One Does Not Walk Into Hell

[Delsin Shaw]

Her yell. A scream of some name. A'baal. I knew not of its origin, but I knew it was directed at this large feline beast that I had stabbed. My head turned around to see the creature attempting to get up and growling. Eyes staring at me as when I latched onto the girl, I wrapped my arm around her. Cluching her tight against my frame as I could feel the strikes of two swords striking my back. My back erupting one last time as the talons lashed out at any who came for me. Just enough time for me, bringing my blade down upon the air. Once more tearing a hold just large enough for myself. Where I threw her into it. The Feline beast was starting to charge at me. Coming after her or me. Even as the portal was opened.

I jumped in.

Feeling as hands grabbed my armor, I fell in with someone holding tight to me. I did it without a second thought. They had to be killed before we reached the end of this tunnel. Otherwise, their flesh could easily walk again. Taking my sword, I pierced it into my own flesh. Stabbing through my stomach and into whoever was clutching my back. I could hear the scream of a woman. Clearly in pain from my sudden usage of the blade through my own body to get to her. The cold steel pained me greatly. My own blood seeping into their wounds.

I could hear their voice change. A screaming to a growl. Feral in the sudden change of blood. I reached behind me. Grabbing for anything that they had. Long hair. Yanking it forward on me. Letting whatever remained of my blade in them, to cut deeply as I pulled them over my head in the freefall. His face contorted in pain as my arm broke into tendrils once more. Grabbing his head and slowly twisting it. Bones and muscles snapping. Breaking under the constant twisting. Even after his screams and growls stopped, I continued to twist. Ripping it around as I fell through the portal and hard upon the ground.

"Why did I sign up for this."

Slowly the talons pulled themselves out of the body that was attached to me. I had landed hard on the ground. If the sword wasn't hilt deep in my stomach before, it now was. Twisting over to the side, the body slumped off of me as the portal closed. My mind was pounding and was in pain. Blood was leaving me rather quickly. In fact, just landing hard from a freefall, and having a sword stabbed into my stomach was enough to make a rather large puddle. I didn't really care if this girl stayed or not. I just wanted to crawl up into a ball and sleep. Instead, I reached down. Hands shaking like a leaf in the wind. Barely grabbing the white wrapped grip.

Breath.

In. Out.

In. Out.

"GRYRRAAAAAHHHH!"

Pulling the sword out of my stomach was not an easy feat. I got about a foot down the blade with the first pull. Breathing in and out a couple more times. Preparing myself for the pain as I screamed out again with the last few inches finally being free of my flesh. The blood pouring from me like a spilled carton of milk.

"Don't... Don't step in.... the blood."

I tried to push the girl away from me. As much as she got me into this situation, but I couldn't let her become poisoned by my blood. If it got into her system... She would be just as cursed as I was. Coughing up the crimson life force, It felt like I was drinking hot magma. An intense burning throughout my body. Hissing any kind air through my teeth. Getting any kind of air in my lungs. I forced myself to be on my hands and knees. One hand reaching underneath my jacket and armor. Hand pressed on the wound.

"Girl, you are not going to like the sound of this."

I gave her some warning. And that was all she would get as an inhuman growling and screaming escaped my lips. A growl that could not be registered to any animal or creature of this galaxy. I forced my wounds to heal. Rapidly regenerating flesh and skin. Clotting the blood and connecting the muscle and tissue that had been severed by my own blade. As the majority of the wound was healed, my roars of pain fainted out into whimpers, and grunts. When it was done. I fell down into the puddle of blood that gathered on whatever floor we had found ourselves on. Turning my head, the darkened pool beneath me was too warm for my skin.

"You better have one damned good reason why you threw blood at me back there, and how you expected to survive there on your own."

Just laying there. In a pool of my own blood. Chastising this girl for her foolish mistakes.

[member="Valrayne"],

 

[Faegard]

Darren grabbed my outstretched hand, pulled up close to him, and before I could even react, tore another hole through the fabric of reality.

"Wait, no~!" I tried to yell, but if he heard me, he ignored me, instead simply hurling me into the yawning portal.

A long, loud scream escaped me as I was once again tossed into the dark, swirling chaos between the worlds. I tried to cry for A'Baal, for the prize I had done all this to get. I tried to cry for Darren, to scream for his help and to curse him for interfering. Had I even been able to open my mouth? I couldn't tell. I could hear screaming, growling, combat maybe? Somewhere behind me as I tumbled through the void, but there was no way to turn my head or orient myself to see. I could only hope.

Once again, I was soon spat out on the other side.

I landed on my hands and knees, the force almost throwing me to my stomach. Trembling, reeling, disoriented and aching all over, I struggled to pull myself to my knees, retching as I heard a loud thud behind me.

Slowly turning, I saw Darren.

He lay on the ground, his visage making my blood instantly run cold. A weapon protruded from him, buried to the hilt in his gut. As he lay, a large pool of blood began to seep onto the cold hard floor around him. Instantly I felt the panic jolt through me, banishing my own pain and haze. I could see him slowly grip the blade, slowing his breathing and focusing as if preparing to pull it out. Still on my hands and knees, I turned, reaching out as if to stop him,

"Darren, don't..." but my voice was still weak and croaky, and he seemed to determined to listen, anyway.

He let out a loud shriek, ripping the thing from his own stomach and tossing it aside. The blade clattered away as I reeled, all the blood draining from my face as I watched the horrific scene unfold. My instincts kicked in, even as more dark crimson blood spewed forth from him. Scrambling to my feet, arms wrapped around my stomach, I moved towards him to help, but he stopped me. Don't step in the blood? I hesitated, standing frozen and watching on as he warned me I wouldn't like what came next.

He was right.

The man let out a sound that seemed to have come from the netherworld itself, an inhuman snarling that seemed to shred the very air. I cringed, cowering from him and flattening my ears against my head. But to my shock, as he did, that almost certainly fatal wound on his stomach seemed to stitch itself closed. Gasping, he mended himself, remaining where I could not reach him in the pool of blood I was not to touch.

Then he turned to me, and demanded to know why I'd done what I'd done.

I swallowed, feeling my cheeks grow hot with shame. I crouched on the ground a little ways off, my knees drawn up to my chest and my tail wrapped around me. It was only now that his words drew my attention back to the wound on my own hand. Pitiful in comparison, but I was unable to close it like he was. I hissed from the pain, hugging the injured hand to my chest. For a few moments, I said nothing, staring meekly at his reflection in the blood pool.

"I... didn't think it would be like that." I confessed, feeling the shame overtake me, forced to vocalize my own shortcomings like some disobedient school child, "I'd only read about the ritual, not... not what it would be like there."

My words were cut off by something that might have been a sniffle or a sob, I wasn't even sure. I opened my hand, the blood still beading in the deep cut,

"You... frightened me. I... I wanted to make sure you wouldn't hurt me. I... tried to bind you like I tried to bind A'Baal."

I finally turned to look into his face,

"But it didn't work on you, did it?"




[member="Darren Shaw"]

 

[Delsin Shaw]

Laying there in the pool, I just gazed over to the girl. Even though she called me by my name. A name that she likely over heard from Gale. The fething queen needed to keep her mouth shut. Instead, she wanted to toy with me and make it more difficult. Calling upon the dead like she did oh so many years ago against me. I could still feel eyes on me as I lay there. Not the girls, but someone else. Rolling over to my back. I let the nearly black liquid seep into the ground. We were in some kind of building. Not one I have seen before, and it was a different place than where we came from. Looked younger than the ran down shack I had found her in.

"No. It didn't."

I didn't even have to look to my hand to show her the burn mark upon it. The back of my hand was bright red compared to my nearly albino looking skin. I'd likely get a blister there. I was not fond of the idea. Reason being? I had already been marked. I was already claimed by someone else. While they were dead, gladly long dead, I couldn't be forced into another bond unless I broke the previous one. However, I wouldn't tell her that part.

"I am one of the few beings who cannot be marked as a servant. All you did, was burn my skin. You on the other hand..."

I pointed to her own hands. Indicating she take a look. As a Master, you wouldn't receive marks. You are not branded like cattle to a farmer. No. Instead, the sigil that would have been branded on me, was now forming on her own hand. Silently, I cursed myself. I was already bound to a dead woman, then forced another queen to be bound to me. Now this girl, in her ignorance of the ritual she so practice, had bound herself to me.

"That mark on your hand, is my sigil within the force. In your attempt to bind something that cannot be forced into servitude, the ritual attempted anyways. Finding the only thing that can be cursed to a life of such. You. Your act of trying to prevent me from attacking you, when I already stated I wouldn't, sealed yourself to me."

I let my head flop to the side. Facing her without any emotion upon my face or in my heart. Just looking at her with my reddening eyes.

"You did not read the fine print. O'Servant mine."

[member="Valrayne"],

 

[Faegard]

I stayed curled up a little ways off, watching the stranger as he slowly rolled over and pulled himself up. My fur still stood on end, my ears tilted back uncertainly. Having been so focused on my ritual before now, so wrapped up in getting what I wanted, finding out if it would work, I hadn't realized just how unsettling he could be. It was now, in the stillness, that I was able to study him properly, realize just how much he was not to be messed with.

Then he spoke, in just a few words sending a chill down my spine.

There was a pause, I noticed the angry red burn on his otherwise pale hand. Jolts of fear zapped down my spine, my eyes fixed on the floor at his feet as the man chided me for attempting to bind him when I shouldn't have. How do you even respond to that? He was right, it was a misjudgment on my part. He'd already sworn not to hurt me. I got scared... I panicked.

"Wait... what?"

I suddenly glanced up, my blood running cold as he mentioned me.

As he continued to explain, I lifted my injured hand. On the palm, the deep cut still oozed blood. Silently I cursed, I'd cut way too deep in my panic. It should have closed by now. But with trembling fingers, my whole world shrinking to just what was a foot in front of me, I turned it over. There, on the back of my hand upon the soft grey fur, was a sigil just as Darren said there would be. I swallowed, my jaw clenching. Sensing movement, I tore my gaze from the mark up to the man, gazing up into his cold, emotionless gaze.

You did not read the fine print. O'Servant mine.

Oh no. Reflexively my brow furrowed.

"Oh no, no I'm no servant." I replied, shaking my head, once again hugging my hand to my chest, "it... it was just a mistake, and I'm sorry that I panicked. Uh... can you just... could you just remove it?"

I swallowed, something in the back of my mind telling me that even as I asked... the answer was not one that I would enjoy.





[member="Darren Shaw"]

 

[Delsin Shaw]

"Oh darling. If only it were so easy."

Grunting from the soreness, as well as the excessive use of the force within such a short time, as well as the transformation back in the nether, I would likely not want to move at all if I could. Just let my armor naturally heal me a little faster than normal. Using every ounce I could to lift myself up, I fell back down and splashed into the puddle of blood. Placing a hand on my forehead, I was hit with a wave of nausea. Having used Shatterpoint twice within such a close time was difficult. Breaking armor, causing someone's heart to burst? That was easy. Ripping open a portal to the real world? That much amount of power was much more difficult.

Eventually, I got up to a sitting position. My once blue coat was now deepened with the black life force that flowed through my veins.

"In fact, Valrayne, the only way to remove such a curse, is to die. Yes, I know your name."

I let it set in for a moment. Let her understand, come to terms with what she has done. Her little stint, could only be reversed in so few ways. The tried and true? Was for the slave to die. And to be extremely clear, this bond was a "Master-Slave" bond created by the Sith. If the Master utters a command, the slave feels an unnatural vow to follow it. Even if its against all reason or common sense. Twisting my head to let the various bones pop in my neck. I then twisted downwards with my back and knuckles. Letting them loosen up from being stiff.

"Now, there are other ways to do it, but none that you would like or even consider. So no. I don't plan on showing you those any time soon. And trust me, if anyone tells you different, they are liars."

Groaning, I moved up to my knees, and then to stand up. Dripping the thick blood from my coat. Opening my arms to see the mess I was covered in, I just shook my head and let my arms flop down to the side. Looking over to Val, the girl who bonded to me, I had to tell her the truth of what was going on. And it had to be brutal for her to understand that this was real.

"The pact you just made is a Master-Slave relationship. Just like your little monster back in the Nether, if I make a command to you, you will find it... extremely difficult to disobey. Yes, your little pet back in the nether can be called to you. He is a spirit, and so he can manifest in this world if they are powerful enough. Now, if you have any questions, ask them now while I am dripping wet with my own poisoned blood, or we can go to my ship, and talk about it there. Your choice."

Luckily, this didn't have fine print for her to try and understand.

[member="Valrayne"],

 

[Faegard]

My face fell.

What little hope I had managed to scrounge for myself was shattered as the man before me spoke. It took some time for him to finally get into a sitting position, his once majestic and pristine visage now caked in a frightening amount of blood. I felt myself uncurl slightly, my tail relaxing a little. However, even as my ears perked forwards a little, I still hugged the wounded hand to my chest. Now that everything else had faded somewhat, the cut was beginning to sting; a steady, burning pain that throbbed with each beat of my heart.

Then he said my name.

My eyes widened, the shock and awe no doubt scrawled across my features. For some reason, that seemed to make it all the more real. Until now, it had all been words, ritual words, warning words, just words. But now... now the man knew my name. Everything he had said suddenly became a lot more true, a lot more dangerous. He went on, explaining the true nature of the bond I had made.

Master-slave

I shuddered. Was this... what I'd unwittingly done to myself? There's a reason the saying goes Like herding cats, we are independent creatures, we do not do well as slaves. Was this about to change? Then he mentioned my pet.

"A'Baal?" The question escaped my lips before I had even processed it.

The warrior I'd gotten myself in this mess for, the prize I had apparently sold my soul for. I had forgotten all about him until now. So... it had worked on him; to a point, at least. My mind was still spinning, trying to comprehend all that had just happened, and how much of it had been my fault. Darren posed me a choice, and after a few moments, I pulled myself to my feet.

"Let's... let's go to your ship." I replied, mildly uncertain of the idea of going back with this lion to his den, "I need to think it all out for a bit."

A pause,

"Do you need help walking?" I tucked my injured hand into my armpit, keeping the pressure on it as I stood uncertainly before him.

Please say no. I don't think I could handle literally shouldering the man that I had apparently accidentally made into my Master.




[member="Darren Shaw"]

 

[Delsin Shaw]

I stood there for a moment. Thinking over the question she posed. Would I need help to walk? I smirked a little as she clearly was just asking to make me feel better, or to make herself feel better for offering. Almost as though she owed me. Lightly I shook my head while the smirk fell from my face. indicating the blood the covered me still.

"My blood is not something you want to get on you. So no. Taking a slow pace if we can, is all I require."

Taking a couple steps out of the puddle, My boots started to track it along the floor as I walked towards the door. Looking to her, I then just looked back to the door.

"Let me explain something. My blood is not natural. Its dangerous. Poisons and toxins within the blood can transfer the worst of pains to you. So I will be attempting to limit how much of it I spread. You will lead the way, and I can direct you there."

Telling her the truth, showing that I was not trying to have her open every door for me, or whatever for the pure purpose of her now being marked, but more so because I didn't want to spread something extremely dangerous to the rest of the world. When the blood is discovered here, it will likely be looked into and cleaned up, or it will dry up before anyone notices it. Which is my hope. However, Valrayne seemed to be... reserved now that she knew what was going on. Scared I would eat her or my rage would take over. I sighed lightly.

"Valrayne, I have no intent to harm you. You have seen me. If I wanted to, it would have already been done. In fact, I still have the seal I made upon my hand."

My shoulders lowered as though I were saddened, or just not really in the mood for anything else other than my bed. In truth, it was the latter. I just wanted to go get something to eat to replenish my spent energy, and then sleep.

[member="Valrayne"],

 

[Faegard]

I was relieved.

Well, for now. The things this man had said were still ringing in my mind. For now I'd been spared having to draw too near to him, to drape his arm over me. But if he was right about what had happened, then it was likely only a matter of time. This was going to take some getting used to. Darren again mentioned that the blood coating his coat and the floor was dangerous, something I did not want contact with. He moved towards the door, throwing me a glance. I opened my mouth to ask about this, but before I could, he explained anyway.

Taking a few steps towards him, approaching the door. Again I opened my mouth, but this time, the question came out of it was not what I had expected,

"Does it hurt you?"

As I asked, his shoulders seemed to slump. For a moment the monster seemed to recede, Darren's aura of mystery and power slipping to reveal something altogether human underneath. It caught me by surprise. My hand moved to the door, opening it even as my gaze remained fixed on him, my expression becoming surprised. For all his power and knowledge, he was... still a man, and one that looked very much in need of rest.

He again said that he had no intention to harm me, reminding me of the mark on his hand. For a few moments our gaze lingered. What else was behind those eyes? If he chose to exercise this bond I'd accidentally made, would I perhaps one day even come to accept it? Could we even... become friends, perhaps? I flashed a grin, hopefully too quick for him to realize that it was entirely forced,

"Just don't ask me to fetch you tea." I finished with a quip, turning to open the door and pass through, "I don't fetch tea."

Once I'd opened the door and stepped through, my uninjured hand moved to my neck, clutching the shard of A'Baal's ancient helmet. I hoped that everything I'd just done was worth it.




[member="Darren Shaw"]

 

[Delsin Shaw]

She did come over. However, she was apprehensive of being near me. Typical. She walked into a world she knew nothing about, expecting to be able to live another day with her innocence within her grasp. It felt like only yesterday that I had been thrown out by the Jedi, cast to the side by the Sith, and branded as a play toy of some Empress who had nothing better to do than bump uglies on her throne. However, that was years ago it seemed. Such a long time for any of that to be significant in anyone's current life. Yet here I was.

"Living this long, you get used to the pain."

Her sweet mind, not yet touched by the true horrors of the galaxy. Not some creature in the night, or a Terror from Beyond. But the terrible minds of the people who are within the galaxy. Warped by their egos and desires of grandeur. As the door opened, she walked through and I followed. Her voice reaching my ears with not being a person to grab my tea from across the room.

"I drink whiskey, not tea."

It was a retort back to the girl who spoke to me. And honestly, she was still a girl. She had not seen everything there is. With youth still within her bones, and a blissful ignorance of everything else, she was barely a young woman.

"At least you can tell your new pet that one does not simply walk into hell."

[member="Valrayne"],