(Repost. Plague = Green, Christine = Purple)


Fun, fun, fun...

Plague always enjoyed making a bit of a scene, and today of all days was no exception. Earlier in the day, while his current little morsel was still attending classes, he had a plain, unmarked white envelope sent to the girl, making sure that there was quite a big deal of having it rushed awkwardly around campus, getting word out among as many of the student body as he could. Many had written letters, this would be the first instance of anyone writing back.

Of course, no one had really written back. No one had really written anything at all. It was simply a couple of folded up white papers in a plain, unblemished envelope. The fact that the rest of the student body inferred from its delivery that someone had written back was of no import to him.

So he intercepted the letter. Took it from one of the school clerks as the girl made her way around Christine's floor. He promised to have it delivered, making his way out onto the grounds, near the edge of the forest as he looked up to a crow on the branch. When she gazed out the window, the trap would be set. His tattered trenchcoat blew in the breeze, and the thrill of the hunt welled up inside again.


Excitement, wonder and excitement filled the student’s body all at once. She’d gotten a letter, for the first time ever she’d gotten a letter. The entire day the student beamed proudly, making attempts to find the precious cargo in between classes to no avail. Now, in less than five minutes her anxiety would be cured. Her foot restlessly bounced against the tile, her eyes studying every inch of the clock, watching the second hand as it dragged slowly around the circle. Her amber eyes shining brightly. She’d long packed away her stuff for this class, she was a whiz in English, and had no problem getting her work done early. She bit her lower lip watching the hand carefully as it rounded it’s final arch.

An eternity, a simple eternity it had seemed before the bell sounded for her final class. Chris was the first to burst through the classroom door, and remarkably the first to burst through the large metal door of the building, rushing towards the room where her mail was supposed to be delivered. She ran excitedly, her high ponytail bouncing around happily behind her. She knew her father wouldn’t write her, he never did when he sent her away, it had to be her. She could almost remember the beaming face of her cousin, the only one who had shown her love when her father had won the custody battle. Her beloved mentor, her friend.

She knocked on the door, the rush of the passing students almost made it impossible to hear the teacher who bade her welcome in the room. She burst inside. “I’m Christine. You have a letter for me?” She grinned when she was finished speaking. The young woman, only in her early thirties had a confused, yet knowledgeable look on her face. “I’m sorry, someone came to pick up your letter for you, he said he’d get it into your care immediately-in fact, you just missed him.” The student’s heart sank and she hurriedly said. “Which way did he go?” By chance the clerk happened to gaze out of the window and pointed out a distant figure making his way into the forest. “Thank you, I have to go!” The student rushed out of the door.

In a mad dash the student chased after the man, she was a few yards behind him, and she could have sworn she’d passed him on her way towards the classroom but had been too concerned about her letter to take note. She bitterly cursed herself and ran after him. “Hey, wait!” she called, disheartened once again when she saw him disappeared into the forest. Concerned and concentrating only on her letter when she’d finally reached the forest, she broke it’s border, disappearing into the dense foliage after the man. “Excuse me sir!” she called out into the tree’s, the vision of the school slowly fading behind her.


Plague let a smirk unfold across his features as she began to follow him into the forest. He tucked the unmarked envelope into his coat, walking at a rapid, curt pace through the winding trees. His coat whipped behind him, leaving a whisp of the torn fabric in flickering in her vision, the swift disappearance of an ancient bootheel every time he turned a corner, leading her in a twisting Labyrinthian path through the endless grove.

Eventually he emerged from the trees into a massive clearing. Despite the year of regrowth, it still looked as if a meteor or some other astronomical body fell to earth in that exact location. There was a large, indented crater in roughly the center of the field. The rest of the area had gained a moderate amount of growth from prarie grasses, though the charred surface of the dirt still crunched like glass beneath the leather heels of his boots.

He paused, hands thrust into his pockets as he looked up to the sky, wondering how long, precisely, he might have to keep her before night fell. Ah well, all things in time. For the moment, he chose simply to ignore the fact that she would be entereing the clearing behind him in a matter of moments.


The student grunted and gasps as the underbrush whipped away at her bare legs in attempts to keep up with this stranger. A few times she’d sworn she had lost him, only to see the dark billow of his large coat in the distance. She was grateful every time she saw it, pushing herself to continue even though the forest grew denser and denser. Most of the time, he was out of earshot, or he had simply neglected to hear her as she shouted after him.

Her eyes glittered as she saw the forest widen up in the distance. With a new vigor and rejuvenation she unleashed a burst of speed and broke into the clearing after the man. Her eyes searched around, a possible landing site or a forest fire section. Probably some girls out camping, gone wrong- but then that didn’t explain the rather large dip in the centre. It was there she saw him standing. She jogged towards him, out of breath and exhausted. Once in earshot she called out to him. “Excuse me!” slowing to a brisk walk.


Plague smirked beneath his bandages, fingering the brim of his hat lightly as he turned, lofting a scaled brow that added a bit of humor to his mummy-like countenance. With a flourish, he bowed slightly, taking a few steps towards the girl, obviously an impressively tall, if nearly emaciated, figure.

"Yes...?" he asked, putting on a show of pure inquisitive curiosity. His single eye narrowed from its gauze cage, the linear black pupil dialating as the orb rounded upon her. A slight breeze picked up, working through the field and causing his cloak to give an unpleasant jingle, the clash of metal on metal sounding unnatural from beneath the canvas.

"I'm sorry, you were addressing me, correct? I had assumed as much, taking into account the considerable lack of anyone else for you to pursue a conversation with," he smiled, the gesture more than a little unnerving, like a predator eyeing a potential morsel. Of course, this was not precisely far from the truth.


Until now, Christine had nothing more than a view of the back of her subject, and was quite taken with his appearance when he turned to face her. She hid her true feelings of initial shock and curiosity with a semblance of a mixture of politeness and kindness. She laughed lightly, “Yeah.” she said breathlessly resting her hands on her hips as she inhaled deeply. “You’re a hard person to keep up with.” She mocked cheerfully with a smile. After a few moments of regaining her breath she introduced herself. “I’m Christine, I believe you have a letter for me?” She inquired nonchalantly, though she was bursting with excitement.

It was now she took the time to truly observe the man that stood before her. His substantial height towered over her form, casting a pleasant, yet eerie shade over her. His hat covered the majority of his forehead, and his face was covered in fresh bandages. All that was visible in of his facial features was one of his eyes, which had narrowed it’s view on her. She smiled sweetly, through the bandages however, she could detect the hint of a smile, which she’d returned. Something was unsettling about this figure, aside from the obvious. There was a demeanor about him that set of every internal alarm in her being. Her mind raced with possibilities as to why the man’s face was bandaged. ‘Burn victim? Surgery?’ she blinked a few times to extinguish the thoughts, whatever had happened to him it was none of her business. She bit her lower lip awaiting a response.


"Ah... yes..." Plague smiled, the sides of the bandage around his maw creasing upwards with the expression. There was something indulgent about his voice, something that quite aptly screamed 'Step into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.' He took his hands from his pockets, the fingers swaddled in bandages as well. Long and spidery, he rubbed them together softly as he brought them up to his face and let out a single hacking cough.

He pulled out one of the sides of his coat, reaching those spindly fingers inside as the cloak jangled in a metallic tone. From within one of the inner pockets he removed the gleaming white shape of the envelope, holding it betwixt his index and middle finger as he turned it in they dying rays of the sun.

"Well, this would be it, yes?" He loften an eyebrow underneath the bandages, holding it out to her as his other hand made an urgent stabbing gesture towards the envelope from behind his back. As his hand extended, a crow left the saftey of the bushes with an exasperated caw, snatching the envelope and landing in a nearby tree with it.

"My, my, my, what're the chances..."


There was something unsettling about the way the man spoke to her. A combination of his appearance with the mixture of hidden intent behind his voice made the student quite uncomfortable, and she was sure it was showing. She shifted her stance, resting her weight on her right leg, watching his hands search through his pockets. A slight frown crossed her face as the sound of clanking metal wisped through the air, subtle at best, but still audible. The man’s leering smile behind the bandages still held strong, she did her best not to stare, only at times to find herself directly gazing at him, only to scold herself for being rude. She was uncomfortable and growing impatient, she wanted her letter and to leave.

Finally, hope emerged in the student as the bright white of the envelope appeared in the hands of this man. He held it out to her, and she willingly reached her hand out towards it. Thwarted, by a grimy crow no less. The wretched creature had swooped down out of nowhere and grasped her precious letter in it’s clutches. She gasped as the creature flew by her, stunned at the mere possibility of the event. She watched in shock at the crow as it took it’s perch in a tree. The tone of the man’s voice was almost taunting, and she felt the rage building within her. “Why did you even have my letter in the first place?!” Her eyes growing narrow into a glare. She searched his face for an oncoming excuse, but found none. “ugh!” she threw her hands up in the air, roughly pushing past the man, making her way towards the bird. “Now what am I going to do?” She grumbled, talking to no one but herself, yet making her voice loud enough for the man to hear her displeasure. She stomped at first, in a bit of a fit but as she neared her target her steps became much more silent, and resourceful. She didn’t want to excite the bird into flying off further.

"Why, I have it because I took it, it's really as simple as that," he paced around her, looking down upon her very much as a lecturer might a particularly troublesome student. Even as she moved, his pace matched hers, bringing him in a whirling circle about her as she attempted in vain to stalk the crow from tree to tree.

"Let us be brutally honest with ourselves here. I'm quite sure you're aware of the goings on. When a girl is confronted with a figure like me, do you think she fancies any contact more than is absolutely, unavoidably necessary? No, I told her to give me the letter and she handed it over, getting right up and out of the way."

He whistled, holding his hand up as the crow left the branch, fluttering to his grip. He petted the bird softly, tickling under its beak as if it were a prized and pampered dog, the creature leaving the letter back in his hands as he turned back to her.

"A fool would question the need for the appearance of my ebony little friend. A girl who knows well enough to keep her mouth shut would realize the importance of first impressions. At the moment, I have something you want, and that leaves you with quite the sticky wicket."

As she was nearing the despicable creature she was no more than annoying with the persistence of the man, casting irritated glances in his direction every so often. Her composure was almost mocking and rude, though she knew her impression with him was nothing but bitter due to her outburst. She watched in grim relief and mortification as the man whistled, the crow swooping to his arm on command. Her direct attention now at his mercy. She turned and faced him squarely, crossing her arms lightly over her white blouse. A small gust of wind eased the tension and the momentary silence as she gathered herself together.

“You’re one to speak of first impressions sir.” Her tone was a mockery of his intelligence, but she spoke with eloquence none the less. “Confiscating something that doesn’t belong to you, only to promptly leave upon receiving it.” Her arms fell to her hips, resting at the waist of her plaid skirt. “I chased after you to take what is rightfully mine, and you bring me out here with your teasing tone and parlor tricks.” She eyed the bird at this. “What does that say about your character? Pardon me if I’m a bit irritated. I’ve been waiting to hold that letter in my possession for the entire day. It seemed hope was lost when that…bird caught hold of it.” Her attitude held, she knew she was in the right in the situation. Admittedly, she could have held her temper a bit better, but the fact remained he had no right to toy with her as he did.

Plague laughed. In fact, he laughed more than was truly decent or polite. Or, to cut to the chase, sane.

"You question my tirade on first impressions to lecture me on character? 'Twas not your exemplary character that stranded you out here, my dear, I'm afraid you've no reason to flaunt it. If you'd like to tout your gullibility, however, go right ahead."

He slipped a sleeve down his arm, bearing a bandaged hand. Gripping his forearm, he flexed fingers upwards, ripping the bandages to ribbons and revealing a spindle-fingered, hook-nailed claw of sulfur and obsidian. The scales glimmered dangerously in the light, and the nails looked frighteningly like talons.

"Of course, the only question now is to what lengths you would devote yourself to get your precious little letter back..."

Christine’s face twisted in confusion as the man spoke to her. Stranded? Gullibility? What was this crazy lunatic talking about. A million questions whirled through her head before her body ran dead cold. It was a trick. Her eyes fixated on his hand as it rose upwards, thick black talons piercing through the cloth. On instinct the student took a step back, bringing her arms up in a guarding position. His maniacal laughter still echoed through her mind.

Her eyes wandered away from the talons, towards the letter in his possession, then back to his bandaged face. She knew this situation all too well. “What lengths are you talking about?” She watched him carefully, eying his face with great attentiveness, a malicious look was detected by the student, even behind it’s cover of ribbons. Without another moment’s haste the student turned and ran. Her silvery locks billowing wildly behind her, her legs pumping harshly. She couldn’t even be sure that the letter was in fact for her at all, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do about getting it back if it was. The headmaster would surely do something about this, perhaps she could get help in retrieving the letter, but at the moment none of it mattered. She saw that this man was hardly a man at all, recounting the glittering skin and the sharp nails. Hardly a man at all…

She turned.

She ran.

Plague smiled.

Flexing his spidery fingers, he cracked them in a series of uncomfortable pops that echoed throughout the otherwise silent wood. A grin crossed his features beneath the bandages as he pulled his hat off with a flourish, setting it on a nearby branch.

"Kohryu, you may return..." he yawned lazily, picking his nails. The crow landed before him, enshrouded in a swarming blur of screaming neon green gaseous faces before standing, a lithely muscled and heavily scarred corpse of a man bearing the slick, pitted helm of what appeared to be a bastardized samurai.

"Yes, our lord?" they asked, voice an amalgam of the souls that shared their body.

"Take flight. Find her. Bring her back to me."

Kohryu turned from him, the burning green from before circling out from their flesh. Each twisted, writhing soul that left the corpse shriveled, blackening and forming a glistening black raven. They reared back, a few crows streaking from their form before they dissolved into an implosion of black feathers, a full murder leaving the spot where their corpse formerly stood, cawing like madthings as they streaked out across the forest in pursuit of the girl.

Breathless, yet uncaring the student’s legs pumped faster and faster, carrying her away further from the man who had devilishly tricked her. She couldn’t, no, she wouldn’t allow it to happen again. She feared the worst from this being, and by even the slightest hint of malevolence the student was ready to jet. She had had an uneasy feeling throughout their entire meeting, his absolutely creepy demeanor, his eloquence, his tactics and assumptions. She knew he wasn’t normal, and there was only one thing she’d come to realize she could trust on this island. Her intuition. His last comment had set off every alarm in her head.

The only sound echoing through the forest was that of her own efforts in escape, not once had she cared to look back, she didn’t want to. The only thing on her mind was getting back to the school, but she was confused, rather, disorientated. She had to be going in the right direction, but how could she be sure? It didn’t matter, she told herself, as long as she kept running.

Various grunts of effort and pain from the stray branches and shrubberies hitting her bare legs through her attempts to escape left the student’s lips. Then, the predictable happened, as the vision of the ground inching closer to her face invaded her mind, she scolded herself. She landed with a clumsy thud against the mossy, rocky, and leafy forest floor, sending up a torrent of leaves, twigs and dirt. She scolded herself, typical weakling chick move, to fall while trying to escape. This, was when she heard it. The violent flutter of wings and squawks. Her head immediately swung backwards, in an instant she was up and back on her feet and running again. Every ounce of her being wanted to collapse, but the creatures she saw heading towards her gave her a new sense of motivation. Dozens of ravens, just like the one the man had as some sort of trained pet, were weaving through the tree’s towards her at an alarming speed. Her eyes searched the forest for a silver lining, praying the campus was closer than she’d hoped. She found none, and seemed to only find herself in a more denser area, with obstructions slowing her down. More than once she found herself heaving herself over a massive tree trunk, and squeezing through thick clusters of crowded trees. She had to forcibly will herself to keep looking ahead, never look back at what was chasing her, she’d been told this a million times. It never mattered what was behind you, only what lay ahead. Alas, when the terrifying beating wings grew closer she made her mistake, she looked back.

She saw the first of them, some leading faster than the others immediately behind them in pursuit of her. The only part that shocked her was how close they’d become, they were directly behind her, and the second she looked back, an obstruction slowed her down. This obstruction in form of a slender tree that she ran straight into, that was when the first raven passed her. She quickly recovered but found herself right in the midst of the mob. She flailed her arms wildly before her, trying to clear her path. They were only birds, yet, for some reason she was terrified of them. She didn’t want to be close to them, she wanted to get away. Shrieks left the student, smacking a few of the birds away from her, but they quickly recovered. She found her pace decreasing, slightly but surely. Through squinted eyes she had caught sight, a silver lining in this darkest cloud. It could quite possibly be the campus, with a new found hope a burst of speed was emitted carrying her closer and closer, the mob still hot on her trail.

The vast blanket of birds took off in a swirling cyclone, buffeting her back and forth with uncaring blows from feathered limbs, pushing her up and around in the midst of the crowded edge of the forest. They squawked and shrieked, the howls from the beaks of this manifestation of the Homunculus' shape rending the former silence of the grove in twain with their horrid urgency. They slammed furiously into her, pecking and nipping in aggravation as they finally forced her to stumble out of the grove and into a clearing near the campus. A clearing, that is, currently occupied by what seemed to be a pair of roommates attempting to convince each other into a dare.

Only the very brave, the very stupid, or the very inexperienced dare venture so close to the edge of the forest at dusk. These girls, from the way they jumped back at the comparitively mundane sight of a sentient flock of ugly black crows, most likely fell into the third category.

The first, a rather petite asian girl with black hair done back in a solid pleat, jumped, shrieked, and fell flat on her backside at the sudden intrusion of the murder. The other, a tanned brunette with shoulder-length locks, simply stuttered incomprehensibly and pulled her friend to shaky ground.

They, of course, did what any sane girl on the island would do.

That is, run.

They ran and screamed towards the imposing blocked shadows of the dorm buildings. They ran without a single backward glance to Christine, who currently sat in a heap on the very edge of the forest as the crows descended upon her.

Not one, however, laid a talon on her body. They pulled up at the last minute, feathers bursting into bright verdant flame as they coalesced in a more-or-less human shape before her.

Kohryu stood an imposing six-foot-seven, a solid mass of dead meat. Their eyes burned green from the visor of their sleek iron helm, faceplate adorned with the dancing shapes of tengu. Form layered in lean muscle, they might have been judged attractive were it not for the granite-complexion of their long-dead flesh, the varicose veins that ran so close to the papery skin, or the ugly purple scars, not quite healed but held together with lengths of thick black wire. In truth, they looked to be more sewn than stitched up.

Kohryu kneeled, lifting their icy hand up to softly caress her cheek, moving back and through her silvery hair, "Another daughter of winter? No surprise. You certainly fit our Lord's rather captious tastes..."

They tilted their head curiously at her defiance, hand suddenly bathed in bright green fire that warmed and tingled the side of her cheek. It was an odd sensation, as the flames seemed to be composed of dumb, unfinished souls. Beastial creations unfit for real bodies, the mute pain of the beings present in their eyes, black spots in the licking fire, as their wide mouths suckled oddly at her flesh. It was an alltogether unpleasant sensation, more than enough to make the skin noticably crawl.

"Ah, yes, we can see why he likes you. Fiery, angry, the good Lord does enjoy a challenge..." They trailed off, milky pupil-less eyes roaming over her form, though probably in a way she was not in the least used to.

Their gaze was not hungry, not lustful, far from it. In fact, it bore no resemblence the gaze that usually faced the girl from the eyes of men and monsters alike. No, their look was cold, analytical. They were simply shaping up a problem and deducing the best means of solving it. Nothing more, nothing less. It seemed as though they had no emotional investment in the outcome at all, which, of course, was true.

"So, we might give you a choice. There is a simple way to do this, and a more difficult way to do this. Will you come of your own free will, or must we force you back?"

They actually ponder such a ridiculous idea for a moment, resting their chin on their knuckles, eyes looking up to the sky, very deep in thought. Their foot taps idly, flames laden with tortured faces swirling up around them, each giving faint, vague whispers of thought as the council of their being reached a decision.

"No," they concluded, "Well, physiologically, yes, we mean, it would be possible. But biologically he would gain no satiation from his own energies, so no, we figure it probably wouldn't work out so well that way. We'll just take you instead."

They adjust the iron glove on their hand, flexing their fingers idly before turning to her. With a little shove on Christine's shoulder, they make her stumble, nothing to really unseat her.

After that little loss of balance, they pull back and thrust their arm forward again, this time a gout of horrid screaming fire leaving their fingertips and punching Christine in the chest with the force of a firehose, licking and nibbling and biting and tearing with their black, inky mouths.