The clattering of the train pierced the silence of your mind like thunder as you stared stricken at the straw that lay strewn upon the carpet.
No, you couldn't let your fears govern you, you couldn't allow the possibility, however remote it was that this could be anything more than mundane to trouble you.
With the soft light of morning dancing upon the walls, shadows between windows of rose, you strode over to the compartment that the straw lead from. A quick glance as your hand went to your belt for your gun, only to find you were as without, told you that this compartment was empty.
Empty, yet strewn with straw and clothing.
Your eyes drank the scence in as you looked over the clothing that had been discarded, noting how the straw you saw about this compartment seemed to lead away from the clothes. The clothing had straw inside it, telling you with the manner in what it had fell, that it had been discarded by someone covered in - or made from - straw.
Movement caught from the corner of your eye prompted you to turn as the rose coloured light danced over your body and face, as it illuminated the varnished wooden panels of the carriage. Movement, that danced away from you, preventing you from identifying it as it flitted away from the window set within the door leading to the next carriage up.
Without thought you gave chase, following the trail of straw and the figure that had danced away like the ocean.
Without thought, you swung the doors between the carriages open and stepped through, only to see the faintest blur of white and grey ducking around the far corner. A sound that could only be the slamming of a door followed from the far end of the carriage as you rushed along, taking note of how the trail of straw thinned yet never ended as you did so.
The next carriage as you breached it as the one prior seemed to be devoid of the fleeting form of that figure, yet you felt uneasy in this realisation.
You hadn't failed to keep up with them, as your senses told you.
There was no trail of straw and the manner in what the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end told you that something was nearby, something was wrong.
You stepped back through the door, though this time you paused between the two carriages, taking a deep breath as you placed your hands to the ladder leading up onto towards their rooftops. The chill of the air about you felt akin to that of a cool winters day, while the scent of smoke from the steam engine reminded you of the industrial cities that dotted this land.
Cities, that blighted the land with their progress, that stained it with soot and ash from the factories that demanded production and advancement at any cost. The disgust you felt at this thought felt almost alien, providing a reminder that your prior lives would continue to make intrusions into your own, welcomed or not.
Yet this was unimportant, you had a man, woman, thing to catch.
A figure that eluded you still as you hauled yourself up atop the carriage, a figure that you could see was already ahead three carriages ahead of you.
Their awkward gait as they stood against the wind that roared about you told you that they were uncomfortable, that they lacked the confidence to stand against it as you did now.
One foot before the other fell as you began to sprint over the rooftops of the carriages, gaining steam like the locomotive beneath you as you effortlessly hopped the gaps that stood before you. The figure despite their efforts to flee could no longer put distance between you, while you drank in the details of their form.
They lacked the mass that went with muscle built from hard work, though the white shirt they wore was loose enough to prevent you gauging if they were below average in build. The grey trousers and black shoes they wore were akwardly donned too, as if their body was slightly mishapen, that their movements seemed to add further to the impression of.
This made you feel all the more confident as you crossed the gap between the last of the carriages that seperated you and launched yourself at the figures back.
The figure being sheared in two by the impact of your body, was not something you had expected however, as you tore through the body of the man, filling the air with a quickly dispersing cloud of straw.
You tumbled gracelessly onto the roof of the train carriage as you failed to react in time to this change, having expected to collide with something a little more solid than you had. This moment of suprise was one that the other figure couldn't exploid however, as the illusion of humanity it was wrapped in was dispelled, allowing you to see two halves of a scarecrow struggling against the wind.
You found yourself searching dumbly for words as you found your feet with cat-like grace, your body for once moving faster than your mind as you stared at the scene before you. Like a snake, the two halves of the scarecrow squirmed and wound their way towards each other, rejoining at the waist, yet there was no malicious intent.
You had caught it, you had found you could tear it apart.
It knew better than to resist you further.
"Your colours are all wrong," came the scarecrows words as a maw formed at mouth height for it to speak from, followed by a stolen glance at the straw it was bleeding to the wind. "Well I doubt you're just going to let me go and finish what i'm here for, so lets compromise. Neither of us has much time, you let me get on with my job, and I'll break the rules and answer any questions you have, do we have a deal?"
While the scarecrow's voice bore no ill intent towards you, something about its very nature chilled you to the core.
Did you have questions to direct towards this thing?
Did you plan to prevent it from accomplishing whatever it planned?
Was there something else you wished to do?Earth: 6 - (Resiliance)
Fire: 5 - (Marksman)
Air: 7 - (Tactics)
Water: 7 - (Reading People)
Powers:
0 - Ageless.
You have all of eternity to complete your tasks, forever in your prime.
4 (fmmv) - Phoenix.
From the embers, fire springs anew.
2 (fv) - Presence of the Immortal.
The presence of eternity can be an awe inspiring thing, yet you are able to inspire more than simple awe.
Points Pool: 1
Earth: 3 - (Long Distance Running)
Fire: 4 - (Sprinting)
Air: 5 - (Creature Lore)
Water: 3 - (Masking Deception)
Powers:
0 - Ageless.
With enlightenment came eternity.
4 (fmmv) - Tainted Flesh.
You rapidly recover from all manner of ills, though there are still substances that your body cannot process. A side effect is, that your bodily fluids are toxic to others.
6 (ffmmvv) - Erinys.
Their lamentation shall be music to your ears.
Points Pool: 1
Earth: 7 - (Resisting Toxins)
Fire: 7 - (Anticipating Hostile Action)
Air: 3 - (Creature Lore)
Water: 1 - (Tracking)
Powers:
0 - Ageless.
With enlightenment came eternity.
2 (fm) - Pretender Immortal.
Few know the only methods capable of killing you. Fewer still are able to apply them.
4 (fmmv) - Tainted Flesh.
You rapidly recover from all manner of ills, though there are still substances that your body cannot process. A side effect is, that your bodily fluids are toxic to others.
4 (fmmv) - Jötunn
Body of stone and spirit of fire, gluttonous hunger with legendary ire.
Points Pool: 0
Author
Topic: They told me I could be anything... (Read 78865 times)