Black Wood, Black Heart

[Joshua, the Wayne]

"This place... is horrid..." Aaron's eyes were pale, not as much as his face. It was cold. Amazingly cold... Scorn did not speak, he only twisted his head here and there, unable to comprehend his kind -- those who were twisted by the shadow's power -- once hid and took living in this... this... monstrous area.
Scorn, are you alright?
This place... is not normal...
Aye...
"What are you two talking about??" Aaron quivered slightly, lips frosty and blue.
The light was only coming from the mist. The violet mist... It was a blanket across the vast forest of black trees that stretched to the sky, blotting out all other light except for the moon... Of which twilight did pour from.
This place, Aaron, if you cannot already tell, is darkened. It's very soul came from Vesteroth himself.
"...What Vesteroth?"
Something you might not enjoy.
"Great..."
All three, Scorn, Aaron, and Dameus walked silently towards their goal-- the heart of the Darkened Woods.
Rustles made Aaron jump here and there, slight coos and wails of unknown beings that Scorn dare not check to see.
And the voices.
The voices who recognized Dameus' spirit, when he was young.
When he was weak.
When he was helpless.
Dear gods... This is the most ominous feeling I've ever known... Gods... Gods, help us...
Dameus?
Dameus did not answer. He walked ahead of the rest, silently. Neutral. He did not turn his head. He did not show any emotional appearance.
He only walked.
Scorn and Aaron following swiftly after.

There was the heart...
The coldblooded heart of this cruel forest. The lake.
This lake was not water.
No water existed here.
Only blood. Blood was the water. But not just mortal blood.
Blood of the slain Vesteroth, before he was imprisoned.
Aaron, now shivering violently, could not believe his eyes. The mist, now vulgar and... moving, was surprisingly calm.
The moon, hovering above them... It was the most eerie feeling Aaron thought possible.
"What is that water made of?" Aaron couldn't help but ask.
Sure you wish to know?
"Not entirely..."
Blood.
Aaron was speechless. Frozen in place.
"We... will be staying the night here?"
Yes...
Truly, Dameus?
Yes, you all will.
"'We all' will?"
Sorry, I meant everyone.
"...You're scaring me. For once, Dameus, you really are scaring me."
Why is that?
"...You look different..."
Dameus did not answer to Aaron, but asked Scorn in private.
Scorn, what does he mean? Do I look different?
You don't... appear the same. It's as if you're... Scorn trailed off, thinking, then finished his sentence. You're evil.
...Evil?
I'm not comfortable talking about this anymore, can we stop please...
Fine...
Thank you...
Dameus glanced around. Where would they sleep?
Shivering, Dameus snapped his gloved fingers and the fog crept away from the circle he, Aaron, and Scorn stood in.
We will camp here.
"You're not... serious..."
I am.
"Please, no!"
Aaron's eyes were wide and white, his cheecks blue and his lips black now.
What was with him?
We must, Aaron... Even if it is this... This.... horrid...
Scorn dropped his head down, quivering, and brought it back up. His eyes had seemingly lost their flame, their pupils were surprisingly smaller.
Scorn was afraid...
"Why!"
WE MUST!
Dameus drew his blade and pointed it at Aaron.
Aaron spoke no more words, eyes now tearing, and his head fell downward, shaking.
"Fine..."

All of the three then camped. The ground, frosty and smelling of rotten corpses, crept under their backs. The mist taunted them, spidering in it's place with the fierce vulgar violet density.
All slept except for Dameus.

...So, what are we doing here?
I don't know, you tell me.
Alright. We're sitting on the rotten grounds of the darkest forest in all of Aldraa'Norrech, and our friends are actually scared. And, I'm talking to myself through thoughts.
Yes, actually, you're right.
Exactly.
Remember last time when we were here?
Of course... But I wish I didn't.
I hated it. That.. that stupid berserkened dragon, holding us hostage in its mind... I hated that moment...
Me to...
Wait...
Hmm?
Remember.. Nngh... Step Father, he... Remember what he did?
I'm not entirely following your thoughts...
He walked onto the lake, remember? He walked onto the lake...
Yes... I remember now...
And... he was pulled under...
...He was, wasn't he?
What... I wonder what he did...
I don't want to know.
I do...
Well you are a part of me, I am the controlling thought, and I say we don't.
And I say we do.
Shutup!
...What was that noise...
... Shutup, please... I hate this place. I don't need to get scared again.
Well, you know...
What this time?
I want to go under.
Why?
Can't you hear it?? They're telling us!!
Who??
...The... voices of the...
Of the what?...
I... I don't know... Listen--...
... I... I've heard that voice!
You have?
Yes!!
Dameus stood from his ground, he heard that voice!!
It was the voice he heard within Aaron's room.
That voice, where was it coming from?
A rustle... Great! Of all things, a rustle...
Dameus, it's coming from the lake...
SHUTUP!!
...
Dameus stepped forward, unsure if he would be able to comprehend what lurked within the shadows...
or the waters...
Scorn's nose twitched.
Go in... Go in...
No!
Yes!!
No!!!
[glow=red,2,300]YES!![/glow]
What is wrong with you!
[GLOW=RED,2,300]NOW!! GO UNDER!![/GLOW]
Dameus felt an energy pulling him. It was a mixture of voices, all pulling him towards the lake...
Gah!! He was at the edge of it now! The edge of the lake...
And his foot was raised, not him doing it, and he took one step onto the thick sludgy surface of blood...
Another step...
WHAT IS HAPPENING!!
[GLOW=RED]COME!! COME AND JOIN US! BECOME ONE OF US!![/GLOW]
STOP!! STOP CONTROLLING ME!! STOP!! STOP IT!!!
AARON!!!

Aaron's eye twitched, but he turned the other way around, now facing the other direction.
[glow=red,2,300]Come and play with us, Dameus! Play with us!![/glow]
NO!!
He was nearing the center, one foot forcingly being put in front of the other.
The mist now blotted out the image of his friends. It was as if he was now alone. All alone, with voices calling him under the lake of Vesteroth's blood, and the only scape around him was that of shifting purple mist...
The lake rippled, bubbles emitting, waves of thick ice cold blood washing across his feet.
One last step...
One last step and he would set foot in the center of the blood lake...
One last...
[glow=red,2,300]Come and play!![/glow]
HELP ME!!
Dameus was helplessly pulled under the bubbling surface of blood...
Into a world of unknown...

[Aeric Ecrai]

((*shudders*))

[Joshua, the Wayne]

(())

[Joshua, the Wayne]

...
Where was he?
Dameus could not see, his eyes were too tired to open.
All he could hear was rushing water. Bubbling water.
What he hoped, that is, was water.
Growling. Growiling in the distance. Rumbles and wails.
Unsure of what he heard, unsure of what was around him, Dameus tried to sleep through it all.
He tried to rest in peace for the slightest moment.
He hoped.

*****

Aaron woke groggily to the same woods he experienced before he fell asleep.
He wished he didn't have to wake.
...
Something wasn't right...
"Scorn!"
The enormous dragon twitched his ear and cracked open one eyelid.
Mmphg?
"Where's Dameus?"
...Wudyumeen?
"Uhg! Dameus!!"
Scorn was unsure at first, but suddenly both eyes popped open and he gazed around.
Where was Dameus??
Dameus!! Dameus, where are you??
Where was Dameus??

*****

Dameus awoke. He opened his eyes, able to now, and was speechless.
Black spires, everywhere. The sky... it was black. He was... He was in another realm.
No, not the Infinite Realm.
Not the True Realm.
Not the Ever Realm...
As he stood, using much strength, he peered everywhere.
He was standing above a gurgling fountain of blood. It was another lake. But... the blood ran down to the edges of...
He was on a floating island. Black trees and spires all sprouting around him.
There, in front of him, was an enormous ruin.
Ruins he was not sure if he would wish to enter.
But... A voice.
It was... strange. The voice was unmeasurably... kind.
It sang a song, a song Dameus had heard before.
Yes... Yes, it was that song. The song his mother had taught him.
He followed it, knowing he would not enjoy falling down an enormous waterfall of blood that fell into the blackness of an unknown universe.
He walked into the mouth of the ruins, praying to the gods for courage.

*****

"He's gone... He vanished just like that..."
That's usual for one like Dameus.
"Still!! We're sitting here on the rotting grounds of a black forest that DURING THE DAY is still as black as night, and... is that the moon still above the trees? And the fog is still here! It's freezing my nose off, and I can't even get a sip of warm tea! And, most of all, you smell like some... smelly... thing... That's really smelly..."
Why thank you, and you're ugly.
"What??"
Nothing.
"Ugly!! I am the best royal templar of the Balthazun Empire, and you say I'm ugly?"
Hideous, actually.
"What?!"

*****

((to be continued, I'm kinda bored rofl. -laughs at Aaron and Scorn's conversation-))

[Joshua, the Wayne]

Dameus woke... In... water?
He was underwater! He couldn't breathe!!
He paddled his legs as hard as he ever had, armour holding him down. Seconds passed. Seconds of his lungs screaming. He couldn't breathe!!
seconds... Almost to the top!
FRESH AIR!
Dameus gasped for breathes, floundering his arms in the water, his head sticking straight into the sky, breathing deep and hard. He never wanted air more in his life.
SCORN!!
DAMEUS?!
SCORN!! I'M IN THE LAKE!! HURRY!! I can't swim!!!
I'm coming, hold on.
Moments passed as Dameus kicked in the water, trying his best to stay up. But, his armor had weighted him too much. Dameus began to sink. Taking one last breath and sticking his hand as high up as he could, Dameus sank under the surface of the water.
His sight blotted out and Dameus began to lose consciousness.
... Wait, Dameus was lifted out of the water. As he opened his blurry eyes, he could tell... eew... He was in the mouth of Scorn, who turned his neck around and let him roll out onto the ground.
Dameus! Are you alright??
"Dameus -who I hate-, are you okay?"
Dameus coughed violently, trying to catch a snag of breath. Continuing for a few minutes, finally Scorn decided to ask.
If you knew what's good for you, you should know how horrible it feels to step in a lake of blood, search around for a red knight that matches with it's vulgar crimson kind, dip your mouth in and pull him out, then spit him onto the ground and realise how bad you taste. Where were you??
Dameus was silent for a few moments, getting out his last few coughs, but finally spoke.
I don't know... When you two went to sleep, I couldn't. And something tok control of me then. It pulled me under the... lake.. and I woke up in some place. Then... I don't want to talk about what happened then, please.
Aaron was puzzled, trying to keep himself warm by rubbing his hands on his arms and digging his cheeks into his knees.
"Why can't you tell us?"
Nothing you need to know.
"Fine, Dameus the grumpy dragon person thing..."
That's great, Aaron the talkative wierd person thing.
Dameus stood up, shivering just as Aaron, and walked towards a tree on the seperate edge of the un-fogged ring he made a while back.
Scorn watched him every moment, puzzled. he then stepped out of the bloodlake and walked towards Dameus, laying down and putting his head in front of him, staring with serious eyes.
Talking once more in private, Scorn asked Dameus
What don't you want to tell us?
You think I'm going to say it?
Yes. You always do if it's someone important you're talking to.
Dameus spoke nothing for a few moments.
What are you expecting me to say?
Whatever you were thinking about. I'm pretty sure you had a reason not to say it.
Dameus turned his head the opposite direction away from Scorn, breathing deeply.
It's late, I'm cold, this place is creepy and old. I'm tired. Can we just pretend I never said it and let this night pass easily?
As you wish...
Scorn sighed, closing his eyes.
everyone fell asleep, Dameus later than them all.
He still didn't understand.

*****