Hunting the Goddess of Death [Open]

[Gerhardt of Nuro]

The wind howled through the forest like ghosts wailing away their eternal misery. The relentless snow came down hard as ever. It was two feet deep already and steadily growing. It looked as though Illinor was in for some harsh weather. Although it was afternoon, everything was gray. Feeble silver light peeked shimmered among the thick clouds. Mostly, the forest was in shadow. Those animals that were not hibernating were huddled in their nests, caves, dens, or wherever it was they took shelter. Even in this terrible weather, the forest radiated with menacing magic. Gerhardt of Nuro, Weather Mage, was unwelcome in the forest.

He was dressed for the journey in a heavy beige coat lined in the russet fur of a red panda. He had a matching hat, also lined in fur, and he wore his long red hair loose for added warmth. His brown pants and deer hide boots were also lined with red panda fur. There was a bow and a quiver of arrows strapped to his broad back and a wicked sword hung from his waist alongside a dagger and a knife. He had another knife strapped under his right sleeve and one in each boot.

Ger was heading towards Jin, tracking a women named Kalea, said to be some sort of fallen god in a past life. She was wanted for heresy, claiming that she was the true goddess of death. She promised eternal life to those who would bring sacrifices to restore her power. She was wanted by the church; dead or alive. Her bounty was 200 gold if she was dead and 400 gold if she was alive. Apparently, the church thought they could redeem her or something strange like that. Ger didn’t really care. It was the money that interested him, as well as his father’s approval.

According to his contacts, she had been seen on that road only a few days before. Ger was hoping to pick up her trail by nightfall. The animosity of the forest was making things difficult. Sometimes, he could swear the trees were moving. Luckily, the path was worn enough to remain more or less intact. He had a scent hound with him, but things seemed futile at the moment. The snow was a problem because it covered up footprints and scent. The trees were a problem because they moved. At the moment, Ger was functioning off of pure luck.

[Gabriel Jhaedaes Os Tar]

Gabriel Jhaedaes Os Tar awoke to a bitter cold swirl of flakes drifting onto his face and neck through the cave mouth. They landed on his skin, intact for only the briefest of moments, before melting into silver-grey droplets and trailing their way to the hollow of his throat. Moments later they were gone all together, evaporating off the heated skin of the resting Demon.

He yawned widely. Morning already?

It was impossible to tell. The Demon climbed gracefully to his feet, the movement too swift for the average eye to follow, and directed his gaze at the blank grey sky. Casting the bright teal orbs over the expanse of monotone cloud revealed nothing about the time of day and as it happened, he didn't much care. Time was measured by the path of the sun in the forest and as long as the sun was obscured, he was free to wander at will. With a shake of his head to rid himself of the last clinging vestiges of sleep, Gabriel slipped out into the snow to hunt.

To those unaware of his naturally high body heat, the Demon was woefully underdressed for such a harsh afternoon. A flash of pale skin, gone before one could blink, contrasted with the dark splash of silky black hair spilling over his face and the thin cotton pants that were his only attire. He moved quickly, instinctively, and if one could have paused him to take in details they would have found a predator on a scent; wild-eyed, feral, fangs bared and claws extended. A beautiful but dangerous hunter. Only shallow footprints quickly obscured by falling snow marked his passing as the Demon leapt lightly over fallen trees and wove effortlessly among the trunks. Here, deep in the forest and hunting, he was free and in his element. He never faltered or hesitated.

The scent of blood and the promise of warmth was thick in the air as he slunk to what he assumed was a wolf. The Demon was not picky; he hunted what and when he could. However just as he burst onto a worn path with claws outstretched, he fell into a roll and pulled up inches short.
What was this, then?

A man, mortal from his scent, struggling with no little difficulty through the drifts and around trees. Gabriel listened for a moment and heard the bitter whispers of the trees. Yes, definitely a mortal - they were unimpressed with his presence. In fact, by the sound of things, he was lucky to have not been killed by a falling branch or some similar trickery of the trees. The Demon stood slowly from his hunting crouch, sanity and awareness returning to his eyes. This man sure did have some luck - almost any other Daemon would have seriously struggled to stop mid-hunt when their prey was only inches from their nose. Gabriel, though, retracted his claws and smiled, brushing the ears of the dog that moments before had been the focus of his hunt.

"My apologies, traveller. I thought your dog was one of the wild wolves and was very close to disembowelling him. Still, no harm no foul right? I am Gabriel Jhaedaes Os Tar." The Demon appeared friendly and open, not even shivering in the cold as he nodded his head to end the greeting. It had to be confusing, the speed with which he had burst onto the scene and then without warning changed from a vicious, instinct-driven predator to well-spoken and controlled.
Yes, confusing. And probably somewhat frightening, at least for the poor dog. [/size][/color]

[Gerhardt of Nuro]

Movement in the corner of his eyes. Ger moved swiftly, drawing his sword and preparing for a fight. The trees moaned dangerously above him, as though they could sense his tension. The creature was faster than Ger. He could already tell his movement would be too slow to save his hound. Even so, Ger advanced; but just as his dog was about to be daemon food, the creature stopped. Then an odd transition happened right before Ger’s eyes. The creature went from being feral and frightening to gentlemanly and charming. His mind felt clouded by an odd instinct to trust the thing that had attempted to eat his hound only a moment before.

The bounty hunter did not lower his sword, although there was a part of him that wanted to. A strong part, actually. This was one of those times when he could not trust his own emotions, but had to shut down everything and go off of logic. The question was one of strength. At the moment, Ger’s natural suspicion of everything in the forest along with the sound of his growling dog helped to keep him grounded. There was a long silence while the mage studied the daemon before him, attempting to work out logic.

It was the man’s voice that undid him in the end. Ger slowly lowered his sword, but was thankfully able to retain enough logic to keep it unsheathed. He knew he should be frightened of the daemon. A big warning alarm was sounding off in his head. Ger was suspicious by nature. Furthermore, he did not like people. This was especially true when it came to the forest dwellers. His desire to like the man before him was frightening. To make matters worse, he found the man to be uncharacteristically beautiful. This did not make sense.

The man had claws. And fangs. Neither of those things were attractive to Ger. He needed to say something, make him leave. Instead he bowed. “I am Gerhardt of Nuro, Weather Mage. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” No, that wasn’t right. Gerhardt blinked and took a step back. “Your presence is clouding my mind.” It was an accusation, but it lacked the force of one. Instead, it sounded more like he was having an epiphany. He raises his sword slightly, but his stance was weak. Ger did not want to fight this beautiful man.

[Gabriel Jhaedaes Os Tar]

The first observation that Gabriel made was that this man was good. He'd drawn his sword and moved to defend his dog with impressive speed and skill, even if it would have been too late in the end. Indeed if Gabriel hadn't ambushed him with the cover of trees and snow to aid his purpose Gerhardt would have had a decent chance at defending the hound.
Lucky it was all relative, hmm?

The Daemon seemed completely unfazed by the raised sword despite the fact that the man was armed and he wasn't, at least not beyond his natural weapons of teeth and claws. This confidence must have been borne of long experience for sure enough Gerhardt lowered the sword as the smooth tenor of Gabriel's voice wove among the trees and cut softly through the wind. This, it seemed, was a common reaction. Gabriel smiled for a moment, his eyes dropping to watch the blade lower to a less useful height, before returning to appraise the mortal. The dog he ignored now that it was not a prospective meal - eating someones pet was simply rude.

The Daemon's smile widened into a grin which made no attempt to hide the pearly white fangs now retracted to a more civil length.
"The pleasure is all mine, Gerhardt of Nuro. I assure you." It was blatantly obvious after all the Gerhardt was disconcerted by meeting this changeable, unpredictable Daemon in the forest, rather than pleased. But Gabriel was certainly not offended by this, indeed, he seemed amused and jovial.

"Your presence is clouding my mind."
Smart, too. The mortal was quite perceptive really - very few stopped to question just why they were so fascinated by a Daemon until after Gabriel was long gone. He remained grinning even when Gerhardt raised his sword again - he was clearly confident with his control of the situation.
"Don't worry, my friend. People tend to feel like that around me but I have no intention of attacking you. I wouldn't be so uncouth, so impolite." Bright teal eyes flashed quickly over the man as he attempted a defence stance, but for the moment Gabriel could tell there was no real chance of attack. Nonetheless, just to be sure...

"I implore you, lower your sword. You'll only wear yourself out trying to decide whether or not to attack me. You're a weather mage, you say? What does that entail?" Gabriel's voice was distinctly layered with magic, smooth as velvet and entrancing to listen to. Almost like music, although he certainly wasn't singing. And just for a moment the scent of roses and honey overwhelmingly filled the air - sweet, alluring, mouthwatering. Hopefully this combined with the distraction of his question would be enough to convince the mortal not to attack. Gabriel was confident enough of his abilities but fighting was not something he enjoyed.[/font][/size]