling his tongue in pleasure at the warmth, something strange but ultimately pleasant to his old hide.

Looking up and back to the barricade as several of the officers began to climb over tentatively once the human woman had made it clear that she wasn't being mauled, Imalia blinked when another woman in the strange armour offered her a dress that an old lady down the street had pushed at her upon seeing the nude woman with pale skin and black hair. The officer had had to hear her complain about the lack of decency the menfolk had in just standing about watching the 'poor girl' prance about in her birthday suit, and was glad to offer the simple, plain green sundress to Imalia, who took it with a quiet "Thank you...that is very kind." Then, after opening it Imalia stopped. Holding it at arms length by the hem of the dress she found herself unable to figure out how to put the clothing...thing...on properly. "...How does this work....?" Looking over the top of the cloth that she held she peered at Boyd quizzically, since he was the first person that she had met and thus, the only one she trusted more than any other human thus far.