Skin Deep

(( It was the weekend, homie. I won't get pissed atcha for using your time how you want/ need to use it. No worries.))


In the beginning, she assumed that he was just about to kill her after he snarled at her again, and she said nothing in response. He didn't kill her, though, just released her hands and stepped away, still looking either very displeased or annoyed. Isalien couldn't interpret which. The look on his face went from... whatever it had been to completely blank. She stared at him as he walked away, wondering if he was about to leave her in place of killing her. Shattered glass broke her out of her frozen trance, though, and she saw him turn to her and start walking.

The fear came back with gusto and was like lead injected into her, stopping her in her tracks so she could only stand and shake even though she wanted to run. She yelped when he gathered her up, and struggled despite the pain it was causing her. Blood seeped faster out of her side, but her leg and collarbone didn't seem to bleed any swifter.

He started moving toward the window and she looked at him in horror. Was he going to throw her out the window?! He neared the window, and she clung to him so that he would have a hard time detaching her before heaving her into the air. Of course the scent of fear was returning, but it was almost overpowered by confused anger. Who throws people out windows when they could just kill them with their bare hands?<o:p></o:p>
She shrieked and she felt herself go airborne. But there were still arms supporting her, so he hadn't tossed her out the window. A gush of relief smoothed over the fear; apparently she was safe. For a while. She didn't unlatch herself from him until they were back on the ground.

"Guide you..." she repeated. So much fear in a day, but so little power to keep her energized. The fear waned while the exhaustion took over, but she didn't want to relax just yet. Not until she knew he wouldn't kill her.

"...Alright. My home is that way," she pointed to the right where old woods were in the beginning process of being cleared out. "You'll pass through old woods and a few narrow roads. After that mostly it's my section of forest, and my home is deep into that section. Probably less than two hours of a walk for me from here to there. You'll know it when we get close to my home—don't try to go in before me."

Isalien pushed against his chest so she could twist around to look behind them, shoving her pain to the back of her mind until she could afford to hurt. It didn't entirely work, so she distracted herself instead. No one was chasing them yet, but there were people outside. It wouldn't take long. She wondered when they would find the Dean. Or the limp shell of the Dean that was left.
 
Beal didn't say anything the whole while. He just wanted to be rid of this girl. She had caused him more strife than when the wizards had bound him. She somehow had caused him to question who he was. It must have something to do with that chunk of power inside him. There was a strange presence that had forced him out of his own body. She had taken from it and it had lashed out, but it wasn't him.

He spent his time running, he listened to her instructions but made no response, Beal didn't bother to shield her from any stray branches either. What would have taken her two hours to walk had taken Beal six minutes to run. He assumed they had come into her section of the forest, noting the place had a different feel to it. It made him grimace, and wonder if this said anything about what she might be.

Beal had decided he'd come deep enough into Isalien's section of the woods and slowed his pace to a trot. He didn't say anything, leaving it up to her to indicated weather he was going the right direction or not. Raising his eyes to the sky, Beal noticed the sun had begun to set.

(Somewhere halfway the internet went to shit and then I almost fell asleep while waiting for it to work...so if my post doesn't make sense, blame it on the internet)


 
((Gotcha.))

Isalien uncovered her face when she sensed that she was very close to home. If she hadn't been grateful to him for taking her home -and not killing her- she would have been annoyed that he'd let a few branches smack her. After the third one hit too close to her side for her to feel safe, she'd covered her face with one arm and her side with the other.

She glanced around the forest floor and at the trees until her eyes landed on one big tree with a few white blossoms clinging to its branches. From there her eyes looked past the tree until they saw a narrow stream that was cut deep sharply into the grass, moreso in one particular part where it formed a tiny two-foot deep pool before draining back into the normal stream, and that was the last sign she had been looking for.

"A few yards this way. Don't follow too closely." Her voice was quiet like she was trying not to wake someone.

After wiggling out of Beal's arms until she was back on her feet, Isalien stepped cautiously toward the stream, walking oddly to keep her wounded leg away from the other. Something howled far away in the distance and she stopped midstep before hurrying forward and climbing into the pool until she had slid completely under the water. She didn't stay under more than a few seconds. When she had emerged, she stood staring at Beal expectantly. Another howl in the distance, this time closer. It was like the darker it became, the more alive the forest seemed.

"I don't know what the rest of your nature is, but everyone deserves someplace where they don't have to keep running, fighting, and avoiding capture every minute of every day, even if their nature is violent," she stated. "I also don't know if you'll want to kill me again, but you haven't carried out any desire to do so yet. So I trust you. Well, mostly. And it's been a really long time since someone has stayed with me even this long, even longer since someone has come to stay with me here."

She leaned back against the steep bank and continued to stare at him thoughtfully. There was very little fear in her until she heard the next howl, but even then she seemed too tired to feel much of anything besides the tidbits of fear and hope.

"Whatever you decide, decide quickly. You can stay until whenever you want to leave if you do stay."

She was confused. Why did she want him to stay in the first place? She knew that's what she wanted, for him to stay, that much was obvious; she felt sad thinking that he might leave her alone. But why did she want him to stay, anyways? He wasn't entirely safe, but he felt safer than anyone else. Despite the fact that he was violent and odd and probably the type of person she was made to destroy, the type of person that could and maybe would destroy her... she didn't want him to go.
 
Isalien shifted in his arms and Beal released his hold and followed a few paces behind her. She feared the howling and quickly made her way into the water and submerged. As she came back up, Beal stood at the edge of the water and stared at her while she spoke. Her desire to what? Put him at ease? It irritated him. There was no man nor beast that Beal feared, he would just kill those who wished to capture him. So far as he knew there was no one who could kill him as long as his guard was up. He tilted his head up, pride evident in his posture. "I don't need to run from anyone." Even so he remained where he stood at the edge of the water as another howl echoed amongst the trees. He wondered if the beast would be something worth facing.

There was one thing though that gave Beal some pause. He didn't know if he could swim, could he even drown? Maybe he could breathe under water and didn't even know. He became silent again as he wondered about the things he may be capable of. Finally, with a glower, he stepped into the water and some of the blood from his clothes mixed with the water. He stared at Isalein then with his terribly hypnotic eyes, his turn to be expectant.
 
It made her grin, that stubborn pride in his own capabilities, but she erased her amusement quickly. He probably would assume she was laughing at or mocking him instead of actually enjoying him. Besides, she didn't have the time to be amused right now. Not when the howling kept coming closer and she still hadn't gotten his answer.

Then he joined her in the small pool with something in his expression that was like a kid being forced to do some chore he thought beneath him. Not grinning took some self-control until something many yards away rustled some fallen leaves and twigs before snorting. Isalien's head snapped to the side, eyes narrowed and staring in the direction she and Beal had come from, where the noise had been. Night was coming closer, and underneath the trees the darkness had already set in. Maybe she should have hidden someplace else until daytime. Two yellow spots appeared like fireflies in the shadows, several feet above the ground and growing thinner then wider, closer then farther apart. If they ever turned round, she knew they'd been spotted. Her guest might be able to defend himself, but Isalien was getting weaker no matter how much she ignored it. Keen noses must have smelled that long ago, was probably the reason they were so close already. Never had they approached her like this.

Isalien reached out and fisted her hands in Beal's shirt to pull herself back to reality and remind herself that at least she wasn't alone. Sure, she was outside her barrier and home, but she was not alone. Her eyes glanced up at the tree above them, grateful that they weren't standing in a spot of fading sunlight, and then regarded her odd guest. It was out of the question to simply brush off his gaze; it caught her tongue for a moment before she could speak.

"Duck," she hissed as quietly as she could manage, and she tugged at his shirt like she was trying to pull him into the shallow water. "Really quick, just duck under the water like I did. When you come back up, grab my hand. Don't let go until we're back on the ground and we know the barrier is whole. Please hurry!"

 
There was a presence behind him. He was going to turn around and kill whatever it was when the girl grabbed at his wet shirt. Beal waited for her to say something and when he was about to turn around to confront whatever it was he felt there when she tugged on his shirt, annoying him. Duck. She wanted him to duck under the water when he could just kill whatever it was. Beal sighed and ducked under the water and upon resurfacing he grabbed her hand with one of his cold ones, thinking the process stupid and unnecessary.

(Ah, short and sweet.)
 
(Lawl. I can't write short posts to save my life (and everyone else's time haha)))

A flash of yellow caught her eye right as her companion submerged. The two eyes were completely round, taking in the sight of a small bloody girl in a pool. Isalien felt a hand grasp her own, distracting her from the predator that probably had friends. Without a word, she crawled onto the bank on the opposite side from the one she had entered. A pulse of magic, familiar and safe, was attempting to shut the barrier like a door, but instead it was made to wait for whatever was attached to its inhabitant to enter as well. Isalien pulled on Beal's hand, rushing him to follow her so the barrier could reform its wall.

((Woah snap. I lied. I'm lucky it is short; phone-typing.))
 
((You dirty liar))

Beal looked at the water and as he suspected, it had magical properties as Isalien guided him along. She tugged on his hand to hurry him up, it would have been like trying to pull a boulder, solid. But Beal obliged the girl and quickened his step so the barrier. When he looked he could see it, a color in the air, the barrier behind which the girl felt so safe behind. Once the wall was complete once again, Beal turned back to look at the creatures through it.


"I could have just destroyed them" his dislike for running from something that would challenge him was evident. Beal made a point of extracting his hand from Isalien's and looked around at everything on the inside of this barrier with his metaphysical sight. He had a paranoid feeling that she might try and trap him here, that this whole thing had been a trap. But his face did not reflect his thought, it remained impassive and faintly unimpressed.
 
The barrier filled its gap, sealing everything out. Isalien didn't even notice her empty hand; she was too busy staring up at the dark sky that had a strange glimmer of magic to it and reveling in the comfort that came with being home and safe. Or mostly safe, at least. She did have a guest, sort of, and she was relieved that she was not alone, but it was true that she wasn't completely safe around him, whether she felt safe or not. He looked bored, probably because of the fight he had passed up. It didn't matter. At least he was still there.

"I couldn't have. And I didn't want to leave you, so it was come home or stay out there and..." and what? Get turned into a monster? Get eaten? Worse? She had only encountered those things once, and she never wanted to know what they would have done to her if she hadn't stored up bunches of power beforehand. The beast stared at where she had disappeared, unable to see past the barrier. Not entirely human, not entirely canine. Just a hulking beast with black fur, sharp teeth, and frighteningly hungry eyes. Isalien looked away.

"I'm grateful that you left them alone. They all get angry when a member is killed. That's why they're out there in the first place-- I killed their brothers," she explained shortly, and turned to locate her home, a log cabin built around a huge tree trunk. The roof was high up, but otherwise the cabin looked too small. "If you eat human food, do you want any? When I left, there were lots of fruits here. They should be fine; it was only a couple days ago. I think I still have some packaged beef jerky, too, the good flavors. You can come in, it isn't as small as it looks."

That was a lie. Isalien motioned for him to follow her, ignoring his apparent boredom. After entering the barrier, she seemed to be so at ease that she wasn't fearful of anything. She turned and stiffly trudged to the cabin and through the gap that sufficed as a door. Fresh blood had begun to seep from her leg again; her rush to get through the barrier made her move recklessly and the wound hadn't been allowed to close again. She decided not to think about her other injuries just yet. There had been worse, she thought she remembered.

"Oh... if you ever want to leave, the barrier is only one-way. You don't need me or anything else to get through it. You're here though, so... you may as well eat or rest up."

She hadn't wanted to remind him that he could leave at any time, but he was unpredictable. She wanted him to have his options, even if she didn't like those other options.

((I'm going to be struck by lightning for lying. I wrote almost another post's worth added to this, but decided to cut it in case Beal does something Beal-ish and unexpected like run off to chew on bunnies. Isalien's going to return to the school eventually and destroy it, whatever the case. Kill everythiiing~))
 
((It'll take something bigger than bunnies to satisfy Beal :P. Dude if she lets slip that she's going to go back and kill everything, Beal will most likely stick around. That's the first thing he was going to do when he got free but Isalien threw some kind of monkey wrench into things. Anyway, I'm going to post tomorrow, or later today, whatever.))

Beal looked at the beast a moment longer before turning and following after Isaline's wounded gait. He extended his senses, the smell of the environment tickled his nostrils, the sounds of bugs chirping and the heartbeats of mammals made his ears twitch, little beacons of light showed him life forces of creatures as small as insects, he registered environmental conditions on his skin, and tasted the air with his tongue. The smell and taste of the girl's blood was most noticeable to him, especially as she talked about food. Beal eyed the wounds on her body and his tongue passed over the sharp contours of his teeth. Yes, he could do with a meal.

Beals fingers became claws as he followed Isalien into the over sized shack, gouging lines into the walls and door frame as he went. He had made a noise in his throat when she had mentioned killing one of those large beasts and then again she told him he could leave without her, Of course I can he thought, but still he didn't believe it would be because she let him. Beal blew the gouged shavings of wood from under his claws and said "You don't have any livestock do you?" Of course she didn't, there weren't any households around that raised their own livestock. Nowadays most people just buy their meat from the store. Cold, dead, chemical coated meats. Beal first grimaced then was annoyed. If there was no game for him to eat then he'd have to kill this girl, chest pain or no chest pain. It might not even be worth it she was so skinny. But the flavor of fear might be enough to compensate for that.

Gouging a small circle into the wall with a clawed thumb, Beal thought about his options for food. He considered those large beasts skulking around the barrier. Yes, those would do quite well. That was the only appeal to this place, other than those beasts and scaring this girl, this place was going to be boring non fulfilling. People often started to get stale if he scared them for long at one time, at which point he would have to peel portions of her skin off and eat them in front of her. After that she would eventually die and then he'd eat the rest of her which would end up in his leaving. So either he'd either find game within the barrier to hunt, go outside of the barrier and hunt the beasts, or kill Isalien and eat her. He could just do those in any order, either way it seemed like Beal wasn't going to stay long. He didn't need to rest, or run, or hide....Beal pulled his thumb away from the wall before he dug all the way through it.

((Dude I totally posted))
 
Once inside her home, she turned around to look at him blankly, leaningmost of her weight against the back of an old plastic chair that was accompanied by aplastic footstool. There was no table; it was probable that the footstool wasit. Taking up the entire left portion of the cabin was a massive pile ofblankets, pillows, and clothes that was spread out to cover a very large rugthat might have once been a shade of white. That large area was the only partof the floor that was not merely grass.

She took in the sight of his claws and the marks in the wood, but all she did was roll her eyes. He made odd noises as she spoke, but she paid them no mind, either. Normally those sharp claws would have made her fear him at least a little, but she was too tired and too happy to be afraid. Not of him, at least.

"Livestock... No, not livestock," she said, her eyes following his thumb curiously like a cat watching a bug. "But there are deer. The barrier is large, and has its own ecosystem almost. There are no large predators, so the deer are everywhere. Hunt them as much as you want as long as you leave most of them alive. And wait just a minute before you leave."

She stood back up, but it made her so dizzy that she just slid to the ground instead. Her brain wouldn't leave her alone while she was trying to speak.The school was at the forefront of her mind, because it was based off of evil parading as good, and she had to destroy it. The existence of her guest was the second most active thought in her mind, and after that there were many other things. Things she needed to do, things she didn't want to do, things that she was required to do. Anything she wanted to do or day, though, she wouldhave to do it quickly. Her eyelids were growing heavier by the second, and thepain she had been able to ignore thanks to adrenaline and stubbornness wasreturning with a vengeance. <o:p></o:p>
"I still have not asked your name. What should I call you?I'm Isalien. Sorry for rambling, and thank you for staying with me and not killing me yet, but Iintend to destroy the school as soon as I recover and I have to ramble to say things now, 'cause I'mabout to go to sleep whether I want to or not, and you're welcome to sleepanywhere if you come back from eating deer; there are many blankets as you can see. Just ignore the clothes.I guess you could leave if you don't wanna eat deer, but you just got here. What--? I thought I bought more than just these. These won't help anything." <o:p></o:p>

Isalien had scooted to a pile of groceries until she found abox of Band-Aids in one and stared at the box in disappointment. She threw thebox over her shoulder, dug a pair of scissors out of yet another bag, and wentto work hastily cutting a wide strip off the hem of the dress she'd been forcedinto before going into the school.

"Anyways, you can go now. Why are you digging holes in my house...?" she sighed, wrapping the strip of cloth around her thigh and tying it off. She crawled miserably to the high pile of clothes and blankets and dug until she found a large t-shirt, the first thing she found. It would do. Without turning, she called, "Out, out, out... If you're not out, get out, please."

And then without hesitation pulled her dress off and tied it around her middle as tightly as she could to keep the wound covered while she slept. She still clutched the clean t-shirt in one hand while she stared into space trying to figuring out what to do about the wound near her collarbone, but eventually she just shook her head and donned the t-shirt over the bulging dress around her waist. With a grunt, she burrowed under the blankets until just her nose and one foot stuck out. After that she was still and silent.

((No wai. rly? I dislike writing Isalien as a delirious wounded person. It's also weird that she isn't afraid. Maybe Beal won't try to eat her, though, since she was too distracted and happy to feel/ smell like fear. This is un-prewf-read and I keep procrastinating from sleeping so I'm not prewfreading it right now... Yep.))
 
This girl definitely was rambling. Beal was going to leave as soon as she mentioned deer and let out an annoyed sigh as she had more to say. He watched her impatiently as she slid to the ground, her mind felt all groggy and jumbled. Gah why couldn't she just recover from her wounds already? Her muddled mind was making him almost dizzy. However he did pay attention to when she mentioned destroying the school, a rumbling hum of approval emanated from his throat but he quickly cut it off by clearing his throat. What in the hell was that?

She had asked his name and he answered with the name he had faintly remembered was his "Call me Beal." He waited to see if she would respond but only rambled on a bit more before taking off her dress and using it to cover her wound and then put on a large shirt over that. She crawled under a pile of blankets and was still and silent. Beal grunted and turned to leave, this place really was just a shack. Briefly he wondered what she was doing out here in such a place that was obviously too dangerous for her. Then he decided he really didn't care and walked toward the trees.

He stood straight and inhaled, the breath making his chest heave. With a few movements he tore the clothes from his upper body away and threw them to the ground, clothes they had given him to wear to the school when he was bound. For a couple minutes he stood there, breathing in through his nose until he had the scent of a deer in his mind. It was far for a human to hunt it, but not for Beal. With a crouch his legs coiled under him like dense springs and he flung himself through the air and into the forest, opening his senses.

His nostrils flared as he looked for the scent and reoriented himself when he found it. Now he could see the deer in all manner of ways, he could feel that it had been disturbed by his landing but was not entirely aware of his presence. Beal leaped and when he landed it was with a thud, on top of the deer. It gave a brief, panicked cry but Beal slashed it's throat out with a clawed hand, almost decapitating it completely. Such easy prey, but it amused him to an extent. Crouching over the dying animal, he tore into its body with teeth and claws, expertly eating around the bladder and intestines. The heat from the blood appeared in the night air and looked as if the deers spirit was leaving its body.

Beal killed two more deer and covered in blood he sat near the shack where Isalien was sleeping and fell into his version of sleep. He slipped under his consciousness, still able to see and sense but his mind was at rest.

((The lacking of fear will help her chances of not getting eaten, fo sho. So like if you don't have anything planned to happen while Beal is hunting deer we can do a time skip, if you want to do that then you can just post it up in your post and have Beal be staring at her when she wakes up. Or do whatever you wanted to do...))

 
(( Got eet.))

It took hours for Isalien to finally open her eyes, and when she did the dream she'd had came back to her in brief flashes. She was surprised it had been so short, so normal. Normally her dreams involved everyone trying to kill her or hurt her, but this dream was nice. For the entirety of her dream, she'd been normal, except for the fact that her only words throughout the dream had been 'out from darkness, into light' as if the dream-Isalien was frightened the whole time. Or was it really her? It looked very similar to her, at least.

A deep, rested breath in reminded her that she was still not healed. That was annoying. She growled and crawled out from under the pile of blankets, then turned to stare at the spot where she'd slept. Blood everywhere, the darker spots splattered everywhere. She looked down at herself; blood pretty much everywhere, illuminated by the very dull moonlight coming in from the doorway. Some was fresh, but most of it was dried blood that hadn't come off in the pool the night before. Isalien grabbed the soiled blanket and tossed it towards the doorway to wash later.

While she dragged herself over to a bag and pulled out an apple, she finally became awake enough to remember more of the events from last night. Where was Beal? She hadn't looked for him since she had awakened. She hadn't noticed much of anything, besides the blood and how hungry she was, upon waking. Chomping her teeth into the apple and holding it in her mouth, she stood like a dying old woman and peeked out the doorway, assuming he was outside somewhere. The sky was still dark with no sign of changing, and the moon helped little as she tried to locate her guest in the dark.

"...Beal?" she called out quietly, her voice muffled by the apple she'd left there.

She rubbed her eyes and wondered if he was somewhere in plain sight.

((Guh. Need to find her some source of power so she can afford to ignore injuries and kill ev-er-y-thiiing.))
 
The thoughts in Beal's mind as he rested wer chaotic and whirled by too fast for him to recognize had he tried. He did pick up some flashes of things he didn't not remember he had seen. A house, fear, a woman and a man, a dark figure standing in a doorway, a house on fire, cold burning pain in his shoulder. Some of these images had flitted across his subconsciousness before but they were more clear this time but he couldn't connect them together. The world was slowly brought to the foreground of his mind when he heard his name float to him through the woods. It echoed in his mind and before he woke up he saw that same woman's face, covered in blood with something black oozing from her mouth. Her face was suddenly fierce and crazed. Beal was startled awake and looked around. Yes, the forest...

It seemed it was still night. Beal extracted himself from the earth, whenever he slept outside he would bury himself in the ground, that way if something was trying to sneak up on him he'd pop out of the ground and kill them. He shook off the dirt that was on his skin, it seemed it didn't stick like it would to normal people and came away from him easily. Beal trudged bare footed and bare chested, caked with dried blood and some dirt, around to the front of the shack. His body seemed to not bounce the light of the moon, to the regular eye he was bouncing as much light as the area around him to make it harder to see him. The patches of black on his skin however seemed to absorb the light all together. His eyes though, the red irises, seemed to smolder slightly when touched by light.

As he turned the corner Beal saw Isalien leaning out of the doorway with an apple lodged in her mouth, still covered in blood and wounded. He stood near her for a second before snapping at her impatiently "What?"

((Beal could kill some more deer and just pull the life force out of them and then she could take it off him. I would think a person's life force might be more powerful than just taking their power, don't you think?))
 
There he was. Following his reappearance, no matter how strange he looked at the time all blood-splattered half-naked and dirty, Isalien noticed that she felt profuse relief at knowing he hadn't left. It startled her that she still didn't fear him like she thought she should. Her eyes, dark green in the lack of light, looked him over quickly. Warmth gathered in her cheeks, but she could not pinpoint the cause. Happiness? Embarrassment? She couldn't understand. Letting the apple drop into her hands, she smiled absently while Beal approached even though she shook her head at how messy he was. She didn't seem to mind that he looked odd in the moonlight He snapped at her just moments after approaching, causing her to recoil from him and briefly smell of distress, similar to the scent of fear but entirely different at the same time. Had she annoyed him for the last time? Would he leave after that?

"I was... just seeing if you were here. It looks like you ate! That's good," she declared, nibbling at her apple to distract herself. Had he slept at all, or just hunted all night and rolled in the dirt afterwards? How many deer had he killed to become so bloody? "I need to clean some things and get the blood off of me. You can come to the stream inside the barrier so you can wash the blood off of you, too, if you want. It's easier to sneak up on things when they can't smell you. After we clean up, I need to find someone's power to borrow. Will you help me take the school down after I get that power? And could you maybe help me find that power? I cannot fight until my wounds are either healed or numb."

((I need to stop typing after taking pills to make me sleep.My eyelids are pretty much magnetized to each other right now. I can hardly read @.@ Seriously, I am about to pass out. As for the life force thing, I think that's a new thing for Isalien to try to absorb that. She was also probably told not to.... Is anything I just wrote in this entire post legible, or is it all just pre-pass-out jibber jabber? I can edit this tomorrow if it ends up sucking.))
 
Beal didn't know what that odd fuzziness was inside the girl, he'd never seen that before. Whatever, it didn't matter. The smell of her distress did reach his nostrils, it was similar to the fear he was used to smelling but this time it was a fear of something else, not of him. Bleh.

The river, to get washed. Beal looked down at his arms and chest, caked in dried blood like an iron man caked with rust. She did have a point about his smell potentially giving him away. Fine, he'd look at the river....Now she was saying she needed power and again mention of destroying the school. So she hadn't just been rambling delirious nonsense. "I will raze the school and find you some power, I suppose." Beal thought of when he took the energy from the wards on the dean's office and had sloughed it off to her.

When he would take the life force of a living thing it would sit in the void inside him and burn like a coal waiting to be used. Some of the energy would radiate from his body and eventually would burn out if not directed. Beal didn't know how to use the energy outside of his body or absorb it properly, sometimes it would take the place of ingesting flesh to sustain him but he could only do that with a small amount and the rest would just burn off.

Yes, that's how he would get her the power, Beal would kill and drain the life of creatures and then she may finally be rid of her wounds that made her so irritatingly helpless. Then after the school was destroyed, he'd set out and cause chaos elsewhere. Seemed like a good plan to him. "Yes" he said after one of his pauses where only the chirping insects filled the silence, gazing through her toward the barrier where they had come from "I'll get you some power." He had an idea on where to get the power.

((Your post looks fine to my eyeballs. Do you think that perhaps the potency a creatures life force could possibly be addictive? I don't know what kind of affect it would have on Isalien, that's just my guess.))
 
((For Pete's sake. For some reason I thought Beal was actually moving towards the barrier. I didn't read your post closely enough before responding. Derpidyderp. And now it's a midget post :/ ))


For the time while he was speaking and seemed to be pondering something, Isalien just smiled. She couldn't stop herself, she was just happy that he had agreed to help her so easily. That must have meant he wasn't so annoyed with her that he wanted to leave. Wait, why did she care so much anyways? The smile faded the smallest bit as she realized how relieved she had been. It faded entirely when Beal looked past her towards the barrier after declaring he would find her some power.

"What-- What power? Where?" She had no idea what he was going to do. It worried her.


((Yeah, let's definitely see what life force does for Isalien. Good idea, Brah.))
 
Beals mouth twisted into a grimace at the happiness that was so evident on Isalien's face and from what he could see inside her. Looking at her with irritation, and a bit of disgust, he stepped away from her and walked to the barrier where he had last seen the beasts (which he couldn't any of now), with Isalien panicked and following behind him. She could barely keep up with him at all without bleeding everywhere. Beal snorted at her efforts and laid a hand on the barrier. "Just let me back in or you won't get any power." With that he pushed his hand through the barrier and started out. And if she tried to stop him he'd push her onto her bad leg.

Now he stood on the other side of the barrier, he looked back momentarily. The barrier wasn't easy to detect right away but once he looked a bit harder he could almost see through it. He turned back around and looked into the woods for the beasts, he could smell their scent from when they had been here hours ago but couldn't see any of them around now. Beal wondered how best to attract their attention and decided he'd try something. Filling his lungs with air he ruptured the night with a throaty roar. Birds that had been sleeping burst awake and blindly flew away, small mammals that had been silenced by their fear of his presence rustled the underbrush with their scurrying. Beal snapped his jaws shut and looked around, the moon shined on his horns menacingly and his shoulders appeared more broad and his chest thrust out. His appearance was primal and fierce, surrounded with an air of challenge.

((Your post did appear a little short, must have been the phone. Experimenting is fun, hurrr.))
 
Most of the contentedness she'd felt was replaced by annoyance. He'd snorted at her! Snorted! She never should have expected any sort of humanity out of him, it was a let down waiting to happen. But at least he hadn't murdered her in her sleep. And he was going to fetch power for her, and that was nice even if she had no idea where he was going to get it. She didn't want to know. Well, whatever. She'd let him back into the barrier, of course, but for the time being she gathered up all the articles she'd bloodied and took them to the portion of the creek that was inside the barrier, very near to where they had come in the night before. Now she could wash herself and her clothes in peace, on the bright side, and still be able to keep an eye out for Beal.

Sunrise was still two hours away, and the beasts planned to use those two hours wisely. They wanted to eat more; food was running scarce in these woods thanks to the girl that kept corraling their prey and disappearing along with it. Where she went, none of them knew or cared. One day they'd get her anyways. It was something they all agreed on, all nine of them, to get revenge on her for killing their brethren. Three of them were together closest to where they'd seen the little menace disappear, ready to jump her when she returned. She usually returned near the same spot.

Three sets of yellow eyes pierced the darkness, growing wide when a strange roar scared off all the prey that had been sleeping. It wasn't human. It wasn't animal. It was a mystery, and probably an edible mystery, so the three furry beasts consulted with each other before they scampered towards the sound. The smell was familiar and they linked it to the male-ish-thing that had been with the girl last night. They had found Beal, the source of the roar, but in the end they still had no idea what to think.

So naturally, they were going to go ahead and attack and get rid of the pest, ignoring their instincts that told them to tuck tail and run. There was a challenge practically written in the air, and they were accepting it readily, howling as they approached Beal from three different angles.

Isalien had just returned to the creek, blanket in one hand and her nearly-finished apple in the other, when she heard a bizarre noise that must have been Beal. Nothing else in the forest sounded quite like that. Not that she had ever heard. There was no reason to worry; Beal had killed werewolves like they were stuffed animals with teeth. He could probably take anything else. She went about her business bathing in the cold water until a chorus of familiar howls broke her calm. No amount of water could wash off the smell of fear on her yet again, but still Isalien just continued washing. She was inside the barrier, bleeding but invisible to anything dangerous, and Beal could take care of himself. There was no big reason to be afraid of them; just her future in the forest near them if they blamed her for more of their comrades' deaths. .

((Bah. Communication jumbledyness. Anyways, I'm curious to see how Beal with deal with the man-dog-bear-mutant-things. Feel free to steal them and pummel them.))
 
Ah here they were. Beal examine the beasts to see what details he could pick up from them. They were big, yes, and somewhat intelligent but they had no idea what he was capable of. From his peripheral vision Beal could see the beasts coming at him from different sides, of course he could detect them without his eyes. He waited for them to get close and then jumped lightly over the one to his left and when his feet it the ground, his feet sunk a few inches into the dirt. The beasts scrabbled to changed course. Beal hopped forward and ducked under one of the beasts and to it's surprise, Beal lifted it up and hurled it at one of its companions. The animals collided in a furry heap and wiggled around to get on their feet. Beast number three swiped at his legs from behind. Beal hopped forward out of the creature's reach and swung his leg up behind him and smashed the beasts face with his heel. The beast's head snapped back and it swayed a bit. It shook it's head and when it could see clearly, the opponent was gone.

Beal landed on the dazed beast after jumping backward, it thrashed it's body but before it could dislodge him, Beal drove his fingers into the creatures eyes. It yelped and thrashed around blindly. It was then that one of the other beasts tackled him off the blinded creature. The beast's jaws came down to Beal's face and in response he lodged his forearm between the clamping jaws. The beast was pretty big so his forearm only interfered with one side of the beasts jaws. Even so it did it's job and distracted the beast. It shook it's head and gnaws on his arm to tear it apart, only causing shallow gouges in his flesh. Beal waited patiently and then he threw a punch at the creature's yellow eye. The soft material of the eye gave way under Beal's fist and blood and eye gel gushed from the creature's eye socket. It tried to pull away but Beal grabbed hold of his and held on. The beast batted at his arm and head but Beal would not let go so it instead started backing away and thrashing it's head around.

While Beal was being dragged the other beast attempted to jump on top of him and claw at his belly. The beasts arms were longer than his legs so he waited until the last second before lashing out with a kick that sent the beast landing on it's side next to him, momentarily stunned as blood leaked form it's mouth. With a tug Beal pulled the beasts head down and got himself up in the process. Before the beast could get away he wrapped his arm as much as he could around the beasts thick neck and held on while he pummeled it's other eye until it too popped and gushed. The beast was shrieking and clawing at him, tearing his pants but only leaving small tears on his skin. He released the beast once it was blind and then got under it once again and threw the beast at the other blind on that was trying to defend itself from when ever he thought Beal was going to strike. The two blind beasts were surprised and clawed at each other until they realized they were on the same team.

The last beast was now more cautious and circled around Beal just as Beal circled around it. They stared at each other, eyes locked. He could see the beast trying to come to a decision. When the beasts eyes glanced away to his brothers, Beal dashed forward. The beast reared and turned around plunging headlong into the forest, making a break to where his other brothers were then they could converge on this man-shaped creature. Beal wasn't going to let him get away though. Ripping a large rock from the earth, Beal hurled it at the beasts leg. It struck with a thud and a crack, slowing the beast down for a moment before it collected itself and continued with a past paced hobble. Beal could feel the fear as well as smell it coming from the creature, yes it knew it's time was going to be done. With a leap Beal sent himself into the air and came down on the Beasts back with his knees, and plunged his black and clawed hands into the beast. It's back broke under Beal's weight and it yowled as the force of it's life was drained from it. Now it was just a husk with two holes in it's back where small rivulets of blood flowed. The life force that Beal pulled from the creature was large, and it swirled above his skin in a corona to eyes that could see it.

Turning back around, he headed back to the other two beasts. He found them, trying to back track into the forest by following scent and padding around carefully. Beal repeated the draining process for both beasts and felt like a huge burning furnace of energy afterwards. He'd never had this much energy on his person at once, it made him wish he knew how to put it to use. Oh well, maybe some day. Now he made his way back to the barrier. He put his hand on it and pushed. Assuming it let him in, he would make his way directly to Isalien.


((Isalien didn' like that huh? :P I hope Beal's encounter wasn't disappointing~))
 
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