A Nightmare Reborn (p: Oscoro), Sanu finds out his nightmare still lives

[Sanu]

Haunting screams burst out from the ominous mountain. A dark aroura seems to radiate from the black and red rocks. The terror filling Sanu's chest is almost painful. How he brought himself to come here he could not remember. He must have been crazy to come look for a soul here if it lingered. He knew he sould have stayed away, but he had to know. He had to know if the killer of his family, the one who gave him all his scars, mentally and physically, was dead. This seemed the most ideal place to come for it seemed to draw all things dark and evil here.

Sitting atop one of the small peaks that surronded the dark pilliar Sanu was debating whether to continue or turn back. He had made it this far from the Gardens just to turn back now, now that he was staring evil right in the face. No, he would not turn and run with his tail between his legs. He had already confronted evil and lived, so his chances of surviving another encounter were higher. He was truely crazy to this.

A bolt of lighting streaked down from the sky and struck the side of the dark peak. The sound rippled through the valley and rattled Sanu's chest. Now was the time to go before his mind changed. He alighted from his roost and glided toward the base of the main peak. He would never climb the mountain all the way. The echoes of screams and laughter repeled him and the fear of what greater evil lurked at its top. He landed at the base of the tall mountain and so he bagan his asenstion till his call was answered.

Time seemed slow now like the whole world was holding its breath and its heartbeat was slowing down. Sanu hopped the last stone step to come onto a large platform of rock that extended away from the black tower. He was already winded and he had gotten on a quarter of the way up. He rolled to his back and rested watching the black sky speed along. The first impression of this mountain was very decieving at first glance. He could actually see some beauty in this shadowed realm. The sun was white and definite like a pearl and rock was not as black as it seems from afar.

It was all very interesting, but Sanu had to continue on. He did not want to loose himself in the black beauty or be consumed by the clever shadows of this haunted place. He rolled to his stomach and sat up on his haunches and called to the mountain. "Dark spirits, I am in search of one of you that goes by the name of Mortem," he shouted. The shouted echoed up, off, and away from the mountain as if the mountain itself had said it.

Sanu did believe in demons and possesion, but this seemed different and akward. How would he know if the mountian replied back to him? Would it be so obvoius or would he have to listen so hard? He hoped he was about to find out.

This post has been edited by Sanu on Oct 11 2008, 12:52 AM

[Oscuro]

Spirits? He summons the spirits? From higher up the mountain, Oscuro had his gleaming red eyes trained on the young one who so foolishly sought evil. His black feathers kept him adequatley hidden against the dark rock, so he had no fear of being seen...but maybe he shouls show himself...This child spoke of Mortem, one Oscuro knew well. His reputation for evil exceeded even Oscuro's, and jealousy was rife in his heart as he thought about the one more famous than himself. But that could be sorted....it would be easy...

With a low snarl, Oscuro launched himself into the air, a hige black shadow seemingly detatching itself from the rock, and swooped down at Sanu, landing lightly next to him. His eyes pierced into the youngsters, seeking something that Oscuro couldnt quite see...

"What are you doing here?" He hissed, bristling. "Why do you so boldly call for something you know not of?" his claws were scraping into the rock, pulling loose earth into a pile at his feet, as he towered over Sanu, who Oscuro noticed was a Terra, just like himself...but he smelled of the light prides. Poor thing...he did not know the danger he was in, just by being in Oscuros presence...

This post has been edited by Oscuro on Oct 12 2008, 10:17 AM

[Sanu]

The dark figure that began to come down from higher up on the mountain Sanu thought was a spirit. It seemed to be black shadow like he guessed they would be. As it neared and came into shraper detail he realized it was no spirit, but a gryphon or blood and bone, not smoke and shadow. His black coat made him disappear into the rock. At first he thought that it was Mortem himself standing before him, but with a quick mental comparison he was wrong.

The shady figure that stood before him was a truer black and had a red patch of feathers on his chest that was natural. The eyes were a solid red as well instead of a solid black dominated with an even brighter red center. Even though it was not Mortem, a similar evil wrafted from him. It was weaker than Mortem's but still present. Sanu stood a little more chance against this gryphon than he did Mortem three years ago.

"What are you doing here?" the newcomer hissed. "Why do you so boldly call for something you know not of?"

Sanu stood his ground even though his senses were telling him to flee. This gryphon seemed the type that Mortem would know or would know of him. "I come here in search of answers that I must know," he said feeling his adrenaline build up giving his voice power. "I know very well what I am calling for. I know the name Mortem very well and have met him personally, once. I have come to see if he is still alive. I hoped the mountain would tell me, but looks like you intercepted my question."

[Oscuro]

Oscuro narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sanu. Fear fell in waves from the youngster, as visible to Oscuro as light, and the cruel-hearted gryphon felt a small amount of admiration towards him for not running away. He did indeed know Mortem, but for the moment he would not betray that knowledge...

"Why do you seek Mortem? What is your business with him?" he asked, his voice rough and venemous. He could not see why he would seek out Mortem, es[ecially willingly.

[Sanu]

So he still lived, Sanu said aloud in his mind, the terrible killer of my family was still breathing. His insides felt like they dropped away from him like they would if he was falling. He could feel his tail and legs tembling. His pose was not so strong anymore. His head was light and spinning. Everything was coming back, all the memories, the blood, and the pain. The three long scars in his right side began to burn. the purple ring of feathers that was on the very edge of his beak felt hot and the air seemed heavier.

What was happening to him? Sanu questioned himself, Why was he falling apart like this? All the terror and memories that were attached to that name were bleeding back into him. He could no longer sit still in front of the other gryphon trying to not act scared. He stood slowly, making sure that it did not seem like a threat to attack, and began to walk away slowly. His legs trembled under him and his mind was foggy with all the thoughts coming back. Lighting cracked the sky, but he could not here the tunder only a rumble in his chest from that loud bang.

Sanu collapsed, his legs could no longer support him. He could not hold back any longer. He began to cry, but tried to keep his volume down. The figure behind him, he knew was evil and could take this opportunity to hurt him. He cried, because all the death and blood were coming back to him. The horrible flashbacks he tried to stop a little over a year ago and now they were back even stronger. He could even feel his parent's pain as he watched again the horror relived of that day. HE killed them, HE hurt me, HE took away my only parents, and HE must feel the hurt he inflicted upon me, Sanu said in his mind.

"I seek Mortem, because," Sanu said, looking out and away from Gryphon's Beak, away from the evil presence behind him, sniffing away his tears, "he killed my parents."

This post has been edited by Sanu on Oct 15 2008, 03:20 PM

[Oscuro]

The effect Oscuro's words had on the young one surprised him. Why did he fall to pieces so? He snarled, a little embarrassed at Sanu's behaviour, and said gruffly, "Pull yerself together! Your a gryphon, not a bloody weeping willow!"

When Sanu spoke again, Oscuro furrowed his brow a little. It wasn't like mortem to kell the parents and leave the youngling alive. Sloppy work, he said to himself. Perhaps I may finish what he started... But he stayed his claw for a moment. It intrigued him as to why Sanu wished to track him down, knowing what a cold blooded murderer he was, and he posed this question.

"I'll ask again. Why do you seek Mortem? You could not hope to kill him in revenge"-Although I'd like to see you try, he thought-"And I do not think you would get an apology from him." Oscuro smiled at this last thought which invked images of Mortem cowering on his knees, begging for forgiveness. But surely it ould not happen.

[Sanu]

"I want to kill him," Sanu shreiked out over the land, his voice deadly and threatening. He stood up and took two quick steps toward his guest. "He killed my parents, he killed my soul, and he scarred me forever. I will kill him. When I am older and trained to fight, and he is old and brittle I will strike him down with the pain that he deserves from killing every parent and every chick that he did. I don't want to quiver in his name again."

Sanu was finished, breathing hard, his feathers raised in the adrenaline rush he just got. What did I say? he questioned himself. Did I truely mean those words? Yes, I meant every last bit of it. He for the past four years of being a surviver of the most devestaing things one could experience had always planed his revenge. What happened to him was not going away with a simple apology from Mortem.

OOC: Sorry for my lateness and my shortness of my reply. I have been busy and my muse is lacking.

[Oscuro]

Oscuro listened with carefully disguised amusement at the young gryphons words, and then employed a little of his magic to listen to his afterthought-he was just in time to here him say to himself, I meant every last bit of it and Oscuro growled a little, although he wasnt too sure why.

Perhaps this one could kill Mortem, he thought. It would certainly do Oscuro a favour, because he would not have to worry about Mortems legacy overshadowing his own attempts to become feared above all others. And if Mortem did kill Sanu...well, it would save Oscuro bloodying his claws...

He forumulated his words to Sanu very carefully.

"If you truly wish to kill Mortem, you will need to be ready to face him...you will need to be throughly trained before you attempt to even think about facing him." He paused, to let his words sink in, the continued. "If you wish...I could help you prepare. I have...some experience in fighting..." he left this nugget of information about his bloody history hang in the air, and waited with a sly grin for Sanus reply...

[Sanu]

An offer to be trained. Sanu was interested to hear about it. He had never found someone to train him yet. He had wanted to learn how to fight for a while now. He wanted to feel powerful, like he could actually do something if he was confronted not just by Mortem. Yes, he would have taken that offer in an instant if his common sense was not sitting on his wing. Doubt was holding his tongue steady.

Could he be trusted? San thought. The offer was a good one, but was it worth falling into a trap. Everygryph that he had talked to that he thought knew how to fight wouldn't train him. They had either just straight up refused to teach him that art or they vowed to never fight again or teach it. He hadn't bothered the neutral land gryphons, but he figured the results would be the same. He had the will to learn and the desire to learn it all.

What if it is a trap? he heard his wing angle whisper. The possibility was very likely. It was hard to trust a dark prider. After all the bad things Sanu had heard about them he has been twisted to see them as bad. What if they weren't what they seem? It was hard to judge if one was good or bad by a first meeting. He could be friends with Mortem and this is a plan lure me to Mortem. So hard to decide with what little he knew of this character.

"I need to know if I can trust you," Sanu said. "Its hard to trust someone if I don't even know their name. I'm sure that if you have any connection with Mortem that you will know my name as Sanu. I will gladly accept your offer if I know that you are reliable and safe to be around. I want to be able to make him pay for what he did to me and my family," he finished, turning to show his right side to the strange. Three wide, long scars marked his ribs and other small ones from rock and claw pricks. "I want to return the pain and the marks he put on me."

[Oscuro]

Oscuro peered at Sanu's scars through the gloom and felt for the shortest moment a strange pang pass through his stomach...almost of sympathy. But he shrugged it off and it was forgotten.

"For the time being you are safe with me," Oscuro said. "I give you my word that I will not harm you whilst I train you, and I do not break my word..." This was indeed true. Oscuro had never once broken a promise he had made. But he said nothing about after the training.

Oscuro continued once more. "I do know Mortem, but I cannot say I am close with him. And I have never heard him brag of his past misdeeds, let alone mention you. But since I know your name, you may as well know mine as Oscuro." It means Dark One, he thought with a private smile, but he did not tell Sanu this.

"Do you accept my proposal? Or will you tread this path alone?"

[Sanu]

Sanu bowed his head slightly in thought. Accept him as a teacher or try to find another. There was no one else that would teach him and everyone in the light prides refused to teach him the knowledge. In order to release his vengeance on Mortem he would need to know all the best tactics and attacks, for even when he was old he might be able to put up a fierce fight. Oscuro was the only one that he would ever find able to teach him without refusal.

Sanu straightened back up and faced Oscuro trying to keep a stronger composure. “I will accept your proposal, Oscuro,” Sanu said with a relit fire of confidence. “I accept your training and hope to put it to good use.”

Maybe the dark pride gryphons are not as bad as everyone says them to be. Maybe everyone is wrong about them; if they aren’t then he might have just made the biggest mistake of his life. What if he didn’t, what if had taken the first step to possibly bridging the gap between dark and light. Only time knows what lies ahead in these uncertain times. He would have follow his chosen path and see what is at its end. Perhaps there is more good in this world then we know.

[Oscuro]

"Good," Oscuro purred, a grin spreading across his face that was anything but friendly. "I will teach you to the best of my knowledge, and I expect you to pay due attention, never doubting me, never questioning me. Whilst you cancall me your teacher, and I can call you my pupil, I will never lead you astray...afterwards, you path is yours alone. You must do with it as you will..."

Oscuro turned and started to walk down the mountain, slowly, picking his way carefully. he assumed the child would follow him. He would teach Sanu, as he had promised, and he would hope the child won. Afterwards, if Sanu chose to return to his own pride, Oscuro would not trouble him. If he liked the taste of blood too mcuh though, Oscuro would have to put an end to him to ensure he was not a danger to Oscuro himself...

"We will go to my home, on the edge of the Sundown Woodland. I leave near a small clearing that will be ideal for your preliminary training. Afertwards...field training..."


(Do you want to write about the trining, or take it as been one, write a summary and go on to attack Mortem?)