31 Observing the Unknown

Downstairs, at the bar in Knothole; Nye and Jackyn had watched Zyron follow Solitaire upstairs, as well as seeing Miles reaction to it. "Seems that Solitaire and Zyron have returned." Nye mentioned.

"Yeah." Jack took a swig of his whiskey, as his piercing eyes observed the tabby coated Leashed from across the room. "That feline friend of yours though..."

"Aye. Ashewyn also mentioned Miles has been stepping out of line as well. I'll have to speak with him about that later, before he does something daft." Nye replied, glancing to Jackyn.

"Perhaps you should also have a word with this Dream Weaver as well; considering he's not leaving anytime soon." Runfaust interrupted, as he placed a drink down for Nye. However, his eyes were focusing on Jackyn.

"Run that by me again?" Jackyn growled, as he sneered to the towering fiend behind the bar.

"I was only saying, that a 'certain someone' should start pulling his weight around here. Everyone else is pitching in, while all you do solely help yourself or Nyghtmare. No offense, milady." Runfaust explained, taking away Jackyn's glass. "Don't get me started on that Adam fellow either."

Jackyn was clearly pissed off, but before he could retort, Nye stepped in. "I understand where you're coming from, Runfaust. Just let me handle things, alright?"

"Very well. Do keep him in line, would you." Runfaust said, as he returned to his work.

Nye glanced back to Jackyn, as he hit the bar with his fist. "I swear! That guy-"

Nye placed her hand to his face, having Jackyn look her way, which forced his Scowl to shift hesitantly. "Jackyn, relax. Everything will be fine. I know how you feel, he's been this way with you since your friend passed away. Don't let it get to you, alright?" Nye tried to comfort him.

Jackyn exhaled, as his he averted his gaze. "Yeah. He's right though... I haven't been much help around Knothole."

Nye softly chuckled, "Then why don't you do a supply run, or something? I actually have someone in mind who would work well as your partner."

"Partner?" Jackyn seemed unsure about this.

"Everyone has someone they team up with, to go on supply runs, silly." Nye explained, somewhat amused. "I already go with Solitaire on runs, so I have someone else in mind for you."

"... I'm not going to like this, am I?" Jackyn groaned slightly.

"You'll be just fine. Come on, let me introduce you." Nye took Jack's hand, leading him over to where Adam was sitting.

Adam was fidgeting with his oversized claw, before he timidly glanced up to see Nye approach him. His scarf-like mouth lifted, as it spoke to her. "Something I can do for you, miss Nye?"

"In fact you can. Adam, this is Jackyn. He's the one I mentioned to you before. I was hoping the two of you could work together on supply runs. I know the others haven't warmed up to you yet, but Jack can relate to that. So, I think the two of you might be well suited as a team. He doesn't scare easy, and you both have been through some hard times." Nye explained.

Adam glanced to Jack, who didn't seem too thrilled at the time. He then glanced back to Nyghtmare, as he bowed his head to her. "If that is what you want. I'll abide."

Jackyn somewhat huffed in annoyance, as he walked over towards the stairs of the entrance. Nye glanced to Adam, "He's a bit rough around the edges, but he's a good guy. Don't worry."

"I trust your word." Adam replied, humbly, before getting up to follow after Jackyn.

Nye followed after, taking Jackyn's hand, as she got his attention. "I know it takes a while for you to warm up to others. I don't think you have anything to be concerned about though. Just be careful out there, alright?"

Jackyn grimaced, as he looked to her. He was definitely not thrilled about this, but he knew he didn't have much option with how Runfaust was acting. Instead of answering, he pulled Nye into a kiss, before leaning his head against hers. She could tell he didn't want to leave. "I'll be back. Let me know if that cat tries anything again. I'll kick his ass." Jackyn finally spoke.

Nye smiled, somewhat amused. "I will. Do try to have some fun."

"Yeah-Yeah." Jack groaned softly, as he rolled his eyes at the idea.

Adam waited patiently, before Jackyn decided to proceed for the front exit. He then followed after the Angel of Death up the stairs. Nye stood there, as they were heading out, but Miles had been watching with disgust. He turned around sharply, as his eyes locked onto the staircase that lead up to the second floor.

"Whatever. I don't care. I'm sick of waiting for that dog to leave. It's my turn!!!" Miles growled, before heading for the second floor.

This caught attention of Ashewyn, and the others downstairs. Even Nikolai was peering over from helping sweep up with Molliana. However, before Miles could take more than a few steps, Nye came up behind him.

"Miles. Can I have a word with you?" Nye crossed her arms.

Miles quickly glanced back to see her. "Uh? Yeah... What is it Nye?" He seemed uncomfortable, as if he was guilty of something.

Nye lead him behind the stairwell, to the area near the back exit. She turned and looked to the feline. "It's been brought to my attention that you've been acting out of line."

Miles seemed triggered, flaring his teeth. "Let me guess, Red told you that I got all up inside Solitaire, that it? Or wait, I bet it was that raven haired boyfriend of yours, ratting me out, like some little tattle-tail!?"

"Miles. You do understand those actions aren't appropriate, don't you? Solitaire had her reasons, I'm sure, but it's blatantly obvious she didn't want that from you. Then harassing Jack for disliking him? That's not right. You can't do that!" Nye scolded Miles.

Miles' ears shot back, as he leered to Nye. "Oh, then I suppose I can't ask, 'What's the point of Amygdala having tits', either right?! It just doesn't make sense since you don't reproduce the same, or even have sex!"

Nye quickly grabbed Miles by his shirt, slamming him against the wall, roughly. This action literally scared the crap out of him. Her eyes sharply stared down at the short feline, baring her fangs. "All creatures mutate from another, and not everything that remains has a purpose. I'll be needing to have a discussion with the others, to figure out what to do with you. You should be more aware what repercussions your actions bring forth." Nye growled, shoving him back, before walking away from him.

Miles stared in terror, as Nye proceeded towards the bar area. He knew he screwed up, but there was nothing he could do now to change that. He was more afraid than before, what would Nye do with him now?

Meanwhile, Jackyn and Adam were walking through the Marshlands, heading towards the Oakwood region. It still seemed to be nightfall, but the trip appeared rather silent as the two progressed onward. However, after some time, Adam finally decided to break the awkward silence.

"Nye is a very kind person. You're very lucky to have someone like her." Adam mentioned, in a very sincere tone.

Jackyn glanced over, somewhat surprised. He held back a chuckle, as he looked in the direction they were headed. "...Yeah. Not many people are like her out there."

"So, where might we be heading, Jackyn?" Adam inquired.

"Supply run, like Nye said. Was thinking this old abandoned farm house. It's been empty for some time, thanks to the Templar. Just thought there might be some stuff that's salvageable." Jackyn explained, keeping his eyes on the road; as they came up not far off from Oakwood.

"I see. I'll do what I can to help." Adam replied, glancing ahead as well.

They continued walking passed the city, towards the country side, where an old farm area was visible. It appeared to only be a few miles away, in the distance.

Back around Knothole, Solitaire and Zyron were laying in her bed. The pink haired maiden appeared to have fallen asleep, with her petite naked body hidden beneath the covers. Zyron was laying next to her, on his belly. He seemed to be admiring her slumbering state, with the blanket just covering his lower region, with the tuft of tail peeking out between the sheets. He seemed fairly scrawny, with barely any muscle mass.

He recalled a moment from earlier, where he broke the kiss to seriously look at Solitaire. "Wait... I can't do this... As much as I want to... I don't want the templar to hurt you. It's illegal for free species to have relations with my kind... It's the death penalty if they find out..." Zyron seemed very conflicted, as he glanced off in worry.

Solitaire furrowed her brows, shifting herself in front of his gaze. "Load of rubbish what they think, Ronnie. So what that we're not the same species, we're trying to stop the Templar anyway, aren't we? You like me, and I fancy you. Isn't that what's important?"

Zyron tried to smile in response, as he sat up like a dog. "I just don't want to see you get hurt again. I really like you, and I wanna fucking make sure you're safe."

Solitaire smirked, shifting to sit to her knees, as she played with his ears. "Then protect me, you arse, and I'll do the same. I want to make this work."

This made Zyron chuckle, as stroked gently her cheek. "Shit, you and me both." He said, shifting to kiss her again.

Between the kiss, Solitaire looked to him. "Sorry about being so forward, but I might be a bit on the pull. Would you be up for it, Ronnie?"

Zyron immediately blushed in response of the idea. She really was forward to be asking him this. "You're wanting to...? Umm..." He seemed rather flustered.

"Geeheehee. Come on, I'm not just having a giggle here. Yeah, I'm asking if you wanna shag." Solitaire teased.

"I-I want to, but... Fuck... I just don't want you to get the wrong idea... I'm not like Miles." Zyron seemed conflicted, but also embarrassed.

"I know you're not. So, don't worry." Solitaire kissed his cheek.

He came back to reality, seeing Solitaire shift under the cover briefly. Her blue eyes slowly peered up to him, seeing that the canine was partially hovering over her. "Blimey... Did I fall asleep?" She asked.

"Yep, pretty much." Zyron smiled to her, with adoring eyes.

There was a sudden knock at the door, followed by Nye's voice. "Solitaire, Zyron? Could you two join the rest of us down stairs? We need to discuss... a certain feline."

Solitaire sat up, holding the blanket over her mostly flat chest. "We'll be right there." She called back.

Nye had left the door, as Solitaire looked to Zyron. He shifted his bare feet to the ground. "We should get dressed. Nye sounded pretty serious. No bones about it."

"Yeah. I wonder what he did this time." Solitaire agreed, as the two both decided to get changed into some fresh clothes.

Elsewhere, Jackyn and Adam were nearing the abandoned farm. However, a deep red mist, or rather a miasma, began to swirl in around their heels. Eyes formed from the red fog, flickering, as if watching them from all angles. The closer they drew to the ranch, the denser the red colored miasma grew. Jackyn knew something was off, glancing around, only to notice Adam was no where to be seen.

"Miasma..." Jackyn muttered, before glancing around. "Adam?" He called, but received no response. "Dammit. Something's not right." He muttered to himself, getting on the defensive.

The area reverberated suddenly, pulsating with an eerie tension from above, before the sky went black. The area around Jackyn had fallen to complete darkness, with red mist rolling at his heels. He immediately withdrew his knives, preparing for whatever was hiding in that eerie mist. Jackyn felt something crawling at his feet, but as he took a step back, it was already out of view. Monster-like faces began to form in the miasma, snarling at him like demons.

There was heavy tension, as the Angel of Death tried to get a look at whoever was behind this. Red miasma continued rolling around, as the echoing sound of clawed feet clicked, however it was near impossible to detect the source of the sound. A fiendish form suddenly loomed behind him, as if watching Jack. The miasma was surrounding the figure that now hunched behind him, as if he was their prey. Then, a cackling was heard, echoing around him like a cavern of demons.

"EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!" The creature cackled wildly.

Jack turned fast, about to throw a blade, when Sclera emerged from the darkness, to hastily wrap a black tentacle around Jackyn's neck tightly. There was no time to react, as his body was hoisted up into the air, with the tentacle wrapping tighter around his throat. Sclera glanced crookedly up at him, grinning ear to ear like a maniac, as remaining three tentacles waved around in the air.

"Where do you... think you're going?! Hehehe..." She crazily eyed the Dream Weaver, that was in her snare.

Jackyn gritted his teeth, as he struggled from the hold. With urgency, he jabbed his blade into the tentacle around his neck. Blood gushed out from it, as Jack was flung backward.

"KEEEHHHH!!!!" Sclera cried out in pain, while retracting her tentacle behind her.

The monster jaws of the miasma opened it's mouths as they roared. Whilst in midair, Jackyn back flipped to his feet; holding briefly to his throat upon landing, to catch his breath. "Dammit..." He grunted, gasping momentarily.

"WE'LL EAT YOUR FLESH!!!!" Sclera screamed in anger, as she rushed Jack's way, with her tentacles forming spikes.

Jackyn caught wind of this, quickly evading her incoming attacks, as the mist followed him more. He claws circled around, slashing his way, but Jackyn made haste to counter. He leapt up into the air as he kicked Sclera right in the jaw, knocking her back hard. This forced her to skid back into the side of the shrouded barn house. The miasma around Jack was growing restless, beginning to clamp down on his coat, and legs.

Jackyn flared his fangs, as he hurled the mist back with his knives. He quickly flipped backwards, getting to a distance, before cutting open part of his wrist. Blood flowed to the ground, mixing with Sclera's. Jackyn took this gap of time to manipulate the blood into several of his skeletal archers.

Emerging from the rubble, Sclera dove yet again at Jackyn, with many arrows flying her way. She weaved between the shots, getting closer to her prey with great agility. "THERE'S NO WHERE LEFT TO RUN!!! EHEHEHEHE!!!!" Sclera laughed sadistically.

Her arms lunged to the sides, as she flexed her clawed hands, slashing up many of his archers. Jackyn wasn't going to let her get close, shifting his fingers to elevate the blood into hands that stretched from the pools of crimson. As the hands rushed Sclera, she sliced them back, using her bone-like tail to obliterate the remaining bloodbone archers.

She landed to the ground, dust picked up around her, before swinging her claws violently at Jackyn. He used his daggers to strike her back, fighting back and forth with the fiend. Sclera was getting agitated, and shifted her stance to strike harder this time. Jackyn quickly rolled out of her attack range, getting behind Sclera.

He threw the knives he held, letting them impail his opponent's back. Sclera let out a loud screech, but Jackyn had another attack coming. Elevating his hands into the air, he swayed them around to take hold of some of the surrounding blood with his magic. It floated around him briefly, before he slammed his hands forward, to shoot out a magical ichor attack.

The female fiend took the blunt of the blow, being bashed forward. However, her claw reached for the ground, as she flipped up into the air. Immediately, she landed on her feet, like an animal with her hair hanging her face. She had this wild gaze in her eyes, as her smile only grew wider. In a matter of seconds, Sclera phased into darkness, with a dark void appearing over Jack. He urgently looked up, as many black tentacles thrashed out at him.

The tentacles spun around, before drilling into the ground around Jackyn, as it attempted to grab him. Rolling from the skirmish, Jackyn got to a distance. He was starting to pant from the constant motion. Sclera suddenly reappeared closer to Jack, with more monstrous mouths forming in the red miasma that engulfed the area around them.

"Sclera... Hun...gry... Ehehehehe..." She cackled, preparing for further onslaught.

Rushing at Jack again, Sclera swung her tentacles at him, but Jackyn was only able to remain on the defensive. He made strong efforts to dodge each attack, but they kept on coming. Quickly, he tried to get in another attack, by forming his blood saber. Sclera grinned slyly, as she changed her tactics without delay. Her bone-like tail came crashing towards him. With little room to react, Jackyn urgently blocked the attack, by holding his arms together like a shield. The blow however, was very powerful, roughly knocking him off his feet.

"Heheheheheh!" Sclera laughed, like a mischievous imp.

As Jackyn was plowed back hard into a nearby tree, leaves were forced to fall to the ground around him. In confusion of this, and the loss of his blood saber, he scrambled back to his feet. He was getting tired of this game, drawing two more daggers, before charging at Sclera, full-throttle. Sclera only grinned, waiting for him to come into range, before leaping backwards. The mist had gotten so harsh, that she literally vanished from sight.

Jack's eyes began to scan his surroundings, "Okay. Where the FUCK did you go?" He growled under his breath. As his back was turned, shadow hands reached up from the miasma, grabbing to Jackyn's legs.

Urgently, he swung around, but before he could strike, the hands pulled him to the ground, and further into the dense fog. The mist around began to viciously naw at him, but Jack hurried to swing his blades, tearing them off of him. The dragging didn't cease, so in hope of escape, Jackyn gripped to the closest thing he could see.

A nearby root was somewhat visible, from beneath the soil. Grabbing it, Jackyn flipped himself onto his hands, before forming more blood-bones to shoot away the shadowed hands. Jumping back to his feet, he tried to pinpoint Sclera's location. However, as he did so, a breath was felt on back of his neck.

Jack turned quick, slashing his dagger, but Sclera's ears twitched. Right as the blade came at her, she evaporated into the mist, and reappearing behind the Angel of Death, once more. This time, unfortunately, her black tentacles ensnared him.

She leaned her face closer, with her mouth beside his ear, and whispered. "There's no where left to run... Angel of Death... Ehehehehe... You're trapped in our snare... and no one is going to save you. Ehehehehe!" Sclera cackled, as her eyes stared at all angles of Jackyn.

"....." Jackyn was gritting his teeth, from the suffocating grip.

The tentacles constricted him even tighter than before, thrusting thorns from each that held him. The spikes embedded into his neck, as well as his arms and torso.

Blood trickled down from each impaled location, forcing a shriek of pain from the Angel of Death. "Argh!!!!!"

This only made Sclera lick her pale lips, as she elevated him higher into the air, before slamming him roughly into the ground. The impact made the road somewhat damaged, with Jackyn laying on his stomach in pain. He coughed up a bit of blood, wincing as he glanced behind him. Sclera was slouching, her eyes all locked onto him, in a rather jarring manner. However, Sclera decided to lure Jackyn closer to her, dragging his wounded body her way.

He could only struggle, "Get off, you fucking bitch!!" He demanded.

Sclera didn't listen, only giggling in that provoking tone again. "Ehehehe..." She continued to pull him closer, until he was less than a foot away. Crouching down, Sclera used her claws to grab a hold of Jackyn's left leg.

"I SAID, GET OFF OF ME!!!" Jack yelled once more, trying to shake loose.

Crouching forward, Sclera opened her wide jaws, and tore through his leather boot, all the way down to his skin. With her second bite, she pulled up slightly, tearing through his skin with her razor sharp fangs, all the way down to his muscle.

"ARGHHHH!!!!" Jackyn cried out, as Sclera ripped apart his leg; allowing his blood to puddle up around them rapidly, as she continued to devour it.

In this same instant, Nye and the others were in discussion around Knothole. She was sitting with Ashewyn, Runfaust, Solitaire as well as Zyron, who had changed into some fresh clothing. Molliana was being taken care of by Nikolai at one of the other tables, while an irritated Miles laid on the floor upstairs, peeking over the edge to the meeting.

Nye had her hand to her chin, as if in thought. "The question is... What should we do with him?" She pondered, however before the others could place in their input, something caught Nye's eye. A very faint trickling from the air, but she soon realized it was the Visions of rain. "Jack...." She grew unnerved, almost frantically.

Ashewyn was the only other to notice this as well. "The Visions of rain?" He gritted his fangs, as he looked to Nye. "It might not be him. I know he gets around fast, but that range isn't very far off."

The others seemed concerned for Nye, as she turned quickly to the entrance. "I don't care. If there's even a remote chance... I can't risk it. I'm going to find him!" She rushed for the door.

"Nye! Hang on, I'll go too!" Ashewyn called after her, as he followed, but halted momentarily at the exit. "We'll have to continue this when we get back. Nye's life is at risk here too, if it turns out to be Jack."

"You should hurry then." Runfaust crossed his arms.

"Bloody hell..." Solitaire muttered, worrying about her friend.

Zyron glanced to her, before looking to Ashe. "Why the fuck are you still here! Go! We'll figure something out!"

"Right." Ashewyn nodded, before hurrying after her.

There he saw Nye take off into the sky, knowing she was going to search for him by air. He begrudgingly formed his wings, to fly after his distressed leader.

On the other side of things, Jackyn's leg had been eaten right down through the bone. Barely any of his calf was left now, all that remained was a broken piece of a bone, sticking out his knee. Jackyn groaned in pain, as Sclera licked her lips. She was looking over his suffering, almost like she was savoring it.

One of his eyes squinted open, faintly, as he attempted to conjure blood magic. The pool around him only rippled however, without any viable source of magic energy.

"Ehehehehehe... Oooooh.... Yeesssss.... He suffers... hehehehhe... Goooood.... Too weak to fight back. Eheheheheeh!" Sclera snickered, devilishly, as she shoved the side of his face into the bloody ground, with her clawed hand.

"The things that go bump in the night... Seems someone's having a bit too much fun." Spoke a bored tone, from within the shroud of miasma.

Sclera's ears twitched, as all her eyes shifted towards the sound of the voice. A figure froze there in the cloak of fog, only inches away from the Oculus fiend. As Sclera turned around to face her guest, a wide grin positioned on her face. Jackyn was far too weak to get a look at the person who entered Sclera's domain.

Standing there, was Shane, upon his skeletal unicorn. He dismounted, placing his hands in his pockets. He was partially slouched, and upon lifting his head, that crooked grin became visible from behind his devil lock.

"Death... Sclera was getting bored waiting.... She is happy to see you decided to join her... Ehehe..." Sclera's ears perked up, looking to Shane with an admiring gaze.

Shane's eyes glanced down at Jackyn, as he proceeded to walk over to Sclera. However, his expression and body language didn't give any clues on his thoughts.

"This one.... You wanna know? Ehehehe.... Master said... I can eat him. Ehehehehehe!!! He's supposed to diiiiieeee, nyeheheheehehehe.... Oooh.... You want some too, Death? Sclera will share... with you..." The Oculus fiend could only grin, as she eerily spoke to Shane.

Jackyn tried to shift again, but he was far too injured to move. Perspiration trail down his face, trying to grab his knife. The constrictions were too strong, making him unable to reach it though.

Shane's eyes peered back to Jackyn, as his pointed ear shifted to listen. "Still determined, ain't he?"

The sound of Shane's voice made Jackyn's expression become startled. "(That... Voice... It can't be... He's dead...)"

"Not for long... Ehehehehe..... Mmmmm..." Sclera giggled, turning Jack over, to expose his stomach. She licked her lips, about to sink in her teeth.

Before her fangs could connect, Sclera felt her hair tugged back, as she was flung off Jackyn. The tentacles were forced from Jack in the process, tearing the thorns from his body. The pain made him wince further, with more blood trailing out. The entry points attempted to regenerate the best his body would allow. Sclera had landed on her hands and feet, her long hair covering most of her crazed expression.

"What... was that for!?" Sclera tilted her head, keeping a fierce gaze on Shane.

"Grave times we've come to... but I just can't let you eat him." Shane stated, with a shrug.

"Ohhhh... Death is sooooooo crooked.... Disobeying the master... Ehehehehe...." Sclera grew amused, instantly phasing through the mist, before reappearing in front of Shane.

The black tentacles lashed out from her back, entwining around Shane. One wrapped around his neck, with the tip stroking his cheek, right as she pulled his face right up to meet hers.

"Maybe Death wants master to have Sclera to eat him first.... eheheheh... Noooo.... Not just yet.... Sclera wants you first." Her smiles stretched ear to ear, as she laughed.

Her claws extended to Shane's face, as she forced him into a sloppy kiss. The blood from her lips, transferred to his, however, Shane pulled away from her. In his hands, he formed his demonic waveblades, quickly slashing off a part the the tentacle that wrapped around his neck.

Sclera screeched in pain, thrashing back as she got to a distance. Blood was trailing out her injured extension, with eyes like an animal being abused. Sclera growled under her breath, as she leapt at Shane, knocking him off his feet. Around him, Sclera's monstrous miasma began thrashing at him, before clamping down on the male fiend, like a guillotine. Shane gritted his teeth, as he kicked Sclera off him, and scrambled to break loose from the violent mist.

Sclera reformed from miasma, looking to Shane. "Don't betray us... Shane belong to Sclera... Death all ours..." She growled, showing her more animistic side.

Jackyn's eyes weakly peered open at the sound of Shane's name, barely able to see what was happening.

"Whatever gave you that idea, Glutton?" Shane smirked, almost as if teasing her.

Sclera sneered, rushing at him like a savage beast. Shane only grinned, as the eye sockets of his skulls began to flow green, trailing off into the misty air. Right then, Sclera came into range, giving Shane the opportunity to sway out of her path. Swiftly intercepting the attack, he slid behind her, and gripped to Sclera's hair once more, before swinging her around into the air.

From the ground, bones began to rise like puppets, creating a spiked wall. Sclera struggled in Shane's hold, but through the rush of it all, felt herself flung hard. She came into range of the wall, crashing right into it, and taking the blunt force of his unexpected attack. Jackyn was still laying on the ground, barely able to watch the ongoing conflict, due to his blurring vision.

Shane however observed the debris, but his ear twitched. He heard something, but as he turned around, Sclera had fazed behind him, and side swept Shane that very instant. He fell back to the ground, followed by Sclera's bone-like tail, that slammed down on him. The miasma and dust scattered around from the impact, making it near impossible to see the results of the bout.