rp: side story Side Story: A Quest for Kraerhil

[Akira]

It was unfortunate, but Izanagi could tell that his attempt on making his friend feel better wasn't working. Izanagi never considered himself really good at dealing with feelings, so it wasn't really a surprise. Still, he wish he could do something about it. On the other hand, Izanagi also knew better than to try and push the subject. He knew that no good could come out of doing so, which is why he decided to leave it be for now. If Deadrin deacided to talk about later, then fine. Otherwise... he wouldn't bring that up again. After all, he also doesn't like when people bring up boring or unnecessary topics to talk about, which is also another small reason why he usually avoids people. The bigger reason being, of couse, the whole demon business and the distrust problems that came with said business.

"Sure, no problem. Have a good sleep." Izanagi replied to his friend as Deadrin made his way to the sleepbag and driffted to sleep not long after. As usual, the demon immediatly activated his Soul Eye so he could have an easier time detecting any possible manecing creatures that might approach. As time went on, Izanagi found himself pleasntly surprised by how calm things were. The only sounds he could hear were the sounds of the gentle wind blowing, causing the leaves and branches of the trees around to shake a bit, the campfire crackling and the singing of the insects around. Things were turning out to be very boring actually. Then again, boring was better than dangerous, specially since Deadrin was still recovering from his wound. 

After a few hours had passed, Izanagi got up from his sitting spot and made his way to Deadrin so he could be waken up. The demon allowed his friend to sleep two hours more than usual, due to the leg injury. He figured some extra rest would be a good thing for his, despite the fact he could clearly heal much faster than a normal person. "Yo Deadrin, is time to wake up" Izanagi said as he gently shook his friend. After Deadrin was awake, Izanagi got himself in his sleeping bag. He had to nudge and move inside a bit to get confortable, but it wasn't very long before he found himself in the dream world again. Little did Deadrin know, however, that he would have a special visit on that night.

[Neptune]

Daedrin’s sleep was troubled, as his dreams flickered from one to another but never settling for long to allow him to figure out what was going on. The moment Izanagi’s voice penetrated his dream, he snapped his eyes open just as he felt his shoulder being shaken. He blinked red eyes, trying to shift the sleep clinging to them before he let out a wide yawn. He then turned his head and looked up at the sky, before frowning as he noticed that the stars were a little further along than he had expected. After a moment be figured that Izanagi had allowed him to sleep a little more than normal, and while he wouldn’t want his friend to miss out on his own sleep, he was grateful to be allowed some extra shut-eye. Stifling a groan, Daedrin sat himself up and nodded at his friends, “Thank you. Go get some sleep yourself.” He said, pushing back his bedroll and getting to his feet. He limped over to the fire and sat himself down. He watched as Izanagi settled himself in his own bed before getting comfortable.

Daedrin then turned his eyes to the fire, adding a couple small pieces of wood to keep the fire going, without making it larger and thus giving off more light. He looked up and around into the dark night, listening to the sound of the night insects. It appeared to be very quiet, for which he was thankful. He looked back at Izanagi again, noticing that he was now deeply asleep. He then looked down as he unravelled the bandage from his thigh where the solidified inchor protected his wound. He could see a slightly pink tinge the edges of the wound, suggesting that it was healing at a normal rate, but it was still quite serious. He pulled his bag towards him, pulling out some fresh bandages which he tied around the wound before he settled back and continued to keep watch.

[Akira]

Deadrin's quiet night was suddenly interrupted when a mysterious figure approached the camp site. Said figure came out of the woods and walked calmly towards the campfire while wearing a white overall robe that made pretty much impossible to see who was under said clothes. "Hello Deadrin." a calm yet firm feminine voice came out of the strangers lips as she began to speak "Please don't be alarmed. I am here simply to give you a message, a warning if you will, and it's about your friend there" she said looking the sleeping demon on the sleep sack before turning back to Deadrin. "First things first. Allow me to present myself properly. Over the millennia, I was called many things by the mortals of this world, but I believe that the most familiar one for you will be 'The Watcher'. My job is to watch and document the lifes of all mortal beings" she then took a seat near the campfire on the opposite end of Deadrin.

"Now then, your demonic friend here has the potential to bring an end to the war between demons and angels. Should that happen, there would also be a positive impact on the human world, which was cought in the crossfire." Even as she explained all of that, she was able to keep her physical form an absolute secret and voice tone was kept neutral throughtout the explanation. "You see, throughtout the millennia I registered the lifes of countless humans. On very rare cases, one of them survives the process of becoming the vessel for one of the seven deadly sins. On even rarer cases, they are able to keep their own will as well, but Izanagi was able to go even beyond that. He is the very first who was also able to form a bond with one of the seven. Essentially meaning that he has the raw power of a demon combined with the seemingly endless evolutionary potential of a human. That makes him dangerous. In the eyes of the demons and angels, far too dangerous to be kept alive. Their hatred for him is nothing but fear in desguise. That said..." the goddess then paused for a brief second before continuing, but this time in a more serious tone. 

"...all that fear does have a good reason to exist. One day, maybe not today nor tomorrow, but one day, he will seek confrontation with the Sin Lord himself. His intententions are pure, but there is a very real risk of losing himself in the process. If that happens, he will likely acquire a unsatiable thrist for power which, combined with his evolving potential, can result in him becoming the Crimson Raider. The very personification of war and one of the four riders of the apocalypse, bringing untold destruction to this world. Which is why I am telling you all of this." now she was focused straight on Deadrin. Even though her face was well hidden by her robe, she was clearly addressing Deadrin in a very serious way now. "I made a vow a long time ago that keeps me from interfering in the mortal world, but you are different. Izanagi clearly respects you, so when the time comes, it would be in your best interest to keep him from losing himself" Finally, she got up and headed towards the woods again. Just as fast as she appeared, she was gone. Leaving Deadrin to the quiet night once again.

Edited November 28, 2019 by Akira

[Neptune]

The moment Daedrin spotted the figure, he was on his feet with his sword gripped in his hand which he held up in a defensive posture. His eyes homed in on the figure and he frowned a little as they were wearing a robe that covered them completely. His lip twitched and his blood red eyes narrowed a little when the figure greeted him, calling him by his name. That made him feel a little uncomfortable, and his gut was recoiling from this figure, His iris of his eyes turned black when she expressed the desire to speak to him about Izanagi, “What about?” He asked, his tone closed. He shifted, moving himself so that he was stood between her and Izanagi. He then frowned as they introduced herself as The Watcher, someone that apparently watched and documented the lives of Mortals. His eyebrow then raised a little as she sat herself down next to the fire, making herself appear less of a threat. Even so, he didn’t sit back down himself, as he had, had his fair share of people who seemed friendly only to pull a dagger the moment his guard was relaxed. 

His eyebrows then rose even further when she said that Izanagi had the potential to bring the end to the war between the demons and angels. He figured that the ones she was talking about, were the ones that were tied to earth, and not the Daedra and Celestial’s he was more familiar with. He knew little of these angels and demons, because they had never been on his radar before, other than the incident where some of those angels came chasing after Izanagi. He continued to hold his sword as he allowed the figure to continued speaking, explaining at how Izanagi was special and that both angels and demons were terrified of them. Honestly, he could see why. He had found that it was always the way with extreme ideologies like in this instance, they were scared of anything that could topple the status quo. One would have thought that the angels would be happy about war ending between them and the demons. But the fact that they were scared of Izanagi themselves, proved otherwise. Clearly they benefited from the war in some manner, or despite their apparent virtuous nature, they actually hated the demons with a hate so strong they wanted to continue their slaughter. Quite a poisonous way to go about things, in Daedrin’s opinion. 

His expression turned a little unimpressed as she continued speaking, explaining that if Izanagi confronted this Sin Lord, he had the capability of losing himself and becoming one of the four riders of the apocalypse, at least her version. He knew for a fact that there were other versions, as even the Daedra had their own. But this whole situation smacked very much of ‘Only this single individual could save the universe’, and he hated such cliches. Anyone else would be nothing more than peripheral. But honestly, he had absolutely no interest in this war between these angels and demons, or even any interest in this Sin Lord. If this person was telling the truth, and these events were going to come to pass… he would only be helping Izanagi simply because he liked the guy and considered him a friend. Nothing more. He watched her disappear once again with an intense, dark gaze. Only when she had completely gone from his sensing range, did he relax. He blinked, his eyes returned to red before he moved to sit back down. This time, he kept his sword on him just in case he had anymore unannounced visitors. He hoped that there wasn’t; his leg ached from standing while the strange figure was talking. Daedrin glanced around, before looking back at the fire as he sat, waiting for Izanagi to wake up on his own merit.

[Akira]

In his dreams, the demon was a open green field. It was quite the beautiful place to be really and he wasn't alone there. Odium was also present in that place. "Well well, I'll admit I wasn't expecting such a calm place. Then again, we are in your dreams" he said in a somewhat sarcastic tone. Izanagi chuckled a bit before responding. "If you wanted to talk, you didn't have to invade my dream, you know?" he shook his head slightly before asking in a sarcastic tone "So? To what do I own the pleasure of your presence?" "It's about the future. Do you know what will you do after we get back?" Izanagi wasn't sure on how to reply. There were many things he could do, thanks to his powers. He could become a mercenary of sorts, but he didn't like the idea of simply hurting people for money. His main idea was to maybe work for Deadrin collecting those rare materials that can only be found in dangerous places where most people have no chance of survival. It would be a good way to walk around different areas and posdibly find more hell relics. Of course, he would have to make that proposal for him later. "I am not sure... maybe I could work for Deadrin... why do you ask?" "Because we should go after the other sins. Not all of them are in the human world. Some are still in hell, but we should find them befo-" Odium was interrupted, however, by Izanagi waking up.

After a couple of hours sleeping, Izanagi found himself slowly waking up by himself in his sleeping bag. He blinked a bit and, after his eyes had adjusted to the light, he noticed he was allowed to sleep a bit more than usual. He streched his arms lazily before getting up. Izanagi was feeling rather refreshed after being allowed to sleep so well. "A good night sleep sure does wonders" He rolled his sleeping bag before approaching Lucky and placing it on her saddle. On his way there, he took the opportunity to talk to Deadrin. "Hey, good morning." he said in a calm and gentle tone "How is your leg? Feeling any better?"

[Neptune]

Daedrin looked up when he heard Izanagi stirring. The sun had already been up for a while, and he was beginning to wonder when his friend would awaken. Clearly he needed his rest if he had slept this long. He picked up another stick and snapped it in two, throwing it into the fire as Izanagi got up to put his sleeping bag on his horse. He picked up some more sticks, building the fire up a little more. He had kept it low during the night to help prevent anymore unexpected visitors, but the morning had turned quite chilly so he wanted to warm up before they left, as well as have a bowl of warm porridge.

He looked up when Izanagi directed a question towards him, “Good morning. It is better, but it will still take a few days before I’m able to put weight on it without discomfort… do you think you could do the favour of getting the cooking pot, as well as the oats for porridge? It would be nice to have something warm to start the journey back to Selil on.” He then fell silent, gazing into the fire. He wondered if he should tell Izanagi about the visitor last night, and what they had said about him. This Watcher person had not told him that it was unwise to tell Izanagi any of what they had spoken about, and despite his heritage, Daedrin had a strong sense of justice. It seemed like something that Izanagi should know about but at the same time, Daedrin didn’t want to influence the man's actions. For all he knew, speaking about it to Izanagi was what caused him to go ahead with it anyway.

After debating with himself for a few moments, he asked, “Izanagi? Or even Odium? Do you know of someone that calls themselves The Watcher?” 

[Akira]

"Sure thing" Izanagi quickly replied to Deadrin's request in his usual calm tone before doing as he was asked and getting the pot and the other necessary things. Deadrin was right. Having a nice breakfast before a long journey really sounded like a great idea and would surely make the rest of their day a bit better. He placed the pot on it's rightful place over the campfire and placed oats beside Deadrin so he could cook. After all, Izanagi wasn't nearly as good as his friend when it comes to cooking. He knew the basics and was honestly quite good a cooking meat, but other than that he didn't have much going for it on that regard. After everything was said and done, the demon took a seat near his friend around the campfire.

Izanagi was a bit surprised by his friend's question. He knew who The Watcher was, but only because he had read about her before. As for meeting or even talking to her? Nope. Never. He didn't know if Odium could said the same, though. "Well, I remember reading about her before. I know who she is and what she does, according to the books at least, but I never met her or talked to her. As for Odium..." *Same as you. I know who she is and what she does, but I've never seen or talked to her* the demon replied as on cue "...he said the same thing. Why do you ask? Did something happen?" Izanagi was originally planning on talk to Odium about that dream he had, but it would seem that it had to wait until they they were throught with this 'Watcher business'.

[Neptune]

“Thank you.” Daedrin thanked his friend with a slight nod as Izanagi put down the pot and oats. He quickly set up porridge, using water as the liquid base as they had no milk as it would have easily spoilt by now. Once he had put enough in the pot, he stirred it to ensure that it was properly mixed together before he allowed it to begin heating next to the roaring fire. As he sat back, he turned his attention to Izanagi as he spoke. He had rather expected that response. His long fingers drummed against his thigh for a moment as he considered how to answer the man. Finally, he said, “I had a visitor last night that claimed that they were The Watcher. Said that their job was to watch and document the lives of all mortal beings. They claimed that you had the potential to bring an end to the war between demons and angels. Apparently both sides are shit scared of you because of this. Although one would have thought that if the angels were as benevolent as they claim, they would welcome a chance to bring an end to such a conflict.” He shook his head when he realised he was rambling a little. He couldn’t help it; that detail bothered him. It was like the Celestial’s all over again with the sweet, innocent and kind visage of an angel that harboured a core of hatred and corruption. 

Getting himself back on track, he said, “This Watcher claimed that you will one day seek a confrontation with the Sin Lord himself. But there is a danger to you in that, as you run the risk of losing yourself in the process and become the Crimson Raider. One of the apparent horses of the apocalypse. She claims that she had vowed to not interfere with the affairs of the mortal world but decided to make an exception this time because you respect me.” Daedrin was observing Izanagi with a sharp gaze before he said, “You may have noticed that I said words like ‘apparently’ and ‘claimed’ a lot. That’s because all I have to go on in the claims of this person. They were clearly not a human, but I’ve never heard of this Watcher person before and believe me, I have been around for a very long time and heard many, many things. So needless to say; I’m skeptical of what she’s saying.” He then paused to see what Izanagi would say to that information. He broke another piece of stick and threw one half in the fire as he twirled the other half in his hand.

[Akira]

Izanagi made sure to keep himself quiet and paid close attention to Deadrin as his friend explained, in great detail, what had happened while he was still sleeping. Apparently a god decided to interfere in the mortal world, but not directly. Giving Deadrin a supposed explanation about what might happen in the future, which sounded like all too convenient from Izanagi's point of view. All of that sounded like some sort of prophecy and, in his experience, Izanagi had reached the point of not believing is those anymore. In his opinion, they are nothing but convetional bullshit to make people believe that something will happen regardless of their actions, and the demon hated the idea of simply sitting his butt around doing nothing and waiting for the world around him to change.

Deadrin seem to think the same thing, in a way. Izanagi didn't fail to notice the constant use of the words 'apparently' and 'claimed'. Not to mention the little ramble there, that caused the demon to smile a bit in response. Izanagi didn't really mind about them very much, as they could be surprisingly entertaining. Especially in this case, since Deadrin was ranting about how stupid the angels really are. Needless to say, Izanagi agreed very much with him. Once Deadrin was done with his explanation, Izanagi finally decided to respond. "Well, first of all, those ramblings of yours are actually quite fun in a way." he began to say with a slight chuckle before getting a bit more serious "Second of all, the angels are as much to blame for the war as the demons." Izanagi broke another small stick he found on the ground nearby and threw it into the fire "In their eyes, demons are nothing but scum that must be completely destroyed, and this war is the perfect way to do it. The only real difference between them and the demons, is that their pride keeps them from seeing humans as a tool to be used in the conflict. Which is why the don't harm the people in our world, but I am pretty sure that if the situation get's dire enough, they might change their minds" Izanagi had to take a deep breath there to keep himself from getting angry just from thinking on the celestial assholes. "As for the rest... well, I guess a confrontation with the Sin Lord is sort of unavoidable. After all, one of the reasons why I am going after the relics is to defeat him, thus greatly reducing the number of demons harming innocent people, but the whole 'Crimson Raider' thing sounds a lot like prophecy bullshit to me" he replied honestly. 

[Neptune]

One of Daedrin’s eyebrows rose when Izanagi mentioned that his rambling was fun. The corner of his lips twitched up a little in amusement, pleased that Izanagi didn’t get annoyed with his slight tangent. It was an unfortunate habit that he had inherited from his fathers, and not everyone had the patience for a long-winded tangent that had nothing to do with the subject. The thing about the Angels bugged him so much that he had slipped into that very habit. But it seemed that Izanagi not only agreed with him, but offered up an explanation as to why the Angels were so obsessed with this war, and were afraid that Izanagi would shut it down. It made him grimace slightly.. While not exactly the same situation, the Eldyrannth had fallen into the trap of thinking that only fighting would solve the war. Granted, they were always on the defensive, as they never actively invaded the Daedra but they were always fighting back. His fathers sought a very different end to the fighting. To truly rid one, of one's enemy is to make the enemy one’s friend. Or, in their case, take them over and slowly bring them back to a path that followed Universal Rights. 

As he returned his attention back to Izanagi as he explained that a confrontation with the Sin Lord was unavoidable, Daedrin decided to utilise his telekinesis to cause the spoon in the pot to stir its contents. He couldn’t be bothered leaning forwards to do it himself, and Izanagi had seen his display of kinesis before, so he didn’t think his friend would get overly upset by it. He nodded his head in agreement to Izanagi’s prophecy comment, “I agree. Which means it is often poorly worded, hard to divine the meaning of and can be attributed to any number of things. I’ve known a number of prophecies that have come true in my lifetime, but they are an absolute pain in the arse to deal with, especially when about ten or twenty events can be explained by that prophecy. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” He then paused for a moment before asking, “Who, exactly, is the Sin Lord?” As he asked, he spooned out the porridge into their bowls, handing Izanagi his while he sat back with his own and began to eat.

[Akira]

"Indeed. Seems like only time will tell if this prophecy is real or not..." it was at that point that Izanagi noticed the spoon stiring their breakfast without anyone touching it. Was it not for the knowledge that Deadrin has some crazy mind powers, the demon would probably think he himself was going mad or that they were dealing with some sort of creature. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. So he didn't bother at all. Intead, he once again found himself thinking on how useful and versatile Deadrin's powers can be. "Thanks." Izanagi replied with a slight nod as he picked up the bowl his friend handed to him and began to eat as well.

Deadrin's question was something Izanagi was sort of expecting to come sooner or later. Especially considering that they never really talked about that subject before. The demon couldn't really blame his friend for being curious. "The Sin Lord is... uhm... how should I put this...?" Still, Izanagi had to consider a bit what he should say. Not because he himself had any secrets to keep regarding that subject, but because there are tons and tons of unnecessary details here and there that would be too much to explain. Especially considering that Izanagi would have to deal with the Sin Lord by himself. So giving Deadrin too many useless details to process would probably not do them any good. "The Sin Lord is basically hell's king. It is every single Sin in a single body. Which makes it so powerful, that every demon that doesn't have strong enough willpower will obey it's orders without questioning. That is how it keeps the demons attacking both angels and humans alike." He then took another spoon full of his breakfast, enjoying the great taste Deadrin's cooking skill could offer even under such limitations, before continuing his explanation "The Sin Lord is also the result of a brutal cycle hell goes through once a few thousands of years. It always begins with one of the embodiments of sin defeating and absorbing one of the others, becoming more powerfull. Then defeating and absorbing another one. The process repeats itself until there is only one remaining." Another spoon full and a slight break took place before he continued. "The remaining embodiment of sin then gains the right to challenge the current Sin Lord to a one-on-one battle for the crown. One of them always dies at the end, regardless of the result. After it is all over, a new generation of demons is born as the new embodiments of sin, so the cycle may repeat itself". Izanagi finished his explanation along with his bowl of podrige.

[Neptune]

Daedrin gave a thoughtful grunt when Izanagi explained how this Sin Lord and cycle worked. It seemed that the ‘political sphere’, for lack of a better term for it, worked a little similar to the Daedra. He stirred his porridge for a moment before saying, “That’s interesting. The Daedra operate in a somewhat similar manner. You have Daedric Generals that represent every Sin, as well as a couple of other things like Limbo, or Time, Space and Dimensions. They’re the rank below the Daedric King, and have their own domains where they have minions to do their bidding. But the King doesn’t come about the same way. A King’s power doesn’t come from the sins, or anything like that. It’s a little too complicated to explain fully, but there is a certain crystal in the Daedra Realm that grants them the power they have which allows them complete domination over their entire realm. It is possible for someone lower to challenge them, but rarely are such challenges successful.”

He took a small bite from his porridge before looking back up at Izanagi once again, “But it sounds to me like this prophecy is essentially predicting that you’re going to break this cycle. This cycle has no doubt been going on for a very long time, and I doubt the other cycle conclusions have had this kind of attention before.” He scooped up some of his porridge before commenting somewhat sarcastically, “Lucky you.” He then ate his mouthful before scraping up the last of the porridge and eating it. He then paused, enjoying the feeling of hot food. He the put the pot aside and sighed, “I suppose we better clean up and start heading back to Selil.” He said. He was glad that the wound would be pretty much healed by the time they got back, as his wife would no doubt tell him off for taking risks. He carefully pushed himself up, before putting out the fire and then cleaning up the used dishes and cooking utensils. Once that was finished, he saddled Daegrin before he carefully pulled himself into it with his good leg. His bad leg was stuck at a slightly awkward angle to prevent it from hurting so much. He picked up the reigns before he began to lead the way out of the mountains.

[Akira]

Izanagi took his time to eat his breakfast while Deadrin explained how the Daedra opperated in a sort of similar fashion as the demons. It was quite surprising, actually, and very interesting to say the very least. Deep down, Izanagi couldn't help but secretly want to challenge one of these generals, or maybe even the king, for a battle. Fighting against powerful beings is without a doubt one of Izanagi's favorite things to do. He probably got that for Odium after being together for so many years. "I see... these generals and king surely sound like a very interesting bunch. I can only hope that they aren't a bunch of egocentric bastards like some of the demons are." he commented honestly *You better not be shotting a indirect insult at me!* commented Odium, clearly feeling a bit irritated *Don't worry, I can garantee you that I wasn't talking about you* Izanagi responded the demon with a mental chuckle. 

"Yeah, as far as I know, no one other than the demons themselfs cared much about this cycle. Assuming that who approached you was indeed a goddess, that probably means something." he replied calmly as he finished his bowl and placed it asside before letting out a sarcastic laught due to Deadrin's comment "Heh, yeah... talk about luck. I feel like some sort of chosen one" After they were both done eating, Deadrin took the words out of Izanagi's lips and said they should get going. The demon couldn't agree more. Since Deadrin's leg was still injured, Izanagi took a few extra mesures to ensure their tracks were erased. Usually his friend takes care of that, but this time around it would have to be him. It wasn't a big deal, though. Taking the fire out was super easy for someone who can manipulate fire at will. Spreading the rocks and ashes appart was also not a problem. Soon, they were both ready to go. Izanagi sattled Lucky again and hopped on her back. He felt some relief to see Deadrin wasn't having too much trouble with his wound. While it was clear that it hasn't been completely healed yet, it surely was better. Before long they were back on track to Selil. Hopefully, Deadrin's leg would be fully healed before the reached there, so Izanagi could challenge him to friendly spar. 

 

[Neptune]

The journey out of the mountains was quite uneventful, much to Daedrin’s relief. Even so, he still kept an eye out for anything unusual. Enough had happened over the last few days to make him more than a little paranoid. He certainly didn’t trust this ‘Watcher’ person, and he when he returned he was going to ask his parents to look into it for him to see what information they brought up about her. If anyone could find anything out, it would be them. He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of all this Sin Lord and the apparent cliché of Izanagi being the ‘chosen one’ to stop this cycle. Worse still, it seemed that others might believe it as well and thus were likely to attack him because of it. Which, to Daedrin, sounded like the worst thing to do. Since in their efforts to stop Izanagi, they were only going to end up forcing him into the position of going through with it. A case of A leads to B which then leads to C which then loops back to A once again. Absolutely ridiculous.

Once they reached the foothills, he once again lead the two into the forest. He was just as wary in the forest, due to the high number of monsters that were likely to attack them, especially any remaining Hounds that were roaming around. But they weren’t the only danger. He decided to give Ashaba a wide berth, deciding to circle around it. It added a few more days onto their journey, but Daedrin had no real desire to encounter any priests or Hounds. Finally, they reached the Ildran River and was able to cross onto the other side. They continued along the river until it was close to nightful.

They came to a stop near a large rocky outcropping which would shelter them from any rain that decided to fall for the night. Daedrin made sure that there was nothing around them before the two proceeded to set up the camp. By the time the sun had set, they had eaten their meal and were relaxing before one of them needed to head to bed. But it wasn’t long before Daegrin stirred uneasily and snorted causing Daedrin to look up and into the darkness before he heard something slithering against the ground. He stood up, his hand close to his weapon as he listened intently, looking out into the darkness as he told Izanagi, “Kill the fire.” 

Once the light had gone out, Daedrin blinked to activate his Daedric vision which allowed him to peer into the darkness. It was then that he saw a large figure heading in their direction. It appeared to be some kind of worm, scuttling on its many legs. It had huge bulbous eyes, and rows of sharp teeth. It also had tentacles that writhed restlessly. He cursed, “Fuck! It’s a Carrion Crawler. I think our fire must have attracted its attention. Don’t let its tentacles hit you; it’s a paralysing poison.” He informed his friend. He reached down and touched his thigh. It was still a little tender, but otherwise it was healed. The creature slithered closer to them, causing Daedrin to lift his sword. He didn’t attack, but he used the pulse of the sword to push the creature back. It paused, its tentacles stilling for a moment before it let out a soft hiss.

“I’m warning you now. If you come any closer, we will attack. If you turn away now, we won’t bother chasing you.” Daedrin warned, giving the creature at least one last chance. It paused again, before letting out another hiss and moving forwards once again, its eye gleaming with hunger. 

[Akira]

Much to Izanagi's own surprise, they were have a pretty easy time on their way back to Selil. Things were calm, too calm for the demon's liking to be honest. While it srely was nice to have some level of peace and quiet in that crazy and dengerous forest, a small part of him couldn't help but wish they he had something to fight against. Sure, he could challenge Deadrin to that spar he was planning, but he prefered to wait until they were closer to actually reaching the city, so they wouldn't waste energy that could be necessary to fight against a actuall threat. 

Soon enough, they had crossed the Ildran River, where Izanagi maneged to catch some fish using his chains to be cooked for dinner later, and found a good spot to set up camp not long after. Dinner was, as usual, pretty damn good considering the limited amount of resorces they had. While it is true that Izanagi helps sometimes by hunting some extra meat, Deadrin was still the big mind behind the flavours. If he wasn't a blacksmith already, he would make a hell of chef. They had some time to relax and talk a little bit as the sky went dark once again and the moon began to take the sun's place. Just when Izanagi was about to ask who would take the first turn watching the camp, Deadrin surprised him by suddenly taking a combat stance and telling him to put the fire down. The demon immedietly did as his friend told him to, and used his fire manipulation powers to instantaniusly put the fire down. He quickly summoned the Evil One and activated his Soul Eye as well, so he could see a bit better in the dark and look for the soul of whatever threat Deadrin could have sensed. Said threat turned out to be Carrion Crawler. Basically, a giant worm with legs and tentacles. "Oh great. It just had to be something with tentacles..." Izanagi complained as his friend warned him about the poison and tried to make the creature go away with using violence, but (to no one's surprise) there were no results. At least Izanagi wouldn't have to worry about getting angry and losing control against this enemy.

The first thing Izanagi did was to attack the monster with a fire ball, which hit the target and clearly caused some damage, but he then remembered that creating more light might attract more enemies, so he would have to avoid doing it again. The Crawler hissed in pain after the attack and tried to charge towards the horses. It probably had reached the conclusion that they were easier targets. "Shit! Deadrin, aim for the eyes!" Izanagi exclaimed as he trew the Evil One's sheath as a projectile and pierced one of the two big eyes in the creature's head, while also using his chains to create a barrier so the monster wouldn't try to pull off that stunt again. Once again, the Crawler hissed and squirmed in anger and pain, now focusing on the two warriors. Even after Deadrin had maneged to hit the second eye, the monster could still use it's fantastic sense of smell to fight. 

Now Izanagi was focused on dealing with the tentacles. Using his chains wasn't a option, since they were being used to keep the horses safe. And fire wasn't a option either. His sword skills would have to do. After jumping around a bit, dodging some attacks, he was eventually able to get himself into position while the monster was focused on Deadrin and prepared his attack "Quick draw style: Slash Flash!" With what would seem like a single move for normal eyes, Izanagi maneged to cut off most of the tentacles, leaving just a few on the crawler's face. Needless to say, the pain caused the creature to focus compeltely on the demon now. Having way less tentacles to worry about and the creature completely distracted, Deadrin had the perfect opportunity to finish things off. "Quick! Kill it while it is focused on me!" Izanagi shouted to his friend.

 

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by Akira

[Neptune]

When the creature came closer with the clear intention to cause them harm, Daedrin knew that it was going to die. But he had warned it, thus the only one it could blame was itself. He allowed Izanagi the first strike, as the man used a fireball to hit it. Daedrin flinched at the sudden flare of light that assaulted his senses but the pain died down after a moment as the light disappeared and the Crawler hissed in pain before it turned around and started towards the horses. Daegrin snorted and pawed at the ground, looking almost defiant in the face of this monster as he skipped into a defensive position in front of Lucky. But it was unneeded as Izanagi used his chains to protect the two animals. 

As Izanagi’s cry, Daedrin focused on the second eye. He lifted left hand, the hand that wasn’t holding his sword. The ring on his middle finger suddenly seemed to spread, covering his fingers, hand and lower arm in a black gauntlet that had softly glowing lines through it in a multitude of colours, some of which Izanagi’s eyes would be unable to see properly. He held out his hand, palm first as he concentrated, running the ‘program’ he wanted. The lines glowed brighter for a moment before a sharp shard of glittering ice formed in front of his hand. It then shot forwards at a speed that most eyes would be unable to follow. The creature hissed and squirred in anger and pain, clearly not liking the way its prey were fighting back. 

It turned its attention towards them, more angry than it was hungry. Then Izanagi stepped forwards, with his swords. Daedrin carefully moved around the side, keeping an eye on the creature for an opening to attack. He watched as his friend dodged several of the tentacles before slicing his way through move of them in a single move. Then as soon as they both saw a chance, Daedrin darted in, moving quicker than what one would expect of a human. As agile as a mountain lion, he leapt up on top of the creature, out of range of its tentacles. He then planted his feet on top of the Crawlers before he lifted his sword and pointed it down before slamming it into the creatures skull causing it to scream in agony. But he wasn’t just content with that. He shouted, “Get back!” Before he sent a pulse of force energy through the creature, crushing every organ within. It seemed to blow up, but Daedrin used his telekinesis to apply pressure on the outside to prevent it from exploding. Izanagi would be able to see its skin undulating almost like a wave before it seemed to suddenly crumple in on itself.

At that point, Daedrin pulled his sword free and jumped off as the Carrion Crawler collapsed to the forest floor dead. He turned back to see his handiwork before he looked over at Izanagi, “Good team work.” He said, before suddenly grinning. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but the fight had filled him with a hunger, a desire to defeat his opponent and to best them in combat. To rip his foes apart and scatter them before him. His blood seemed to boil, and he wished another enemy would show up just so he could fight more. But he had to force him to calm down before he got far too excited.

[Akira]

At the end of the fight, Izanagi did as his friend told him to and dashed back a bit, gaining some distance from the man who was currently at the top of the Crawler's head. Just in time too. Izanagi could clearly see the intense shockwave traveling through it's victim body, unquestionably dealing some severe damage as it moved. Izanagi was fairly sure the monster's body was about to explode due to the sheer force of the shockwave, but much to his own surprise, and relief, that wasn't the case. He could only assume that his friend was responsable for that too. Deadrin sure was full of surprises, no matter how much time they had spent together. There was also that really cool looking gauntlet his friend used not long ago, capable of firing sharp projectiles and probably much more. "Heh, indeed. We sure make a hell of a duo. I bet that crawler thought it had found an easy meal, but unfortunatly for it, that wasn't the case" Izanagi replied with grin, while he also dissipated the chains protecting the horses along with the Evil One and it's sheath that was still stuck in the dead creature's eye socket . Now that the battle was over and nobody got hurt, Izanagi could say with confidence that he had fun with all of that. The rush, the adrenalin... it was great. "Well, considering we maneged to deal with the problem with no casualties whatsoever, asside from having to get rid of this stinky creature's corpse, I would say that was pretty damn fun." he chuckled, finally deciding to properly propose a friendly spar with Deadrin at the end of their journey back to Selil "Say, we are not very far from Selil now, right? Before we get there, I would like to have a duel with you. No chains, no Wrathful Flames, no mind powers or magic gauntlets. Just a friendly spar between two swordsman. What do you think?" 

[Neptune]

“Absolutely not.” Daedrin replied to Izanagi’s statement as he pulled out a cloth and cleaned the gore from the blade of his sword before sliding it back home. As Izanagi spoke again, Daedrin looked out across the the forest looking for any other dangers that were going to attempt to surprise them. At Izanagi’s proposal, Daedrin turned back to him and eyed him for a few moments. He wasn’t sure if he should accept or not. Daedrin was an exceptionally skilled swordsmen. Not only had been trained by a Grandmaster since he was a very young child, but he had been practising for far longer than the Kingdom had even been a thing. Thus he was not only highly skilled, but he certainly outstripped Izanagi in terms of experience. Still, the thought of a friendly spa was certainly tempting. It had been a long time since he had sparred with anyone like that. Most people were too terrified to even ask.

He then nodded and said, “I would like that. No magic, no little tricks. Just our swords. But no, we are still quite far from Selil. We’ve only just crossed the river to the southern side, so we’re still in the depths of the forest. We still have a fair amount of ground to cover before we get close. But when we are, I’ll be happy to take your challenge.” He decided not to brag about his skill. Not only was it pretty poor taste, he didn’t like to give away secrets that could be used to his advantage. He would undoubtedly going to be the toughest opponent that Izanagi was going to face and he was not going to be able to go down easily.

[Akira]

"Oh came on, where is your sense of adventure?" Izanagi joked with a slight chuckle. He was also really happy to hear that his friend had accepted his challenge. It had been years since he had faced someone who could keep up with him as far as swordsmanship goes. Sure, he had faced many different threatning enemies in his journey through the land, but pretty much all of them were monsters of some kind, incapable of effeciently using a weapon, and the ones that weren't irrational monsters usually realied on some sort of magic to fight. "Great! I am happy to hear that. I think this goes without saying, but I won't take it easy on you, and I expect you to do the same. After all, I rare opportunities such as these to try and grow as a swordsman" He said in a calm tone. His voice made clear that had great respect for those use a sword well. Even if he wasn't going to use any of his secret arts of special skills, Izanagi would surely be a worty opponent for Deadrin, due to his years of experience and superhuman stats. That fight would surely be something remarkable.

"Before any of that, though..." the demon then directed his attention to corpse of the Crawler they had killed just moments before "... we should probably do something about our dead friend here. If we just leave it be, it might attract more unwanted attention. The question is: how to deal with it?" Izanagi then placed a hand under his chin and began to think on possible solutions "Well, I guess the best thing we could do is bury it, but digging a hole big enough would take too much time and energy. Burning it could work, if it wasn't for the light bringing us more possible problems." he rambled a bit before making a small joke "Not to mention the horrible smell that would come out of it" He chuckled again and hummed a little bit more before comming up with a solution "Oh, I got it! Just step back a bit please" Izanagi approached the dead Crawler and grabbed it by the rear end with both hands. He did have a bit of trouble getting a firm grip at first, due to the creature's fat and somewhat slippery skin, but was ultimately able to grab it. "Here goes." He spun in place once and released the monster corpse, launching it more than far enough over the trees to no longer be a problem. "Alright, that's taken care of. So, who will take the first turn watching the camp?"

[Neptune]

“With my sense of logic, where I can keep an eye on it.” Daedrin responded to Izanagi’s first question with a dry and sarcastic tone. He looked over at his friend with a slightly raised eyebrow when Izanagi said that he would not go easy on him, and expected the same in return. Daedrin merely nodded back at him, knowing that otherwise words were not necessary. He would have found it rather insulting if Izanagi had decided to go easy on him. If that were the case, then Daedrin would soundly beat him to show him that Daedrin was not one to be patronised like that. He would have certainly lost respect for his friend in that situation. As Izanagi drew their attention back towards the Crawler, Daedrin’s eyes looked towards it as well, staring at the corpse. He didn’t say anything, letting his friend verbally move through his thoughts as he considered the best way to deal with it.

When the solution came, Daedrin watched with bemusement as Izanagi grabbed it, swung it around before throwing the large beast over the trees. He stared at his friend who came back and casually asked who would take the first watch. Daedrin was silent for a few long moments before he suddenly huffed out with laughter, “Well. I can’t say that I saw that one coming.” He said, eyes still staring off to where the carcass had been thrown. He then turned to look towards Izanagi, “You can take first watch. You seem to still be full of energy-” His tone was deeply amused at this point as he glanced to where the monster had been thrown, before he continued, “-and I need to get some sleep. So I’ll leave you to keep watch.” 

Without waiting for an answer, Daedrin turned around and walked off with only a hint of a limp. He reached his bedroll and got himself comfortable within it. He tossed and turned for a few moments until he had managed to find a position that was even remotely comfortable. It wasn’t long before his eyes closed and his breathing eased out to indicate that he was deeply asleep. 

[Akira]

"Heh, what can I say? I guess I am good at coming up with... creative solutions when necessary" Izangi chuckled as he replied to Deadrin's first comment. "Sure thing. Have a nice sleep." he said as his friend made his way to the sleeping bag and got confortable before getting to sleep. Soon enough, Izanagi found himself having to deal with a very quiet night. The only sounds he was hearing were the sounds of the many small animals and insects singing at the dark sky. The horses too, seemed to be sleeping peacefully, now that they were no longer in any danger. Their breathing was slow and calm. The night sky was surprisingly beautiful at that particular period. There were countless stars shinning above. Adding a delicate touch to a otherwise boring view. Unfortunately, Izanagi couldn't bring himself to focus on that for long, since his mission was to keep an eye for any possible problems approaching the camp while Deadrin was sleeping.

As much as he wanted to light the campfire again, he was afraid of the possibility of the light bringing them more problems. He did come up with a solution, though. Instead of using normal fire, he re-ignited the fireplace using his Wrathfull Flames. Due to the dark red color, they produced way less light and, as bonus, as generated much more heat. He would have to remember to put them down before swapping places with Deadrin, though. Since only Izanagi had the means to do it. Unless Deadrin had some extremely potent holy magic scroll with him, which was very unlikely. After the campfire was lit again, the demon now had a great opportunity to talk to Odium again. *So, what were we talking about earlier again? About the other sins be coming for us?* he began *I can't quite tell what they are doing, but I can assure you that they are here, in the human world* *I see... do you know where?* *No. I don't have the precise location. I am simply able to feel their presence. That said, none of them are close to us right now. Nor do they seem to be approaching... for now* *In that case, I am counting on you to let me know if any of them gets close. If that happens, we'll deal them. Together, alright?* *......right.....* Izanagi wasn't really hoping for his companion to sound excited about them working together like that, but he could tell Odium was glad to have someone to count on. Their souls were fused after all. Admitting that sort of thing simply wasn't Odium's style.

The quiet night remained as such until it was finally time for Deadrin to keep watch. The demon approached his friend and nudged him a little bit. "Hey Deadrin, it's your turn" he said in a calm tone before putting out the Wrathfull Flames in the fireplace. He then got in his sleeping bag and, after taking some time to get confortable, drifter to the dream world once again.

 

[Neptune]

Daedrin awoke the moment he felt the slight nudge. He blinked his eyes a couple of times to properly wake himself up. He sat himself up and watched as his friend put out the dim flames, “Alright.” He said, his voice soft in the darkness as he watched Izanagi settle himself down in his own bedroll. Daedrin then got up, activating his Daedric vision so that he could see in the darkness. He looked around, but could find nothing amiss so he sat himself down in a seemingly vulnerable position although he could jump up within an instant to react to any threats seen. As the night wore on, he grew rather bored. Other than the Crawler, there seemed like nothing was going to bother them. Absently, he picked up a piece of wood that was the length of his arm and roughly six inches wide, and flexed it a little to test its strength. When he was satisfied that the dry piece of wood would not break easily, he pulled out his knife and began to carve it. His dark eyes moved over to the two horses, looking at them as a reference as he carved an image in the wood. It was Daegrin and Lucky at a gallop, and by the time the sun had peered up over the horizon, he had completed his work. The two horses were so detailed and lifelike, they seemed to almost gallop out from the piece of wood. 

Pleased with it, Daedrin just set it aside and put it out of mind. Wood carving was something he did to relax, and he often didn’t think much about a piece once he had finished it. Thus he got up and set about preparing their porridge. He made sure that his eyes had returned to normal as he ensured that the two horses were fed before he went over and nudged Izanagi awake, “Breakfast is ready.” He said before returning to the fire to serve out their food into their generous bowls. He was quick to sit and begin eating his own in silence.

[Akira]

Izanagi woke up due to the feeling of his friend nudging him a bit "I'll be right there" he replied with a sleepy voice. He sat up in his sleeping bag and stretched his arms before letting out a soft yawn. "Good morning" With somewhat slow and sluggish moves, the demon got out of his sleeping bag and took a seat near the campfire, where he was served a warm bowl of recently made porridge. "Thanks" Izanagi simply replied with a slight nod at Deadrin as he picked up his bowl and began to eat. Unsurprisingly, the food tasted great. Deadrin once again displayed how well he can cook considering how limited their resources and options were. Both of them ate in silence, as neither of them was the kind to talk much unless necessary, and Izanagi surely respected and appreciated that about his friend. The demon helped himself to a bit more of the delicious porridge once he was done with the first bowl. He didn't completely fill the bowl again for his second serving, mind you, just a bit less than half a bowl. Once they were both done eating, Izanagi set his empty bowl asside and began to eliminate their tracks as they usually do when leaving a camping area. Once they were both done cleaning up, it was time to hit the road again. "Well, shall be on our way again?" asked Izanagi as he mounted Lucky again, he made sure he had packed his stuff and wasn't forgetting anything.

[Neptune]

Daedrin only gave Izanagi a nod when the man greeted him for the morning before turning his attention back to his food which he ate, finishing whatever was left in the cookpot when Izanagi helped himself to more. When it was all finished, the two wordlessly cleaned and packed everything. By this point it was not something that they bothered working out with each other, as they knew automatically what they had to do, and double checked what each other had done to ensure that they left absolutely nothing behind. The last thing Daedrin picked up with the wood carving he had down, as he considered it for a few moments. He then decided to tuck it away in his pack, figuring it could give it to his wife when they returned. He pulled himself up into his saddle, shifting a little to get more comfortable. Or as comfortable as he could get while sharing his saddle with several large sacks full of ore. He looked over at Izanagi when his question was asked, before nodding his head in approval. He then nudged Daegrin forwards, and the eager stallion started forwards at a trot, his hooves stirring up the forest floor as he did so. 

The two of them began to move further west, heading along the Ildran River. For days they travelled along the winding water path, passing by Lake Jezero. They did everything they could to cover their tracks, but every now and again they were pestered by monsters that had to be taught the folly of attacking them. By the time they were within a day's ride of Hermitage, the two were now by the edge of the forest. They were still on the South side of the Ageon River, but the ford was closeby. Since the sun was already hovering low on the horizon, the two decided to set up camp for the night. When they had everything going, and they had a few rabbits cooking on the fire from a brief hunt, Daedrin turned to give Izanagi an appraising eye before he said, “Now would be a good a time as any to have that little fight of ours.”

[Akira]

The recent few day have been about what Izanagi would have expected. They continued on traveling through the forest, being as careful as possible to avoid any unnecessary confrontations, but some of the forest's residents disagreed with the two adventurers and made the foolish mistake of trying to attack them, but hey, it would be no fun otherwise, right? Needless to say, none them had success in actually harming either Izanagi or Deadrin. Worse case scenario, they would end up with a scratch or two, but nothing serious. Quite far from it, in fact, since both could heal considerably faster than a normal person. Eventually, after what felt like forever, they reached the very edge of the forest. Their journey was reaching an end, kind of sad, but not really. As much as he enjoyed traveling around and fighting monsters, Izanagi wasn't really a big fan of shoving himself into a forest like that. Besides, he would also have to deal with the other embodiments of sin at some point.

Soon enough, they had settled the camp, as usual, and were even able to hunt some extra meat for dinner as the sun began to descend from the sky so the moon could take it's place. Much to Izanagi's joy, Deadrin suggested that they had their little spar right there. "Heh, alright!" the demon replied in a excited tone "No one to bother us, plenty of space to fight and dinner will be cooking in the mean time" Izanagi took a few steps away from Deadrin so he could get in battle position "Plus, I guess this is a good way to work out an appetite, right?" he finished off with a slight chuckle as he manifested The Evil One on his hand. As was his tradition for him when fighting a worty opponent in a honorable duel, Izangi bowed as a sign of respect before assuming his battle position, with his right hand holding the wapon's handle while the other helt the sheath. A classic position for any master of the quick-draw style. He then took a deep breath to calm his mind and focus purely on his opponent. He was sure that this duel would be unlike any other before. "Let's do this" he now said a more calm and centered tone.

Once he was sure Deadrin was all set, Izanagi made the first move, dashing towards him and quickly closing the gap between them. The sound of the metal clasing ran through the forest as the battle began. As per usual, the demon focused on the offensive, unleashing attack after attack as fast as he could and staying as close as possible from his adversary. His slashes were very quick as he focused his strikes mainly on the head and torax reagions. Deadrin demonstrated his own skills by being able to not only keep up with the extremely speedy attacks, but also being able to counter-attack. Izanagi's response was to use The Evil One's sheath and his own agilty to avoid his adversary's blade. It was easier said than done however, as too many close calls for his confort were happening. In fact, at some point Deadrin maneged to make a slight scratch on Izanagi's cheeck. Upon feeling the slight cut, Izanagi immediatly lauched a kick followed by some backflips to gain some distance. A change of tactics was necessary. "Heh, I expected no less from you" he commented as he whipped the slight glint of blood that escaped his cheeck. The wound closed up shortly after.

Even though, he was keeping a neutral expression throughout the fight, the demon's mind was going throgh a rush. He was having a harder time analysing Deadrin's move patterns than he expected. Even though they seemed to have an equal footing on the fight, Izanagi knew that slipping up even once would mean loosing. When their blades began to clash again, the demon applied a more careful variation of the quick-draw style. By keeping focusing on attacking his opponent with the tip of his blade, Izanagi would have more time to react to Deadrin's actions. Izanagi wasn't too fond of this particular variation of his quick-draw style. It was basic enough in concept: more time to react to the enemy's attack at the cost of causing shallower and less sever wounds. Under most circuntances, he would prefer to play super aggressive and finish off his opponent as quickly as possible, hell, that's what quick-draw is all about. However, it was obvious that this tactic wouldn't work with Deadrin. Which is why Izanagi also applied a second change in his tactic. He was now focusing on different areas of Deadrin's body with each strike. Making his attack patterns seem random would make way harder for his adversary to intercept his moves. 

He was having a slightly easier time dodging Deadrin's attacks now, but finding an opening to go for a decisive blow proved to be a nearly impossible task. Every time he though he had found a weak spot, his friend would block or evade his attack. He would have to be patient and wait for the perfect moment to strike. The intense battle kept on going, until finally Izanagi was able to deflect one of Deadrin's attacks with The Evil One's sheath and retaliate. With a swift and precise strike, Izangi was able to place the tip of his sword's blade near Deadrin's neck. What he didn't notice, however, was his friend doing the exact same thing. By the time Izanagi realized it, it was already too late and Deadrin was able to place the tip of his sword's blade at his throat as well. Izanagi stared at Deadrin eyes for a few brief second as he recovered his breath. The somewhat serious atmosphere was broke, however, as Izanagi began to chuckle a bit. Said chuckle soon evolved to a laught as the demon put down his sword "Hahahaha incredible! Absolutely incredible! I don't even remember the last time I had so much fun in a duel like this. You truly are a incredible swordsman"