Mission one: Mansion of Despair (Shaku)

The field below was green and peaceful, the animals singing and the wind sweet. The sky was blue and cloudless. A perfect day. However, perfection was blemished as a black portal opened up and spit out a mass darker than night itself. The mass would remain shapeless as the portal sealed and would remain shapeless for many more moments before it began to shift and take the form of man. A man clad in black and wearing a large brim hat. The hair was long, wavy and deep black. The skin white as snow. This creature did not belong in a land such as this nor any other land and yet here it was, still and unmoving in this perfect field.

It would be many hours before the creature would shift and then begin to push itself to its feet. It would stand with grace and elegance as crimson red eyes scanned the area it was in. The landscape was unfamiliar, the sunlight too bright, but the creature did not seem to mind as it memorized what was before it and recognized its goal. Somewhere in this land, there was a mansion it needed to get to and once it was there…destroy the evil that resided there. Only when that mission was completed could the creature go back to sleep until its next hunt was available. The only question now was: where was the mansion. Crimson eyes would close and open again before booted feet began to push off the ground and begin the hunt in search of the evil it was sent here to destroy.
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Hm, this place. It seemed a bit too peaceful for his usual tastes. How did he even get here anyway? Ugh, he wasn't even sure. Not that everything wasn't a mess in general. Maybe he was just finally going insane. He wouldn't put it past himself with the way he went about most of the time. Heh. This would perhaps even be a welcome break from his everyday life. A pretty place with a blue sky. How cute.

With a half amused, half careless frown, the young man walked forward for now, looking around for anything that could point him towards a clear purpose of this strange occurence. Until he would stop somewhere in a more so open space, staring ahead in thought, as if waiting for something to happen...who knew what was going inside his head.

The quiet hunter moved down the slightly slopping ground, his sensitive ears taking in the sounds while his other senses took in the rest of the world. He would just reach a flatter area when a scent blown in on the wind stopped him in his track. Closing his eyes, he analyzed the scent for a moment. There were traces of human there, but something else. Something bitter like….

Them.

Crimson eyes would open again as the bitterness in the air matched perfectly with the creatures the hunter was born to kill. Hmm. It was curious that the scent came with a human scent, so did that mean a human was here and one of them had followed? No…That wasn’t quite right. Something was off with that conclusion. This scent it was like…the human and it were one...

Strange.

The hunter would ponder this strangeness as he lifted his head slightly and turned in the direction the scent was strongest. Something was there, but out of sight thanks a rise in the slopping earth.

Crimson eyes would narrow at this before the hunter did something quite strange. H would place two of his fingers in his mouth and then release a strange whistling sound. The whistle was soft, but carried easily on the wind notifying anything of his location…and if the thing here was curious enough perhaps the sound would draw out the source that strange scent. Staying in the waist high grass, the hunter would remain unmoving as he lowered its hand and waited for a moment to see what the thing he smelt would do.
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Golden eyes continued to stare ahead, albeit somewhat blankly. On one hand, it seemed like he was trying to find out what this place was about, but on another, it was hard to tell just how much he actually cared, seeing as his expression suggested some sort of disinterest as well. He was certainly full of contradictions. Even in looks. The clothes he wore seemed completely decent, yet when it came to his actual looks, one would say he definitely didn't appear to follow the trend. He was almost too thin, and being as tall as he was did not help the matter at all, and he had a bit of a rugged look, his wavy hair falling messily into his eyes.

He would continue to stand still, without moving a single bit until a whistle sounded from close by, at which he would flinch slightly, eyes narrowing as he looked around. Now what? He wasn't very happy about this. But he would make a move to look for the source of the noise simply because he didn't enjoy the idea of possibly being watched by someone or something, and doubly so in a place he wasn't very familiar with. Eventually, he would stride over to where the other was, but remain a few meters away still. He would cross his arms over his chest, his face showing nothing beyond a little bit of caution.

Silence and then movement. Remaining still, Sephtis tracked the sound he heard until a thin young man appeared not too far away. The scent he carried…it was that strange mix, but why? Curious, but not foolish, the hunter would stay where he was for a moment, reading the body language the other gave off as he analyzed the clothing.

This kid seemed to be just as out place as he was. So did that mean he had competition this round? Or was this one simply lost? The questions went through his head, but the hunter did not ask them as he continued to study the other.

It would be many tense moments before the hunter would finally blink and become unfrozen. Keeping his body relaxed and non-hostile, he’d take a few cautious steps towards the other pausing to study him again. The hunter wanted to examine what he found, but the form was not the typical ones that were easy to approach. This thing looked human and yet smelt of them. Quite frankly, the hunter was unsure of what to do so for now he remained just as cautious if not more cautious than the other he watched.

Despite this his lips would unseal as he asked one simple question.

“…Who…nebth…Hmm…” the hunter would pause and then retry the question as he found the correct words. “Who are….ne?” he asked as he pointed slightly at the other. It was clear the hunter was unused to speech, but would that be a problem for the pair?

He just stared ahead at the other. Whatever he was thinking was up in the air, but he didn't seem to be about to initiate chit chat just yet. He probably didn't give the impression of being talkative in general. Well, unless he needed to for some purpose. It wasn't that he wasn't capable of dealing with others, but more that he simply chose not to without feeling compelled to for some reason first.

Though, he would raise an eyebrow calmly as the strange person tried to speak up a while later. Followed by a few blinks. He wasn't entirely sure he understood correctly when it came to the wording, but at least the implications seemed clear enough. Then again, he could always mess up, seeing as extensive social interaction was not what he engaged in frequently. His expression would briefly turn to one resembling some sort of a smirk, although there wasn't much actual feeling behind it.


''I don't think that really matters. Feel free to call me whatever you want.'', he'd answer, his voice sounding a bit tired, but it didn't waver. ''I should probably be asking what the deal is. Aren't you the one who made that noise?'' He didn't seem to react in a negative, nor positive way, simply trying to understand the situation at the moment. There wasn't much else to do in a place he didn't really know, and he found no reason to do anything more as long as he wasn't provoked to.

A stare off and an attempt at speech later, the hunter had managed to get the other to speak even if he did not answer the question in the normal fashion. The hunter would process what he said easily enough and when asked what the deal was with the whistle, the hunter would be silent for a while as he simply watched the other. Then blinking, he would look away from the other as he shifted in his spot and began to walk.

“Matters...nak...,” would be all he said as he began to shift through the grass seeming to have lost interest in the other now that he could see what the other was. It was hard to say why the hunter did what he did, but there was one thing he made clear. There were language barriers between the pair and quite frankly if one did not give him information he found useful, he saw no need to try to figure out words. So that left the boy with an interesting problem. It was true he could pursue the hunter and attempt find means of communicating with him. Or if he liked he could simply attempt to figure out the mystery of why he was here on his own. After all, he had a large field before him, so surely something could be hidden there, no?

In any case, the hunter would keep moving at a casual pace not really hurrying, but not exactly slowing either. Perhaps he was doing his own form taking notes on the area.
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Safe to say, he wasn't really pleased by this. He sure wasn't an expert in these matters, but this was a bit rude. Why call attention to yourself and then just play it off like you don't care anyway? Even if you can't speak well, as this guy seemed to, there are always other ways. At least make some effort after you already cause disturbance. It's not like he hadn't answered, even though he had pretty much no obligation to speak to a stranger in the first place. ''So you're just going to ignore me after you took the effort to disturb me? If you truly want nothing, then why bother to begin with? People aren't playthings.'' He wouldn't do much more than that, aside from a slight frown. Technically, it wasn't his problem in the end. He could always just walk around here alone. He just wasn't too fond of someone going back and forth with him just because.

At any rate, he would stay standing still for now, just looking around from his current spot. What is the point of this? He wasn't in the best mood right now, and this guy here wasn't helping any. Was he supposed to care? It's not like he even knew what about.

OoC:

The hunter would walk only a few paces before pausing as he heard the other’s voice. He would listen to what the other said before turning slightly to look over at him. The child seemed displeased, but by what the hunter couldn’t understand. He was the least experience when it came to things outside of the hunt and so simply did what he always did…just remained him. For some reason people seemed to get offended by the behavior and yet never explained why or attempted to correct him…until now that is.

He would consider the words carefully before turning and walking back to the other. He would close only a little distance between them, keeping well out of striking range for the other as he settled in his spot.

“Ne…” he pointed at the other lightly before pausing. “..scent….like…mark. Su…make sound to…blink…mark out. Sound mark. Come. No sound mark. No come, but ne…no mark. No mark…no kill,” the hunter said doing his best to explain what he had done…although with a speech pattern like that it had to be a wonder if the other understood him at all. Still he had tried to explain his methods and seemed to be linger for now.

This was...mildly confusing. This guy obviously understood what was being said to him, so why couldn't he speak in the same manner? He figured that people learned things like these alongside each other. Well, normally. A lot of things in the world weren't normal, but that didn't change the fact that this was rather strange. It just makes little sense to be able to listen and understand speech, yet not speak it yourself at least somewhat decently. Unless you're a little kid that is still learning.

...in actuality, it wasn't really his problem in general, but it kind of would if he wanted to get anything meaningful out of this 'conversation', seeing as he already got himself involved in it. He wasn't the one to stop once he started something....well, unless it proved to be completely futile. There are things that simply aren't worth the effort. He wouldn't really move from his spot, although he would tilt his head slightly, seemingly trying to make sense of what has been said. He was certainly somewhat odd, yes, but he was smarter than he usually let on. It just wasn't a habit for him to go out of his way and prove anything for no reason. ''You mean some sort of target? I'm not sure what it really has to do with me, but if you're looking for something, you should perhaps work on your talking. Words are usually one of the easier to get sources of information, and I think most would not understand you like this.'', he would keep looking towards the other, his tone fairly neutral. He was not necessarily comfortable spending much time with others, but he generally held no malice towards people as long as they didn't do anything threatening. He seemed to have a strange line between what was acceptable and what not, and it wasn't really easy to figure out were one to try.

Although, there was something that could seem a little wrong. He would frown for a short moment, almost flinching a bit, and if one was looking at him at the time, they would be able to see a few sparks of violet energy around his arms for a moment.


Whatever it was, didn't appear to do more than that, and he didn't really react all that much. Perhaps he was used to this, or perhaps he simply did not care enough. That was up in the air.

Interesting. This one was actually taking the time to figure out what he said rather than giving him an odd look and walking away? How surprising. When the other mentioned the way he spoke, the hunter frowned lightly in thought as his arms folded. He was searching for words to respond to that.

“Tha..grh… hrmm…” the hunter tried the word as he nodded at least confirming that mark was the same thing as a target. He understood what it meant, but as far as saying it? Well that was a problem for most things when it came to speech for him. Sure, isolation or fear from others didn’t help the matter, but the real reason he couldn’t speak was far deeper than that. Despite the challenge, he did not give up, showing he was at least willing to work with someone when it came to communicating. All it took was one person that took the time to do the same with him.

“Moo..no understand…” he paused as he pointed at himself before continuing. “Moo…fly away from..mek. Too scared…to…mmmm…” he paused as he tried to find some way of describing the word "try" to the other in words, but after a while he simply sighed and shook his head. He simply could not do that anymore. Maybe this one could understand better if he spoke in hands too. It was worth a try if this one had stuck around this long.

He would look up at the other for a moment as he pointed to himself.

“Neh…usp…to…” he used the hand sign for talk. “like..neh,” he would point at the other. “No more. Too hurt.. ere,” he would point to his throat suggesting something had happened to his vocal cords that forced him to speak this way now. He would then pause before pointing at himself once more following it with the hand sign for talk. Following this sign, he’d point at his hands. Then tilting his head questioningly, he’d point at the other before pausing to wait for a response. Would the other understand he spoke via sign language and wanted to know if he could too? If so could they perhaps work a system out between them so they could communicate easier? Would the other have such patience?

The questions would flow through the hunters mind for a brief second before being erased as the bitter scent in the area intensified. On instinct, the hunter tensed as his eyes automatically locked on the strangeness around the boy’s arm. That was where the bitterness was the strongest, but why…?

The hunter frowned at what he saw before eyes drifted back to the boy.

“…nek?” he asked pointing at the spot he had seen the strange energy. That bitterness was something he was born to hunt, but….if it was attached to the boy did that make him one of them? It didn’t seem likely and yet….there was a firm connection between the two. One the hunter did not quite understand. The child couldn’t be an odd ball in the equation like himself…could he?

This wasn't easy. He actually had to concentrate to get the point properly. Then again, better than not being able to understand at all. Regardless, he would simply wait until the other was done trying to say things, before attempting to draw a conlcusion. Not that there really was any. What could he do? He'd sooner speak Chinese than do symbol talk. It wasn't something he ever bothered with, as he never needed it before. He didn't deal with a lot of people, and for the few he happened to talk with, words were enough, in one way or another.

He would frown, seemingly a bit conflicted. ''I can mostly understand, but I can't do that myself. I can speak several languages, but not this.'', he would state eventually. ''Most people don't learn this kind of communication unless they happen to be close to someone who uses it.'' At least, he doubted people would take it up randomly. It wasn't that often that one would meet such a person by chance, and need to talk with them, so it was kind of useless...unless you had nothing better to do with your time. And there was always the option of solving the problem by writing things. It was just slow.

...in any case, he would leave it at that for now. He wasn't even sure how he got himself into this. Originally, he just wanted to know what this guy's deal was.

Golden eyes would flicker, looking towards the other as he was being pointed at. There was little to say. He couldn't really explain this, as he did not exactly know. Aside from the fact that stuff like this just happened sometimes. It wasn't necessarily a big deal, even though it could sometimes border on being annoying, but he usually had worse problems to deal with anyway. He knew this wouldn't kill him, and that was good enough at the moment. ''I don't...'', he would begin to say something, but trail off with a slight flinch. Whatever it was, it seemed to be bothered by something, a few more energy sparks showing. ''Tsk...''



The next thing he said was obviously enough in a different language, but it seemed to have worked to an extent. For now. With that, he would just shake his head. ''I have no answer.'' Right now, he didn't, although he wasn't sure why the stranger cared to begin with.

Simplicity and leveled ground did not seem to be a thing to be gained here. At the other’s frown and mention of not being able to talk in hands, the hunter’s eyes would lower as he looked to the side in thought. Well, this would be challenging, but at least they were making some progress no matter how broken the speech was on his end.  

Regardless of this, the hunter would come out of his thoughts as the bitterness in the area flickered in and out in thick and thin waves as the strange sparks on the boy seemed to react to something. Was it reacting to him? Did it recognize what he was and seek to get after him? Crimson eyes would narrow at this thought.

It was self aware and yet….the boy spoke a simple word in another language that caused the strange thing to stop whatever it was doing.

Calm eyes would drift to the boy as he gave his answer. To this the hunter would remain quiet as he consider this strange boy before him. He was so at odds with himself that it was amazing he did not tear himself apart. They were similar and yet so very different. This human with one of them...his position was similar to his own. The only difference seemed to be in the way they were made. Sephtis was a normal anomaly in the world...but the boy didn't seem that way. Something was off about him.

Perhaps it was this small bit of resemblance of himself he saw in the boy that finally had the hunter nodding lightly at the words and accepting them without further question.

“…see...” he would say lightly before his eyes would turn away from the other and gaze at the field. Despite there differences and not knowing each other, the hunter didn’t exactly want to leave this one on his own. They could learn things from each other….

The hunter would shift in his spot and walk towards the other before coming to a stop at the edge of the personal space bubble. If the other wanted to attack he could very well do so. The hunter was within easy reach and did not seem to be moving out of said range. A slight chance with trust? Perhaps or maybe he just didn’t see the kid as a huge threat. Whatever the case was, he seemed to be a bit more relaxed around the kid.

“Nek..and…ne” he would point to himself. “Werk……to...to...urmmm...” he paused unsure how to form the next part of the question. He would frown a bit frustrated with himself before simply giving up on forming the last word as he gave a command instead.

“'me,” he would say as he would move pass the other and then pausing a few paces away turn back. “'me,” he would say as he gestured for the other to follow before falling silent and lingering a bit to see if the other would indeed come. Despite some issues, it seemed the hunter still wanted to at least attempt to work around this problem with the other. Perhaps the boy's patience and previous attempts had gave him this opportunity. Or maybe it was curiosity that made him want the other to come. Either way, the hunter seemed open to the idea of a companion if the other was on the same page.

Sometimes he wished things wouldn't be such a pain. He didn't even know what he was doing here, or anything. Not knowing what he was in for was something he disliked in most situations, for it was likely to end in a bad way. That's just how it tended to be for him. However, right now he had little choice aside from taking this at face value and working through it. It made little difference whether he stayed around with this guy, or went wandering on his own. Regardless of his proceeding, he was still none the wiser about anything right now.

He would do nothing but stand still stiffly as the other walked closer to him. It was probably obvious that he wasn't really comfortable with others getting within close distance to him. Well, unless it was him doing the approach, and/or he knew what he was dealing with well enough. And neither of those were appliable here. There would be no specific reaction however, other than him being rather guarded for the moment. Almost as if he just wanted to back off, but wouldn't really do so.

''Right....'', he would mutter as he heard the other's words, watching him move by tensely. Was he afraid or something? Well, it was up to the other to come to a conclusion about this, in case he cared. Or ask, but that didn't seem very likely with how tricky talking was. Still, he would choose to follow, albeit keeping some distance between them, with a simple question.

The hunter would notice the tension from the other as he passed by at close range. Unsure if this was a sign of fear or something else, the hunter made sure to take careful steps showing that he was not trying to harm the other. If it wasn’t for the fact that these two were human in form, the behavior would appear to be similar to cats, both cautious of each other with the hunter being a tad bit more submissive than the other. Why he was slightly submissive was questionable, but then again anything this one did was left up to interpretation. He did not have a means to explain his action clearly and even if he did he doubted he would.

In any case, he got pass the other without any harm and when he asked him to come, the other surprisingly followed. The typical unreadable expression on the hunter’s face would melt slightly as he gave the other a light smile before turning and moving once more. When asked the question, the being would dig into a pouch under his cloak and pull out a small device. After a few clicks and making sure the language on the screen was common tongue, the hunter would pause and turned to the other. With only the slightest bit of hesitation, the hunter would approach the young man and settle at his left close enough to show the other device. Out of respect, the hunter held the device out a bit so that there was some distance between…even if it was not much though. Regardless, he would show the boy the screen.


Queen, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion were listed underneath the picture.

“Marks,” the hunter would say and then pause as he used his thumb claw to click the corner of the odd screen causing it to shift and bring up a picture of a house.


“Marks…mere…nak,” the hunter would lower the device and gesture to the wide fields before them.

“No scents…….net…mere…marks,” he said doing his best to explain the predictment he was in. He had been hunting for the house and the four he showed the other, but upon stumbling upon a rather interesting clue, he had been knocked out and woken up here. Now he had no leads as to where his targets were let alone where he was. He was lost, but in such situations he usually had a go to…the towns, but where were such places in this new land? He hadn’t a clue and it seemed the map app was glitching so he was literally blind here. However, this did not seem to phase the hunter as he pocketed the device before reaching up to fix his hat with a light huff.

“Hunt…for…path…marks…scents…”

In a nutshell, he was saying he was looking for the where too, but how would the other take that? In any case he would hesitate as he looked up at the other that had a good foot or so on him.

"..Neh...mere.. 'hy?" he asked curious as he watched the other from his spot. The hunter knew why he was here for better or worse, but this kid? He wasn't so sure why the kid was out in this field like this. Hmm...maybe he liked fresh air or something.