{The Creature Hunt} Cyclopta

[Deleted]

((See The creature hunt for picture... here link))
Here at the meadow's edge, where fire and dry weather turned the land to ash and prohibited much growth, was the dark forest. Winter had come and gone, offering what many would think to be a healthy change, but it left and brought nothing. The trees that clung to life produced little if no signs of life and already small fires had started and stopped during the spring. Rain was scarce and even when the water fell in this small section between the meadows and the other wilderness it was quickly absorbed into the ground or drank up by the thirsty, desperate creatures.

Among those that sought for nuritment, the Cyclopta flourished. It needed nothing but blood and flesh of the living to survive, and humanoid flesh was the most succulent. Only one young man had survived to tell the tail of the Dark Forest, and even he was soon found dead within his own home in the city only days later. A small hole in his head and not a drop of bodily fluid, sucked clean. This beast, the Cyclopta, was a hunter in its own right, nothing gets away.

[Dante Ahti]

In the middle of the meadow, a young man whistled along, hands behind his head as he looked around him. His hair was growing a bit too shaggy, his brown coat still patched up with old fabrics that his sister had found.
Someone who did not know the man might think he were homeless, with the appearance he showed the public. But those that knew him, even just a little, would understand. Dante did not care about his appearance.

He liked his hair a bit too long- it did not suit him too well, but it was more comfortable. Though, he knew by summer he would have to chop it off it he did not want to overheat. His coat was his prized possession- although the arm used to have burn holes in it, to Dante it was still as good as new. The man did not even notice the small bit of dirt on his cheek as he looked around.

Dante had heard a peculiar thing- he did not know if it were true or not, but he had heard that some participants for the contest would earn a lot of money. And being in the state that he was in, Dante needed the money. It was as good a shot as any.

He sighed, letting his hands drop to his side. The sorcerer did not even know where he would find the beast- sure, the darker area of the edge of the meadow, but that wasn't much to go by. He could see the area- the destroyed piece of land. He could feel the evil from there.

Dante stopped, as a shiver went down his spine. He was acquainted with dark magic- perhaps more than he wished he were. And he could heal, of course. But he was not used to facing such evils. The hardest things he had ever had to fight were the hydra, and Rio.

That thought made Dante a bit sad- the evil girl he was forced to kill. It still made him feel guilty. But he shook it off- this would probably be the hardest thing he would have to face.

If he could get the courage to go up to the area and find it.

[Deleted]

A cold wind blew from the dark forest and moved those long hairs of Dante's. Brought with it was the smokey smell of burning wood, and burnt flesh. In the dying woods, clouds of smoke could be seen rising up from certain places, the wildfires taking advantage of the dry and dead wood.

Close by, a sound of crunching weeds and snapping twigs could be heard as a figure could be seen in that direction, moving between the trunks seemingly quickly. Although it was too far away and too deep within the thick of it to figure what exactly it was, it seemed curious enough, for one reason or another.
A screeching was finally heard in the close distance. A sound like no other, similar to that of scratching a blade against the armor or another metal or the sound of a damned female drowning in the blazing lake.

[Dante Ahti]

Dante winced a bit more harshly than he would have liked to, raising his hands up a bit as if it would be good enough defense against the sound. He then lowered his hands, biting his lip. He could smell the burning wood and flesh now- he could only imagine how it smelled up close. And that figure...it had to be the beast. A human wouldn't have moved that fast.

He tapped at the side of his legs with his fingers, trying to decide on what to do.

Finally, he gave out a long sigh, shut his eyes and began to walk, feeling the wind blowing through his hair. He opened his eyes.
I hope I live to regret doing this... he thought to himself, as his eyes began to dance with his blue magic. It seemed to dance along his skin and hair, weave its way though his clothing, and disappeared. A small protective spell- just in case.

He got closer and closer to the forest, trying to be ready to hunt and take down the beast.

[Deleted]

A hawk screeched at Dante as it perched on on if the higher branches of a tree that he neared. It's feathers were covered in soot from the ash and smoke that blew not too far away.

Again, something moved in the distance between the trees and near its location, or what seemed to be its location, a flock of crows clawed as they fluttered into the air and flew away.

"..." A sound similar to some sort of language, perhaps it was, coul be heard far away, from this distance however it just sounded like noise, making it out was impossible. But it was definitely some sort of speech.

[Namari Lovelle]

(( gahh, proboards, read the first bit below ))

[Dante Ahti]

(( Proboards is sort of screwing up in a number of ways, so I can't delete the post I put above accidentally >>" The news header isn't going, the chat box is at the top, and its all sort of being off. I'm sure they'll have it fixed by tomorrow, sorry! ))

Dante had looked up at the hawk with pursed lips- would these lands become green again once this beast was captured, or killed? Dante hoped so. Seeing the poor bird covered in soot made him feel weary.

His head shot to the side as something moved. Dante tensed up- partially to get ready for an attack, partially out of fear.
When he could not see anything, Dante slowly continued to walk. His hands began to glow, not with his blue magic but with black, dancing with darkness.

On the sheet it was said that the person who would fight this beast would need dark magic. Something Dante was uncomfortable with now, but knew all too well when he thought Phillis was dead.
It seemed the darkness had its uses, however. He was about to fight this creature, wasn't he? He had saved Xavier Dosise from a fate worse than death, didn't he?

He heard a sound- a very odd sound. Was the creature making noise? Rustling through the destroyed piece of land? Dante did not know.
Not knowing if the beast could hear him, or even know what he was saying, Dante began to call out.

"Why are you killing?" he asked, a slight bit of demand in his tone. "Why do you destroy this once beautiful land? And why do you not show yourself?"

[Deleted]

A sort if fluttering his heard for a moment behind Dante before the sound is carried deeper into the dark woods, a good glimpse unable to be acquired.

Again, more movement deeper in the woods, but slower this time. And a soft clicking can be heard as well.

"I knew you would take up this hunt..." He could hear I faintly in the distance.

[Dante Ahti]

Dante had whipped around at the fluttering, then whipped back when he though he saw movement once more. It felt eerie to him- but also entertaining. This beast knew what it was doing. Which wasn't really that good for him.

He stood a bit straighter now, moving his fingers ever so slightly to let the darkness run through them.
With a slight smile on his face, he decided to reply.
"Ohh? And why is that?"

Dante got to thinking- it might not be the beast he was talking to. It might be, all the same. But, clearly, whoever was speaking to him knew about him, knew him, or had mistaken him for someone else.
The hunt, in Dante's eyes, had gotten even more scary- but even more entertaining.

[Deleted]

"Call it a hunch if you wish. Or maybe it is because I know your heart, and I can hear what it yearns for."
As Dante continued to get closer, the voice continued to get clearer.

The clicking is still heard as a screech is heard nearby, in the opposite direction as the voice. Along with it is the sounds of another animal's cry and then a crucnching if bones and some other sloshing type sound.

"Let the hunt begin then hmmm?" The voice said from the other way. The exact opposite side as Dante.

[Dante Ahti]

Dante whipped around once more, then back in front of him, and gave out a huff of a sigh.
Really, his first problem would be finding this creature, if it seemed to be jumping about.
He didn't really know where to start.

Dante had adrenaline pumping through him, though, as those words echoed through his brain- let the hunt begin.
He tried not to think too much about what they meant about what his heart yearned for, he felt like he needed to focus on the creature more than anything.

Seeing as he had nowhere to start from, he turned to a tree that was half burnt, half not, and climbed up onto one of the not burned branches. He stood on it, close to the trunk of the tree, and looked around for a sign of the creature.

[Deleted]

While up in the tree, Dante could see quite a ways as well as, due to most of the trees being dead or partially dead, having a good view of the ground.

In the direction he had heard the speaking, he could see a blue figure weaving in and out if the trees, still too far away to make out what it was although it dis seem as though it was making its way toward Dante.
But much closer to him and in clear view was something much more interesting.
The Cyclopta

It had taken its prey, a dear was laying in the ground while the devilish creature sat atop it. It's mouth press against its neck and as it sucked a loud crunching and sloshing sous was heard as the deer began to shrink, and least, in a way.
The deer began to flatten as its entire innards were sucked from the body. The bones, blood, organs, everything. After awhile, as Dante watched, even the eyeballs popped inside its skull before being consumed by the creature.

It stood up, flexing its wings as the skin laid down amongst the dead leaves and earth as flat as a rug. The Cyclopta gave off a resonating cry that was deep and like a bass drum during a parade, it vibrated anyone nearby's chest.

[Dante Ahti]

He never really did like that feeling in his chess- so that sound, and the vibrating, was far from pleasant to Dante. Not to mention the whole thing about 'it just sucked that deer dry'.

His mouth was slightly open as he stared at the Cyclopta. But he shook it off- Just get it over and done with, he thought to himself.

He slowly, and as silently as he could, got onto the ground again. He decided to ignore the blue figure he saw- he didn't know if it was coming towards him, so his biggest worry was the Cyclopta at that moment. So, Dante quickly and as quietly as he could went from tree to tree, getting closer to the creature, before he was just several feet away, hiding behind a tree.

Trying to steady his breath, the sorcerer slowly began making the dark magic flow to his fingers once more. He had to admit, the feeling he got while using this magic was not the greatest. In a time of anger, and sadness and regret, it was the feeling of power. But when you were happy, or calm, or anything really, Dante just felt hollow.

He slowly peeked around the corner, to see when the best time to attack would be.

[Deleted]

The Cyclopta danced around its prey as Dante grew closer, picking it up and tossing the flapping corpse into the air, dragging it across the ground. Just playing with it really.

As soon as Dante began his dark magic again. The creature stopped. The skin flopping down onto the ground as it is completely disregarded. Slowly, while hissing, Cyclopta turned to face the exact tree Dante hid behind. The eye ball ban to glow with a bright red before a beam of red shoot out like lightning and just as fast from its ee (a laser beam I suppose lol).
It burned a hole completely through the tree, just above Dante's head before colliding with enough and blowing it to pieces.

The eye began to cool but Cyclopta hunched over and began slowly walking toward the tree, ready to pounce.

[Dante Ahti]

Dante's mouth and eyes slowly went wide as he looked up at the hole created in the tree. In that instant he knew- he would have to stay as hidden as possible, and try to always sneak up onto the beast. A full-on attack would certainly lead to his death.

Of course, Dante knew that the creature was now coming for him. He would have to blind him for a moment somehow to be able to hide once more.

Dante jumped out from behind the tree, tensed up. He raised his hands together and blasted a rather large ball of dark magic, the darkness leaping off of it as it barreled towards the creature.

As he did that, he ran to the side behind a different tree, hoping that the beast had concentrated on the magic, and not himself.

[Deleted]

The Cyclopta shrieked and held up its arms to block the magic. With each hit it took, its body blistered in the spot where it was damaged and a ooze or dark red bubbled out before it started to heal again.

The creature looked around, not finding Dante it screeched into the air as its eye began to glow again. A solid beam shot out of it and it spun, cutting nearby trees in half and causing them to slide, tip, and crumble to the ground. The beam would have again gone just over Dante's head, allowing him to feel the intense heat. It flapped it's wings and flew a short distance toward Dante, now able to see the top of his head. It landed and raised its claw but turned around as a bolt of lightning stuck its shoulder and caused another blister to form. It shrieked again and turned, a small pendant hung on a chain flipping back and forth with each turn around its neck.

An old man with a long beard and staff hobbled his way towards the much larger clearing now. "Whoohoohoo! The hunt is on hmmm?" The Cyclopta shot a beam at him which passed just by the old man's head before hitting the ground and catching it on fire in an explosion.

[Dante Ahti]

Dante nearly begun panicking- this beast really was a tough one. But the darkness seemed to work, at the very least.
His thoughts went away when he heard someone speaking.
Who did that sound like?

Dante went wide eyed, and peeked around the corner. To his surprise, there stood a man he had only briefly known, but had come to care for as a friend.
"Holy shit..." the man muttered under his breath.

His first thought was that Namesiwa was suicidal, walking towards the creature. But then he realized- Namesiwa's dead. Why the hell would he be suicidal if he really was alive again?

Dante jumped out from behind the tree, his eyes glowing black. darkness seemed to glow from him a smidge, if only for a moment. Then, the darkness jumped out, creating a circle around the beast and shooting up, as if it were in a prison.

Dante could not hold it forever- barely thirty seconds, if that. But he did feel like he needed to get that man out of there.

"You're gonna get yourself killed, what are you doing?!" Dante called out as he ran over to Namesiwa, nearly tripping over his own feet a few times. His eyes still glowed with a bit of darkness, a sign that he was pooling energy into the darkness around the Cyclopta.

[Deleted]

The ring shot up and Cyclopta took to the skies. It launched itself into the air and began dashing at high speeds racing the rising ring to try and get over and around it. If Dante wanted to keep it in, he would have to keep raising it, the only other option was to let it down. And as continuing to raise it would soon drain him, it was clear which one he would end up having to choose.

Namesiwa chuckled to himself as he watched the young lad trip and nearly tumble his way over to him. If this was how Dante was reacting, he could only imagine how Seth would.
"Oh hush up now lad. Do not forget who I was and who I am. I can handle myself fine." He smiled before hobbling over a dead tree, his staff clicking on the ground as he did so.
"Righty then, what be your plan, you do have a plan don't you lad?" He asked with a questioning look on his face.

[Dante Ahti]

Dante's face went rather pink, as the barrier continued to go up. Beads of sweat were already starting to go down his face.
He stopped next to Namesiwa, thinking of what to say.

After all. He didn't really have a plan.

"Well, I, uhm..." he rubbed the back of his head, before smiling sheepishly.
"Not really... I mean, I just thought that I'd be a good match for the beast. Knowing the darker arts, is all. I was just sort of gonna go in and blast it...try and contain it. Somehow."

He had a slightly ashamed look on his face- Namesiwa was quite a good man in Dante's eyes. And Dante did not want the man to think badly of him.

"So, uhm...do you have any ideas? Cause I can't keep this up for long," his hand was shaking slightly now- as much as Dante had spent years practicing magic, dark magic was a different thing. And one thing he learned from dark magic- the energy needed for it was more extreme than other magics.

[Deleted]

"Whoohoohoo, at least you are confident. So many young man nowadays, they fear so much. Even their own heart's desires." Namesiwa looked around and up at the beast.
"First thing is first lad, tell me, are you better at dark magic or protective hrmm? Why would you choose to make a barrier out of darkness." Namesiwa smiled before patting the man on the shoulder, "That magic has its place, protection and barriers is not one of them." He chuckles lightly, kindly even.

"Umbra Impurus." The old man said as he motioned toward the beast. He then grabbed a small chained necklace that he himself wore. "An artifact of the dark. It is addictive, tempting and devious to the soul. That poor women has lost herself hmmm? Promises you the intents of your heart it does. In exchange however... it takes you."

"We take it and she should return to normal." He says with a smile and a nod. Before laughing. "Whoohoohoo, Dante! Are you still holding up that shield?! Come now lad, let it down, we can fair well enough without it!"