-+-> 100% b100

It was times like these that he yearned for some sort of company. Someone who could keep an eye out on the death ball called the sun and let him know when it was safe to hit the streets. But, alas, he was all alone. Usually, he wouldn’t care, but there was a certain yearning for company that tugged on his heartstrings during times like these. He tried to shrug it off as a fleeting feeling, but recently it was beginning to physically hurt him. This was becoming a problem, and Dio would be damned if he didn’t solve it.

He never believed in “following your heart” or whatever cheesy sayings that humans would spat to try and make their short lives anything worthwhile. But even Dio found this beneficial for him, as this sort of magnetic attraction seemed to tug him to who-knows-where. At least lady luck was smiling on him, and the clouds covered his mortal enemy, and they seemed to be settled in for a while. Hopefully long enough for him to solve this stupid annoyance.

Still, he didn’t expect to find some grey-fleshed creature at the end of his journey. Whatever was bothering him was completely gone. Strange. Still, this would be quite strange if he outright explained this idiotic phenomenon, and simply went with a casual greeting.

Ah, and just as luck would have it, he was met with a face -- the face he’d been looking for. Funny. While Darkleer was walking, this seemed like it would be so expedited, so simple. He’d approach, communicate, and settle in. But...just hearing this man’s (human?) voice sent a cold shiver down the massive being’s spine, and the troll found himself gritting his teeth, perspiration forming on his brow.

   -+-> Di0...Brand0, isn’t it    -+-> 1 have been h0ping t0 meet with y0u    -+-> 1 had...n0t expected y0u t0 be human

Pulling a small card from a pocket in his rather large cargo pants, Darkleer squinted at the name written on it, then looked back at the man. Yes, this had to be him. Offering an inclination of his head as greeting, the troll continued.

   -+-> 1 am...the E%ecut0r, Dark1eer    -+-> We seem t0 have been...paired f0r this endeav0r

“Please, do not be surprised. I simply wish to help you, it is part of my faith and God’s way to treat others’ with kindness.”

“Unfortunately, I feel that I have experienced my death, yet it is not where you or I should be. It doesn’t quite feel like the right place for ‘death’, or as I believed. Do you feel the same as I do? That you should instead be elsewhere, and feeling other things, or not feeling anything at all?”

She spoke gently as to not allow his anxiety spike, but then the environment seemed very unwelcoming in that sense, if he was truly unsettled by the crowds.

Lowering his head now, Darkleer gritted his teeth, his entire body giving a slight shiver of discomfort. Where he should be...? He should be...all alone, right? Exiled, excommunicated from society for his cowardice, his inability to execute a simple, feral woman. He couldn’t even remember how it had all ended...all he could remember was his life before, if it could be called that.

The voices would crawl in his skull, and he’d have no choice but to listen, surrounded by nothing but shadows and iron and stone. That was not a life. This death felt more alive than anything he’d felt in sweeps, and that was truly the most frightening thing of all.

Stop. The word began to play on a loop. Yuka commanded herself. Stop. The trembling breaths slowed, her shaking subsided. Stop. Lowering her hands to either side of her face, Yuka stared at the ground. “I-” She started just to test her voice. It was weak but constant. “I’m a human.” Then, the question prompted some wondering on her part. If he was not a human, what was he? The train of thought lead to another inquiry. If he was not human, then she was technically an alien, right? Her hands fell to her sides as she raised her head. “Am I an alien to you?”

   -+-> Hu...man

Another word he had to test out. It sounded...strange. Unnatural. But at the same time, it had a certain familiar comfortableness to it that made it settle on the tongue. Darkleer shook his horned head, his long hair swaying slightly. What would she be, if not alien?

   -+-> 1 am...a tr011    -+-> Tr011s are a11 1 have e%perienced bef0re

As she looked up at him, he gritted his teeth harder, the sharp whites grating against each other in a state of tension.

“O–oh!”

And she didn’t expect them to turn around, that her head accidentally bumped against their broad shoulder. She was fortunately saved before she fell to her behind, and Sigui had to look upwards, noting the height and horns of his. After all, God’s creations were always beautiful.

Stunned for a moment, she hadn’t realised that he had been holding on to her shoulder.

“No, do not worry. I wanted to talk to you, after all. I approached you but I was afraid I would surprise you.”

With her gloved hand, she took his into hers – and placed it to his side, to allow a smile adorn her features. She was new to this world, and perhaps he was too. After all, there were no records of this place having existed, and she had always been a firm believer of both Heaven and Hell. This place was neither. Even Purgatory was described as a still, cold place, in comparison.

She wanted...to talk to him? No, no, this wasn’t right. She was one of those strange pink aliens, the ones who seemed to dominate this place like some sort of unidentifiable swarm, but...no, there’s no way that anyone would seem him out in particular unless...

The cold shiver ran down Darkleer’s back before he could properly react, and he took a step back away from her, letting his hand slip from her grasp. It had been...a warm hand, that she’d owned, hadn’t it. That warmth was strange, foreign. Everything was so foreign, so nerve-wracking. This situation...Darkleer wasn’t acting properly STRONG, was he? Ha, ha...how laughable! He deserved to be lashed for this, to be tied down and punished in the worst way...the thought only made him sweat more.

   -+-> This w0r1d....1 am dead...am 1 n0t    -+-> H0w....what is happening

Despite himself, he had to speak, stammering out slow words in his hoarse, husky voice. Through his eyewear, he stared at this...woman? Whatever she was.

She wasn’t sure what to say. Presented before her was not the pack of monsters nor the giant bird she had envisioned but another being altogether. Yuka stared but her attention was caught by the twinkling of the gold pieces scattered on the ground, their shine reflecting the waning sun. She was safe. Probably. The thought then repeated. She was safe. Someone was here. She was safe. The more it was thought, the truer it sounded. 

Then the thought receded and the words he said were brought to mind. “U-” What was she to say? It was true. Yuka had strolled into a new area without quite realizing her circumstances. She had overestimated herself. The sensation she had felt when she first defeated the monsters at the very beginning surfaced again and brought a prickling warmth to her features. How dumb, really. She closed her eyes and wiped at her face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking at all. I thought…it doesn’t matter. God, that was scary.”

The word rolled off of the troll’s tongue as if it were something foreign, unknown to him. His mouth was twisted in a way that made him look like he was trying to understand something, trying with all of his heart to figure out what she meant by her words. What he had stated was a simple truth. It wasn’t meant to elicit an emotional response. It definitely wasn’t supposed to elicit an apology.

What did this small, small creature have to apologize to him for?

Approaching her slowly, Darkleer looked down at the girl, tilting his head slightly. She must have been less than half as tall as he was, and the difference was made all the more striking at her cowering. He didn’t know what to do, and that made him sweat even more, a natural discomfort rolling off of his body. Even so, he started to reach out, before slowly pulling his hand back. No, not now.

@lostexpatri8

Please. Yuka ran. Her feet thumped against dirt and her breath burned her lungs with every bitten back curse. She was fast but she was not sure. The forest had begun to loom in growing shadows from the tilted sunlight. And from those shadows rose monsters: creatures dark and smiling, thorned ivy for stretching arms. How they moved. They leaped from grey to grey, from the shade of one tree to another, as easily and quickly as one breathed. Yuka had made a mistake.

They were small at first, little creatures she could bat away easily. And bat away she did. They disappeared in puffs of smoke and left coin behind. Feeling bold( and liking the sensation of being bold), she drew herself further step by step until the entrance was somewhere behind her covered by trees and bushes. She did not feel so bold now. Yuka ducked beneath low branches and broke into a clearing running. It stung, her breath, her skin, her thoughts. Please.

One thing these monsters likely did not expect was the presence of someone who had been conditioned by a place like that his entire life. Moving at a speed one could only describe as unnatural, the gray-blue form sped through the clearing like a train off its rails, crushing anything in its way. A single strike caused the smaller ones to evaporate instantly, and the rest were torn apart into submission with massive hands, the horned being’s massive muscles bulging as he made short work of these pursuing beasts. 

The ground was littered with gold by the time they were all gone, leaving only one massive, fanged creature behind, breathing heavily and wiping the sweat from his face. 

   -+-> H0w...unc00th

When he finally spoke, his voice was a strange mix of a low growl and a whisper, both nervous and threatening at once. Darkleer turned to face the victim in all this, eyes hidden by his headgear, his mouth twisted into an uncomfortable grimace.

Welcome to Amaranth, Executor!

Your welcome bag contains your Telepiece, a key coupon for Spiral’s End housing, and a 3 lb dumbbell. Well! For now, we’ll temporarily pair you up with a rock.

Have fun with your eternity!

Also, please check out our little after joining page for tips after acceptance!

[ Flowers and their meanings beneath the cut ]

Well, and this stranger, of course – he glances over with some amusement when finally his presence is noticed.

Humans are strange, in your eyes. They always have been. They are so numerous, and yet they do not have nearly the same structure as trolls. There is no hemospectrum, and no clear way of identifying who is in charge of whom.

Moments like this are important in a society where most of the populace is human. You turn slowly from the stranger and focus on the ocean. It’s not a calming sight, but it’s a bit better than the raging thoughts inside of your head, at least.