Colin's posts

Ryker kept up with Eke easily, keeping his eyes on the shadow in the sky. He followed Eke into the forest, and continued to scan the sky.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"Well, if that IS an ice dragon, it explains the sudden winter around." he said.

"You all right?" he asked Eke.

"You looked like you suddenly realized your very life was in danger." he commented, before pausing a moment.

"....is it?" he asked.

"You got it." Azazel replied.

Meanwhile, the two males stopped kicking the demon, and paused for a moment.

"Is the ground rumbling?" one asked, as the other looked over in another direction.

"Uh... uh, chief?" they said, talking to the female.

"We... may have trouble." they told her, as Cerberus got closer, and they say Azazel was on top of the middle head... alongside Aly.

"Oh great." Azazel muttered.

"Is he being shaken down to repay a damn debt?" he growled.

".....hm." Ryker muttered.

"Because there's something high up in the sky." he said, looking straight up.

"Can't tell WHAT it is... but the silhouette looks... strange." he told him.

"Can't tell how high or low it is, either... could be something huge, though." he went on.

"But whatever it is, it seems like it's got a biiiiiiig wingspan."

Azazel looked over at Aly as she tried to relax in Cerberus' fur, and sighed quietly.

"......" he was silent as he started to look around, scanning the area.

After a moment, he patted the head a few times, and the canine stopped.

"Look." he said to Aly.

When she looked where he was gesturing, she saw her demon partner... and it looked like he was being ganged up on, and physically harassed by, other demons... about 3 in total.

"All right then." Azazel replied, before whistling loudly again.

Cerberus responded by approaching them, and lowering their heads down.

"Come on, let's climb onto the middle head." Azazel told Aly, as he approached the head and started to climb up atop it.

"Oh, and feel free to hold onto their fur." he went on.

"They don't mind it at all." he assured her.

Ryker raised an eyebrow for a moment.

"Allllll righty then." he said.

"Come on, then." he told him, as they stepped out from the small cave, and started to walk again.

"This weather really IS strange." he commented.

'By the way, were you serious about that ice dragon comment earlier?" he asked him.

Azazel sighed as well.

"Depends on... too many things." he mumbled.

"But yeah, you're lucky Cerberus here seems to have taken to you." he told her.

"Normally they... really don't like strangers." he went on. "And they normally don't have such a protective instinct." he then said further.

"And they must really like you, as they essentially took the form of a puppy for you." he then added, as the three heads finishing ripping the flesh from the carcasses.

"All right, feel like going for a ride?" he then asked her.

"Eh." Azazel responded with a shrug.

"When they're done, they can sniff out your partner, and we'll get you back to the surface." he told her.

"Don't worry, we'll get you home." he assured her.

"This reeeeeally shouldn't have happened, though." he then muttered.

"What in the name of all the realms did your little demon friend Do, though?" he then asked, mostly to himself.

Azazel, using his demonic strength, then threw the three beasts in front of Cerberus... which caused the creature to suddenly grow into a gargantuan hellhound, which almost looked to be something straight from nightmares.

The three heads then each grabbed one of the dead beasts, and started tearing into it, as Azazel made his way over towards Aly.

"Give them a few minutes." he said.

"They devour those things pretty damn quickly." he told her.

"It's their fave food." he then laughed.

"Various things." Ryker replied.

"Some small breads, some fruit, plenty of jerked meat..." he listed off.

"And some bottles of drink, too." he added.

"Whatcha want?" he asked him.

"Craving anything?"

Ryker didn't say anything, and merely rubbed Eke's back gently.

"Yes. You are." he said.

'Kinda.' he thought.

'The kid's mentally scarred from that. S'gonna take a while for this to go away.' he thought further.

"..........." Ryker was silent, before holding Eke close.

"You're not going to." he said.

"You're not underwater, there's no water around." he assured him.

"You're on dry land, and you're safe." he went on.

"Just try and focus on breathing. Focus on the breaths entering your lungs and exhaling from them. You'll calm down naturally."

Ryker had been worried about how uneasy Eke had been while he was sleeping, but his sudden awakening shocked him.

"Woah!" he exclaimed.

"Woah, easy there, kid!" he said.

"Easy, easy, it's all right, I'm here, you're safe." he assured him further.

"What's wrong? A nightmare?" he then asked.

Ryker held Eke close to him, and looked out into the falling snow.

'You talk a good game, Ry...' he told himself mentally. 'Maybe it's time you started actually believing what you tall him.' he then scolded himself with a small sigh.

What he was telling Eke was good advice, surely, but he wondered how much he personally believed it.

He kept telling Eke not to dwell on his past... but his own past was something he had been trying to kill himself over for the past little bit of his life.

But he noticed his desire to do that had dwindled by a considerable amount... ever since meeting Eke.

"...where IS this snow coming from?" he then mumbled, looking around outside again.

'...Eke said his Mom's a witch or something... could she do something like THIS?' he wondered.